Commentary
California
Researcher Paints Scary Picture of State’s Future
The Medi-Cal system in California is flawed in a basic way, according to researcher Stephen Moses of Pacific Research Institute, a California-based think tank. “Instead of Medi-Cal being a safety net for the poor,” he said, “it provides very generous benefits to many in the middle class, far more than ...
Commentary
Pawlentycare Vs. Obamacare
There is no doubt that Governor Pawlenty executed some changes in the right direction — the Flexible Benefit Plan, for example, allowed employers more flexibility of health benefits. He’s also a champion of using prices, and allowing patients more control of how their health dollars are spent. Doing this for ...
Climate Change
New Website for the Unconventional Environmentalist
San Francisco— Today the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based public policy think tank, launched www.EnvironmentalTrends.org, an interactive website for the unconventional environmentalist. The website features expert analysis on current environmental issues and customizable data on environmental trends. “If you’ve ever wanted to get beyond the conventional wisdom of today’s ...
Business & Economics
Good Riddance to the Paycheck Fairness Act
Republicans in the Senate have successfully blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act. That is something to celebrate in 2011 because the Act had little to do with fairness. It would have empowered the federal government to regulate compensation and work arrangements in private businesses. Supporters lament that Congress has missed a ...
Commentary
Jerry’s Kids: In 2011 California will still be ruled by government employee unions
On Monday, January 3, Jerry Brown starts his second run at governing the Golden State. He inherits a host of problems, some dating back to his first run as governor. Collective bargaining for government employees has not existed in California from times immemorial. It started during Jerry Brown’s first administration ...
Commentary
Have-nots lose on Avastin ruling
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration did something highly unusual on Dec. 16: It revoked its previously granted approval for using a drug called Avastin to treat late-stage metastatic breast cancer. The FDA’s decision dimmed the lights on the Christmas trees of some 17,500 breast-cancer patients whose doctors prescribed Avastin ...
Commentary
American Patients, Get Ready to Wait
Real Clear Politics, December 22, 2009 USA Today, December 24, 2009 With the health reform debate moving apace in the Senate, the president and his political allies appear to be well on their way to implementing a government remake of the U.S. healthcare system. The situation for ordinary patients isn’t ...
Climate Change
The EPA and the Alarmist Narrative
This month the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency turns 40. That calls for a look back at environmental conditions then and now. The president of the time was Richard Nixon, a Republican later of Watergate fame, and he favored the establishment of a federal environmental agency. That followed the first Earth ...
Commentary
The Other Way to Repeal Obamacare
It’s hard to see any downside to such a proposal. The federal government has clearly acquired far too much power, many members of this Congress and this administration are at a loss to name any limits to the scope of federal power, and the erosion of federalism has severely compromised ...
Business & Economics
Where the Nanny Statists Begin, the Trial Lawyers Surely Follow
Of course, bad ideas migrate quickly through the political class, so San Francisco soon passed a similar law. In this case, the momentum was achieved with help from a bloated public-health department, gorged on freshly minted tax revenue. But two counties are not enough for the trial-lawyers lobby, so they’ve ...
Researcher Paints Scary Picture of State’s Future
The Medi-Cal system in California is flawed in a basic way, according to researcher Stephen Moses of Pacific Research Institute, a California-based think tank. “Instead of Medi-Cal being a safety net for the poor,” he said, “it provides very generous benefits to many in the middle class, far more than ...
Pawlentycare Vs. Obamacare
There is no doubt that Governor Pawlenty executed some changes in the right direction — the Flexible Benefit Plan, for example, allowed employers more flexibility of health benefits. He’s also a champion of using prices, and allowing patients more control of how their health dollars are spent. Doing this for ...
New Website for the Unconventional Environmentalist
San Francisco— Today the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based public policy think tank, launched www.EnvironmentalTrends.org, an interactive website for the unconventional environmentalist. The website features expert analysis on current environmental issues and customizable data on environmental trends. “If you’ve ever wanted to get beyond the conventional wisdom of today’s ...
Good Riddance to the Paycheck Fairness Act
Republicans in the Senate have successfully blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act. That is something to celebrate in 2011 because the Act had little to do with fairness. It would have empowered the federal government to regulate compensation and work arrangements in private businesses. Supporters lament that Congress has missed a ...
Jerry’s Kids: In 2011 California will still be ruled by government employee unions
On Monday, January 3, Jerry Brown starts his second run at governing the Golden State. He inherits a host of problems, some dating back to his first run as governor. Collective bargaining for government employees has not existed in California from times immemorial. It started during Jerry Brown’s first administration ...
Have-nots lose on Avastin ruling
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration did something highly unusual on Dec. 16: It revoked its previously granted approval for using a drug called Avastin to treat late-stage metastatic breast cancer. The FDA’s decision dimmed the lights on the Christmas trees of some 17,500 breast-cancer patients whose doctors prescribed Avastin ...
American Patients, Get Ready to Wait
Real Clear Politics, December 22, 2009 USA Today, December 24, 2009 With the health reform debate moving apace in the Senate, the president and his political allies appear to be well on their way to implementing a government remake of the U.S. healthcare system. The situation for ordinary patients isn’t ...
The EPA and the Alarmist Narrative
This month the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency turns 40. That calls for a look back at environmental conditions then and now. The president of the time was Richard Nixon, a Republican later of Watergate fame, and he favored the establishment of a federal environmental agency. That followed the first Earth ...
The Other Way to Repeal Obamacare
It’s hard to see any downside to such a proposal. The federal government has clearly acquired far too much power, many members of this Congress and this administration are at a loss to name any limits to the scope of federal power, and the erosion of federalism has severely compromised ...
Where the Nanny Statists Begin, the Trial Lawyers Surely Follow
Of course, bad ideas migrate quickly through the political class, so San Francisco soon passed a similar law. In this case, the momentum was achieved with help from a bloated public-health department, gorged on freshly minted tax revenue. But two counties are not enough for the trial-lawyers lobby, so they’ve ...
