Commentary
Business & Economics
Impact – July 2008
PRI Ideas in Action – July 2008 Policy Update and Monthly Impact Report PRI continues to impact public policy in California, the nation, and abroad. Click below to view PRI’s recent contributions.
California
Will Another California “Safety Net” Hospital Shut Down?
I have written a lot about the collapse of Los Angeles’ Martin Luther King, Jr-Harbor Hospital, a hospital almost totally dependent on government funding and under government control. Now, it looks like the same tragic story may be spooling out in San Diego County, where Sharp Grossmont Hospital is at ...
Commentary
Demography Is Not Destiny: Florida Schools California
Today California ranks 48th in basic reading and math skills. A challenging student population is a popular scapegoat, especially Hispanic students.” By this “logic,” Hispanic populations are growing rapidly, Hispanic students under-perform, therefore southwestern states are doomed. But states like Florida prove demography is not destiny. “A decade ago, Florida ...
Commentary
Self-inflicted budget wounds
For one, state has billions in land it won’t sell Even on the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tax-and-spend, expansive terms, the state need not be facing a $15 billion budget deficit. Because state government hoards hundreds of billions of dollars in real estate, it has missed a grand opportunity ...
Commentary
Schools turning out defective products
When a new automobile – either purchased or leased – is so riddled with problems that even the manufacturer cannot fix it within 18 months – a reasonable time period, the vehicle is declared a lemon in California under the Tanner Consumer Protection Act, California Civil Code 1793.22 (2004). Unfortunately, ...
Commentary
Obama plan doesn’t promise health care reform
Sen. Barack Obama has promised to “turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday’s health care debates.” He’s right to call for a new approach to healthcare reform. What he’s offered thus far, however, is a government-heavy solution that’s all-too-similar to the tired proposals of yesteryear. The centerpiece of ...
Business & Economics
California’s Spending Binge Breaks Budget
California’s budget deficit has ballooned to more than $15 billion. Recently Democratic lawmakers proposed to close the gap by – you guessed it – hiking taxes on the wealthy. Yet a quick review of the facts suggests that spending cuts are a much more sensible solution. On the tax side, ...
Commentary
Making It Harder for Smokers to Get Affordable Health Care
I’ve spilled a lot of virtual ink on San Francisco’s tax-hiking proposal for so-called “universal” health care, the Healthy Access Plan. But driving up costs for small business is hardly the only mischief that the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, and public health supremos are working on. How’s this one? According ...
Business & Economics
Increasing Liability Risks Threaten Growth and Trouble Boards
A study conducted by Lloyds, a London based insurance market, reveals that board members are increasingly concerned about the increasing number of corporate litigation cases facing the boards and the escalating cost in mitigating such risks. “Among the companies surveyed, almost seven in ten have faced lawsuits in the past ...
Commentary
A fight to the finish: McCain vs. Obama on health care
If you’re a member of Congress, you get exceptional health care coverage. In fact, Barack Obama likes his Senate plan so much he’d like everyone to have it. The only catch is, if we all had the generous coverage Congress enjoys, the American economy would have an instant heart attack. ...
Impact – July 2008
PRI Ideas in Action – July 2008 Policy Update and Monthly Impact Report PRI continues to impact public policy in California, the nation, and abroad. Click below to view PRI’s recent contributions.
Will Another California “Safety Net” Hospital Shut Down?
I have written a lot about the collapse of Los Angeles’ Martin Luther King, Jr-Harbor Hospital, a hospital almost totally dependent on government funding and under government control. Now, it looks like the same tragic story may be spooling out in San Diego County, where Sharp Grossmont Hospital is at ...
Demography Is Not Destiny: Florida Schools California
Today California ranks 48th in basic reading and math skills. A challenging student population is a popular scapegoat, especially Hispanic students.” By this “logic,” Hispanic populations are growing rapidly, Hispanic students under-perform, therefore southwestern states are doomed. But states like Florida prove demography is not destiny. “A decade ago, Florida ...
Self-inflicted budget wounds
For one, state has billions in land it won’t sell Even on the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tax-and-spend, expansive terms, the state need not be facing a $15 billion budget deficit. Because state government hoards hundreds of billions of dollars in real estate, it has missed a grand opportunity ...
Schools turning out defective products
When a new automobile – either purchased or leased – is so riddled with problems that even the manufacturer cannot fix it within 18 months – a reasonable time period, the vehicle is declared a lemon in California under the Tanner Consumer Protection Act, California Civil Code 1793.22 (2004). Unfortunately, ...
Obama plan doesn’t promise health care reform
Sen. Barack Obama has promised to “turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday’s health care debates.” He’s right to call for a new approach to healthcare reform. What he’s offered thus far, however, is a government-heavy solution that’s all-too-similar to the tired proposals of yesteryear. The centerpiece of ...
California’s Spending Binge Breaks Budget
California’s budget deficit has ballooned to more than $15 billion. Recently Democratic lawmakers proposed to close the gap by – you guessed it – hiking taxes on the wealthy. Yet a quick review of the facts suggests that spending cuts are a much more sensible solution. On the tax side, ...
Making It Harder for Smokers to Get Affordable Health Care
I’ve spilled a lot of virtual ink on San Francisco’s tax-hiking proposal for so-called “universal” health care, the Healthy Access Plan. But driving up costs for small business is hardly the only mischief that the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, and public health supremos are working on. How’s this one? According ...
Increasing Liability Risks Threaten Growth and Trouble Boards
A study conducted by Lloyds, a London based insurance market, reveals that board members are increasingly concerned about the increasing number of corporate litigation cases facing the boards and the escalating cost in mitigating such risks. “Among the companies surveyed, almost seven in ten have faced lawsuits in the past ...
A fight to the finish: McCain vs. Obama on health care
If you’re a member of Congress, you get exceptional health care coverage. In fact, Barack Obama likes his Senate plan so much he’d like everyone to have it. The only catch is, if we all had the generous coverage Congress enjoys, the American economy would have an instant heart attack. ...
