ObamaCare: higher premiums, more Canadian-style rationing
From Reason.tv: Now that they’ve passed ObamaCare, can we see what’s in it? Sally Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute and author of The Truth About ObamaCare sits down with Ted Balaker to discuss what’s really on the way courtesy of the recent health care overhaul: higher costs, decreased access to care, […]
NEA Backs Anti-Amendment 63 Campaign: How Does This Help Members?
Back in March I pointed out how school teachers and other union members who belong to the National Education Association (NEA) have financially supported Obama Care whether they like it or not. This week brings an important update to the story. The NEA donated $50,000 to the committee opposing Colorado’s Amendment 63 “Right to Health […]
New Education Book Raises Questions about School Selection, Carpentry
As a young edublogger, I hear from a lot of people and groups with their new education book. Some look more interesting than others, including this one that crossed my desktop today from the Capital Research Center (CRC):
The Neighbor’s Kid tells the story of what twenty-four year-old Philip Brand discovered regarding American education when he […]
Colorado Teachers Unions Give 99.8 Percent of Political Funds to Democrats
Right now, it’s the heart of political season. That means some teacher organizations — the Colorado Education Association (CEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) — are actively involved in contributing member funds to various campaigns. (Other teacher organizations do not collect or distribute member money for political contributions.) But did you realize just how one-sided the political giving is?
The Case Against Time Magazine
Time used to be a news magazine with (for part of its history) a strong anti-communist slant. Apparently, news doesn’t sell anymore in the Internet age, as Time is now more of an opinion magazine. So when last week’s cover story was titled, “Rethinking Homeownership,” the Antiplanner assumed this would be another smart-growth diatribe against […]
Sebelius to insurers: shut up or government shuts you out
The AP reports: President Barack Obama’s top health official on Thursday warned the insurance industry that the administration won’t tolerate blaming premium hikes on the new health overhaul law [HR 3590]. “There will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a […]
Back on the Road Again
The Antiplanner spent most of this week in Glacier National Park attending the annual convention of the Great Northern Railway Historical Society. This is the 100th anniversary of the creation of Glacier Park, which was strongly promoted by Louis Hill, the son of James J. Hill, the builder of the Great Northern Railway. Under Louis’ […]
Video: Lamb Basted? NJ Gov. Chris Christie Takes on Teacher Unions Again
Monday has rolled around, and some of you are still dragging from the weekend. Well, let me tell you, it’s time to wake up. What will do it? Watch this clip of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie schooling a teacher on the big picture of his state’s budget, and unraveling some of the myths and […]
CO insurers stop selling child-only policies – blame health control bill
The Denver Business Journal reports: At least five Colorado insurers will stop selling new individual health insurance policies for children by Oct. 1 because of soon-to-be-enacted federal mandates [from HR 3590 – BTS] requiring them to cover all applicants under age 19, including those with pre-existing medical conditions. …this action by several major companies, including […]
5280 Magazine Highlights 1st-Year Teacher at Cole, Denver Innovation School
Seeing as it’s Friday, rather than laying on the analysis really thick or going off on one of my infamous tangents, I wanted to make sure you saw a long but very interesting article that came out this week. In the September edition of Denver’s 5280 Magazine is a feature by Robert Sanchez titled “The […]
Should Buses Use Alternative Fuels?
Fred Jandt’s rethinking rail article on the Mass Transit web site (discussed here on Monday) offhandedly mentioned “what Foothill Transit did this week” with buses. That was a reference to the introduction of some of the first all-electric buses in the U.S. A mere 10-minute recharge of the batteries on these “ecoliners” is supposed to […]
Mandated medical loss ratios promote bad customer service
Arnold Kling points out how mandating a minimum medical loss ratio promotes poor customer service. Quoting Uwe Reinhart: The recently passed Affordable Care Act requires heath insurance issuers to use at least some minimum fraction of revenue from the premiums it receives on medical services. Kling writes: A big cost component for health insurance companies […]
