Commentary
Business & Economics
Riding the Revenue Rollercoaster
After a record impasse, the sages of Sacramento have finally agreed on a budget for California, a $144-billion bonanza with unprecedented general fund spending but without structural reform in the state’s finances. The boom-bust revenue rollercoaster is still in place, and Californians can expect a bigger budget crisis in a ...
Business & Economics
Federal Reserve Employs Tools to Ease Credit Fears
JIM LEHRER: This day in the financial crisis began with the Federal Reserve. It took the unprecedented move to buy short-term debt to thaw out frozen credit markets. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke laid out just how bad those conditions are during a speech today. BEN BERNANKE, Federal Reserve Chairman: Even ...
Business & Economics
Whether McCain or Obama, Tech Policy Is Bound to Change
Technology policy is not center stage in this year’s presidential campaign, much as the competitive community might wish otherwise. Each candidate – Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill. — is consumed with weightier subjects, namely the economy and Iraq, analysts and industry insiders say. That’s not to say ...
Business & Economics
A Strike Against Labor
If one were looking to make a statement about fiscal prudence in the $3.3 billion budget for the University of California system, wiping out a single $5.4 million research program probably wouldn’t be how you’d do it. Which suggests that, despite his remarks to the contrary, there was probably another ...
Commentary
Pacific Research Institute Releases Voters’ Guide on the Health Care Proposals of the Presidential Candidates
Senator McCain proposes positive change, Senator Obama prefers business as usual—only more of it San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) today released a voters’ guide to the health policies proposed by presidential candidates Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms concludes ...
Commentary
The Longest Match
Not all readers of the Contrarian are aware that I have been known to play a game of tennis. I have defeated many of my peers and even, like Billy Jean King, defeated men, some of whom did not take the loss well. Unlike Billy Jean and her celebrity feminist ...
Business & Economics
A Lesson both Modern and Ancient for the Tax Commission
Now that the legislative session is over and Speaker Karen Bass is contemplating her commission on taxation, I want to recommend a piece in the September 25th Sacramento Bee by Jason Clemens of the Pacific Research Institute. Clemens, a Canadian, tells the tale of how Canada’s left leaning political party ...
California
Federal Appeals Court OKs San Francisco’s Tax-Mad Healthy Access Plan
I have written a lot about San Francisco’s Healthy Access Plan. SF HAP taxes small businesses, which cannot afford to provide health benefits, to fund the city’s public health bureaucracy. It’s a job-killer, gives no evidence of improving access to health care, and shakes down hospitals, too. The Golden Gate ...
Business & Economics
Glenn Beck: Problem solved! Not
GLENN: We fixed the banking problem. STU: Friday banking crisis solved, right? GLENN: Yes. STU: So California, today California problem. Tomorrow, California bailout. GLENN: Solved. STU: Wednesday, California solved. Why don’t we just pass bailouts for everything, then everything would be solved. GLENN: I love this idea. May I tell ...
Business & Economics
Let Entrepreneurs Fix the Problem Government Made
As the financial crisis intensifies, we hear ever more claims that emergency times justify government measures unthinkable a mere 14 months ago. Even some libertarians, who would cry foul if a third world dictator nationalized an industry, are calling for the government to take equity positions in major financial institutions. ...
Riding the Revenue Rollercoaster
After a record impasse, the sages of Sacramento have finally agreed on a budget for California, a $144-billion bonanza with unprecedented general fund spending but without structural reform in the state’s finances. The boom-bust revenue rollercoaster is still in place, and Californians can expect a bigger budget crisis in a ...
Federal Reserve Employs Tools to Ease Credit Fears
JIM LEHRER: This day in the financial crisis began with the Federal Reserve. It took the unprecedented move to buy short-term debt to thaw out frozen credit markets. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke laid out just how bad those conditions are during a speech today. BEN BERNANKE, Federal Reserve Chairman: Even ...
Whether McCain or Obama, Tech Policy Is Bound to Change
Technology policy is not center stage in this year’s presidential campaign, much as the competitive community might wish otherwise. Each candidate – Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill. — is consumed with weightier subjects, namely the economy and Iraq, analysts and industry insiders say. That’s not to say ...
A Strike Against Labor
If one were looking to make a statement about fiscal prudence in the $3.3 billion budget for the University of California system, wiping out a single $5.4 million research program probably wouldn’t be how you’d do it. Which suggests that, despite his remarks to the contrary, there was probably another ...
Pacific Research Institute Releases Voters’ Guide on the Health Care Proposals of the Presidential Candidates
Senator McCain proposes positive change, Senator Obama prefers business as usual—only more of it San Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) today released a voters’ guide to the health policies proposed by presidential candidates Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms concludes ...
The Longest Match
Not all readers of the Contrarian are aware that I have been known to play a game of tennis. I have defeated many of my peers and even, like Billy Jean King, defeated men, some of whom did not take the loss well. Unlike Billy Jean and her celebrity feminist ...
A Lesson both Modern and Ancient for the Tax Commission
Now that the legislative session is over and Speaker Karen Bass is contemplating her commission on taxation, I want to recommend a piece in the September 25th Sacramento Bee by Jason Clemens of the Pacific Research Institute. Clemens, a Canadian, tells the tale of how Canada’s left leaning political party ...
Federal Appeals Court OKs San Francisco’s Tax-Mad Healthy Access Plan
I have written a lot about San Francisco’s Healthy Access Plan. SF HAP taxes small businesses, which cannot afford to provide health benefits, to fund the city’s public health bureaucracy. It’s a job-killer, gives no evidence of improving access to health care, and shakes down hospitals, too. The Golden Gate ...
Glenn Beck: Problem solved! Not
GLENN: We fixed the banking problem. STU: Friday banking crisis solved, right? GLENN: Yes. STU: So California, today California problem. Tomorrow, California bailout. GLENN: Solved. STU: Wednesday, California solved. Why don’t we just pass bailouts for everything, then everything would be solved. GLENN: I love this idea. May I tell ...
Let Entrepreneurs Fix the Problem Government Made
As the financial crisis intensifies, we hear ever more claims that emergency times justify government measures unthinkable a mere 14 months ago. Even some libertarians, who would cry foul if a third world dictator nationalized an industry, are calling for the government to take equity positions in major financial institutions. ...
