ACO Debacle Exposes Obamacare's Fatal Conceit | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary

ACO Debacle Exposes Obamacare's Fatal Conceit | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "For nearly five decades, Medicare regulations have financially penalized doctors who coordinate care. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission reports that Medicare regulations are 'largely neutral or negative towards quality' and sometimes pay providers 'even more when quality is worse,' like when poor coordination injures Medicare patients.

Obamacare supporters say the solution to this failure of centralized economic planning is ... more centralized economic planning."

"When purchasing health care, the government should do what it can to improve quality while reducing costs. But this latest debacle once again demonstrates that for all its immense purchasing power, Medicare is paradoxically powerless to do so. Why? Because greater efficiency necessarily means that low-quality/high-cost providers will get less money, and those providers all hire lobbyists to protect their Medicare subsidies.

Inefficient providers have effectively killed nearly every pilot program that previous administrations promised would make Medicare more efficient."

Magnifying Calamity with Man-Caused Disasters | Michael Giberson | Cato Institute: Commentary

Magnifying Calamity with Man-Caused Disasters | Michael Giberson | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Price-gouging laws usually apply during emergencies. They are meant to help consumers. Unfortunately, the laws interrupt actions by consumers and businesses that would promote recovery.

Higher prices encourage consumers to be especially careful with goods that have become especially useful. Higher prices encourage retailers and wholesalers to go to extraordinary efforts to bring goods consumers need into disaster-struck areas.

A law that keeps prices low discourages these responses and leaves more disaster-recovery work for charities and government agencies."

Ten Charts that Prove the United States Is a Low-Tax Country

Ten Charts that Prove the United States Is a Low-Tax Country: "We don’t have this problem because we tax too little. We have it because we spent too much.”

It’s a popular talking point, but it simply isn’t true. Deficits do not stem from spending levels alone."

While it is true that deficits are a mismatch between revenue and spending, historically low tax rates don't mean that spending isn't a much bigger problem. Historically and comparatively low tax rates don't prove that tax rates are lower than they should be. Also, the article fails to consider the "inflation tax".

The Backfire Effect � You Are Not So Smart

The Backfire Effect � You Are Not So Smart: "So, if the future we were promised is now here, why isn’t it the ultimate triumph of science and reason?"

For one, "science" is done by humans and non-science is presented as science. Therefore is is logical to be wary of anything presented as "science". Also, scientific studies are often limited in scope to the point where most people draw conclusions that aren't warranted. Rejecting those conclusions isn't the same as rejecting science.

"Days later, when the world learned they would be denied photographic proof [of Osama's death], the conspiracy theories grew legs, left the ocean and evolved into self-sustaining undebunkable life forms."

I don't see that as a rejection of science because there was no scientific proof provided. (I also don't believe that releasing the photos would matter because it is so easy to fake that.)

The Backfire Effect � You Are Not So Smart

The Backfire Effect � You Are Not So Smart: "Each group then read the fake studies full of pretend facts and figures suggesting their worldview was wrong. On either side of the issue, after reading studies which did not support their beliefs, most people didn’t report an epiphany, a realization they’ve been wrong all these years. Instead, they said the issue was something science couldn’t understand. When asked about other topics later on, like spanking or astrology, these same people said they no longer trusted research to determine the truth. Rather than shed their belief and face facts, they rejected science altogether."

If lies are presented as "science", there is logic in rejecting "science".

Back Off. It's My Plate. | Walter Olson | Cato Institute: Commentary

Back Off. It's My Plate. | Walter Olson | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Like all such recommendations out of Washington, including earlier versions that did more to push cheese and starch options, this one came out of negotiations that reflected input from farm and producer interest groups. Just something to remember before taking nutrition advice from the federal government, especially since that nutritional advice has often been wrong in the past."

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Ron Paul on Debt Ceiling: Boehner Will Cave

Ron Paul on Debt Ceiling: "The only budget that counts is this year. 10-year programs are pie-in-the-sky talking."

Candidate Shelly Moore: Expanding her classroom | River Falls Journal | River Falls, Wisconsin

Candidate Shelly Moore: Expanding her classroom | River Falls Journal | River Falls, Wisconsin: "She’s taught English and drama at Ellsworth High School for 13 years."

She is also one of 5 people representing Wisconsin on the NEA board of directors!

"Despite the recent political upheaval in Madison and the ensuing 10th Senate District recall petition, Moore says she’s not running for public office “out of anger or frustration.”"

But she says the WEAC union demands respect.

"she’s not above saving and reusing lumber and screws for play props and insisting that water be continually added “…to make paint last longer.”"

Continually adding water to paint makes the coat inconsistent and doesn't sound like a good way to save money -- you just need more coats of paint.

A Military Response to Cyberattacks Is Preposterous | Benjamin H. Friedman and Christopher Preble | Cato Institute: Commentary

A Military Response to Cyberattacks Is Preposterous | Benjamin H. Friedman and Christopher Preble | Cato Institute: Commentary: "We do not threaten to bomb countries caught spying on us in traditional ways and should not do so just because the prefix 'cyber' applies."

"Taken literally, the new policy might have us risking nuclear exchange with Russia because it failed to stop teenagers in Moscow Internet cafés from attacking Citibank.com."

"Cyberattacks have never killed an American, yet Senator Carl Levin compared them to weapons of mass destruction."

"We exaggerate online threats for the same reason we exaggerate other security threats: our information about the danger comes largely from those that benefit from the provision of defenses against it."

Facebook Used by Courts to Find Those Who Are ‘Only Online’ - Businessweek

Facebook Used by Courts to Find Those Who Are ‘Only Online’ - Businessweek: "In March, Hilary Thorpe, a lawyer in East Sussex, England, persuaded a British court to allow her to serve a woman solely through her Facebook account, after showing that calls, faxes and visits had failed to track her down.

The people in both the U.K. and Australian cases were successfully notified in the eyes of the court, the lawyers said. Tsirimokos said that “within a day” of sending the notice, the recipient’s privacy settings in the Australian case were tightened, showing the debtors got the notice. MKM won a court order and then seized and sold the house."