In an August 3, 2016 NJBiz article, the headline blared “N.J. rules helped guide Health Republic to success as Obamacare co-op!” The article goes on to praise the fact that Health Republic was “one of the seven health insurance co-ops still standing” and that its stability had a lot to do with the fact that “New Jersey’s 1992 health care reform laws were similar to the current Affordable Care Act, and allowed both insurers and actuaries to draw from prior experience to create health plans and pricing.” The article contends that New Jersey’s CO-OP is a great success story.
Government Should Not Restrict Free-Data Plans
One only needs to look at the mobile phone bill of a connected teenager’s parent to know that mobile data use is on the rise. Often driven by homework and school expectations, teenagers consume large amounts of mobile data performing classroom internet searches, video messaging their fellow students working on team assignments, as well as […]
SIGAR: U.S. Facilitated Afghan Corruption, Reacted Slowly
The first in a series of “lessons learned” reports released in September 2016 by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko has indicated that the U.S. introduced billions of dollars of aid into a corrupt system, sometimes benefiting militia members and warlords. According to the report, in some instances, U.S. aid […]
America’s Longest War: On Poverty
In his 1964 State of the Union address, President Lyndon Johnson declared an “all-out war on human poverty and unemployment in these United States.” President Johnson said, “Our aim is not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it.”
A Penny, a Nickel, and a Dollar Walk Into a Bar…
The dire fiscal circumstances facing the country are enough to drive Americans to drink. But when it comes to the billions of dollars that could be saved for taxpayers, currency modernization represents a much-needed tonic, as well as a partial cure for the spending-like-drunken-sailors hangover that seriously threatens the country’s well-being.
Taxes on Ashes: California’s Proposition 56
As the legislative session comes to an end in California, the government’s addiction to regressive tax policies has not. A well-organized campaign, composed of billionaires, medical groups, and trade associations, has collected enough signatures to include Proposition 56, a ballot measure in November, to raise California’s cigarette tax by 2 dollars per pack.
Waste Proliferates Inside the EPA in 2016
No department or agency in the federal government is immune from the bureaucratic toxin of waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. Ironically, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is responsible for cleaning up all kinds of sewage, sludge, and foul matter, has consistently been one of the most wasteful agencies. EPA officials have so consistently mismanaged and squandered the taxpayers’ money in 2016 that this year alone should serve as a teachable moment for other federal agencies.
Return to Sender: The Postal Service Reform Act of 2016
Even to the most neutral observer, the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) financial condition is dire. Notwithstanding it $18 billion annual advantage over other private sector companies (exemption from income; state local sales; and property tax exemption; power of eminent domain; monopoly control over mailboxes; and a $15 billion line of credit from the U.S. Treasury) the USPS has posted more than $50 billion in losses since 2007 and faces $125 billion in unfunded liabilities. Regardless of how the USPS arrived at this position, there is a broad consensus that reform is needed.
A Pathway to Change at the IRS
Because of the delicate, private, and proprietary nature of information provided by individuals and businesses to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on tax returns, audits are an inherently governmental function that should be conducted solely by government employees. This confidential process should not be handed over to outside individuals or organizations. However, that is exactly the situation that Microsoft Corporation found itself in May 2014, when the IRS decided to hire an outside litigation firm to conduct an audit of the company’s international division, and then proscriptively issued regulations allowing the agency to take such action.
Inspector General: “Image is Everything” and USPS Facilities are Lacking
On August 29, 2016, the Office of the Inspector General (IG) for the United States Postal Service (USPS) released an audit report on USPS facilities in the Capital Metro Area. The Capital Metro Area, which includes Atlanta, Baltimore, Greensboro, Richmond, and surrounding areas, is home to 2,600 postal facilities (USPS leases and owns more than […]