In case you missed it…

John Tsarpalas

 

Net Neutrality

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted this week to reverse the Obama-era regulations known as “Net Neutrality.” (Reason.com explained what exactly this means going forward.) Despite the apocalyptic rhetoric coming from opponents of the reversal, the big takeaway is that the repeal will allow consumers in the future more options for internet service providers In fact, even the arguments opposed to the repeal of Net Neutrality unwittingly highlighted this point. (Read more)

 

Educational choice

It is worth remembering that opponents of educational choice often sacrifice the best interest of individual students to the “greater good” of the public school system. A perfect example of this phenomenon is happening in New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio has capitulated to his union cronies and refused to provide Success Academy — a local charter school — with sufficient space to operate. Unions, which see non-union charters such as Success as a major threat to their political clout, have led a major campaign in recent years to force such choice schools out of business. The mayor’s decision to refuse space for the charter means that thousands of students have no certainty where they’ll end up. Many others will be sent back to the underperforming public schools from which they recently managed to escape. (Read more)

 

Labor unions

A local school district in Rhode Island is suffering from a teacher strike… kind of. Rather than striking — which would be illegal in Rhode Island — the teachers union is conducting what is known as “sick outs.” The practice consists of many teachers calling in sick at the same time, forcing the school to shut down. As NPRI’s Communication Director Michael Schaus told the Heartland Institute, the sick out “is a perfect example of the ‘union first, students last’ mentality” in public education. (Read more)

 

Government waste

According to one recently released study, Nevada's public employees are the least productive in the U.S. The study used two sets of data to make the claim: The number of public-sector employees, and the cost such a workforce puts on taxpayers. While Nevada has substantially fewer public employees for each private sector worker compared to other states, they are also among the highest-paid nationwide. In short, Nevada taxpayers pay substantially more than most states for a far smaller public sector workforce. (Read more)

 

Federal regulations

One of the largest obstacles that small and growing businesses face is the ever-increasing level of regulations from the federal government. However, 2017 has brought some good news on this front. For each new rule proposed by federal agencies, more than 20 old regulations have been repealed by the Trump administration. Indeed, this deregulatory effort will benefit growing small and midsized companies that often struggle to make a profit while remaining in compliance with the web of federal regulations. (Read more)

 

John Tsarpalas

John Tsarpalas

President

John Tsarpalas is the President of the Nevada Policy, and is deeply committed to spreading limited government ideas and policy to create a better, more prosperous Nevada for all.

For over three decades, John has educated others in the ideals and benefits of limited government. In the 1980s, John joined the Illinois Libertarian Party and served on its State Central Committee. Later in the 90s, he transitioned to the Republican Party, and became active in the Steve Forbes for President Campaign and flat taxes.

In 2005, he was recruited to become the Executive Director of the Illinois Republican Party where he graduated from the Republican National Committee’s Campaign College, the RNC’s Field Management School, and the Leadership Institute’s activist training.

Additionally, John has served as President of the Sam Adams Alliance and Team Sam where he did issue education and advocacy work in over 10 states, with a focus on the web.

John also founded or helped start the following educational not-for-profits: Think Freely Media, the Haym Salomon Center – where he served as Chairman, the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity and Midwest Speaking Professionals.

A native of Chicago, John now lives in Las Vegas with his wife of more than 40 years.