Only in China…. You may have already heard that manufacturers selling personal computers in the PRC will now be required by the Chinese government to install a software program called Green Dam to filter out pornography and sexually explicit material. As could have been easily predicted, a couple of days later, reports surfaced that the filter would also block out topics considered politically dangerous to the Communist Party. Now Solid Oak Software, a California company, is charging that China stole parts of its CyberSitter program after the company found pieces …
In case you missed it, Orbitz is not limited to simply booking flights and hotel accommodations anymore. It has also become a passionate advocacy group. In a heartfelt letter to its loyal customers, Orbitz called for an end to the US-Cuban embargo and immediate normalizations with the Caribbean island. On their recently-launched website, www.opencuba.org, anyone can sign the online petition calling for an end to the “alleged injustice” of Americans being unable to travel to the Caribbean island. Perhaps our friends at Orbitz might stand to benefit from a quick history …
Yesterday the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a preliminary analysis of the Kennedy-Dodd health care plan, and the results were truly frightening. Assessing just Title I of the draft legislation, CBO estimated the plan would add $1 trillion to the federal deficit while only extending health insurance to a net 16 million more Americans. As scary as that is, what is even more disturbing is what costs the CBO did not estimate: “The proposal does not include a ‘public plan’ that would be offered in the exchanges, nor does …
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a paper: Did the 2008 Tax Rebates Stimulate Short-term Growth? The paper is a comprehensive summary of the best recent literature on the topic. CBO sorts the literature into three categories: Studies that used detailed data about individual spending to study the effects of the temporary tax rebates; Studies that used survey data of what individuals did with the money when they received it; and Studies that used national data on income and spending to measure the effects of the tax rebates.
The idea behind cap and trade is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by putting a price on the right to emit carbon and other greenhouse gases on businesses. Because fossil fuels emit carbon dioxide, cap and trade becomes a costly tax on fossil fuels and the energy they generate. Since 85 percent of America’s energy needs come from fossil fuels, cap and trade would be massive tax on energy consumption if enacted. How high a tax? The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis found that by 2035 gasoline prices would …
In his speech today to the American Medical Association [], President Barack Obama called the “naysayers” of his proposed public health insurance plan as nothing more than liars. “So, when you hear the naysayers claim that I’m trying to bring about government-run health care, know this – they are not telling the truth.” he told AMA physician members at their annual conference in Chicago. But the ramped-up rhetoric doesn’t address the projections that respected and nationally prominent health econometrics firm, the Lewin Group, has produced on a public plan if it …
The Obama Administration’s desperation for new revenue to feed its massive spending appetite is becoming more apparent every day. The latest tax hike proposal, this time from the IRS, is to tax 25 percent of the value of employer-provided cell phones or Blackberries. The rationale is that workers use employer-provided phones to make or receive personal calls, and Blackberries to send and receive personal emails. As such, they should pay taxes on the value of these personal usages, because they are a form of income. It is unclear how the IRS …
President Barack Obama, today, in front of the American Medical Association: What are not legitimate concerns are those being put forward claiming a public option is somehow a Trojan horse for a single-payer system. … So, when you hear the naysayers claim that I’m trying to bring about government-run health care, know this – they are not telling the truth. Now watch and listen to then candidate Barack Obama, UC Berkeley professor Jacob Hacker, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) talk about the virtues of the pubic plan: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ-6ebku3_E[/youtube]
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus’ recent off-the-cuff remarks to CBO Director Elmendorf highlight the critical role the CBO will play in the coming health care debate as it evaluates and scores the various proposals. Senator Baucus also demonstrated the pressures the CBO is under, and the ease with which Members of Congress can appear to overstep themselves. Baucus told Director Elmendorf he has a moral duty to be “creative” so that CBO can deliver favorable budget estimates. That comment was improper and Chairman Baucus should “clarify” his position.
We have long believed that the Treasury Department’s TARP interventions have become possibly the single most disruptive force in the global economy. Under the header The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves, EconLog’s David Henderson flags a New York Times story suggesting that the Fed has become just as unhelpful an actor: The New York Times today carries a story about how the Federal Reserve Board is making decisions about who gets loans and who doesn’t. The reporter, Edmund Andrews, writes:
