Commentary

Commentary

Health Care Not a “Right” Under Government Monopoly

It used to be, that advocates of government-run health care based their claims on the notion that health care is a “right”. Indeed, when the Benjamin Rush Society hosted a debate on the resolution that “universal health care is the responsibility of the federal government,” one of the speakers in ...
Business & Economics

California commission considers tax changes

It seemed appropriate that a panel examining ways to overhaul the state’s tax structure met Thursday in the academic confines of UC Davis rather than the politically charged Capitol. The discussion focused on the theoretical, from examining the merits of a flat income tax to considering a “split-roll” property tax ...
Business & Economics

Consider the evidence, not rhetoric, on proposed ‘card check’ legislation

The Employee Free Choice Act, which represents fundamental reform of labor laws, is ostensibly dead – for now. It will soon re-emerge because it remains a priority for unions and many Democrats. For average workers, however, it constitutes a real problem. “Card check,” as the legislation is known, would eliminate ...
Commentary

A Backdoor Plan for Rationing

Imagine you’re sick. You find out there’s only one drug that can cure you, but your insurance company won’t pay for it because it’s too expensive. Remarkably, such a scenario may soon become a reality in this country. The stimulus bill that President Obama just signed contains $1.1 billion for ...
Commentary

Why Anti-Growth Activism Does Not Help the Environment.

Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) is closing down an El Dorado county sawmill that has been around since 1889. SPI will also close another sawmill and electric power plant in Tuolome county. Two more SPI mills in Plumas and Humbolt counties will also close, leaving hundreds of workers without jobs. One ...
Commentary

Feel the Momentum

National Review, April 8, 2009 At yesterday’s White House–sponsored Regional Health Forum in Los Angeles, everyone from California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz called for immediate action on health-care reform. President Obama’s Domestic Policy Council director, Melody Barnes, said that she could “feel the momentum” for health ...
Business & Economics

Report Card for the Diversity Racket

I do not know Charlotte Westerhaus but I do have some sympathy for her. The duties of her job, “vice president for diversity and inclusion” for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, include replying to charges that in 2008 the NCAA “lost ground for both their record for gender hiring practices ...
Commentary

Rush Job

Doctors and students unite against socialized medicine. An NRO Q&A Tonight in New York City, the Benjamin Rush Society will host its inaugural event: a debate on health care before a gathering of medical students and doctors. Under the leadership of Sally C. Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific ...
Commentary

Two ways to look at health care

U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, had a captive audience Monday. During a meeting with New Britain business leaders, Peter Knaus, a builder in the city, wanted to understand why the Obama Administration believes we can’t get the economy back on track without first fixing the health-care system. “I understand ...
Business & Economics

Putting Drug Research in Legal Jeopardy

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Wyeth v. Levine—holding that drug manufacturers are not free of liability under state law, even when the drug in question has secured federal regulatory approval—has worried pharmaceutical manufacturers, who can now face crippling state tort lawsuits despite being in regulatory compliance. A less-noticed ...
Commentary

Health Care Not a “Right” Under Government Monopoly

It used to be, that advocates of government-run health care based their claims on the notion that health care is a “right”. Indeed, when the Benjamin Rush Society hosted a debate on the resolution that “universal health care is the responsibility of the federal government,” one of the speakers in ...
Business & Economics

California commission considers tax changes

It seemed appropriate that a panel examining ways to overhaul the state’s tax structure met Thursday in the academic confines of UC Davis rather than the politically charged Capitol. The discussion focused on the theoretical, from examining the merits of a flat income tax to considering a “split-roll” property tax ...
Business & Economics

Consider the evidence, not rhetoric, on proposed ‘card check’ legislation

The Employee Free Choice Act, which represents fundamental reform of labor laws, is ostensibly dead – for now. It will soon re-emerge because it remains a priority for unions and many Democrats. For average workers, however, it constitutes a real problem. “Card check,” as the legislation is known, would eliminate ...
Commentary

A Backdoor Plan for Rationing

Imagine you’re sick. You find out there’s only one drug that can cure you, but your insurance company won’t pay for it because it’s too expensive. Remarkably, such a scenario may soon become a reality in this country. The stimulus bill that President Obama just signed contains $1.1 billion for ...
Commentary

Why Anti-Growth Activism Does Not Help the Environment.

Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) is closing down an El Dorado county sawmill that has been around since 1889. SPI will also close another sawmill and electric power plant in Tuolome county. Two more SPI mills in Plumas and Humbolt counties will also close, leaving hundreds of workers without jobs. One ...
Commentary

Feel the Momentum

National Review, April 8, 2009 At yesterday’s White House–sponsored Regional Health Forum in Los Angeles, everyone from California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz called for immediate action on health-care reform. President Obama’s Domestic Policy Council director, Melody Barnes, said that she could “feel the momentum” for health ...
Business & Economics

Report Card for the Diversity Racket

I do not know Charlotte Westerhaus but I do have some sympathy for her. The duties of her job, “vice president for diversity and inclusion” for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, include replying to charges that in 2008 the NCAA “lost ground for both their record for gender hiring practices ...
Commentary

Rush Job

Doctors and students unite against socialized medicine. An NRO Q&A Tonight in New York City, the Benjamin Rush Society will host its inaugural event: a debate on health care before a gathering of medical students and doctors. Under the leadership of Sally C. Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific ...
Commentary

Two ways to look at health care

U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, had a captive audience Monday. During a meeting with New Britain business leaders, Peter Knaus, a builder in the city, wanted to understand why the Obama Administration believes we can’t get the economy back on track without first fixing the health-care system. “I understand ...
Business & Economics

Putting Drug Research in Legal Jeopardy

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Wyeth v. Levine—holding that drug manufacturers are not free of liability under state law, even when the drug in question has secured federal regulatory approval—has worried pharmaceutical manufacturers, who can now face crippling state tort lawsuits despite being in regulatory compliance. A less-noticed ...
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