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Platte Institute for
Economic Research

10050 Regency Circle
Suite 120

Omaha, NE 68114

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MARCH 11, 2010

Hate the Sin, Tax the Sinner?

By Berk Brown
Platte Institute

No state in the Midwest is as on harsh on citizens who consume products with “sin taxes” than Nebraska. And, at the end of the day, these wildly varying taxes with arbitrary rates worthy of much head scratching don’t have a history of reducing the consumption of “sins” they are meant to reduce.

Taxation is meant to raise revenue for the operations of government. Yet, as sin-tax revenue has grown by leaps and bounds across the country and here in Nebraska, government has not-so-gingerly crossed the line into trying to change people’s behavior and implementing moral values. As the following statistics will show you, these sin taxes in Nebraska have not curbed behavior nearly as much as they have lined the state’s coffers with more of its citizens’ money.

MARCH 4, 2010

The True Cost of Remedial Education in Nebraska

By Rubria Jessica Hintz
Platte Institute

Remedial classes are taken by students who are not prepared for entrance level courses taken by most college students. These young scholars and their parents fully expect that successful graduation from an accredited high school has prepared them for success; however, 21% of all post secondary students were enrolled in at least one remedial class in 2003-04.1 Although this is an alarming statistic, a significant number of these students may be older adults returning to college. "Nearly four out of five students who undergo remediation in college graduated from high school with grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher," which suggests they met their high school graduation requirements, but did not meet college performance standards.2 The bottom line is our public schools are not adequately preparing some college bound students for the rigors of higher education.

FEBRUARY 26, 2010

Omaha is at a Crossroads

By Bob Zabawa
Former President of
Nebraska Taxpayers Association

Omaha is at a crossroads. Our City leaders can take the easy pathway and raise property taxes or honestly deal with some obvious long-term employment issues.