Commentary
Business & Economics
Turning POTS into PANS
The California Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday proposed relaxing 13-year-old price caps on basic telephone service. Yielding to the demands of public interest groups, regulators currently force telecommunications companies to offer the cheapest basic rates in the nation. Yet, if artificially low prices are necessary to protect consumer welfare, why ...
Commentary
AB 32 is a breath of foul air for taxpayers, businesses
California is in the midst of economic turmoil. Headlines shout daily about the plummeting dollar and home values, disappearing jobs, soaring fuel and food costs, and a growing massive state budget deficit. Apparently oblivious to the strain on California households, some state legislators are trying to rush implementation of a ...
Business & Economics
Letters: The Tort War, Unresolved
To the Editor: To the Trenches: The Tort War Is Raging On (June 22, 2008) Re “To the Trenches: The Tort War Is Raging On” (June 22): One area of particular concern, especially in this election year, is torts’ impact on health care. Fears of malpractice lawsuits prompt many doctors ...
Business & Economics
Politicians Tell Big Oil How to Make Billions
When it comes to vilifying big evil corporations, the accusations made about oil companies never disappoint. The latest controversy centers on whether the government should allow more drilling for oil and natural gas on federal lands. A widely cited report (pdf) from the congressional Committee of Natural Resources gives all ...
Business & Economics
Illinois the ‘Lawsuit Capital of the Midwest’
The evidence is overwhelming. There simply is no denying Illinois’ reputation as the “Lawsuit Capital of the Midwest.” Just in the past few months, several nationwide studies have been released and have confirmed Illinois’ status as a magnet for lawsuits. One report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks Illinois ...
Business & Economics
Baker, Kritzer, & Vidmar on Jackpot Justice
Tom Baker (Connecticut/Penn), Herbert Kritzer (William Mitchell), and Neil Vidmar (Duke) have posted Jackpot Justice and the American Tort System: Thinking Beyond Junk Science on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In 2007 the Pacific Research Institute released a report, “Jackpot Justice: The True Cost of America’s Tort System,” that is ...
Business & Economics
America’s special principles spread around world now
America began as a country founded on special, radical principles. More importantly, these principles are true – they aren’t merely myths or superstitions men and women held for a period of time. That we all have basic rights to our lives, liberty, etc., is true and not just some fiction. ...
Commentary
You’ve Done A Great Job – Don’t Bother Coming Back Tomorrow
OK, let me get this straight: We’ve been critically following the passage of the autism mandate in Pennsylvania for almost a year now. It stalled in the state Senate despite advocates’ citing a study from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) that showed relatively low costs of the ...
Commentary
Unbalanced Medical Billing in California: The (Wrong?) Regulator Attacks
If the media want to mock an enterprise that cannot manage the pace of change, they describe its alleged similarities to buggy-whip manufacturers after the dawn of the automobile age. But what happens to the government agency that regulates the buggy-whip manufacturers? Obviously, the forces of innovation and competition cannot ...
Commentary
MD Examining Citizens’ Income Tax Records For Uninsured
Unfree State, July 2, 2008 Health and privacy experts call Maryland’s Big Brother plan to scour citizens’ state income tax records for uninsured children as a waste of resources and an invasion of privacy. Comptroller Peter Franchot is undertaking the expensive task starting this month as a result of a ...
Turning POTS into PANS
The California Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday proposed relaxing 13-year-old price caps on basic telephone service. Yielding to the demands of public interest groups, regulators currently force telecommunications companies to offer the cheapest basic rates in the nation. Yet, if artificially low prices are necessary to protect consumer welfare, why ...
AB 32 is a breath of foul air for taxpayers, businesses
California is in the midst of economic turmoil. Headlines shout daily about the plummeting dollar and home values, disappearing jobs, soaring fuel and food costs, and a growing massive state budget deficit. Apparently oblivious to the strain on California households, some state legislators are trying to rush implementation of a ...
Letters: The Tort War, Unresolved
To the Editor: To the Trenches: The Tort War Is Raging On (June 22, 2008) Re “To the Trenches: The Tort War Is Raging On” (June 22): One area of particular concern, especially in this election year, is torts’ impact on health care. Fears of malpractice lawsuits prompt many doctors ...
Politicians Tell Big Oil How to Make Billions
When it comes to vilifying big evil corporations, the accusations made about oil companies never disappoint. The latest controversy centers on whether the government should allow more drilling for oil and natural gas on federal lands. A widely cited report (pdf) from the congressional Committee of Natural Resources gives all ...
Illinois the ‘Lawsuit Capital of the Midwest’
The evidence is overwhelming. There simply is no denying Illinois’ reputation as the “Lawsuit Capital of the Midwest.” Just in the past few months, several nationwide studies have been released and have confirmed Illinois’ status as a magnet for lawsuits. One report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks Illinois ...
Baker, Kritzer, & Vidmar on Jackpot Justice
Tom Baker (Connecticut/Penn), Herbert Kritzer (William Mitchell), and Neil Vidmar (Duke) have posted Jackpot Justice and the American Tort System: Thinking Beyond Junk Science on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In 2007 the Pacific Research Institute released a report, “Jackpot Justice: The True Cost of America’s Tort System,” that is ...
America’s special principles spread around world now
America began as a country founded on special, radical principles. More importantly, these principles are true – they aren’t merely myths or superstitions men and women held for a period of time. That we all have basic rights to our lives, liberty, etc., is true and not just some fiction. ...
You’ve Done A Great Job – Don’t Bother Coming Back Tomorrow
OK, let me get this straight: We’ve been critically following the passage of the autism mandate in Pennsylvania for almost a year now. It stalled in the state Senate despite advocates’ citing a study from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) that showed relatively low costs of the ...
Unbalanced Medical Billing in California: The (Wrong?) Regulator Attacks
If the media want to mock an enterprise that cannot manage the pace of change, they describe its alleged similarities to buggy-whip manufacturers after the dawn of the automobile age. But what happens to the government agency that regulates the buggy-whip manufacturers? Obviously, the forces of innovation and competition cannot ...
MD Examining Citizens’ Income Tax Records For Uninsured
Unfree State, July 2, 2008 Health and privacy experts call Maryland’s Big Brother plan to scour citizens’ state income tax records for uninsured children as a waste of resources and an invasion of privacy. Comptroller Peter Franchot is undertaking the expensive task starting this month as a result of a ...
