MediScare Returns | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

MediScare Returns | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "the most optimistic estimate puts Medicare's future unfunded liabilities at more than $38.6 trillion. More realistic projections suggest the shortfall could actually top $90 trillion.

To put this in perspective, the total wealth of every American earning more than $1 million totals roughly $11 trillion. So we could confiscate every penny belonging to every millionaire and billionaire in America and still cover less than a third of Medicare's red ink, even using the lowest estimate for its unfunded liabilities. There is no way to fix Medicare's finances just by raising taxes on the rich."

"The Congressional Budget Office recently pointed out that virtually none of the president's proposed Medicare reforms actually saved money in practice."

Obama's Overreaches | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

Obama's Overreaches | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "an even bigger concern is the president's assertion that he has the power to waive those requirements in the first place, especially since the law clearly appears to prohibit such waivers."

"On issue after issue, the president insists that "we can't wait." He won't wait for a Congress that may not agree with his ideas for remaking America; he will simply act all by himself."

"On issue after issue, from immigration to housing to presidential appointments, the president has claimed the power to make law unilaterally without congressional action or approval. This is not a question of policy — I actually agree with the president on some of these issues — but of the usurpation of legislative authority. President Obama is dangerously weakening the separation of powers that is at the core of our system of government.

We are, after all, a government of laws and not of men. That should be true even when the president can't wait."

California's Prop 37: A Feast for Lawyers | Walter Olson | Cato Institute: Commentary

California's Prop 37: A Feast for Lawyers | Walter Olson | Cato Institute: Commentary: "California's fabled Proposition 65, enacted in 1986, requires the labeling of products that expose consumers to substances linked to cancer. That's a pleasant-sounding idea too, but 26 years later the law has benefited almost no one but litigators. Even as cancer remains just as much of a problem in California as elsewhere, a cadre of lawyers in the state have made many, many tens of millions of dollars filing inadequate-labeling suits against purveyors of such products as candles, fireplace logs, Christmas lights, hammers, billiard cue chalk, matches, grilled chicken, life-saving drugs, brass doorknobs, car exhaust in parking garages, and on and on. (Most of the money in the resulting settlements goes to the lawyers, which is one reason defendants often describe Prop 65 litigation as legalized extortion.)"

Paul Ryan: Don't Believe the Hype | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Paul Ryan: Don't Believe the Hype | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Ryan was a loyal soldier throughout the free-spending George W. Bush years, voting for No Child Left Behind and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, among other debacles. At the dawn of the Tea Party, Ryan lent his support to the auto and bank bailouts. He voted for TARP and gave "one of the most hysterical speeches" demanding others do the same"