Commentary
Commentary
Coming Soon: The Nightmare From Up There
In his recent speech to the American Medical Association, President Obama counseled Americans to beware “dire warnings about socialized medicine and government takeovers; long lines, and rationed care; decisions made by bureaucrats and not doctors.” Unfortunately for the president, there are a few Cassandras whose warnings are worth heeding. Chief ...
Business & Economics
California’s Blueberry Hill: Quest for Spending Continues as Golden State Runs Out of Money
California’s wallet is empty, as Governor Schwarzenegger says, and the Golden State is staring down the barrel of a $26.3 billion deficit. That has not stopped legislative efforts to expand government, spending, and regulation. Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, a San Francisco Democrat, wants California to have a Blueberry Commission, with an ...
Business & Economics
California: The National Petri Dish
Supposedly, trends start in California and then spread to the rest of the country, a notion that seems to be confirmed by the latest economic news. In May, California’s unemployment rate hit 11.5 percent—the highest it has been since 1941. This morning we learn that unemployment for the entire country ...
Commentary
ABC Pulls John Stossel’s Canadian Healthcare Piece
John Stossel, ABC News’ co-anchor of “20/20” and a New York Times best-selling author, likes to take a skeptical look at a wide array of issues, but hold the phone on his new healthcare special — it was pulled to make room for yet more coverage of Michael Jackson. Bad ...
Commentary
North Dakota Rejects State Health Expansion
Health Care News (Heartland Institute), July 1, 2009 The North Dakota legislature has rejected a measure to expand eligibility for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The bill would have extended SCHIP eligibility to families making 200 percent of the federal poverty level and would have allowed more than 1,100 ...
Commentary
Fixing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: More money and power—or more competition?
Of all President Obama’s high-profile appointments, Dr. Margaret Hamburg’s nomination as U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner was probably the easiest. Coasting through the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee to an unqualified chorus of praise, the eminently qualified Hamburg takes over an agency that many people ...
Commentary
Restaurant Menu Labeling Mandate Debated
Citing a need to curb childhood obesity, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) has signed on as Senate sponsor of a federal bill to require calorie counts on restaurant menus. House Resolution 2426, the Menu Education and Labeling (MEAL) Act, would extend federal food labeling requirements from packaged products to ...
Business & Economics
Chicago May Use Red Light Cameras to Catch Uninsured Drivers
Infotech & Telecom News (The Heartland Institute), July 1, 2009 Opposing Views (Los Angeles,CA), June 2, 2009 The city of Chicago is considering a new use for red light cameras: nabbing uninsured drivers. Technology experts and civil liberties advocates call the idea a violation of privacy and a misuse of ...
Commentary
“Better” Health Care?
President Obama says government will make health care cheaper and better. But there’s no free lunch. In England, health care is “free” — as long as you don’t mind waiting. People wait so long for dentist appointments that some pull their own teeth. Real Clear Politics, July 1, 2009 The ...
Agriculture
California Targets Auto Emissions, Ethanol Gets No Break
California’s Air Resources Board has approved a landmark rule mandating a statewide cut in greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels through 2020. The sweeping regulation targets carbon emissions from the production and burning of gasoline and alternatives such as ethanol. The rule may affect the way land is used to ...
Coming Soon: The Nightmare From Up There
In his recent speech to the American Medical Association, President Obama counseled Americans to beware “dire warnings about socialized medicine and government takeovers; long lines, and rationed care; decisions made by bureaucrats and not doctors.” Unfortunately for the president, there are a few Cassandras whose warnings are worth heeding. Chief ...
California’s Blueberry Hill: Quest for Spending Continues as Golden State Runs Out of Money
California’s wallet is empty, as Governor Schwarzenegger says, and the Golden State is staring down the barrel of a $26.3 billion deficit. That has not stopped legislative efforts to expand government, spending, and regulation. Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, a San Francisco Democrat, wants California to have a Blueberry Commission, with an ...
California: The National Petri Dish
Supposedly, trends start in California and then spread to the rest of the country, a notion that seems to be confirmed by the latest economic news. In May, California’s unemployment rate hit 11.5 percent—the highest it has been since 1941. This morning we learn that unemployment for the entire country ...
ABC Pulls John Stossel’s Canadian Healthcare Piece
John Stossel, ABC News’ co-anchor of “20/20” and a New York Times best-selling author, likes to take a skeptical look at a wide array of issues, but hold the phone on his new healthcare special — it was pulled to make room for yet more coverage of Michael Jackson. Bad ...
North Dakota Rejects State Health Expansion
Health Care News (Heartland Institute), July 1, 2009 The North Dakota legislature has rejected a measure to expand eligibility for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The bill would have extended SCHIP eligibility to families making 200 percent of the federal poverty level and would have allowed more than 1,100 ...
Fixing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: More money and power—or more competition?
Of all President Obama’s high-profile appointments, Dr. Margaret Hamburg’s nomination as U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner was probably the easiest. Coasting through the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee to an unqualified chorus of praise, the eminently qualified Hamburg takes over an agency that many people ...
Restaurant Menu Labeling Mandate Debated
Citing a need to curb childhood obesity, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) has signed on as Senate sponsor of a federal bill to require calorie counts on restaurant menus. House Resolution 2426, the Menu Education and Labeling (MEAL) Act, would extend federal food labeling requirements from packaged products to ...
Chicago May Use Red Light Cameras to Catch Uninsured Drivers
Infotech & Telecom News (The Heartland Institute), July 1, 2009 Opposing Views (Los Angeles,CA), June 2, 2009 The city of Chicago is considering a new use for red light cameras: nabbing uninsured drivers. Technology experts and civil liberties advocates call the idea a violation of privacy and a misuse of ...
“Better” Health Care?
President Obama says government will make health care cheaper and better. But there’s no free lunch. In England, health care is “free” — as long as you don’t mind waiting. People wait so long for dentist appointments that some pull their own teeth. Real Clear Politics, July 1, 2009 The ...
California Targets Auto Emissions, Ethanol Gets No Break
California’s Air Resources Board has approved a landmark rule mandating a statewide cut in greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels through 2020. The sweeping regulation targets carbon emissions from the production and burning of gasoline and alternatives such as ethanol. The rule may affect the way land is used to ...
