Business & Economics
Business & Economics
California commission considers tax changes
It seemed appropriate that a panel examining ways to overhaul the state’s tax structure met Thursday in the academic confines of UC Davis rather than the politically charged Capitol. The discussion focused on the theoretical, from examining the merits of a flat income tax to considering a “split-roll” property tax ...
Business & Economics
Consider the evidence, not rhetoric, on proposed ‘card check’ legislation
The Employee Free Choice Act, which represents fundamental reform of labor laws, is ostensibly dead – for now. It will soon re-emerge because it remains a priority for unions and many Democrats. For average workers, however, it constitutes a real problem. “Card check,” as the legislation is known, would eliminate ...
Commentary
Feel the Momentum
National Review, April 8, 2009 At yesterday’s White House–sponsored Regional Health Forum in Los Angeles, everyone from California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz called for immediate action on health-care reform. President Obama’s Domestic Policy Council director, Melody Barnes, said that she could “feel the momentum” for health ...
Business & Economics
Report Card for the Diversity Racket
I do not know Charlotte Westerhaus but I do have some sympathy for her. The duties of her job, “vice president for diversity and inclusion” for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, include replying to charges that in 2008 the NCAA “lost ground for both their record for gender hiring practices ...
Business & Economics
That Voodoo That You Do So Well
Before the Motion Picture Academy handed out its latest awards, and before the legislature passed the alleged budget fix, the reviews were already coming in on California. They are less than stellar but well worth attention. “California makes Washington, DC, look like a model of fiscal probity,” ran the sub-head ...
Business & Economics
Putting Drug Research in Legal Jeopardy
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Wyeth v. Levine—holding that drug manufacturers are not free of liability under state law, even when the drug in question has secured federal regulatory approval—has worried pharmaceutical manufacturers, who can now face crippling state tort lawsuits despite being in regulatory compliance. A less-noticed ...
Business & Economics
‘Sexting’: Zooming Out to See the Bigger Picture
This week, a federal judge blocked a prosecutor from filing child pornography charges against three teenage girls in northeastern Pennsylvania over risque cell phone pictures they took of themselves. This respite from the bizarre “sexting” scandal allows time for a national dialogue on an issue that goes deeper than simple ...
Business & Economics
For the Love of the Game
The 2009 Major League Baseball season starts on Sunday night, when the Atlanta Braves visit the Philadelphia Phillies. On Monday, 13 more clubs will host their Opening Day games. We asked a distinguished group of fans — one for each of MLB’s 30 teams — to account for their passion. ...
Business & Economics
Is All “Fair” With the Obama Agenda?
President Obama and congressional Democrats are avidly pursuing a sweeping agenda they claim is justified by the need for greater “fairness.” This invites scrutiny of the various programs to verify if they do, in fact, promote fairness. “Free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice” is the standard meaning of fairness, which ...
Agriculture
The ‘credit crunch’: another Great Depression?
In the first part of his essay on the 1930s and today, Sean Collins puts the case for going beyond Keynesianism and monetarism and the obsession with finance to look at the deeper structural problems of capitalism. Last month Christina Romer, chair of the Obama administration’s Council of Economic Advisers, ...
California commission considers tax changes
It seemed appropriate that a panel examining ways to overhaul the state’s tax structure met Thursday in the academic confines of UC Davis rather than the politically charged Capitol. The discussion focused on the theoretical, from examining the merits of a flat income tax to considering a “split-roll” property tax ...
Consider the evidence, not rhetoric, on proposed ‘card check’ legislation
The Employee Free Choice Act, which represents fundamental reform of labor laws, is ostensibly dead – for now. It will soon re-emerge because it remains a priority for unions and many Democrats. For average workers, however, it constitutes a real problem. “Card check,” as the legislation is known, would eliminate ...
Feel the Momentum
National Review, April 8, 2009 At yesterday’s White House–sponsored Regional Health Forum in Los Angeles, everyone from California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz called for immediate action on health-care reform. President Obama’s Domestic Policy Council director, Melody Barnes, said that she could “feel the momentum” for health ...
Report Card for the Diversity Racket
I do not know Charlotte Westerhaus but I do have some sympathy for her. The duties of her job, “vice president for diversity and inclusion” for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, include replying to charges that in 2008 the NCAA “lost ground for both their record for gender hiring practices ...
That Voodoo That You Do So Well
Before the Motion Picture Academy handed out its latest awards, and before the legislature passed the alleged budget fix, the reviews were already coming in on California. They are less than stellar but well worth attention. “California makes Washington, DC, look like a model of fiscal probity,” ran the sub-head ...
Putting Drug Research in Legal Jeopardy
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Wyeth v. Levine—holding that drug manufacturers are not free of liability under state law, even when the drug in question has secured federal regulatory approval—has worried pharmaceutical manufacturers, who can now face crippling state tort lawsuits despite being in regulatory compliance. A less-noticed ...
‘Sexting’: Zooming Out to See the Bigger Picture
This week, a federal judge blocked a prosecutor from filing child pornography charges against three teenage girls in northeastern Pennsylvania over risque cell phone pictures they took of themselves. This respite from the bizarre “sexting” scandal allows time for a national dialogue on an issue that goes deeper than simple ...
For the Love of the Game
The 2009 Major League Baseball season starts on Sunday night, when the Atlanta Braves visit the Philadelphia Phillies. On Monday, 13 more clubs will host their Opening Day games. We asked a distinguished group of fans — one for each of MLB’s 30 teams — to account for their passion. ...
Is All “Fair” With the Obama Agenda?
President Obama and congressional Democrats are avidly pursuing a sweeping agenda they claim is justified by the need for greater “fairness.” This invites scrutiny of the various programs to verify if they do, in fact, promote fairness. “Free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice” is the standard meaning of fairness, which ...
The ‘credit crunch’: another Great Depression?
In the first part of his essay on the 1930s and today, Sean Collins puts the case for going beyond Keynesianism and monetarism and the obsession with finance to look at the deeper structural problems of capitalism. Last month Christina Romer, chair of the Obama administration’s Council of Economic Advisers, ...
