TOP POLICY STORIES
EPA Used Flawed Methods Investigating Hydraulic Fracturing, Study Finds, James M. Taylor, The Heartland Institute
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency used improper procedures and analytical methods in its report on hydraulic fracturing and water quality near Pavillion, Wyoming, concludes an independent scientific assessment.
EPA asserts hydraulic fracturing may have polluted groundwater in the Pavillion region. If EPA ultimately concludes hydraulic fracturing indeed polluted groundwater in the region, it would mark the first time the agency has ever found a link between hydraulic fracturing and groundwater pollution. (read more)
Social Security Belly Up by 2033, Tim Kelly, columnist, Future of Freedom Foundation
Social Security has an unfunded liability of $8.6 trillion and will run out of money by 2033, three years earlier than projected just one year ago, according to the 2012 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds.
Medicare’s hospital insurance fund is projected to run dry in 2024.
The unfunded liability is the amount that has been promised in benefits to people now alive that will exceed the revenue the system is expected to collect. (read more)
Research & Commentary: New Jersey Education Tax Credits, Joy Pullmann, The Heartland Institute
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been trying for nearly two years to persuade state legislators to pass a bill creating a pilot tax credit scholarship using donations from businesses to fund school tuition for poor children stuck in some of the state’s chronically failing public schools.
Some legislators and interest groups claim the proposal—Assembly Bill 2810 and Senate Bill 1872—would cost the state upwards of
$1 billion, divert public funds to private institutions, weaken public schools, pull high achievers out of public schools and leave more special-needs students behind, and fail to serve student needs as well as public schools do. They argue the state’s worst schools need more funding and better programs. (read more)
Employer Requests for Passwords on the Rise, Kenneth Artz, The Heartland Institute
Robert Collins, a 30-year-old college student, applied for a job with the state of Maryland in 2010 and was asked for his Facebook password during an interview.
Collins testified in February before the Maryland legislature that he gave the interviewer his password because he needed the job. He said the interviewer then went on his Facebook page and began checking messages and photos for any gang affiliations. (read more)
Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly: Settled Down, Maureen Martin, The Heartland Institute
The personal injury trial took a week, but the jury deliberated for just four hours. The case involved a plaintiff who fell from an ambulance and suffered a brain injury.
Lawyers for both sides were certain the verdict would go for the defense. “I’ve got to get this kid something,” the plaintiff’s lawyer was thinking. He had asked for millions from the jury, but settled for $350,000 just before the jurors were to announce their verdict in open court. (read more)
Subscribe to iTunes to get the latest podcasts as soon as they are produced! Just search for “Heartland Institute” in the iTunes store. (listen here)
GIVE NOW
Your steadfast support of The Heartland Institute, its mission, and free-market ideas helps change public policy and America!
We change public policy together. Visit giving.heartland.org and make a tax-deductible contribution today. Give now!
Comments are closed.