A handful of reports last week suggested that the Obama administration had moved to delay the health law’s individual mandate — the penalty the law imposes on those who are uninsured. That’s not quite right: Instead, the administration will align the 2014 penalty date, which had been February 15, with the end of Obamacare’s open …
While the world has evolved over the centuries, human emotions have remained the same — happiness, sadness, jealousy, greed, fear. The ruling class and working class are equally afflicted by these emotions. Seeking the easy option is another human frailty that has stood the test of time. It is for these reasons we are destined …
A common argument made in favor of government-financed health care is that it is inherently cheaper than a private system. Strangely, however, the people who celebrate the government’s ability to hold down health care spending would be horrified at the same argument applied to other public-sector functions. It’s a seriously inconsistent position held by advocates …
The online Internet exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act are up and running. OK, they’re up. Uhh, OK, some of them are sort of up. It has been almost a week since last Tuesday’s initial launch, and there have been more than a few problems. Website crashes, excessive response times and other problems have …
A growing consensus of IT experts, outside and inside the government, have figured out a principal reason why the website for Obamacare’s federally sponsored insurance exchange is crashing. Healthcare.gov forces you to create an account and enter detailed personal information before you can start shopping. This, in turn, creates a massive traffic bottleneck, as the …
Friday was day four of the U.S. government shutdown. And what does a former government insider have to say about that? Plenty. In fact, while 80,000 “nonessential” federal employees continue to enjoy their paid vacation, I’m working overtime to bring you today’s issue. [Ed. Note: This article was originally published Sunday, Oct. 6.] The shutdown …
2013 represents another turning point in the demise of the American Empire. If you view it in economic (rather than ethical or moral) terms, the high water mark of Empire was probably in the late 1990s. But the Internet bubble and bust marked an important turning point. It coincided with the birth of the euro, …
Want to know just how invasive the state is going to get in the United States? Well, take a look across the pond. In terms of the large, invasive state, we English are way ahead of you guys. We’re a good 50 or more years further down the road to serfdom. Nineteenth-century Britain was about …
For the life of me, I just don’t get conservatives. They profess to love free enterprise and free markets and they say they hate socialism. Okay, then why do they never call for the repeal of Medicare and Medicaid? After all, it’s not surprising that progressives (or liberals) favor Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare. They don’t …
“This only works if young people show up,” said Bill Clinton the other day. He was explaining Obamacare. On the surface, that’s an odd thing to say. Medicare seems to work just fine without a lot of young people. It needs taxes from young people, of course. But nobody has ever said young people need …