The EPA has a new, and very unlikely, opponent in the debate on their waters rule. The SBA (yes, the Obama Administration's own Small Business Administration) sent a letter to EPA chief Gina McCarthy advising her to withdraw the rule. In the letter the SBA said it was “extremely concerned” over the rule that would regulate all small bodies of water such as streams and rivers. A number of different industries, especially farmers, have expressed concerns that the waters rule would cause unnecessary and onerous burdens.

A new poll is showing 60 percent of likely voters want Obamacare repealed. With the options to keep the law and amend it, repeal and replace with a conservative alternative, and complete repeal, voters made it clear that the law in its current form is unworkable. Less than one third of the respondents choose the option to keep the law.

AAF gives you one .gif to explain the aging population’s effect on Medicare and the federal budget.

Eakinomics: (Un)Common Core

The Common Core is a state-led effort for voluntary adoption of minimum standards of achievement in math and English language literacy. Notice: (1) State-led. Despite the unfortunate decision of the Obama Administration to link its “Race to the Top” initiative to the Common Core, the effort itself began in the states, was driven by the states, and will be implemented by the states. (2) Voluntary. States choose whether to participate or not. (3) Minimum. Any state that wants to demand greater achievement is free to do so. Common Core is not 1-size-fits-all. (4) Standards of achievement. Common Core is fundamentally about outcomes. It is not a test. It is not a curriculum. 

These facts notwithstanding, Common Core has emerged as the whipping boy of the 2014 cycle on the right (there is a slightly different battle on the left). It is widely understood to be an Obama-led federal takeover of local education that will dictate how teachers teach and what tests students take. In short, the Common Core has a problem with its brand.

An effort like the Common Core is an imperative, as the U.S. needs to raise student achievement and standards are a route to this end. Erick Hanushek, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and AAF expert estimates that raising U.S. achievement to the level of Canadian education would raise the paycheck of the average worker by 20 percent — for life.  

Perhaps it is time to just change the name. “Common” invokes a proletarian sameness and progressive communitarianism that scares conservatives. Since states reaching the proposed standards are rare, the Core is really an Uncommon Core. Let’s adopt the Uncommon Core.

From the Forum

Building the Case for Halbig v. Burwell: What States Knew by Brittany La Couture, AAF Healthcare Policy Analyst

Weekly Checkup: Old Americans are Getting Younger by Conor Ryan, AAF Healthcare Data Analyst

Public Sector Student Loan Forgiveness and the Taxpayer by Scott Fleming, AAF Education Expert