Commentary
Commentary
Long Gone: Why California should eliminate the post of Secretary of Education
SACRAMENTO – David Long, California’s Secretary of Education, resigned on August 10, the fourth such Secretary to resign in the past five years. California should take this opportunity to eliminate this position, which Mr. Long’s brief 18-month tenure confirms to be redundant. “I’d be less than honest if I didn’t ...
Business & Economics
Product-Liability Law: Is “Pre-emption” the Right Question?
The media are (justifiably) interested in the Bush administration’s (or, if you prefer, the “Bush regime’s”) rushing a bunch of new rules into the Code of Federal Regulations that would “pre-empt” states’ product-liability laws. According to the Wall Street Journal, these rules “could block product-safety lawsuits by consumers and states.” ...
Business & Economics
Freedom more important than climate
Most of us who live here love California — the climate, the views, the beaches, the mountains, the opportunities, the people. One of the main reasons California Democrats (and, to a lesser extent, California Republicans) have been so aggressive in pushing bad policies is they believe that we won’t leave ...
Commentary
SCHIP: Big Pharma Falls Into Line with Big Government
The Wall Street Journal confirms the depressing news that the brand-name pharmaceutical industry has been “collaborating” with advocates of a government take-over of health care. Apparently, it has given $13.2 million to an “astroturf” outfit, “America’s Agenda: Health Care for Kids”, to produce and run advertisements stroking 28 Congressmen (of ...
Business & Economics
Medical Lawsuits Put Health At Risk
On Nov. 3, a day before the election, the U.S. Supreme Court hears Wyeth v. Levine, a case with profound implications for the health of all Americans. In 2000, plaintiff Diane Levine was given Wyeth’s anti-nausea drug Phenergan, then on the market for 45 years. In rare instances, as the ...
California
Los Angeles Times’ Campaign for Government Health Care
Lisa Girion and Michael A. Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times have relieved themselves of a feature-focus of three stories about how awful private health plans are. They managed to interview key leaders of the campaign for government-mandated health insurance, such as Bruce Bodaken of Blue Shield of California and ...
Business & Economics
Californians Voting with Their Feet
The state government’s stifling economic policies are worsening the downturn and driving citizens elsewhere. With the implosion of its storied investment banks and the future of Wall Street in doubt, New York will suffer the effects of the financial crisis more acutely than many states. But the crisis reaches epicenters ...
Commentary
What California Can Learn From New Jersey’s K-12 Scholarship Plan
California’s finances are a “mess,” as the Wall Street Journal recently observed, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is grappling with an array of cost-saving options, including K-12 education. In these conditions, perhaps the Golden State could learn a few things from the Garden State. New Jersey is one of the few ...
Commentary
How Copenhagen is becoming like Houston
Just came across this article on urban development in Copenhagen, Denmark, and how many parallels there are to what we face in Houston, where a decentralized city makes transit increasingly impractical. Excerpts: In all the 37 years I have been traveling to and living in Copenhagen, it has always struck ...
California
California Health Reform: The Myths Abide
The (usually more reliable) Riverside Press-Enterprise reported the proceedings of a conference, held over the last two days, which issued a dreary post-mortem on the Schwarzenegger-Nuñez California Health Care Deforminator ABX1-1. ABX1-1 was Governor Schwarzenegger’s and former Assembly Speaker Nuñez’s attempt to ram so-called “universal” health care down our throats ...
Long Gone: Why California should eliminate the post of Secretary of Education
SACRAMENTO – David Long, California’s Secretary of Education, resigned on August 10, the fourth such Secretary to resign in the past five years. California should take this opportunity to eliminate this position, which Mr. Long’s brief 18-month tenure confirms to be redundant. “I’d be less than honest if I didn’t ...
Product-Liability Law: Is “Pre-emption” the Right Question?
The media are (justifiably) interested in the Bush administration’s (or, if you prefer, the “Bush regime’s”) rushing a bunch of new rules into the Code of Federal Regulations that would “pre-empt” states’ product-liability laws. According to the Wall Street Journal, these rules “could block product-safety lawsuits by consumers and states.” ...
Freedom more important than climate
Most of us who live here love California — the climate, the views, the beaches, the mountains, the opportunities, the people. One of the main reasons California Democrats (and, to a lesser extent, California Republicans) have been so aggressive in pushing bad policies is they believe that we won’t leave ...
SCHIP: Big Pharma Falls Into Line with Big Government
The Wall Street Journal confirms the depressing news that the brand-name pharmaceutical industry has been “collaborating” with advocates of a government take-over of health care. Apparently, it has given $13.2 million to an “astroturf” outfit, “America’s Agenda: Health Care for Kids”, to produce and run advertisements stroking 28 Congressmen (of ...
Medical Lawsuits Put Health At Risk
On Nov. 3, a day before the election, the U.S. Supreme Court hears Wyeth v. Levine, a case with profound implications for the health of all Americans. In 2000, plaintiff Diane Levine was given Wyeth’s anti-nausea drug Phenergan, then on the market for 45 years. In rare instances, as the ...
Los Angeles Times’ Campaign for Government Health Care
Lisa Girion and Michael A. Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times have relieved themselves of a feature-focus of three stories about how awful private health plans are. They managed to interview key leaders of the campaign for government-mandated health insurance, such as Bruce Bodaken of Blue Shield of California and ...
Californians Voting with Their Feet
The state government’s stifling economic policies are worsening the downturn and driving citizens elsewhere. With the implosion of its storied investment banks and the future of Wall Street in doubt, New York will suffer the effects of the financial crisis more acutely than many states. But the crisis reaches epicenters ...
What California Can Learn From New Jersey’s K-12 Scholarship Plan
California’s finances are a “mess,” as the Wall Street Journal recently observed, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is grappling with an array of cost-saving options, including K-12 education. In these conditions, perhaps the Golden State could learn a few things from the Garden State. New Jersey is one of the few ...
How Copenhagen is becoming like Houston
Just came across this article on urban development in Copenhagen, Denmark, and how many parallels there are to what we face in Houston, where a decentralized city makes transit increasingly impractical. Excerpts: In all the 37 years I have been traveling to and living in Copenhagen, it has always struck ...
California Health Reform: The Myths Abide
The (usually more reliable) Riverside Press-Enterprise reported the proceedings of a conference, held over the last two days, which issued a dreary post-mortem on the Schwarzenegger-Nuñez California Health Care Deforminator ABX1-1. ABX1-1 was Governor Schwarzenegger’s and former Assembly Speaker Nuñez’s attempt to ram so-called “universal” health care down our throats ...
