Computers Not a Great Gift to Schools
One of the most useful classes I ever took, in any educational institution, was "personal typing" in the ninth grade. It was a one-semester introduction to the manual typewriter. The most innovative (or so we thought) part of the class was the fact that the teacher played music while we were doing our drills. Oh yes, and we also had to type with a sheet of blank paper over our fingers. That helped me develop into a touch typist (wpm: 70 or so) rather than a practitioner of the hunt-and-peck method.

Since then, I've typed reports, training materials, e-mail, newspaper op-eds, magazine articles, and all sorts of other printed material. Since I have always used a keyboard in my work, you might say that this was the extent of my vocational training.

I have no idea how people learn how to type these days. Last time I checked, there were various software programs available for the purpose.

All of this is a long introduction to a short Q&A with a technology columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Mike Wendland receives an e-mail from a suburban teacher who warns against the widespread adoption of computers in the schools: "Our school district is faced with decreasing funding from the state, and we are having to make choices regarding repairing plumbing or buying books. Computers are not like textbooks that last 20 years. They need to be replaced. It becomes a huge burden to the districts receiving the computers, and a potential financial time bomb for the Michigan educational system."

Now, you may say, computers are important for research purposes. Well, yes, a computer can be very useful for that purpose, especially if it is tied into the world wide web and online databases. But really, what we're talking about here (for students) is learning how to do library research. No need to spend millions of dollars for that. Send the kids to the library, let them take a whirl around the keyboard, and then send them back to class.
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Guaranteed Issue: Guaranteed to Raise Insurance Premiums
One of my latest publications, from the Maine Public Policy Institute. Click here for the PDF file.
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Changing the Financing of Higher Education
Now this is exciting. Colorado and South Carolina are considering a form of privatization for state universities. Virginia and Wisconsin may give universities less money, but more autonomy. Washington may turn to specific performance goals, such as graduation rates.

Universities in Colorado are subject to a constitutional amendment, and are thus limited in their abilities to raise tuition. So they're in favor of a proposal that would shift the focus of state subsidies from universities to students. Universities would be free to raise tuition as much as they would like--but then, they would have to find ways to compete for students. Just possibly, this could lead to the end of some superfluous programs and staff; even with a customer base receiving amped-up financial aid packages from the state, universities would have to take some steps to make sure they don't price themselves out of reach of their customers.

The Independence Institute advocated such a switch a few years ago. The link to their policy paper is broken at the moment, but you can read the proposal in these three Acrobat files: part 1, part 2, and part 3.
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The Morass that is Campaign Finance Reform
Writing for The Weekly Standard, David Tell takes a stab at explaining the current mess of campaign finance reform.

He starts out with two headlines on the same day from two leading newspapers. Says the NY Times: Advocacy Groups Permitted to Use Unlimited Funds . . . Ruling Favors Democrats.

From the Washington Post: FEC Moves to Regulate Groups Opposing Bush

It gets more complicated from there, as Tell deals with the latest in the regulation of "527" groups. If you're so inclined, go read the article. The short of it all, though, is another lesson in the unintended consequences of government policy, as well as hypocrisy in both major parties.

For the latter point, 527s were popular with Republicans when Newt Gingrich ran GOPAC. They're opposed to them now that Democrats are using them, big time. And for the former point, Democrats, who were the major force for the most recent federal restrictions on free speech, now face a ruling from the Federal Elections Commission which implies that some of their favorite 527s are engaging in illegal activity.
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The Dangers of Expanding Medicaid
Oklahoma's governor, Brad Henry, has proposed raising cigarette taxes and adding up to 200,000 more people to SoonerCare, the state's Medicaid program. Some of those people (or actually, their employers) will receive subsidies to buy private insurance, though it's not clear what the ratio of employer-coverage versus SoonerCare enrollment would be.

Even if you don't live in the Sooner State, the ensuing debate is worth watching if you are interested in health care policy. The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs has published two viewpoints on the subject. In the March 2004 of Perspective, I give support for superiority of premium supports over increased enrollment in SoonerCare. Even better, though, would be giving refundable tax credits to the uninsured, as well as loosening regulations that drive up the cost of insurance.

Steve Anderson calls the governor's plan "very bad, and details how the cost of Medicaid programs have historically far outstripped initial projections.
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Giving Property Owners Protection Against Downzoning
Say you own a parcel of land in anticipation of one day selling it to someone who will develop it into an apartment complex or shopping center. Then the local government comes along and changes the zoning so that the land becomes less valuable, a process called "downzoning."

What happens then?

In many states, you're out of luck. And potentially out of lots of money.

The Arizona-based Goldwater Institute proposes vesting property rights by state law.

"The statute provides that a landowner is guaranteed an exemption from all subsequent zoning changes upon approval of a plat or site plan. If Arizona adopts similar vesting legislation, it should provide that a vested right is established upon the submission of a plat or site plan to the appropriate government entity so long as the plat or site plan conforms to zoning requirements in place at the time of submission. This would allow a landowner to secure vested rights without relying on an act of the municipal government.
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The Non-Poor You Shall Have Always
Jesus said "the poor you shall have always." A derivative of that saying may be "the non-poor you shall have always--in your state programs for the poor.

Michael Bond writes briefly for the Buckeye Institute about Ohio's Medicaid program, which threatens to consume much of that state's budget.

"As the State struggles to deal with a serious budget problem a reasonable question is why a program for the poor covers far more than the total number of impoverished in the State?"

The answer, he writes, lies in the programs continued expansion of the program beyond its original intent. First, the income level to qualify for the program was increased, so that you didn't have to fall under the federal poverty level. Second, eligibility was not limited so single parents; you simply had to fall within the income guidelines.

Some people consider the expansion of government programs a sign of success--more people, in this case, are getting health coverage. But as Bond points out, it's a less sanguine situation: 50 to 75 percent of new Medicaid enrollees dropped their private insurance coverage. In other words, by design or accident, Medicaid expansion has contributed to the decline of personal health insurance and the rise of bureaucratic, socialized medicine.
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