A recent Supreme Court decision has critics of Obamacare cheering as the court ruled in favor of the religious freedom of the owners of craft store chain and against the Affordable Care Act. But there is another legal challenge that is equally serious, according to Katherine Restrepo, the John Locke Foundation’s health and human services policy analyst. She discusses the suit over illegal subsidies being distributed in federal exchanges, as well as her thoughts on a path forward using consumer-driven policies. Then we turn to education policy. During a recent round of North Carolina charter school applications, an appointed advisory board rejected 60 of 71 proposed charter schools. That ratio didn’t set well will charter school supporters such as Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph. You’ll hear recent public comments from Tillman on the charter school application process, along with reaction from Terry Stoops, the John Locke Foundation’s director of research and education studies. Next is a look at two very different views of the role of government. Some people believe government should work to secure equal outcomes for all people. David Schmidtz, director of the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom at the University of Arizona, discusses the problems with that approach. Schmidtz explains why it’s better for government to pursue equal opportunities for all. That’s followed by a look at criticism that says capitalism is unfair. David Rose, professor of economics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, doesn’t buy that argument. Rose explains how a system based on free markets and individual choices ends up creating results that are more than fair. And finally, we turn to an assessment of the state of journalism with Carolina Journal Publisher Jon Ham. He discusses the reliance on press releases that are not vetted for accuracy and bias, as well as the dismal attention paid to ethics in the profession.
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