Posts belonging to Category Politics
By Michael F. Cannon
In recent weeks, officials from two states have claimed that if they do not set up an ObamaCare health insurance “Exchange,” the state will lose federal Medicaid or State Children’s Health Insurance Program funds. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R), has since walked back that claim. New Hampshire Commissioner of Health and Human Services Nicholas Toumpas has [...]
Will States Lose Medicaid Funds If They Fail to Create an ObamaCare ‘Exchange’? is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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Education entrepreneurs are about to do what President Obama’s proposed price controls on higher education never will: dramatically reduce the cost of attending college. In fact, the soaring cost of college could soon go the way of the once-bloated housing market, fulfilling the predictions of many that the higher education cost “bubble” is about to bust. As the cost of attending college continues to soar, private entrepreneurs are beginning to harness the seemingly unlimited power of digital education to democratize access to college coursework. The pricing strategy of the top … More
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House Cloakroom: February 6 – February 10 Analysis: This week the House the will consider legislation to sell off civilian property it owns, institute a line-item veto and ban congressional insider trading. The week will begin with the Civilian Property Realignment Act, which would create a BRAC-like process to determine the usefulness of government owned property and which of those properties can be sold off. The Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Recessions Act would allow the President to propose specific recessions and have those voted on by Congress in an … More
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By Chris Edwards
Economic variables are key drivers of the numbers in CBO’s budget projections. I noted last week that CBO’s new outlook assumes substantially lower interest rates, which appears to produce more than a trillion dollars of savings over the next decade. Policymakers should be aware, however, that macroeconomic forecasts are not very accurate, despite the sophisticated [...]
CBO Forecast Accuracy is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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Is the individual mandate at the heart of “ObamaCare” a conservative idea? Is it constitutional? And was it invented at The Heritage Foundation? In a word, no. The U.S. Supreme Court will put the middle issue to rest. The answers to the first and last can come from me. After all, I headed Heritage’s health work for 30 years. And make no mistake: Heritage and I actively oppose the individual mandate, including in an amicus brief filed in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, the … More
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With the crisis in Syria escalating, CNN reports that the U.S. State Department has closed its embassy there, pulling out all remaining staff due to security concerns. With the regime’s systematic attacks growing more violent and the potential for sectarian civil war to unfold, the United States should help ease the suffering of the Syrian people and speed the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime by increasing sanctions, providing humanitarian relief to Syrian refugees, and providing diplomatic and economic support—all while holding back from direct military intervention. The decision to close … More
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By John Samples
Those who advocate for more restrictions on campaign finance generally practice a populist politics. They fulminate against the influence of money, demonize donors, and ascribe all the nation’s problems to Citizens United. Once you have read an example such reformist rhetoric, you have read all of them. (But if you must read more, here’s E.J. [...]
As It Turns Out, Money Is Speech is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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Do you own a home with large windows? Is there a cat that you let out in your backyard? If so, then you might just wind up violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), if the federal government’s interpretation of the Act is allowed to stand. The 1918 law was meant to protect migratory birds from those who would “take” them in violation of the treaty with Great Britain. In that context, it was clear that the MBTA was meant to halt poachers and illegal hunting of the birds—that is, … More
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Today marks President Ronald Reagan’s 101st birthday. Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan made his journey west to Iowa as a radio broadcaster, then on to California to take Hollywood by storm. He crossed America as a spokesman for General Electric, and then — after discovering the import of conservative values — entered the political arena, where he would ultimately lead his fellow citizens out of a wilderness of self-doubt, helping the country come to see that it could be morning in America once again. We at The Heritage Foundation invite … More
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By Ilya Shapiro
One of our oldest laws, the Alien Tort Statute (1789), grants federal courts jurisdiction over lawsuits brought by aliens for actions “in violation of the law of nations.” Courts have differed in their method of interpreting this “law of nations” — an old way of saying “international law” – and thus in their decisions on what [...]
The ‘Law of Nations’ Is What It Was in 1789 is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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