Must Reads for March 23
Wall Street Journal: Liberty and ObamaCare

The powers that the Obama Administration is claiming change the structure of the American government as it has existed for 225 years. Thus has the health-care law provoked an unprecedented and unnecessary constitutional showdown that endangers individual liberty.

There is no quick fix for the Affordable Care Act’s array of policy mistakes. We would be much better off repealing the law and starting over.

The numbers haven’t gotten any better last time I checked yet the movement is silent at the time when their voice needs to be heard the most.

What if the real compromise isn't in forcing the left and the right to heel. What if instead the solution is to disempower the national elites who think they've got the answers to everything?

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sears Roebuck and the glory of messy chaos

Stasists see Borders succumb to e-books (and Amazon) and lament the passing of familiar things. Dynamists say: Relax, reading is thriving. In 2001, the iPod appeared, and soon stores such as Tower Records disappeared. Who misses them?

No money is set aside to reimburse universities for the cost of the scholarships. Rather, it gives lawmakers the ability to hand out a select number of scholarships to students attending any of the state's public universities.

It’s still a failure.

Must Reads for March 21
Spotlight on Poverty: Education's missing apple: The free enterprise solution?

We already have successful models for helping low-income students. What is missing is the means to bring those successes to schools all over the country. In every other field, it is routine for the top services and products to reach mass audiences, but there is no Google of education, no Starbucks, no Apple. Why not?

We already know the rosy budget estimates used to sell the law were wrong.

That figure would be a drop in the bucket of the over $7 trillion in federal budget deficits projected during that period.

Let's benchmark Republican Gov. Scott Walker's efforts to get Wisconsin's economic house in order and Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn's efforts in Illinois.

Wall Street Journal: The GOP budget and America's future

The president's budget gives more power to bureaucrats, takes more from taxpayers to fuel the expansion of government, and commits our nation to a future of debt and decline.

The insurance mandate has almost nothing to do with remedying costs imposed on the system by those without coverage.

Income and corporate taxes alike have gone up, but the state remains deeply in debt. The strain is starting to take a toll on voters.

The risk of dramatic tax increases and an economic downturn next year affects the behaviour of businesses and households today

If Mr. Obama wins re-election, and his budget projections prove accurate, the National Debt will top $20 trillion in 2016, the final year of his second term. That would mean the Debt increased by 87 percent, or $9.34 trillion, during his two terms.

Chicago Tribune: North Chicago victory

This is the first time the state has stepped into a district and allowed a charter school to open over the wishes of obstructionist local board members.

Illinois budget problems, workers' compensation expenses hinder further Caterpillar expansion in Illinois, CEO says.

If nostalgia were a sound guide to economic policy, we should be building Studebakers and rotary telephones. Neither Santorum nor Obama seems to grasp the realities of manufacturing in 21st-century America.

Julie Crowe’s dream of starting her own business was stifled when a group of potential competitors pressured City Hall not to give her a taxi license.

As tax cuts expire and spending falls, the economy will be hit with a 3.5% decline in gross domestic demand.

Dear Illinois Legislators: As a lifelong resident of Illinois I feel the need to point out to you a few things that have transpired over the last couple of decades or so.