Fire and Ice Some say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I’ve tasted of desireI hold with those who favor fire.But if it had to perish twice,I think I know enough of hateTo say that for destruction iceIs also greatAnd would suffice. Robert Frost Poem hunter Ice (hat tip francis snoot […]
by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Health Care: Reality is Ugly An Indiana baby with an extremely rare condition will not be receiving $500,000 experimental surgery at Duke because the State of Indiana cannot afford to pay the bill for the surgery. The immediate howls of protest are directed at the Republican governor, but there are […]
Ten great cities dying of thirst in Wallstreet 24/7 points to a problem already serious in some cases, and during the 2007/2008 drought made readily apparent – our lack of will to address water infrastructure problems and replacement, and our use of water that is outstripping sources. This report by Ceres and Water Asset Management […]
The National Association of State Budget Officers reports on the growing concern for state budgets. (hat tip MG) Spending Remains Lower than Pre-Recession Levels State general fund spending is forecast to rise 5.3 percent in fiscal 2011 as 35 states enacted a fiscal 2011 budget with general fund spending levels above those of fiscal 2010. […]
by Linda BealeMore on the White House “deal” on tax cutscrossposted with Ataxingmatter Dan Shaviro, a colleague at NYU, ends up being hopeful about the Obama-GOP deal. See “The deal on extending the tax cuts“, Start Making Sense, Dec. 6, 2010 and “The tax cut deal: too soon to tell who really won?“, Dec. 7, […]
by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Health Care: Yes, No , Sorta, Kinda, Maybe Medicare rates for physicians have been, supposedly, regulated by the SGR* formula since 1998, but the formula is so wretched and lobbyists so strong the formula has been repeatedly postponed. The Obama administration has been determined to do a one time catch […]
by Mike Kimel The Effect of Changing Top Marginal Tax Rates – an op ed free to a good homeCross posted at the Presimetrics blog. I wrote most of what follows in the anticipation of trying to get it accepted as an op ed at a newspaper, but I guess the deal cut the other […]
Nearing agreement says NYT An administration official said that in the emerging deal, the “Making Work Pay” credit would be replaced with a one-year reduction in payroll taxes for workers. In addition to a two-year extension of the income tax rates enacted under President George W. Bush, the deal includes a one-year extension of jobless […]
The Financial Times reports this news: The US Supreme Court is to decide whether the largest class action employment lawsuit in US history can proceed against Walmart, the discount retailer, in a case that is being closely watched by other large corporate employers. Walmart appealed to the highest US court in the summer after a […]
by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Health Care: Really, Really Bad Idea(?)The Food and Drug Administration has approved a proposal to liberalize the guidelines for lap band weight loss surgery (much to the delight of the company making lap bans). Previous guidelines required a very high level of severe obesity OR severe obesity combined with hypertension […]