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 …

From the Tongue-in-Cheek Department of Spy Briefing Books… Washington, D.C. — Jeff Incast, a Democratic representative from California, has tabled a bill that would expand current insider trading laws. He said he was “distressed” by the acquittal of Mark Cuban, whom a jury cleared of civil charges of insider trading brought by the Securities and …

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 …

You didn’t want to be the guy chosen to tell Stalin that the wheat crop failed or the production quotas on trucks and cars were not met. Why? Because despots always blame people, not systems. In the same way, you don’t want to be the guy chosen to tell Obama that his health care websites …

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 …

From the Tongue-in-Cheek Department of Spy Briefing Books… Washington, D.C. — The complex negotiations aimed at bringing a long-term solution to the federal government’s expenditure and debt problem have produced an unconventional proposal. “Although the solution only focuses on a tiny fraction of government expenditures,” declared President Barack Obama, “it is a step in the …

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 …

I’ve just spent a harrowing weekend reflecting on Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, the pamphlet that came out in January 1776 and turned the public toward seeking independence from Britain. I say harrowing because the distance between the ideals found in this pamphlet and those of today’s America is so vast as to be nearly unrecognizable. …

There’s plenty of gushing about the Janet Yellen appointment as Federal Reserve Chairman. Yale economist Robert Shiller says she’s “a real mensch.” Greg Mankiw from Harvard says President Obama made a great decision in choosing her. “Reports of Janet Yellen’s forthcoming nomination will be greeted well by market agents,” says David Kotok. “It should be.” …

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, …

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 …

From the Tongue-in-Cheek Department of Spy Briefing Books… Washington, D.C. –– A tragedy is brewing in the United States. Within a decade, the country that has gone from the second freest in the world to the 17th. And the threat is much worse than the federal government’s current 20% shutdown. If Congress does not increase …

It was a wild ride last week in the world of the Deep Web, that section of the Internet that requires special tools to access. The feds took down the site called Silk Road and claim to have arrested its founder and administrator. The news streams were filled with lurid tales of derring-do in this …

“Dad, I’ve got to do something,” begins a panicky letter from one of the children. “When I changed my job status, I lost my health insurance. The best policy I can find is $550 a month. What should I do?” “Don’t buy the insurance,” we suggested. “It’s a waste of money.” “Just don’t get sick,” …

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 …

A tense drama unfolded this week with the virtual shutdown of vital government agencies: the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as many other such federal agencies. Without them, the Founding Fathers could not have imagined the republic. Even if …

Three months after Edward Snowden’s leaks began to reveal the extent of the U.S.’ mass surveillance program, “serious people” are beginning to make the case that it’s time for the outrage and indignation to subside and give way to a “national conversation” about the future of surveillance. So has the moment come for us to …

The other night, I tuned into The Flaw, a 2011 documentary about the 2008 financial crash. While telling the crash story, the movie flashes in and out of a street tour offered by an ex-mortgage bond trader. The young man has the required effervescence to keep a dozen tourists entertained while they look at nothing …

My community in the Deep South prides itself on friendship, community feeling, and an overall happy spirit. So it was a bit strange for all of this to be utterly smashed and obliterated in the course of a few calamitous weeks in which friend turned against friend, colleagues became antagonists and enemies, and families were …

In all likelihood, Republican efforts to defund Obamacare are toast — and sooner rather than later. It appears to be a fantasy that a bill to defund would even make it to president Obama’s desk. This straightforward reality has prompted many reasonable observers to ask why frustrated conservatives would bother risking a government shutdown over …

Stocks settled down recently. The Dow dropped 40 points. Either the market had already priced in “QE forever”… or investors are starting to wonder. Maybe an economy with falling household incomes is not a good place to own stocks. Maybe an economy that is barely growing doesn’t justify the highest stock prices of all time. …