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IPAB, Obamacare's Super-Legislature | Michael F. Cannon and Diane Cohen | Cato Institute: Commentary: "[ Independent Payment Advisory Boarb] consists of up to 15 unelected government "experts." Its stated purpose is to restrain Medicare spending. If projected spending exceeds certain targets, Obamacare requires IPAB to issue "legislative proposals" to reduce future spending. Those proposals could include drastic cuts that jeopardize seniors' access to care, leading some critics to label IPAB a "death panel.""
"That makes IPAB more than an advisory board. It's a super-legislature whose members are more powerful than members of Congress."
"Under Obamacare, after 2017 Congress could repeal Medicare, but not the board it created to run Medicare. Congress and the states could repeal the Bill of Rights — but not IPAB."
"if Congress fails to repeal IPAB in 2017, the secretary must implement IPAB's edicts even if Congress votes to block them."
"Fortunately, one Congress cannot bind future Congresses by statute."
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Ky. woman fights porn companies' anti-piracy suits | Fox News
Ky. woman fights porn companies' anti-piracy suits | Fox News: ""It is no more likely that the subscriber to an IP address carried out a particular computer function — here the purported illegal downloading of a single pornographic film — than to say an individual who pays the telephone bill made a specific telephone call.""
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Witness: Driver of runaway Ohio truck saved others | Fox News
Witness: Driver of runaway Ohio truck saved others | Fox News: "Witnesses praised the driver for maneuvering around a busy intersection, pedestrians and a strip mall. Driver Trista Merendino watched the scene and told the Akron Beacon Journal it was clear that Burgess sacrificed himself to save other people."
After attacks, Kenyan Muslims guard Christian churches - CSMonitor.com
After attacks, Kenyan Muslims guard Christian churches - CSMonitor.com: "Kenyan Muslims are joining the police in protecting churches in the northeastern province where Christians have come under increased attack from suspected Somali Al Shabab Islamic militants"
End the FDA Drug Monopoly: Let Patients Choose Their Medicines | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary
End the FDA Drug Monopoly: Let Patients Choose Their Medicines | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Drug discovery is an uncertain business. Unfortunately, new medicines do not appear miraculously, like manna from heaven. Firms typically have to assess between 5,000 and 10,000 substances for every one that survives the extensive testing process and makes it to market. Of those that win approval, 80 percent lose money. Only a few pharmaceuticals pay for the entire development process.
The average cost of developing a new drug runs more than $1 billion, with estimates traditionally ranging between $1.2 and $1.5 billion."
"Between 1962 and 1967 the average delay in approval time rose from seven to 30 months. Total drug development time jumped from around three years in 1960 to six years in 1965 and ten years in 1970. The Tufts University Center for Drug Development found little has changed in recent years. Estimates range between 10 and 20 years, most commonly settling around 15 years.
Economist Sam Peltzman concluded that the introduction of new drugs fell by more than half after Kefauver-Harris. Yet there was no comparable drop in the release of unsafe or ineffective pharmaceuticals or withdrawal of unsafe products from the marketplace."
"The FDA's slowness did not increase safety: post-approval drug withdrawals were comparable on both sides of the Atlantic."
"For years the FDA prevented any mention of aspirin's value in preventing heart attacks or even the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation that women take folic acid supplements to reduce birth defects."
"The benefits of FDA regulation relative to that in foreign countries could reasonably be put at some 5,000 casualties per decade or 10,000 per decade for worst-case scenarios. In comparison... the cost of FDA delay can be estimated at anywhere from 21,000 to 120,000 lives per decade."
"The government could be restricted to judging safety, leaving efficacy up to the marketplace. After all, assessing effectiveness is what markets do every day."
"Best would be to make the FDA's approval advisory. If you only trust the U.S. government, then only take medicines (or use medical devices) endorsed by the agency. Otherwise consider the opinion of doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers, as well as look for certification by public or private organizations."
The average cost of developing a new drug runs more than $1 billion, with estimates traditionally ranging between $1.2 and $1.5 billion."
"Between 1962 and 1967 the average delay in approval time rose from seven to 30 months. Total drug development time jumped from around three years in 1960 to six years in 1965 and ten years in 1970. The Tufts University Center for Drug Development found little has changed in recent years. Estimates range between 10 and 20 years, most commonly settling around 15 years.
Economist Sam Peltzman concluded that the introduction of new drugs fell by more than half after Kefauver-Harris. Yet there was no comparable drop in the release of unsafe or ineffective pharmaceuticals or withdrawal of unsafe products from the marketplace."
"The FDA's slowness did not increase safety: post-approval drug withdrawals were comparable on both sides of the Atlantic."
"For years the FDA prevented any mention of aspirin's value in preventing heart attacks or even the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation that women take folic acid supplements to reduce birth defects."
"The benefits of FDA regulation relative to that in foreign countries could reasonably be put at some 5,000 casualties per decade or 10,000 per decade for worst-case scenarios. In comparison... the cost of FDA delay can be estimated at anywhere from 21,000 to 120,000 lives per decade."
"The government could be restricted to judging safety, leaving efficacy up to the marketplace. After all, assessing effectiveness is what markets do every day."
"Best would be to make the FDA's approval advisory. If you only trust the U.S. government, then only take medicines (or use medical devices) endorsed by the agency. Otherwise consider the opinion of doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers, as well as look for certification by public or private organizations."
Monday, July 09, 2012
Surveillance requests to cellphone carriers surge | Fox News
Surveillance requests to cellphone carriers surge | Fox News: "Law enforcement agencies in the U.S. made more than 1.3 million requests for consumers' cellphone records in 2011, an alarming surge over previous years that reflected the increasingly gray area between privacy and technology.
Cellphone carriers, responding to inquiries from a member of Congress, reported responding to as many as thousands of police requests daily for customers' locations, text messages and call details, frequently without warrants. Special legal teams operating round-the-clock have been set up to field requests"
Cellphone carriers, responding to inquiries from a member of Congress, reported responding to as many as thousands of police requests daily for customers' locations, text messages and call details, frequently without warrants. Special legal teams operating round-the-clock have been set up to field requests"
3 dead after gunfire at Del. soccer tournament | Fox News
3 dead after gunfire at Del. soccer tournament | Fox News: "Investigators said one of the suspects, 43-year-old Sheldon Olge, was fatally shot by someone in the crowd after he and two accomplices opened fire Sunday afternoon before fleeing in a car."
Identity theft scam claims Obama will pay your utility bills | Fox News
Identity theft scam claims Obama will pay your utility bills | Fox News: "Last week, 2,000 people were tricked in Tampa, and at least 10,000 people fell for the fake deal in New Jersey in recent weeks."
Conservatives make it rough for business | Fox News
Conservatives make it rough for business | Fox News: "They and their ideological leaders argue that the marketplace should dictate what businesses thrive and falter, not Washington.
"What we find now is this cronyism and this corporate welfare, it's corrupting the politics because there's nothing now that goes through that doesn't have a corporate interest," Republican Sen. Jim DeMint told The Associated Press in an interview. "It's not just the Ex-Im Bank. It's the transportation bill that has huge entities involved. The farm bill basically guarantees large corporate farmers."
The South Carolina lawmaker warned that the combination of big government and big industry is creating a nation that is becoming "too big to succeed.""
"What we find now is this cronyism and this corporate welfare, it's corrupting the politics because there's nothing now that goes through that doesn't have a corporate interest," Republican Sen. Jim DeMint told The Associated Press in an interview. "It's not just the Ex-Im Bank. It's the transportation bill that has huge entities involved. The farm bill basically guarantees large corporate farmers."
The South Carolina lawmaker warned that the combination of big government and big industry is creating a nation that is becoming "too big to succeed.""
Saturday, July 07, 2012
Vikings star Peterson arrested in Houston on charge of resisting arrest | Fox News
Vikings star Peterson arrested in Houston on charge of resisting arrest | Fox News: "arrested in Houston on a charge of resisting arrest"
That just doesn't make sense.
That just doesn't make sense.
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