Commentary
Business & Economics
Lessons from the $388 million Hyatt case: How current tax policy hurts California
California’s financial problems may have gotten worse by $388 million, according to an August 16 Nevada trial verdict in favor of an inventor mistreated by California’s Franchise Tax Board. The unprecedented case highlights California’s enforcement tactics and points to the solution for state revenue instability. Gilbert P. Hyatt, an electrical ...
K. Lloyd Billingsley
September 21, 2008
Commentary
The truth behind the Census Bureau’s insurance figure
Officials at the U.S. Census Bureau recently released new health insurance figures purporting to show that the number of Americans officially classified as uninsured in 2007 was 45.7 million, down from 47 million in 2006. Despite the decline, the new figure is being spun as proof positive that America’s healthcare ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 21, 2008
Business & Economics
The First Presidential Debate and Legal Reform
The First Presidential Debate and Legal Reform The first presidential debate takes place Friday in Oxford, Mississippi. Oxford…Oxford…Oxford…Now whom is it we associate, lately, with Oxford, Mississippi? Right. It’s the home of Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, the giant among trial lawyers. Or at least it was until July. “Court Orders Dickie ...
Carter Wood
September 21, 2008
Business & Economics
Commentary: Who do you think will be better for the economy: John McCain or Barak Obama?
Cartoonist Scott Adams, he of “Dilbert” fame, was plagued by the same question so, he reports, he commissioned a survey of more than 500 economists, “to find out which candidates for President of the United States would be best for the economy long term,” a release put out by United ...
Brook Stockberger
September 21, 2008
Commentary
Albany must cut back on health care mandates
Gov. David A. Paterson just headed off a budget crisis by persuading legislators to cut spending by a billion dollars. But with the three-year deficit projected at $26.2 billion, this compromise won’t improve the state’s fiscal outlook. This is largely because of health care expenditures. Health care is the second-largest ...
John R. Graham
September 20, 2008
Business & Economics
Missing step: Control spending
Wisconsin received more evidence this week that its taxes are too high. This time the evidence arrived in a study suggesting that Wisconsin may be just a few tax cuts away from becoming one of the nation’s economic hot spots. The study, from the Pacific Research Institute in association with ...
Pacific Research Institute
September 19, 2008
Business & Economics
Speculation not to blame for oil prices
Congress continues to wrangle on measures to curb the alleged influence of speculators on oil prices. Republicans want to insert provisions on offshore and ANWR drilling, while Democrats prefer to focus on enlarging the regulatory powers of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). However the political maneuvering turns out, cracking ...
Robert P. Murphy
September 19, 2008
Business & Economics
The Global Antitrust Arsenal
Earlier this week, European regulators said that they are investigating the online advertising deal between Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), even though that deal affects only the U.S. and Canadian markets. Such a revelation is a disturbing sign of the globalization of government meddling and the out-of-control use ...
Sonia Arrison
September 19, 2008
Commentary
Cost containment could hurt consumers
In a recent debate, state representative candidate Kate Jackson endorsed the recently passed “Act to Promote Cost Containment, Transparency, and Efficiency in the Delivery of Health Care,” promising that she will work to see that legislation succeed. (“Democratic hopefuls spar in Attleboro debate,” Sept. 11). This is unfortunate. The cost-containment ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 18, 2008
Commentary
Skelton previews the crock that he, the gov and Dems will push relentlessly in next budget fight
This has been a breakthrough week when it comes to math and reality at the Sacramento bureau of the L.A. Times. Evan Halper actually wrote a story that noted the compromise budget slightly increased spending instead of continuing his career-long, grossly misleading practice of describing a cut in a projected ...
Chris Reed
September 18, 2008
Lessons from the $388 million Hyatt case: How current tax policy hurts California
California’s financial problems may have gotten worse by $388 million, according to an August 16 Nevada trial verdict in favor of an inventor mistreated by California’s Franchise Tax Board. The unprecedented case highlights California’s enforcement tactics and points to the solution for state revenue instability. Gilbert P. Hyatt, an electrical ...
The truth behind the Census Bureau’s insurance figure
Officials at the U.S. Census Bureau recently released new health insurance figures purporting to show that the number of Americans officially classified as uninsured in 2007 was 45.7 million, down from 47 million in 2006. Despite the decline, the new figure is being spun as proof positive that America’s healthcare ...
The First Presidential Debate and Legal Reform
The First Presidential Debate and Legal Reform The first presidential debate takes place Friday in Oxford, Mississippi. Oxford…Oxford…Oxford…Now whom is it we associate, lately, with Oxford, Mississippi? Right. It’s the home of Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, the giant among trial lawyers. Or at least it was until July. “Court Orders Dickie ...
Commentary: Who do you think will be better for the economy: John McCain or Barak Obama?
Cartoonist Scott Adams, he of “Dilbert” fame, was plagued by the same question so, he reports, he commissioned a survey of more than 500 economists, “to find out which candidates for President of the United States would be best for the economy long term,” a release put out by United ...
Albany must cut back on health care mandates
Gov. David A. Paterson just headed off a budget crisis by persuading legislators to cut spending by a billion dollars. But with the three-year deficit projected at $26.2 billion, this compromise won’t improve the state’s fiscal outlook. This is largely because of health care expenditures. Health care is the second-largest ...
Missing step: Control spending
Wisconsin received more evidence this week that its taxes are too high. This time the evidence arrived in a study suggesting that Wisconsin may be just a few tax cuts away from becoming one of the nation’s economic hot spots. The study, from the Pacific Research Institute in association with ...
Speculation not to blame for oil prices
Congress continues to wrangle on measures to curb the alleged influence of speculators on oil prices. Republicans want to insert provisions on offshore and ANWR drilling, while Democrats prefer to focus on enlarging the regulatory powers of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). However the political maneuvering turns out, cracking ...
The Global Antitrust Arsenal
Earlier this week, European regulators said that they are investigating the online advertising deal between Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), even though that deal affects only the U.S. and Canadian markets. Such a revelation is a disturbing sign of the globalization of government meddling and the out-of-control use ...
Cost containment could hurt consumers
In a recent debate, state representative candidate Kate Jackson endorsed the recently passed “Act to Promote Cost Containment, Transparency, and Efficiency in the Delivery of Health Care,” promising that she will work to see that legislation succeed. (“Democratic hopefuls spar in Attleboro debate,” Sept. 11). This is unfortunate. The cost-containment ...
Skelton previews the crock that he, the gov and Dems will push relentlessly in next budget fight
This has been a breakthrough week when it comes to math and reality at the Sacramento bureau of the L.A. Times. Evan Halper actually wrote a story that noted the compromise budget slightly increased spending instead of continuing his career-long, grossly misleading practice of describing a cut in a projected ...