Obama's Other Massachusetts Problem | Aaron Yelowitz and Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary

Obama's Other Massachusetts Problem | Aaron Yelowitz and Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "President Obama has avoided any comparisons between his plan and the Massachusetts law, with good reason. Premiums for employer-sponsored insurance - 96 percent of the Massachusetts' market - are rising 21 percent to 46 percent faster than the national average. State officials have whitewashed the cost overruns, but they are simultaneously raising taxes and threatening to impose a Canadian-style payment system, in which doctors and hospitals do the dirty work of rationing care."

"At best, the law covered 297,000 previously uninsured residents, and the uninsured rate is 3.8 percent rather than 432,000 and 2.6 percent, as Massachusetts claims."

"Private coverage fell by 14.6 percentage points among low-income children - despite no discernable increase in total coverage - and by 6.2 points among low-income adults."

"The law's new 'individual mandate' forces those young adults to accept that bad deal or pay a penalty. As a result, the number of young adults relocating to Massachusetts has fallen by 60 percent."

Joseph's list of materials to make a parrot

Joseph (almost age 5) came up with the following list of materials that he wants to use to make a parrot:

• Nails
• Hammer (spider man for 5 year old)
• Propellers
• Wood
• Helicopter spinner at top
• Money
• Wrench
• Socket set
• Pilot stuff
• Flying helmet with spider man or batman or robin
• Chairs
• Paint

Forced Unionization - John Stossel

Forced Unionization - John Stossel: "Michelle Berry runs a day-care business out of her home in Flint, MI. She thought that she owned her own business, but Berry's been told she is now a government employee and union member. It's not voluntary. Suddenly, Berry and 40,000 other Michigan private day-care providers have learned that union dues are being taken out of the child-care subsidies the state sends them. The 'union' is a creation of AFSCME, the government workers union, and the United Auto Workers."

Deaf to Deficit Warnings | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Deaf to Deficit Warnings | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Private forecasters already are estimating that the ratio of government debt to gross domestic product (GDP) will be greater than 100 percent of GDP before the end of this decade (up from just 37 percent three years ago). If the health care reform bill and the energy (cap-and-trade) bill are passed, the situation will be much worse."

"This past week, the White House claimed that the stimulus bill 'saved 2 million jobs,' but just before the stimulus bill was passed, the administration said the unemployment rate would peak at 8 percent with the stimulus bill and 9 percent without it. Now, we have both the stimulus bill and an unemployment rate of more than 10 percent, which shows that the White House is developmentally challenged when it comes to basic arithmetic."

"The only way government can create more jobs is by having workers who produce more and at a lower cost than the private sector. "

An even bigger Climategate scandal? | Cranach: The Blog of Veith

An even bigger Climategate scandal? | Cranach: The Blog of Veith: "But probably the most damaging report has come from Joseph D’Aleo, the first Director of Meteorology and co-founder of the Weather Channel, and Anthony Watts, a meteorologist and founder of SurfaceStations.org.

In a January 29 report, they find that starting in 1990, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began systematically eliminating climate measuring stations in cooler locations around the world. Yes, that’s right. They began eliminating stations that tended to record cooler temperatures and drove up the average measured temperature. The eliminated stations had been in higher latitudes and altitudes, inland areas away from the sea, as well as more rural locations. The drop in the number of weather stations was dramatic, declining from more than 6,000 stations to fewer than 1,500."