It’s Friday!
Quotable
– “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.” — C. S. Lewis
– “A collective tyrant, spread over the length and breadth of the land, is no more acceptable than a single tyrant ensconced on his throne.” — Georges Clemenceau
Education
– Congratulations to Georgia Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), who has been named as a member of the Digital Learning Council, chaired by former Governors Bob Wise of West Virginia and Jeb Bush of Florida. The Council will work to identify policies that will integrate current and future technological innovations into public education.The Digital Learning Council unites a diverse group of nearly 50 national leaders from education, government, philanthropy, business, technology, and think tanks to develop the road map of reform for local, state and federal lawmakers and policy-makers. To learn more about digital learning in Georgia, see Mike Klein’s commentary at here.
Economy
– All in a name? Just 35 percent of American voters believe that a free market economy is the same as a capitalist economy, according to the Rasmussen Reports. A national telephone survey found that 38 percent disagree and 27 percent are not sure. According to Scott Rasmussen, this helps explain earlier data showing that 77 percent prefer a free market economy over a government managed economy while just 53 percent prefer capitalism over socialism. (Other polls showed 70 percent of voters nationwide believe that big business and big government typically work together against the interests of consumers and investors.
– End of an era: It’s lights out this month for the last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States, marking the end of a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison’s innovations in the 1870s. What made the plant in Winchester, Va., vulnerable is, in part, a 2007 energy conservation measure passed by Congress that set standards essentially banning ordinary incandescents by 2014. The law will force millions of American households to switch to compact fluorescent bulbs. Manufacturers are finding it more cost effective to produce the more labor-intensive twisted bulbs overseas, mainly in China. Source: Washington Post
– I’m from the government and I’m here to help? More than half (55 percent) of Americans think the long-term outlook for U.S. manufacturing is weaker than today, and only 30 percent would encourage their children to pursue a manufacturing career, according to the second annual Public Viewpoint on Manufacturing survey by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. This trepidation is tied directly to concerns over government policies, according to Craig Giffi, vice chairman and Deloitte’s consumer and industrial products industry leader in the United States. Respondents consistently identified government-related factors as the biggest obstacles to the success of manufacturing in the United States — specifically policies relating to business, tax rates on individuals, and both state and federal leadership in this area.
Criminal justice
– Innovation in action: After one month in the Carroll County NAACP’s Re-Entry Services program, 38 inmates graduated and returned to their prison lives this week armed with new knowledge on how to survive when they return to the outside world. The in-house program began in March, and a ceremony for the first graduating class was held April 20. The Georgia Department of Corrections chooses the inmates who participate in the program. The non-profit program works in conjunction with local businesses, Carroll County, the city of Carrollton and other local stakeholders. It is designed to set up a smooth transition from prison back into the community. Read more in the Times-Georgian.
Upcoming Events
– Mark your calendar: Saturday, Nov. 13, is the Georgia Legislative Policy Briefing, an all-day event featuring national and statewide experts on the top issues facing the state’s elected officials. The Georgia Public Policy Foundation and the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute will co-sponsor the event. Watch this space for details.
– It’s not too late to register for the eighth annual Defending the American Dream Conference takes place in Orlando Sept. 23-25. Co-sponsored by the Coalition for Property Rights, Heritage Foundation, Americans For Prosperity, Pacific Research Institute, Reason Foundation, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Washington Policy Center,Georgia Public Policy Foundation and others, this conference brings together business and community leaders, elected officials, policy experts, grassroots and Tea Party activists who are serious about how their communities grow. Register at http://tinyurl.com/38dc3xf.
Agenda 2011
– For facts, principles, innovative ideas and background on the issues, read our candidate briefing books on Taxes and Transportation.
Transportation
– The Chicago Transit Authority is poised for a second round of cuts because of the slow economic recovery, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The CTA, which earlier this year cut bus service by 18 percent, rail service by 9 percent and eliminated 1,000 positions, plans to cut more than 70 jobs and more than $50 million from next year’s budget.Nonunion employees will again forgo wage increases and have to take up to 18 furlough days. Union workers renegotiate their contract in 2012. At $28.64 an hour, the top wage rate for CTA’s (unionized) bus drivers ranks third-highest among U.S. transit agencies, although when the cost of living is taken into account, they are the highest paid in the nation.
– Visit www.gppf.org to read the Foundation’s latest commentary, “Online Education a Virtually Fail-proof Tool for Georgia’s Students,” by Mike Klein.
Have a great weekend.
Kelly McCutchen
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