Commentary
Commentary
New Health Care Law Cripples State Budgets
America’s fiscal crisis is about to explode. In 2010 state budget deficits reached an all-time high of $191 billion. Former New York Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch has predicted that state deficits could reach a staggering $500 billion this year when the stimulus funds propping up state budgets run out in ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 10, 2011
Commentary
Politicians can’t control health care costs
California legislators are considering Assembly Bill 52, which would give the executive branch in Sacramento the power to decide whether health plans should be allowed to increase their premiums at rates that keep pace with medical costs. Health plans may be a politically attractive target, but giving politicians the power ...
John R. Graham
May 9, 2011
Business & Economics
Prop. 13 still the Left’s bogeyman
California has become such a basket case that outsiders are starting to parachute in and report on the tales of woe from our deficit-racked, economically stagnant and politically dysfunctional state. It makes for good reading for a broader audience, and the reporters can enjoy themselves at the beach or at ...
Steven Greenhut
May 7, 2011
Commentary
Lesson from Wisconsin
As Wisconsin government-employee unions protested against Gov. Scott Walkers budget-balancing proposals, teachers union members walked out of class, depriving thousands of children of their right to an education.The teachers callous, selfish actions demonstrate the need to give parents the ability to bypass the unionized government-monopoly school system. Mr. Walker wants ...
Lance T. izumi
May 6, 2011
California
Shooting the Messenger: California’s Proposal to Control Health Plans’ Rate Increases
California legislators are considering a bill, AB 52, that would give the executive branch the power to decide whether health plans should be allowed to increase their premiums at rates that keep pace with medical costs. Health plans may be a politically attractive target, but giving politicians the power to ...
John R. Graham
May 4, 2011
Business & Economics
The tea party should hold fast on debt ceiling
Two weeks ago, Standard and Poor’s kept the U.S. government’s AAA debt rating, but downgraded its future outlook from “stable” to “negative.” The announcement roiled stock markets and underscored the need for tea party activists to keep legislators’ feet to the fire on the debt ceiling. Paul Ryan’s allegedly radical ...
Pacific Research Institute
May 3, 2011
Commentary
A Plan That Leads Health Care To Nowhere
President Obama recently offered up his plan for cutting the federal budget deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years. A big chunk of those proposed savings–$480 billion, or more than 10%–is supposed to come from federal health care programs. Unfortunately, the president plans to achieve those savings through heavy-handed rationing. ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 3, 2011
Commentary
Canada Still Working Towards Universal Health Care
Or, it would be if government planners could bring about such outcomes. In fact, five million Canadians have no access to a primary care physician. (That’s about 15 percent of the population.) Remarkably, the Canadian people’s response to this astounding government failure is to support government-run health care by a ...
John R. Graham
May 2, 2011
Business & Economics
Public servants – more money, less accountability
Union arguments in favor of their members’ lush pensions are falling by the wayside as the public examines the facts. For instance, union officials argue that the average public-sector pension benefit in California is “only” $30,000 a year, while neglecting to mention that the number, according to the state’s watchdog ...
Steven Greenhut
April 29, 2011
Blackouts
Moonbeams Over California: The 33-percent Non-solution
California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed SB 2x by Joe Simitian, mandating that 33 percent of the state’s energy come from renewable sources by 2020, an increase of 13 percent from the previous mandate of 20 percent. This signals bad news for California but reveals a key dynamic of our ...
K. Lloyd Billingsley
April 27, 2011
New Health Care Law Cripples State Budgets
America’s fiscal crisis is about to explode. In 2010 state budget deficits reached an all-time high of $191 billion. Former New York Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch has predicted that state deficits could reach a staggering $500 billion this year when the stimulus funds propping up state budgets run out in ...
Politicians can’t control health care costs
California legislators are considering Assembly Bill 52, which would give the executive branch in Sacramento the power to decide whether health plans should be allowed to increase their premiums at rates that keep pace with medical costs. Health plans may be a politically attractive target, but giving politicians the power ...
Prop. 13 still the Left’s bogeyman
California has become such a basket case that outsiders are starting to parachute in and report on the tales of woe from our deficit-racked, economically stagnant and politically dysfunctional state. It makes for good reading for a broader audience, and the reporters can enjoy themselves at the beach or at ...
Lesson from Wisconsin
As Wisconsin government-employee unions protested against Gov. Scott Walkers budget-balancing proposals, teachers union members walked out of class, depriving thousands of children of their right to an education.The teachers callous, selfish actions demonstrate the need to give parents the ability to bypass the unionized government-monopoly school system. Mr. Walker wants ...
Shooting the Messenger: California’s Proposal to Control Health Plans’ Rate Increases
California legislators are considering a bill, AB 52, that would give the executive branch the power to decide whether health plans should be allowed to increase their premiums at rates that keep pace with medical costs. Health plans may be a politically attractive target, but giving politicians the power to ...
The tea party should hold fast on debt ceiling
Two weeks ago, Standard and Poor’s kept the U.S. government’s AAA debt rating, but downgraded its future outlook from “stable” to “negative.” The announcement roiled stock markets and underscored the need for tea party activists to keep legislators’ feet to the fire on the debt ceiling. Paul Ryan’s allegedly radical ...
A Plan That Leads Health Care To Nowhere
President Obama recently offered up his plan for cutting the federal budget deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years. A big chunk of those proposed savings–$480 billion, or more than 10%–is supposed to come from federal health care programs. Unfortunately, the president plans to achieve those savings through heavy-handed rationing. ...
Canada Still Working Towards Universal Health Care
Or, it would be if government planners could bring about such outcomes. In fact, five million Canadians have no access to a primary care physician. (That’s about 15 percent of the population.) Remarkably, the Canadian people’s response to this astounding government failure is to support government-run health care by a ...
Public servants – more money, less accountability
Union arguments in favor of their members’ lush pensions are falling by the wayside as the public examines the facts. For instance, union officials argue that the average public-sector pension benefit in California is “only” $30,000 a year, while neglecting to mention that the number, according to the state’s watchdog ...
Moonbeams Over California: The 33-percent Non-solution
California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed SB 2x by Joe Simitian, mandating that 33 percent of the state’s energy come from renewable sources by 2020, an increase of 13 percent from the previous mandate of 20 percent. This signals bad news for California but reveals a key dynamic of our ...