State Budget
Commentary
New Obama healthcare plan relies on imaginary savings, costs $2 trillion, explodes budget deficits
Health-care “reform” always costs more than predicted, as ObamaCare provisions have at the state level. So the claim that the new, cheaper version of Obama’s healthcare plan will cost only $829 billion, while not increasing the deficit, should be taken with a grain of salt. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ...
Commentary
Mackinac Center Analysts Refute NRDC Green Energy Claims
The Examiner, September 1, 2009 Reliance on renewable mandates will cost, not create, jobs MIDLAND — The adoption of “green energy” policy recommendations made in a recent report by the National Resources Defense Council would push Michigan’s economy into a freefall, according to Mackinac Center for Public Policy energy analysts ...
Business & Economics
The Golden State’s Golden Tax Opportunity
Next month, California legislators may have the opportunity for a long-term solution to the Golden State’s notorious boom-bust cycle, currently in its “bust” stage. A state commission launched by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may recommend a flat tax on income, which would stabilize revenue and help launch a recovery. If so, ...
Business & Economics
How California Can Avoid a Sequel of the Budget Crisis
At long last Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed the budget, but Californians may want to hold off on any celebration. The blockbuster $84.6 billion deal is packed with accounting tricks that virtually guarantee a sequel of the crisis. A long-term solution could be at hand, but only if legislators come ...
Commentary
Obamacare’s Error
The New York Post, July 31, 2009 DON’T be distracted by the inside-the-beltway haggling over arcane details — ponder the big picture and apply common sense to the claims of our would-be health reformers. This week’s so-called breakthroughs on both the House and Senate sides illustrate how our politicians are ...
Commentary
Slimming Down the Waste-Watchers Way: A Radical New Diet Plan for California
Today, California formalizes the budget deal struck Monday night between the governor and California lawmakers to close the state’s $26.3 billion budget deficit without raising taxes. The Governator has also launched a new Waste Watchers website, where he urges visitors to “report wasteful practices in state government.” As yet, there ...
Business & Economics
Time to Sunset California’s “Relic” Stem Cell Institute
SACRAMENTO – The governance of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state stem cell institute, is inadequate to protect the interests of taxpayers and CIRM’s own goals, according to Stem Cell Research: Strengthening Governance to Further the Voters’ Mandate, a June 25 report from the Little Hoover Commission, ...
Business & Economics
An Agenda For California’s Fiscal Reform
The California state budget for years has been “balanced” with heavy borrowing, various kinds of raids on localities and special funds, and transfers from the future to the present. More generally, spending profligacy, high tax rates and onerous regulations have worked their magic: The gap between the ability of the ...
Business & Economics
Nanny Government Plays from the Rough
As readers of the Contrarian know from the recent piece on Billie Jean King, my game is tennis. I’m not much of a golfer, but I can recognize a wild tee shot that lands deep in the rough. That is especially true when the shot comes from a politically correct ...
Commentary
W. Va. May Hike Cigarette Tax to Expand Medicaid
West Virginia legislators are considering a bill to fund an expansion of the state Medicaid program through an increase in the cigarette tax. The proposal would hike the tax 118 percent, from 55 cents to $1.20 per pack. The proposal comes on the heels of the recently passed increase in ...
New Obama healthcare plan relies on imaginary savings, costs $2 trillion, explodes budget deficits
Health-care “reform” always costs more than predicted, as ObamaCare provisions have at the state level. So the claim that the new, cheaper version of Obama’s healthcare plan will cost only $829 billion, while not increasing the deficit, should be taken with a grain of salt. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ...
Mackinac Center Analysts Refute NRDC Green Energy Claims
The Examiner, September 1, 2009 Reliance on renewable mandates will cost, not create, jobs MIDLAND — The adoption of “green energy” policy recommendations made in a recent report by the National Resources Defense Council would push Michigan’s economy into a freefall, according to Mackinac Center for Public Policy energy analysts ...
The Golden State’s Golden Tax Opportunity
Next month, California legislators may have the opportunity for a long-term solution to the Golden State’s notorious boom-bust cycle, currently in its “bust” stage. A state commission launched by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may recommend a flat tax on income, which would stabilize revenue and help launch a recovery. If so, ...
How California Can Avoid a Sequel of the Budget Crisis
At long last Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed the budget, but Californians may want to hold off on any celebration. The blockbuster $84.6 billion deal is packed with accounting tricks that virtually guarantee a sequel of the crisis. A long-term solution could be at hand, but only if legislators come ...
Obamacare’s Error
The New York Post, July 31, 2009 DON’T be distracted by the inside-the-beltway haggling over arcane details — ponder the big picture and apply common sense to the claims of our would-be health reformers. This week’s so-called breakthroughs on both the House and Senate sides illustrate how our politicians are ...
Slimming Down the Waste-Watchers Way: A Radical New Diet Plan for California
Today, California formalizes the budget deal struck Monday night between the governor and California lawmakers to close the state’s $26.3 billion budget deficit without raising taxes. The Governator has also launched a new Waste Watchers website, where he urges visitors to “report wasteful practices in state government.” As yet, there ...
Time to Sunset California’s “Relic” Stem Cell Institute
SACRAMENTO – The governance of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state stem cell institute, is inadequate to protect the interests of taxpayers and CIRM’s own goals, according to Stem Cell Research: Strengthening Governance to Further the Voters’ Mandate, a June 25 report from the Little Hoover Commission, ...
An Agenda For California’s Fiscal Reform
The California state budget for years has been “balanced” with heavy borrowing, various kinds of raids on localities and special funds, and transfers from the future to the present. More generally, spending profligacy, high tax rates and onerous regulations have worked their magic: The gap between the ability of the ...
Nanny Government Plays from the Rough
As readers of the Contrarian know from the recent piece on Billie Jean King, my game is tennis. I’m not much of a golfer, but I can recognize a wild tee shot that lands deep in the rough. That is especially true when the shot comes from a politically correct ...
W. Va. May Hike Cigarette Tax to Expand Medicaid
West Virginia legislators are considering a bill to fund an expansion of the state Medicaid program through an increase in the cigarette tax. The proposal would hike the tax 118 percent, from 55 cents to $1.20 per pack. The proposal comes on the heels of the recently passed increase in ...
