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2019: Continue a Course of Bold Policies

posted 3 months ago on February 1st, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

By Kyle Wingfield A new governor, a new lieutenant governor, a host of new committee chairs – there are numerous reasons the 2019 legislative session is full of intrigue. Add to them Georgia’s growing political competitiveness, the possibility of a national recession sooner rather than later, and some truly important challenges, and there should be plenty of urgency, too. Start with health care. The federal government is stuck: Obamacare clearly isn’t working, but Congress has proved unable to repeal or even improve it. The siren song of Medicaid expansion is back for another chorus, but that’s the wrong answer. It costs too much, would shift a quarter-million Georgians off their private insurance plans, delivers less access to care than beneficiaries… View Article

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Publishes Foundation Op-Ed on Legislature 2019

posted 3 months ago on January 28th, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of January 25, 2019, published an op-ed by Kyle Wingfield on what should be the Georgia General Assembly’s focus in 2019. The op-ed, “Ga. should continue its bold, thoughtful course,” is accessible online on the newspaper’s website here and is published in full below. Ga. should continue its bold, thoughtful course By Kyle Wingfield A new governor, a new lieutenant governor, a host of new committee chairs – there are numerous reasons the 2019 legislative session is full of intrigue. Add to them Georgia’s growing political competitiveness, the possibility of a national recession sooner rather than later, and some truly important challenges, and there should be plenty of urgency, too. Start with health care. The federal government… View Article

‘Medicare for All’ is Popular Until You Explain How it Works

posted 3 months ago on January 25th, 2019 by admin 1 Comment

By Peter Suderman A new poll shows that a clear majority of Americans support Medicare for All – until they are told what it is and how it would work. The survey was conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which regularly asks Americans about health policy issues as part of its Health Tracking Poll series. It finds that 56 percent of the country supports a “national health plan, sometimes called Medicare for All” and an even larger percentage – 71 percent – supports the idea when told that it would “guarantee health insurance as a right for all Americans.” When told that such a plan would eliminate health insurance premiums, 67 percent say they’re in favor. One way to look… View Article

Friday Facts: January 25, 2019

posted 3 months ago on January 25th, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s Friday! Quotes of note “Voters might love transit, but that doesn’t mean they plan to ride it. And transit agencies that appeal to voters with pledges to solve traffic woes might be digging themselves into a hole.” – Laura Bliss “The capacity for education choice to be life-changing for families is at the heart of its incredible growth in the states. In 2000, for example, just four school choice programs were in operation in the United States. Today, there are 63 programs supporting private school choice in 29 states and the District of Columbia.” – Kay Cole James “At the local level, land use regulations, such as zoning laws and environmental review delays, have a serious and negative … View Article

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Publishes Foundation Op-Ed on MARTA ‘moonshot’ proposal

posted 3 months ago on January 24th, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of January 18, 2019, published an op-ed by Benita Dodd in response to MARTA CEO Jeffrey Parker’s proposal for a $100 billion “moonshot for transit.” The op-ed, “A successful MARTA’s future shouldn’t look like the past,” is accessible online on the newspaper’s website here and is published in full below. Opinion: A successful MARTA’s future shouldn’t look like the past By Benita Dodd Forty-five years ago, Congress was told the Apollo program – landing a manned spacecraft on the moon – had cost the United States $25.4 billion. With inflation, that would be $143.7 billion in today’s dollars. Ten years ago, an updated NASA estimate put that cost at about $200 billion in 2005 dollars.… View Article

Friday Facts: January 18, 2019

posted 3 months ago on January 18th, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s Friday! Quotes of note “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” – Martin Luther King Jr. “Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” – Thomas Jefferson “There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.” – Booker T. Washington Events January 22: Have you registered to celebrate National School Choice? Lunch and Learn Tuesday with us at “National School Choice Week: A Capitol Choice,” a noon Policy Briefing Luncheon in the Empire Room, 20th floor, Sloppy Floyd Building… View Article

Faces Behind School Choice are as Diverse as the Options Ahead

posted 3 months ago on January 18th, 2019 by admin 1 Comment

By Benita M. Dodd More than 40,000 activities and events around the nation will celebrate National School Choice Week 2019, held from January 20-26. (One is the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s annual event on Tuesday at the Sloppy Floyd Towers, opposite the State Capitol. Find out more here.) The events and activities underscore the need for choice in children’s education: No two children are alike. They learn in different ways, in different environments and at different paces, and their opportunity to achieve shouldn’t be limited by ZIP code or their parents’ paycheck. The events showcase the options. These include public charter schools, which contract with their district or state authorizing agency, promising better results in exchange for greater flexibility… View Article

Medicaid Work Requirements Could Help the Poor

posted 3 months ago on January 11th, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

By Doug Badger More than 12 million nondisabled, working-age Americans are enrolled in Medicaid. They receive medical care that is virtually free, and in most states they are under no obligation to work or seek work. Sounds like a great deal. Until you consider how much these “free” benefits may cost a recipient over the course of a lifetime. That could total more than $323,000 in forgone wages for men and over $212,000 for women, according to a study by the Buckeye Institute, an Ohio-based free-market think tank. Using Census Bureau data, the study’s authors estimated that nondisabled men on Medicaid work an average of 13 hours per week, compared with 12 hours for women. Some Medicaid recipients, however, already… View Article

Friday Facts: January 11, 2019

posted 3 months ago on January 11th, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s Friday! Events January 22: “National School Choice Week: A Capitol Choice,” a noon Policy Briefing Luncheon on Tuesday, January 22. The event is in the Empire Room, 20th floor, Sloppy Floyd Building in Atlanta (opposite the State Capitol). Speakers are Dr. Ashley Berner, deputy director at the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Education Policy, and Georgia Public Policy Foundation Senior Fellow Dr. Ben Scafidi, professor of economics at Kennesaw State University. $35. Information and registration here. February 7: Register for “Romance of the Rails,” a Policy Briefing Luncheon with Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute on Thursday, February 7, at The Metropolitan Club in Alpharetta. $35. Information and registration here. Quotes of … View Article

Friday Facts: January 4, 2018

posted 3 months ago on January 4th, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s Friday! Events January 22: “National School Choice Week: A Capitol Choice,” a noon Policy Briefing Luncheon on Tuesday, January 22. The event is in the Empire Room, 20th floor, Sloppy Floyd Building in Atlanta (opposite the State Capitol). Speakers are Dr. Ashley Berner, deputy director at the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Education Policy, and Georgia Public Policy Foundation Senior Fellow Dr. Ben Scafidi, professor of economics at Kennesaw State University. $35. Information and registration here. February 7, 2019: Mark your calendar for “Romance of the Rails,” a Policy Briefing Luncheon with Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute. Details to follow. Quotes of note “In truth, aside from the Washington hysterias, 2018 … View Article

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