California
California
House Committee Considers Tax Breaks for Individual Health Insurance
Health Care News (Heartland Institute), December 1, 2008 Members of the U.S. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee are debating the merits of enacting tax breaks for individuals who buy private insurance, which would put them on equal tax footing with employers who purchase insurance for their employees. The committee ...
Dr. Sanjit Bagchi
December 1, 2008
Commentary
Bush’s Final Medicaid Reform Increases Patient Responsibility
The Bush Administration’s (or the Bush “regime’s”, if you prefer) theme in Medicaid reform has been to give states more flexibility in how they operate their Medicaid programs, despite the federal government paying over half the cost. In its (likely) final hurrah, the Administration recently published Medicaid rules allowing states ...
John R. Graham
December 1, 2008
Business & Economics
To heal itself, California must stop spending
Last week, the Central Solano Citizen/Taxpayer Group joined a score of local California tax groups and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association in telling our governor and Legislature in no uncertain terms that they need to cut state spending, not raise taxes. We urge all area residents to deliver the same ...
Kurt E. Hahn
November 30, 2008
Business & Economics
Will Electric Cars Jolt California’s Economy?
With the support of Governor Schwarzenegger, the mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose last week announced a $1-billion joint plan to make the Bay Area “the electric-vehicle capital of the world.” The announcement follows President-elect Obama’s pledge to reinvigorate the nation’s economy with millions of “green collar” jobs. ...
Daniel R. Ballon
November 26, 2008
Business & Economics
San Francisco Tax Hike Cannot Help Public Health Bureaucracy
Don’t get me wrong: of all the various byzantine agencies that comprise the massive (and growing) government intervention in American health care, counties’ public-health agencies are probably my favorite (or, perhaps to assuage the arch-libertarian readers, “the least harmful”). They do things like inspecting restaurants for cleanliness, watching out for ...
John R. Graham
November 26, 2008
Commentary
Medicaid Contributes To Medical Bankruptcy
The Wall Street Journal ran a disturbing story about the increasing number of people unable to pay medical bills. Some are even having to sell homes in a bad market to raise cash. Of course, the health care and political elites always interpret such harrowing tales as signals to increase ...
John R. Graham
November 25, 2008
Commentary
President-elect Obama offers poor no ‘change’ on school choice
Barack Obama’s historic election victory and eloquence will surely inspire American parents and students alike, but they are likely in for disappointment as well, especially those with limited means. On the issue of school choice, change has not come to America. A gap remains between what the president-elect says and ...
K. Lloyd Billingsley
November 25, 2008
California
The Folly of California’s Taxpayer Funded Stem Cell Research
The Sacramento Bee has editorialized on a topic near to our hearts at PRI: stem cell research. Actually, stem cell research itself is “above our paygrade” as the President-elect might say. Nevertheless, we have an intense interest in the whereabouts of $3 billion that Californian voters approved to fund embryonic ...
John R. Graham
November 24, 2008
Business & Economics
Washington Ranks 37th on New U.S. Economic Freedom Index
The Pacific Research Institute recently released its 2008 Economic Freedom Index. Here’s how they describe it: … a ranking of economic freedom in the 50 states. Published in association with Forbes, the Index scores states based on 143 variables, including regulatory and fiscal obstacles imposed on businesses and residents. This ...
Richard Davis
November 22, 2008
Agriculture
California’s Newest Chronic Disease: “Preventionitis”
A major driver of health costs over the last couple of decades is chronic illness such as diabetes and heart disease. It’s time to add another chronic ailment to the list: “preventionitis.” Because much chronic disease is associated with bad lifestyle choices, many succumb to the utopian delusion that investment ...
John R. Graham
November 20, 2008
House Committee Considers Tax Breaks for Individual Health Insurance
Health Care News (Heartland Institute), December 1, 2008 Members of the U.S. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee are debating the merits of enacting tax breaks for individuals who buy private insurance, which would put them on equal tax footing with employers who purchase insurance for their employees. The committee ...
Bush’s Final Medicaid Reform Increases Patient Responsibility
The Bush Administration’s (or the Bush “regime’s”, if you prefer) theme in Medicaid reform has been to give states more flexibility in how they operate their Medicaid programs, despite the federal government paying over half the cost. In its (likely) final hurrah, the Administration recently published Medicaid rules allowing states ...
To heal itself, California must stop spending
Last week, the Central Solano Citizen/Taxpayer Group joined a score of local California tax groups and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association in telling our governor and Legislature in no uncertain terms that they need to cut state spending, not raise taxes. We urge all area residents to deliver the same ...
Will Electric Cars Jolt California’s Economy?
With the support of Governor Schwarzenegger, the mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose last week announced a $1-billion joint plan to make the Bay Area “the electric-vehicle capital of the world.” The announcement follows President-elect Obama’s pledge to reinvigorate the nation’s economy with millions of “green collar” jobs. ...
San Francisco Tax Hike Cannot Help Public Health Bureaucracy
Don’t get me wrong: of all the various byzantine agencies that comprise the massive (and growing) government intervention in American health care, counties’ public-health agencies are probably my favorite (or, perhaps to assuage the arch-libertarian readers, “the least harmful”). They do things like inspecting restaurants for cleanliness, watching out for ...
Medicaid Contributes To Medical Bankruptcy
The Wall Street Journal ran a disturbing story about the increasing number of people unable to pay medical bills. Some are even having to sell homes in a bad market to raise cash. Of course, the health care and political elites always interpret such harrowing tales as signals to increase ...
President-elect Obama offers poor no ‘change’ on school choice
Barack Obama’s historic election victory and eloquence will surely inspire American parents and students alike, but they are likely in for disappointment as well, especially those with limited means. On the issue of school choice, change has not come to America. A gap remains between what the president-elect says and ...
The Folly of California’s Taxpayer Funded Stem Cell Research
The Sacramento Bee has editorialized on a topic near to our hearts at PRI: stem cell research. Actually, stem cell research itself is “above our paygrade” as the President-elect might say. Nevertheless, we have an intense interest in the whereabouts of $3 billion that Californian voters approved to fund embryonic ...
Washington Ranks 37th on New U.S. Economic Freedom Index
The Pacific Research Institute recently released its 2008 Economic Freedom Index. Here’s how they describe it: … a ranking of economic freedom in the 50 states. Published in association with Forbes, the Index scores states based on 143 variables, including regulatory and fiscal obstacles imposed on businesses and residents. This ...
California’s Newest Chronic Disease: “Preventionitis”
A major driver of health costs over the last couple of decades is chronic illness such as diabetes and heart disease. It’s time to add another chronic ailment to the list: “preventionitis.” Because much chronic disease is associated with bad lifestyle choices, many succumb to the utopian delusion that investment ...