California
California
California Health Care: Learning from history for a healthier future
After folding on ABX 1 1, the governor now tries his hand at the state’s dwindling budget with desperate ideas to rescind tax credits and request more federal funds. As for health care, the legislature’s “new” approach is incremental change. There are few winning hands thus far. The publicity and ...
California
California’s Convenient Clinics: Some Win, Some Lose, All Change
The Sacramento Business Journal (subscribers only) has surveyed the “drop-in” clinics that have sprouted up around the state’s capital city in the last three years or so. It’s amazing what a diverse group they are! Sutter Express Care, owned by a large non-profit, hospital chain, has been hoping to use ...
California
State should look east for affordable health insurance
One of Sacramento’s great laments is the number of Californians without health insurance. The predictable bad solution has been to propose billions in additional taxes. California has been spared so far from this counterintuitive, costly “solution.” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators ought to look eastward for a better idea. But ...
Business & Economics
Making the Mortgage Mess Worse
Recently the Bush administration unveiled a plan for homeowners facing foreclosure to receive a 30-day reprieve from their creditors. This might come as welcome news in Sacramento where a jaw-dropping 46 percent of December sales were foreclosed homes. Unfortunately, the latest plan-as well as earlier government ideas to freeze rate ...
Commentary
Judge: San Francisco ‘Play or Pay’ Measure Violates Federal LawFunding Shortfalls
A U.S. district judge has ruled a controversial expansion of a city health care plan violates a federal law addressing government regulation of employee benefit plans. Judge Jeffrey White’s ruling halted the city of San Francisco’s attempt to expand its government health care program through a mandate requiring employers to ...
California
“Thinking Small” on California Health Reform? Not Small Enough!
Using a very appropriate headline, the features editor of the California Healthline points out that California’s “health reformers try again on a smaller scale”. Unfortunately, they are not trying small enough. Although the Schwarzenegger-Nuñez Health Care Deforminator Model ABX1_1 failed in the Senate health committe last month, after a year ...
Commentary
Teachers unions are the big problem
TEACHERS are in a never-ending Groundhog’s Day situation when they rely on the same old union strong-arm tactics to get a few extra crumbs from the Legislature. The citizens of West Virginia have always honored teachers and willingly allowed their elected representatives to pay teachers the maximum the state can ...
California
Healthy San Francisco: Wouldja Like An Employee Voluntary Waiver with Those Fries?
I’ve not only criticized the Healthy San Francisco employer “pay or play” mandate that has dropped a payroll tax of $1.17 to $1.76 per hour on the city’s struggling businesses; I’ve actually proposed an alternative. But…..they went ahead and did it anyway. Pending the Golden Gate Restaurant Association’s legal appeal ...
California
Senator Kuehl’s Health Care Agenda
Democratic Sen. Sheila Kuehl, who chairs the Senate health committee, made sure that a recent attempt at health care overhaul in California went down in flames last month. Her committee rejected ABX1 1, the Schwarzenegger-Nunez health care reform legislation. That measure aimed for “universal” health care through compulsory purchase of ...
Agriculture
Ethanol craze boosts food prices, world hunger
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (PA), February 15, 2008 Press Dakotan, February 15, 2008 Billings Gazette (MT), February 12, 2008 Investor’s Business Daily, February 11, 2008 WASHINGTON – The red-hot congressional love affair with the alternative fuel ethanol is starting to leave many supermarket customers feeling mighty blue these days as they pay ...
California Health Care: Learning from history for a healthier future
After folding on ABX 1 1, the governor now tries his hand at the state’s dwindling budget with desperate ideas to rescind tax credits and request more federal funds. As for health care, the legislature’s “new” approach is incremental change. There are few winning hands thus far. The publicity and ...
California’s Convenient Clinics: Some Win, Some Lose, All Change
The Sacramento Business Journal (subscribers only) has surveyed the “drop-in” clinics that have sprouted up around the state’s capital city in the last three years or so. It’s amazing what a diverse group they are! Sutter Express Care, owned by a large non-profit, hospital chain, has been hoping to use ...
State should look east for affordable health insurance
One of Sacramento’s great laments is the number of Californians without health insurance. The predictable bad solution has been to propose billions in additional taxes. California has been spared so far from this counterintuitive, costly “solution.” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators ought to look eastward for a better idea. But ...
Making the Mortgage Mess Worse
Recently the Bush administration unveiled a plan for homeowners facing foreclosure to receive a 30-day reprieve from their creditors. This might come as welcome news in Sacramento where a jaw-dropping 46 percent of December sales were foreclosed homes. Unfortunately, the latest plan-as well as earlier government ideas to freeze rate ...
Judge: San Francisco ‘Play or Pay’ Measure Violates Federal LawFunding Shortfalls
A U.S. district judge has ruled a controversial expansion of a city health care plan violates a federal law addressing government regulation of employee benefit plans. Judge Jeffrey White’s ruling halted the city of San Francisco’s attempt to expand its government health care program through a mandate requiring employers to ...
“Thinking Small” on California Health Reform? Not Small Enough!
Using a very appropriate headline, the features editor of the California Healthline points out that California’s “health reformers try again on a smaller scale”. Unfortunately, they are not trying small enough. Although the Schwarzenegger-Nuñez Health Care Deforminator Model ABX1_1 failed in the Senate health committe last month, after a year ...
Teachers unions are the big problem
TEACHERS are in a never-ending Groundhog’s Day situation when they rely on the same old union strong-arm tactics to get a few extra crumbs from the Legislature. The citizens of West Virginia have always honored teachers and willingly allowed their elected representatives to pay teachers the maximum the state can ...
Healthy San Francisco: Wouldja Like An Employee Voluntary Waiver with Those Fries?
I’ve not only criticized the Healthy San Francisco employer “pay or play” mandate that has dropped a payroll tax of $1.17 to $1.76 per hour on the city’s struggling businesses; I’ve actually proposed an alternative. But…..they went ahead and did it anyway. Pending the Golden Gate Restaurant Association’s legal appeal ...
Senator Kuehl’s Health Care Agenda
Democratic Sen. Sheila Kuehl, who chairs the Senate health committee, made sure that a recent attempt at health care overhaul in California went down in flames last month. Her committee rejected ABX1 1, the Schwarzenegger-Nunez health care reform legislation. That measure aimed for “universal” health care through compulsory purchase of ...
Ethanol craze boosts food prices, world hunger
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (PA), February 15, 2008 Press Dakotan, February 15, 2008 Billings Gazette (MT), February 12, 2008 Investor’s Business Daily, February 11, 2008 WASHINGTON – The red-hot congressional love affair with the alternative fuel ethanol is starting to leave many supermarket customers feeling mighty blue these days as they pay ...
