Commentary
California
Unbalanced Billing in California Hospitals: the Sacramento Bee Weighs In
The Sacramento Bee, our, our fair capital’s daily newspaper, has editorialized on the issue of “balance billing”, whereby ER doctors and hospitals which are not in a patient’s health plan’s network, send high-priced (and unexpected) bills to patients. Interestingly, although the editorial leans against the health plans, it approves of ...
Business & Economics
Verizon, Alltel Merger Brings Questions About Worker Health
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers wants the Federal Communications Commission to require Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Alltel Corp. (AT) to adopt a nationwide safety program protecting people from harmful radio frequencies as a condition of their proposed merger. At issue is the health of electricians, ...
Business & Economics
Sing a Song of Freedom
The Singing Revolution. Mountain View Productions, unrated. Running time 96 minutes. www.singingrevolution.com The small nation of Estonia, strategically placed at the east end of the Baltic, had been prey for conquerors for centuries. It acquired a serious existential problem in 1939, when Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin divvied up Europe ...
Business & Economics
Lessons for Sacramento from San Francisco’s high-tech heist
For nine days last month, San Francisco’s state-of-the-art new computer network was held hostage by a convicted felon. Even a team of Silicon Valley’s best and brightest engineers working around the clock could not crack his code. Finally, in a secret midnight meeting at the Hall of Justice, the mayor ...
Commentary
Nursing Home Evictions: Another Problem of Government Dependency
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal ran a feature article about nursing homes evicting frail residents. Spokespeople for the nursing homes claimed that these evictions were in accord with federal law, which allows evictions for only a few reasons, such as non-payment of bills, danger to others, or the nursing homes’ inability ...
Business & Economics
Political Gain and Net Neutrality
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) came under fire for making a ruling that many consider outside its authority. Without levying a fine, it charged that Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSK) violated federal policy when it interfered with a file-sharing application used by consumers. This new plot twist in the Net ...
Business & Economics
New Chinese Antitrust Law Threatens America’s High-Tech Leadership
As athletes from around the world gather in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the Chinese government has its eyes on the gold. The gold that China wins on the field of play, however, will pale in comparison to the riches it plunders from America’s most successful innovators. Armed ...
Business & Economics
‘Facts’ cited in Steve Cohen’s attack on judicial system not credible
STEVE COHEN is no friend of West Virginia. If he were, he would stop trashing our state every time a West Virginia newspaper is willing to publish one of his slanted rants against our judicial system. His recent Gazette op-ed, which had already appeared in the U.S. Chamber-funded West Virginia ...
California
A Grotesque Twist to the Los Angeles Homeless-Hospital Saga
Only three days ago, I wondered what Los Angeles hoped to achieve by passing an ordnance forbidding hospitals from discharging ER patients without their written consent. As I noted, many homeless people would be happy to stay in the hospital for quite a while under such circumstances. I also blamed ...
Commentary
Why is The Budget Always Late?
Systemic Problems Cause Budget Woes Longtime California residents may have noticed a trend in state politics: The California State Budget is almost never passed by the constitutionally-mandated deadline, July 1. This year is no different. In fact, the state budget hasn’t been passed on time for three years, and the ...
Unbalanced Billing in California Hospitals: the Sacramento Bee Weighs In
The Sacramento Bee, our, our fair capital’s daily newspaper, has editorialized on the issue of “balance billing”, whereby ER doctors and hospitals which are not in a patient’s health plan’s network, send high-priced (and unexpected) bills to patients. Interestingly, although the editorial leans against the health plans, it approves of ...
Verizon, Alltel Merger Brings Questions About Worker Health
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers wants the Federal Communications Commission to require Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Alltel Corp. (AT) to adopt a nationwide safety program protecting people from harmful radio frequencies as a condition of their proposed merger. At issue is the health of electricians, ...
Sing a Song of Freedom
The Singing Revolution. Mountain View Productions, unrated. Running time 96 minutes. www.singingrevolution.com The small nation of Estonia, strategically placed at the east end of the Baltic, had been prey for conquerors for centuries. It acquired a serious existential problem in 1939, when Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin divvied up Europe ...
Lessons for Sacramento from San Francisco’s high-tech heist
For nine days last month, San Francisco’s state-of-the-art new computer network was held hostage by a convicted felon. Even a team of Silicon Valley’s best and brightest engineers working around the clock could not crack his code. Finally, in a secret midnight meeting at the Hall of Justice, the mayor ...
Nursing Home Evictions: Another Problem of Government Dependency
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal ran a feature article about nursing homes evicting frail residents. Spokespeople for the nursing homes claimed that these evictions were in accord with federal law, which allows evictions for only a few reasons, such as non-payment of bills, danger to others, or the nursing homes’ inability ...
Political Gain and Net Neutrality
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) came under fire for making a ruling that many consider outside its authority. Without levying a fine, it charged that Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSK) violated federal policy when it interfered with a file-sharing application used by consumers. This new plot twist in the Net ...
New Chinese Antitrust Law Threatens America’s High-Tech Leadership
As athletes from around the world gather in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the Chinese government has its eyes on the gold. The gold that China wins on the field of play, however, will pale in comparison to the riches it plunders from America’s most successful innovators. Armed ...
‘Facts’ cited in Steve Cohen’s attack on judicial system not credible
STEVE COHEN is no friend of West Virginia. If he were, he would stop trashing our state every time a West Virginia newspaper is willing to publish one of his slanted rants against our judicial system. His recent Gazette op-ed, which had already appeared in the U.S. Chamber-funded West Virginia ...
A Grotesque Twist to the Los Angeles Homeless-Hospital Saga
Only three days ago, I wondered what Los Angeles hoped to achieve by passing an ordnance forbidding hospitals from discharging ER patients without their written consent. As I noted, many homeless people would be happy to stay in the hospital for quite a while under such circumstances. I also blamed ...
Why is The Budget Always Late?
Systemic Problems Cause Budget Woes Longtime California residents may have noticed a trend in state politics: The California State Budget is almost never passed by the constitutionally-mandated deadline, July 1. This year is no different. In fact, the state budget hasn’t been passed on time for three years, and the ...
