Category Archives: Policy Issues

21 graphs that show America’s health-care prices are ludicrous

  By Cyrus | September 25, 2013 - 3:37 pm | Health Care
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Any way you slice it, America has the most expensive health care in the world.  Whether you look per user, per procedure, or per outcome, we pay way more than other countries, whether they have private or public healthcare systems (Obamacare depends on private insurance, competition between insurers, and a larger pool of insured to try to lower cost). This great piece by Ezra Klein shows how ludicrous America’s health-care prices are in 21 graphs: 21 graphs that show America’s health-care prices are ludicrous.

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Matt Miller: Canadians don’t understand Ted Cruz’s health-care battle – The Washington Post

  By Cyrus | September 25, 2013 - 3:29 pm | Health Care
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Canadian capitalists & business leaders love Canada’s government run health care system.  They say it makes their companies more competitive while providing higher quality and cheaper health care than we get in the U.S. Matt Miller: Canadians don’t understand Ted Cruz’s health-care battle – The Washington Post.

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Fox News poll: Majorities support new gun measures | Fox News

  By Cyrus | April 17, 2013 - 8:58 am | Gun Reform
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I just got off the phone with a staffer for Senator Cruz of Texas.  I was urging the Senator to not block the vote today on background checks on gun sales and expressed bewilderment that he would filibuster such a vote.  I told the guy that 80-90% of his constituents support background checks.  He gave a variety of answers, and I have included each with my response to him below: “There has been no poll on the bill” – true, but there have been many polls on universal background checks, specifically at gun shows and online sales, which is what … Continue reading this post →

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Leaking nuclear sludge could threaten Columbia River

  By Cyrus | February 20, 2013 - 12:50 pm | Climate & Environment, Energy Policy & Economics
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Editor’s Note: Yet another example of the huge externalities we pay for supposedly cheap nuclear power. Just the cost of building the facility to clean up this nuclear waste is $13 Billion!  For one site.  Nevermind the cost of building that facility in the first place!  $13 Billion would pay for the wind energy Production Tax Credit for 10 years!  The energy debate in this country is so freaking stupid!   Fuel Fix » Leaking nuclear sludge could threaten Columbia River. News that a storage tank at a shuttered federal nuclear facility in Washington state is leaking radioactive sludge has … Continue reading this post →

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Big Coals Big Problems (Rolling Stone Magazine)

  By Cyrus | February 11, 2013 - 11:15 am | Climate & Environment, Energy Policy & Economics
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Editor’s Note: While cheap natural gas prices and more stringent regulation of coal emissions has made new coal plants virtually impossible to pencil in the US, existing coal plants are still the main point-source of CO2 pollution domestically.  Further, we are now exporting more coal than ever before to Europe where power prices are much higher than in the US.  We’re not going to see real reductions in global CO2 until we not just stop growing the coal industry, but actually dramatically shrink it. Big Coal’s Big Problems (Rolling Stone Magazine) You wouldn’t have guessed it from all the theatrics of … Continue reading this post →

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The Gun Debate: Lawmakers eye troubled background check system | Fox News

  By Cyrus | February 1, 2013 - 3:17 pm | Gun Reform
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The Gun Debate: Lawmakers eye troubled background check system | Fox News. Good article that discusses the fact that the background check system is plagued by gross under-reporting of records of criminals and the mentally ill by a number of states.  At the center of the issue is the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS.  As the article explained, even though Congress has passed legislation empowering the Department of Justice to address undereporting by states by using both intensives and penalties, DOJ has so far only used the carrots and not the sticks.  According to the Government Accountability Office:  44 states had … Continue reading this post →

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Climate change and poverty have not gone away | Joseph Stiglitz | Business | guardian.co.uk

  By Cyrus | January 7, 2013 - 4:34 pm | Energy Policy & Economics
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Climate change and poverty have not gone away An economic and political system that does not deliver for most citizens is one that is not sustainable in the long run Joseph Stiglitz guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 January 2013 10.19 EST A colony of king penguins and an elephant seal on Possession Island. Because we have been so slow to respond to climate change, achieving the targeted limit of a 2C rise in global temperature will require sharp reductions in emissions in the future. Photograph: Marcel Mochet/AFP/Getty Images In the shadow of the euro crisis and America’s fiscal cliff, it is easy to ignore … Continue reading this post →

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The Economic Impact of Wind Energy | Daily Yonder | Keep It Rural

  By Cyrus | January 6, 2013 - 1:45 am | Energy Policy & Economics
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The Economic Impact of Wind Energy | Daily Yonder | Keep It Rural. The Economic Impact of Wind Energy There are 47,000 megawatts of wind energy capacity installed in the U.S. The authors of a new study say that for each megawatt of wind capacity, a county gains half a job and just over $11,000 in total personal income. This is the wind energy farm in Roscoe, Texas, where 627 wind turbines can churn out as much as 781.5 megawatts of power. A new study finds that for every megawatt of wind capacity installed in a county, half a job … Continue reading this post →

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