Clearing the Tabs January 15, 2021

Happy New Year!

Here are some things I've read so far this month or will be reading soon. It appears the month will be a long one, and a lot of people are staying at home looking for things to read, so I've broken this month into two parts again, expect a post on January 31 as well. Also, just because I post something here does not mean I agree with it, it simply means it made me think and I think my readers might enjoy it.

May 2021 be the year of commerce.

— 𝔸𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕊𝕙𝕝𝕒𝕖𝕤 (@AmityShlaes) January 2, 2021

January 3

Can California stop Big Tech from decamping for cheaper places?

January 4

The Return of Reckless Keynesian Economic Policy

Beyond Economic Populism

January 5
Amazon Failed at Health Care Because It Wasn't a 'Disrupter'

What Biden's Rich Supporters Won't Tell Him About Taxes

January 10
The Lesson We Should Learn from 2020

Mind on Money: The American idea is superior to politics

January 11
Will 2021 Bring Positive Change for Working-Class People?

Seven New Books on Faith, Work & Economics

January 12
Is Civility Futile in the Face of Injustice?

The Missing Piece of the D.B. Cooper Story
Many saw flight attendant Tina Mucklow as the key to the mysterious skyjacking. But does her story hold the answers?

A New Localism Can Heal, Advance Flyover Country

The big ‘cancel’

January 13
Who Wants to Cut Taxes for the Rich? Democrats!

January 14
In the World of Business, 'Unimaginable Power' Doesn't Exist

Find the Place You Love. Then Move There.
If where you live isn’t truly your home, and you have the resources to make a change, it could do wonders for your happiness.

January 15
We must take a stand against the insurrectionists
If you are a principled centrist or principled conservative, now is not the time to remain silent.

When Pragmatic Politics Goes Bad: An Apology to the Never Trumpers
I have awakened on too many days with gratitude on my lips for the blessing of living in a peaceful, orderly, democratic, and free society to see such hard-won advances thrown away for political ambition. Those who realized our inheritance was at risk saw more clearly than I did.

The $25 Billion Theft

Clearing the Tabs June 30, 2020

Some things I've read so far in the second half of this month, or will be reading soon. It appears that a lot of people are staying at home looking for things to read, so I've broken this month into two parts again, and will probably keep doing this for a while.

June 16
The disparate impact of California climate policies

June 18
The Green Civil War

June 19
MLB players still owe us one for the disgrace of 1994



June 22
Feudalism and Stagnation in South Africa

Our Politics Will Improve When We Turn Off Our Phones

June 23
The Father of Capitalism and the Abolition of Slavery

June 25
America’s Next Crisis: Unfunded Pensions for State and Local Bureaucrats

CHAZ, Christiania, and the Autonomous Zones We Really Need

June 28
The Adverse Economic Consequences of Higher Tax Rates

June 29
On Behalf Of Environmentalists, I Apologize For The Climate Scare

Encouraging Human Dignity, Creativity & Flourishing

The Downwardly Mobile: How Some People Lose Class Privilege

June 30
Ending Obamacare Won't End Health Care Coverage

Paul Ryan Campaign Ad: Patient Centered Solutions

Congressman Paul Ryan is out with another ad for his campaign in Wisconsin. The topics he is covering in these ads, are really national issues, and he is addressing them at a local level, in common sense language that resonates with people. In this great new ad, Congressman Ryan is asked, "Health care is still a mess. What's your plan?".

 

TX Rep Kolkhorst Moves HB5 Out of Public Health Committee

by Pondering Penguin, this column originally appeared here.

Texas State Rep Lois Kolkhorst is chairwoman of the Public Health Committee. As the Chair of the House Committee on Public Health, she helps manage the state's multi-billion dollar health care system and works to set priorities for the Health and Human Services Commission, which oversees thousands of state employees at five state agencies.

Rep Kolkhorst sponsored HB5 - Relating to the Interstate Health Care Compact and it has been voted out of committee on a vote of 5-0. By coming together with other states, Texas can manage the state's Medicaid mandates as the costs rise in the coming years.

According to Texas Public Policy Foundation, the coming budget obligations for Medicaid in Texas will be staggering.

As legislators are well aware, Article II has consumed an increasingly larger percentage of the state's budget, with Medicaid demanding the lion's share. It is also the least flexible due to the restraints placed on Medicaid by the federal government. Recent changes in federal law with the passage of the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA) removed most of the remaining options.

Texas general revenue Medicaid spending, after adjustments for inflation and population, will increase 866 percent between 2009 and 2040. Meaningful opportunities to stem the growth of health care spending are hard to come by because the Legislature has been hamstrung by certain provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and by the acceptance of ARRA funds that restrict lawmakers from making significant changes to Article II, particularly with regard to Medicaid.

Rep Kolkhorst believes that joining in with other states with the Interstate Compact option, it may be the only constitutional shield to be found to fight Obamacare. States can manage their needs better than the federal government. Currently there are 18 states coming together, with the potential for 12 more. After passing in the State Legislature, then the bill would be sent to Congress where it would be voted on. Every state has to work within the same perimeters. Block grants would be distributed.

With the current budget shortfalls facing every state, Interstate Compacts make sense.

I'd like to thank Pondering Penguin for writing this post and allowing me to post it here.  I encourage you to visit Pondering Penguin and engage in the conversation there as well.

WSJ Blurb - Brief Post for Now

Tuesday's Wall Street Journal had an interesting little blurb in one of it's two editorials that I'm going to come back to in an upcoming post, but I figured the blurb was worth posting now.

Medicaid isn't in trouble because it is badly run, though of course it is. The problem is that it has become so vast and is meant to fill so many political demands that no one can truly control it. Given the Obama Administration's rigidity, this is not the best reform moment, but unlike his predecessors, Mr. Cuomo seems to recognize that these liabilities can't be repaired at the margins. The real test will be if he starts to do the politically difficult work of scaling Medicaid down.

My readers will note that their reference to "repaired at the margins" sounds a lot like the "tinkering around the edges" phrase I often use. It all means the same thing. Again, I'll come back to this editorial in a day or so, but I felt this was worth posting now. The final point of focus, is that Medicaid has simply gotten out of control. As the editorial suggests, this is no time to make marginal changes, to "tinker around the edges", it's time for an overhaul. More later.

Peter, Paul and Barry: A Contrast in Economic Policy Visions

Interesting column about Paul Ryan and the Republicans.

"Over the past week, the White House began trying something new: changing the subject from their own proposals to those of Congressional Republicans. This is a marked departure from the past several months, during which the White House alleged repeatedly – and wrongly – that Republicans were obstructing necessary legislation with no alternatives of their own. But now, the White House has decided it is time to acknowledge that Republicans have been offering ideas – and to attack them."

Understandable, the democrats' plans don't do anything to promote freedom or prosperity, and rather than talk about their own horrible, constricting, unfounded policies, they've decided to attack those with real ideas.

"The contest between the Ryan and Orszag visions for Social Security is the fundamental contest between constraining our spending appetites and raising taxes to fuel persistently higher costs."

Perfect quote. Code words for Conservative vs. Liberal. People vs. Bureaucracy. Freedom vs. Constraint.