The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has issued its annual rankings of the best run state governments and to no one's surprise, almost all the top ranked states are Republican-run, while almost all the lowest ranked states are Democratic. What makes this list so intriguing is that the factors that make the Republican states work well aren't much of a secret and could easily be adopted by blue states. IBD: The rankings in the fourth-annual "Ranking of the States by Fiscal Condition" report, which was released this morning, are based on a review of audited financial statements for 2015 covering five measures that gauge the states' ability to pay bills, avoid budget deficits, and meet long-term spending needs and cover pension liabilities. Cash solvency, for example, measures a state's ability to pay immediate bills. Budget solvency focuses on whether states will end the year with a surplus or deficit. Service-level solvency...(Read Full Post)