Barber Licensing Rules Harm Prisoner Re-entry

Nobody comes out and says “I want to establish an occupational licensing regime for my profession in order to create an arbitrary barrier to entry” but the system works, in practice, to create arbitrary barriers to entry. Consequently, there’s a need to find barriers that don’t seem totally arbitrary, From Barber Licensing Rules Harm Prisoner… Continue reading Barber Licensing Rules Harm Prisoner Re-entry

Evangelical Liberty University received half a billion dollars in federal aid money – War Room – Salon.com

Liberty University, the evangelical private Christian school founded by dead apartheid-supporting bigot Jerry Falwell, received $445 million in federal financial aid money last year. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, by the way, received $420 million from the federal government. From War Room – Salon.com Any tea party members going after money that goes to unaccredited bible colleges? 

Ludicrous and Cruel

the Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2030 the value of a voucher would cover only a third of the cost of a private insurance policy equivalent to Medicare as we know it. So the plan would deprive many and probably most seniors of adequate health care. And that neither should nor will happen. Mr.… Continue reading Ludicrous and Cruel

Ryan and Taxes

The Ryan plan calls for cutting the top marginal rate to 25 percent — lower than it has been at any time in the past 80 years. That in itself should tell you that this is a deeply unserious proposal: anyone who tells you that we have to face hard truths, that everyone must sacrifice,… Continue reading Ryan and Taxes

David Brooks: Democrats unwilling to ask voters to pay for popular programs

Democrats seem to believe that most Americans want to preserve the 20th-century welfare state programs. But they are unwilling to ask voters to pay for them, and they are unwilling to describe the tax increases that would be required to cover their exploding future costs. Raising taxes on the rich will not do it. There… Continue reading David Brooks: Democrats unwilling to ask voters to pay for popular programs

Global Warming Critics Replicate Disputed Climate Change Findings

Gee. Imagine that. That’s supposed to be the test of scientific theory: when the same experiments produce the same results. A team of UC Berkeley physicists and statisticians that set out to challenge the scientific consensus on global … From Global Warming Critics Replicate Disputed Climate Change Findings So they are going to change their… Continue reading Global Warming Critics Replicate Disputed Climate Change Findings

Why is Paul Ryan’s Budget Trying to Dismantle Financial Reform?

The budget Paul Ryan released yesterday has huge cuts that are likely to fall on the poorest Americans while offering all kinds of bonuses to the top 1%. Others will be talking about how it eliminates Medicare and Medicaid. I want to talk about how it dismantles one of the few regulations put on Wall Street… Continue reading Why is Paul Ryan’s Budget Trying to Dismantle Financial Reform?

No degree, little experience pay off big

Just in his mid-20s, Brian Deschane has no college degree, very little management experience and two drunken-driving convictions. Yet he has landed an $81,500-per-year job in Gov. Scott Walker’s administration overseeing environmental and regulatory matters and dozens of employees at the Department of Commerce. Even though Walker says the state is broke and public employees… Continue reading No degree, little experience pay off big