Georgia lawmakers are mulling tax increases and gimmicks to plug a projected budget gap of more than $2 billion, but a new Tax Foundation report cautions against such tactics and urges tax reform that will stabilize revenue.

By Jacob G. Hornberger

In preparation for two recent back-to-back blizzards, residents in the Washington, D.C., area emptied the shelves of neighborhood grocery stores. Notwithstanding the pre-blizzard panic buying, what’s interesting is that no one was freaking out about whether the stores would be adequately stocked after the blizzards.

By Gov. Sonny Perdue

Last month I proposed a new plan that will transform the way we compensate K-12 teachers and leaders in our state. It will put them on the same playing field as our state’s top coaches who are rewarded for consistently winning games.

By E. Frank Stephenson

The General Assembly convened this year facing the daunting challenge of closing a billion-dollar budget hole, partly caused by the slumping economy and the consequent decrease in tax revenues.

BY Rep. Lynn Westmoreland

President Obama could learn a lesson or two from the lyrics of my favorite country music singer, Coweta County native Alan Jackson.

By Ronald E. Bachman

It turns out that “Joe the Plumber” gave us the real insight to the ultimate goals of the Obama presidency and the current Congress: redistribution of wealth.

Americans have celebrated 232 Christmases since we declared our independence from Great Britain, 219 since our federal government was implemented under the new Constitution.

By Sheldon Richman

If Congress manages to pass a health-insurance bill in the next few weeks, it will undoubtedly require every person to have medical coverage or pay a fine. If someone’s employer doesn’t offer a policy, he will be obligated to buy one for himself no matter how expensive. (Subsidies will be available to lower- and middle-income people.)

Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible

Pastors get some of the most interesting questions from people they meet and people in their congregations. Here are some that I’ve gotten over the years and for this column.

By Shiraz Karaa

As the nation welcomes the return of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who will take advantage of the expanded GI Bill education benefits, Clayton State University, among other post-secondary education institutions, will see and has seen an increasing number of soldiers who are pursuing higher education opportunities.

By Ken Mitchell

One of the hallmarks of the current healthcare reform debate has been the continuous stream of misinformation and misunderstandings about the various proposals – and organizations – in the discussion.

North Fayette United Methodist Church will host The Nashville Writers Group in concert Saturday, Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m.

By SHELDON RICHMAN

Enough dithering! President Obama says it’s time to act on healthcare. I agree.

But act how? Are we really going to be happy with the pussy-footing proposals floating around Congress? All the so-called reformers want to do is tinker with insurance regulations. But how effective would that be, considering that the insurance companies themselves support the changes?

We have taken our eyes off the ball, people. Let’s get back to first principles. Obama’s premise is that we have a right to healthcare. A right.

By Robert M. Goldberg

When it comes to evaluating the claims of Democrats about rationing and how to deal with grandma, I am guided by that great philosopher, Marx. That’s Groucho, not Karl, who famously said, “Who do you believe, me or your eyes?”

By Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D.

I am dismayed that recent town halls across the country have been curtailed or canceled as spineless legislators refuse to face their constituents to hear average American citizens voice their fears and worries about what may be happening to their healthcare under the current “reform” proposals from Washington.

By Sheldon Richman

It’s easy to get distracted by the details and crushing cost estimates of “healthcare reform” while losing sight of the key question: Can a handful of congressmen, most of whom probably have never even run a small business, design an entire market for medical services and insurance?

By Jarrett Skorup

[Editor’s note: This article first appeared through the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich.]

By DAVID RAYNOR

In 1912, aiming for speed and ignoring iceberg warnings was a poor strategy for the Titanic. In 2009, aiming for universal health insurance and ignoring cost warnings is equally dangerous.

By Sheldon Richman

Barack Obama insists he does not want the government to run the medical system. He insists that he wants only to fix what’s broken while leaving what works intact.

By REP. LYNN WESTMORELAND

Any national healthcare reform must focus on increasing efficiency so that more Americans can have access to affordable coverage.

By Ray Nothstine

Individuals and groups terrified of nationalized healthcare like to point to examples of government dysfunction, such as Medicaid, to stoke fears of what a government-managed plan would look like in the United States.

By KIMBERLY LEARNARD

As federal stimulus dollars find their way into Georgia, we should all keep a close eye on where the money goes. Take a look at www.recovery.gov and click on the map to see what Georgia is doing with a few billion dollars. Among other projects, roads get $932 million and public transportation gets $144 million.

By Sheldon Richman

David Brooks, the New York Times’s resident neoconservative, delights in peddling a false alternative: freedom or social order.

By Dr. Jeffrey Herbener

The Bush administration subjected us to a deluge of fiscal and monetary expansion, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1960s.

By Harold Brown

Earth Day approaches again, and with it the self-flagellation that comes with what passes for “environmental consciousness” across this nation.

Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible

Pastors get some of the most interesting questions from people they meet and people in their congregations. Here are a few that I’ve gotten in my ministry over the years and via email for this column.

By Jason Pye

On Monday, Jan. 15, the 150th session of the Georgia General Assembly will be gaveled into session in Atlanta. From that time to Sine Die, as Mark Twain once said, “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe.”

By HAROLD BROWN

What is so attractive about concepts that defy definition? The concept du jour is “sustainable,” a fashionable adjective for many objectives, an umbrella for many agendas.

By Dr. John A. Sparks

Where will the Obama kids attend school in Washington? That question has been answered as it should be: by the new president and first lady.

By Rep. Lynn Westmoreland

We Georgians aren’t accustomed to all this national political attention. Our state’s Dec. 2 U.S. Senate runoff between incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin, though, has thrust us into the national spotlight.