On September 17, 2014, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved S. 2799, the Satellite Television and View Rights Act (STAVRA), which would extend for five years the Satellite Television Access Reauthorization Act. The current authorization expires on December 31, 2014. While one would think this would only be of interest to users […]
Past Porker Cordray Crimps Car Dealers
So, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is at it again! According to the September 17th, 2014 edition of the Wall Street Journal, the agency announced its intention to regulate the automobile dealers and the finance companies that service them. In prepared remarks, CFPB Director Richard Cordray (named August 2014 “Porker of the Month” by […]
Clarity on Costs Essential To Postal Reform
USPS is posting one thing very well; losses. The USPS is hemorrhaging money. It ended its last quarter with a $2 billion net loss, as compared to a $740 million net loss for the same period last year. The revenue that was generated came as a result of a very anemic increase of 0.9 […]
ISPs Are Not Common Carriers
Since the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued its decision in Verizon v. Federal Communications Commission on January 14, 2014, there has been a big push to reclassify the Internet as a Title II telecommunications service. Unfortunately, many who have been raising this call don’t understand what that would mean.
The Medical Device Tax: A Vise On Innovation
Since the day of its passage in 2010, millions of Americans and hundreds of members of Congress have called for the repeal of the Patient Protect and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), more commonly referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare. The House of Representatives has had 54 votes on bills that would have fully repealed, restructured broadly, or modified parts of Obamacare. Many of these bills received bi-partisan support; most have died in the Senate. One bill that is likely to pass in the Senate if it could get a vote would fully repeal the ACA’s 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device sales.
Schoolhouse Crock
On September 7, 2014, ABC television asked viewers to rank the best songs from the bygone “Schoolhouse Rock” series of educational vignettes. At first, this might sound like a fun diversion from daily realities. But for adults in the public policy arena, catchy lyrics like “I am only a bill… sitting here on Capitol Hill” remind us instead of gridlock in Congress, where a conservative House passes bills that an obstructionist Senate sits on, for fear of forcing tough votes by endangered Democratic incumbents. Meanwhile, the mention of “Conjunction Junction” is less likely to conjure up nostalgic memories of clever grammar lessons than the battle over diminished highway infrastructure funding. And the slick spiel by “Tax Man Max” is not nearly as likely to convince us of our “patriotic duty” (to pay ever higher taxes) as it might have been when it first aired some 40 years ago.
A Promising Proposal to Reduce Waste in Medicare
Now that members of Congress have returned from the August recess, they have several big-ticket items to accomplish before the legislative year comes to an end in December. One non-controversial item that could be taken up is the Protecting the Integrity of Medicare Act, which aims to reduce waste and fraud in Medicare.
Rocket Monopoly
In the private sector, monopolies can charge consumers as much as they like due to a lack of competition. When the government creates a monopoly through the use of a sole source contract, the taxpayers get stuck with the tab.
The Secret’s Out about Plain Packaging
Award-winning author Madeleine L’Engle wrote in her 1968 novel, “The Young Unicorns,” that “[t]o take away a man’s freedom of choice, even his freedom to make the wrong choice, is to manipulate him as though he were a puppet and not a person.”
One, Two, Three Examples of ObamaCare’s Harmful Effects
Three interesting articles can be found in the September 8 Weekly Special Edition of Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) concerning the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) with respect to jobs and the economy. Low-Wages + ObamaCare = Fewer Work Hours One article, entitled “Low-Wage Workers See Hours Trimmed as ObamaCare Hits,” concerns how little discussion there is on this topic […]