NEWS AND OPINION:

“When people ask me why I’m a conservative, I often quip: ’I was raised on Ronald Reagan and Rush Limbaugh.’ Growing up in the 1980s in a Republican household, I both observed and was taught an appreciation for President Reagan and all he did to unburden American families and small businesses from onerous taxation and regulation, and also as a freedom fighter who successfully led the charge to end the Cold War and defeat communism,” wrote Jennifer Kabbany, editor of TheCollegeFix.com.

This active and inventive website is centered on conservative values and politics, is written by college students, and geared to a college-aged audience. Ms. Kabbany’s commentary appeared at the site on Tuesday.

“But my 16-year-old daughter knows very little of our 40th president aside from some conversations we’ve had and what she has learned in school so far, which — much to my dismay — was that ’Reaganomics hurt the working class.’ My husband and I quickly corrected that attempt at indoctrination,” Ms. Kabbany wrote.

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“When I announced to my daughter we would spend some of her Labor Day Monday holiday watching the new ’Reagan’ movie, she wasn’t exactly thrilled, but it’s a mother’s prerogative to insist on things once in a while,” she continued.

“It’s very important that she understand and know the real Reagan, not the one that her biased Advanced Placement history classes teach her — or the lessons that paint him in a negative and critical and false light. It’s vital she understand he was not the evil, gullible caricature many of her college professors will also eventually paint him as,” Ms. Kabbany said.

“Reagan once famously said: ’Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It has to be fought for and defended by each generation.’ As parents, we must arm our children with the facts, knowledge and arguments to counter leftist indoctrination. The new ’Reagan’ movie made my job easier in this regard,” she later concluded.

TAKE IT TO THE STATES

Discussions of health care in this country continue. Is it possible to manage this gargantuan necessity on a state level rather than with a sprawling national plan?

The Heartland Institute — a free-market think tank based in Chicago — has some insight.

“There are many things that states can do to make healthcare more accessible and affordable on the way to a hoped-for federal plan to replace the outdated, overly expensive, access-denying, government-warped health care system,” the organization said in a new policy study with a telling title: “American Health Care Plan: State Solutions,” using the abbreviation AHCP.

The 28-page study was released on Tuesday

“As the laboratories of democracy, states can provide 50 different solutions for the many challenges we face in realizing the goals of the AHCP, primarily greater access, more patient control, and lower prices for high-quality health care,” the study said.

“State-level reforms are urgently needed even as we await national level reform due to the fact that the federal government has been placing increasing burdens on patients and health care providers. Since 2021, the Biden administration expanded federal government power over health care decisions through ever-tighter regulations under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion, and various pandemic-era orders,” it added.

The research also included nine clear recommendations to cure the healthccare ills — from guarding against fraud and waste to increasing the transparency of health care pricing.

Find the study at Heartland.org.

A VERY BIG SCHOOL

The nation’s schools are opening or have opened their doors to returning students. One welcoming school, however, is bigger than most. That would be the new Perth Amboy High School in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

“The new Perth Amboy High School, a $283.8 million project, officially opened this week. The state-of-the-art facility spans 576,000 square feet and is the largest high school ever built by the New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Designed to accommodate 3,300 students, the school aims to alleviate overcrowding in the district,” the New Jersey Digest reported.

“The three-story building features specialized spaces, including a culinary arts lab, automotive lab, and a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) classroom. Additional amenities include a 1,000-seat auditorium, four gyms, and a multi-media center. The school was constructed on an 11.63-acre site previously occupied by the Delaney Homes federal housing complex, which was purchased and cleared by the Perth Amboy Public Schools for $7.4 million,” the Digest said.

“The school is expected to foster academic excellence and cater to the diverse needs of the student population, 71% of whom primarily speak Spanish at home,” it said.

The school project began in 2021 by the state’s Schools Development Authority to improve educational facilities in New Jersey. The agency has completed 35 projects since 2011, the report said.

ONE MORE SCHOOL

A news organization is sharing its wisdom. Dow Jones announced Tuesday that it is forming a new commercial venture called the Dow Jones Leadership Institute.

“It will provide C-suite executives with executive education and coaching, real-time data and analysis, and peer-to-peer information. The new unit will be led by Alan Murray, a long-time veteran of the Wall Street Journal who most recently served as CEO of Fortune Media,” the news organization said in a statement.

POLL DU JOUR

• 91% of registered U.S. voters say they will “likely” watch the televised debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 10.

• 98% of Blacks, 93% of Hispanics and 91% of Whites also agree.

• 95% of Republicans, 92% of Democrats and 89% of independents agree.

• 8% overall say it is “unlikely” that they will watch the debate.

• 2% of Blacks, 7% of Hispanics and 7% of Whites also agree.

• 4% of Republicans, 8% of Democrats and 10% of independents agree.

• 1% overall don’t know whether they will watch or not.

• 0% of Blacks, 0% of Hispanics and 2% of Whites also agree.

• 1% of Republicans, 1% of Democrats and 1% of independents agree.

SOURCE: A Quinnipiac University poll of 1,611 likely U.S. voters conducted by phone Aug. 23-27 and released Aug. 29.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse.