Commentary
Commentary
Avastin: Helpful drug or too risky, expensive?
In an “Urgent Submission on Breast Cancer” to newspaper editors, Sally C. Pipes (president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute and author of “The Truth About Obamacare”) outlined only the positive parts of the Avastin story and implied that saving money was the real reason for this recommendation. She ...
Agriculture
State’s silly laws, sillier candidates
SACRAMENTO – Every legislator could have skipped out of the country for the entire legislative session, and it would not have mattered one iota to anyone outside of their staff members. That’s not cynicism, so much as a fair and balanced assessment of the last legislative session. I’m reminded of ...
Commentary
Americans’ healthy dislike for Obamacare
Supporters of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul maintained throughout the summer that the law was slowly, but surely, growing in popularity. “The more people understand this bill, the more they are going to like it,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius recently said. Public opinion data tell ...
Commentary
Prop. 209 back in spotlight
The November elections have been dominating the news, obscuring a story of great interest to those who find little merit in most government policies on women’s or gender issues. Sometimes, however, a government measure can have a positive effect. That even holds true in, of all places, California. Officials in ...
Commentary
Is Arizona Waiting for “Superman”?
Waiting for Superman follows several students seeking to escape underperforming inner city schools in New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. The filmmakers weave heartbreaking personal drama into an overall presentation of the flaws of the nation’s education system. Together, these themes are incredibly powerful and mutually reinforcing. To their credit, ...
Business & Economics
An ironic twist in fiscal policy
In an ironic twist in world politics, European leaders are calling for fiscal austerity while U.S. officials are preaching about more borrowing and spending. In the wake of the Greek debt crisis, major European governments are recognizing the value of reining in the massive deficit spending that has not “stimulated” ...
Business & Economics
Tax competitiveness is key to California recovery
California’s budget deficit is currently estimated at $19 billion, but the Golden State also suffers from myriad tax-based problems. To recover economic prosperity, the state needs immediate tax reform and long-term tax relief. The Golden State relies heavily on personal income taxes, which impose much larger economic costs than consumption ...
Commentary
The Era of Rationing Begins
Supporters of health reform said it would never happen. Maybe they got caught up in their own rhetoric. Maybe they just didn’t want to believe it was possible. But rationing in America has started. By December, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to revoke approval of the drug Avastin ...
Commentary
Federal Pre-Emption Has a Place, but Maybe Not This One
Jay Lefkowitz and Michael Shumsky (“Obama Embraces the ‘Pre-Emption’ Doctrine,” op-ed, Sept. 14) make some valid arguments applicable to legal trade-offs between states’ product-liability laws and the Food and Drug Administration’s labeling regulations. However, they are off-base in describing the FDA as “cash-strapped.” The FDA’s spending on the regulation of ...
Business & Economics
Lobbyists Roam Free in the Free State
Recent scandals, runaway spending and ongoing fiscal crises have all boosted interest in lobbying.
Avastin: Helpful drug or too risky, expensive?
In an “Urgent Submission on Breast Cancer” to newspaper editors, Sally C. Pipes (president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute and author of “The Truth About Obamacare”) outlined only the positive parts of the Avastin story and implied that saving money was the real reason for this recommendation. She ...
State’s silly laws, sillier candidates
SACRAMENTO – Every legislator could have skipped out of the country for the entire legislative session, and it would not have mattered one iota to anyone outside of their staff members. That’s not cynicism, so much as a fair and balanced assessment of the last legislative session. I’m reminded of ...
Americans’ healthy dislike for Obamacare
Supporters of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul maintained throughout the summer that the law was slowly, but surely, growing in popularity. “The more people understand this bill, the more they are going to like it,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius recently said. Public opinion data tell ...
Prop. 209 back in spotlight
The November elections have been dominating the news, obscuring a story of great interest to those who find little merit in most government policies on women’s or gender issues. Sometimes, however, a government measure can have a positive effect. That even holds true in, of all places, California. Officials in ...
Is Arizona Waiting for “Superman”?
Waiting for Superman follows several students seeking to escape underperforming inner city schools in New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. The filmmakers weave heartbreaking personal drama into an overall presentation of the flaws of the nation’s education system. Together, these themes are incredibly powerful and mutually reinforcing. To their credit, ...
An ironic twist in fiscal policy
In an ironic twist in world politics, European leaders are calling for fiscal austerity while U.S. officials are preaching about more borrowing and spending. In the wake of the Greek debt crisis, major European governments are recognizing the value of reining in the massive deficit spending that has not “stimulated” ...
Tax competitiveness is key to California recovery
California’s budget deficit is currently estimated at $19 billion, but the Golden State also suffers from myriad tax-based problems. To recover economic prosperity, the state needs immediate tax reform and long-term tax relief. The Golden State relies heavily on personal income taxes, which impose much larger economic costs than consumption ...
The Era of Rationing Begins
Supporters of health reform said it would never happen. Maybe they got caught up in their own rhetoric. Maybe they just didn’t want to believe it was possible. But rationing in America has started. By December, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to revoke approval of the drug Avastin ...
Federal Pre-Emption Has a Place, but Maybe Not This One
Jay Lefkowitz and Michael Shumsky (“Obama Embraces the ‘Pre-Emption’ Doctrine,” op-ed, Sept. 14) make some valid arguments applicable to legal trade-offs between states’ product-liability laws and the Food and Drug Administration’s labeling regulations. However, they are off-base in describing the FDA as “cash-strapped.” The FDA’s spending on the regulation of ...
Lobbyists Roam Free in the Free State
Recent scandals, runaway spending and ongoing fiscal crises have all boosted interest in lobbying.
