Opinion
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A Critical Moment for Health Care in America
Opinion -Pamela Wimbish of Aurora, Illinois has the distinction of being the nation’s first person to hold a Health Savings Account (HSA) insurance policy. Her policy took effect January 1, the first day HSAs became available. -
Colorado Wrestles with Evidence-Based Medicine
Opinion -Statutory language requiring the use of “evidence-based medicine” (EBM) in programs from Medicaid to workers’ compensation will reportedly be presented to the Colorado General Assembly in 2004. -
Liberals’ Medicare Reform Proposal Is Just Plain Politics
Opinion -On February 5, two U.S. Senators, Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), introduced legislation allowing the federal government to directly negotiate drug prices with private drug companies. -
CDHCC and Boomers Conferences to Co-Locate in Las Vegas
Opinion -Two of the nation’s premier health care conferences--the Consumer Directed Health Care Conference and Expo (CDHCC) and the Boomers Business Conference and Expo--will co-locate in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Las Vegas Hilton on March 29-31. -
Repeal Community Rating
Opinion -A main tenet of modern liberalism is that government must take from those who have a lot, and distribute benefits to those who have little. Thus it is always baffling when liberals demand the poor be taxed to shower benefits on the rich. -
Obesity Epidemic: Peter Jennings Is Wrong
Opinion -Peter Jennings said on his recent ABC Special Report on Obesity that U.S. agricultural policies and the food industry are making our kids fat. Peter Jennings is wrong. When I was a kid I played outside a lot. -
Patients Caught in Crossfire as Bureaucrats Take Aim at Doctors
Opinion -In the 1930s, Joseph Stalin noted the Soviet population wasn’t growing fast enough to build his workers’ paradise quickly enough. So he shot the census takers. The next batch of census takers weren’t any better. -
Wyoming Court Rejects Yellowstone Snowmobile Ban
Opinion -The latest volley in an ongoing battle over snowmobiles in Yellowstone Park was launched on February 10, when U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer in Wyoming blocked a snowmobile ban issued in December by a federal district judge in Washington DC. -
Supreme Court Rules EPA Can Override States on Environment
Opinion -In an ongoing fight between states and the federal government over control of environmental policy, the federal government has notched an important victory in the U.S. Supreme Court. -
Maryland Further Restricts Appliance Efficiency Choices
Opinion -Fresh on the heels of a federal appellate court decision restricting consumer choice in household air conditioners, the Maryland House of Delegates has passed legislation imposing even stricter standards on a wide range of appliances. -
Pombo Calls for Changes to Endangered Species Act
Opinion -House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-California) marked the 30th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by pledging to introduce incremental changes designed to facilitate cooperation between citizen-landowners and the federal -
Sierra Club Head Warns Group Is Attracting ‘Racists’
Opinion -This spring, the Sierra Club will hold elections to fill five open seats on its 15-member board of directors. What should be a celebration of democratic principles has instead turned into a divisive and potentially ugly situation. -
Sound Science for the [Overly] Concerned Public
Opinion -The Progress Paradox : How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse by Gregg Easterbrook ($24.95, 376 pages, Random House Publishers, 2003, ISBN: 0679463038) There have been some excellent environmental science books written in recent years. -
Mercury: Grain of Truth, Gram of Nonsense
Opinion -You have probably heard or read the oft-repeated statement, “One gram of mercury can contaminate an entire 20-acre lake. -
Scientists Expose Fishy Warnings about Farmed Salmon
Opinion -An article in the January 9 issue of Science magazine warned readers against eating more than one serving of farm-raised salmon a month, claiming the fish present a cancer risk. -
Al Gore’s Untimely Global Warming Speech
Opinion -Former Vice President Al Gore unwittingly marked the 20th anniversary of 1984, the anti-utopia described in George Orwell’s 1949 novel, by delivering a twenty-first century version of Orwell’s feared “newspeak. -
Oregon Voters Soundly Reject Tax Hike
Opinion -Although most press attention focused on the seven Presidential primary elections taking place on February 3, the biggest political win on that date did not belong to John Kerry. -
Bush Pushes for Permanent Tax Cuts
Opinion -In his January 20 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush called on Congress to make permanent the tax reductions passed since he took office. The President remains confident his economic policies--tax cuts totaling some $1. -
108th Congress to Address State Issues
Opinion -According to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), at least four “critical state tax issues” will be debated this year in Congress. -
Presidential Candidates Would Raise Federal Budget Deficit
Opinion -If any of the Democratic Presidential candidates ultimately has his way, the federal budget deficit will grow dramatically, according to a study released January 19 by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF). -
Oklahoma Teacher Salaries Compare Favorably to Other States
Opinion -In May 2003 the National Education Association reported Oklahoma is “47th in the nation in public school teacher pay.” According to the NEA, “Oklahoma’s average teacher salary ($34,744) is just 78 percent of the national average ($44,683). -
Kansas Senator Challenges Judge’s Billion Dollar Tax Increase
Opinion -On January 26, Kansas State Sen. Kay O’Connor announced her intention to work with “like-minded legislators” to block implementation of District Court Judge Terry Bullock’s proposed billion-dollar tax increase. -
Nebraska Governor Recommends No Increase in State Taxes
Opinion -Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns (R) delivered his State of the State address on January 15. While he recommended no increase in state taxes, Johanns opened the door wide for higher property taxes. -
Schwarzenegger Discusses Outsourcing Opportunities
Opinion -In his January 6, 2004 State of the State speech, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) had some great lines, like, “If I can sell movies like ‘Red Sonja’ and ‘Last Action Hero,’ I can sell California.