Soon after the Massachusetts Bay Colony was created in 1629, its leaders attempted to institute a “just price” for goods and labor. Economist Gary North wrote in a May 1, 1974 article, “The Puritan Experiment with Price Controls,” that in 1630 “a law was passed which established wage ceilings for carpenters, joiners, bricklayers, sawyers, and thatchers. Common laborers were limited to twelve shillings a day, or six if meat and drink were provided by the employer. Any artisan violating this statute was to be assessed a ten shilling fine. The effect of these wage ceilings must have presented itself almost immediately: an excess of demand for the services of artisans over the available supply. Under such conditions, it is always difficult to recruit labor. Within six months, these wage ceilings were repealed, leaving wages ‘free and at liberty as men shall reasonably agree.’”
Disappointing News on INNs from the FDA
You may recall I have written about the World Health Organization’s (WHO) naming system for drugs, called the International Non-Proprietary Name or INN, in a January 15, 2015 Swine Line blog and in a Citizen’s Against Government Waste August (CAGW) August 2014 WasteWatcher. The INN was created by the WHO more than 60 years ago […]
Gov. Walker Will Get Rid of Congress’s Special Exemption Under ObamaCare
Citizens Against Government Waste was pleased to learn that presidential candidate and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker agrees that Congress and their official staff have been given a special exemption under the Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare, and that it must be abolished. He joins fellow presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in calling […]
Walker and Rubio: First Out of the Gate
Presidential candidates Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla) offered their ideas for reforming healthcare on Tuesday, August 18. Gov. Walker’s is a relatively detailed 13-page document and while Sen. Rubio’s is an op-ed with three major components for reform, both advocate for policies that would empower the individual and create a consumer-driven […]
IBD: ObamaCare DOES Cut Employees’ Hours
Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) took on the subject of whether or not the Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare, has encouraged employers to reduce their employees’ working hours in order to avoid the law’s penalties. According to an August 14 column by Jed Graham, the answer is yes and “there is no clearer test […]
Howard Dean is Correct
It is not too often that I agree with former Vermont Governor and Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean but when it comes to the government “negotiating” drug prices in Medicare Part D, he is correct. Inside Health Policy reported that at an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of Medicare sponsored by Dentons, a multi-national law […]
A Billion Here – A Billion There
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as ObamaCare, has chucked more money down the memory hole than Agent J’s Neuralyzer in Men in Black. More than $5.3 billion has been doled out to 48 states and the District of Columbia, ranging from planning grants to establishment grants by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to create state-based online exchanges; $2.4 billion in start-up and solvency loans have been provided to establish 23 Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (CO-OP); and as of September 2014, $2.1 billion was spent to build the Federally-facilitated exchange, Healthcare.gov.
Bigger is not Better
News broke on Friday, July 24 that Anthem, the largest for-profit managed health care company in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, will purchase Cigna for $48.4 billion. The total deal, which includes purchasing Cigna’s debt, is worth $54.2 billion. Cigna is known primarily for administrating health insurance coverage for large employers. The Wall […]
Congress’s Claim to be a Small Business Brings on an Ethics Complaint
According to the Small Business Act of 1958, “a small-business concern … shall be deemed to be one that is … independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation.” Under the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 13, Chapter 1, Section 121.105, “a business concern eligible for assistance from SBA as a small business is a business entity organized for profit, with a place of business located in the United States, and which operates primarily within the United States or which makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor.”
Our Constitution Continues to Dissolve
On Thursday, June 25, the Constitution and our tripartite system of government took a major hit. The Supreme Court, in a 6 to 3 opinion, ruled against the plaintiffs in King v Burwell, a lawsuit concerning who was entitled to taxpayer-funded subsidies in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) better known as ObamaCare. You may recall […]