January 2011 Blog Posts (33)

Bankruptcy Is Not the Only Option for States

As states struggle with enormous deficits and exploding pension costs, some analysts are urging Congress to enact a law enabling states to declare bankruptcy the way municipalities can under Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy code.  But a state bankruptcy provision could create more…

States Face Huge Unfunded Pension Liabilities

Most state and local governments currently use their own estimated rate of return on their investments to discount their liabilities.  By projecting unrealistically high rates of return, states minimize their unfunded liabilities, at least on paper.  Lower unfunded liabilities in turn…

Health Care Law Unlikely to Fulfill Promises

Two of the central promises of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law -- holding down costs and allowing everyone to keep their insurance if they like it -- are unlikely to be fulfilled, Medicare's Chief Actuary Richard Foster told the House Budget Committee on…

The Health Care Law Is Due for a Second Opinion

Less than a year after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, there is reason to believe that American patients -- especially seniors with Medicare -- will experience an alarming reduction in the quality and accessibility of medical care, says Dr. Donald J. Palmisano, former president of the American Medical Association.

• The law's…

Deep Spending Cuts

A number of the House GOP's leading conservative members on Thursday announced legislation that would cut $2.5 trillion over 10 years, which will be by far the most ambitious and far-reaching proposal by the new majority to cut federal government spending, says the Daily Caller.…

Charter Schools Outperform Traditional Public Schools

Since the 1930s, traditional public schools have been centrally run from the top down by state legislatures, school district administrators and by collective bargaining agreements negotiated by powerful unions.   In addition, administrators in traditional public schools have never been held directly accountable for student performance.  Public schools that fail to…

Health Care Repeal Won't Add to the Deficit

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would increase the deficit by $230 billion over the coming decade and by a modest amount in the decade after that.  A close examination of the CBO's work and other evidence leads to the exact opposite conclusion, according to Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the CBO, Joseph Antos, former…

Affordable Health Plans Are an Endangered Species

Beginning in 2014, most U.S. residents will be required to have health insurance coverage.  However, provisions of the new Affordable Care Act (ACA) will limit the choice of health plans offered.  Health insurance that does not cover preventive care, plans with deductibles above the statutory limit and plans that cap benefits at predetermined levels will ultimately…

Clean Energy Can't Compete

The solar company Evergreen announced last week that it is shutting its Massachusetts plant and will lay off 800 workers.  That's the same plant Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick had state taxpayers fund in 2007 to the tune of $58 million in grants, loans and land and tax incentives -- one of the largest investments in a private company in Bay State history, says the Wall Street…

Hospitals Lure Doctors Away from Private Practice

While making the case for his health reform package, President Obama argued that his proposal would make life easier for small-business owners.  Unfortunately, ObamaCare threatens to undermine a group of small-business owners that is perhaps more important than any other to his reform effort -- doctors in private practice, says Sally C. Pipes, president, CEO and Taube…

Pray if you want to!

 

CBS and Katie Couric et al must be in a panic and rushing to reassure the White House that this is not network policy--re: Andy Rooney's commentary on prayer.…

A Price for Raising the Debt Ceiling

Addressing the possibility of the GOP-led Congress not voting to raise the debt ceiling, Austan Goolsbee, President Obama's top economic adviser, histrionically asserted this month: "This is not a game.  If we hit the debt ceiling, that's...essentially defaulting on our obligations.  The impact on the economy would be catastrophic."

In context, his comments are more than a bit hypocritical.  Over the past four years -- including the last…

Congress Should Rein in EPA

After being reenergized by President Obama's support for an activist "green" policy agenda, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed or already approved new regulations that promise to hobble economic growth and add to the nation's unemployment problem, says William F. Shughart II, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute.…

The U.S. Loses Ground on Economic Freedom

Riots in Greece and France!  An IMF bailout for Ireland!  The Euro under threat!  Tea parties in America!  Is it the end of capitalism?  Many were predicting just that last year.  The Heritage Foundation's 2011 Index of Economic Freedom tells a different story, says Terry Miller, the director of the Center for International Trade and Economics at the Heritage Foundation.

The…

How to Cut $100 Billion without Really Crying

Government spending has surged so much in the past two years that cutting $100 billion is a piece of cake, says Kevin A. Hassett, a senior fellow and director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

Here is where to start:

• First, it is finally time to take on farm subsidies, which topped $15.4 billion…

The ObamaCare Fraud

There are a great many things wrong with ObamaCare, but the biggest is perhaps one that neither party is paying any attention to:  The law will penalize doctors to pay patients and penalize patients to pay doctors, says Shikha Dalmia, a senior analyst at the Reason Foundation.

The most blatant example of this is in the "doc…

Energy Should Be Job One for the New Congress

Most people argue that getting the economy back on track should be the new Congress's first order of business.  Yet no one seems to agree on how to do so.  The 112th Congress should look at energy policy as job one to secure the economy for now and the future, says H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis.…

States report that their public-employee pensions are underfunded by a total of $438 billion, but a more accurate accounting demonstrates that they are actually underfunded by over $3 trillion. The accounting methods that states currently use to measure their liabilities assume plans can earn high investment without risk. Should plan assets fall short, as is likely, taxpayers are required to make up…