Time for a financial reckoning. This election Paul Ryan and other Republicans dared approach the
third rail that is Medicare, and Democrats upped the voltage, branding
Republicans every chance they got as wanting to “end Medicare as we know
it.” But whatever you thought of Ryan’s particular proposals for Medicare,
and whoever you voted for, there’s one ... MORE
Showing posts with label crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crisis. Show all posts
Rituparna Basu: It's Time To Unplug Medicare's Third Rail
Time for a financial reckoning. This election Paul Ryan and other Republicans dared approach the
third rail that is Medicare, and Democrats upped the voltage, branding
Republicans every chance they got as wanting to “end Medicare as we know
it.” But whatever you thought of Ryan’s particular proposals for Medicare,
and whoever you voted for, there’s one ... MOREJohn Stossel: About That Fiscal Cliff
It's less frightening than the bankruptcy cliff. Yikes, we're headed toward a fiscal cliff! It will crush the
economy! Or so the media and politicians tell us. The "cliff" is a series of tax increases and budget cuts that automatically go into effect Jan. 1 unless Congress acts. Will Congress act? It will! I see the future: The politicians will meet ... MOREWarren Beatty: Why The Secession Petitions?
The states are not so united. President Barack Hussein Obama is not the first president to be faced with secession. The most famous secession that resulted in the Civil War was, first and foremost, about economics. Today we are witnessing the same reason cited for the various secession petitions -- economics. Derrick Belcher, who started the Alabama secession ... MOREWalter E Williams - Disaster Ignorance
Higher prices attract more supply. Here's a which-is-better question for you. Suppose a New Jersey motel room rented for $125 a night prior to Hurricane Sandy's devastation. When the hurricane hits, a husband, wife and their two youngsters might seek the comfort of renting two adjoining rooms. However, when they arrive at the motel, ... MOREGovernment's Own Numbers Crunchers See Collapse Ahead
by Ralph R. Reiland. The way the federal government runs things is already bad enough, but it's officially projected to get only worse, much worse, in the years ahead according to the government's own number crunchers. In fiscal year 2011 -- October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011-- the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that the federal ... MOREGary North: 100 Percent Chance That U.S. Will Default
There is good reason to prepare for a catastrophe. It is not often that readers get a clear-cut choice between two forecasts. Most forecasts have wiggle room. Not the following. 1. The United States government will default. 2. The United States government will not default. I hold the first position. John T. Harvey holds the second. He wrote a ... MORESteve Chapman: Gas Prices And Political Mythology
Don't count on political lip service. If there is any issue you can be sure will come up during a presidential election campaign, it's gasoline prices. They are simple, important and plainly visible to anyone who drives. They're the classic pocketbook issue: When prices are low or at least falling, voters somehow feel better than when prices are high or rising. ... MOREJames V. DeLong: America's Crisis Of Political Legitimacy
Finding the road back to consent and stability. The Founders were right to posit that a breakdown of the limits of government would cause a breakdown of consent. Only 22 percent of likely voters say the current government has the consent of the governed. Across many decades, my mind’s eye sees Professor Samuel Beer pacing the ... MORE
Gary Owen: Housing Crisis Redux
New wave of subprime loans demanded by government. The 2008 melt down of the economy was a lesson. The government learned well and is doing it better this time. A new wave of subprime mortgages is here, more powerful than the tsunami that washed away the worlds economy with the Community Reinvestment Act. William Tucker informs us ... MOREDaniel Halper: U.S. On Track For $20 Trillion Debt In 2016
Obama budget adds $4.4 trillion in next four years. By the end of this year, the federal debt is expected to be $16.2 trillion, which is $6.2 trillion more than when President Obama first came into office four years ago. Moreover, new analysis by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee finds that, over the next 4 years, if ... MORECaroline Baum: Flying With Milton Friedman
Milton proved ideas matter. As I was leaving the house for a full day of travel, I wanted something to read during airport holdovers and almost certain delays. My only prerequisite was that the book be small enough to fit in my purse. Whether I grabbed Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom because of recent tributes to the Nobel laureate — he ... MOREDoug Bandow: Killing The Economy With Gov't Stimulus
Death by spending. President Barack Obama’s presidency hangs in the balance after another disappointing employment report. He continues to advocate new government “stimulus” programs to boost his reelection campaign. However, Washington is awash in government “stimulus,” without effect. Only productive private investment will spark economic ... MORE
Patrick Brennan: The Inequality Fetish
Does unequal income cause economic ills? There must be something in the water in Scandinavia: Nobel laureates, from our president to Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, all agree that high levels of inequality are a serious problem, if not the problem, facing our weak economy. According to this liberal thesis, either the 2008 financial ... MOREKyle-Anne Shiver: Is This Republic Worth Saving?
We've got the means, but do we have the will? There's been a great deal of talk lately on the likely demise of this Grand Republic of ours. Very wise and scholarly Americans have taken to opining publicly on the dire state of things, all asking the basic question, "Can this Republic be saved"? Some historians have compared our current plight to that ... MORERussell Cook: Global Warming's Killer Is Critical Thinking
Let's require evidence, not just belief. Is there any issue more dependent on widespread lapses in critical thinking than the idea of man-caused global warming? Nothing wrecks an argument faster than a question revealing a gaping hole in that argument's fundamental premise. Notice the abundantly obvious derailment in this example: "We ... MORE
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