Commentary

Commentary

Officials ignore their own stay-at-home COVID-19 restrictions — it’s infuriating

Many elected officials have told Americans for months to stay home and forego everything from religious gatherings and team sports to holiday dinners and even funerals to stem the spread of the coronavirus. And yet we keep seeing news reports about officials flouting their own rules with a nice dinner ...
Commentary

Shocking Disparities In COVID-19 Attitudes And Behaviors

It should be obvious by now that the adoption of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, has become politicized. Consider the presidential campaigns: President Donald Trump held large indoor rallies with mostly mask-less supporters, while President-elect Joe Biden seemed to have a mask sutured to ...
Commentary

Republicans and Democrats missing the point on prescription drug costs

Bashing drug companies, long a bipartisan pastime, reached a fever pitch when President Trump recently announced a new federal rule aimed at slashing the prices Medicare pays for some lifesaving medications. Republicans and Democrats alike are stuck on the idea that the best way to reduce our nation’s health care bill is ...
Commentary

COVID-19 Is No Excuse For An Assault On Intellectual Property

Since this country’s founding, the United States USM -0.5% has maintained strong protections for intellectual property. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” Unfortunately, a few members of ...
Commentary

Three Healthcare Achievements To Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. It may seem hard to believe, but even in this year unlike any other, there’s still plenty to be thankful for—including some notable developments in healthcare policy. *** 1. Individual health insurance premiums have stabilized and declined. Open enrollment on the HealthCare.gov exchanges run by the ...
Commentary

The Street Interviews Dr. Henry Miller on Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine

Shots Heard ‘Round the World: Will Pfizer, Moderna Vaccines Start End of Pandemic? By Adam Smith, The Street The U.S. found itself this month both in the most dangerous stage of the Covid-19 pandemic to date, and in the most hopeful stage. Just as the daily case counts of new ...
Commentary

AOC’s ‘path forward’ on healthcare is just a giant step back

On Wednesday, Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Katie Porter, and Pramila Jayapal joined former insurance industry executive and now “Medicare for all” advocate Wendell Potter in an online strategy session to “chart the path forward” for health reform under a Biden administration. The trio of liberal lawmakers pressed ahead with their demand for ...
Commentary

Trump wrongly attacks life-saving drug companies on coronavirus vaccines and more

President Trump announced Friday that he will proceed with his plans to peg the prices of certain drugs prescribed largely at doctors’ offices under Medicare Part B to the lower prices that other developed nations pay for those drugs. That may sound good at first glance, but in reality, the move will slow ...
California

The (Back) Rent Is Too Damn High

Did someone say that suspending the responsibilities for renters to make their payments due to the pandemic on time would create problems? Of course they did. And of course it has. By the end of the year, Californians will owe as much as $1.7 billion in back rent, says a ...
Charter Schools

LA, Oakland receive “F” for funding disparity between regular public schools and charters

It is well known that regular public schools receive more funding than public charter schools, but a just-released study finds that this gap becomes massive when all sources of revenues are included, and this yawning chasm can be seen especially in Oakland and Los Angeles. The University of Arkansas study, entitled ...
Commentary

Officials ignore their own stay-at-home COVID-19 restrictions — it’s infuriating

Many elected officials have told Americans for months to stay home and forego everything from religious gatherings and team sports to holiday dinners and even funerals to stem the spread of the coronavirus. And yet we keep seeing news reports about officials flouting their own rules with a nice dinner ...
Commentary

Shocking Disparities In COVID-19 Attitudes And Behaviors

It should be obvious by now that the adoption of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, has become politicized. Consider the presidential campaigns: President Donald Trump held large indoor rallies with mostly mask-less supporters, while President-elect Joe Biden seemed to have a mask sutured to ...
Commentary

Republicans and Democrats missing the point on prescription drug costs

Bashing drug companies, long a bipartisan pastime, reached a fever pitch when President Trump recently announced a new federal rule aimed at slashing the prices Medicare pays for some lifesaving medications. Republicans and Democrats alike are stuck on the idea that the best way to reduce our nation’s health care bill is ...
Commentary

COVID-19 Is No Excuse For An Assault On Intellectual Property

Since this country’s founding, the United States USM -0.5% has maintained strong protections for intellectual property. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” Unfortunately, a few members of ...
Commentary

Three Healthcare Achievements To Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. It may seem hard to believe, but even in this year unlike any other, there’s still plenty to be thankful for—including some notable developments in healthcare policy. *** 1. Individual health insurance premiums have stabilized and declined. Open enrollment on the HealthCare.gov exchanges run by the ...
Commentary

The Street Interviews Dr. Henry Miller on Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine

Shots Heard ‘Round the World: Will Pfizer, Moderna Vaccines Start End of Pandemic? By Adam Smith, The Street The U.S. found itself this month both in the most dangerous stage of the Covid-19 pandemic to date, and in the most hopeful stage. Just as the daily case counts of new ...
Commentary

AOC’s ‘path forward’ on healthcare is just a giant step back

On Wednesday, Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Katie Porter, and Pramila Jayapal joined former insurance industry executive and now “Medicare for all” advocate Wendell Potter in an online strategy session to “chart the path forward” for health reform under a Biden administration. The trio of liberal lawmakers pressed ahead with their demand for ...
Commentary

Trump wrongly attacks life-saving drug companies on coronavirus vaccines and more

President Trump announced Friday that he will proceed with his plans to peg the prices of certain drugs prescribed largely at doctors’ offices under Medicare Part B to the lower prices that other developed nations pay for those drugs. That may sound good at first glance, but in reality, the move will slow ...
California

The (Back) Rent Is Too Damn High

Did someone say that suspending the responsibilities for renters to make their payments due to the pandemic on time would create problems? Of course they did. And of course it has. By the end of the year, Californians will owe as much as $1.7 billion in back rent, says a ...
Charter Schools

LA, Oakland receive “F” for funding disparity between regular public schools and charters

It is well known that regular public schools receive more funding than public charter schools, but a just-released study finds that this gap becomes massive when all sources of revenues are included, and this yawning chasm can be seen especially in Oakland and Los Angeles. The University of Arkansas study, entitled ...
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