Commentary

Government incompetence deprives people of COVID-19 vaccines

January 12, 2021

By Monday afternoon, of 25.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed across the United States, just 9 million had actually been administered to patients. That's well short of the government's goal of inoculating 20 million people by the end of 2020. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. Government-controlled markets are...

PRI’s Kerry Jackson weighs in on Newsom budget plan in OC Register: California’s spend-a-thon begins

January 10, 2021

California

Gov. Gavin Newsom submitted his budget Friday, outlining how he wants the state to spend a record $227.2 billion in the 2021-2022 fiscal year. And spend California will, as usual on items in no way connected to government’s limited role in our lives. In addition to...

Could Los Angeles Or San Francisco Be The Next Detroit?

January 06, 2021

California

Few would have imagined in 1950, when Detroit was the country’s fifth-largest city, the undisputed car capital of the world and one of the most important cities of its era, that it would become synonymous with urban decay. Yet it happened there. Which means it...

Local Businesses Shrug Off California’s Strict COVID Restrictions

January 05, 2021

It’s not hard to argue that California has the country’s harshest pandemic restrictions, though New York and Michigan are close enough to call it a tie. This would be news to anyone visiting from elsewhere, though. Aside from a few exceptions, things look rather normal. About 33...

The OCC Is Right, Politics Should Not Determine Credit Access

January 04, 2021

Business Economics

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is considering a rule (i.e., Fair Access to Bank Services, Capital, and Credit), which would ensure that banks provide equal access to financial services, without discrimination. Such clarification is sorely needed. It should go without saying, that...

A Single-Payer Healthcare System Would Have Made the Pandemic Worse

January 04, 2021

The intended-to-scare-readers headline said “California hospitals discuss rationing care as virus surges.” And it should frighten anyone who saw it. Though not necessarily for the reason the headline writer had in mind. The alarmist string of words topped a Dec. 21 Associated Press story, which warned...

Price Transparency: A Gift To Americans In The New Year

January 04, 2021

Healthcare

The New Year is starting off with a healthcare victory for American patients. On January 1, a new rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services went into effect requiring hospitals to publish the prices they negotiate with insurers for various medical procedures. Previously, those...

COVID vaccinations are going much too slowly — here’s how to speed them up and save lives

January 03, 2021

Healthcare

Vaccines against the novel coronavirus were developed in record time. But getting those vaccines into the arms of Americans has been frustratingly slow at a time when speeding up vaccinations is literally a matter of life and death. Tragically, thousands of people are dying of COVID-19 every day in...