California
California
California stands to gain most from health bill
The stakes are high for Californians when it comes to the health care overhaul, mainly because the coverage problems in this vast state are so large. With a new UCLA study estimating that more than 8 million Californians, or nearly 25 percent of the population, lack health coverage, many health ...
Health Care
What CBO Doesn’t Score: Over $6.5 Billion Annual State Revenue At Risk
Now that Congress has reached the “end of the beginning” of the federal take-over of people’s access to medical services, please allow me to point out a cost that Congress has ignored. According the the CBO’s score of the Senate health “reform,” H.R. 3590, the bill would insure 31 million ...
Commentary
Federal health takeover threatens Hawaii budget
Hawaii’s Congressional delegation is committed to a massive reorganization of health insurance by the federal government. This mission is about to collide with state budgets, causing much collateral damage. Most people remain unaware that health-insurance premiums contribute to states’ tax revenues. On average, states tax private health insurance 2 percent ...
Business & Economics
The $2 Trillion Hole
Promised pensions benefits for public-sector employees represent a massive overhang that threatens the financial future of many cities and states. LIKE A CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE, populist rage burns over bloated executive compensation and unrepentant avarice on Wall Street. Deserving as these targets may or may not be, most Americans have ignored ...
Business & Economics
No roads to recovery in sight
With California teetering on insolvency, government union activists and liberal legislators are trying to whip the public into a “please tax us more” frenzy by scaring people about the consequences of spending cuts. At a union rally in Sacramento recently, one protester hoisted a “Raise Our Taxes” sign, which typifies ...
Business & Economics
California’s tax tactics undermine prosperity
California’s bond rating is the country’s lowest. The state faces near unprecedented unemployment and underemployment. State government and most counties face deficits for the foreseeable future. The solution to this predicament, some Sacramento politicians believe, is more taxes. The underlying assumption of such an approach is that taxes don’t have ...
Commentary
Single-Payer and Group Coverage Empower Government, Not the People
I agree with Professor Chaufan that the “reforms” many states embraced to expand coverage with private insurance have failed, but disagree that it is because of a lack of government power. In fact, such reforms massively increase government power. For example, Massachusetts’ latest reform (passed by Governor Romney in 2006) ...
Business & Economics
Greetings from California
I simply noted that California has very high tax rates, a bloated and expensive government bureaucracy, and one of the largest public sectors (as measured by government spending as a share of state economic output) in the country. This excellent report from the Pacific Research Institute has plenty of details.
Commentary
Harkin’s Health Care Summit Non-Sequitur
One of the great things about the health summit was getting to witness certain members’ rhetorical skills and getting to hear how they think about things. One of the most revealing comments was made by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who lamented that people whose medical bills are higher have to ...
Business & Economics
Sacramento takes aim at free parking
San Francisco Business Times, February 26, 2010 Californians know that a free parking space is hard to find. Such spaces may be even harder to find under SB 518, proposed by state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach). Like much of what emerges from Sacramento, the measure is at least instructive.
California stands to gain most from health bill
The stakes are high for Californians when it comes to the health care overhaul, mainly because the coverage problems in this vast state are so large. With a new UCLA study estimating that more than 8 million Californians, or nearly 25 percent of the population, lack health coverage, many health ...
What CBO Doesn’t Score: Over $6.5 Billion Annual State Revenue At Risk
Now that Congress has reached the “end of the beginning” of the federal take-over of people’s access to medical services, please allow me to point out a cost that Congress has ignored. According the the CBO’s score of the Senate health “reform,” H.R. 3590, the bill would insure 31 million ...
Federal health takeover threatens Hawaii budget
Hawaii’s Congressional delegation is committed to a massive reorganization of health insurance by the federal government. This mission is about to collide with state budgets, causing much collateral damage. Most people remain unaware that health-insurance premiums contribute to states’ tax revenues. On average, states tax private health insurance 2 percent ...
The $2 Trillion Hole
Promised pensions benefits for public-sector employees represent a massive overhang that threatens the financial future of many cities and states. LIKE A CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE, populist rage burns over bloated executive compensation and unrepentant avarice on Wall Street. Deserving as these targets may or may not be, most Americans have ignored ...
No roads to recovery in sight
With California teetering on insolvency, government union activists and liberal legislators are trying to whip the public into a “please tax us more” frenzy by scaring people about the consequences of spending cuts. At a union rally in Sacramento recently, one protester hoisted a “Raise Our Taxes” sign, which typifies ...
California’s tax tactics undermine prosperity
California’s bond rating is the country’s lowest. The state faces near unprecedented unemployment and underemployment. State government and most counties face deficits for the foreseeable future. The solution to this predicament, some Sacramento politicians believe, is more taxes. The underlying assumption of such an approach is that taxes don’t have ...
Single-Payer and Group Coverage Empower Government, Not the People
I agree with Professor Chaufan that the “reforms” many states embraced to expand coverage with private insurance have failed, but disagree that it is because of a lack of government power. In fact, such reforms massively increase government power. For example, Massachusetts’ latest reform (passed by Governor Romney in 2006) ...
Greetings from California
I simply noted that California has very high tax rates, a bloated and expensive government bureaucracy, and one of the largest public sectors (as measured by government spending as a share of state economic output) in the country. This excellent report from the Pacific Research Institute has plenty of details.
Harkin’s Health Care Summit Non-Sequitur
One of the great things about the health summit was getting to witness certain members’ rhetorical skills and getting to hear how they think about things. One of the most revealing comments was made by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who lamented that people whose medical bills are higher have to ...
Sacramento takes aim at free parking
San Francisco Business Times, February 26, 2010 Californians know that a free parking space is hard to find. Such spaces may be even harder to find under SB 518, proposed by state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach). Like much of what emerges from Sacramento, the measure is at least instructive.
