Help Wanted
The biggest question confronting private-sector industries in Oregon is how they will replace…
Read Blog DetailYear: 2006
(In)security and Safety Nets
Summary Public benefit programs to support families in crisis have become distorted into…
Read Blog DetailMoving Out
After spending the first sixteen years of its existence located in downtown Portland,…
Read Blog DetailMilton Friedman, R.I.P.
A great champion of human liberty passed away on November 16th at the…
Read Blog DetailThe New Tax Climate
One result of last week’s election is that we may finally achieve tax…
Read Blog DetailAlternative Energy: Not Yet Ready for Prime Time
Summary In his 2006 Action Plan for Energy, Governor Ted Kulongoski says he…
Read Blog DetailThe Market has Spoken: Light Rail Can’t Compete
The most recent downtown employer survey by the Portland Business Alliance contains important…
Read Blog DetailAssets and Inequality
Summary While instrumental in maintaining some degree of stability for lower-income persons, the…
Read Blog DetailThe New Oregon Health Plan
An Oregon Senate commission decided last week to introduce legislation that would centralize…
Read Blog DetailNobel Prize “drives” home idea to help Oregon’s low-income population
Summary Lack of reliable transportation is a crucial barrier for low-income and welfare…
Read Blog DetailMetro’s Natural Area Bond Measure: Open Space for Whom?
Introduction Metro has placed a $227.4 million bond measure on the ballot for…
Read Blog DetailMetro’s Natural Area Bond Measure: Open Space for Whom?
Summary Metro’s $227.4 million bond measure on the ballot this November (Measure 26-80)…
Read Blog DetailAn Inconvenient Comparison: Should Oregon Trust Europe’s Model of CO2 Trading?
Summary Oregon’s carbon dioxide emissions are already so low that voluntarily participating in…
Read Blog DetailTestimony before the Portland Development Commission on its Prevailing Wage Policy
The Portland Development Commission (the semi-independent economic development arm of the Portland City…
Read Blog DetailBridging the Ideological Divide in Health Care Reform: An Actionable Plan for Oregon
Introduction The subject of health care reform in the United States has become…
Read Blog DetailBridging the Ideological Divide in Health Care Reform: An Actionable Plan for Oregon
Introduction The subject of health care reform in the United States has become…
Read Blog DetailAchieving Universal Health Insurance While Improving the Economy: A Reform Proposal for Oregon
Introduction In the United States, most health insurance coverage is obtained either through…
Read Blog DetailGoverning Ourselves
Oregonians will vote on ten statewide citizen initiatives this November. One Willamette University…
Read Blog DetailWarning: “Sin Taxes” May Be Hazardous to the State
Summary Oregon’s cigarette tax has become an “essential” source of funding for government…
Read Blog DetailUnpacking Oregon’s Judiciary
Summary The ways in which Oregon judges are selected and held accountable lead…
Read Blog DetailCourting Trouble: Unpacking Oregon’s Judiciary
Crisis of Legitimacy In recent years, the spectacle of Oregon courts overturning citizens’…
Read Blog DetailSchool district Berlin Walls
How many of us remember the scenes of young East Germans risking their…
Read Blog DetailTestimony before the House Select Committee on Education
The Oregon House Select Committee on Education, chaired by Representative Linda Flores, is…
Read Blog DetailEnding Hybrid Welfare
Federal tax credits for hybrid-electric vehicles manufactured by Toyota will be cut in…
Read Blog DetailPrevailing Wage Laws: Legislating Inequity
Summary Prevailing wage laws discriminate against one group of workers in favor of…
Read Blog DetailPrevailing Wage Laws: Legislating Inequity
Introduction and Summary “Prevailing” wage legislation requires that a particular wage rate be…
Read Blog DetailShould government invest in wave machines?
When the Oregon legislature convenes in January it will be asked to spend…
Read Blog DetailIt Starts With a Quarter
Metro recently decided to impose a $0.25 tax on all Oregon zoo admissions,…
Read Blog DetailTerm Limits are an American Tradition
This week an Oregonian letter writer objected to a measure on November’s ballot…
Read Blog DetailRe-arranging Deck Chairs on the Housing Titanic
The Portland City Council wants to spend at least 30% of all urban…
Read Blog DetailTobacco Revenues Prove Addictive
Preface In 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, taxing every sheet…
Read Blog DetailBig Money doesn’t help Small Schools
The biggest private foundation in the world is pouring millions of dollars into…
Read Blog DetailTaxing Oregon’s Tourists
Summary Oregon state and local governments levy over $268 million a year in…
Read Blog DetailAn Inconvenient Poll
According to a recent poll commissioned by several environmental groups, only two percent…
Read Blog DetailOregon’s New Umbrella: The Rainy Day Amendment
Summary The Rainy Day Amendment responds to the fact that Oregon’s state budget…
Read Blog DetailOregon’s New Umbrella: The Rainy Day amendment
What if Oregon could enjoy the fastest economic growth of any state over…
Read Blog DetailOpen Primary, Closed Doors
Lately there has been much talk in political circles about the proposed ballot…
Read Blog DetailUrban Renewal at what Cost?
Recently the Portland City Council approved a $51 million dollar extension of the…
Read Blog DetailWrong Turn on Biofuels
The Portland City Council recently approved an initiative mandating the sale of ethanol-blended…
Read Blog DetailRethinking Renewable Energy
We are living in an age where growing numbers of individuals and groups…
Read Blog DetailDeclaring Independence from Kelo
Last week, President Bush responded to the US Supreme Court’s decision on eminent…
Read Blog DetailHOPEing for Healthcare
The high cost of healthcare these days is astounding, and so is the…
Read Blog DetailWho should pay for your college education?
Oregonians have nixed a sales tax nine times at the ballot box, yet…
Read Blog DetailA Teachable Moment: Leveraging Oregon’s School Trust Lands
Oregon owns a billion dollars worth of agricultural and timber land that is…
Read Blog DetailDon’t Kick the Kicker – part II
Last November state economists estimated that Oregon’s tax revenues could exceed their projections…
Read Blog DetailEminent Domain is Never the Solution
Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard wants the government to use its power of…
Read Blog DetailOregon Charter School Report Card: The history, progress and future of charter schools in Oregon
INTRODUCTION by Steve Buckstein In 1991, two distinct educational reform paths took off…
Read Blog DetailEveryone Suffers Until No One Suffers
The Portland Public School District is going through a painful process of closing…
Read Blog DetailDr. Howard Fuller — Black Alliance for Educational Options
The Black Alliance for Educational Options and the Cascade Policy Institute present highlights…
Read Blog DetailDr. Howard Fuller — Black Alliance for Educational Options
The Black Alliance for Educational Options and the Cascade Policy Institute present highlights…
Read Blog DetailThe School Soda Scam
The American Beverage Association announced last week that it has worked with the…
Read Blog Detail“Right” to health care violates individual rights
Summary Three state lawmakers have turned the philosophy of individual rights on its…
Read Blog DetailStop leaving most children behind
While most Portlanders are focused on the Portland Public School District’s financial woes…
Read Blog DetailTaxation is Uncivilized
Click here to read the report in PDF format This year, as you…
Read Blog DetailTobacco Tax Revenues: Oregon’s New Addiction
The State of Oregon sued tobacco companies this week to recover more money…
Read Blog DetailLeaving Most Children Behind: Thirty Years of Education Reform at Jefferson
Introduction In January, 2006, the Portland School Board voted to “reorder” the Jefferson…
Read Blog DetailReport Details Decades of Failure at Jefferson High School
Critics Charge Portland Public Schools with Sub-Standard Education This report was recently covered…
Read Blog DetailReport Details Decades of Failure at Jefferson High School
Critics Charge Portland Public Schools with Sub-Standard Education This report was recently covered…
Read Blog DetailClosing an Attractive Nuisance
Portland’s new campaign finance law is giving $145,000 in public funds to candidates…
Read Blog DetailAnaheim, a Free-Market Laboratory
The massive cost overruns on the aerial tram have been a source of…
Read Blog DetailPay Less, Drive More
Last Wednesday the Bush administration announced new fuel economy standards for light trucks…
Read Blog DetailSuing for Schools — Part II
Oregon’s school funding debate has entered a new phase. Last week several school…
Read Blog DetailHealth Mandates Price Some Out of Insurance Market
Summary The 2005 Oregon Legislature sought to improve health insurance by adding to…
Read Blog DetailAnti-Wal-Mart Wisdom
Gresham is the latest Oregon community to do battle with retail giant Wal-Mart….
Read Blog DetailFarmers Need Fewer Subsidies, More Freedom
A new task force has been appointed to review Oregon’s statewide land-use planning…
Read Blog DetailTime to Sell Off the University System?
Kirby Dyess, vice president of the State Board of Higher Education, stunned her…
Read Blog DetailSteve Buckstein’s remarks to the Dorchester Conference
Steve Buckstein, Cascade Senior Policy Analyst and founder, was asked to give a presentation before The Dorchester Conference, billed as America’s oldest annual political conference, which took place in Seaside, Oregon the weekend of March 3-5, 2006. Steve’s previous presentations included arguments in favor of school choice and Social Security personal accounts.
Read Blog DetailSaying No to Basketball and Trams
Finally, something we can all agree on. Pro-government and anti-tax activists alike are…
Read Blog DetailOregon Supreme Court Gets One Right
The Oregon Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the constitutionality of Measure 37, the…
Read Blog DetailLast Hand of the Game
There may be hope for the Portland City Council yet. After being thoroughly…
Read Blog DetailStupid in Oregon
Summary John Stossel’s recent TV special, “Stupid in America” energized the debate about…
Read Blog DetailSuing for Schools
If you can’t convince legislators to spend more money on the public school…
Read Blog DetailPromoting Biodiesel is Easy: Set Farmers Free to Sell It
Summary Though efforts to promote biodiesel have focused on subsidies and use mandates,…
Read Blog DetailPublic Schools: They’re Not Really Public
One of the biggest challenges for parents is deciding where to live in…
Read Blog DetailSelf-Serve Ban Undermines Self-Reliance
The revelation that Portland recently had the lowest average gasoline price in the…
Read Blog DetailAiding poverty in Africa: Giving ‘til it hurts
Summary International commitments to increase foreign aid to African nations ignore the causes…
Read Blog DetailAnother School Choice Hurdle
Last week the Florida Supreme Court threw out the state’s “Opportunity Scholarships” that…
Read Blog DetailRetail Discrimination
Walgreens wants to open a drugstore in Sandy. Some local residents are opposed…
Read Blog Detail