Open Source / Open Standards

Open standards and open source are essential to local self-reliance. Citizens and communities should have the right to modify the technology they use in order to improve it and solve problems. Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, has compared software to a recipe. When cooking, you do not need permission to alter the pancake recipe to your taste. When you come across a problem in software that you are using, you should have the right to fix it.… Read More

Small Schools vs. Big Schools

One of the most effective ways to improve student achievement and curb school violence is to reduce the size of the nation’s schools. Hundreds of studies have found that students who attend small schools outperform those in large schools on every academic measure from grades to test scores. They are less likely to dropout and more … Read More

Earned Income Tax Credit

An earned income tax credit (EITC) is a tax reduction and wage supplement for low- and moderate-income working families. To qualify, one’s income must be earned; welfare benefits, interest on savings, or dividends on stocks don’t count. Seventeen states(inc. District of Columbia) now offer state EITCs based on the federal credit. In addition, two local governments … Read More

Universal Access to Pre-School

Preschool has been shown to increase students’ performance in high school, increase test scores, decrease the likelihood of being arrested for a violent offense as a juvenile, and decrease the likelihood that a child will experience abuse and/or neglect.

Mile-Based Auto Insurance

Proponents of this idea say older drivers, women, lower income drivers, households with more cars than drivers and commuters will all benefit from the new auto insurance policy.

Medical Malpractice Insurance Rate Regulation

Proponents of caps on medical malpractice awards frequently cite California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 as evidence that caps hold down insurance rates. In fact, the state’s rate increases were the same as the national average until 1988 when voters passed Proposition 103, which requires insurance companies to open their books and justify rate … Read More

Asset Building – Individual Development Accounts

From the Homestead Act to the GI Bill to home mortgage deductions, Americans have recognized that it is good public policy to help people build assets. Like the distribution of assets in the U.S., however, the distribution of incentives is skewed. Ninety percent of the benefits of the two largest asset-building programs in the country – … Read More

Living Wage

A campaign to raise the minimum wage to a “living wage” has been waged in cities around the country with great success. Over 100 cities and counties have passed a living wage law of some sort. Generally, these laws require that businesses that have contracts with the city provide a specified wage and benefits package that … Read More

Single-Payer and Universal Health Care

Citizen-led efforts to institute more universal health care programs are cropping up across the country. Some are very similar to the Canadian health care system. They call for a single-payer system, meaning that medical care would be paid for out of a single publicly administered pool of money, rather than by myriad managed care plans. In … Read More

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