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Public sector should manage health costs
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) News Clipping
By: John Torinus
2.28.2009
For an eye opener, go to the Web site of the state Department of Employee Trust Funds and check out the premium for a single state employee. It comes to $896 a month, or $10,752 a year.
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The Obama Stimulus, Education, and California
Flash Report (CA) Op-Ed
By: Lance T. Izumi, J.D.
2.25.2009
Now that President Obama has signed the three-quarter-of-a-trillion-dollar stimulus package, which contains $100 billion for public schools, many observers on the left and the right are concluding that the package won’t change very much in America’s underperforming government education system.
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Blagojevich's failed drug importation plan a cautionary tale
Chicago Sun-Times Op-Ed
By: Sally C. Pipes
2.22.2009
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's recent media blitz took him across the television dial, from David Letterman to "The View," but he maintained he had done nothing wrong. The Illinois Legislature begged to differ. In addition to the alleged attempted sale of Barack Obama's Senate seat, lawmakers cited several other transgressions -- including an illegal prescription drug importation scheme.
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Humane Health Care
The American Specator News Clipping
By: Robert M. Goldberg
2.20.2009
President Barack Obama has promised to fundamentally change America's health care system. But before he and his team get to work, they'd do well to read Sally Pipes's new book.
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How ‘Green’ Are You?
Sacramento Union Op-Ed
By: K. Lloyd Billingsley
2.19.2009
President Obama, who wants to emphasize science, has chosen Carol Browner for his “Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change,” a new post being dubbed the “Climate Czar.” Browner’s recent career will be of interest to Americans struggling with a weak economy and cold weather.
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Card check - U.S. moving in wrong direction
The Alliance Review (OH) Op-Ed
By: Jason Clemens
2.17.2009
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a likely hot button for the Obama administration, would fundamentally alter the balance of power in the U.S. labor market and impose enormous costs on workers. Ironically, as America moves to fundamentally change the way unions are certified, other countries, like Canada, are moving away from these very same laws because they just don't work.
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Keep an eye on the Obama administration
Boston Globe (MA) - Letter to the Editor
By: Daniel R. Ballon, Ph.D
2.17.2009
PETER FUNT raises serious privacy concerns about Google's use of surveillance technologies ("Google is watching," Op-ed, Feb. 9), but unlike George Orwell's Big Brother, the Internet giant does not function as an arm of the government.
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True cost of stimulus? Higher taxes
East Valley Tribune (AZ) Op-Ed
By: Jason Clemens, Adam Frey
2.16.2009
President Barack Obama is scheduled to place his signature Tuesday on the $787 billion economic stimulus bill. Unfortunately, the cost of debt and future taxes required to finance the stimulus largesse have largely been ignored to date.
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Taxes bite into Health Savings Accounts
San Francisco Business Times
By: John R. Graham
2.13.2009
In an article full of left-handed compliments, the San Francisco Business Times noted that Kaiser Permanente, the mother of all HMOs, has 12 percent of its members in “deductible plans” at the end of 2008 (“New health for HSAs,” Jan. 16-22 issue).
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Bank Bailout Blues
Townhall Op-Ed
2.9.2009
Undeterred by the failure of the last injection of taxpayer dollars into a bloated banking system, our financial crusaders in DC are scratching their heads over the best way to flush another few hundred billion away. The latest scheme involves the creation of a “bad bank” that would purchase the so-called “toxic” mortgage-related assets from the troubled institutions.
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Prevention pays in big ways: Longer, healthier lives
Des Moines Register (IA) News Clipping
By: Tom Newton
2.8.2009
A Register editorial last month called attention to an important Congressional Budget Office report on health-care reform proposals. The CBO report found that preventive care will not reduce health costs significantly.
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Stimulus no fix for health insurance
Orange County Register Op-Ed
By: Sally C. Pipes
2.8.2009
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger raised the ire of many in California by calling for $1.1 billion in cuts to Medi-Cal, the state health care program for the poor, as part of an effort to head off a projected $42 billion budget deficit over the next 17 months.
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A Bad Message from California on Offshore Drilling
Master Resource Blog
By: Thomas Tanton
2.7.2009
As I posted at the Pacific Research Institute website, the California State Lands Commission (SLC) has rejected a proposal that would have led to the first new oil drilling project off the California coast in 40 years. On January 29, the panel voted 2-1 against Plains Exploration & Production Company’s request for approval of its bid to expand drilling off Platform Irene in the Santa Barbara Channel.
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Calif.'s Fertility Flap and the Future of Reproductive Tech
TechNewsWorld Op-Ed
2.6.2009
The news of octuplets born recently near Los Angeles shocked many people, especially since the mother, Nadya Suleman, apparently already had six children and is reported to be jobless and living with her parents. Such rare stories certainly sell newspapers, but they can also lead to knee-jerk calls for overly restrictive regulation, which threaten freedom and innovation.
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Obama Stimulus Not Necessary, as This Is No Great Depression
U.S. News & World Report Op-Ed
By: Clark S. Judge
2.6.2009
Milton Friedman had a rule: Increases or decreases in the money supply take six to nine months to alter economic output and as much as two years to move prices. As the Senate takes up the president's stimulus package, the administration argues that, to avert another Great Depression, it is better to do too much than too little. But a Friedmanesque look at today and the 1930s tells a different story: The analogy with the Depression is wrong; the current downturn may be all but over; and doing too much, not too little, is the real danger.
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Medical Tourism: Comparable to How Toyota, and Overseas Competition Changed U.S. Auto Industry
Carpe Diem Blog News Clipping
2.5.2009
More people are engaging in medical tourism because of rising health care prices in the United States, said Greg Scandlen, director of Consumers for Health Care Choices at The Heartland Institute. “As more and more people have out-of-pocket responsibility, they’re looking around for the best deal, and out-of-country services are an incredibly good deal if you’re willing to travel,” Scandlen said.
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California Students Should be Free to Choose
Sacramento Union Op-Ed
By: Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D, Evelyn B. Stacey
2.5.2009
“Why is it that our educational system is turning out youngsters who cannot read, write, or figure?” Friedman once asked. “The answer – simple but nonetheless correct – is that our current school system is a monopoly that is being run primarily by the teachers’ unions.”
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Don't blame China for U.S. woes
San Diego Union-Tribune News Clipping
By: Alvaro Vargas Llosa
2.4.2009
Several Chinese readers have contacted me to express astonishment at the chorus of voices blaming China for the U.S. recession. They wonder: Is this the preamble of a protectionist backlash?
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KFMB-TV 8: Are We Already Spending Too Much On Education?
KFMB-TV 8 News Clipping
2.4.2009
California's budget mess is taking a toll on many programs and education is no exception. But some say we may be spending more than enough for students to learn. Right now, the state is spending nearly $70 billion on public education. That's an average of $12,000 per student kindergarten through 12th grade.
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Expand Economic Freedom in 2009
Front Page Magazine Op-Ed
2.3.2009
The onset of 2009, with a new president taking office, is a good time to reconsider the benefits of economic freedom. Contrary to what partisans of big government claim, the empirical case for economic freedom has grown much stronger in the last 10 years, due to the development of objective measures.
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"Do You Austrians Have a Better Idea?"
Ludwig Von Mises Institute Op-Ed
2.2.2009
A lot of people get annoyed with Austrian economists because they tend to be so dogmatic (we prefer the term consistent) and because they cloak their strictly economic claims with self-righteousness (we prefer the term morality). After a good Austrian bashing of the latest call to steal taxpayer money and waste it on something that will make a given problem worse, the stumped critics will often shout, "Oh yeah? Well do you guys have a better idea?"
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Health care myths obstruct reform
Herald Tribune (FL) News Clipping
By: Ben R. Mayne, M.D.
2.2.2009
As a retired physician and a conservative, I sometimes feel like a voice in the wilderness in this era of liberalism. Our nation is an enigma. When times are good, we do all we can to get government out of our lives; but when times are bad, we jump back into the womb of big government.
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Some Governments Fail to Learn from Muni Wi-fi Failures
Info Tech & Telecom News (Heartland Institute) News Clipping
By: Aricka Flowers
2.1.2009
Municipal wi-fi programs have failed across the country during the past two years, leaving San Francisco-based Meraki as one of few companies still willing to give it a go.
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Houston’s Wi-Fi, 'Bubble' Plan Both Fail
Info Tech & Telecom News (Heartland Institute) News Clipping
By: Phil Britt
2.1.2009
The city of Houston’s plan for municipal wi-fi began with the best of intentions: A grand plan to blanket the city with a wireless “cloud” providing cheap Internet access for the masses.
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International Medical Tourism Is on the Rise
Health Care News (Heartland Institute) News Clipping
By: Jillian Melchior, Maggie Goode
2.1.2009
More Americans than ever are traveling abroad for medical treatment, according to a study released by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, a Washington, DC-based organization that researches health care and public health-related issues.
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Consumer-Directed Health Care Plan Falls Short in Arizona
Health Care News (Heartland Institute) News Clipping
By: Joe Emanuel
2.1.2009
After a lengthy post-election ballot-counting process, the Arizona Secretary of State’s office announced Proposition 101, a groundbreaking initiative proponents say would have enshrined consumer-directed health care into the state’s constitution by preventing government from forcing citizens to enroll in any particular health insurance plan, failed by the slimmest of margins.
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Grassley Seeks Probe of Unapproved Drugs
Health Care News (Heartland Institute) News Clipping
By: Katie Flanigan
2.1.2009
A longtime member of Congress is asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate nearly $200 million the government has spent on unauthorized drugs for Medicaid enrollees since 2004. The drug purchases were discovered during an investigation conducted by the Associated Press.
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Google CEO Calls for Government Tech Money
Info Tech & Telecom News (Heartland Institute) News Clipping
By: Aricka Flowers
2.1.2009
As the U.S. government was scurrying to find ways to bail out some of the nation’s largest companies, Google CEO Eric Schmidt criticized economic freedom and said the rescue plans should be used to support new telecommunications infrastructure and solve longstanding innovation issues.
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Jindal Proposes Sweeping Medicaid Overhaul
Health Care News (Heartland Institute) News Clipping
By: Joe Emanuel
2.1.2009
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has unveiled a proposal for overhauling the state’s Medicaid program, altering both its funding and delivery.
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