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In this excellent article , Steven Malanga of The Manhattan Institute highlights the exceptional nature of health insurance as compared with other types of insurance. When it comes to health services rendered, our culture sees paying the bills out-of-pocket as the exception, not the norm. As Mr. Malanaga...
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This week, the House passed a bill that imposes further regulations on financial firms - on executive pay which is bad enough in itself, and to add insult to injury, on the way those firms and employees do business. The bill is "aimed at preventing financial firms from adopting compensation systems...
Posted to
AIP Blog
by
Despina Karras
on
08-02-2009
Filed under:
Filed under: economy, capitalism, free market, business concerns, investors, economic crisis, regulation, government, economics, federal government, action, government intrusion, government expansion
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Unlike our President and many of our representatives in Congress, I've tried to read the 1000+ page health care bill a few times this week. As a lawyer, I'm used to dealing with tedious and confusing legal jargon, yet this monolithic bill is still too hard for me to understand. It proposes drastic...
Posted to
AIP Blog
by
Despina Karras
on
07-22-2009
Filed under:
Filed under: free market, stimulus package, stimulus, universal health care, Heritage Foundation, insurance, economics, federal government, health care benefits, health care tax, "the demands of this moment", health care reform, deadlines
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Crack open any financial textbook and you’ll find the objective of every finance department is to “maximize shareholder wealth.” That is their objective, concern, and responsibility. When individual investors buy into a company, they do so under the assumption that management is looking...
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"I think if you get into the way it was written, it's a huge tax and there's no sense calling it anything else. I mean, it is a tax ." So says Warren Buffett , Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and perhaps even more importantly, one of the President's biggest supporters in the economic...
Posted to
AIP Blog
by
Despina Karras
on
06-28-2009
Filed under:
Filed under: energy, cap and trade, capitalism, free market, stimulus package, government spending, taxes, stimulus, job losses, tax issues, economic crisis, regulation, unemployment, green jobs, cap and tax, consumers, economics, environmentalists
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The American economic system, once constructed on a foundation of free enterprise and private business, is now facing immense competition from the government that once protected it. In addition to the (at least) $1 trillion check for Obama’s health care reform, the private health care industry...
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“Figures don’t lie but liars can figure,” once a term reserved for finance nerds now rings true as Democrats continue their campaign for a socialized health care system. Flooded with impractical strategies and inflated calculations, Democrats are justifiably being shut down as they...
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This week, the wacky government of Venezuela banned Coke Zero from being sold in the country. Citing harmful ingredients , it claimed to be protecting the health of its citizens, while the government purports to conduct an investigation into potentially dangerous ingredients in the soft drink. In reality...
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As the debt in our country escalates and government inserts itself into more businesses and industries, businessmen are not going gently into the night. Politico reports : As the Obama administration encroaches deeper into the private sector and Congress contemplates more regulations, the U.S. Chamber...
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When medical decisions happen, the two most important people involved are always the patient and the doctor, period. Proposed "public health insurance" and other socialized health care components take decisions out of the hands of patients too often, and just as often take decisions out of...
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Looks like Congress is again cooking up a bill that would send over taxpayer money to cover the poor financial decisions of others. It's officially called the " Homeowners' Defense Act " but Competitive Enterprise Institue (CEI) has dubbed it the "Beach House Bailout :" So...
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As someone who recently bought a new car, I was a bit more than amused by Obama's plan to require new fuel vehicles to have get an average 35 miles per gallons by 2016, which, according to estimates, would result in a $1,300 increase in cost per vehicle. I guess I should be glad my new will last...
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President Obama said on Thursday that the time is now or never for health reform, which means it is also the time for conservative alternatives to Obamacare. Ryan Ellis, Tax Policy Director for Americans for Tax Reform , writes on Red State that the current solution proposed by Congressional Republicans...
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Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) has become the poster child for everything that is wrong with the earmarking process. (Read a prior blog post on the Murtha Airport .) He uses his seniority and position on the Appropriations Committee to secure earmarks which he then passes on to companies he has personal relationships...
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Climate change solver or economy killer - these are the two sides to the debate on a cap-and-trade system. While it might be easy for many to get on board with reducing emissions, swallowing the costs of doing so is a different story. While the latest version of the bill eliminates permit auctions and...