Raising Taxes = Cutting Costs
I was reading a NY Times article about how lobbyists are fighting the “last big plans to cut healthcare costs” and noticed that one of those “big plans to cut healthcare costs” is actually a tax hike. The tax on gold-plated insurance plans is the last vestige of most economists’ favorite idea, eliminating the tax [...]
Fellow Senators Clear Dodd In Mortgage Scandal
Dodd’s fellow Senators on the ethics committee of cleared my favorite Senator of breaking the rules. He didn’t do anything they wouldn’t do. They did slap his wrist for using poor judgment in getting caught. The New York Times article on the topic brings up an interesting point at the end: Meanwhile, Representative Darrell Issa [...]
Never Happy
First lawmakers and the public are up in arms about business travel to resort locations. Now they’re pissed off that government agencies are discouraging travel to these resort locations. It’s a different news cycle.
Health Care Reform From This Guy?
This article in the New York Times just leaves me shaking my head. It could be good news depending on the result, and it was good for an ironic laugh. But no matter what, it shows how much trouble our politicians have put us in and how little chance we have. Representative Henry Waxman, chairman [...]
This Is Health Care Reform?
Some politicians are saying the current health care “reform” bills will reign in costs. But the facts don’t seem to back up those statements. The Congressional Budget Office (which does non-partisan estimates) says all the proposed bills will actually increase costs. The bills seem to be targeted at increasing the income of health care providers [...]
The $18 Million Website
The US government is spending $18 million to redesign the recovery.org website to help us keep track of government spending, with half of that money being spent over the next 6 months. $18 million for a website? Smartronix definitely has the connections. How can $18 million for a website be anything more than a payoff [...]
Asked and Answered
First I see this posting on the Planet Money blog – After Sanford’s Affair, Putting a Price on Adultery. Then I see Nevada Senator John Ensign had an answer – his own affair cost $96,000. It seems that was the bill to get out. But the good news for him was his parents paid.