Opinion
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Consumer Power Report #103
Opinion -Consumer Power Report, written by Greg Scandlen, director of Consumers for Health Care Choices at The Heartland Institute, is a weekly report summarizing recent developments on consumer-directed health care in the media, legislative, and regulatory -
Expert Comment: Utah Voters Repeal Voucher Program
Opinion -(CHICAGO, Illinois - November 7, 2007) On November 6, the nation's first statewide universal voucher program was defeated in Utah when voters repealed, through referendum, the law that created it last February. More than 60 percent voted for repeal. -
Expert Comment: Milwaukee Jury Absolves Lead Paint Manufacturers
Opinion -(CHICAGO, Illinois - November 6, 2007) On November 5, a Milwaukee jury ruled in favor of a group of lead paint pigment manufacturers sued by a teen who ate peeling paint as a toddler. The closely watched case has been in the courts for four years. -
Interpreting Health Studies: Science Panel Offers Tips for Journalists
Opinion -New York, NY -- October 2007. -
Working as Intended
Opinion -Five years into the experiment with Consumer Driven Health Care, the data shows they are “working as intended. -
Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (updated)
Opinion -A review of the research literature concerning the environmental consequences of increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide leads to the conclusion that increases during the 20th and early 21st centuries have produced no deleterious effects upon -
REAL ID Implementation Slow in States
Opinion -With the federal deadline for issuing drivers' licenses that meet the criteria of the REAL ID Act of 2005 barely five months away, few if any states appear ready to comply. -
Congress Mulls Permanent Ban on ‘Net Taxes
Opinion -As the current moratorium on Internet access taxes in the 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) expires November 1, Washington’s legislative and lobbying forces are debating whether the levies should be permanently eliminated. -
WA Voters Sink Port Authority Tax Increase
Opinion -Voter turnout in Washington's first August primary election, held August 21, may have been low, but in the Columbia River-side city of Vancouver, more than 36,000 voters turned out to overwhelmingly repeal a property tax hike that had been imposed early -
Mayor Returns $48 Million to Taxpayers, Then Retires
Opinion -Every year, folks in Crestwood, Illinois, a suburb southwest of Chicago, open their mail to find a check paying for half their property taxes. Who would do such an amazing, generous thing? The Village of Crestwood itself. -
New FCC Intrusion into Wireless Is Unneeded, Harmful
Opinion -There's been a lot of confusion lately over whether there is enough competition in wireless telecommunications. -
Clouds Mitigate Global Warming, New Evidence Shows
Opinion -In a study published in the American Geophysical Union's Geophysical Research Letters on August 9, researchers at the University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH) provide more real-world evidence of the self-regulating nature of the Earth's atmosphere. -
How Environmental Laws Serve Hidden Agendas
Opinion -This article is one in a continuing series excerpted from the book Smoke or Steam? A Guide to Environmental, Regulatory, and Food Safety Concerns, by Samuel Aldrich, adapted and serialized by Jay Lehr. -
Casinos Won’t Solve Kansas’ Fiscal Problems, Taxpayer Advocates Say
Opinion -State and national fiscal policy groups say Kansas lawmakers are wrong to embrace state-run casinos to solve the state's budget problems. -
Unions Are Demanding Political Payback for 2006 Democrats’ 2006 Election Victories
Opinion -Big Labor invested heavily in the 2006 Democratic takeover of Congress. The AFL-CIO spent a reported $40 million to mobilize union households. The Service Employees spent $65 million. -
To Grow Their Economies, Cash-Strapped States Need to Cut Tax Rates
Opinion -With real U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth falling to only 0.7 percent in the first quarter of this year after an anemic 2 percent pace for the second half of 2006, the U.S. economy has already shifted into a "growth recession. -
Web Drugstore Serves HSA Holders
Opinion -In mid-August, the Internet retailer drugstore.com unveiled a new online store designed for holders of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs): http://www.drugstore.com/hsa. -
Georgia Launches Insurance Plan to Cover the Working Uninsured
Opinion -On August 7, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) announced preliminary details of the Health Insurance Partnership for Georgia, a new health care initiative for working, uninsured Georgians. -
Companies Reward Workers for Their Healthy Behavior
Opinion -Instead of penalizing workers for unhealthy behaviors, a growing number of companies are rewarding them for giving up smoking and controlling obesity. -
Court Rules Against Potential FDA Reform
Opinion -The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in early August ruled terminally ill patients do not have a constitutional right to use drugs not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). -
Electronic Medical Records May Not Improve Quality of Care: Study
Opinion -Electronic medical records (EMRs) have been touted as a major advancement in health care technology since their inception early this decade. -
Mexico Is Attracting U.S. Medical Tourists
Opinion -Traditionally, wealthy Mexicans often traveled to the United States for high-quality health care that was unavailable at home. -
Giuliani Rolls Out Health Care Plan
Opinion -Former New York City mayor and current presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani made headlines at a mid-August campaign stop in Columbia, South Carolina by warning of the dangers of "socialized medicine" and mentioning Democrat candidates are advocating a -
Californians Dislike the State’s Employer-Based Insurance System
Opinion -Polls asking California voters their views of the state's health care system suggest growing support for replacing the current employer-based health insurance system with a government program.
