Commentary

California

Lessons for California from Chicago teachers strike

WITH teachers in Chicago on strike, it’s tempting for Californians to view it as a phenomenon of the rough-and-tumble politics of the Windy City with little application to the Golden State. True, some issues, such as the high wage demands of the teachers union, are Chicago-specific. But in many other ...
Commentary

Solutions for CalPERS health insurance rate hikes

and The California Public Employees’ Retirement System recently raised health insurance premiums for nearly 1.3 million workers and retirees an average of 9.6 percent for 2013, more than three times the rate of general inflation over the past year. The rate hikes include 8.7 percent increases for basic health maintenance ...
Commentary

Obamacare Adapts The Worst Of Swisscare, Rejects The Best

The United States and Switzerland don’t appear to have much in common. But some observers are predicting that Obamacare will prove the most popular Swiss import since the Matterhorn hit Disneyland. President Obama’s healthcare reform package shares some elements of Switzerland’s system, Santésuisse. And it’s tempting to see Switzerland as ...
Business & Economics

FOR STATE BUDGET, NOTHING TO ‘LIKE’ ABOUT FACEBOOK IPO

Facebook’s stock price is currently hovering just above its all-time low. Shares have lost nearly half their value since they hit the market in May. The social network’s executives, employees and investors aren’t the only ones disappointed by the stock’s underperformance. The state of California was hoping for roughly $2 ...
Commentary

Viewpoints: With health care put in federal hands, is rationing in our future?

President Ronald Reagan used to tell this story during the Soviet era when government central planners took charge of the economy: A Russian man wants to buy a car. The man goes to the official agency, puts down his money and is told that he can take delivery of his ...
Commentary

Tax reform, health reform should be linked together

In his majority opinion upholding Obamacare, Chief Justice John Roberts salvaged the notorious individual mandate that requires people to obtain insurance or pay a fine by effectively reclassifying the fine as a tax. The decision baffled most observers. Conservatives were outraged that the ostensibly friendly chief justice had upheld the ...
California

Calif. governor hoping to keep ObamaCare

The head of a California research organization says Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is planning to keep ObamaCare intact in his state, even if it is reversed under Mitt Romney’s leadership. Brown plans to hold a special legislative session in December on issues related to ObamaCare to give him and state ...
California

Repeal or not, California’s stuck with Obamacare

Even if Mitt Romney is elected president and gets rid of Obamacare, we might be stuck with some variation of it here in California. That’s what’s behind Gov. Jerry Brown this week calling a special session of the California Legislature to deal with health care in December or January. The ...
Commentary

Gov. Deval Patrick’s New Health Law Is Flat-Out Dangerous

Beacon Hill was the scene of great fanfare earlier this month when Governor Deval Patrick signed controversial new healthcare reform legislation into law. The governor proudly proclaimed that Massachusetts was “the first to crack the code” on the problem of ever-increasing healthcare costs. The mood outside the statehouse, however, has ...
Commentary

Single-Payer Health Care Won’t Die, Despite Failures

The dream of single-payer health care in America just won’t die. Vermont is trying to implement a single-payer system by itself. This month, Green Mountain State officials will actually dictate how much hospitals can raise spending in the coming year. At the national level, Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., has introduced ...
California

Lessons for California from Chicago teachers strike

WITH teachers in Chicago on strike, it’s tempting for Californians to view it as a phenomenon of the rough-and-tumble politics of the Windy City with little application to the Golden State. True, some issues, such as the high wage demands of the teachers union, are Chicago-specific. But in many other ...
Commentary

Solutions for CalPERS health insurance rate hikes

and The California Public Employees’ Retirement System recently raised health insurance premiums for nearly 1.3 million workers and retirees an average of 9.6 percent for 2013, more than three times the rate of general inflation over the past year. The rate hikes include 8.7 percent increases for basic health maintenance ...
Commentary

Obamacare Adapts The Worst Of Swisscare, Rejects The Best

The United States and Switzerland don’t appear to have much in common. But some observers are predicting that Obamacare will prove the most popular Swiss import since the Matterhorn hit Disneyland. President Obama’s healthcare reform package shares some elements of Switzerland’s system, Santésuisse. And it’s tempting to see Switzerland as ...
Business & Economics

FOR STATE BUDGET, NOTHING TO ‘LIKE’ ABOUT FACEBOOK IPO

Facebook’s stock price is currently hovering just above its all-time low. Shares have lost nearly half their value since they hit the market in May. The social network’s executives, employees and investors aren’t the only ones disappointed by the stock’s underperformance. The state of California was hoping for roughly $2 ...
Commentary

Viewpoints: With health care put in federal hands, is rationing in our future?

President Ronald Reagan used to tell this story during the Soviet era when government central planners took charge of the economy: A Russian man wants to buy a car. The man goes to the official agency, puts down his money and is told that he can take delivery of his ...
Commentary

Tax reform, health reform should be linked together

In his majority opinion upholding Obamacare, Chief Justice John Roberts salvaged the notorious individual mandate that requires people to obtain insurance or pay a fine by effectively reclassifying the fine as a tax. The decision baffled most observers. Conservatives were outraged that the ostensibly friendly chief justice had upheld the ...
California

Calif. governor hoping to keep ObamaCare

The head of a California research organization says Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is planning to keep ObamaCare intact in his state, even if it is reversed under Mitt Romney’s leadership. Brown plans to hold a special legislative session in December on issues related to ObamaCare to give him and state ...
California

Repeal or not, California’s stuck with Obamacare

Even if Mitt Romney is elected president and gets rid of Obamacare, we might be stuck with some variation of it here in California. That’s what’s behind Gov. Jerry Brown this week calling a special session of the California Legislature to deal with health care in December or January. The ...
Commentary

Gov. Deval Patrick’s New Health Law Is Flat-Out Dangerous

Beacon Hill was the scene of great fanfare earlier this month when Governor Deval Patrick signed controversial new healthcare reform legislation into law. The governor proudly proclaimed that Massachusetts was “the first to crack the code” on the problem of ever-increasing healthcare costs. The mood outside the statehouse, however, has ...
Commentary

Single-Payer Health Care Won’t Die, Despite Failures

The dream of single-payer health care in America just won’t die. Vermont is trying to implement a single-payer system by itself. This month, Green Mountain State officials will actually dictate how much hospitals can raise spending in the coming year. At the national level, Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., has introduced ...
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