Your Favorites: 2009

Given the prominence of health care reform on the national stage, it should come as no surprise that the most popular item on the Mackinac Center's Web site this year was about just that topic.

For several years, the Center has provided readers with a list of the 25 most popular Current Comments of the year. For 2009, we're expanding that scope and including the top 25 items overall, primarily due to the Center's expansion into viral video and the introduction of "The MC," the Center's new blog.

Other popular items included the Center's ongoing investigation of Michigan's film subsidy program, education issues, property rights, the Michigan Legislature's overspending crisis, the environment and the creation of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation.

It must be noted that this annual ranking is not scientific, and individual pieces are chosen based on how many page views they received relative to when in the calendar year they were first posted. The list runs from Dec. 1, 2008, to Dec. 1, 2009.

1. "Mackinac Videos: What Canadians Want You to Know About Their Health Care System."
2. "101 Recommendations to Revitalize Michigan."
3. "Detroit: The Triumph of Progressive Policy."
4. "Brewer's Tax Credit Distorts Competition."
5. "Retirement Fund Losses Will Cost Schools, But How Much?"
6. "Charter Report Favorable, State Board Wants More."
7. "Cigarette Taxes and Smuggling."
8. "The Scene and the Unseen: Act I."
9. "How to Save $2.2 Billion."
10. "The Scene and the Unseen: Act II."
11. "The Economic Impact of the Auto Crisis on Michigan."
12. "An Economic Stimulus for the Mind."
13. "The Scene and the Unseen: Act III."
14. "Longer School Year Won't Improve Student Achievement."
15. "Mackinac Center Launches Legal Foundation; Sues DHS."
16. "Proposal Would Shorten Path to Teacher Certification, For Some."
17. "Leveling the Playing Field."
18. "The Scene and the Unseen: Act IV."
19. "The Shell Game of Making AYP."
20. "Michael D. LaFaive's '2009 State of the State Address': A Video Summary."
21. "Good News About the Bad Economy."
22. "A Mackinac Center Forum and Tour With Susette Kelo: A Video Summary."
23. "Transparent Failures."
24. "Goofing Off at Ford — A National Emergency?"
25. "Green Jobs: Field of Delusions."