1) Nothing Could Be Finer Than Near-Universal School Choice in North Carolina
We predicted back in January that 2023 would be the year of school choice - and it sure has been. The latest domino to drop is in North Carolina, Where Democratic Governor Roy Cooper has decided to let the GOP voucher bill become law.
Opportunity scholarships worth $176 million in private schools will now be available for the 2023-24 school year, increasing to $520 million by 2032.
CTUP's sister group Unleash Prosperity Now ran a campaign to pressure Cooper into accepting the bill by comparing his opposition to George Wallace standing in front of the school doors in Alabama refusing to let black children attend better schools. In the end, he folded.
NC Households that make less than $55,000 will receive a full $7,400 scholarship, with $6,600 available for incomes up to $111,000 and $4,440 available for incomes up to $249,750. A scholarship of $3,330 would be available for incomes above that if there are sufficient funds.
North Carolina is the 16th state to enact a new or expanded school choice program this year and the first state to pass a universal choice program without a Republican trifecta. A special session in Texas is up next.
Here is the map of states that have been added to the column of offering school choice programs.
2) The Government Will Now Run the Grocery Stores in Chicago
When Milton Friedman first proposed school choice in the 1950s, he famously argued that “The process by which we ensure a supply of basic goods is usually not done directly by the government, otherwise we would see cities own the supermarkets that provide us food.”
He was lampooning the idea, but believe it or not, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (who worked as a paid organizer for the teachers union until his election) has taken the idea to heart.
“We know access to grocery stores is already a challenge for many residents, especially on the South and West sides,” he said at a press conference on Friday. “I am proud to work alongside partners to take this step in envisioning what a municipally owned store in Chicago could look like.”
The mayor has no intention of stopping there. His key “partner” is a radical think tank called the Economic Security Project, which also hopes to create socialized banks, drugmakers, and child care providers – even though it can't educate kids, it can't fix the potholes, and it can't stop rampant street crime.
Ironically, progressive policies are what caused the stores to flee. And by the way, the checkout lines to get milk and eggs will be as long as what you experience at the DMV.
3) Chicago in Danger of Losing the Iconic Board of Trade
Speaking of Mayor Johnson, he wants to soak it to the rich with taxes and impose a transaction tax on derivative trading.
So a near-trillion dollar trading industry – made famous for example in the Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy movie Trading Places, is considering packing up and leaving for a friendlier environment. It makes as much sense as Nebraska putting a tax on every ear of corn produced.
The mayor is reportedly undecided:
"We don’t want to leave,” said Ed Tilly, the chief executive officer of Cboe Global Markets Inc., the firm behind Wall Street’s so-called “fear gauge,” the VIX. “But we cannot be in a position where we are disadvantaged in the most competitive markets in the world, where our competitors don’t face the same economics that we would.” ...
The derivatives industry, home to some of the most profitable businesses in the city, is a tempting target to plug that gap. Just CME Group Inc. and Cboe, the two firms that are publicly traded, had combined adjusted income of more than $3.6 billion last year.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said that no decision has been made on a transactions tax and the administration is open to dialogue with businesses.
So far Chicago has mostly avoided the mass exodus we've seen from California and New York, and employment in the derivatives industry is still rising:
4) Which Party Is Better at Protecting Free Speech?
Alas, neither party is very good at protecting this fundamental First Amendment right. Two recent Real Clear Politics poll questions show that too many voters in both parties want to shut down the speech of the other. But Democrats are much more Stalinistic:
Poll respondents read this statement: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Democrats were a disaster
Only 31% of Democratic voters “strongly agreed.”
Republicans were shaky
Only 51% of Republicans “strongly agreed”
Here's another one.
Does government have a responsibility to limit “hateful” social media posts:
75% of Democrats say yes
50% of Republicans say yet
We've got a lot of work to do as a country to protect First Amendment rights.
5) The Rarest of DC Events: A Federal Agency Actually Closes
It only took 27 years!
The FDA made it official last week:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) is announcing the termination of the Board of Tea Experts by the Federal Tea Tasters Repeal Act of 1996... This rule is effective September 19, 2023...
The Board of Tea Experts was established on March 2, 1897, by the Tea Importation Act of 1897 (Pub. L. 54–358, section 2, March 2, 1897, 29 Stat. 604). The Board was responsible for making recommendations to the Secretary of the Treasury to fix and establish uniform standards of purity, quality, and fitness for consumption of all kinds of teas imported into the United States. The Board was terminated by the Federal Tea Tasters Repeal Act of 1996.
