Month: June 2005

Summary

Occupational licensing boards often make licensing requirements arbitrarily difficult, limiting the competition within a profession. This drives up prices and keeps qualified individuals out of certain lines of work. Oregon should adopt a system of occupational certification, which give consumers the freedom to choose between certified and non-certified service providers. (more…)

Last week “the Supreme Court put a big UP FOR GRABS sign on your home.” That’s how the Castle Coalition, a national property rights group, summarized the Court decision that allows the city of New London, Connecticut to take homes and small businesses and give them to other private parties just because more taxes and jobs might be generated.

America’s founders made it clear that (more…)

Last Thursday, the Senate approved an energy plan requiring large utilities to generate 10% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020, financed in part by a small increase in electricity rates. Since renewables currently account for only 2 percent of electricity production, this would be a five-fold increase.

About half of all utility customers already have (more…)

Summary

Fraudulent unemployment insurance claims cost Oregon taxpayers $76.3 million in 2003, or 9.5 percent of all claims paid. Oregon’s fraudulent claims rate is higher than average, and it spends significantly more on processing claims than most states. Oregonians should demand better accountability from their Employment Department before spending more on this flawed system. (more…)

The Canadian Supreme Court recently dealt a serious blow to the notion that single-payer health care is better than a competitive market system. In a June 9th decision, the Court struck down a law banning private health insurance in Quebec province on the grounds that waiting lists had become so long that they violated patients’ “liberty, safety and security.”

The Court went on to say (more…)