Under the headline “Doctor shortage looms as primary care loses its pull”, USA Today reports: Considering it takes 10 to 11 years to educate a doctor, the drying up of the pipeline is a big concern to health-care experts. The AAFP is predicting a shortage of 40,000 family physicians in 2020, when the demand is expected to spike. The U.S. health care system has about 100,000 family physicians and will need 139,531 in 10 years. The current environment is attracting only half the number needed to meet the demand At …
The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation features CATO’s Dan Mitchell in this video on how and why government spending diminishes economic performance: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo192DJqvYc[/youtube] Carpe Diem adds this chart from the Joint Economic Committee:
The Heritage Foundation has been clear and forthright in denouncing the health care co-op idea floated by liberals in Washington. As we have said on numerous occasions, their proposal is simply a cartel that would stifle competition, not foster it. It is clear to most reasoned observers that liberals plan to use the concept of co-ops as a backdoor for the introduction of government-run health care, which has already been rejected by the American people via the “public option.” Since we have written extensively on the concept of free market …
I’m not critical of cap-and-trade. But it has to be used in a targeted and disciplined way, and what has happened is it’s gotten out of control.” Those are the words of former Democratic Senator and current president of the United Nations Foundation Timothy Wirth, who also mentioned, “The Republicans are right — it’s a cap-and-tax bill.” Those are strong words coming from a man who served as a climate change negotiator for the Clinton administration and during his tenure in the Senate focused on environmental issues, particularly global climate …
Great article by self-identified Democrat David Goldhill in the Atlantic on health care reform. It is well worth your time to read the whole thing, but this section on how our dependence on third party payments (including employer sponsored health insurance and government programs) drives up health care costs is a good highlight: One of the most widely held pieces of conventional wisdom about health care is that new technology is relentlessly driving up costs. Yet over the past 20 years, I’ve bought several generations of microwave ovens, personal computers, …
Former South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung once told me one of the most poignant stories I have ever heard about the role America plays overseas, how it is a force for good around the world. After hearing the news of his death in Seoul yesterday, it made me wonder how the current administration would act under similar circumstances. Kim was president from 1997 to 2003 and instituted a policy of rapprochement with communist North Korea which did not produce the promised results. However, he was a stalwart (and brave) opposition …
In their front page story “Debate’s Path Caught Obama by Surprise: Public Option Wasn’t Intended as Major Focus”, The Washington Post reports that the White House was “unprepared for the intraparty rift” that occurred after the Obama administration seemed to back away from the public option this past weekend. The Post goes on to quote a senior White House adviser: “We’ve gotten to this point where health care on the left is determined by the breadth of the public option. I don’t understand how that has become the measure of …
It is with the deepest personal sadness that Mrs. Feulner and I have learned of the passing of our esteemed friend President Kim Dae-jung. It is a profoundly sad day for the Republic of Korea. President Kim was a truly historic figure. South Korea’s passage from authoritarian rule to democracy is a testament to his tireless advocacy despite years of persecution. From my early meetings with him when he was living in exile in Washington, to many meetings with him in the Blue House, and on his visits to the …
Since 1973, The Heritage Foundation has regularly hosted presidents, members of Congress, Cabinet secretaries, prime ministers and other foreign dignitaries. But perhaps our favorite “royal visitor” was the “Prince of Darkness.’ That was Robert Novak’s nickname in Washington. But those who knew the man knew the title was clearly a joke. Despite his dour demeanor, Bob was a truly affable and giving man. He loved a good joke and could tell one, too. From Bob’s first assignment with AP in the Chicago Bureau under a long-time Feulner family friend, Al …
This morning we detailed that since President Barack Obama passed his $787 billion stimulus package, the United States economy has shed nearly 2.8 million net jobs, the nation’s unemployment has gone up from7.6 to 9.4%. and nationwide a total of fifteen states are now suffering from 10% unemployment. But not only is Obama’s stimulus failing to halt job losses, it is also making it harder for employers to create new jobs. The USA Today reports: A federal subsidy designed to make health insurance more affordable for laid-off workers has led …
