MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'czar'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:24:07 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4074042&cid=t_295748_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fem53Rj8AHnc%2F By Daniel IkensonWhen you believe in things that you don’t understand, Then you suffer, Superstition ain’t the way - Stevie Wonder David Ignatius is entitled to this opinion: We have just lived through one of the more notable successes of government intervention in modern times – the auto and bank rescues that almost surely saved the country from another Great Depression. But if his intention is to convince skeptics—and not just to rally the deflated spirits of those who came to Washington with high hopes of teaching Americans how to love their government—he does a lousy job.  A bold assertion like his requires supporting evidence more rigorous than hearsay, superstition, and the opinions of his friend, and former “Car Czar,”  Steven Rattner. Ignatius considers ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4074042 Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:50:58 +0100 4074042 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3993872&cid=t_295748_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FeIxj6Ka_4Uo%2F By Juan Carlos HidalgoQuoting great classical liberal minds such as Milton Friedman, Gary Becker and Mario Vargas Llosa, Spain’s former drug Czarina Araceli Manjón-Cabeza endorsed drug legalization today in a compelling op-ed [in Spanish] published in El País, Spain’s leading newspaper. Just a week earlier, Felipe González, Spain’s former Primer Minister, also came out in support of drug legalization. Manjón-Cabeza takes particular aim at the UN International Narcotics Control Board for its criticisms of the different decriminalization and harm-reduction policies implemented in recent years in Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, and Spain, among other countries. She calls the INCB’s views “inadmissible.” She concluded by calling prohibition a “savage and inefficient instrument tha... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3993872 Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:02:44 +0100 3993872 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3556067&cid=t_295748_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4zNe_Da5boE%2F By David BoazHo-hum. Another administration, another “comprehensive plan to combat drug abuse, putting the focus on prevention and treatment strategies.” This one “calls for a 15 percent reduction in youth drug use, a 10 percent decrease in drugged driving, and a 15 percent reduction in overall drug-related deaths by 2015.” It involves more central planning — “ the creation of a community-based national prevention system” – more taxpayers’ money — “an expanded array of intervention-oriented treatment programs” — and more nannyism — “a push to screen patients early for signs of substance abuse, even during routine appointments, and the expansion of prescription-drug monitoring programs.” And d... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3556067 Wed, 12 May 2010 14:52:58 +0100 3556067 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2973909&cid=t_295748_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FID_nu9dAnGA%2F In the Obama era, the slippery slope has gone vertical. Instead of “eventually,” the feared extensions of government power come immediately. When President Obama decided to convert George W. Bush’s bailout of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler L.L.C. into effective government ownership, critics warned that this could lead to political intrusion into the management of automobile companies, with decisions being made for political instead of economic reasons. The companies would get less efficient. The government might try to preserve jobs or engage in political grandstanding rather than build sound companies that serve consumers – eventually. But there was no “eventually” about it. Before he had even secured government control, Obama fired the chief executi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2973909 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:15:52 +0100 2973909 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2970197&cid=t_295748_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbtuLNttYRlw%2F Over at Downsizing Government, we focused on failures in the following departments this week: Commerce: corporate welfare in Ohio Defense: cost overruns in the Pentagon’s space programs Energy: central planners gamble with taxpayer money HUD: subsidizing private firms to operate public housing isn’t a solution Also, dubious stimulus projects point to a need to return to fiscal federalism. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2970197 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:27:44 +0100 2970197 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2865647&cid=t_295748_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBhg8YnbIfRQ%2F President Obama’s real czar, “pay czar” Ken Feinberg, who has real power, brushes aside such claims even as he prepares to issue his Gosplan-style edicts on future and even past pay agreements: The Obama administration’s pay czar says negotiations over executive compensation with the seven companies that received the biggest federal bailouts have been “a consensual process’’ – not a matter of forcing decisions on them. “I’m hoping I won’t be required to simply make a determination over company objections,’’ veteran Washington attorney Kenneth Feinberg told the Chicago Bar Association in a speech. But note: he’s “hoping” he won’t have to impose his own view. He’s hoping the companies will accede to his power without com... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2865647 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:57:21 +0100 2865647 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2386829&cid=t_295748_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fga735KhuYWE%2F Just when you thought you’d seen everything, ol’ Kaiser Bill emerges from the Beyond to castigate the U.S. president: Mr. President, Gott im Himmel! Enough with the czars! You’ve named 18 so far, according to something I read in Foreign Policy. That includes a border czar, a climate czar, an information technology czar and — I don’t think Thomas Jefferson grew enough hemp in his lifetime to dream up this one — the “faith-based czar.” Your car czar, Steve Rattner, was in the news last week, trying to keep Chrysler out of bankruptcy. It took Russia 281 years to accumulate that many czars. Even with hemophilia, repeated assassinations and a level of inbreeding that would gag a Dalmatian breeder. You did it in less than 100 days. And every one of... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2386829 Mon, 04 May 2009 12:47:20 +0100 2386829 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2258328&cid=t_295748_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FI-htBxlmfmA%2F HISTalk did a great job summarizing what this writer found about the new health czar Nancy-Ann DeParle’s ties to healthcare. According to this writer, new health czar Nancy-Ann DeParle has some deep financial ties to the healthcare industry she’s supposed to reform: (1) she is a managing director for an advisory firm whose affiliate converted a non-profit Idaho hospital to a for-profit; (2) as a Cerner board member, she was paid $195K in stock and cash and held around $1 million of CERN shares at the end of 2007; (3) she was on the board of Triad Hospitals and made $1.4 million on its sale; (4) she’s on the board of medical device maker Boston Scientific, paid $160K and holding $400,000 of stock at the end of 2007; (5) she’s on the board of dialysis vendor Davita, paid $194K an... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2258328 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 05:31:50 +0100 2258328 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2167478&cid=t_295748_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F02%2Fpresident-obamas-new-regulatory-czar.html This could be bad. Cass R. Sunstein, just appointed by President Obama to be "regulatory czar," is a big "quality of life" guy in determining the cost/benefit ratio of government regulations. This is the executive summary of a paper he wrote back in 2003 for the Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, entitled "Lives, Life-Years, and Willingness to Pay." From the paper:In protecting safety, health, and the environment, government has increasingly relied on cost-benefit analysis. In undertaking cost-benefit analysis, the government has monetized risks of death through the idea of "value of a statistical life" (VSL), currently assessed at about $6.1 million. Many analysts, however, have suggested that the government should rely instead on the "value of a statistical life year" (VSLY), in a way ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2167478 Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:56:00 +0100 2167478 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2040260&cid=t_295748_151_f&fid=35823&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FAddictionInbox%2F%7E3%2F486821850%2Fdubious-choice-for-drug-czar.html Obama should just say no to Congressman Ramstad.At the Huffington Post, Maia Szalavitz deconstructs the exaggerated outcome data being used by Minnesota Teen Challenge (MNTC) to document the supposed effectiveness of their addiction treatment program. Plenty of treatment programs inflate their success numbers, knowingly or unknowingly, by using flawed statistics to support their arguments. Often--as in this case--there is no control group, thereby making firm statements about the “success” of a treatment all but impossible to prove.So why bother pointing out such obvious problems in the case of Minnesota Teen Challenge? Primarily, Szalavitz writes, because “the sole sponsor of an earmark providing $235,000 to Minnesota Teen Challenge, a branch of a national anti-addiction group which... Addiction Inbox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2040260 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:56:00 +0100 2040260 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1939071&cid=t_295748_135_f&fid=35250&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.poz.com%2Fshawn%2Farchives%2F2008%2F11%2Fthe_election.html Obama won handily and currently holds 348 electoral votes to McCain's 173 finish: Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. In his last Mavericky move, McCain quietly submits his write-in vote for "Daffy Duck". My homestate of Virginia went a bit Daffy Duck, going blue for Obama. I wasn't entirely surprised only because I had the opportunity to drive around rural Virginia with Gwenn, reminding "sporadic Democrats" to vote. There were more Obama/Biden signs out in yards in the sticks than I was expecting to see, which was refreshing, especially since I live in the liberal-minded Charlottesville. McCain's concession speech was very gracious and, coming down the stretch, he was able to show signs of why he was so well-liked back in the 2000 race, in oddball ways like his... Shawn's HIV Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1939071 Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:47:36 +0100 1939071 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=592497&cid=t_295748_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2007%2F05%2Fbut-we-have-war-czar.html Help wanted: War czar with clear vision - Yahoo! News "The problem is not broad strategy and policy, it's that the bureaucracy is so inefficient and there's been so little follow-up that the machine doesn't work," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said.Let's be blunt We HAVE a "War Czar" - we refer to him as "Commander in Chief." He HAS a National Security Adviser. There IS a Secretary of Defense, as part of a cabinet - and it is the President's job to keep all these ducks in a row to implement his "broad strategy and policy."The problem is, he's trying to sell a "broad strategy and policy" that is intended to impress and convince the ignorant and uninformed, ideologues and authoritarians to people within a worldly, well-informed and highly sophisticated microcosm of careerists. You can't... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=592497 Sun, 06 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 592497 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=551374&cid=t_295748_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fauthoritarian-reflex.html 3 Generals Spurn the Position of War 'Czar' - washingtonpost.comThe authoritarian reflex to a failed policy is not to examine the policy, but to assume that those entrusted with the implementation were not "up to the task." The answer is always more power, concentrated more densely, with fewer checks upon the authority in question.Now, the idea of a "War Czar" empowered to do the job right with the authority to make militarily sensible decisions based on the reality of the situation is appealing, even to this anti-authoritarian. I'm not really so much opposed to the idea of authoritative people having power as the opposite, the assumption that the power to enforce one's authority grants one the magical ability to make wise and prudent decisions. And I see that this idea comes from the latt... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=551374 Wed, 11 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 551374