Commentary
Commentary
US Congress mandates silliness, USDA complies
By Henry I. Miller and Drew L. Kershen An editorial, “Label without a cause[i],” on these pages almost five years ago was prescient. Its subtitle read, “Mandatory labeling of GM [genetically modified] food in the United States will not only make all food more costly but also bamboozle consumers.” Well, ...
Commentary
Resurrecting Obamacare’s most hated provision
Since Congress effectively ended the unpopular requirement that all Americans obtain health coverage by zeroing out the fine for noncompliance as of the first of this year, three states and the District of Columbia have enacted mandates of their own. The mandate that Massachusetts imposed in 2006 is now back ...
Commentary
Price Controls by Another Name
The costs of medicines continue to dominate the headlines, attracting the attention of Congress and the Trump Administration. Reforms are necessary, but many of the reforms under consideration will make the situation worse. Indexing U.S. prices to the prices in other countries that use price controls, or using third-party arbitration ...
Agriculture
The Brave Old World of Genetic Engineering
By Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. and Rob Wager A Washington Post article, “The Future of Food,” discussed the methods we use to breed food crops but suffered from a shortcoming we see often: “pseudo-balance” — the seeking out of clueless commentators to contradict advocates of superior modern genetic modification ...
Commentary
Single-Payer Will Fracture Democrats’ 2020 Coalition
Earlier this month, Senator Bernie Sanders released a new version of his plan for “Medicare for All.” Four of his competitors for the Democratic presidential nomination — Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker — quickly signed on as co-sponsors. They all think Medicare for All is their ...
Commentary
Say No To Canadian Drug Imports
Lawmakers in the Sunshine State are looking to our northern neighbor to help them reduce drug prices. The Florida House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would allow the importation and sale of prescription drugs from Canada, where prices are generally lower because the government forcibly controls them. Florida isn’t the ...
Business & Economics
Educational Choice is Essential to a Skills-Based Economy
The skills and education of every American will form the basis of our nation’s long term success, as well as the solution to many of the most divisive issues in American politics. Issues such as wage stagnation, income inequality, unaffordable housing, and income mobility can be directly addressed through a ...
Business & Economics
Control Spending To Grow The Economy
Milton Friedman used to say, “keep your eye on one thing and one thing only: how much government is spending because that’s the true tax”. Judged against this criterion, despite the recent tax reforms, the U.S. economy is still taxed too much. At the federal level, Congress recently passed another ...
Agriculture
We Don’t Need to Ban Pesticides to Save Bees
Some old ideas for bad laws are endlessly recycled. Take the case of the Saving America’s Pollinators Act, a nearly six-year-old initiative now cosponsored by two Democrat representatives, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. Reintroduced for the fifth time since 2013, the bill would usurp the Environmental ...
Commentary
X out ‘Medicare X’
Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., recently unveiled their “Medicare X” proposal, which would create a public Medicare plan that anyone could purchase. The idea’s supporters are framing it as a moderate counterpoint to “Medicare for all,” which would ban private insurance coverage and force everyone onto a new ...
US Congress mandates silliness, USDA complies
By Henry I. Miller and Drew L. Kershen An editorial, “Label without a cause[i],” on these pages almost five years ago was prescient. Its subtitle read, “Mandatory labeling of GM [genetically modified] food in the United States will not only make all food more costly but also bamboozle consumers.” Well, ...
Resurrecting Obamacare’s most hated provision
Since Congress effectively ended the unpopular requirement that all Americans obtain health coverage by zeroing out the fine for noncompliance as of the first of this year, three states and the District of Columbia have enacted mandates of their own. The mandate that Massachusetts imposed in 2006 is now back ...
Price Controls by Another Name
The costs of medicines continue to dominate the headlines, attracting the attention of Congress and the Trump Administration. Reforms are necessary, but many of the reforms under consideration will make the situation worse. Indexing U.S. prices to the prices in other countries that use price controls, or using third-party arbitration ...
The Brave Old World of Genetic Engineering
By Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. and Rob Wager A Washington Post article, “The Future of Food,” discussed the methods we use to breed food crops but suffered from a shortcoming we see often: “pseudo-balance” — the seeking out of clueless commentators to contradict advocates of superior modern genetic modification ...
Single-Payer Will Fracture Democrats’ 2020 Coalition
Earlier this month, Senator Bernie Sanders released a new version of his plan for “Medicare for All.” Four of his competitors for the Democratic presidential nomination — Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker — quickly signed on as co-sponsors. They all think Medicare for All is their ...
Say No To Canadian Drug Imports
Lawmakers in the Sunshine State are looking to our northern neighbor to help them reduce drug prices. The Florida House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would allow the importation and sale of prescription drugs from Canada, where prices are generally lower because the government forcibly controls them. Florida isn’t the ...
Educational Choice is Essential to a Skills-Based Economy
The skills and education of every American will form the basis of our nation’s long term success, as well as the solution to many of the most divisive issues in American politics. Issues such as wage stagnation, income inequality, unaffordable housing, and income mobility can be directly addressed through a ...
Control Spending To Grow The Economy
Milton Friedman used to say, “keep your eye on one thing and one thing only: how much government is spending because that’s the true tax”. Judged against this criterion, despite the recent tax reforms, the U.S. economy is still taxed too much. At the federal level, Congress recently passed another ...
We Don’t Need to Ban Pesticides to Save Bees
Some old ideas for bad laws are endlessly recycled. Take the case of the Saving America’s Pollinators Act, a nearly six-year-old initiative now cosponsored by two Democrat representatives, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. Reintroduced for the fifth time since 2013, the bill would usurp the Environmental ...
X out ‘Medicare X’
Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., recently unveiled their “Medicare X” proposal, which would create a public Medicare plan that anyone could purchase. The idea’s supporters are framing it as a moderate counterpoint to “Medicare for all,” which would ban private insurance coverage and force everyone onto a new ...
