Capital Gains and Games

I'd like to address two comments on recent posts -- one by Michael and one by Jonah -- regarding the "tax" on "Cadillac" health plans...

From McClatchy:WASHINGTON — An attempt to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day would be all-consuming for the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration — if there were one.The post remains vacant because Sen. Ji...

You had to know this was coming.This story in yesterday’s New York Times says that a number of major media outlets that up to now have been giving content away for free online are now considering following in the footsteps of the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times by charging some type o...

In The Washington Post today, Jonathan Gruber of MIT defends the provision in the Senate bill to lessen the tax advantages of health insurance plans with premiums of more than $8,500 for singles and $23,000 for families.  I mentioned in my post on the Senate bill that I was not a fan of the "Ca...

Here are two quick hits today about how resources are going to be divided up among the states...

This article by Al Hunt seems to be getting some attention. It looks overblown to me. I'll withhold judgment until I see the budget and economic report next month. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=av2Wtqnf1X7E

Take a look at the lead for this story in today's New York Times:Hours after Florida lost to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference title game on Dec...

With the Senate's passage of its version of health care reform, I'd like to compare it against what I described earlier this year as my ideal reform.  That reform included four elements: Community Rating Guaranteed Issue Ex Post Risk Adjustment An Individual Mandate (with Medicaid for a fee as ...

Where I am spending the holidays, the sordid story of Scott Rothstein is dominating the news reports.  From the Miami Herald, here is the essence of what he did under the guise of his law firm: A court-appointed trustee in the law firm's bankruptcy case said RRA has about $43 million in assets -- ...

Actually, "childish" might be more appropriate. This will have no practical effect on the health care reform conference negotiations, which will begin and continue with or without the conferees being formally named.GOP Blocks Appointments as Senate AdjournsDec. 24, 2009, 10:58 a.m...

I'm married to an actor so I know how much they prize voiceover gigs like television commercials.  Compared to having to do makeup, wardrobe, blocking, rehearsing, memorizing lines, and performing in front of a live audience eight nights a week, that's very easy money.  I also know that the tr...

Jonathan Chait tells it like it is. www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-rise-republican-nihilism

Maya MacGuineas takes me to task today for my criticism of a government commission to study the deficit and also my lack of enthusiasm for the Peterson-Pew report that she helped write...

This apparently is a new feature from ABC news. I know Jonathan Karl; I like Jonathan Karl; I respect and have great admiration for Jonathan Karl.  Not only is he an excellent reporter, he's also a neighbor. But I don't want to see him interviewed unless it's about how he is covering, has cov...