Obamacare, Two Years Later | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

Obamacare, Two Years Later | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'when health-care reform was passed, we were promised that it would do three things: 1) provide health-insurance coverage for all Americans; 2) reduce insurance costs for individuals, businesses, and government; and 3) increase the quality of health care and the value received for each dollar of health-care spending. At the same time, the president and the law’s supporters in Congress promised that the legislation would not increase the federal-budget deficit or unduly burden the economy. And it would do all these things while letting those of us who were happy with our current health insurance keep it unchanged. Two years in, we can see that none of these things is true.'

'And, the recent dust-up over insurance coverage for contraceptives is a clear illustration of how the government will now be designing insurance plans for all of us. Regardless of how one feels about the contraceptive mandate itself, it is just the tip of the iceberg as government mandates tell employers what insurance they must provide, and tell us what insurance we must buy, even if that insurance is more expensive, contains benefits we don’t want, or violates our consciences.'

Wisconsin Church Offers Adults-only Services For Sex Offenders | Fox News

Wisconsin Church Offers Adults-only Services For Sex Offenders | Fox News: 'A Wisconsin church has started providing adults-only services so that sex offenders can worship without violating their parole.'

Education's Missing Apple: The Free Enterprise Solution? | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary

Education's Missing Apple: The Free Enterprise Solution? | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Take the now famous example of Jaime Escalante, whose low-income Hispanic students at Garfield High School were, by the mid-1980s, already besting their peers at Beverly Hills High on the Advanced Placement (AP) calculus exam. Though staggeringly successful, Escalante's program was not replicated. On the contrary, his own fellow teachers voted to relieve him as head of the math department after Escalante drew the ire of the local teachers' union because he welcomed over 50 students in his classrooms, while the union contract required no more than 35.'

'The same free enterprise system that has given us Google, Starbucks, and Apple works in education, too — if we let it. This system works for businesses through several key conditions: freedom to innovate, consumer choice, competition between providers, price signals, and the ability to distribute profits to investors.'

'In the Korean tutoring sector, it is not uncommon for the top teachers to have class sizes in the range of 20 to 40 thousand students, thanks to effective use of the Internet to distribute lessons. The best among them earn millions of dollars a year from profit sharing programs operated by the tutoring firms. The more effective a teacher becomes, and the larger the number of students who seek out her lessons, the more she earns.'

'hundreds of entrepreneurial independent schools currently operate in the slums of Hyderabad, India, vying to serve the children of day laborers and food-stall vendors whose poverty is beyond anything in America. These parent-funded independent schools outperform the local state-run schools, and they do so at a fraction of the cost — barely four dollars per month.'

A Re-Elected Obama Wouldn't Be the End of Liberty | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

A Re-Elected Obama Wouldn't Be the End of Liberty | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'since FDR, few second-term presidents have been capable of great mischief. Obama may have done most of the real damage he's capable of already.'

'If the states refuse to create [health insurance exchanges], the law says the feds can. But it provides zero funds. And good luck getting them through a GOP House."'

'since the end of World War II, unified governments have spent roughly three times as fast as divided ones, and they've been much more likely to waste blood and treasure abroad.'

When Prices Are Wrong, Markets Don't Work | Peter Van Doren | Cato Institute: Commentary

When Prices Are Wrong, Markets Don't Work | Peter Van Doren | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'if gas prices go up and a commuter decides to start driving a Prius, or to move closer to work so the old gas guzzler travels fewer miles, this will have equivalent beneficial effects on aggregate fossil fuel consumption. One does not have to purchase an energy efficient vehicle to reduce fossil fuel consumption.

Even though I used just two paragraphs and no math to articulate this obvious point, voters and their elected officials resist this simple insight and instead prefer to impose only energy efficiency standards on manufacturers of consumer appliances and automobiles. A singular emphasis on energy efficiency rather than prices has two important drawbacks. First, more efficient appliances and automobiles cost much more to achieve equivalent energy savings than a tax on fossil fuel consumption. This occurs because higher prices encourage all possible avenues of reducing energy consumption — which efficiency standards do not. Second, more efficient appliances and automobiles reduce operating costs, which leads consumers to use more energy than they would if prices had increased.'

Inside America's Economic Angst | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary

Inside America's Economic Angst | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary: '* The recovery began just as Obama’s stimulus spending ended, thus confirming suspicions that lots of money was wasted as part of a process that hindered the economy’s growth.

* The job numbers only began to improve at the end of 2010, right as Republicans took control of the House and presumably ended Obama’s ability to further shift the nation’s course.'

'Such scandals as Solyndra lead people to suspect that cronyism has replaced capitalism.'

From Lori Drew To Dharun Ravi, Punishing People Based On Others' Suicides Is A Mistake | Techdirt

From Lori Drew To Dharun Ravi, Punishing People Based On Others' Suicides Is A Mistake | Techdirt: 'Thus, the incentive then is actually for kids to seriously hurt themselves, if someone acts in a mean way towards them, as that increases the likelihood of the bully getting punished. That doesn't sound like a good incentive system.'

Ron Paul’s caucus strategy is authentic republicanism | Washington Times Communities

Ron Paul’s caucus strategy is authentic republicanism | Washington Times Communities: 'He is the only Republican presidential candidate that has actually said the words “role of government” during any debate. That’s because he is the only candidate that seems to recognize that the government’s role is limited; that even a majority vote cannot sanction it to exercise power beyond those limits. Throughout all of human history, conservatives have defended this principle against the ungoverned passion of the majority.'

'If the Republican Party truly favors the big government alternatives to Ron Paul, candidates who all supported the expansion of the federal government in the past and who refuse to commit to any meaningful cuts now, then what is the debate about?

The federal government doesn’t need a manicure. It needs reconstructive surgery. Make that deconstructive surgery. You don’t turn $1.5 trillion deficits into surpluses by tweaking the way that federal departments are managed. You do so by completely eliminating departments and redefining the role of government. Only Ron Paul is proposing to do so.'

A Parent’s Guide to School Shootings

A Parent’s Guide to School Shootings: 'In studying every school shooting that has occurred in the United States, as well as many that have happened in other parts of the world, I have come to the conclusion that escaping the school is the best option for individual students in a school shooting situation. Virtually all students who get out of the school (even if they have already been shot) survive.'

Chamber of Corporatism - Ryan McMaken - Mises Daily

Chamber of Corporatism - Ryan McMaken - Mises Daily: 'Recently, the US Chamber of Commerce claimed through its spokesman that it supports candidates who support "free enterprise policies that will fuel America's economic recovery."'

'The chamber was a major supporter of SOPA, which gives governments the ability to seize private property without any due process whatsoever, and it supported the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which stole about a trillion dollars from the taxpayers so that the US government could buy up huge portions of the financial sector.

It also supported No Child Left Behind, Obama's "stimulus" program, and the auto bailouts.'

'The US Chamber of Commerce has issued its 2009 congressional scorecard, and once again, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex. — certainly one of the two most free-market politicians in Washington — gets the lowest score of any Republican.
Paul was one of a handful of GOP lawmakers not to win the Chamber's "Sprit of Enterprise Award." He scored only a 67%, bucking the Chamber on four votes, including:
Paul opposed the "Solar Technology Roadmap Act," which boosted subsidies for unprofitable solar energy technology.
Paul opposed the "Travel Promotion Act," which subsidizes the tourism industry with a new fee on international visitors.
Paul opposed the largest spending bill in history, Obama's $787 billion stimulus bill.'