Politics Information
Specious Theories Concocted to Justify Inflation
From an economic point of view, some of the ideas being proposed by current policymakers in Washington, particularly the president’s Council of Economic Advisers and top officials at the Federal Reserve, cause this economist to scratch his head in wonderment.
Reinforce the Pandemic's Partnerships for Innovation
Beating Covid-19 has certainly taken longer than most of us were hoping, but we've turned the corner, and it's never too early to begin the critical exercise of assessing "lessons learned."
Infrastructure Bill Should Be a Cakewalk
America needs attention to our infrastructure. It’s pathetic that our Congress and President are having so much trouble putting something together they can agree on. We managed to spend the equivalent of a trillion dollars in today’s currency on the Vietnam war. What did we get for a trillion dollars? Over fifty-eight thousand dead American soldiers. Plus, over 1500 missing in action and thousands of wounded. Many who have never recovered.
On Healthcare Reform, Don't Miss the Forest for the Trees
Sometimes in Washington, lawmakers lose sight of the forest for the trees.
Sacrificing Efficiency, Science and Multilateralism for Virtue-Signaling: The Perils of the Biden WTO Waiver
The Biden administration wants to improve America's international reputation. That's why it endorsed a proposal before the World Trade Organization to waive all intellectual property rights related to Covid-19.
Who Will Pay for the $2 Trillion Infrastructure Project?
If you are making less than $40,000 a year then you probably don’t care that single people making over $523,601 pay 37% of their income in federal taxes. Married people filing jointly making over $628,301 also pay 37%. These people make it and can afford to pay it we often say. What affects someone else doesn’t bother us that much when it comes to income and taxes.
Supply Disruptions Are Hitting Home-Based Medical Care
The days of scrambling to secure toilet paper are over. But the pandemic is continuing to wreak havoc on supply chains.
Time to Punish Big Tech's IP Theft
Owners of the Apple Watch might be walking around with stolen goods strapped to their wrist. In a complaint filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission this summer, medical device firm Masimo Corporation accuses Apple of stealing patented technology for measuring blood oxygen levels and incorporating that tech into the popular smartwatch.
Cargo Ships — America's Old Jobs Floating at Sea
Cargo ships waiting to unload at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach California could keep some of America’s store shelves bare for a while. These two ports handle the bulk of cargo coming from China. Cargo keeps coming from China, making the congestion craziness only worse. The dozens of ships floating in the pacific are carrying products that used to be some of America’s good paying jobs.
Current Tax Proposals: Critiquing Two Promises
I have written about “Washington’s Bi-Partisan Fiscal Folly” for years, caused by chronic over-spending. Regardless of which party holds the upper hand in Washington, the federal budget deficit persists. In the first two full fiscal years of the Trump presidency (when there was a GOP majority in Congress), the annual federal deficit rose from $584 billion to $668 billion in 2017 and then to $779 billion in 2018. Then, with a split Congress, it rose again to $983 billion in 2019 before exploding to a COVID-turbo-charged deficit in excess of $3 trillion in 2020.
For mRNA Vaccines, Thank Animals
To the delight of high school biology teachers everywhere, messenger RNA is having a moment.
Do Our Lawmakers Want to Hurt America's Hispanic Seniors?
Congressional lawmakers plan to use their multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation bill to make the biggest change to Medicare in generations. Specifically, they want the government to "negotiate" drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies, a move they claim will save hundreds of billions of dollars and make patients better off.
How to Slash Americans' Electricity Bills
Whenever you hear about America's electricity system these days, it's usually some big problem that has captured the public's attention.
Proposal to Change Donor-Advised Funds: "Fixing" What Isn’t Broken
“A solution in search of a problem.” That’s the best summary we’ve heard of the recent proposed legislation to increase mandates and regulations for charitable giving through donor-advised funds.
Vaccinating the Globe, One Jab At a Time
The word "awesome" is overused. But few other words seem apt when describing the fact that the world has now administered more than 6 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccines.
Going Woke: An Insider's Look at Corporate America’s "Social Justice Scam"
Coca-Cola, Google, Delta Airlines, Blackrock, Unilever, and Facebook. On its face, this list may sound like a great investment portfolio. Instead, as shown in a new book by former biotech CEO Vivek Ramaswamy, these companies serve as the posterchildren of woke capitalism.
American Innovators, not Regulators, Will Solve Climate Change
President Biden has pledged to cut America's greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. He intends to meet this ambitious target through a wave of new federal spending and government programs. Yet, our best hope for reducing carbon emissions isn't new government spending. It's a technological sea-change -- one that can only come from the private sector.
Gutting IP Rights Will Upend University Research, a Font of Innovation
The Biden administration recently announced support for a push by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to strip intellectual property protections from Covid-19 vaccines.
Opioid Deaths Continue to Rise as Delta Looms
Tens of thousands of American lives end prematurely every year due to opioid overdoses, leaving families shattered. Dr. Paul Christo, an Associate Professor in the Division of Pain Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, wants to remind those battling addiction to make use of telemedicine and tele-mental health services that emerged as valuable resources in 2020, and he adds, clinicians need to advocate to their patients that online treatment options are available.
ACA Paperwork Poses a Big Problem for Businesses
Fewer and fewer employers are offering health benefits. In 2001, 68 percent of firms sponsored health plans. Last year, that share dropped to 53 percent.
Schools Embracing New Innovations to Protect Students and Staff from COVID
In the spring of 2020, school leaders wrestled with how to keep students learning effectively while sheltering at home. Now with students returning to the classroom, the mission has changed: keep them safe.
Three Ways You Can Get Involved Locally to Help Afghan Refugees
On July 30, the first evacuation flight of Afghans fleeing the Taliban left Afghanistan and touched down in Virginia. The plane was carrying 200 men, women and children from the families of America’s Afghan allies. Faced with the prospect of persecution and violence if they stayed in Afghanistan, these refugees chose to seek shelter and safety on U.S. soil.
Pandemic Intensifies Fight Over Ridesharing Worker Benefits
A California judge recently struck down Proposition 22, a measure passed last year in the Golden State which would have exempted “gig” companies like Uber and Lyft from having to classify their drivers as employees. In 2020, Uber and Lyft spent more than $200 million in support of Prop. 22 in an effort to keep their right to classify drivers as “independent contractors.”
How the COVID IP-waiver Could Sabotage Crucial Cancer Research
President Biden craves a cure for cancer. In a speech to Congress this spring, he vowed to "end cancer as we know it." And as Vice President, he helped start the Cancer Moonshot initiative.
Give Our Guns to the Afghanistan Women
Afghanistan has guns but they are in the hands of the wrong people.
Afghanistan Will Never Go Away
Afghanistan is an unending nightmare that will never go away.
Us vs. Them — Why We Remember 9/11 Differently
On Sept. 8, 2021, Grove City College President Paul McNulty spoke in downtown Pittsburgh regarding his uniquely fascinating yet somber 9/11 experiences. He played an intimate role in the prosecution of the hijackers and their associates as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and deputy attorney general in the Bush administration.
Keeping Watch in Dr. Strangeloveland
Charges of treason leveled by politicians and journalists against Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley come from a forthcoming book titled Peril, co-authored by journalist Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. Remember that Woodward, along with Washington Post newspaperman Carl Bernstein, prompted investigations that led to President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation on August 8, 1974.
Academics Shine a Critical Light on Progressive Christians
Elites have long seen conservative Christians as intolerant and obsessed with politics. It’s a simple view that few have been able successfully to complicate into a more realistic picture. George Yancey and Ashlee Quosigk may have done so in their new book One Faith No Longer: The Transformation of Christianity in Red and Blue America. From sociological research data, they argue that progressive and conservative Christians are headed for a permanent split.
Home and Community Based Care Supports Us All
Every day, millions of workers enter people's homes to provide care to those with disabilities and the elderly. These "direct-care" workers assist individuals with bathing and dressing, cooking and eating, taking medication, and getting exercise. For the people they help, they are lifelines to health, independent living, and economic stability.
Trade Enforcement Needs to Be a Top Priority for Biden Administration
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement has been in force for over a year -- but our North American trading partners refuse to fully implement the deal.
Afghanistan – God Help Them
Many Americans did not want our military invading Afghanistan. We did not want our military to stay in Afghanistan. Many of us hoped our troops would leave Afghanistan. However, the chaotic departure has been one of the most humiliating moments in our nation’s history.
It Takes a Village to End Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is the act of compelling someone into work or commercial sex through force, fraud, or coercion. It is illegal everywhere but happens every day in big cities and small towns across the United States.
It's Time for Hospitals to Put Patients First
Many hospitals are refusing to comply with a Trump-era requirement that went into effect on January 1st of this year to publish the prices for more than 300 "shoppable" medical procedures.
The Delicate Balance of University Innovation and Translation
The "virtuous cycle" of accelerated technology transfer -- the process by which university research funded by the federal government can be licensed, refined and marketed by private businesses -- has been the driver for a whole string of uniquely American tech successes, from quantum computing to cutting-edge medical treatments.
Uncle Sam Plays Market
GPS. The internet. Airbags. These wonders of modernity have something in common. Without government, many commentators hold, they wouldn’t exist. And perhaps these voices are right. Take GPS, developed by the Department of Defense to enhance coordination among military units. At first the sole province of government, GPS found its way into civilian hands, and by the 1990s, private sector demand far outstripped military use. Similarly, the internet was born of Cold War efforts to best the Soviets in the ongoing Space Race. And airbags? Likewise, a descendant of government’s military and space-related efforts. (The oft-cited trinity—Tang, Teflon, and Velcro—of public sector innovation successfully trickling to the private sector is, in fact, a myth).
Pasteur Act Can Reivigorate the Broken Antibiotic Market
Antibiotics have made modern medicine possible. Without them, surgeries and other routine medical procedures would be incredibly risky to conduct. In fact, antibiotics are so prevalent throughout society -- Americans fill over 260 million antibiotics prescriptions annually at the pharmacy -- that it's tough to fathom a world without them.
Let the Science Decide on PFAS in Water
Saying "per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances" is a mouthful -- so let's stick with the common abbreviation for this group of man-made chemicals: PFAS. And no, you don't want a mouthful of them. If consumed in high concentrations, PFAS may be harmful to human health.
Antibiotic Development: Subscribing to New Ideas
With multiple highly effective vaccines against COVID-19, we have begun to round a corner on the current pandemic. But another crisis looms.
Toyota Drifts Outside Its Lane
The Toyota Motor Company is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world. As of February 2021, the company ranked #10 on the Forbes Global 500 with revenues of more than $240 billion. The only other car company ranking ahead of Toyota on the Forbes list is Volkswagen, coming in at #8. Over the previous year, and despite the pandemic, the revenue and profit growth of Toyota have been 1% and 12.4%, respectively; numbers that should please any shareholder. Recently, however, Toyota, like many other companies, has drifted away from its core purpose as a business and lost sight of who it serves.
