Out-of-Wedlock Births and the Culture of Despair National Bureau of Economic Research Out-of-wedlock births among women in low-income households arise from a culture of hoplessness and despair that is more likely to take hold in communities marked by inequalities in wealth. Oregon Boosts Health Coverage Despite Recession Oregon Center for Public Policy Despite adverse fiscal…

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exits a limousine in this AP photo It’s one small data point but it says so much about the aggrandizement of the political class under the Obama presidency: According to General Services Administration data, the number of limousines in the federal fleet increased from 238 in fiscal 2008, the last year of…

Succumbing to public pressure, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) has back-peddled on its plan to build an underground rail station as part of the Rail-to-Dulles Metro rail extension. That will chop about $300 million off the $3.8 million price tag for Phase 2 of the project. But negotiations continue between federal, state and local…

Maine Leads the Way in Market-Driven Health Care Heritage Foundation Maine tried Obama-styled health insurance reforms and found they didn’t work. Now the Pine Tree State is trying market-based reforms. Time for Progressives to Think Natural Gas Progressive Policy Institute Want to get a fast, cheap, 10-20% reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions? Back out…

By Peter Galuszka Moody’s Rating Service is about to pull the rug from under U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor and Gov. Bob McDonnell. It’s about time they had a reality check but too bad it will be so expensive. Moody’s says that Virginia is one of five states whose credit it might downgrade if the federal…

This is the stereotype of poverty in America. It’s also statistically rare and does not reflect a failure of the social safety net. by James A. Bacon Americans equate poverty with deprivation. Families wearing rags, living in tarpaper shacks, going hungry and lacking the basic tools to participate in mainstream American life — basically, the…

by James A. Bacon In the 1980s, two University of Pennsylvania criminologists published a research study on the impact of mandatory arrests in cases of domestic violence in Minneapolis, Minn. They found that the arrests led to lower rates of domestic violence. Based on that one study, police departments across the country began instituting mandatory…

by James A. Bacon File this under the heading of Fundamental Governance Reform. In a recent edition of the “Utne Reader,” Kirkpatrick Sales makes the case that the optimal size of a successful independent state is somewhere between 3 million and 5 million.  By his logic, the United States is massively dysfunctional. Even Virginia is…

The Role of Children’s Programs in a Changing Health Care Landscape: EPSDT, CHIP and Health Care Reform National Academy for State Health Policy Medicaid and CHIP can be strong forces in promoting family-centered, seamless health care, particularly when they work together. How Disadvantaged Schools Use Title I Funds Government Accountability Office School districts mainly use…

by James A. Bacon I’m normally not one for sermonizing. Hellfire-and-damnation preachers have been lamenting the moral decline of America for the past, oh, 300  years, and yet we survive. But sometimes I wonder. Could our country be experiencing a moral decline? It certainly feels so. Let me make one point really clear. I don’t…

TANF Block Grants No Model for Entitlement Reform Center for Budgetary and Policy Priorities Conservatives have lauded Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grants to the states as a model for entitlement reform. But the program has failed to keep up with needs during the recession and its aftermath.

States Will Save Money Under Obamacare Urban Institute The Affordable Care Act is a good deal for the 50 states. Overall, they could save $90 billion over five years. But the specifics vary by state and region. Virginia will spend more $0.9 billion on Medicaid while savings from uncompensated care could range from $500 million…

By Peter Galuszka The budget drama in Washington is bringing out some disturbing character flaws, namely that of Richmond Golden Boy Eric Cantor. Cantor, the House Majority Leader and a Main Street Republican from Henrico County, has been playing a dangerous game of chicken with Barack Obama and the Democrats over budget deals that would…

Putting State Funds to Work Demos Frustrated with too-big-to-fail banks that have pulled the plug on small business lending? Put state tax-revenue deposits in a locally owned bank willing to lend to small businesses in the state. Getting the Facts on Child Abuse Government Accountability Office According to government figures, nearly 1,800 children died last…

The Virginia Retirement System has recovered most of the losses it experienced during the 2008-2009 stock market crash, reaching $54.3 billion in assets as of March 31 after a 13% gain in its investment portfolio over the previous year, reports the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission in the draft of a semi-annual oversight report.…