2006

Click here to view and here to listen to Joseph Coletti discussing this Spotlight report. RALEIGH – North Carolina could make health insurance more affordable for everyone by…

Health insurance should act like insurance, not a payment plan for regular medical needs. It should also be available for individuals to purchase in a deregulated market. A high-risk pool for health insurance, as in other insurance markets, would keep premiums affordable for the small percentage of those with significant care needs without raising costs for the entire market. The state of North Carolina should finance any high-risk pool entirely through the General Fund and existing taxes, rather than assessments on insurers or other hidden taxes. Money for a high-risk pool can come from Medicaid savings.

RALEIGH – Sanford should get out of the golf-course business and focus on providing essential city services. That’s the key recommendation in a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report.

Over the past five years, Sanford’s city owned and operated golf course experienced operational losses of more than $1 million. With its course, the city engages in unfair competition with five private courses in the immediate area and 45 courses within a 30-mile radius of Sanford. Private golf courses contribute to the local government by paying city and county taxes. Unlike police and fire protection, golf is not an essential city service. If the course were sold, city taxpayers would gain the amount of the sale and avoid paying its average annual losses of $200,000 per year. Also, a privately operated golf course would contribute to the tax base of the city and county.

RALEIGH – A new public/private partnership could allow the Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) to take its history of eminent domain abuse to a new level. That’s a key finding in…

The Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) has been seizing private property for a rail system even though the necessary federal funding has never been secured. In late 2005, as it became clear that the rail was likely a dead project, the TTA still condemned land even though it meant forcing people out of their homes and businesses. TTA’s eminent domain abuse, however, may reach a new level. Through a possible public/private partnership, TTA may start using the already seized private property, and acquire additional private property, for economic development reasons. Unfortunately, current N.C. law may allow for these Kelo-type takings.

RALEIGH – North Carolina legislators employ a “spend and tax” budget policy that paves the way for regular tax hikes, according to a new John Locke Foundation Policy Report.

The General Assembly is often said to have "tax and spend" policies, but its pattern is one of "spend and tax" policies. During economic booms, tax revenues increase and legislators fund new programs that cannot be sustained during an economic bust. When the bust comes, legislators raise taxes to pay for those new government programs.

RALEIGH – Light rail isn’t the solution to traffic congestion in the Triangle. The good news is that there are several immediate, common-sense, and far less costly solutions available to…

For over fifteen years, the Triangle Transit Authority has pursued a regional rail for North Carolina’s capital region, to no avail. At the same time traffic congestion in the Triangle has worsened, with other viable alternatives largely being ignored. Recognizing this, it is important to understand the causes of congestion in order to develop workable solutions to the problem.