Look for higher prices and shortages right around the Christmas season. D.C.-area House members balk at plans to privatize air traffic control, lest they lose the power to micromanage Washington's National and Dulles airports. Western senators squawk at proposals to privatize federal power marketing agencies. And House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich opposes postal privatization because his father is a letter carrier. Reeling from criticism of its fundraising letters, the National Rifle Association shows how playing defense can be, well, offensive.
Egalitarianism runs amok in Colorado.
Starting this year, most Colorado public high schools designate any student with a 4.0 grade-point average valedictorian . At Smoky Hill High, the eight graduates who are at the head of the class of '95 will read parts of a single speech. Recent studies from the General Accounting Office, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the Reason Foundation all conclude that given the state of battery technology, the limitations and expected costs of the vehicles, and the anticipated environmental benefits, electric cars have a long way to go before they're up to speed. California law mandates that by 1998 automobile manufacturers must sell zero-emission vehicles equal to 2 percent of all new automobiles. The proportion rises to 5 percent in 2001 and to 10 percent in 2003.