NEWSLETTER -- Number 4, September 15, 2004

The Portable Craig Westover
Number 4, September 15, 2004

LATEST COLUMN -- SENATE PRESCRIPTION BILL A FREE MARKET PLACEBO

While liberals clamor for legislation that would allow reimporting less expensive prescription drugs into the United States as an applause line in front of senior citizens, conservatives and libertarians are divided on the issue. In my Pioneer Press Column of September 15, the reasons for that split are examined, Senate bill 2328 is exposed as a slick way to import foreign price controls, and an alternative reciprocation approach is examined that is “the free market at its best.”

From the column -- “Maintaining the ban that prohibits Americans from purchasing less expensive prescription drugs from foreign countries is politically unsustainable. Eliminating the prescription drug reimportation ban is the right thing to do politically and pragmatically. However, it must be done in a way that will not create de facto price controls that curtail research and development of life-saving medicines.”

Pioneer Press institutional editorials on prescription drug reimportation --

Push Congress to pass reimportation bill

A good solution in the absence of free market


KUDOS -- TABOO OF FREE MARKET EDUCATION

From the bloggers at Fraters Libertas --

On Wednesday [September 8], there was also a great piece from new Pioneer Press contributor Craig Westover on education.

Excerpt:

Government's education monopoly limits diversity of curriculum, teaching methods and the invisible hand of innovation that ultimately evolves more effective ways of educating children - evaluated by their parents, not some arbitrarily defined measurement ritual.
Perhaps it's time for Minnesota to stop trying to improve the doll and take a good hard look at the ritual belief that only the high priests of government education can create a viable school system. Perhaps it's time to take a good hard look at providing parents the opportunity to send their children to schools of their choice without financial penalty.

Perhaps it's time to liberate the taboo topic of free-market education.

[New Pioneer Press editorial board member Mark ] Yost and Westover, a nice one-two conservative punch, the likes of which this town has never seen before in a local paper. They keep this up and we may just have to start the campaign for conservatives to abandon their Star Tribune subscriptions for the Pioneer Press.


FEEDBACK ENCOURAGED

Thanks for reading and whether you agree or disagree, your feedback is appreciated and encouraged. So are gripes and issues that you feel aren’t being addressed by local media -- just keep it civil. Email to westover4@yahoo.com, or if you’re so inclined, drop an email to the Pioneer Press and express you own opinion (letters@pioneerpress.com). Even if your letter isn’t published, it makes an impression.