News, Notes, and Opinions From the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI)http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/en-usFri, 12 Mar 2010 10:51:07 -0500 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:43:09 -0500What Will the President Say in His State of the Union? The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says he has some explaining to do.

Washington is all atwitter over President Obama’s upcoming State of the Union address. And understandably so, because the president has some serious explaining to do, like:

• How he plans to get control of the $1.4 trillion federal deficit, more than three times the deficit Obama was so critical of under George Bush.

• And how he intends to pay for all the Democrats’ new federal spending. Yes, he could raise taxes, but he already has several new taxes in his health care bill.

• And maybe the president can explain why his much-boasted stimulus bill has had little impact on creating new jobs.

]]>http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-224-what-will-the-president-say-in-his-state-of-the-union.htmSoundBytes podcastsMerrill Matthews Jr.http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-224-what-will-the-president-say-in-his-state-of-the-union.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-224-what-will-the-president-say-in-his-state-of-the-union.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dxcomments/soundbytes-224-what-will-the-president-say-in-his-state-of-the-union.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-224-what-will-the-president-say-in-his-state-of-the-union.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:34:19 -0500Can Congress Force You to Buy Health Insurance? Dr. Merrill Matthews of the Institute for Policy Innovation says only by ignoring the Constitution.

The health care reform legislation in Congress requires every American to have health insurance or pay a significant fine. But where does the U.S. Constitution give Congress that power?

Cyber News Service posed the question, and Democrats seemed to fumble for an answer.

Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska is quoted as saying, “probably the same place that states have the authority to require, mandate if you will, compulsory auto liability insurance.” Claire McCaskill and some other Democrats agree.

Of course, state constitutions are completely independent documents and have no bearing on powers granted by the U.S. Constitution.

That document sets strict limits on federal power.]]>http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-223-can-congress-force-you-to-buy-health-insurance.htmSoundBytes podcastsMerrill Matthews Jr.http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-223-can-congress-force-you-to-buy-health-insurance.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-223-can-congress-force-you-to-buy-health-insurance.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dxcomments/soundbytes-223-can-congress-force-you-to-buy-health-insurance.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-223-can-congress-force-you-to-buy-health-insurance.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 6 Jan 2010 14:28:35 -0500Are You Looking for a Good-Paying Job? The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says you might try the government, it’s hiring and it pays very well.

USA Today reports that the number of federal employees making more than $100,000 a year is exploding. One in five now rakes in six-figure salaries.

In just 18 months:

• Defense Department workers making more than $150,000 grew from nearly 2,000 employees to more than 10,000.

• And the Transportation Department went from one person making $170,000 or more to 1,700 employees.

A government spokesperson says these are highly qualified people, and make less than the private sector. But federal employees also get much better benefits, all at taxpayers’ expense.

President Obama said he wanted to create a lot of high-paying jobs. Problem is, they’re all government jobs.]]>http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-222are-you-looking-for-a-good-paying-job-.htmSoundBytes podcastsMerrill Matthews Jr.http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-222are-you-looking-for-a-good-paying-job-.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-222are-you-looking-for-a-good-paying-job-.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dxcomments/soundbytes-222are-you-looking-for-a-good-paying-job-.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-222are-you-looking-for-a-good-paying-job-.htm?opendocument&comments Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:53:24 -0500Is It Time for Some Congressional New Year’s Resolutions? Dr. Merrill Matthews of the Institute for Policy Innovation says yes, before Congress bankrupts the country.

It’s time once again to encourage Congress to make some New Year’s resolutions.

First, with the national debt limit being pushed up to about $14 trillion and no end in sight, members of Congress must resolve to get federal spending under control.

The second resolution should be a commitment to more bipartisanship. This is the most partisan and polarized administration in recent history, barely able to get one or two Republicans to vote for a bill.

Third, Congress needs to be more transparent. Democrats are ramming through major legislation without letting Republicans or the public even see the bill, much less read it, until they’re ready to pass it.

Folks, this is no way to run a country.]]>http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-221-is-it-time-for-some-congressional-new-year’s-resolutions.htmSoundBytes podcastsMerrill Matthews Jr.http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-221-is-it-time-for-some-congressional-new-year’s-resolutions.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-221-is-it-time-for-some-congressional-new-year’s-resolutions.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dxcomments/soundbytes-221-is-it-time-for-some-congressional-new-year’s-resolutions.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-221-is-it-time-for-some-congressional-new-year’s-resolutions.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:33:31 -0500What is the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution? The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says Washington may have forgotten.

The U.S. Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, which is part of the Bill of Rights, says that powers not given to the federal government belong to the states or the people.

So ask yourself, where does the Constitution give the federal government the power to:

• Mandate people have health insurance or pay a fine;

• Own and operate a major car company;

• Tell bank executives they have to take government money or else?

It doesn’t, and yet the federal government has done or wants to do all of that and more.

The Tenth Amendment expressly limits the power of the federal government. If Congress continues to ignore those limitations, then the public needs to impose its own limits—on the terms of those elected to Congress.]]>http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-220-what-is-the-tenth-amendment-of-the-constitution.htmSoundBytes podcastsMerrill Matthews Jr.http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-220-what-is-the-tenth-amendment-of-the-constitution.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-220-what-is-the-tenth-amendment-of-the-constitution.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dxcomments/soundbytes-220-what-is-the-tenth-amendment-of-the-constitution.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-220-what-is-the-tenth-amendment-of-the-constitution.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 2 Dec 2009 14:28:11 -0500Is the Stimulus Money Creating Jobs? Dr. Merrill Matthews of the Institute for Policy Innovation says yes, but for most Americans it’s a long commute.

One goal of President Obama’s stimulus bill was to create environmentally friendly “green jobs.”

And it’s done just that. The Washington Times reports that 11 U.S. wind farms have bought nearly 1,000 electricity-producing wind turbines, creating about 4,500 jobs, uh, oversees.

See, nearly 700 of those turbines were bought from China.

Now a new American-Chinese joint venture just announced it plans to buy nearly 250 Chinese-made turbines. That venture wants 30 percent of its $1.5 billion in funding from the stimulus money.

So if you’ve been looking for work for a while, you need to know that taxpayer-financed stimulus money is creating jobs.

And you might even be able to get one of them.]]>http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-218-is-the-stimulus-money-creating-jobs.htmSoundBytes podcastsMerrill Matthews Jr.http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-218-is-the-stimulus-money-creating-jobs.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-218-is-the-stimulus-money-creating-jobs.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dxcomments/soundbytes-218-is-the-stimulus-money-creating-jobs.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-218-is-the-stimulus-money-creating-jobs.htm?opendocument&comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:44:29 -0500Are Pets a Threat to the Environment? The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says there’s an even bigger threat.

Two professors from Victoria University in New Zealand have discovered a new threat to the planet: your pets.

They claim that a dog’s carbon “pawprint” is twice that of an SUV driven 6,000 miles a year. Cat’s are less damaging, about like owning a Volkswagen.

The primary reason, say the husband and wife professors, is it takes a lot of resources to create meat for dog and cat food.

Keeping such pets is unsustainable in the long term, so the authors called their book Time to Eat the Dog?

They recommend people switch to other pets, such as chickens and pigs, which can be eaten.

But while the book’s provocative, the premise is nonsense. We’d be better off keeping our pets and letting them eat the authors.]]>http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-217-are-pets-a-threat-to-the-environment.htmSoundBytes podcastsMerrill Matthews Jr.http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-217-are-pets-a-threat-to-the-environment.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-217-are-pets-a-threat-to-the-environment.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dxcomments/soundbytes-217-are-pets-a-threat-to-the-environment.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-217-are-pets-a-threat-to-the-environment.htm?opendocument&comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:30:04 -0500Is the President’s Stimulus a Success? The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says it depends on what one mean’s by success.

President Obama says his $787 billion stimulus package is a huge success.

Even though the economy’s lost more than 2 million jobs, the administration boasts that federal contractors who received $16 billion in stimulus money have created or saved 30,000 jobs.

As the ProPublica website points out, that’s spending more than $500,000 per job.

Hey, where do I sign up?

The administration also claims that for every direct job, an indirect job has been created or saved. So maybe 60,000 jobs.

Democrats now say the first stimulus was such a success they may want to do another. But if the first one had really created jobs, we wouldn’t need a second.]]>http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-215-is-the-president’s-stimulus-a-success.htmSoundBytes podcastsMerrill Matthews Jr.http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-215-is-the-president’s-stimulus-a-success.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-215-is-the-president’s-stimulus-a-success.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dxcomments/soundbytes-215-is-the-president’s-stimulus-a-success.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-215-is-the-president’s-stimulus-a-success.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 4 Nov 2009 10:40:38 -0500Why Is No One Running the Medicare Program? Dr. Merrill Matthews of the Institute for Policy Innovation says the president may be avoiding some difficult questions.

Health care is important to President Obama, so you’d think after nine months in office he would have appointed someone to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

That’s the federal agency that manages the Medicare program for seniors and Medicaid for the poor. Together they cover about 85 million Americans.

But maybe it isn’t so strange. The appointment needs Senate approval, allowing senators to discuss Medicare’s $90 trillion in unfunded liabilities. Or why Medicare fraud is an estimated $60 billion or more a year.
]]>http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-214-why-is-no-one-running-the-medicare-program.htmSoundBytes podcastsMerrill Matthews Jr.http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-214-why-is-no-one-running-the-medicare-program.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-214-why-is-no-one-running-the-medicare-program.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dxcomments/soundbytes-214-why-is-no-one-running-the-medicare-program.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-214-why-is-no-one-running-the-medicare-program.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:16:44 -0500Has Smokey the Bear Moved to Washington? The Institute for Policy innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says only you can prevent wasteful government spending.

The country’s forests are a national treasure. That’s why Congress appropriated millions of dollars in the stimulus bill for forest fire management, including $2.8 million for that much-loved national forest known as … Washington, D.C.

Now, Washington has its problems, but forest fires aren’t one of them

Steve Moore of The Wall Street Journal reports that when Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming discovered the funding, he introduced an amendment to reassign it to the U.S. Forest Service. The motion passed unanimously.

Ironically, Wyoming, which has lots of forests, got no forest fire management money.

Smokey the Bear used to say, “Only you can prevent forest fires.” And, I might add, only you can prevent Congre]]>http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-213-has-smokey-the-bear-moved-to-washington.htmSoundBytes podcastsMerrill Matthews Jr.http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-213-has-smokey-the-bear-moved-to-washington.htm?opendocument&commentshttp://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-213-has-smokey-the-bear-moved-to-washington.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dxcomments/soundbytes-213-has-smokey-the-bear-moved-to-washington.htm http://www.policybytes.org/blog/policybytes.nsf/dx/soundbytes-213-has-smokey-the-bear-moved-to-washington.htm?opendocument&comments