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July 2008
Dr. Merrill Matthews of the Institute for Policy Innovation wonders who’s writing prescriptions from beyond the grave
Congressional investigators recently announced that the Medicare program, which provides health coverage for 44 million seniors, paid $92 million since 2000 for wheel chairs and other home medical equipment.
What’s strange, though, is that the prescriptions for that equipment came from doctors . . . who are dead. And about half of them have been dead for more than five years.
Somebody’s making some money out there, but it’s not those doctors.
People who want a government-run health care system say the government is more efficient than private sector health insurers. It pays medical bills faster and spends less in administrative costs to do it.
Health insurers do spend more money scrutinizing medical claims, but at least all the doctors those insurers pay are alive.
Read More...
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Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is apparently making Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) life miserable.
That’s the good news.
The better news is that, apart from a few of his like-minded cohorts like Sen. Jim deMint (R-SC), he’s making a number of Republicans’ lives miserable also.
Reid is putting together a package of nearly 40 bills in order to avoid Coburn’s relentless efforts to stop—or at least reduce—pork-barrel spending. Such bills are usually referred to as an “omnibus,” but the Associated Press says this one is being unofficially called the “Coburn omnibus.”
Note: Wouldn’t it be nice if it were being called the “Republican omnibus” because so many Republicans were opposing those nearly 40-bill pork fests?
Coburn has taken it on himself to change the way the Senate—and by extension, Washington—does business. Read More...
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So, after promising not to raise taxes, John McCain now says that "nothing is off the table" when it comes to fixing Social Security.
Here's the quote:
"There is nothing that's off the table. I have my positions, and I'll articulate them. But nothing's off the table," McCain said. "I don't want tax increases. But that doesn't mean that anything is off the table."
This "nothing is off the table" business is getting to me. It's a politician's way of saying "I have an open mind, and I'm a reasonable person."
But, in fact, for people of integrity, there is always a whole list of things that are "off the table," and there's no reason why a conservative politician shouldn't be able to say that certain policy positions, such as raising taxes to fix Social Security, are also "off the table."
Read More...
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IPI director of entitlement and budget policy Peter Ferrara is featured in The American Spectator online with a new op/ed saying, “Shut Up and Produce Some Oil.”
Ferrara writes:
“Liberals are flailing about looking for some political cover on energy and gas prices. For decades now, they have supported the policies of extremists who have systematically sought to shut down every major energy source for our economy. We can't drill for oil offshore, we can't drill in the frozen tundra of north Alaska, we can't even develop oil shale on the mainland. Liberals are even opposing the development of new oil discoveries in the Plains states. Meanwhile, China is now producing oil from wells in Cuban waters off the coast of Florida, selling and reaping enormous profits from oil that America should be producing.
Nuclear power? Can't have that. Read More...
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IPI senior fellow George Pieler and International Affairs Forum editor-in-chief Jens F. Laurson are featured in the American Spectator with a new op/ed on the crisis in Zimbabwe entitled, “Zimbabwean Shame to Share.”
The authors write:
"China's morality-free pragmatism, Russia's habitual antagonism, South Africa's shameful cowardice -- these are the three most appalling responses to the British and U.S. attempts to place sanctions on Zimbabwe and its president-cum-tyrant, Robert Mugabe. China and Russia vetoed a proposal that would have barred Zimbabwe from receiving weapon shipments, frozen Robert Mugabe's foreign assets, and restricted his travel. Also voting against that resolution was the colorful dictatorial throng of Libya, Vietnam -- and South Africa.
Read More...
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One current intellectual property debate is whether or not radio broadcasters should be required to license the music they play over the air. In other words, to pay for it.
Broadcasters don’t currently have to license the music they play because U.S. copyright law does not recognize a “performance right” for broadcasts.
The lack of a performance right is an anomaly in U.S. copyright law, and when compared to most other countries. But broadcasters here have been getting their music for free for a long time. With music industry revenues plummeting, the recording industry is increasingly sensitive about the gap in U.S. law and in their revenue stream.
In intellectual property policy debates, the best solutions support property rights, market forces, and technology neutrality. The lack of a performance right violates all three principles. Read More...
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The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says they are in one California town.
There is a widespread perception that people who work for the government make a sacrifice because they get paid less than the private sector.
Well, not in Vallejo, California.
The city of Vallejo is filing for bankruptcy, and the reason is the city’s salaries:
- Nearly three-fourths of city employees make more than $100,000 a year.
- The city manager makes $317,000, and a police captain makes $306,000 in salary and benefits.
According to National Journal, city wages and benefits take up more than 75 percent of the general revenues. Now the city’s broke.
But it’s indicative of many government programs, including Social Security, which promise more than they can pay.
The politicians take the credit for being generous, while taxpayers are stuck with the bill. Read More...
Vallejo |
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The FCC's determination to fine Comcast for it's treatment of BitTorrent net traffic has put the cableco in a difficult position. If Comcast objects that the FCC nondiscrimination principles are not really rules the violation of which can result in a fine, the firm is setting the stage for more stringent net neutrality regulation. But if Comcast does not object, it in essence allows the FCC to make rules without a specific mandate from Congress concerning their substance, let alone the consequences of a violation, and to do so retroactively. Ex Post Facto laws, indeed.
My position is that net neutrality rules are premature, especially given that no one as described an institutional device to systematically keep the rules for developing over time into a system in which regulators micro-manage prices and terms of carriage, as did the FCC and the ICC.
As regulators have lined up on the side of regulation, though, some second-best suggestions are in order. Read More...
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This study came out a while back but is worth noting--the phenomena of those educated in the U.S. but squeezed out by the legal difficulties of staying:
A Kauffman Foundation study finds: More than one million skilled immigrant workers, including scientists, engineers, doctors and researchers and their families, are competing for 120,000 permanent U.S. resident visas each year, creating a sizeable imbalance likely to fuel a "reverse brain-drain" with skilled workers returning to their home country...
Read More...
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In a new op/ed published this week in National Review Online, IPI’s Peter Ferrara says the war in Iraq is over, and it’s too late for Barack Obama to surrender.
An excerpt:
"Barack Obama continues his overseas trip today in the Middle East, where the facts on the ground have recently been moving so fast hardly anyone in the U.S. has really kept up. But unheralded press reports in recent weeks establish this new reality.
The war in Iraq is over. America and her allies won. Sorry, Barack, but it is too late for you and your misguided, uninformed, anti-American netroots to surrender.
The surge that Obama opposed and said would fail has succeeded spectacularly. McCain was right about that from the beginning.
Read More...
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Peter Ferrara, IPI director of entitlement and budget policy, will appear live today on the “Let’s Talk Frank” radio show with hosts Lee and Terry Frank to discuss his recent American Spectator op/ed: “Barack’s Left Wing Extremism.”
To listen in live in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, tune in to WKVL Knoxville, WLOD Loudon, WGAP Maryville, or WATO Oak Ridge today at 4:30 pm ET. Read More...
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Since the annual meeting of the G8 is one of the most significant policy events of the year, it was a positive sign that “Protection of Intellectual Property Rights” was prominent on the list of global economic issues discussed by G8 leaders in Japan.
At the Summit, leaders reaffirmed their commitment to stepped-up efforts to combat piracy and counterfeiting, namely through support of the Standards to be Employed by Customs for Uniform Rights Enforcement (SECURE) initiative at the World Customs Organization, and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) which is currently being negotiated by the U.S., EU, Japan and several other nations.
This support is important and well-timed. It should serve as a rebuke to an alarming campaign being waged by a group of leftist non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academics that is almost impossible to explain. Read More...
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How Big Is Your Waistline?
Dr. Merrill Matthews of the Institute for Policy Innovation says it makes a difference . . . if you live in Japan.
When the government pays for health care, it has a vested interest in making sure its citizens are healthy—whether they like it or not.
That’s why the Japanese government recently passed legislation requiring everyone between the ages of 40 and 74—56 million people—to have their waistlines measured regularly.
The maximum waistline for men is 33.5 inches. That’s the maximum. For women it’s 35.4 inches.
Those whose waistlines are larger will have three months to shape up, or undergo what’s being called “reeducation.”
Those who persist in ignoring the will of the government will face fines and other penalties.
Read More...
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It’s fun spending other people’s money—at least until the money starts running low. That’s pretty much the position a lot of state lawmakers are in.
While the good times rolled, right up through most of 2007, states had no trouble finding ways to spend the revenues that came their way: on schools, roads, health care, jobs, tax breaks and the like.
Unfortunately, good times don’t roll on forever. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) predicts that 23 states face budget shortfalls—nearly $50 billion—in 2009.
It’s easy enough to understand why revenues quit soaring: subprime mortages, gasoline prices, food prices and layoffs, all leading to a slowing economy.
Read More...
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I've just (only in the last hour or so) returned from a week in Europe, so my ears were particularly attuned to the latest Obama incident; this time his criticism of Americans for being language illiterate compared to Europeans.
His exact quote was:
"You know, it's embarrassing when Europeans come over here , they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe and all we can say is 'merci beaucoup'!"
Well, Mr. Obama, Mr. Just-Now-Getting-to-Know-Your-Own-Country, let me ask you a question: What kind of Europeans come to the United States? Isn't it pretty much the upper-class Europeans with above-average education that come to the U.S.?
I just went through customs in the Chicago O'Hare airport. I saw any number of examples of Europeans who could not speak English to the customs staff, who need Read More...
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A new proposal, currently called the “Organized Retail Crime Act of 2008,” is floating around the US Senate these days—a proposal to fight organized crime that involves “the theft and interstate fencing of large volumes of stolen retail merchandise.” That is to say that the purported purpose is to crack down on counterfeit and stolen goods that may be sold on the Internet.
Indeed, that sounds pretty good…for a title anyway.
The reality is that the proposal conscripts “operator(s) of an online marketplace.” So sites such as eBay and Amazon.com, which allow sellers to engage in business on their site, would be forced to be the cops of the Internet.
Worse, the proposal specifically reverses well-established law that makes clear that “interactive computer services” (any information service, such as a website or Internet service provider), are not liable for third-party content. Read More...
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When Are Senators Hypocrites?
Dr. Merrill Matthews of the Institute for Policy Innovation says when they condemn employers and then do the same thing.
Some Democratic politicians accuse employers of being greedy for outsourcing jobs to local contracting companies in order to cut costs. Yet Democrats who control the U.S. Senate are doing the same thing to the Senate dining rooms.
The dining rooms, which are staffed by government employees, have been losing money—and customers—for years. Taxpayers make up those losses.
The House of Representatives privatized its dining rooms in the ‘80s. Now the House dining rooms are full, and the private catering company running them has given back to the government more than a million dollars in the last five years.
Read More...
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The government determines how much it pays doctors for seeing Medicare patients, so you know that’s going to create problems.
For several years now, doctors have faced a cut in how much Medicare pays them, with the current scheduled cut at 10.6 percent. But the Congress always manages to come up with a temporary bipartisan fix to postpone the pay cuts.
This time, however, Democrats are claiming that Senate Republicans are blocking legislation that would postpone the scheduled pay cut—and they are, by one vote in the Senate. But there’s a reason.
Democrats want to “pay” for the pay-cut postponement by cutting the Medicare Advantage program, and a handful of Republican senators have said no.
Read More...
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Viacom's suit against Google/YouTube for copyright infringement has opened another privacy can of worms. Most recently, the judge has ordered You Tube to turn over data on individual's video viewing.
The EFF has strenuously objected on privacy grounds, citing the Video Privacy Protection Act. Orin Kerr, posting on the Volokh Conspiracy, agrees on their legal analysis.
But in fact it is not clear that there is a violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act , because the details of the judge's order reportedly include protective measures the details of which have not been described in the coverage.
There are some deeper issues raised by this wrangle, however.
Read More...
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IPI director of entitlement and budget policy Peter Ferrara is featured today in the American Spectator with a compelling new op/ed, “The Conservative Welfare State.”
In the piece, Ferrara writes:
“Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam argue for restoring the Republican Party through a new activist government agenda focused on addressing the problems and concerns of the working class. The failure to decisively win over the working class is what has prevented Republicans from winning a true governing majority, they argue. The new agenda, they say, should include subsidies and policies to strengthen marriage and the family, and promote having children.
Read More...
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IPI senior fellow Barry Aarons is featured in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram with a new op/ed entitled “Time to Start Hanging Up On Phone Service Program.”
In the piece, Aarons writes:
"Ronald Reagan used to quip that the closest thing to immortality in this life is a government program. And although government provides us with numerous validations of Reagan’s observation, perhaps there’s never been a better example than the Universal Service Fund. Created in 1934, the UFS was designed to enable national connection of the so-called nationwide wire-line network. And by the 1970s the system worked pretty well, connecting more than 95 percent of America in a switched-access wire-line system of telecommunications. It did so by taxing all users of telephone service and using those funds to subsidize telephone service in rural areas. Read More...
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Author: SoundBytes || Location: Lewisville, Texas, USA