Interesting news today for the Baconauts and Boomergeddons. The stock market has tanked because Standard & Poor’s Rating Services has cut its outlook on the U.S. to negative, saying it was worried about government deficits and debt. On the same day, the wire services are noting word from the IRS that “Super Rich See Federal…

State and local governments across the country all fund the same categories of public services: schools, Medicaid, social services, roads, corrections, etc. It says a lot about the priorities of a state’s legislators and electorate about which programs they fund the most generously (or, in our case, the most parsimoniously). In its 2011 edition of…

Virginians pride themselves (or flagellate themselves, depending upon their perspective) for being one of the most parsimonious of states when it comes to state government spending. According to data published by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, however, we were far from frugal in the decade of the 2000s. Virginia’s growth in state spending…

Hat tip to Ray Hyde for the following chart:Inflation in college tuition costs separated from the general Consumer Price Index in the early-mid 1980s and began accelerating in the early 1990s. It would be interesting to know what new legislation, new regulation, or economic/demographic trends accounted for the breakaway. My operating hypothesis is that the…

Innovative Work Roles for TeachersCenter for American ProgressThis study advocates alternatives for school staffing that make use of teachers’ outside-the-classroom talents. A program at West Springfield High School in Fairfax County is highlighted. Nonprofit Hospitals More Likely to Sustain Unprofitable Services in Small Town AmericaNational Bureau of Economic ResearchFor-profit hospitals in rural areas are quicker…

Danville in Southside Virginia has been especially hard hit by changing global markets. Once a major textile, tobacco and furniture town, the city has seen its economy decimated as those sectors have taken hits. Moving cut and sew plants to cheaper labor overseas helped shutter such local textile names as Dan River Mills and Tultex,…

In 2008, one in one hundred American adults was behind bars; one in 31 was either incarcerated or on probation or parole. Total state outlays for corrections is $52 billion. Preventing offenders from committing more crime when they are released — reducing the recidivism rate — is one strategy for controlling the second fastest-growing category…

Class-size reduction, or CSR, is one of the most popular ideas among parents, teachers and the general public for improving the quality of education in the United States. A recent poll indicated that 77 percent of Americans think that additional educational dollars should be spent on smaller classes rather than higher teacher salaries. In at…

Adapted from my op-ed in today’s Washington Times: President Obama talked a good game in his budget speech Wednesday, promising to close the budget gap by $4 trillion over the next 12 years – matching the $4 trillion in spending cuts proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin in the Republican Party’s proposed overhaul of…

Sandy Springs, Ga., city of 100,000 on the fringe of metropolitan Atlanta, provides a fascinating experiment in municipal government outsourcing. Incorporated just five years ago, it outsourced all government functions except public safety. The city contracted with CH2M Hill to manage the sub-contracting of specific functions to other enterprises. In the first year, according to…

Another dose of fiscal reality, this one from the Government Accountability Office: While the fiscal condition of state and local governments has improved slightly over the past year (you call that an improvement?), says the GAO in a new report, “State and Local Governments’ Fiscal Outlook,” the long-term outlook looks as bleak as ever. Rising…

How the Feds Can Save Failing SchoolsCenter for American ProgressSchool systems have proven they can’t turn around failing schools. Turn the job over to the Feds. Ryan Proposal Would Reduce Federal Medicaid Payouts to StatesCenter on Budget and Policy PrioritiesRep. Paul Ryan wants to convert federal Medicaid dollars to block grants. If his idea had…

It’s hard to take seriously a guy with the name of Wubbo Ockels. (The name does sound better in Dutch than in English.) But I give the Netherlands’ first astronaut credit for dreaming up — and prototyping — a fascinating transportation alternative. His electric-powered superbus can reach a speed of 250 kilometers per hour (about…

Employer-based Insurance and Entrepreneurial LockKauffman-Rand Institute for Entrepreneurship Public PolicySome would-be entrepreneurs are discouraged from starting their own business because they are worried about losing their employer-based health insurance.Multi-State Insurance ExchangesUrban InstituteIt might make sense for states to collaborate in creating Obamacare-mandated health exchanges, especially when large metro areas cross state boundaries. Metropolitan Washington, anyone?

I’m filing this a day late. My apologies. From now on, I will list only those Wonk Salon entries that I have not otherwise highlighted on Bacon’s Rebellion with their own blog posts.Free the SchoolsHeritage FoundationThe federal involvement in K-12 education has been a budget-busting disaster. It’s time to re-think the federal role in education.…