Commentary
Commentary
From Health ‘Reform’ to Government-Retiree Bailout
The tax is now going to hit plans that cost $8,900 for an individual and $24,000 for a family, which is way higher than the current cost of employer-based health benefits. Until recently, state and local government employers did not have to report retiree health obligations on their balance sheets ...
John R. Graham
January 15, 2010
Commentary
Coakley Offers Seniors No Advantage
The Massachusetts race has major ramifications for all seniors. The Massachusetts Senate special election is shaping up as a referendum on the health-care debate in Washington. And its outcome may well determine whether Massachusetts seniors get to keep the Medicare benefits they currently enjoy. Alone among the American people, Massachusetts ...
Jeffrey H. Anderson
January 15, 2010
Commentary
On the merits of teacher merit pay
Last week Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two education bills that will make California more competitive for federal Race to the Top grants. The bills endured months of wrangling in the Legislature, and reformers remain concerned that the measures will not translate into the sweeping changes needed to improve Californias broken ...
Rachel Chaney
January 15, 2010
Charter Schools
Report calls for charter schools
With a pro-charter-school administration in Washington, the time is right for Nebraska to allow charter schools, according to a report being released today by a conservative Nebraska think tank. Charter schools, unencumbered by a bloated education bureaucracy, can deliver quality education at lower cost than traditional public schools, and the ...
Joe Dejka
January 13, 2010
Commentary
Bye Bye ‘Cadillac’ Tax?
As congressional negotiators wrangle this morning over whether to soften the potential blow of the so-called “Cadillac” tax or kill it altogether, health care insiders on National Journal’s Health Care Expert Blog are discussing the plan’s effect on controlling skyrocketing costs. When congressional Democrats meet with President Obama today, the ...
Marilyn Werber Serafini
January 13, 2010
Commentary
On the Merits of Merit Pay
Last week California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two education bills that will make California more competitive for federal Race to the Top (RTTT) grants. The bills endured months of wrangling in the legislature and reformers remain concerned that the measures will not translate into the sweeping changes needed to improve ...
Rachel Chaney
January 13, 2010
Business & Economics
Golden Stem Cells: Agency Triples the Salary of Former Democratic Party Boss Torres
The Flash Report, January 13, 2010 Torres, former legislator and now vice-chair of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), which in December tripled his salary from $75,000 to $225,000. California taxpayers will find Mr. Torres golden windfall educational in many ways. At $150,000, the raise itself is more than ...
K. Lloyd Billingsley
January 13, 2010
Commentary
More Medicare Patients Dropped
The first two we’ve known about for some time. However, “unfunded liabilities” are not an issue folks discuss at the kitchen-table. The cost shift, which is actually a hidden tax that the government levies on the privately insured, is opaque enough that ordinary citizens are unable to discover it. The ...
John R. Graham
January 13, 2010
Business & Economics
Class War
How public servants became our masters In April 2008, The Orange County Register published a bombshell of an investigation about a license plate program for California government workers and their families. Drivers of nearly 1 million cars and light trucksout of a total 22 million vehicles registered statewidewere protected by ...
Steven Greenhut
January 12, 2010
Business & Economics
Policies Should Promote Wealth Creation
What causes poverty? That’s what North Carolina’s “Poverty Reduction and Economic Recovery Commission” — which met again last week — claims to be investigating. Specifically, the law that created the commission declares “an understanding of the causes and effects of poverty are critical in the reduction of poverty and economic ...
Brian Balfour
January 12, 2010
From Health ‘Reform’ to Government-Retiree Bailout
The tax is now going to hit plans that cost $8,900 for an individual and $24,000 for a family, which is way higher than the current cost of employer-based health benefits. Until recently, state and local government employers did not have to report retiree health obligations on their balance sheets ...
Coakley Offers Seniors No Advantage
The Massachusetts race has major ramifications for all seniors. The Massachusetts Senate special election is shaping up as a referendum on the health-care debate in Washington. And its outcome may well determine whether Massachusetts seniors get to keep the Medicare benefits they currently enjoy. Alone among the American people, Massachusetts ...
On the merits of teacher merit pay
Last week Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two education bills that will make California more competitive for federal Race to the Top grants. The bills endured months of wrangling in the Legislature, and reformers remain concerned that the measures will not translate into the sweeping changes needed to improve Californias broken ...
Report calls for charter schools
With a pro-charter-school administration in Washington, the time is right for Nebraska to allow charter schools, according to a report being released today by a conservative Nebraska think tank. Charter schools, unencumbered by a bloated education bureaucracy, can deliver quality education at lower cost than traditional public schools, and the ...
Bye Bye ‘Cadillac’ Tax?
As congressional negotiators wrangle this morning over whether to soften the potential blow of the so-called “Cadillac” tax or kill it altogether, health care insiders on National Journal’s Health Care Expert Blog are discussing the plan’s effect on controlling skyrocketing costs. When congressional Democrats meet with President Obama today, the ...
On the Merits of Merit Pay
Last week California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two education bills that will make California more competitive for federal Race to the Top (RTTT) grants. The bills endured months of wrangling in the legislature and reformers remain concerned that the measures will not translate into the sweeping changes needed to improve ...
Golden Stem Cells: Agency Triples the Salary of Former Democratic Party Boss Torres
The Flash Report, January 13, 2010 Torres, former legislator and now vice-chair of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), which in December tripled his salary from $75,000 to $225,000. California taxpayers will find Mr. Torres golden windfall educational in many ways. At $150,000, the raise itself is more than ...
More Medicare Patients Dropped
The first two we’ve known about for some time. However, “unfunded liabilities” are not an issue folks discuss at the kitchen-table. The cost shift, which is actually a hidden tax that the government levies on the privately insured, is opaque enough that ordinary citizens are unable to discover it. The ...
Class War
How public servants became our masters In April 2008, The Orange County Register published a bombshell of an investigation about a license plate program for California government workers and their families. Drivers of nearly 1 million cars and light trucksout of a total 22 million vehicles registered statewidewere protected by ...
Policies Should Promote Wealth Creation
What causes poverty? That’s what North Carolina’s “Poverty Reduction and Economic Recovery Commission” — which met again last week — claims to be investigating. Specifically, the law that created the commission declares “an understanding of the causes and effects of poverty are critical in the reduction of poverty and economic ...