Biofuel Funding Goes Elsewhere

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

Missouri was not selected to be the site of a federally-funded biofuels research center:

The Department of Energy announced Tuesday it will fund three biofuels research centers in Oak Ridge, Tenn., Madison, Wis., and near Berkeley, Calif.

I, for one, am not sorry. Economic growth happens when entrepreneurs work to satisfy consumers’ needs, not when established organizations vie for federal dollars. If biofuel is really a good idea, it’ll be profitable to invest in it even without government funds.

Northwest Missourians Have Better Stuff to Do

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

The St. Joseph News-Press complains that not enough Missourians from the northwest part of the state are serving on boards and commissions:

The new Seismic Safety Commission will always come from Cape Girardeau. And the governor can find a nominee for the Board of Examiners for Cosmetology and Barbers from anywhere in the state. It just seems that anywhere is rarely St. Joseph.

Gov. Blunt encourages everyone to serve on state boards:

"I encourage Missourians to explore our state’s boards and commissions and apply for an appointment that allows them to use their God-given talents to help enhance the services we deliver to Missourians each and every day," the governor said in a prepared release.

So there is the challenge. If Northwest Missouri wants someone on the lead poisoning committee or the Hispanic Business Trade and Culture Committee, we are going to need volunteers to step up to the plate.

It looks like northwest Missourians just prefer to use their God-given talents to do something productive themselves rather than to patrol other people.

Virtual School Enrollment

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

Missouri’s virtual school has filled almost all of the available spaces:

Missouri’s new virtual school has only a few free slots still open, but more students can still take classes if they pay tuition, says the director of the online education program.

It’s interesting that almost no one protests the virtual school. The only complaint I’ve heard is that it doesn’t yet offer middle school courses. On the other hand, charter schools, tuition tax credits proposals, and busing programs are accused of hurting the traditional public schools.

Maybe this is because students have the option of taking one or two online courses while remaining in a public school. Other choice options like charter schools might be more popular if they offered individual courses or after-school tutoring to supplement traditional schools.

Hurray for Free Speech

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

Jo Mannies blogs about the Supreme Court ruling against some of the McCain-Feingold speech restrictions. The decision was popular with some of her readers, who commented:

    1. I just LOVE that part of McCain/Feingold went down today?

      Comment by tsquare — June 25, 2007 @ 2:27 pm

    2. You mean that citizens of the USA are now permitted to express themselves freely even within 2 months of an election?

      What a country!!!

      Comment by chris d — June 25, 2007 @ 4:54 pm

Hear, hear. Mannies notes:

Until McCain-Feingold, such ads have had a strong presence on Missouri TV stations. They were a major presence in the 2002 U.S. Senate contest between Democratic incumbent Jean Carnahan and Republican Jim Talent.

In close races like the ones we often see in Missouri, it’s as important as ever that people be allowed to air ads about political issues.

If You Build It, They Will Come!

Posted on by Maurice Harris

In today’s Southeast Missourian, an article discusses the increasing popularity of the virtual school program in Missouri. In fact, it’s so popular that they have almost run out of free spots, and will have to charge tuition:

Missouri’s new virtual school has only a few free slots still open, but
more students can still take classes if they pay tuition, says the
director of the online education program.

Starting Monday, parents could sign up their children to take elementary or high school classes for the cost of tuition.

When you give parents options on where they would like to educate their children, they will take advantage of it. Now that the state sees that there is a great interest in the Missouri Virtual Instruction Program (MoVIP) it will be expanded, which will happen next year to cover middle school children. A parent had this to say about the MoVIP program, in the article:

My son is one of the high school students. What a great opportunity.

The Conspiracy to Give Parents a Choice

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

This Sylvester Brown Jr. column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch speculates about the reasons people are pushing for charter schools and vouchers:

"Can’t you see the pattern, man?" Sol said. "Powerful folks with secret plans, always shoving blacks aside, ignoring our wishes, sometimes our votes, doing what they want ?"

Sal interrupted, "That still has diddly to do with the schools."

"It doesn’t?" Sol responded. "Tell me, what part of town has received billions in investment dollars? Downtown. And who lives downtown now?"

I’d just perused a 2005 Downtown St. Louis Partnership report profiling downtown dwellers. I shared what I’d learned. About 25 percent of the 10,000 residents are single people in their 20s. Another 20 percent are in their 30s.

"Yes," Sol said, "young people who, in a few years, will have school-age kids. That’s why we’re hearing about future charter schools and vouchers. It’s not about kids in school today. They’re planning for the future."

I can see why people would think that public school reform isn’t "about kids in school today." We’re told again and again that the public schools just need more time to improve; meanwhile, teenagers graduate (or don’t) year after year without the skills they need to succeed in life.

However, I don’t think vouchers and charter schools fall into that category. There already are charter schools, and Mayor Slay wants to open others right now — not sometime in the future when there are more white kids in the city. There doesn’t seem to be much enthusiasm for vouchers here, but the tuition tax credit proposals that were advanced in the last few years would have been effective immediately.

And I find it impossible to believe that all of these different reform strategies are just part of a conspiracy to make the city nicer for white people. Bad public schools hurt everyone.

Tax Incentives for Centene

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

David Nicklaus writes about Centene’s search for a place to expand:

Richard Fleming, president of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, said he spoke at an RCGA board meeting Thursday about Centene’s importance to St. Louis. Centene CEO Michael Neidorff, a member of the board, was there, and other board members applauded in agreement, Fleming said.

"This company is a valued corporate headquarters," Fleming said. "They’re heavily involved in community activities and philanthropy. We shouldn’t take them for granted; we should make it clear that they’re wanted."

Missouri has already offered Centene $9 million in tax breaks, but according to Centene, that might not be enough now that they can’t use eminent domain to acquire property.

Instead of giving this one corporation a tax cut, why not pass a tax cut for everyone? We want to attract many businesses to Missouri, not just the ones that try to seize property through eminent domain, then threaten to leave when that doesn’t work. An across-the-board tax cut would be more fair to the business owners who don’t seek out special privileges.

Housing Tax Credits Are Not Providing Housing

Posted on by Maurice Harris

In today’s Columbia Daily Tribune, an op-ed piece discusses the problems with the Missouri Housing Development Commission’s state tax credit program. Apparently the housing tax credits, which are supposed to be used for low-income and senior housing projects, has been going toward developers who use it as start-up funding for their projects, and then cashing it in for the full tax break:

A recent study ordered by the housing commission found the system does produce beneficial low-cost housing but at a high cost to the state because the tax credits usually are sold to third party investors by developers at steep discounts.

At the end of the day, the full tax credit is not going toward the stated purpose:

Investors buy the credits, providing discounted front money so developers can proceed with projects, then redeem the credits for 100 percent state tax reduction. For every dollar the state gives in tax discounts, only 35 or 40 cents subsidizes housing.

Again it’s shown that while tax credit programs may sound beneficial and good, at the end of the day they aren’t used for their stated purposes. The taxpayers are picking up the bill for investments that should be covered by private investors’ own money.

Support Us

The work of the Show-Me Institute would not be possible without the generous support of people who are inspired by the vision of liberty and free enterprise. We hope you will join our efforts and become a Show-Me Institute sponsor.

Donate
Man on Horse Charging