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 'federal government'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:01:49 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181768&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0FaWo2NWsUM%2F By Sallie JamesLast week I blogged about Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) proposal to devote $20 billion of the Export-Import Bank’s funds to promoting manufacturing exports, and why that was a bad idea. But I realize that my recent call to “X Out the Ex-Im Bank” will be facing some very entrenched interests in Washington, and some well-funded lobby groups. The Bank has historically attracted bipartisan support, and a renewal of its charter sailed through the House Committee on Financial Services earlier this year. The Washington establishment loves this program. My friend and long-time Ex-Im Bank supporter Gary Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute for International Economics published a critique a few weeks ago of my analysis, and calls for a doubling of Ex-Im’s authorization cap (f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181768 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 22:03:53 +0100 5181768 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139699&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F6BxVK7muBgc%2F By David BoazPresident Obama says that we are a  ”generous and compassionate” country and that “through government, we should do together what we cannot do as well for ourselves.” And to fulfill that “progressive vision,” he’s going to work on “making government smarter, and leaner and more effective. ” Today, under the rubric “Breakaway Wealth/Reaping Riches from Federal Spending,” the Washington Post gives us a front-page picture of where a lot of those generous and compassionate federal dollars actually go: Millions of dollars worth of federal contracts transformed Anita Talwar from a government accounting clerk into a wealthy woman—one who can afford a $2.8 million home in the Washington suburbs with its own elevato... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139699 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:08:13 +0100 5139699 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118612&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FI7N0AIflcIg%2F By Tad DeHavenDavid Boaz’s post on bizarre and utterly preposterous claims that the federal government’s “social safety net” has been shrinking brought to my mind James Madison’s position that “Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” “The Father of the Constitution” wasn’t being cold-hearted when he took this position during a 1794 debate in the House of Representatives over federal aid to refugees. Rather, he was merely recognizing that “the government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects.” Charity just wasn’t one of the specified objects. Of course, future politicians decided otherwise. Today, most young Americans grow up in federally subsidized schools offering federally subsidized meals. They are i... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118612 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:01:59 +0100 5118612 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077654&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGVNLZMp-uPk%2F By Tad DeHavenOver at Downsizing the Federal Government, we focused on the following issues this past week: If it is true that a failure to increase the debt limit on August 2nd has the potential to bring about economic Armageddon, shouldn’t we be asking ourselves if it’s a good idea to allow the political class in Washington to continue to collectively play God with our lives? The ratchet effect: agriculture edition. Chris Edwards testifies to the Senate Finance Committee on federal spending and debt. These are the times that try budget analysts’ souls—especially budget analysts who’d like to see Washington dramatically cut spending. House Speaker John Boehner’s first budget plan wouldn’t have cut spending. His new plan won’t cut spending either. Chris Edwards... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077654 Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:51:00 +0100 5077654 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5057713&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fh5njg4-TRIw%2F If it is true that a failure to increase the debt limit on August 2nd has the potential to bring about economic Armageddon, shouldn’t we be asking ourselves if it’s a good idea to allow the political class in Washington to continue collectively play God with our lives? After all, these people are fallible human beings. In a similar vein, Sheldon Richman reminds us of what government really is in a new column on the issue of federal debt. I like Richman’s statement because one need not be a hardcore libertarian to appreciate the message: Government is not some higher super-competent entity like the man pretending to be the Wizard of Oz wanted the people to think he was. It’s a coercive organization of limited, flawed, and essentially ignorant men and women who, having been anointed ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5057713 Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:03:16 +0100 5057713 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5036219&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-sTuIxycJF0%2F By Tad DeHavenOver at Downsizing the Federal Government, we focused on the following issues this past week: People here in Washington are now considering military spending cuts that they thought strategically unwise and politically impossible just a few years ago. And conservatives are joining in. Federally funded spaceflight is the quintessential neoconservative project: a giant, wasteful crusade designed to fill Americans’ supposedly empty lives with meaning. The Obama administration wants to send bureaucrats from federal agencies that are notorious for wasting other people’s money to help local bureaucrats do a more “efficient” job of spending other people’s money. President Obama’s Fiscal Commission handed Republicans ready-made spending cuts on a silver platter — R... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5036219 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:06:46 +0100 5036219 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841442&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFZ_BziKOzgc%2F By Gene HealyMy DC Examiner column this week focuses on Barack Obama’s transformation into our National Noodge, nudging, shoving, poking and prodding Americans into healthier lifestyles via the powers of the federal government. A year ago, the New York Times got all excited about the “new age of regulation” the administration was busy ushering in. The president had elevated “a new breed of regulators”: folks like regulatory czar Cass Sunstein, who wants to “nudge” Americans toward healthier consumption choices, and CDC head Thomas Frieden, who, as NYC health commissioner, proclaimed ”when anyone dies at an early age from a preventable cause in New York City, it’s my fault.” Today’s column tracks how this killjoy crusade is playing out: Quitti... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841442 Tue, 17 May 2011 17:56:35 +0100 4841442 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4820807&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1-my4i5ni3Y%2F By Tad DeHavenOver at Downsizing the Federal Government, we focused on the following issues this week: HUD community development programs illustrate what happens when the federal government severs the relationship between local officials and local taxpayers. Republicans should package their spending reforms as worth undertaking even if the government had a surplus. The sclerosis at the U.S. Postal Service is a reflection of the sclerosis in Congress. Promises to hold down future discretionary spending levels and partial program trims are not real spending cuts. The president’s high-speed rail plan is probably dead. Unfortunately, fiscal federalism isn’t faring much better. Follow Downsizing the Federal Government on Twitter (@DownsizeTheFeds) and connect with us on Facebook. ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4820807 Fri, 13 May 2011 20:10:19 +0100 4820807 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4813242&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FN1KhQQSxd_Q%2F By Tad DeHavenFlorida Governor Rick Scott deserves a big round of applause for dealing a major setback to the Obama administration’s costly plan for a national system of high-speed rail. As Randal O’Toole explains, the administration needed Florida to keep the $2.4 billion it was awarded to build a high-speed Orlando-to-Tampa line in order to build “momentum” for its plan. Instead, Scott put the interests of his taxpayers first and told the administration “no thanks.” That’s the good news. The bad news is that the administration is going to dole the money back out to 22 passenger-rail projects in other states. Florida taxpayers were spared their state’s share of maintaining the line, but they’re still going to be forced to help foot the bill for passenger-rail projects in... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4813242 Wed, 11 May 2011 20:21:43 +0100 4813242 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4794841&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fa-mo2hugaVM%2F By Chris EdwardsTad DeHaven has gone fishing with his dad, so I’ve got weekly wrap-up duties. We focused on the following issues at Downsizing the Federal Government this week: Randal O’Toole talks high-speed trains. Tad says that he’s “hot and bothered” by politics on Capitol Hill. Tad compares budgeting in 1995 and 2011. Dan Griswold describes the idiocy of federal sugar policies. I discuss fiscal policy and royal weddings. Obama is talking corporate tax cuts and Republicans are talking spending cuts. I’ve got a great idea for a bipartisan deal! To close out, Tad would usually say something tech-savvy such as ”follow Downsizing the Federal Government on Twitter (@DownsizeTheFeds) and connect with us on Facebook.” This Week in Gov... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4794841 Fri, 06 May 2011 21:03:05 +0100 4794841 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4753669&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEWH5eRgfepA%2F By Tad DeHavenOver at Downsizing the Federal Government, Chris Edwards has released an updated version of his “Plan to Cut Spending and Balance the Federal Budget.” The plan proposes spending cuts of more than $1 trillion annually by 2021, which would balance the budget without resorting to damaging tax increases. Federal spending would be reduced to 18 percent of gross domestic product by 2021 under the plan, which compares to President Obama’s projected spending that year of 24.2 percent of GDP. Some key points: No sacred cows are spared. Defense, domestic, and so-called entitlement programs are all cut. The plan recognizes that the scope of federal activities must be curtailed. It would begin the reversal of decades of federal expansion into hundreds of area... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4753669 Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:10:32 +0100 4753669 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4734048&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEm4sS4pU8fY%2F By Neal McCluskeyYesterday, speaking at Facebook headquarters, President Obama assessed the guts of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and other congressional Republicans and concluded that their deficit reduction plan isn’t “particularly courageous.” That might be accurate – their plan lacks specificity and could target a lot more for elimination — but it’s pretty rich for the President to throw out such a conclusion. After all, his whole strategy appears to be the bankruptingly lame-but-safe crying of doom for cute kids and other supposedly defenseless people no matter what the size of the proposed cut to a social program or how ineffective the program has been. That, and the constant lamentation that “the rich” – a small and th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4734048 Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:29:35 +0100 4734048 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4664147&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FvIdkR6So0ek%2F By Neal McCluskeyOver the last few days Jay Greene, the Fordham Institute's Kathleen Porter-Magee, and several other edu-thinkers have been arguing about whether national curriculum standards would destroy a competitive market in education, and a market that already provides the uniform standards Fordham wants Washington to impose. But let's be very clear: We haven't had a real market -- a free market -- in education for a long time. Sadly, I'm afraid Jay started this whole mess, though he certainly knows what a free market in education would look like and I don't think he intended to confuse the issue.  Indeed, he doesn't use the term "free market," but mainly writes about the "competitive market between communities." His argument is that Americans over time picked standardize... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4664147 Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:04:41 +0100 4664147 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4631461&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FxO-WpFvB8qo%2F By Tad DeHavenRep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the chairman of the conservative House Republican Study Committee, recently introduced “The Welfare Reform Act of 2011.” The legislation’s two key components are the imposition of work requirements on food stamps recipients and the capping of total spending for 77 welfare programs at 2007 levels (adjusted for inflation going forward) when unemployment drops below 6.5 percent. From the RSC press release: Congressional Republicans and President Bill Clinton enacted reforms in 1996 that required beneficiaries of a new welfare program (TANF) to either work or prepare for a job. President Clinton triumphantly declared these reforms would “end welfare as we know it,” and in fact millions of families have since moved off the TANF rolls and begun to ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4631461 Fri, 25 Mar 2011 03:04:49 +0100 4631461 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4517156&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4s9Nn8lvb68%2F By Jason KuznickiThe Obama Administration's decision to stop defending DOMA in the courts has provoked some widespread commentary. Jim Burroway hints that Obama's strategy here is both deep and cynical. Obama's locked in a losing fight with Republicans over the budget, because Americans really do want to cut federal spending. This remains true even if, notoriously, nearly the only specific program they want to cut is our negligible foreign aid. The mood is anti-spending, and it's just possible that a government shutdown scares Obama even more than it scares the Republicans. The remedy? Change the subject. Make Republicans in Congress defend their stance on gay marriage, which is so not the discussion they'd like to be having. It could be one of the first instances in which gay marriage cou... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4517156 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:43:20 +0100 4517156 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4459942&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FuDOUN8PWALw%2F By Neal McCluskeyYesterday, House Republicans introduced their preliminary list of spending cuts, cuts that were, they declared, "to go deep." Unfortunately, coming in at just $74 billion, they were about as deep as onion skin. After all, the total federal budget is well over $3 trillion, and the national debt now exceeds $14 trillion.  The relatively lilliputian size of the proposed cuts should give any taxpayer major queasiness over Republicans' desire to truly rein in government. But if that doesn't scare you, this report from Inside Higher Ed absolutely should: Shhh. Don't tell, and they'll never admit it publicly. But college officials are (very quietly) feeling okay -- at least for now -- about how Congressional Republicans would treat the programs that matter mo... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4459942 Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:33:38 +0100 4459942 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4343114&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0ud79KYaN3E%2F By Tad DeHavenRep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) has introduced the Cut Unsustainable and Top-heavy Spending Act, which would cut spending by $44 billion annually.  Brady’s effort moves in the right direction but it is a very modest fiscal reform effort. The legislation, which Brady calls a “down payment on getting America’s financial books in order,” chooses targets that have already been proposed by the Obama administration or the president’s Fiscal Commission. Therefore, the proposal should have bipartisan appeal. For example, Brady’s bill would cut Pentagon spending and eliminate subsidies to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Many of the targets represent “house cleaning cuts” that would reduce spending on bureaucratic activities such as printing and federal travel. Th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4343114 Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:59:32 +0100 4343114 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4313990&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Faj-CbyjzkTk%2F By Daniel GriswoldYet another front has opened in the battle over illegal immigration, this one involving birthright citizenship. According to today’s New York Times and other news outlets, Republicans at the state and federal level are gearing up to re-open the question of whether children born in the United States to parents who are here illegally should be granted automatic citizenship under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. James Ho makes a strong case in this morning’s Wall Street Journal that the 14th Amendment as written after the Civil War was intended to include the children of resident aliens whatever their legal status. The former solicitor general of Texas, Ho describes a series of Supreme Court decisions since then that have consistently upheld the principle tha... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4313990 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:39:24 +0100 4313990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4294615&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FskNPPZcFS3g%2F By Roger PilonThe editorialists at the The New York Times are out of sorts this morning over a Tea Party backed constitutional amendment that would give state legislatures the power to veto any federal law or regulation if two-thirds of the legislatures approved. Despite the backing of incoming House majority leader Eric Cantor and legislative leaders in 12 states, the proposal has little chance of succeeding, the Times avers, “but it helps explain further the anger-fueled, myth-based politics of the populist new right.” Indeed, it expresses “with bold simplicity the view of the Tea Party and others that the federal government’s influence is far too broad.” Well? Isn’t that what the election last month was all about? But right there, for the Times, is the problem: “In past ec... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4294615 Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:21:47 +0100 4294615 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4277834&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Favastin-the-fdas-disappointing-decision%2F2010.12.21 “With this disappointing decision, the FDA has chosen to place itself between patients and their doctors by rationing access to a life-extending drug. . . We can’t allow this government takeover of health care to continue any longer.” That quote, courtesy of this morning’s [Dec 17th] Washington Post, incensed me to such a degree that I am writing this blog despite the two deadlines I have today. The speaker is Sen. David Vitter (R-La). The “disappointing decision” he refers to: The FDA’s decision to remove the breast cancer indication for Avastin (bevacizumab). I wrote about this earlier, and you can read the post here, but that was before yesterday’s [Dec 16th] decision. I’m not going to comment here on the benefits or risks of Avasti... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4277834 Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0100 4277834 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4277821&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDsGNvjhhtfs%2F By Chris EdwardsWho said: “A government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”? As political junkies know, that was Ronald Reagan at the 1964 Republican convention. The Internet attributes other similar quips to Reagan. Reagan apparently borrowed the idea from Senator James F. Byrnes, who stated on the floor of the Senate in 1933: “The nearest earthly approach to immortality is a bureau of the federal government.” My source is “Reorganization of Federal Administrative Agencies,” Congressional Quarterly, September 17, 1933. The article is a reminder that concerns about government waste, duplication, overlap, and inefficiency certainly did not start with Reagan. Government failure has been around a long time. T... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4277821 Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:58:11 +0100 4277821 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4249040&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FX26ttWF7AY0%2F By Tad DeHavenOver at Downsizing the Federal Government, we focused on the following issues this week: Unfortunately, the president’s Fiscal Commission appears to have operated on the premise that the federal government should continue to do everything it now does. Getting Rep. Jeff Flake on appropriations is a step in the right direction, but his appointment can’t be a token gesture. A new study finds that policymakers needn’t fear spending cuts. House Republican leaders’ support for “Prince of Pork” Hal Rogers to chair the chamber’s appropriations committee is a slap in the face of voters who demanded change in November. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, whose state’s unemployment rate is almost 13 percent, has advice for Washington on how to c... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4249040 Fri, 10 Dec 2010 21:18:35 +0100 4249040 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4219729&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2s4Lbn3TW1Q%2F By Chris EdwardsPresident Obama’s Fiscal Commission has produced a serious and sobering analysis of the government’s budget mess, and it provides some of the needed solutions. Three of the report’s main themes are on target: the need to make government leaner, the need to cut business taxes to generate economic growth, and the need to impose tighter budget rules to discipline spending. The report rejects the view of many Democratic leaders that the welfare state built over the last 80 years must be defended against any and all budget cuts. “Every aspect of the discretionary budget must be scrutinized, no agency can be off limits, and no program that spends too much or achieves too little can be spared. The federal government can and must adapt to the 21st century by transforming it... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4219729 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:03:31 +0100 4219729 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4159210&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fz9zLzPhzDlk%2F By Michael D. TannerMy colleagues, Dan Mitchell, Jagadeesh Gokhale, Michael Cannon and Chris Edwards have already provided their thoughts on the chairman’s mark released yesterday by the bipartisan deficit reduction commission.  A few additional thoughts: The commission provides a good-faith look at the magnitude of the problem we face, and the magnitude of cuts necessary to bring spending down to even 21 percent of GDP (and it really should be far lower).  In doing so they show just how unserious Republicans are in proposing a paltry $100 billion in spending cuts.  And the commission makes it clear, unlike Republicans, that both entitlements and defense spending must be on the table. The commission also starts the debate in a useful direction by implicitly acknowledging that their ne... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4159210 Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:46:26 +0100 4159210 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151749&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2rbOt1IvouU%2F By Tad DeHavenSelf-anointed elites have been relentless in prodding government planners to apply their enlightened solutions for the purported benefit of the ignorant masses. As a result, the federal government has become a Super Nanny monitoring and guiding the intimate activities of the nation’s 300 million inhabitants. However, the government is not altruistic and does not have the solutions for how people should live their lives. The amalgamation of programs and regulations that constitute the federal government is basically a reflection of the myriad special interests that have won a seat at Uncle Sam’s table. Government consists of fallible men and women who are naturally susceptible to pursuing policies that have less to do with the “general welfare” and more to do with rewa... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151749 Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:57:43 +0100 4151749 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151752&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F8SsRTMRic7I%2F By Neal McCluskeyIt’s no secret that expelling the U.S. Department of Education is something that a lot of libertarians, and conservatives who haven’t lost their way, would love to do. What’s not nearly so well known is that there are also people on the left who dislike ED. Now, they don’t dislike it because it and the programs it administers clearly exist in contravention of the Constitution, or because its massive dollar-redistribution programs have done no discernable good. They dislike it because, especially since the advent of No Child Left Behind, it strong-arms schools into doing things left-wing educators often disagree with or resent, like pushing phonics over whole language, or imposing standardized testing. Many also truly believe in local control of sc... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151752 Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:33:32 +0100 4151752 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133684&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyEO89mV7tq8%2F By Neal McCluskeyYesterday, I wrote that rather than counseling incoming Republican Congress members to bolster federal intrusions in education, now is the time to start dismantling Washington’s unconstitutional education apparatus.  Exit polling from yesterday’s election, while certainly not focused on education, offers some support for this. Quite simply, voters want less government in their lives, not more. Support for the Tea Party was very high considering that many people consider it something of a fringe movement, with 41 percent of voters saying they either “strongly” or “somewhat support” the Tea Party. Only 31 percent expressed opposition to the movement. Just as telling, if not more so, 56 percent of respondents said they thought &#8... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133684 Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:11:54 +0100 4133684 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4125063&cid=t_113100_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F11%2F01%2Fthomas-bornemann-ed-d-on-the-georgia-mental-health-settlement%2F Two weeks ago, Georgia reached a historic settlement with the Federal Government regarding treatment in mental health care for Georgia’s most vulnerable residents — those who live in state hospitals or under the state’s auspices. Recently, I had the pleasure to sit down with Thomas H. Bornemann, Ed.D., the Director of the Carter Center Mental Health Program to talk to him about the settlement. John M. Grohol, Psy.D.: What are some of the highlights of that settlement? Thomas H. Bornemann, Ed.D. Well, we think this is a groundbreaker, and a lot of our colleagues from around the country that we talked to are also seeing it similarly. What we were able to do is to take a lawsuit that is essentially about inadequate care in institutional settings — in our state hospital... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4125063 Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:30:18 +0100 4125063 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4097905&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmON0D8QzICM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellGallup just released a poll showing that 46 percent of Americans view the federal government as an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary Americans. My first reaction was to wonder why the number was so low. After all, we have a political elite that wants to do everything from control our health care to monitor our financial transactions. But a secondary set of numbers is even more remarkable. As seen in this chart, both Republicans and Democrats tend to view the federal government as a threat mostly when the White House is controlled by the other party. This complacency is very unfortunate. Republicans presumably want to limit government control over the economy, yet it was the Bush Administration that put in place policies such as Sarbanes-Oxley, th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4097905 Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:31:22 +0100 4097905 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3993874&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FONFbXk-Iu60%2F By Neal McCluskeyYou’ve probably heard it already, but if not, you should know that on Friday the documentary Waiting for “Superman” — from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim — will be opening in select theaters around the country. The film, about how hard it is to access good education in America thanks to adults putting their interests first, follows several children as they hope beyond hope to get into oversubscribed charter schools. It is said by those who’ve seen it to be a tear-jerker and call to arms to substantially reform American education. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t promote real, essential reform: Taking money away from special-interest dominated government schools and letting parents control it. The movie does... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3993874 Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:47:01 +0100 3993874 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3899377&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FB5PWPWLtndw%2F The White House’s misbegotten “Summer of Recovery” continued today with the release of another administration “analysis” that purportedly demonstrates the stimulus’s success in “transforming” the economy. Vice President Joe Biden unveiled the report alongside Energy secretary Steven Chu and numerous businesses officials willing to serve as political props in return for Uncle Sam’s free candy. Biden bemoaned the nefarious “special interests” that were coddled by the previous administration. What does the vice president think those subsidized business officials attending his speech are called? The money the White House has lavished on these privileged businesses isn’t free. The money comes from taxpayers—including businesses that do not enjoy the favor of the White ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3899377 Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:06:08 +0100 3899377 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3827055&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FIjWWuoMICgE%2F By Tad DeHavenAs the fall elections approach, two factions within the congressional GOP have emerged. The first faction, which generally controls the Republican leadership, is short-term oriented and just wants to return the GOP to power in Congress. Riding the wave of voter discontent over the government’s finances is a means to an end — the end being power. The second, and considerably smaller faction, is more ideas driven and views the upcoming election as an opportunity to push for substantive governmental reforms. Whereas the “power first faction” offers platitudes about smaller government, the “ideas first faction” isn’t afraid to offer relatively bold suggestions for confronting the federal government’s unsustainable spending. The ideas first faction is willing t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3827055 Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:42:06 +0100 3827055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3780343&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fdp797EOAtc4%2F By Neal McCluskeyFor supporters of Title IX, it’s time to put down the pom-poms. From the start, Title IX has been an unnecessary and destructive imposition of government and bureaucracy into college sports, substituting regulation and litigation for the free choices of women and men. But yesterday’s ruling that competitive cheerleading isn’t a sport — a decision worth reading just for its brilliant illustration of the torturous athlete-accounting and word-parsing Title IX demands – highlights how truly absurd it has become. For one thing, tell the women (and men) in competitive cheer that it isn’t a sport – most would probably beg to differ. Much more important, when we have judges ruling what does or does not constitute a sport we have clearly given up way... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3780343 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:06:49 +0100 3780343 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3767077&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmeaningful-use-does-what-you-do-qualify%2F2010.07.19 One doesn’t usually look to the Federal Register to define meaning or purpose (philosophers, yes, but bureaucrats?), but the federal government has officially ruled on what constitutes “meaningful use” — for the purposes of distributing dollars to clinicians for electronic health records. The Wall Street Journal’s health blog has an excellent synopsis of the rule and the reaction from different interest groups and experts, and the New England Journal of Medicine has a very clear explanation and summary of its key elements by David Blumenthal, M.D., F.A.C.P., the federal government’s coordinator of health information technology. (more…) *This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3767077 Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0100 3767077 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3683606&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQVq7YQxnNfw%2F By Neal McCluskeyLast week, national standards super-advocate Chester Finn called me “paranoid” for arguing that “common” curriculum standards states adopt in pursuit of federal money will somehow end up being federal and, as a result, bad. Well it seems that Jay Greene and I — the two paranoiacs Finn identified by name — are not alone. Here’s a roundup of some recent rantings from other realists Finn would no doubt accuse of wearing tinfoil helmets: The Heritage Foundation’s Jennifer Marshall, cutting through the joke of “voluntary” national-standards adoption and dispelling several of the shallow arguments trotted out by national-standards supporters. The Home School Legal Defense Association, warning that “as home... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3683606 Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:43:18 +0100 3683606 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3644762&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FANNvi-M1Rfo%2F By Joy Burwell. On Monday, June 7th Health 2.0 took over Washington DC and yesterday the excitement continued with a Disruptive Women in Health Care breakfast. The breakfast would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship of Manatt and the support of The Hill. A huge thank you to this morning’s engaging panelists: Fran McMahon, Publisher of The Hill; Indu Subaiya, Co-Founder Health 2.0; Julie Murchinson, Manatt Health Solutions; Alexandra Drane, Founder and President, Eliza; Marlene Beggelman, Founder, Enhanced Medical Decisions and Linda Von Schweber, Co-Founder Surveyor Health. Robin Strongin, Creator of the Disruptive Women in Health Care blog moderated the program. Below is a very brief summary of the discussions; video and photographs of the breakfast will be posted so... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3644762 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:41:17 +0100 3644762 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3617818&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FeUsZHYswE6g%2F By Chris EdwardsThe nation is facing a fiscal emergency. Debt is exploding and federal spending exceeds revenues by more than $1 trillion a year. To fix the problem, policymakers should pursue reforms on two paths. First, policymakers should start identifying programs for termination, privatization, and devolution to the states. If a business conglomerate overexpanded and its spending ran ahead of revenues, prudent managers would start shedding low-value operations and refocusing on core activities. The federal government should do the same. Second, policymakers should adopt new rules to bring greater discipline to federal budgeting. Right now, it’s anarchy on Capitol Hill with every member and interest group pushing for more dollars. Very few members consistently defend restraint. The s... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3617818 Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:06:24 +0100 3617818 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3588853&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Foil-spill-in-the-gulf-%25e2%2580%2593-bp-continues-to-botch-clean-up-efforts%2F photo: Newscom It’s kind of insane that BP still hasn’t figured out a foolproof way to clean up the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill. And BP’s seemingly feeble attempts may be harming the environment even more. Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency told BP that they had 24 hours to decide on a less toxic form of chemical dispersants to try and break up the environmental disaster. 655,00o gallons of the extremely toxic dispersants that BP is using have now been distributed over the surface of the ocean and underwater. Federal officials are worried about the threat to the marine life in the Gulf of Mexico, since the use of dispersants to this degree is unprecedented. Also, apparently BP is trying to limit how much journalists see of the spill. Hey, BP, what el... Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3588853 Fri, 21 May 2010 21:11:06 +0100 3588853 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3519444&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FCROrwEtMTh4%2F By Daniel GriswoldThe latest catch phrase in the immigration debate is that we must “get control of our borders” before we consider actually changing the current immigration law that has made enforcement so difficult in the first place. In his Washington Post column yesterday, George Will wrote that “the government’s refusal to control [the U.S.-Mexican] border is why there are an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona and why the nation, sensibly insisting on first things first, resists ‘comprehensive’ immigration reform.” On the other side of the political spectrum, Democrats in Congress this week unveiled the outlines of an immigration bill that would postpone any broader reforms, such as a new worker visa program or legalization of workers already here, until... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3519444 Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:55:33 +0100 3519444 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3515337&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FqIPxW_7tQLc%2F By John SamplesEd Morrissey kindly mentioned The Struggle to Limit Government and responds to the advice for Tea Partiers in my video. Morrissey says: I don’t think it’s accurate to say that some Tea Partiers “like” big government; it’s more like some aren’t enthusiastic about dismantling as much of the federal government as others, especially the more doctrinaire libertarians. In the video I noted that polls showed a majority of the people who identify with the Tea Party movement also thought the entitlement programs were worth their cost. My colleague, Jagadeesh Gokhale, has estimated that paying for current entitlements would require 9 percent of GNP in perpetuity. This is unlikely. Entitlements will have to be changed since too much has been promised. People who thi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3515337 Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:58:36 +0100 3515337 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3499055&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F3GnUg6nJ_qE%2F By David BoazRecently I wrote an article arguing that there never was a golden age of liberty and that in particular libertarians should not hail 19th-century America as a small-government paradise, at least not without grappling with the massive problem of slavery. Jacob Hornberger, author of an article that I criticized, responded in Reason, and I then responded here. Meanwhile, an interesting discussion took place on a email list of libertarian scholars, and I’m pleased to have gotten the permission of several participants to include some of that discussion here: Aeon J. Skoble: The ideals of freedom which led to the tangible improvements [Boaz] mentions – I’m concerned that those ideals are eroding/have eroded.  Example: say you have a robust theory of rights, but your soci... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3499055 Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:05:32 +0100 3499055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3471772&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMnaO7gg739U%2F By David BoazTony Blankley, former press secretary to Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, exults in the Washington Times that Americans are waking up “to our heritage of freedom” and to the abuse of the Constitution: All the following acts have suddenly awakened Americans to their Constitution: (1) The nationalization of car companies and banks; (2) the subordination of the car companies’ legal bondholders to union bosses; (3) the creation of trillion-dollar slush funds (the stimulus package) used for, among other purposes, the corrupt purchase of congressional votes; (4) the mandating of individual health insurance purchase against the will of Americans; (5) the attempt to have Obamacare “deemed” to have been enacted, rather than actually publicly voted on by... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3471772 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:20:24 +0100 3471772 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3471773&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FZJX3Cujvcks%2F By Neal McCluskeyWe were warned. When Washington passed the so-called “stimulus” bill, with its tens-of-billions for K-12 education, we were warned that the money wouldn’t just provide a one-time infusion of supposedly economy-saving cash. No, it would furnish a towering new spending floor for already super-funded government schools and numerous other beneficiaries. Well here come the sky lifts again. According to Education Week, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) is pushing legislation that would pile $23 billion in new federal funding into education once the stimulus cash dries up. And this money — which, of course, we don’t actually have – is intended not only to protect the jobs of teachers and other staff, but add even more employees to the obscene j... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3471773 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:07:22 +0100 3471773 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3403867&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F3rgqfOGlbdM%2F By Chris Moody Idea of the day: Repeal the 16th Amendment, which  gives Congress the power to lay and collect taxes. Replace it with an amendment that requires each state to remit to the federal government a certain percent of its tax revenue. Economist Richard Rahn on the necessity of failure in the market: “When government becomes a player and tries to prevent the failure of market participants, its decisions are almost invariably corrupted by the political process.” Read up on Goodwin Liu, Obama’s nominee for a seat on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals: “Liu’s confirmation would compromise the judiciary’s check on legislative overreach and push the courts not only to ratify such constitutional abominations as the individual health insurance mandate but to... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3403867 Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:16:18 +0100 3403867 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3398886&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fv1kB49EVIb0%2F By Roger PilonToday Politico Arena asks: Do the 13 state attorneys general have a case against ObamaCare? My response: Absolutely.  It will be an uphill battle, because modern “constitutional law” is so far removed from the Constitution itself, but a win is not impossible.  There are three main arguments.  (1) Under the Constitution, as properly interpreted, Congress has no power to enact such a plan.  (2) The plan conscripts state governments into carrying out and paying for federal mandates.  And (3) the individual mandate amounts to an unlawful capitation or direct tax. The first argument will almost certainly lose, because under post-1937 readings of the Commerce Clause, Congress can regulate anything that “affects” interstate commerce, which at some level ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3398886 Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:44:57 +0100 3398886 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3382799&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FpWgsGfX8sYU%2F By Neal McCluskeyHere’s a quick, preliminary reaction to the higher-education portion of the mammoth health-care reconciliation bill. I could find I’m wrong about some stuff as I delve more deeply into the bill’s language, but it appears that much of the out-of-control spending that would have occurred under the odious Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act has been axed under reconciliation. SAFRA, it appears, has been sacrificed, though to bring to life an even more destructive demon. Unfortunately, some of SAFRA survived. While a great deal of the spending has been stripped out, reconciliation would still tighten the federal government’s already iron grip on college financing. It would also plow billions more into Pell grants despite decades of evidnece that... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3382799 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:07:10 +0100 3382799 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3382806&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FC4YM5xVwg6U%2F By Neal McCluskeyA couple of days ago, Fordham Institute president Chester Finn declared on NRO that conservatives should embrace new, national education standards from the Common Core State Standards Initiative. Today I respond to him on The Corner, and let’s just say it’s clear that neither conservatives, nor anybody else, should embrace national standards. Oh, one more thing: I shouldn’t have to keep saying this to savvy Washington insiders like the folks at Fordham, but when the federal government bribes states with their own citizens’ tax money to do something, doing that thing is hardly voluntary, at least in any reasonable sense.  For more wise thoughts on the national standards issue, check out this interview with Jay Greene, and this Sacramento... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3382806 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:04:50 +0100 3382806 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3378450&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fv1Dzs1stHts%2F By Tad DeHavenLast year, when the issue of defunding ACORN was a hot-button issue, I told countless radio talk show audiences that the focus should be on eliminating the underlying fuel that created the organization—the flow of federal subsidies. Chris Edwards pointed this out in September. If Congress simply stops subsidizing ACORN, its activists will reincorporate under new names and again become eligible for funds. Alas, that’s precisely what ACORN is currently doing. From FoxNews.com: One of the latest groups to adopt a new name is ACORN Housing, long one of the best-funded affiliates. Now, the group is calling itself the Affordable Housing Centers of America. Others changing their names include what were among the largest affiliates: California ACORN is now Alliance of Californian... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3378450 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:08:54 +0100 3378450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3374107&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBYj8y6F3eFY%2F By David BoazEveryone in America, I presume, has just received a letter from the U.S. Census Bureau urging us to fill out our Census forms. Seems like a very expensive way to tell us to watch for the form to arrive in the mail. But I’m particularly interested in why they say we should promptly fill out the form: Your response is important. Results from the 2010 Census will be used to help each community get its fair share of [federal] government funds for highways, schools, health facilities, and many other programs you and your neighbors need. Without a complete, accurate census, your community may not receive its fair share. Obviously this is a zero-sum game. If my neighbors and I all fill out the form, then you and your neighbors will get less from the common federal trough. But ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3374107 Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:33:08 +0100 3374107 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3279958&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F418gX70Cngo%2F By David BoazKing Canute famously demonstrated to his advisers that even a king couldn’t stop the sea from rising. Abraham Lincoln told his visitors that calling a dog’s tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg. But lots of people these days think that passing a law automatically makes things happen, that you can pass a law against drug use or racism or homelessness and solve a problem. Today I heard a traffic reporter on WAMU public radio demonstrate just how widespread that assumption is, at least in Washington. About 9:20 a.m. he said, “The federal government opened on time today [after a week of closings and yesterday's delayed opening], so most federal workers are already sitting at their desks.” Well, I was stuck in a miles-long backup on snow-blocked roads, and... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3279958 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:40:52 +0100 3279958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3262591&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJUK_bN3HG5U%2F By Doug BandowThe public is unhappy with government.  How could it be otherwise, given the mess our governors have made?  Reports the Washington Post: Two-thirds of Americans are “dissatisfied” or downright “angry” about the way the federal government is working, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. On average, the public estimates that 53 cents of every tax dollar they send to Washington is “wasted.” Despite the disapproval of government, few Americans say they know much about the “tea party” movement, which emerged last year and attracted voters angry at a government they thought was spending recklessly and overstepping its constitutional powers. And the new poll shows that the political standing of former Republican vice pre... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3262591 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:11:11 +0100 3262591 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3262595&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFiR9DbyeQCY%2F By Neal McCluskeyAs I have explained on numerous occasions, supporters of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) – which would end federal guaranteed student loans, turn everything into lending direct from Uncle Sam, and spend the resulting savings and way much more — have often shamelessly promoted the bill as a boon to taxpayers when it will almost certainly cost them tens-of-billions.  Where they have generally been right is in rebutting criticisms that SAFRA would be a federal takeover of a private industry. With lender profits all but assured under federal guaranteed lending, the vast majority of student loans haven’t been truly private for decades. Unfortunately, SAFRA advocates are just as clueless — or, more likely, rhetorically unbridle... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3262595 Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:08:23 +0100 3262595 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3223236&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmYy8TV6Guj8%2F By Chris Moody A libertarian primer on the real meaning of the phrase “campaign finance reform.” For more, read John Samples’ book, The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform. New report shows that Head Start, a sacrosanct (and very expensive) federal education program, doesn’t work. So what should we do about it? Give it more money of course! “In his State of the Union address, President Obama proposed spending another $4 billion annually on K–12 public education. He did not mention that state, local, and federal governments already spend well over twice what they did in 1980, or that there has been no discernible improvement in student achievement during that period.” Just sayin’. Michael Tanner on Obama’s faith-based boondoggle: “The ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3223236 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:08:02 +0100 3223236 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3189124&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fa5cqYbJxWzM%2F By Neal McCluskeyYesterday, I wrote about President Obama’s proposal to extend the Race to the Top program, this time letting school districts completely bypass state governments and apply directly to the feds for funding. I pointed out that the proposal was one among several troubling signs that Obama intends to put Washington fully — and, of course, unconstitutionally — in charge of American education.  At the time, I didn’t realize how right I was. When I was writing yesterday I was basing my comments on documents from the White House’s website and hadn’t yet read the details of what went on at the President’s photo-op announcing the proposed extension. I sure wish I had: At the dog-and-pony show, the President just came right out an... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3189124 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:22:40 +0100 3189124 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096841&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsUITgFNxEJ8%2F By Edward H. CraneIn his ongoing effort to micromanage the U.S. economy President Obama used his Dec. 12 weekly radio address to promote his proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency.  It will be filled with bureaucrats second-guessing entrepreneurs and is sure to improve the performance of our financial institutions — much in the manner of the SEC’s bureaucrats alertly nailing Bernie Madoff just 30 years into his Ponzi scheme.  Never mind that the federal government had much more to do with the financial meltdown than the banks did, the real knee-slapper in his address was his claim that the CFPA “would bring new transparency and accountability to the financial markets…” This, from a man demanding passage of a 2000-page health care reform bill that no one, incl... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096841 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:59:23 +0100 3096841 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3075478&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJgUE4NKrvDg%2F By Chris EdwardsIn his Brookings Institution speech yesterday, President Obama called for more Keynesian-style spending stimulus for the economy, including increased investment on government projects and expanded subsidy payments to the unemployed and state governments. The package might cost $150 billion or more. The president said that we’ve had to “spend our way out of this recession.” We’ve certainly had massive spending, but it doesn’t seemed to have helped the economy, as the 10 percent unemployment rate attests to. It’s not just that the Obama “stimulus” package from February has apparently failed. The total Keynesian stimulus is not measured by the spending in that bill only, but by the total size of federal government defici... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3075478 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:43:42 +0100 3075478 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3067038&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwhqlibdoc.who.int%2Fpublications%2F2009%2F9789241563864_eng.pdf The following post by Meryl Bloomrosen, Vice President at the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), is part of Disruptive Women’s “The Value of Health: Creating Economic Security in the Developing World” series. Ms. Bloomrosen supports a number of AMIA committees and task forces, provides executive oversight to AMIA’s contracts and grants, and provides support for AMIA’s ongoing efforts on Clinical Decision Support (CDS) and informatics workforce development. Prior to her position with AMIA, Ms. Bloomrosen was a Vice President at the eHealth Initiative and the Program Manager of the Connecting Communities for Better Health Program, a HRSA-funded, multi-million dollar cooperative agreement. My 30+ year health care career is catching up with me –  my e... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3067038 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:01:29 +0100 3067038 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3056618&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FfB-YnI-ojB4%2F Speaking of White House gate-crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi (as we were trying to think of an excuse to do, to increase blog traffic), Slate says they might be guilty of a federal crime. What crime? Well, possibly trespassing on federal property. Or maybe the “broad prohibition on lying to the federal government.” Title 18, section 1001 of the U.S. Code can be used to prosecute anyone who “knowingly and willfully … falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact” or “makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation” to the government. That could include lying about your arrest record on a government job application, claiming a fake deduction on your taxes, or telling someone you&#8... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3056618 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:11:24 +0100 3056618 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3052127&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYBvsqTfHpCo%2F The Associated Press reports: The federal government is wading into deliberations over the future of journalism as printed newspapers, television stations and other traditional media outlets suffer from Americans’ growing reliance on the Internet. With the media business in a state of economic distress as audiences and advertisers migrate online, the Federal Trade Commission began a two-day workshop Tuesday to examine the profound challenges facing media companies and explore ways the government can help them survive. Media executives taking part are looking for a new business model for an industry that is watching traditional advertising revenue dry up, without online revenue growing quickly enough to replace it. Government officials want to protect a critical pillar of democracy—... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3052127 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:43:21 +0100 3052127 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3039764&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FdB8uKN8QnFo%2F I caught a lot of flack from my Republican friends for my post blaming the FY2009 deficit on Bush instead of Obama. Well, I must be a glutton for punishment because I can’t resist jumping (albeit reluctantly) to Obama’s defense again. I’m venting my spleen for two reason. First, FoxNews.com posted a story headlined “Obama Shatters Spending Record for First-Year Presidents” and noted that: President Obama has shattered the budget record for first-year presidents — spending nearly double what his predecessor did when he came into office and far exceeding the first-year tabs for any other U.S. president in history. In fiscal 2009 the federal government spent $3.52 trillion …That fiscal year covered the last three-and-a-half months of George W. Bush&#8... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3039764 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:15:53 +0100 3039764 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3012364&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSxuNPIhmoN8%2F A report released today by the federal government’s non-partisan General Accounting Office finds deficits in the Department of Education’s financial and program oversight. According to the GAO, “These shortcomings can lead to weaknesses in program implementation that ultimately result in failure to effectively serve the students, parents, teachers, and administrators those programs were designed to help.” The GAO’s findings are consistent with the longstanding pattern: for forty years, Americans have steadily increased spending on public schools without any resulting improvement in student performance by the end of high school (see the figures here and here). The Obama administration has touted its $100 billion in education stimulus spending as a key to long term economic growth.... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3012364 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:06:51 +0100 3012364 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3008064&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_bcLjY-XE4Q%2F The Obama administration and its allies in Congress want the federal government to expand its role in subsidizing health care. We are told that this expansion will restrain rising health care costs. But an OMB report yesterday that the government made $98 billion in improper payments last year — $55 billion of which came from Medicare and Medicaid — ought to raise suspicions about that claim. According to Reuters, OMB Director Peter Orszag told reporters that the embarrassing figures from Medicare and Medicaid demonstrate the need for health care reform. I would concur if “reform” meant reducing the government’s role in health care. However, he means the opposite, which raises the question of how giving more money to an already waste-prone and bureaucratic federal health ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3008064 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:56:49 +0100 3008064 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2984775&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F9WriRdpMVHE%2F This report is a small illustration of the fundamental problems with the federal government subsidizing local governments. The local public housing agencies are supposed to be monitoring how money is spent and reporting to HUD. HUD is supposed to be monitoring the local public housing agencies. But no one does a very good monitoring job, despite the piles of regulations and paperwork that every level of government has to deal with for such subsidies. The muddled web of responsibilities also makes it easy for fraud artists to take advantage. Last week, HUD’s IG reported that the department is sending $220 million in stimulus funds to local agencies already known to misspend taxpayer dollars. From USA Today: The government is sending millions of dollars in stimulus aid to communities and h... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2984775 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:27:20 +0100 2984775 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2958821&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4JpnKXs7Q4M%2F Yahoo News is highlighting the story “10 Jobs With High Pay and Minimal Schooling.” Topping the list: air traffic controllers, who work for the federal government. These workers make sure airplanes land and take off safely, and they typically top lists of this nature. The median 50% earned between $86,860-142,210, with good benefits. Air traffic controllers are eligible to retire at age 50 with 20 years of service, or after 25 years at any age. Huge salaries and retirement after 20 years — sweet deal! Air traffic controllers seem to provide a good illustration of my general claim that federal workers are overpaid. I don’t know what the proper pay level for controllers is, but I do know that we should privatize the system, as Canada has, and let the market figure... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2958821 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:53:01 +0100 2958821 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2930958&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1arJmRCyHwk%2F Here’s a striking graphic of the results of continuing New York Times/CBS News polling on the question, “Do you think the federal government should guarantee health insurance for all Americans, or isn’t this the responsibility of the federal government?” Support for a government guarantee of health insurance starts dropping sharply as the country starts debating the topic. It’s not clear from this graphic, provided by Gallup, but support is at 64 percent in June, 55 in July, and 51 in late September, well after the Long Hot August and just after President Obama’s health care blitz that included his primetime speech to Congress and highly publicized rallies in Minnesota and Maryland. Note also that the question doesn’t mention any downsides of th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2930958 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:30:27 +0100 2930958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2927289&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fv4NwTDrOfkc%2F This report from USA Today tells the story of several patients who were harassed and threatened by federal agents. Excerpt:  ”In August 2002, federal agents seized six plants from [Diane] Monson’s home and destroyed them.” This report from the San Francisco Chronicle tells the story of Bryan Epis and Ed Rosenthal.  Both men, in separate incidents, were raided, arrested, and prosecuted by federal officials.  The feds called them “drug dealers.”  When the cases came to trial, both men were eager to inform their juries about the actual circumstances surrounding their cases–but they were not allowed to convey those circumstances to jurors.  Federal prosecutors insisted that information concerning the medical aspect of marijuana was “irrele... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2927289 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:32:07 +0100 2927289 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2865648&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOU8VBlIASEw%2F Did you know that the average American family spends $1,000 each year on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, whether or not it consumes that agency’s services?  Or that the federal government annually spends $1,500 per household on net interest costs alone? In an ongoing effort to shed light on runaway government spending and expose wasteful government programs, Cato launched a new Web site today that examines the federal budget department-by-department to see which agencies can be reformed or terminated. DownsizingGovernment.org describes which programs are wasteful, damaging and obsolete in an era of trillion-dollar deficits. The research exposes that many public outlays—though vigorously defended by the politicians who created them and the constituencies they purport to help... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2865648 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:59:26 +0100 2865648 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2851738&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FxRmLd7U0eoM%2F A $600,000 federal grant is chump change and I recognize that picking on individual awards generally isn’t worth the effort because there are bigger fish to fry.  But every once in a while I think it’s alright to a highlight a particularly ridiculous grant award for the purpose of trying to help readers see that the federal government’s ability to spend money on virtually anything it wants has broader, negative implications.  So when I read this morning that the Institute of Museum and Library Services (an independent federal agency) gave UC Santa Cruz’s $615,175 to archive Grateful Dead memorabilia online, I just couldn’t help myself. The title of my post refers to a lyric from the Dead song “Uncle John’s Band.”  According to the lyrics, ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2851738 Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:36:01 +0100 2851738 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2851740&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7WV-RsICUJA%2F On Sunday, the Washington Post ran an op-ed by the chancellor and vice chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, in which the writers proposed that the federal government start pumping money into a select few public universities. Why? On the constantly repeated but never substantiated assertion that state and local governments have been cutting those schools off. As I point out in the following, unpublished letter to the editor, that is what we in the business call “a lie:” It’s unfortunate that officials of a taxpayer-funded university felt the need to deceive in order to get more taxpayer dough, but that’s what UC Berkeley’s Robert Birgeneau and Frank Yeary did. Writing about the supposedly dire financial straits of public higher education (“Rescuing Ou... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2851740 Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:02:09 +0100 2851740 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2851749&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FxSzRo3XvKyE%2F With its decision today to hear the case of McDonald v. Chicago, the Supreme Court should settle the question of whether states must recognize the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. In June of 2008, in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Court found, for the first time, that the federal government must recognize the Second Amendment right of individuals, quite apart from their belonging to a militia, to have an operational firearm in their home. But the decision left open the question whether states were similarly bound. Thus, the so-called incorporation doctrine will be at issue in this case – the question of whether the Fourteenth Amendment “incorporates” the guarantees of the Bill of Rights against the states. The Bill of Rights applied originally only against the feder... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2851749 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:49:36 +0100 2851749 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2838905&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fo56RFSOqAVg%2F In response to claims that texting-while-driving (TWD) causes traffic accidents, Congress is considering “a federal bill that would force states to ban texting while driving if they want to keep receiving federal highway money.” This approach to forcing a particular policy on the states mimics the 1984 Federal Uniform Driving Age Act, which threatened to withhold federal highway funds unless states adopted a 21-year-old minimum legal drinking age. The justification for that law was reducing traffic fatalities among 18-20 year olds. A federal ban on TWD is not compelling: 1. Federal imposition of the 21-year old minimum drinking age did not save lives. 2. A ban on texting might increase other distractions: adjusting the radio, putting on makeup, eating a sandwich, reading a map,... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2838905 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:56:09 +0100 2838905 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2823955&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F9d_QjFkWqlY%2F As Michael Cannon discussed in an earlier post, the White House is trying to claim that health care “reform” does not mean higher taxes. This is a two-pronged issue. First, there is a mandate to purchase health insurance. Second, there is a tax (the White House calls it a fee) on people who fail to purchase a policy. The White House claims this mandate is akin to state-level requirements for the purchase of health insurance, and that the newly-insured people will be getting some value (a health insurance policy) in exchange for their money. These assertions are defensible, but that does not change the fact that a tax is being imposed. It might be plausible to argue that the mandate is not a tax if the value of the insurance policy to the individual was equal to the cost. But ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2823955 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:45:48 +0100 2823955 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2823967&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFuQ414OVrvQ%2F “Americans are more likely today than in the recent past to believe that government is taking on too much responsibility for solving the nation’s problems and is over-regulating business,” according to a new Gallup Poll. New Gallup data show that 57% of Americans say the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to businesses and individuals, and 45% say there is too much government regulation of business. Both reflect the highest such readings in more than a decade. Byron York of the Examiner notes: The last time the number of people who believe government is doing too much hit 57 percent was in October 1994, shortly before voters threw Democrats out of power in both the House and Senate. It continued to rise after that, hitting 60 percent in Decembe... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2823967 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:18:43 +0100 2823967 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2803876&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F9BHDxSa1Hq8%2F In response to my criticism of the new federally-financed $4 million bike center set to open at Union Station in Washington, DC, Think Progress blogger Matthew Yglesias says: I look forward to the day when the Cato Institute does a blog post denouncing each and every publicly financed parking lot or garage in the United States of America. I’ll take that bait…sort of… I denounce each and every federally financed parking lot or garage in the United States of America on non-federal property.  I’m one of those quaint individuals who recognizes that the Constitution grants the federal government specific enumerated powers.  Using federal tax dollars to finance local parking garages, lots, bike centers and racks is not one of the powers granted to the federal government... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2803876 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:07:18 +0100 2803876 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2803887&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FUJEALC3pR_E%2F In their attempt to defeat Obamacare, Republicans have focused their criticism on the public option, painting it as the most objectionable feature of existing proposals. Senator Max Baucus, (D-Mont.), has now proposed a plan without the public option. This leaves the Republicans in an awkward position, especially since Baucus’s plan is projected to cost less than earlier proposals. If Republicans oppose the Baucus plan, they surely risk the ire of voters who will be told during the mid-term elections, “The Republicans blocked a plan that would have covered the uninsured and reduced the deficit.” The problem is, the public option was never the crucial issue; instead, it was the mandate to purchase insurance. Once government mandates insurance coverage, it gets to define wh... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2803887 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:26:45 +0100 2803887 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2803894&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fx-wmoGX3J4Q%2F With the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) likely to be voted on by the full House or Representatives today, the media is finally giving some space to debate over the bill. Unfortunately, the New York Times only pays attention to the parts it likes, writing in an editorial today that: The private lenders and those who do their bidding in Congress have recently taken issue with a Congressional Budget Office analysis that showed that the bill would save about $87 billion over the next 10 years. They argue, absurdly, for example, that the savings would be smaller if the system were analyzed under accounting rules other than the ones that the federal government is required to use. The aim is to mislead taxpayers and members of Congress into believing that the C.B.O. estimate... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2803894 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:29:56 +0100 2803894 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2800366&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FF9_W2dQSGQM%2F The $4 million Union Station Bike Transit Center is scheduled to open in Washington, DC on October 2nd.  According to an August Washington Post story, 80 percent of the cost of this opulent bike center is being borne by federal taxpayers via the U.S. Department of Transportation. Look, I harbor no animosity against bike riders, but under what authority — legal or moral — does the federal government tax me in order to build bike centers for parochial, special interests?  The Constitution? But let’s pretend — and I mean pretend – that such federal expenditures are legitimate.  The Post article say the center will have 150 indoor bike racks and 20 outdoors.  A recent NPR article says it will hold 130 bikes.  Whatever the figure, at a cost of $4 million, it c... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2800366 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:24:27 +0100 2800366 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2774606&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FfD54PAnN51o%2F How unions are becoming irrelevant to the average American worker in the private sector. Is the president’s speech part of a sinister plan to create a socialist Obama Youth movement? Hardly. However, let us not forget that our Constitution’s framers thought schooling was too important to be left to a federal government. The case for engaging Iran. The Supreme Court will rule Wednesday on whether the government can ban political speech during election time. Here’s the back story. The 10-year budget deficit is now projected to be nine trillion dollars. Paul Krugman says it’s no big deal. James Dorn thinks otherwise and explains why Krugman is mistaken. Podcast: The real problem with Obama’s speech to schoolchildren. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2774606 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:34:55 +0100 2774606 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2774608&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F610V6EnMXEQ%2F Last week, a coalition of 10 privacy and consumer groups sent letters to Congress advocating legislation to regulate behavioral tracking and advertising, a phrase that actually describes a broad range of practices used by online marketers to monitor and profile Web users for the purpose of delivering targeted ads. While several friends at the Tech Liberation Front have already weighed in on the proposal in broad terms — in a nutshell: they don’t like it — I think it’s worth taking a look at some of the specific concerns raised and remedies proposed. Some of the former strike me as being more serious than the TLF folks allow, but many of the latter seem conspicuously ill-tailored to their ends. First, while it’s certainly true that there are privacy advocates w... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2774608 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:58:31 +0100 2774608 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2774613&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSMCaeB8gDZo%2F After all of the rancor last week over his planned back-to-school address, it was predictable that in the end President Obama would offer a largely non-controversial speech about working hard and staying in school. If he sticks to the text released today, that is pretty much what he will do. Unfortunately, whether or not that was his original intent – and no one knows for sure but the President and his advisors – many Obama supporters will likely use the relatively staid final product as grounds to smear people concerned about the speech as right-wing kooks or out-of-control partisans. At the very least, such an outcome would be in keeping with a lot of the email I’ve gotten since the story first broke. But it will miss several critical points: No matter how innocuous the con... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2774613 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:39:38 +0100 2774613 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105025&cid=t_113100_97_f&fid=35606&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheangriestpharmacist.com%2F2009%2F09%2F01%2Fwhat-a-putz%2F Yup…sure would hate to see that… To be completely honest, while I have my issues with them, Medicare and Medicaid are well-run programs. They allow their money to be spent all helter-skelter, they are the most efficient programs in the entire government. The overhead of CMS is abysmal compared to your other big players like BCBS, Paid, Anthem, and Caremark. I’m not sure why the post office is always busy. I’m not sure why the DMV is slow as hell — these are subcontracted out anyway, so blaming the government is stupid. It’s like blaming Dr.Reddy’s for having to wait too long for your Glimepiride in my pharmacy. You can see the video or the original comments in its entirety here. In all honesty, it was probably just a slip of the tongue. But, callin... The Angriest Pharmacist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105025 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 05:23:16 +0100 3105025 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2751887&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FM5BkKGxa-aQ%2F Last November’s rejection of the failed GOP didn’t mean voters were ready to embrace a massive increase in the size of the federal government, says Scott Keeter, director of survey research at Pew Research Center: Obama campaigned for strong government action on the economy and health care, and most of his voters agreed with this direction. But Obama’s efforts to expand the role of government have alienated many of those who did not vote for him but nonetheless gave him high marks when first he took office. Pew Research’s political values survey this spring showed no surge in public demand for more government. Indeed, anti-government sentiment, which had been building for years, was heightened by the financial bailout and stimulus program. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2751887 Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:08:18 +0100 2751887 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2747914&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFOSgWZM_BO0%2F What do workers in finance, energy, and the federal government have in common? Very generous compensation packages, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. When I posted federal compensation data last week, I received a flood of comments that disputed my contention that federal workers are overpaid. A common retort was that “federal workers are not burger flippers.” That’s true, but workers in the computer systems design, computer manufacturing, and chemicals industries are not burger flippers either, yet those folks also earn less than federal workers, on average. The Bureau of Economic Analysis presents compensation data for 72 industries that span the U.S. economy (Table 6.2D). Figure 1 shows the 20 industries with the highest levels of average compensation, inclu... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2747914 Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:49:33 +0100 2747914 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2737700&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FZptJwMYfVis%2F My post yesterday on federal worker pay generated a large and aggressive response from federal workers, both in my inbox and on websites such as Fedsmith.com. (See also Federal Times and Govexec). Here are four points raised in criticism: First, people accuse me of producing distorted data somehow. Actually, it’s essentially just raw Bureau of Economic Analysis data, but the data is usually overlooked by the media because I don’t think the BEA puts out a press release on it. Anyway, the average wage data is from BEA Table 6.6D. The average compensation data is simply total compensation (Table 6.2D) divided by the number of workers (Table 6.5D). Second, people argue that reporting overall averages for wages and compensation is somehow illegitimate. People email me co... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2737700 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:19:26 +0100 2737700 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2737704&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7X_pJG6gRnI%2F An article published this week by National Review magazine blames the many problems of California on—take a guess—high taxes, over-regulation of business, runaway state spending, an expansive welfare state? Try none of the above. The article, by Alex Alexiev of the Hudson Institute, puts the blame on the backs of low-skilled, illegal immigrants from Mexico and the federal government for not keeping them out. Titled “Catching Up to Mexico: Illegal immigration is depleting California’s human capital and ravaging its economy,” the article endorses high-skilled immigration to the state while rejecting the influx of “the poorly educated, the unskilled, and the illiterate” immigrants that enter illegally from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America. Before swallowing the article’s ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2737704 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:34:18 +0100 2737704 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2715917&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2q181XaxYk4%2F I was never a fan of Dick Cheney’s one percent doctrine. According to Ron Suskind, after 9/11 Cheney explained to law enforcement and intelligence officials that they should treat even the one percent chance of a terrorist attack as a mathematical certainty. The particular case was of a Pakistani nuclear scientist helping al-Qaeda to acquire a nuclear bomb, but the standard became a shorthand for U.S. counterterror efforts generally. No scale of effort would be too great. Better to chase down 100 leads, 99 of which turn out to be bogus, because finding just that one nugget would have been worth the level of effort. Now we have evidence that the federal government is chasing down far more than 99 blind alleys for just one lead. From today’s front-page story in the New York... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2715917 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:03:09 +0100 2715917 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2715920&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FUrtpVTrB35Q%2F Pardon me while I pile on the post earlier today by my colleague Sallie James about the Obama administration refusing to allow more sugar to be imported to the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture this week declined to relax the quotas the federal government imposes on imported sugar despite soaring domestic prices and understandable complaints from U.S. confectioners and other sugar-consuming businesses about potential shortages. For all his talk about change, President Barack Obama has shown no inclination to pursue meaningful reform of U.S. agricultural programs. He supported the subsidy-laden and protectionist farm bill that finally passed Congress in 2008. On the eve of the U.S. presidential election in October 2008, he wrote a letter to the U.S. sugar industry reminding ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2715920 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:49:07 +0100 2715920 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2715923&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-7W3ksPPYwI%2F The health care debate has catalyzed a wonderful national clash of cultures centering on freedom versus control. Here’s one example that’s both complex and delightful. Progressive site TalkingPointsMemo ran a story yesterday about a man named “Chris” who carried a rifle outside an event in Phoenix at which President Obama appeared. “We will forcefully resist people imposing their will on us through the strength of the majority with a vote,” Chris said. To many TPM readers, this kind of thing is self-evidently shocking and wrong: Carrying a weapon is inherently threatening, Second Amendment notwithstanding. And vowing to resist the properly expressed will of the majority—isn’t that an outrageous denial of our democratic values? Well, . . . No.... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2715923 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:19:49 +0100 2715923 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2712068&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FWULGiMdR0s8%2F The New York Times has a story on some of the more controversial ways in which state and local government are using so-called federal “stimulus” dollars.  If anything, it provides some interesting background on the history of the word boondoggle (not surprisingly, it entered the American lexicon during the New Deal).  The gist of the piece is that one person’s boondoggle is another person’s…turtle crossing…skateboard park…or airport for an island in Alaska with 170 people on it.  One New Dealer found this out decades ago: Robert D. Leighninger Jr., a sociologist who wrote “Long-Range Public Investment: The Forgotten Legacy of the New Deal” (South Carolina University Press, 2007), recounted the story of a Works Progress Administration officia... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2712068 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:45:42 +0100 2712068 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2709116&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7nvtIb_Ez3o%2F Politico reports that the so-called “public option” provision could be dropped from the highly controversial health care bill currently being debated throughout the country: President Barack Obama and his top aides are signaling that they’re prepared to drop a government insurance option from a final health-reform deal if that’s what’s needed to strike a compromise on Obama’s top legislative priority…. Obama and his aides continue to emphasize having some competitor to private insurers, perhaps nonprofit insurance cooperatives, but they are using stronger language to downplay the importance that it be a government plan. As I have said before, establishing health insurance co-operatives is a poor alternative to the public option plan. Opponents of a government ta... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2709116 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:33:11 +0100 2709116 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2621751&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fp8fk8Y8IffI%2F ABC News reports: “The total potential federal government support could reach up to $23.7 trillion,” says Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, in a new report obtained Monday by ABC News on the government’s efforts to fix the financial system. Yes, $23.7 trillion. “The potential financial commitment the American taxpayers could be responsible for is of a size and scope that isn’t even imaginable,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “If you spent a million dollars a day going back to the birth of Christ, that wouldn’t even come close to just $1 trillion — $23.7 trillion is a staggering figure.” Granted, Barofsky is n... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2621751 Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:36:49 +0100 2621751 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2613833&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-ntt8qNSsNI%2F The Washington Post has a “feel-good” story about how the huge expansion in the federal government has created a relatively strong job market in the D.C. area. The story mentions that the federal workforce will expand by another 200,000 during the Obama years. Yet at no point does the author bother to mention (or perhaps even understand) that all these new bureaucrats are financed by draining resources from the productive sector of the economy. A sample: They came in droves wearing dark suits and carrying résumés yesterday — some lined up for a block in the hot sun waiting for the doors to open — to the only employer in this dismal economy hiring by the thousands: the federal government. More than 6,000 people jammed into the National Building Museum in Washington to a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2613833 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:06:00 +0100 2613833 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2610880&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJEbP0twV0l8%2F Kevin Carey, policy director at the think tank Education Sector, asserts that when it comes to higher education libertarians are boxed in, unable to find a solution to out-of-control college costs that won’t violate at least one, basic libertarian principle: This puts libertarians in somewhat of a box. On the one hand, they tend to be hostile toward the tens of billions of public dollars that flow into colleges every year. The more colleges cost, the greater the claim on the average citizen’s hard-earned money and thus reduction in their precious liberty etc., etc. But the best way to bend down the long-term higher education cost curve and thus reduce government spending is to increase government regulation in the form of mandatory reporting. So it’s a pick your poison situatio... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2610880 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:14:49 +0100 2610880 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2610890&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FpdgGefsqbyw%2F Reading the New York Times’s coverage of a Senate committee’s recent vote on health care legislation, I was struck by the following statement from Sen. Dodd: If you don’t have health insurance, this bill is for you,” said Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, who presided over more than three weeks of grueling committee sessions. “It stops insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. It guarantees that you’ll be able to find an insurance plan that works for you, including a public health insurance option if you want it.” The bill would also help people who have insurance, Mr. Dodd said, because “it eliminates annual and lifetime caps on coverage and ensures that your out-of-pocket costs will never exceed your ability to... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2610890 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:05:02 +0100 2610890 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2605941&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7mNZfNFQ8is%2F Unsure about prospects on passing the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act as a stand-alone bill, proponents intend to attach it as an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill. As I have said previously, this bill is an affront to federalism and counterproductive hater-aid. Federal Criminal Law Power Grab This legislation awards grants to jurisdictions for the purpose of combating hate crimes. It also creates a substantive federal crime of violent acts motivated by the “actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person.” This is a federalization of a huge number of intrastate crimes. It is hard to imagine a rape case where the sex of the victim is not an issue. The same goes for r... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2605941 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:43:24 +0100 2605941 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2598185&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F8n5--smt01A%2F President Obama’s new drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, says he wants to banish the idea of a “war on drugs” because the federal government should not be “at war with the people of this country.” At a Cato policy briefing on Capitol Hill on July 7, former Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr explained why carrying out an end to the “war on drugs” will require a bipartisan solution. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2598185 Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:07:26 +0100 2598185 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2477537&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_uMTyA_h2Kc%2F Paul Starobin, the author of an informative primer on foreign policy realism, had an interesting piece in the weekend’s Wall Street Journal on the topic of breaking up the United States. Devolved America is a vision faithful both to certain postindustrial realities as well as to the pluralistic heart of the American political tradition—a tradition that has been betrayed by the creeping centralization of power in Washington over the decades but may yet reassert itself as an animating spirit for the future. Consider this proposition: America of the 21st century, propelled by currents of modernity that tend to favor the little over the big, may trace a long circle back to the original small-government ideas of the American experiment. The present-day American Goliath may turn out to b... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2477537 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:33:02 +0100 2477537 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2477543&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FealLB71BbNA%2F As I note in my New York Post op-ed today, Republicans are fond of implying that President Obama is a big-spending socialist. But the House GOP recently offered a spending cut plan that was able to find savings worth less than one percent of Obama’s budget. As Tad DeHaven and Brian Riedl have also pointed out, the GOP spending reform effort is rather pathetic. It proposed specific annual budget cuts of about $14 billion per year. Consider that the center-left budget wonks at the Brookings Institution put their heads together a few years ago and came up with a “smaller government plan” that proposed about $342 billion in annual spending cuts (by 2014). The Brookings authors note:   These cuts are achieved by reducing government subsidies to commercial activities (... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2477543 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:18:22 +0100 2477543 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473202&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fsrb-41yebHw%2F Faced with rising opposition to a so-called “public option” in health care reform, some Democrats are floating the idea of establishing health insurance “co-operatives” as an alternative. Opponents of a government takeover of the health care system should not be fooled. A “co-op” can be defined as a business owned and controlled by its workers and the people who use its services, in this case presumably the people whom it insures. In that sense, government provision of some sort of legal framework or seed money to help establish health insurance co-ops seems relatively harmless but also relatively pointless. The U.S. already has some 1,300 insurance companies. Adding a few more would accomplish…what? It is suggested that the “co-ops” would be nonprofits, and therefore wou... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473202 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:02:11 +0100 2473202 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2469440&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fnj5MO1NbbQ4%2F From The Wall Street Journal today, an article about the federal freezing or seizing of 27,000 online gambling accounts (including that of one of my colleagues, who shall remain nameless but is $150 short today). I blogged a few weeks ago about some (admittedly very dim) light on the horizon so far as the freedom to gamble online is concerned, but this is a setback indeed. The Poker Players’ Alliance (a lobby group for online poker players) says this is the first time that players’ accounts (as opposed to the gambling site operators themselves) have been targeted. U.S. laws  against gambling online, and the way those laws are administered, are an affront to personal freedom and a threat to our trading relationships. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2469440 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:06:05 +0100 2469440 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2452373&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDNh0SGI5fA4%2F A month ago, President Obama issued a list of proposed spending cuts that I dismissed as “unserious” due to the fact that they were trivial when compared to his proposed spending and debt increases.  Today, the House Republican leadership released a list of proposed spending cuts. I’d love to say I’m impressed, but I can’t. Both proposals indicate that neither side of the aisle grasps the severity of the country’s ugly fiscal situation, or at least has the guts to do anything concrete about it. The GOP proposal claims savings of more than $375 billion over five years, the bulk of which ($317 billion) would come from holding non-defense discretionary spending increases to no more than inflation over the next five years. First, it should be cut — pe... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2452373 Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:39:20 +0100 2452373 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2424023&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FkjO1mEMf8kg%2F Brink Lindsey’s post, triggered by Jerry Taylor’s controversial critique of conservative talk radio at National Review online,  is part of a much-needed debate about the changes needed to create more fertile soil for limited-government — a task that is especially difficult given the GOP’s decade-long embrace of statist economic policy. But in the spirit of friendly disagreement, the problem is not Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Talk radio, after all, existed when Republicans were riding high and promoting small government in the 1990s. The real problem is that today’s GOP politicians are unwilling to even pretend that they believe in limited government. In such an environment, it is hardly a surprise that anti-tax and anti-spending voters decide that talk sh... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2424023 Tue, 19 May 2009 21:03:51 +0100 2424023 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2389674&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FhJKyEy9FHS4%2F Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has been a leader in the fight for fiscal responsibility in Congress. He’s even led on issues that many elected officials have shied away from, such as Social Security reform and free trade. Recently he said that he would support Pat Toomey over Arlen Specter in a Republican primary, which may have prompted Specter’s party switch. DeMint was widely quoted as saying, “I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don’t have a set of beliefs.” It may have been feedback from that comment that caused DeMint to write an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on his vision of a “Big Tent” Republican party. He makes some excellent points: But bi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2389674 Mon, 04 May 2009 16:12:08 +0100 2389674 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2386823&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FRDDzgDMYdZs%2F Jeff Zeleny at the New York Times Caucus Blog reports, “President Obama will present a set of proposals on Monday aimed at changing international tax policy, calling for the elimination of benefits for companies and wealthy individuals that harbor their cash in offshore accounts.” Cato scholars have long made arguments in defense of tax havens. In The Wall Street Journal, Senior Fellow Richard Rahn outlined the policy the federal government should be taking instead: The correct policy for the United States to follow is to reduce its corporate tax rate to make it internationally competitive, and to move toward a tax system that does not punish savings and productive investment so severely. We know from the experiences of many countries that reducing tax rates and simplifying th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2386823 Mon, 04 May 2009 15:01:58 +0100 2386823 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2375844&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiHS3c0AJvS0%2F In Washington, the symbolic almost always trumps the substantive.  Thus, legislators complain, for good reason, about pork and earmarks, which ran about $35 billion at their maximum, and ignore entitlements, which entail some $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities. So it is with President Obama.  He continues the endless bailouts, which cumulatively now run around $13 trillion.  He proposed a $3.6 trillion budget and will leave us with a $1.4 trillion deficit next year–and nearly $5 trillion in additional debt on top of the massive deficits already projected over the coming decade.  But he asked his Cabinet officers to chop $100 million in administrative expenses. And he says he doesn’t need a new helicopter.  Fiscal responsibility in action. Alas, the helicopter, while... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2375844 Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:11:46 +0100 2375844 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2364933&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FgHbB7-QQz7Q%2F Though I’m not a Virginia resident or voter, nor a donor to politicians, Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell (whose party affiliation I’m not aware of) has added me to his email list. His name is similar to a past roommate, and that affinity has caused me to open more of his emails than I ordinarily would. Today’s is worth writing about: It’s a political candidate transparently trying to scare voters and use their fear for fundraising. Dear Jim, Terror suspects could be headed to Virginia… With the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay the federal government must find new locations in which to house and try the roughly 240 terrorist suspects currently held 90 miles from our shores. Recent news reports indicate that the Department of Justice ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2364933 Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:47:22 +0100 2364933 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2258165&cid=t_113100_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2F11%2Fus-mental-health-grades-virtually-useless%2F While I applaud the intent of the National Alliance on Mental Illness’s effort to “grade” the 50 states in the U.S. on their mental health care, the problem with such reports is that they are out-of-date and virtually useless from the moment they are published. The problem with the report isn’t its data gathering methods or purpose, both of which are solid and noble. The problem is that in the amount of time it takes to gather the data, analyze it, and publish it, the data is already out of date. To see how out of date, you only have to look and see that the last report was published 3 years ago. Hardly timely. In my home state, Massachusetts, it received a B, up from the C- it received in 2006, and much better than the national average of D. What the report doesn&... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2258165 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:31:55 +0100 2258165 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2205327&cid=t_113100_97_f&fid=35606&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theangriestpharmacist.com%2F2009%2F02%2F21%2Fwest-virginia-legislature-plagiarizes-the-angriest-pharmacist%2F Almost everyone that reads pharmacy-related blogs has at least GLANCED at my recent, “Letter to Obama.” It was published on February 8, 2009. It has been viewed nearly 5,000 times since then. One of those 5,000 readers must have been Representative Craig Blair (R) from West Virginia. He proposed legislation that I have been pushed for as long as I can remember. http://www.bdtonline.com/local/local_story_049211701.html I call bullshit on this unconstitutional crap. The United States Constitution was not written by our fore fathers with the intention that one day the government would hand out to the fat, lazy, and stupid (or even the handicapped — WAAAHHHH!!!). The United States Government was originally intended to do very few things: Protect the citizens (from the inside ... The Angriest Pharmacist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2205327 Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:27:57 +0100 2205327 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2195227&cid=t_113100_117_f&fid=36026&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Fzimney-health-and-medical-news-you-can-use%2Fkinoki-detox-foot-pads-officially-a-scam%2F The first time I came across Kinoki detox foot pads I knew immediately that they were a scam and wrote a piece in these pages entitled “Kinoki detox foot pads - a scambuster report.”  In that blog I went so far as to say that Kinoki foot pads were such a blatant scam that they gave other scams a bad name. That blog became one of the most widely read items I’ve ever written, generating nearly 500 comments at last count. While some respondents disagreed and said that the pads had helped them, many writers agreed with my assessment of Kinoki as being a scam. Well, now the federal government has weighed in and guess what? They agree with me and have officially called Kinoki detox foot pads a scam. I’d always held that it was just a matter of time before the feds came d... Dr. Z's Medical Report blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2195227 Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:44:49 +0100 2195227 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1912022&cid=t_113100_133_f&fid=37107&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aspieweb.net%2Fnew-autism-advisor-in-government%2F Canada has appointed a new Specialist Advisor for Autism at the Department of Health.  Elaine Hill will work four days week to develop a new Adult Autism Strategy, advise on the needs of Autistic Individuals and work on policy reform. Ms. Hill stated, “I am very excited about the prospect of being able to take forward [...] (Source: AspieWeb.net) AspieWeb.net blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1912022 Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:29:09 +0100 1912022 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1575496&cid=t_113100_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F326139909%2F Our very non-sleepy summer continues, on the homefront (Charlie’s good, though he looked a little resigned when told he has no school today and Friday, due to the 4th of July) and on the autism front: Buses that don’t know where they’re going, an autistic boy found walking after the highway—and some good news too. The first two items make me more grateful than ever that Charlie attends summer school in our town, at the middle school he’ll be going to in September, with the same teacher he’ll have, and on a bus provided by the county’s education commission. Every year we’ve considered sending Charlie to camp: It would have to be daycamp the first time (for one thing, I can only stand to worry so much; Charlie not having that much language, he ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1575496 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:00:28 +0100 1575496 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1594068&cid=t_113100_158_f&fid=36160&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeinstitute.com%2Fcaregivingminutes%2F%3Fp%3D98 What are the Types of Reverse Mortgages? There are essentially two types of reverse mortgages; a reverse mortgage through a federally sponsored program and a reverse mortgage directly through a private lender. Regardless of which type of program you choose (private or federal) both loans are issued through a private lending institution. The loan provisions, safeguards, maximum loan amounts, and requirements to issue a loan distinguish the two programs. Here’s the difference. The federal government; through the HUD (Housing and Urban Development) program, issues what is called the HECM loan. HECM stands for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage – it converts your home equity to cash, like all reverse mortgages. A HECM reverse mortgage is essentially a government insured reverse mortgage loan... CaregivingMinutes™ by Pope Institute blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1594068 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:00:33 +0100 1594068 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=835444&cid=t_113100_87_f&fid=34867&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thediabetesblog.com%2F2007%2F08%2F31%2Flobbying-the-feds-dont-come-cheap%2F Filed under: ServicesThe American Association of Diabetes Educators has spent big bucks this year ensuring its point of view gets across to our representatives in the federal government. The AADE spent $375,000 on lobbying in just the first half of 2007, according to a Senate disclosure form that has been picked up by the media. The law requires that such disclosures be made public. Members of the organization include big Pharma names like Eli Lilly, Novartis and Merck.The AADE is, obviously, a member organization for diabetes educators, with advocacy in Washington - for professionals and patients - coming as an additional service. The government-run site Healthfinder lists more about the AADE if you're interested. Given the amount of money involved, I'm surprised how little attention this... The Diabetes Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=835444 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 835444 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=551392&cid=t_113100_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2007%2F03%2Fimmediate-local-benefits-had-better-be.html The Blog | Rick Jacobs: California's Speaker Asks the Candidates to Speak with California | The Huffington PostWhile Iraq occupies the headlines, we have a country that is practically falling apart. The California experience is emblematic of the series of problems that face the nation. A high percentage of the military executing the president's war in Iraq is a product of a public school system that offered those now serving few choices beyond the military. To put a fine point on it, about half of those who enroll in the ninth grade in LA public schools drop out before graduation. And unfortunately, a fair number of those who graduate are not well-equipped for a job or a higher education, the latter of which is now unaffordable for many in California, a sad post script for a state that was... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=551392 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 04:00:00 +0100 551392