Business & Economics
Business & Economics
Our federal financial nightmares revealed … and how to fix them
During this week’s GOP presidential debate, Michele Bachmann twice said the federal government is spending about “40 percent more” than what it takes in. If only we were in such good shape. The federal government has actually been spending about 75 percent more than what it takes in. For every ...
Business & Economics
Hypocritical pension funds lecture others
The nation’s two largest pension funds, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, have been plagued by myriad fiscal problems, and even a corruption scandal in the case of CalPERS, and yet these systems continue to lecture the private sector on ethical corporate governance. ...
Business & Economics
Comparative effectiveness reviews mean fewer cures
Elected officials have powerful incentives to spend, and the administrators of government agencies — always seeking to increase their budgets — are happy to oblige. But the federal budget is finite. There are equally-powerful incentives to create more programs, as politicians are driven to make more citizens dependent upon government. ...
Government Spending
The deficit ‘super committee’ and health care
The federal debt-reduction super committee recently held its third meeting to explore changes in the tax code. The 12-member bipartisan panel must find $1.5 trillion in federal savings by Thanksgiving. Committee members have gone to great lengths to emphasize their differences, but there is still room for agreement. The committee ...
California
Heed Your Libertarian Impulse, Gov. Brown
It’s time for Gov. Jerry Brown to release his inner libertarian. I know. This sounds nuts, or born of wishful thinking. The governor has spent his first months in office advocating more government spending and protecting the ravenous public-sector unions that helped elect him to office. But deep down – ...
Government Spending
Rick Perry’s Texas: It’s Better to Create More Jobs Than More Medicaid Dependents
Key Points: Texas has a significantly higher rate of uninsured residents, and a somewhat less expensive Medicaid program, than the national average. These conditions have not resulted in poor outcomes: In both health-system outputs and causes of mortality, Texas generally performs as well as other states. Therefore, throwing more money ...
Business & Economics
Solyndra crash shows shakiness of market subsidies
Solyndra, the Fremont solar-panel manufacturer that went belly up last week, was the subject of a hearing Wednesday all the way in the nation’s capital. Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Committee on Oversight and Investigations wanted to get to the bottom of how the much-hyped “green” company ...
Business & Economics
Your Government Still the Main Threat to Your Freedoms
In my years writing for newspapers, I’ve always hated the commemoration ritual. What new insight can we offer about Thanksgiving? What words can still capture the essence of D-Day? And, this weekend, what can we really say that ameliorates the horror of 9/11? Mainly, I hate how commemorations, and national ...
Business & Economics
Union ‘Gut and Amend’ Bills Slice Open CA
Its gut and amend season in the California Legislature. More like shuck and jive and obfuscate. Last week, I received information that another bill had been gutted of its original intent, and new language added to greatly benefit labor unions. By the end of the day, two additional bills were ...
Business & Economics
Defensive Medicine
The article “Study: Only 1 in 5 medical malpractice cases pay” (Tribune, Aug. 17) reported that “most physicians and virtually every surgeon will face at least one malpractice lawsuit in their careers.” This alarming statistic is an important driver of rising U.S. health care costs. Even though most sued doctors ...
Our federal financial nightmares revealed … and how to fix them
During this week’s GOP presidential debate, Michele Bachmann twice said the federal government is spending about “40 percent more” than what it takes in. If only we were in such good shape. The federal government has actually been spending about 75 percent more than what it takes in. For every ...
Hypocritical pension funds lecture others
The nation’s two largest pension funds, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, have been plagued by myriad fiscal problems, and even a corruption scandal in the case of CalPERS, and yet these systems continue to lecture the private sector on ethical corporate governance. ...
Comparative effectiveness reviews mean fewer cures
Elected officials have powerful incentives to spend, and the administrators of government agencies — always seeking to increase their budgets — are happy to oblige. But the federal budget is finite. There are equally-powerful incentives to create more programs, as politicians are driven to make more citizens dependent upon government. ...
The deficit ‘super committee’ and health care
The federal debt-reduction super committee recently held its third meeting to explore changes in the tax code. The 12-member bipartisan panel must find $1.5 trillion in federal savings by Thanksgiving. Committee members have gone to great lengths to emphasize their differences, but there is still room for agreement. The committee ...
Heed Your Libertarian Impulse, Gov. Brown
It’s time for Gov. Jerry Brown to release his inner libertarian. I know. This sounds nuts, or born of wishful thinking. The governor has spent his first months in office advocating more government spending and protecting the ravenous public-sector unions that helped elect him to office. But deep down – ...
Rick Perry’s Texas: It’s Better to Create More Jobs Than More Medicaid Dependents
Key Points: Texas has a significantly higher rate of uninsured residents, and a somewhat less expensive Medicaid program, than the national average. These conditions have not resulted in poor outcomes: In both health-system outputs and causes of mortality, Texas generally performs as well as other states. Therefore, throwing more money ...
Solyndra crash shows shakiness of market subsidies
Solyndra, the Fremont solar-panel manufacturer that went belly up last week, was the subject of a hearing Wednesday all the way in the nation’s capital. Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Committee on Oversight and Investigations wanted to get to the bottom of how the much-hyped “green” company ...
Your Government Still the Main Threat to Your Freedoms
In my years writing for newspapers, I’ve always hated the commemoration ritual. What new insight can we offer about Thanksgiving? What words can still capture the essence of D-Day? And, this weekend, what can we really say that ameliorates the horror of 9/11? Mainly, I hate how commemorations, and national ...
Union ‘Gut and Amend’ Bills Slice Open CA
Its gut and amend season in the California Legislature. More like shuck and jive and obfuscate. Last week, I received information that another bill had been gutted of its original intent, and new language added to greatly benefit labor unions. By the end of the day, two additional bills were ...
Defensive Medicine
The article “Study: Only 1 in 5 medical malpractice cases pay” (Tribune, Aug. 17) reported that “most physicians and virtually every surgeon will face at least one malpractice lawsuit in their careers.” This alarming statistic is an important driver of rising U.S. health care costs. Even though most sued doctors ...
