Op-Eds and Editorials April '09
Howard Ruff Interviews John Williams Of Shadow Statistics Blog
Originally Posted At Carolyn Baker
By Howard Ruff
April 29, 2009
John Williams publishes the Shadow Government Statistics newsletter (www.shadowstats.com). He is an amazing professional economist with a great grasp of the real economy. He and I have arrived at the same conclusions about almost everything in the economy, despite the fact that we approach it from totally different directions: me from the fundamentals, and he from a real technical and numbers point of view.
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The Fight
Originally Posted at Forbes
By Steve Forbes
April 29, 2009
The biggest domestic battle since the clintons tried to nationalize health care in the early 1990s is about to unfold. Sometime in June the Obama Administration will formally introduce its plan to deal with the problem of the 46 million Americans who don't have health insurance. But the proposal will have far larger--and more ominous--implications for the country than the number of uninsured. This will be President Obama's attempt to do what the Clintons couldn't: truly socialize American health care. Make no mistake: Obama's plan will be the Administration's absolute top priority, trumping new energy taxes and the forced unionization of private-sector workers. Irrevocably sinking Washington's claws deep into an area constituting 17% of the economy is too great an opportunity for this Administration to pass up. Read More...
Fix Social Security, Ease The Credit Crisis
Originally Posted at Real Clear Markets
By Fred Smith & Ivan Osario
April 29, 2009
Remember the looming Social Security crisis? If you don’t, you’re not alone. The credit crisis and economic downturn have monopolized public attention to such an extent that the Social Security crisis that was at the center of the policy debate during President George W. Bush’s second term now seems forgotten.
This is unfortunate, for not only has Social Security not been fixed, but reform, if done right by tapping into the power of the market, can help provide new capital, which American businesses now desperately need.
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Defeat Obamacare
Originally Posted at The Weekly Standard
by Fred Barnes
April 27, 2009
As isolated as Republicans appear to be in Washington, they often find allies in the struggle to keep the federal government from becoming the command-and-control center of American life. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have stymied organized labor's drive for legislation ("card check") to unionize workers without a secret ballot election. Moderate Democrats in Congress have joined the opposition to the perilous plan ("cap and trade") to limit carbon emissions at the expense of a growing economy.
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The Grand Strategy
Originally Posted At The Washington Post
By Charles Krauthammer
April 24, 2009
Deficits are exploding and President Obama speaks vaguely of making "additional adjustments" in future budgets. Charles Krauthammer cuts through the dissembling and euphemisms: "Additional adjustments" equals major cuts in Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. Read More...
Consumer Empowerment Vs. Rationing
Originally Posted At The Hill
By Rep. John Fleming (R-La.)
April 23, 2009
The United States delivers among the best healthcare in the world, but the financing of it is a basket case because of high costs, systemic inefficiencies and lack of access to preventive care. Economists and policymakers have attempted to tackle these problems on a macroeconomic level with dismal results. The pathway out of our current healthcare crisis begins in the medical exam room, itself a micro-economy, where individual decisions between the doctor and patient have far-reaching impacts on quality and cost. Read More...
Pursue Reform Not According To Party, But By Adherence To Certain Principles
Originally Posted At The Hill
By Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.)
April 23, 2009
As a physician from Tennessee who has delivered babies for over 30 years, I have seen our healthcare system change dramatically. Some people said I must have gone off my meds when I decided to run for Congress, but having extensive experience as a physician enables me to lend my experience to the debate over health reform in Washington. Read More...
U.S. Preparing For Medical Rationing
By Dr. Lawrence Hunter
April 20, 2009
The pain in Bill Murray's arthritic hip throbbed for more than a year while he waited to see a specialist. When
he finally got an appointment, the specialist said Murray needed a cutting edge hip−resurfacing treatment.Murray, a 57−year−old living in Alberta, Canada, tried to schedule the procedure, but was flatly rejected.
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RETURN OF THE MONEY SNATCHERS?
Originally Posted At The Washington Times
By Richard W. Rahn
Friday, April 17, 2009
When will the next round of inflation hit, and how can we protect ourselves? Many economists and commentators, including yours truly, have warned about the potential of a new round of high inflation due to the great expansion of government spending. But does an increase in government spending necessarily translate into higher inflation? The answer is "no," but it most often does, and this is why. Read More...
Taxing Grandma To Pay Goldman Sachs
Originally Posted At Fin Facts
By Peter Morici
April 14, 2009
A large share of the bailout money comes from transfers from retirees. While the Fed[eral] Reserve cuts the banks slack, the bankers are busy turning the screws on their debtors by raising credit card rates and fees, and harassing distressed borrowers. . .Many retirees depend on interest from certificates of deposit. Those rates are down dramatically, and as CDs expire retirees are compelled to reinvest their savings at lower rates and live on less. Read More...
Obama's Economic Mirage
Originally Posted At The Washington Post
By Robert J. Samuelson
April 13, 2009
President Obama has made no secret of his vision for America's 21st-century economy. We will lead the world in "green" technologies to stop global warming. Advancing medical breakthroughs will improve our well-being, control health spending and enable us to expand insurance coverage. These investments in energy and health care, as well as education, will revive the economy and create millions of well-paying new jobs for middle-class Americans.
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Medicare Move Unhealthy For Us
By Dr. Lawrence Hunter
April 13, 2009
Millions of seniors could soon lose access to some of the prescription drugs they need. In congress Sen. Richard Durbin... Read More...
Obama's Public Plan Will Be A Disaster For American Health Care
Originally Posted At The Washington Examiner
By Sally C. Pipes
April 12, 2009
High-ranking Democrats recently signaled that they might exploit a procedural maneuver in congressional protocol to pass major healthcare legislation without a single Republican vote.
Through "budget reconciliation," a fast-track process that allows the Senate to pass the government's budget without debate and with just a simple majority, Democratic leaders hope to create a government-run alternative to private health insurance. Read More...
The End Of Private Health Insurance
When government 'competes,' guess who always wins
Originally Posted At The Wall Street Journal
Editorial
April 12, 2009
Once government takes over the majority of U.S. health-care liabilities, it can either provide every service at huge and growing cost, or it can ration services. People who need an MRI or hip replacement or whatever will face waiting lines. Medical innovation will be at the mercy of the price controls hashed out in Washington.
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The Misguided Quest For Universal Coverage
Originally Posted At New York Times
By Ramesh Ponnuru
April 8, 2009
AMERICA’S dysfunctional health care financing system needs to be reformed. But the goal should not be universal coverage. Reform should simply aim to make health insurance more affordable and portable.... The quest for universal healthcare coverage is a fool’s errand: unobtainable and counterproductive. Read More...
Obama's Prescription
Originally Posted On Washington Times
By Tony Blankley
April 7, 2009
Of all President Obama's transformative domestic policy proposals, none is more far-reaching and less transparent than health care. What most Washington policy people mean when they talk about the president's health care proposal was described in the lead paragraph of Robert Pear's meticulous article in the New York Times on Wednesday. Read More...
Heads, I Win, Tails You Lose
Originally Posted At The Washington Times
By Richard W. Rahn
April 7, 2009
Do you know who is perpetuating the biggest tax scam ever and who the victims are? It is an organization that claims to be a "service" to the people but whose actual behavior can be summed up in its unwritten motto, "Might means right." As tax day approaches, millions of Americans are finding they are victims of this scam. It is called the capital gains tax, and it is run by the Internal Revenue "Service." Read More...
Switching To The Tune Of The Times
Originaly Posted At The American Spectator
By Dr. Lawrence Hunter
April 6, 2009
It is true that what you see depends upon where you sit. But moving from one seat to another may as easily distort your perception of reality as clarify it.
When Frank Keating was the governor of Oklahoma, he vigorously opposed the federal death tax, which is incredibly destructive of family farms and family businesses. However, once he became head of the American Council of Life Insurers, the members of which thrive and flourish on the chaos created by the federal tax on estates and gifts, he became a strong supporter of the death tax. Read More...
Government Based On Coercion Cannot Be Tamed
Originally Posted On Lew Rockwell
By Michael S. Rozeff
April 6, 2009
The U.S. federal government is on a course of self-destruction. People of many political persuasions know this. People who are against coercive government know this. People who favor coercive government know this. People who do not mind if the federal government self-destructs know this, and people who want to save the federal government know this. Read More...
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