Free Republic

Posted by Michael F. Cannon @ Cato@LibertyDestination Casa Blanca has posted their hour-long program — featuring yours truly — on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program expansion that President Obama just signed into law (the utter lack of evidence of effectiveness notwithstanding). During the program, I shatter the myths that SCHIP is for low-income children, that it’s a cost-effective way of improving children’s health, etc. I guess we know what you’ll be doing for the next hour.

Bottom line: Taxes are stealing. I said this to a member of the left the other day and his eyes went wide. But it's true. If you're walking down a dark alley and a bunch of guys jump out with guns and say "Give us your money or we'll shoot you." Most people would call it theft. If a powerful corporation demanded money from you or they'd take action against you to get it, most people would call that extortion. Both are attempts to avoid the negative consequences of not handing over the money. So when the tax man shows...

WASHINGTON — The introduction of the Medicare prescription drug benefit means that soon the government will be picking up almost half of the nation's healthcare costs, a report released Wednesday shows. At the same time, private-sector spending on healthcare also will increase, according to economists and actuaries for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Writing in the online edition of the journal Health Affairs, the federal agency's economists and actuaries predicted that the continuing increases in public and private healthcare spending would lead to "heightened pressure to find ways to slow cost growth without compromising quality of access." The...

There's an old joke: A girl asks her dad during the Cold War, "What will communism be like when perfected?" Her dad answers: "Everyone will have what he needs." "But what if there is a shortage of meat?" asks his daughter. "Well," the father responds. "Then there will be a sign in the butcher shop saying, 'No one needs meat today."' Well, the sign is out. No one needs the flu vaccine today. And all those who advocate the further socializing of our health care system should take a serious look at the inadequate supply of flu vaccine in Colorado....

This article was published in the Washington Monthly, a decidely Left of Center magazine. It's author, Drum, is a fervent Kerry supporter. He narrows down the potential reason for America's lack of flu vaccine to liability lawsuits and over regulation by the FDA. Drum plays down the effect of the first (which is a mistake-Drum is obviously a MSM liberal, and they love trial lawyers) and argues that FDA regulations are the problem. While Kerry castigates Presidenty Bush for the current flu vaccine shortage, this article makes the argument that two mainstays of Kerry's constinuency, trial lawyers and government regulation,...