Stalemate in the War on Poverty
Brookings Institution

Forty-seven years and trillions of dollars later, Americans haven’t come close to winning the war on poverty. Unemployment, low wages, dissolving families, mediocre education and an influx of ill-educated immigrants keep poverty rates high.

Want Better Schools? Deal with the Bad Teachers
Hoover Institution
Replacing the worst 5% to 10% of school teachers would dramatically lift educational the achievement level of American students.

Let States Opt Out of the Dysfunctional Highway Trust Fund
Heritage Foundation
Let states opt out of the federal highway trust fund, from which a third of the revenue is pillaged for non-road projects, and hand over the money in a block grant.

The Impact of Job Losses on Student Achievement
National Bureau of Economic Research
When you’re rating school systems by their ability to show Adequate Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind, just remember that high unemployment among parents and in the community has a deleterious effect on student achievement.

Tort Reform Won’t Halt Rising Health Care Costs
Century Foundation
Conservative arguments that capping awards on medical malpractice lawsuits can contain health care costs are totally bogus.

Time to Get Cracking on Setting up Health Care Exchanges
Center for American Progress
Obamacare requires states to set up health care exchanges by 2014, or Uncle Sam will do the job for them. States have a lot to think about before they get started.