Inflation
Commentary
Lessons for California from National School Choice Week
National School Choice Week kicks off on January 23, and California should be leading the country in student-centered, parent-driven reform. In the Golden State, unfortunately, system-centered education prevails, and parents empowered to choose their children’s schools are the exception, not the rule. Last year, California adopted the “parent trigger.” If ...
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
The size (of our government) really does matter
To balance the state budget, more than $20 billion in the red, California legislators are fighting over spending cuts. Legislators also disagree whether California government is too big. Fortunately, there is a way to quantify the size of government, and all Californians will find it illuminating. Most discussions about the ...
Business & Economics
Broken California
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently warned that if voters approve a November initiative legalizing marijuana, the state will become a national “laughingstock.” The only thing more prevalent than non-Californians poking fun at the state’s enduring political and budget mess these days is Californians who offer counsel on how to save ...
Business & Economics
No Bang for the Taxpayer’s Buck: Why California Must Reform Spending and Trim Government
California Government Spending The estimate for California’s total state spending in 2009–10 is $125.1 billion, of which General Fund spending constitutes 69.1 percent. Total state spending (nominal) has increased from $75.3 billion in 1998–99 to $125.1 billion in 2009–10 (an increase of 66.2 percent). The increases over this period outpaced ...
Business & Economics
Amending an end to out-of-control spending
If there’s anything that the vast majority of Americans can agree upon politically, it’s that federal spending is out of control. The federal budget is $1 trillion higher than in 2007. It has doubled since President Reagan’s second term, even after adjusting for inflation. Our national debt is now $13 ...
Business & Economics
The Fed won’t relinquish its bigger role
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Financial analysts have been parsing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech at the August meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo. More worthy of attention, however, is the statement made earlier in August by the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee. It not only represented a ...
Commentary
Government Greed, Not Human Need, Drives the Growth of Medicaid
Key Points For four and a half decades, Medicaid has experienced significantly faster cost increases than Medicare or private health spending. Since February 2009, the federal government has leveraged states’ Medicaid spending to unprecedented levels. The “stimulus” bill, ObamaCare, and the recently passed bailout for states have further reduced incentives ...
Commentary
Obamacare Will Cost You Your Retirement
President Obama’s tax pledge, which he made as a candidate, couldn’t have been any clearer: “Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase — not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” He even ...
Government Spending
Medicare needs systemic remedies
President Barack Obama signed a bill to “fix” payments to doctors by Medicare — until November. Although costing taxpayers $6.5 billion, this short-term patch will just have to be “fixed” again right after the next election. Throwing more money at a broken Medicare reimbursement schedule is what passes for bipartisan ...
Lessons for California from National School Choice Week
National School Choice Week kicks off on January 23, and California should be leading the country in student-centered, parent-driven reform. In the Golden State, unfortunately, system-centered education prevails, and parents empowered to choose their children’s schools are the exception, not the rule. Last year, California adopted the “parent trigger.” If ...
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 ...
The size (of our government) really does matter
To balance the state budget, more than $20 billion in the red, California legislators are fighting over spending cuts. Legislators also disagree whether California government is too big. Fortunately, there is a way to quantify the size of government, and all Californians will find it illuminating. Most discussions about the ...
Broken California
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently warned that if voters approve a November initiative legalizing marijuana, the state will become a national “laughingstock.” The only thing more prevalent than non-Californians poking fun at the state’s enduring political and budget mess these days is Californians who offer counsel on how to save ...
No Bang for the Taxpayer’s Buck: Why California Must Reform Spending and Trim Government
California Government Spending The estimate for California’s total state spending in 2009–10 is $125.1 billion, of which General Fund spending constitutes 69.1 percent. Total state spending (nominal) has increased from $75.3 billion in 1998–99 to $125.1 billion in 2009–10 (an increase of 66.2 percent). The increases over this period outpaced ...
Amending an end to out-of-control spending
If there’s anything that the vast majority of Americans can agree upon politically, it’s that federal spending is out of control. The federal budget is $1 trillion higher than in 2007. It has doubled since President Reagan’s second term, even after adjusting for inflation. Our national debt is now $13 ...
The Fed won’t relinquish its bigger role
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Financial analysts have been parsing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech at the August meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo. More worthy of attention, however, is the statement made earlier in August by the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee. It not only represented a ...
Government Greed, Not Human Need, Drives the Growth of Medicaid
Key Points For four and a half decades, Medicaid has experienced significantly faster cost increases than Medicare or private health spending. Since February 2009, the federal government has leveraged states’ Medicaid spending to unprecedented levels. The “stimulus” bill, ObamaCare, and the recently passed bailout for states have further reduced incentives ...
Obamacare Will Cost You Your Retirement
President Obama’s tax pledge, which he made as a candidate, couldn’t have been any clearer: “Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase — not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” He even ...
Medicare needs systemic remedies
President Barack Obama signed a bill to “fix” payments to doctors by Medicare — until November. Although costing taxpayers $6.5 billion, this short-term patch will just have to be “fixed” again right after the next election. Throwing more money at a broken Medicare reimbursement schedule is what passes for bipartisan ...
