Business & Economics
Business & Economics
The Government’s Scapegoats
With food and energy prices soaring, housing prices collapsing, and the economy sinking into what could be a deep recession, the government has been searching around for villains. The latest scapegoats are speculators, OPEC, and of course, the big bad oil companies. As usual, our government ignores its own role ...
Business & Economics
Impact – May 2008
PRI Ideas in Action – May 2008 Policy Update and Monthly Impact Report PRI continues to impact public policy in California, the nation, and abroad. Click below to view PRI’s recent contributions.
Business & Economics
Genetic Info Law: A Civil Rights Victory?
Last week, President Bush signed into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which will protect individuals from employer and insurance discrimination based on the results of high-tech gene tests. Fighting discrimination is a good idea, but the lack of opposition to GINA points to some potentially serious problems. GINA ...
Business & Economics
Don’t make me pay for others’ frivolous lawsuits
Most people would rather listen to the buzzing of their alarm clocks than talk about tort reform. The tort system refers to the overall legal system for compensating victims who suffer from accidental injuries. Lawsuits are filed most often for personal injury through class action lawsuits and personal claims. Tort ...
Business & Economics
Why rob consumers to reward retailers?
WASHINGTON (Map, News) – A recent survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation found Americans rank the skyrocketing cost of gasoline as their most serious economic concern. The House Judiciary Committee will soon consider a proposal to put more money in the pockets of gas station owners and major retailers, while ...
Business & Economics
Cleaner Environment Not Necessarily in the Bag
Yesterday the Assembly Appropriations Committee was scheduled to consider AB 2058, “Reducing Plastic Bags,” by Lloyd E. Levine, a Sherman Oaks Democrat, which imposes on consumers a recycling “fee” of $.25 per bag. The committee, and all Californians, should also consider some facts about plastic bags and their alternatives. Assemblyman ...
Agriculture
How Misguided Energy Policy Eats Up the Economic Stimulus
This month, checks are going out to federal taxpayers in the form of an “economic stimulus” package. Economists are divided over how those dollars will be spent—new spending, paying off bills, savings? Unfortunately, other federal and state policies, including energy policy, will eliminate any stimulation. The economic stimulus checks are ...
Business & Economics
Health Care Reform Begins With Tort Reform
(Peapack, NJ)… Fiscal Conservative Kate Whitman, Republican for Congress today shared details of her plan to reform our nation’s broken health care system in an effort to make health insurance affordable for all families. Whitman stated, “The unfortunate and unnecessary rapid rise in healthcare costs to individuals and employers is ...
Business & Economics
Fitzgerald to become Illinois chief justice
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Legal Newsline)-Thomas Fitzgerald will serve as the next chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, but will have little effect on the state’s so-called judicial hellholes, a leading tort reformer told Legal Newsline. Fitzgerald, a Chicago Democrat, will serve as the chief courts officer for a state that ...
Business & Economics
How Net Neutrality Could Sabotage Healthcare Tech
At last week’s UCLA Technology & Aging Conference, representatives from Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) , Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) , Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) , Toyota and other big-name firms discussed how technology is reshaping lifestyles for older individuals. However, important policy implications directly connected to these new tools went unspoken. RFID (radio ...
The Government’s Scapegoats
With food and energy prices soaring, housing prices collapsing, and the economy sinking into what could be a deep recession, the government has been searching around for villains. The latest scapegoats are speculators, OPEC, and of course, the big bad oil companies. As usual, our government ignores its own role ...
Impact – May 2008
PRI Ideas in Action – May 2008 Policy Update and Monthly Impact Report PRI continues to impact public policy in California, the nation, and abroad. Click below to view PRI’s recent contributions.
Genetic Info Law: A Civil Rights Victory?
Last week, President Bush signed into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which will protect individuals from employer and insurance discrimination based on the results of high-tech gene tests. Fighting discrimination is a good idea, but the lack of opposition to GINA points to some potentially serious problems. GINA ...
Don’t make me pay for others’ frivolous lawsuits
Most people would rather listen to the buzzing of their alarm clocks than talk about tort reform. The tort system refers to the overall legal system for compensating victims who suffer from accidental injuries. Lawsuits are filed most often for personal injury through class action lawsuits and personal claims. Tort ...
Why rob consumers to reward retailers?
WASHINGTON (Map, News) – A recent survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation found Americans rank the skyrocketing cost of gasoline as their most serious economic concern. The House Judiciary Committee will soon consider a proposal to put more money in the pockets of gas station owners and major retailers, while ...
Cleaner Environment Not Necessarily in the Bag
Yesterday the Assembly Appropriations Committee was scheduled to consider AB 2058, “Reducing Plastic Bags,” by Lloyd E. Levine, a Sherman Oaks Democrat, which imposes on consumers a recycling “fee” of $.25 per bag. The committee, and all Californians, should also consider some facts about plastic bags and their alternatives. Assemblyman ...
How Misguided Energy Policy Eats Up the Economic Stimulus
This month, checks are going out to federal taxpayers in the form of an “economic stimulus” package. Economists are divided over how those dollars will be spent—new spending, paying off bills, savings? Unfortunately, other federal and state policies, including energy policy, will eliminate any stimulation. The economic stimulus checks are ...
Health Care Reform Begins With Tort Reform
(Peapack, NJ)… Fiscal Conservative Kate Whitman, Republican for Congress today shared details of her plan to reform our nation’s broken health care system in an effort to make health insurance affordable for all families. Whitman stated, “The unfortunate and unnecessary rapid rise in healthcare costs to individuals and employers is ...
Fitzgerald to become Illinois chief justice
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Legal Newsline)-Thomas Fitzgerald will serve as the next chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, but will have little effect on the state’s so-called judicial hellholes, a leading tort reformer told Legal Newsline. Fitzgerald, a Chicago Democrat, will serve as the chief courts officer for a state that ...
How Net Neutrality Could Sabotage Healthcare Tech
At last week’s UCLA Technology & Aging Conference, representatives from Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) , Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) , Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) , Toyota and other big-name firms discussed how technology is reshaping lifestyles for older individuals. However, important policy implications directly connected to these new tools went unspoken. RFID (radio ...
