Death to America?
There were intelligent and coherent arguments to made against the U.S. war in Iraq. On the other hand, the Belligerent Bunny Blog has quite a photo spread of an anti-war, anti-Bush, and yes, anti-America gathering on the Washington Mall. (Warning: At least one photo is vulgar; the rest depict what is, at best, moral blindness.)

Thanks to the Cornfield Commentary of David Hogberg for the tip. (permalink)

Pharmaceuticals Limit Canadian Imports
U.S. pharmaceuticals sell (under duress) their wares at bargain basement prices to other countries, notably, Canada. As American politicians strive to see who will be the first to import Canadian-style price controls to the U.S., the pharmaceutical companies are taking steps to limit the ability of their Canadian customers to re-sell to the U.S. market. The head of Pfizer said that imports from Canada have been reduced from $40 million a year to $10 million a year, thanks to restrictions on its Canadian customers.

It's too bad that (a) U.S. politicians who ought to know better bash pharmaceuticals; reforming health care policy, or at least providing income supports for the neediest would be a better path; (b) pharmaceuticals live under the patent-breaking threat of other countries (which is why they sell to Canada and others at much lower prices); and (c) the health of every U.S. resident (and those yet born) is threatened by attempts to impose price controls, which will at worst, distort medical research and at worst, greatly reduce it.

As it appears, Big Pharma can't do much about what happens in countries that practice socialized medicine. But it's good to see they are taking steps to make sure the problems of those countries aren't imported here.

Thanks to Chip Taylor for the NY Times link and comments. (permalink)

Minnesota to Advocate "Zipper" to Cut Down on Merge Rage
The Pioneer-Press points out one of the frustrations of highway driving today: "It's maddening when you're sitting in a long line of cars merging to a single lane on the highway and someone zips along in the open lane and cuts in near the front of the line."

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will be advocating a "zipper" technique for dealing with the problem.

Electronic signs will tell motorists when to queue up early, old-style (one lane), and when to occupy two lanes up until the point where the second lane disappears.

A Department of Transportation official says "If traffic is heavy, the system will instruct motorists to use both lanes and take turns once they've reached the defined merge point just before the lane closure."

It's good to see the state trying to address a minor though common problem. Now if state residents would only learn how to yield and merge properly. My driving around the area confirms the news account that "Minnesota drivers are not good at yielding the right of way in general, and the state led the nation in 2001 with 15 percent of its accidents caused by failure to yield."

Labels: Transportation

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College Scholarships Wasted by Poor High School Preparation
The Detroit News carries a wire service story about state programs that offer merit-based scholarships to graduating high school students. The bad news? Despite their high grades, many are not adequately prepared for college. Some end up taking remedial classes, which means that taxpayers are paying twice for what should have been done once.

Labels: Education

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Raise My Taxes
The Detroit News--formerly a solid low-tax advocating paper--profiles the mayor of Huntington Woods, Michigan. Her latest project? Raise taxes. She is having some success winning over voters.

I am not too familiar with Huntington Woods, but I do have the sense that at some point some people have more money than sense. I've lived in such a city. At some point, people start thinking of government spending as a positive good. It is, of course, at a basic level, if it provides roads, a system of justice, and a few other items. But we have long passed that threshold in many communities. (permalink)

Taxing a Highly-Taxed Population to Solve a Non-Problem
Ann Arbor is one of the most highly taxed cities in Michigan. It's also the home of some wild-eyed ideas. (It's also home to a major university, which may explain both facts.)

Now, the city's mayor wants to add to the property tax rates a levy to buy development rights on land outside the city. All of this, of course, is meant to stop the scourge-of-the-moment, "sprawl." The mayor says "We have five to seven years to take action before the horse is out of the barn and sprawl has spread over the area."

Diane Katz, of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy takes a contrary view. She argues that existing efforts at "farmland preservation" are not working, and that the current fear of farmland loss is overblown. (permalink)

We Get Results
The Ironwood Daily Globe says that the Michigan department of Resources has reached an agreement with Porcupine Mountain LLC to manage the ski hill at the Porcupine Mountains State Park. The two parties are now working on a long-term lease.

The "Porkies," refers to a mountain range, a state park, and a ski area. All are in remote northwest Michigan, on the edge of Lake Superior

According to the statement from the Department of Natural Resources, "State recreation officials moved to modify the hill operation early this year in order to preserve the skiing opportunity in light of ongoing state budget constraints."

This all comes just over a year after the PolicyGuy wrote an article for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, calling for the state to contract out the operations of this ski area. It's amazing how the thinking in state government can be affected by an economic downturn.

The Mackinac Center staff who uncovered and publicized this (I just wrote one of several articles on the subject) deserve a "thank you" from Michigan taxpayers, who will be free of at least one subsidy. (permalink)

Conservative Republican Turns Populist, Attacks Pharmaceutical Companies
Minnesota's governor, Tim Pawlenty, is the most conservative the state has seen in decades. His hold-the-line-on-taxes stance drew criticism from four former governors--including Republicans. But he largely got what he wanted.

Now Pawlenty is bashing pharmaceutical companies. Well, not exactly bashing, but he has jumped on the bandwagon--actually, he's now pulling it--that promises miracle cures at Blue Light Special prices.

"There is a rebellion brewing in America. It is the prescription drug equivalent of the Boston Tea Party. Americans are indeed fed up. They need and deserve change."

And I thought Minnesotans would never vote for Pat Buchanan. Pitchforks, anyone? It's a disgusting spectacle.

Baby Boomers are aging. The audience that once listened to the sardonic song that promised "Money for nothing, and chicks for free" now wants drugs for free--or at least on its own terms. (permalink)

No Surprise Here
Children who watch a lot of TV don't learn very well. (permalink)

But This Won't Help State Finances
Wisconsin may spend $3 million on a Hmong cultural center after all. Somehow I doubt this is an essential government function. (permalink)

Good News from Wisconsin
Tax collections over the last 3 months rose 3.1 percent, suggesting a strengthening economy. (permalink)

More Budget Cutting in Michigan
Governor Granholm has instructed state agencies to save $14 million by cutting back on magazine subscriptions, cell phone usage, travel, non-essential purchases, and other items.

That's fine, as far as it goes. And it beats what the last Democratic governor used--an increase in the income tax rate.

When compared with neighboring Ohio--where a Republican-controlled government raised the sales tax rate--it appears that the best partisan makeup for fiscal restraint is the combination of a Democratic governor and a Republican legislature.

Granholm and the legislature ought to use these difficult budget times as a way not to do more with less, but to do less with less. It could, for example, get out of the business of running fairs, and sell the state fairgrounds for millions; this would do more for the budget that buying fewer paper clips. As a bonus, it would begin to restore the state government to doing its core functions. (permalink)

Student Grades Online To Disrupt Status Quo
Schools in southeast Michigan are starting to put student grades online, where parents can get access to grades, assignments, and attendance records.

A professor of education, though, warns that teachers may not warm up to the idea: "You are basically having a window allowing parents to peek into the classroom. Teachers are used to being the kings and queens of the classroom. It's a sensitive area."

Students, especially teenagers, probably won't be thrilled with mom or dad looking in. But parents have to have some perks, right? (permalink)

Economic Development Through ... Poetry?
George Dila, who is founder and director of the Ludington Visiting Writers Series, says that what this vacation spot on eastern Lake Michigan needs is more poetry.

The Ludington Daily News says that Dila wants the city council to designate a week next year as "Poetry Week." He says "There’s no other poetry event like this in Michigan. I want to bring hundreds of people to Ludington, buses of them." He says he will ask for "additional help in the future."

I wonder if that means some taxpayer dollars for a poetry festival. Sounds as if Dila has been listening to Governor Granholm's "Cool Cities" initiative to keep the "cool" people from fleeing to the suburbs. (OK, Ludington isn't exactly a suburb of anywhere, except perhaps, during Summer weekends, Chicago).

Poetry is cool, isn't it?

UPDATE: Mr. Dila wrote to me with these comments: "Actually, Ludington Visiting Writers HAS received a grant from the Michigan Rural Arts and Culture Program to hold the Ludington Poetry Festival 2004. The event is scheduled for May 20 - 22. My presentation to the Council was to inform them of this grant and event, and to early-on enlist their support."

By the way, Ludington is worth visiting, whether you listen to poetry or not. Here's a link to tourist information.

Labels: Cool cities fad

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What's the Biggest Employer in Your State?
What's the largest employer where you live? If you're in Minnesota, it's the state government. The Taxpayers League of Minnesota has put out a nifty guide to public employment in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. (Be warned, it's a 1.4MB Acrobat PDF file.)

It doesn't print very well to the screen, so here are some of the most significant points:

• In the last 20 years, the state's population has increased 22 percent; state government employment, by contrast, has increased 31 percent, and local government employment has gone up by almost half: 45 percent.


• The top five employers 20 years ago: Honeywell, 3M, General Mills, Pillsbury, and Control Data. Today, the Target Corporation is the only for-profit organization in the top 5.


• Salaries for government workers are larger than those for private sector workers ($44,000 compared with $37,000).


• The State pays 68 percent more for employee health insurance coverage than the typical private sector business, and gives 25 percent more time off per year.

There are various caveats that one may throw into the mix. The government workforce may contain a disproportionate number of people with advanced degrees (though I am not sure of this), which typically command higher wages. It may also be older (and thus higher paid) than the private sector workforce. But the picture is clear: public service is by and large not a sacrifice; it is, as the Taxpayers League publication calls it, "A Pretty Good Deal."

Labels: Health care

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The Granny State
The Cato Institute has come out with a new report, War Between Generations, that predicts how large Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will become. (Medicaid is commonly thought of as a medical system for the poor, but over half of its budget is spent on nursing home care for the elderly.)

Rich Lowry finds the proposal to add prescription drug benefits to Medicare just the latest installment in Operation Please Granny. Pulling from the Cato report, he notes that

• Federal spending on these three programs went from 27 percent of the federal budget in 1980 to 41 percent in 2000.


• By 2040, the number of elderly (which will include yours truly) will increase 116 percent, contributing to the further expansion of these programs.


• Poverty among the elderly is down--from 35 percent in 1959 to 10 percent in 2001, a rate lower than the general population. (Some of that is due to simple prosperity, some of it is due to government programs).


• The typical 70 year old used to spend one-third less than the average 30 year old. Now he spends more.


• A man who is 25 now will, over his lifetime, surrender a net of $322,000 in taxes, compared with benefits he will receive in retirement.

It's common to bash baby boomers for being the most selfish generation ever--yet they are not yet collecting Security. (The leading edge of the boomers, born in 1946, are in 2003 57 years old). The problem could get much worse, but it is simply not sustainable. Personal savings accounts for retirement and medical savings accounts for health care will be commonplace once the full disaster of the present system has worked itself out.

Labels: Medicaid

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Pharma Strikes Back
As various states seek to rely on Canadian price controls on drugs as a cost-saving measure, pharmaceutical companies are striking back against Canadian companies. Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Wyeth, among others, are restricting their sales to Canadian pharmacies to make sure that they don't export their price-controlled products to the U.S. (permalink)

Milwaukee Residents: We Want Educational Choice
Approximately 100 residents of Wisconsin's 16th Assembly District tell their lawmakers that they want more school choice. Some complained that the politicians "were ignoring their wishes to let the choice program grow and serve more students."

One assembly member, Leon Young (D-Milwaukee) said that a recently proposal to expand school choice in Milwaukee was "passed by Republican lawmakers who don't live in Milwaukee, who have a hidden agenda and do not have the best interests of Milwaukee's children at heart."

Some parents objected, though. Said one,

"I don't doubt these people (Republicans) have an agenda. But what makes people think that as parents we don't have an agenda?"

True enough. And that agenda is to find a good education--now--for their children. Too bad some legislators are more concerned about foiling the plans of other legislators than in advancing the agenda of parents.

Labels: Education, School choice

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All We Need Are a Few euphemisms
The folly of "smart growth" has come to Michigan, and the Detroit Free Press is on board. In an editorial today, it advises those who advocate these unnecessary (and in many cases, unwise) policies to further the cause by coming up with a few good slogans.

You see, a recent opinion poll taken by Wayne State University finds that popular support for so-called smart policies (isn't that a euphemism already?) depends on how they are described. No surprise there.

The Freep finds that Michiganders will accept "well-packaged ideas." On the other hand, "Imply that a land use strategy might mean fewer backyards, or less housing for young families, and interest nosedives." It encourages proponents to play on phrases such as "crops-are-tops" (so-called farmland preservation) to get further acceptance of, well, fewer backyards and less housing for young families.

Cute.

But cute doesn't make for good policy. (permalink)

He Who Has the Gold Makes the Rules
Chip Taylor reviews a New York Times article on health care financing. Over 25 new
specialty hospitals are going up in Milwaukee, Indianapolis, and other cities. Says Taylor, "So what's wrong with that? More heart hospitals are a good thing, right?

Building more heart hospitals is good if it is a response to more demand for them. But that isn't what is going on." Medicare funding formulas and decisions are a large mover behind what is being built and what isn't. For example, psychiatric care, preventive care and case management risk are probably underfunded.

Taylor concludes "if third party payers were providing most of the money to buy cars, your choices would largely be limited to the models that provided the manufacturers the largest payments relative to cost. That's what happens in health care." (permalink)

Trash is Expensive
Cities in the Milwaukee area are thinking of ways to cut down on the costs of trash collection, the Journal-Sentinel says. Like governments in most places, they need to find ways to save costs. Some are imposing monthly fees, others are taking measures believed to increase the efficiency of collection crews. (permalink)

Escape Clause in No Child Left Behind Isn't Working in Chicago
According to the Sun-Times, approximately 270,000 Chicago Public School students are in underperforming schools, and are thus able to transfer to other, better schools. But the CPS says its better schools have room for only 1,100 students.

Labels: Education

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Budget Crisis Looms in Michigan
The Ludington Daily News offers an outstate view of the budget situation in Michigan. It notes that two-thirds of the state budget is protected by constitutional provisions, or tied to federal funding (meaning that cutting these funds would be extra difficult).

It's time for some smart thinking in the state; even a 5 percent across-the-board increase wouldn't suffice. (permalink)

Lousy Charter Schools
The Detroit News investigates charter schools, and finds that a quarter of students in Michigan's charter schools are under-performing those in Detroit Public Schools. However, the News also partly takes back its criticism by noting "It is impossible to say conclusively whether charters outperform traditional public schools because changes to state tests and limited data make it difficult to track students over time. "

But think about this: alternative schools are damned if they do, and damned if they don't. If charter school students outperform those at government schools, they're "skimming the cream." If charter school students don't, then the schools are a failure.

Parents, also, are able to remove their students from charters and return them to the traditional, government schools. And if things get bad enough, a school's charter can be revoked. On the other hand, a government school, by definintion, can never be shut down, even for gross mismanagement or incompetence.

Labels: Charter schools, Education

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State Troopers Patrol ... Football Fields
"Is football a religion in the South?"
"Oh no, it's much more important than that."

This alleged exchange may explain why, on any given Saturday in the fall, there are more Alabama troopers working the football fields and locker rooms than the roadways. Says this AP story printed at ESPN.Com, "As many as 17 state troopers are busy escorting 10 different football teams and their coaches on any given Saturday this fall, according to the Department of Public Safety. That's about three times the number of troopers who typically patrol state highways at night."

Now, I like college football as much as the next person--perhaps even more. But for a state that has such a dire situation that the Republican governor invoked the name of Jesus to tout a tax increase ballot question (it lost), there's definitely a question of misplaced priorities here. But at least, as the AP reports, the teams and universities are starting to cough up the money themselves. (permalink)

Sales Tax Rollback in Ohio
Pete DuPont tells OpinionJournal why Ohio taxpayers may soon vote to repeal a recent hike in the sales tax rate.

In the last decade, inflation has been low and the state's population has barely increased. Yet the state budget has increased 70 percent, the highest of all state budgets. Last year, the Republican governor and General Assembly imposed a temporary increase in the sales tax rate, from 5 percent to 6 percent. Critics fear it won't be temporary for long.

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell is lending his support to an effort to repeal the tax hike via popular initiative. (Interestingly, if you first type in "RepealTheTax.Org," as I first did, you get taken to the site of the Ohio Taxpayers Association, which blasts Blackwell as being part of the problem.) (permalink)

ER Crisis
Emergency rooms are somewhere from 67 to 80 percent over capacity. In part, this is because it's the health care provider of last resort, a place where someone who doesn't have health insurance can get care. A spokesman for the Wisconsin Hospital Association says that "There is an ever-worsening problem with inappropriate use of emergency departments."

St. Joseph Regional Medical Center is planning to impose some fiscal discipline on the situation; people who come in will be asked to have a $150 deposit on hand. Those who don't have the money "will be referred by financial counselors to community programs that help with medical costs." Roughly 60 percent of all ER visits could have been taken care of in cheaper settings.

Other hospitals are looking at instituting this plan.

Labels: Health care

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No Further Comment Necessary
From the Detroit News and wire reports: Most U.S. public school teachers ... are qualified to do their jobs, according to information that all states submitted to the federal government.

But each state defined teacher qualifications differently. And experts say some state definitions are so broad that virtually all classroom teachers would meet the requirements. That has the potential to mask one of the most troubling problems in American schooling: assigning students to educators who don't fully grasp the subjects they teach, education experts say.

Labels: Education

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Here's a Test: Can You Not Lose the Test?
Choice works to advance the quality and cost-effectiveness of everything from vision-correcting laser surgery to groceries. Yet when it comes to K-12 schooling, the establishment reform of choice is not choice, but testing.

You've got to wonder about how effective the test-and-reward approach (embodied by the federal "No Child Left Behind" act) really is. How, for example, can you make use of test results that you don't have? Michigan officials are trying to account for 3,400 student tests believed to be missing. (permalink)

No Michigan Money for Kiddie Laptops, But Program Lingers On
Gov. Jennifer Granholm says that Michigan won't be using $22 million to buy laptops for sixth graders. But she hasn't killed the program entirely, saying that it will simply proceed on a slower pace, with only federal money. The proposed cutback is one way to deal with a $900 million budget deficit. The leading proponent of this boondoggle is House Speaker Rick Johnson, a Republican. (permalink)

How Effective are Tax Rate Increases? Not as much as you'd think
As one of their advisors, I'm proud to announce that the Illinois Policy Institute has released a new study that offers a dynamic scoring model of the Illinois economy.

What that fancy language means is this: government imposes a tax rate increase. What happens? The tax hike doesn't generate as much money as projected.

The current fiscal year budget was built with the expectation that tax and fee increases would raise another $541 million. Does the state get that much more? No, it collects only $443.91 million more -- or 18 percent less than projected.

Why does this happen? Raising taxes and fees destroys jobs and reduces investment. In other words, tax revenues depend on a strong economy, but tax increases destroy economic life. (permalink)

Hell Freezes Over. Or does it? Union concessions in Michigan.
It looks like state workers in Michigan will agree to contract concessions, designed to save the state some money in its current fiscal year. For example, members of the UAW would work 40 hours but get paid for only 38. It's not a total loss, though, for the employees--they get to stash those hours towards vacation or retirement benefits. Think of it as a long-term loan at below-market rates rather than an outright gift.

Give credit to the president of the UAW local, who defended the agreement this way: "You look around the world, and you see very few companies that have not had to do concessions." (permalink)

Should I buy from you? Do you live here?
Kwame Kilpatrick, mayor of Detroit, has revised the rules for who gets preference and who doesn't when it comes to city contracts. Tom Walsh applauds Kilpatrick for simplifying the rules. But then he says "If Detroit were widely perceived as a good place to locate corporate headquarters, we wouldn't need to bribe companies with goodies like this." (permalink)

Here's One Good Thing About the Budget Crunch in Michigan
The ill-suited fascination with technology may have to wait; a plan to distribute laptop computers to government-school students "is running into trouble because of the state's money woes and emerging opposition from voters and educators."

The Mackinac Center (based in Michigan) argues that the plan, if it goes through, won't improve education.

Labels: Education

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Conceal Carry Measure Still Twisting in Wisconsin
Negotiations still continuing over where conceal carry permits in Wisconsin would be able to pack heat. One state senator says "What's terrifying to me is, this could become law. I live in a city where there are thousands and thousands of shots fired every year."

With all due respect ... those shots aren't launched on their own, but by criminals (in most cases). The proposal merely gives law-abiding citizens the right to carry a gun, which they may eventually find useful for self-defense. The rest of the law-abiding population would benefit, too. (permalink)

Rx Roulette?
The Washington Post is running a series of articles on the safety of the prescription drug supply chain. Part one discusses the "diverters," or "armies of little-known brokers who illegally gain control of discounted medicines intended for nursing homes, hospices and AIDS clinics." Part 2 explores the lucrative world of (legal) narcotics. Part 3 profiles "rogue Internet pharmacies" and physicians who staff them.

There's more to come. The series shows the futility of government regulation (even as it calls for more). It also (indirectly) is a cautionary tale of proposals to import prescription drugs from price-controlling countries. Just how safe is that going to be, when there's trouble ensuring the safety and efficacy of what's already in-country? (permalink)

Rich Dems Subsidize Poor Republicans
That's the argument of Daniel Gross. The northeast U.S is generally Democratic, and sends more money to the U.S. treasury than it gets back. This is due in part to military bases (scattered more in the Sunbelt than in the Northeast) than the giant subsidies given to the agricultural industry (on the Great Plains, and elsewhere). What Gross doesn't note, however, is that the Northeast's higher taxes come largely from progressive tax rates at the federal level, reflecting a philosophy most at home in the Democratic party. In other words, if there's any complaining in the Northeast about "unfair" tax and spending policies, the damage is at least partly self-inflicted.

Gross points out that "11 of the 13 wealthiest states voted for Gore while 15 of the poorest 17 states voted for Bush." So much for the Republicans as the party of the wealthy? (permalink)

State Workers Get the Ax in Wisconsin
Corporate America has shed hundreds of thousands of jobs in recent years. Wisconsin state government makes cuts ... a few dozen permanent employees and it makes the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Wisconsin has been trying to address a $3.2 billion budget deficit, and may need to cut more. Jim Doyle, the state's governor, suggests that 10,000 jobs may be cut over the next 8 years. But nobody knows for sure what the final number will be, because it depends both on negotiations with the union (will they take lower pay raises, or fewer workers?) and on the number of current employees who retire. (Historically, "job cuts" in government mean eliminating vacant positions.)

From 1986 through the 2002-03 fiscal year, the number of state employees has increased from 56,433 to 68,091, or 21 percent.

A human interest angle makes any policy discussion more interesting, so the paper runs this article through the prism of a 46-year old woman who used to teach in the state's prison system. Too bad for her that she lost her job--a blow that makes the job cuts look worse than they really are. (The story doesn't, by contrast, feature any, say, machinists who are out of work because rising taxes caused their employers to leave the state or go out of business.) Don't feel too sorry for the teacher, though; she quickly found work elsewhere. (permalink)

Canadian Health Care: No Model for U.S.
On the subject of Canada, Brian Lee Crowley, president of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (Halifax, Nova Scotia) tells an audience in Michigan about the Top Ten Things Americans Believe About Canadian Health Care, But Shouldn't. (permalink)

Want Drugs? Go to Canada
Maybe it's because Minnesota has Canada on its northern border. Maybe it's because "Minnesota Nice" mixes so well with the mythical vision of Canada as just like the U.S., but only more polite. Maybe it's simply wrong-headed thinking (which it is), but the Pawlenty administration is planning to combine two public policy blunders into one program: negotiate a contract by which state residents may purchase pharmaceutical drugs (error one: get government involved as a "purchasing club" for the public) from Canadian pharmacies (error two: encourage violations of federal law), who sell drugs at discounted prices (error three: depend on price controls, which the Canadian government uses to bring about those attractive prices.)

Today the St. Paul Pioneer Press endorses this trifecta of error.

The paper notes "A poll done this month for the Washington Post and ABC News indicates people want to get out from under the bills for prescription drugs, higher in the United States than elsewhere in the developed world."

True enough, people do "want to get out from under the bills." That doesn't require government action, though. I would like to state help to help me get out from my mortgage bill. By golly, that's just too high, you know? And how about my telephone bill? And while we're at it, my greens fees, too.

Ain't gonna happen--nor should it.

Ah, but prescription drugs, that's different. At least in the political calculus. Why? One, senior citizens use prescription drugs more than other age groups; more importantly, they vote more often, too. Two, health care policy has long been based on the perverse notion that somebody else pays the bills. Through government programs (Medicare, Medicaid) and employer-provided insurance, we've become accustomed to health care as a system by which somebody else pays--actually, pre-pays, for our medical care. So the thought of the consumer actually being involved in a retail transaction involving prescription drugs is just too much for some to take.

But back to the Pioneer-Press. They have one thing right: prescription drug prices are indeed higher in the US than elsewhere. Just so that truth is repeated for the thousandth (or more) time, there's one reason for this: other countries are freeriding off the U.S. It's only because the Americans pays full freight of development that drug companies earn the profits required to engage in the expensive research required to bring a drug to market ($800 million for one drug is a number I commonly read).

(Oh yes, another reason for discontent over drug prices: it's easy to see that the marginal cost of producing another pill is next to nothing, and focus on that. It's harder to remember the upfront costs of developing the chemical combination in that pill.)

Labels: Health care, Medicaid

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I Hate Spam--and Here's Another Reason
I post a comment about blogger Chip Taylor. Ten minutes later I get what is obviously a piece of spam with the name "C. Taylor" in the column listing the (phony) sender. Someone's busy today. (permalink)

Non-Profit Doesn't Mean Starvation Wages
No surprise, I guess, but it bears repeating: just because someone works at a non-profit group doesn't (necessarily) mean that they work for little money. The Philadelphia Enquirer reports that top on-air talent at National Public Radio pull in $100,000 or more a year, and more. Getting into a "I'm more underpaid than thou" debate is silly, of course, but this is something to think about the next time you read about "corporate greed." (permalink)

Medicare is a Bunch of Hot Air
Just when you think a government office can't possibly spend more, it does--to encourage more people to sign up for this or that entitlement. You know there's a blimp for Goodyear, Budweiser, and so forth? Now there's even a blimp for Medicare. As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up. Here is the news. (Thanks to National Review's corner for the tip.) (permalink)

You Can't Be Trusted With Your Money, but We Can
Chip Taylor notes two items that affirm (again) the danger of relying on public financing to achieve social goals.

First, opponents of Social Security privatization argue that Joe SixPack can't be trusted to manage his own money; better leave that to the professionals in the public service. Well, various state and local governments have recently taken on a lot of risks in managing retirement accounts for their employees.

Second, tobacco settlement funds were supposed to be a boon to state coffers, or at least a way to recoup (allegedly) lost revenue due to smoking. Guess what? Supply and demand strike again. Smokers are going to the less-taxed cigarettes, meaning that everywhere there are shortfalls in projected tobacco tax money.

And speaking of Social Security, David Hogberg announces his new study on Social Security and union households in Iowa. (Here's a hint: they would come out much better with private investments rather than political promises, which are the foundation of Social Security.) (permalink)

Economics 101: Supply, Demand, Parking Lots and Football Games
Few things illustrate the laws of supply and demand than the parking fees of lots near popular stadiums and arenas. Park all day in the Chicago loop, and you may be looking at $25. Park all day in Lincoln, Nebraska, and you may pay $5. Last Friday evening, I paid $10 to park 5 blocks away from an arena for a concert, even though during the week the same amount of time may have set me back $4. Did it bother me? No. It's just economics.

Apparently, Econ 101 has not made it to the officials of Detroit, (yeah, no kidding--look at the decline of that once-great city). Members of the political and football going class alike are shocked, shocked that parking rates increase during Detroit Lions football games. And they think that city government ought to do something about it.

This desire to impose at price controls, of course, is not limited to urban parking lots. We see it in health care delivery, telecom regulation, and any number of policy areas. Most famously, of course, we saw it in the long queues for gas during the 1970s. Supply and demand have got to be respected, one way or the other. (permalink)

States Want Guaranteed Money, not Flexibility
No great surprises here, but Stateline.org reports that proposals from the Bush Administration to give states block grants--fixed sums in exchange for increased flexibility--aren't being warmly received by the nation's governors.

Robert Rector, policy expert with The Heritage Foundation, endorses some kind of control, saying "The worst possible situation you could have is one group of politicians spending money raised by another group of politicians. It's a recipe for non-accountability."

Perhaps the best example of how inter-government funds can lead to trouble is the Medicaid. This federal-state program medical program for the poor is a mess for everyone concerned--patients, medical professionals, and state budgets. Thanks to matching funds from Washington, states have an incentive to expand Medicaid in flush times (earning political points from activist groups). But when states need to cut back in hard times, they get hammered by the federal match: cutting $1 in state funds eliminates another $1 (in federal funds), making the total cuts $2. The result? Twice the political opposition for the same fiscal discipline.

Overall, the Bush proposal is a sound one (though the better way would be simply to eliminate many of these programs altogether). But if there's one thing state officials want more than flexibility, it's guaranteed money. And the block grant proposal all but guarantees no new money.

Labels: Medicaid

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What's a Public School?
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that "Nearly a quarter of all Milwaukee children whose education is being paid for by public dollars are not attending a conventional MPS school this year."

These students are enrolled in 200 specialty programs within the Milwaukee Public Schools, 106 schools in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, charter schools, and suburban schools that accept city students.

The article notes that charter schools--many of which appear to be run by government entities of one sort or another--receive "$7,050 per student, regardless of family income, and more than $23 million in state funding." Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program schools--mostly privately administered schools--received "$5,882 per qualifying, low-income student from the state this year." So much for the claim that school choice (the parental choice program) drains money from MPS; if anyone "drains" money, it's the schools chartered by the University of Wisconsin and the City of Milwaukee.

This report also tut-tuts that the Parental Choice schools are "much less subject to public scrutiny than conventional public schools." As if the parents who make the decisions were not the public.

Labels: Charter schools, Education, School choice

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Kiss Your Tax Dollars Goodbye
The student activities board at the University of Michigan (Dearborn) bring in an outside author to give a lecture on kissing, an event that featured live demonstrations.

Do college students really need to be taught how to kiss? (permalink)

Does "Wisconsin Works" Work?
"Wisconsin Works" is the name for the Badger State's welfare reform program. A new report suggests that "Wisconsin Works" doesn't place enough emphasis on work. Only 25 percent of participants in W-2, as it is called, are actually working. Defenders of the program say that work was never meant to be the entire emphasis of the program.

The Journal-Sentinel of Milwaukee says that the report is published by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute. But it's not online yet. (permalink)

Failure Coming to a Prestigious Public School Near You
The No Child Left Behind Act is having some interesting effects. Evanston Township schools may be placed on a list of low-performing schools in Illinois.

This is big news, given ET's high-flying reputation. To top things off, the "Midwestern Ivy" college, Northwestern University, is in Evanston.

But ET will face scrutiny for subpar performance of its minority students--something that earns sanctions under NCLB.

Labels: Education

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How do I get Work Like That? Golfing on the Public's Time
Since May of this year, four employees of the Village of Barrington (a wealthy suburb of Chicago) have attended 29 golf outings on village time. A trustee defends the practice, saying "Department heads are the face of the village. It's an opportunity for them to get out in the community." A professor at Northern Illinois University says "It's not even a perk; it's part of their professional development. It's about knowing your peers."

OK, I've been part of corporate outing, but it was my own dime, and time. And I may concede that hitting the links as part of an annual conference for one's profession may happen to. (The social highlight of the professional meetings I attend, however, tends to be the formal dinner, where we still talk shop.) But at least two of the village employees took at least some "company time" to participate in a weekly league sponsored by the local chamber of commerce.

One question. How do I get one of those jobs?

Labels: Golf

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Best Reading
Today I won't do much blogging, since (among other reasons) I will be spending the morning at a conference on health care.

In the U.S., we have great science and technology. Life expectancy is increasing, and many ailments are coming under control. Breakbuster drugs promise not only a longer life, but an easier one.

But our public policy on health is all wrong. It's based on an economy and society--stable, lifelong employment, the nuclear family as the overwhelming living arrangement--that to some extent never exists. And unlike the pattern of what we do with homeowners or auto insurance, when it comes to health insurance we depend third parties--employers or the government--to purchase and administer insurance for us. Except it's not really insurance, but insurance PLUS prepaid services. That's part of the problem.

Here, then, are some of the leading organizations addressing health care: Kaiser Family Foundation (good for statistics), the Galen Institute (working on the messy connection between health care policy and tax policy), and The Heritage Foundation.

Labels: Health care

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I Want my Drugs. Cheaply.
Add Massachusetts to the list of states where officials have called for price controls on prescription drugs. Well, the AG of the Bay State hasn't exactly called for the U.S. to impose price controls; instead, Thomas F. Reilly has called on the FDA to make it easy for American to import drugs from Canada, which does have price contols.

Sounds like a great political plan for Reilly; after all, "AG" stands not only for "Attorney General," but "aspiring governor." (permalink)

Wisconsin Conceal Carry Amendment
No final decision, but a Senate committee in Wisconsin has made changes to the conceal carry proposal in hopes of winning the approval of Governor Jim Doyle, who has vowed a veto. Meanwhile, a state senator from Milwaukee learns the wrong lesson from recent shootings in his district; he says that now opposes the measure because it may lead to more violence. (Senator ... legislation is all about letting the good guys defend themselves; the bad guys already pack heat.) (permalink)

Is it the art that brought you here?
Under Wisconsin law, 18-20 year olds (who are in every other legal sense adults) are not able to drink alcohol, or enter venues where alcohol is served, except .... There are several exceptions, including "stadiums, fairs, museums and other such venues." So, a Green Bay Packers game? Sure.

Now, a Milwaukee business that serves alcohol bought some paintings, hung them on the wall, and asked for designation as a "Center for the Visual and Performing Arts."

The business? Club Paradise Gentlemen's Club. Yup--a strip joint. The, uhm, gentlemen, 18 or older but under 21 will be able to view the two abstract paintings on the walls, as well as anything else that just happens to be going on.

Just another example of how laws can have unintended consequences. (permalink)

Blame the NFL
Today's version of "Best of the Web" over at OpinionJournal offers news of this odd lawsuit. Here's the entire text:

In 1999 Antonia Verni, then two years old, was paralyzed when the car in which she was riding was hit by a truck driven by a drunken man named Daniel Lanzaro. Lanzaro was sentenced to five years in prison, and Antonia's parents, represented by lawyer Rosemarie Arnold, are suing . . . the National Football League.

Yes, it seems Lanzaro had been drinking beer at a New York Giants game. The Associated Press reports the lawsuit "contends the league promotes the type of behavior that led the fan to drink 14 beers . . . and then drive home."

Now, I'm much more of a college football fan than an NFL fan. And I would agree that driving while intoxicated is an act of irresponsibility. But suing the NFL in this sad case is just another example of an attorney looking for someone with deep pockets, regardless of culpability.

Let's play this, uhm, game, and see what other victims of criminal acts could do. The victim of a buglarly could sue a TV station for broadcasting reruns of "Dallas," on the grounds that it encourages greed. The possibilities are endless. (permalink)

Hell Freezes Over; State Union Agrees to Concessions
negotiator for two unions have reached a tentative agreement with the state of Minnesota. Employees will get no cost-of-living agreement for the duration of the two-year agreement.

But don't feel sorry for them. First, they will get to keep their jobs. (Some, though, will not; the union choose to lose some members rather than make further concessions.) They will also be able to get merit pay raises. (Come to think of it, that may be better--for employees as well as taxpayers--than automatic pay raises.) And their health care coverage will still be a bargain; single workers will pay nothing for their premiums, for example. It just won't be as generous as it used to be. Finally, I suspect that most state jobs have some sort of longevity pay ("steps and ladders"), so even if the base pay schedule doesn't bring about a raise, simply staying on the job for another year will.

How did all this come about? I suspect Governor Pawlenty's toughness in negotiating with the legislature over the state budget (resulting in no tax rate increases) played a huge part. Like most states, Minnesota overspent in the last decade, and its reliance on progressive income taxes means that the state budget took a hit when the economy softened. (permalink)

Milwaukee Going Upscale? A Dinner with that Beer, Please
Governments no longer try to ban the sale of alcohol, as was the case under Prohibition. But they do control the distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages much more than any other product, though the required liquor license and other requirements.

The government of West Milwaukee is now using its control over liquor distribution is a tool to attempt to shape the municipality's culture, turning it into more of an upscale community.

Says the village president, Ron Hayward, "The times that there are two or three bars on every block is passed. West Milwaukee wants to upgrade its image."

Of course, if "West Milwaukee" wanted to change its image, people there could simply stop patronizing the local taverns. But the village council wants to speed up the process, by favoring full-service restaurants over taverns in the granting of licenses.

One bar owner said, of the village leaders, "What they're deciding is what's good for the neighborhood and what's not."

But the small owners are not innocent of putting the squeeze on business. In an anti-competitive move, the Tavern League of Wisconsin encouraged the state legislature to increase the license fee for a new tavern from $500 to $10,000. That made the value of existing licenses more expensive, and made it more difficult to get a new one. The crackdown on new licenses in West Milwaukee and other communities is the continuation of that trend. (permalink)

When is a Road not a Road?
Matt Helms, transportation columnist for the Detroit Free Press, takes on this question from a reader: this highway was just rebuilt, and it looks like there are three lanes, but there are really only two. Why?

The answer: federal environmental policy. Right now, that space is just an extra-wide shoulder. It would take too much trouble to pass the environmental policy tests. But should the policy governing roads change, the state will just have to make a few changes, and ... you've got a new lane.

Labels: Transportation

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Conceal Carry Bill in Wisconsin to Advance
A bill to permit law-abiding adults to carry concealed weapons may pass a Senate committee early next week. Still uncertain: Will the legislature be able to override the expected veto?

For the value of such laws, check out the National Center for Policy Analysis, which offers some useful (though in some cases, dated) numbers. (permalink)

Why Sales Tax May Beat Income Tax
Michigan has done as good as can be expected (which is, unfortunately, not good enough) in cutting spending and balancing the budget without raising taxes.

But it looks like another debate will be coming; its tax revenues are falling short of projections, signaling a still-soft economy. But from a chart of tax collections offered by the Detroit News shows that sales tax revenues have stayed steady, even as income tax receipts are down from a year ago. (permalink)

Root, Root, Root Against the Home Team
The other day I mentioned that you may not want the home team to win; a winning season may lead to demands for taxpayer-paid stadiums. (An article about Fenway Park, appearing in The Wall Street Journal today, confirms--again--this point.)

The St. Paul Pioneer-Press provides another reason to cheer for a team in another city: you won't have to put up with riots.

Seriously.

The University of Minnesota football team has been a perennial cupcake, a punching bag in the Big 10 conference. But this year, they are 5-0. OK, only one of those wins was against a quality opponent (Penn State), but still, there's a lot of buzz around town for a non-hockey team.

Tonight the Michigan Wolverines come to play, and they've beat the Gophers of Minnesota 31 out of the last 33 times they've met. The Pioneer-Press publishes a plea from two members of the Minnesota student government to fellow students: If our team wins, please don't riot. (permalink)

Tax Rates Matter: Yet Another Chapter
Illinois had one of the highest tax rates on casino winnings in the country. To shore up the state budget, Governor Rod Blagojevich raised rates again. The state take did go up, but not as much as expected.

Where did the money to? To neighboring Indiana, where casino taxes are lower.

Thanks to Greg Blankenship, of the Illinois Policy Institute for pointing this out. If there's ever a definition of "mobile money," money spent on gambling would be it. And it provides a clear example of the effects of taxes on where people spend. (permalink)

Michigan May Delay Income Tax Reduction
When is a tax hike not a tax hike? When the governor proposes delaying a scheduled reduction in the income tax rate. And Jennifer Granholm is coming close to doing just that. The income tax rate is supposed to go down 0.1 percent in January.

Granholm suggests that the "low-hanging fruit" has been cut from the state budget. Yet she resists selling off the state-owned fairgrounds in Detroit. The Mackinac Center suggests that the state could save $20 million by selling fairgrounds and getting out of the fair business. Maybe Granholm ought to reconsider that "low-hanging fruit" remark. (permalink)

Toll Takers Brought to You by Walgreens
Continuing in the theme of corporate involvement, the Chicago Tribune (registration required) reports that the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority is looking into having Walgreens and other retail stores distribute electronic toll collection devices (known in the state as I-PASS).

Currently, 40 percent of motorists use I-PASS; the toll authority would like that to increase to 75 percent. And they're on to something. Not only does it save in personnel costs (fewer toll takers at booths), but more importantly, it reduces bottlenecks at tollboths, traffic jams that, more than the actual cost of tolls, give tollroads a bad name.

The I-PASS device acts more or less like a debit card, linked to a stored bank of money; motorists add value to it by check or credit card, and a small amount is deducted each time the car to which it is attached passes a toll "gate" (sometimes a literal gate, sometimes not). Making the transponder available in retail settings--currently, a motorist must call, write, or go online to get one--should increase usage rates.

Labels: Transportation

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Naming Rights for State Buildings
A few weeks ago, Chip Taylor reminded me of a proposal floated in Illinois to have corporate sponsorship of "state programs, events, initiatives, and facilities."

Now, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) has endorsed the idea, in concept, though he wants to make sure that the state does not end up with "The Capitol Dome Brought to You by Capital One," or something like that. Fair enough--some naming rights would be, simply, inappropriate.

State Senator Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin) says the whole idea is one of desperation (and sure enough, it is). He warns about the possibility of corruption, which is not out of the question, especially given Illinois' history of recent years. (permalink)

Dead Blogs
The Perseus Development Corporation estimates that there are 4.12 million blogs among the major blog hosting services, including the PolicyGuy's blog host, BlogSpot. But the company also estimates that 2.7 million blogs--or two out of every three--have not been updated in at least two months. Nearly 1.1 million blogs have not been updated since their first day. The study also reports that 90 percent of blogs are written by people under 30. It's not exactly a ringing endorsement of blogs, but there are many fine blogs out there, including those listed in the left-hand column of this page. (permalink)

More on 54
One benefit of working as a contractor, rather than an employee, is that I get to bypass some of the social-engineering workshops that employees of large organizations are encouraged (or even required) to attend. "Gay and Lesbian Employee Group celebrates ...", "African-American employees," and even (here in Minnesota) "Scandinavian-American Heritage Days."

All the talk of the wonders of diversity in corporate America, the halls of government, and elsewhere is bogus on several levels. But take just one for now. By emphasizing ethnic or racial groups, aren't we simply putting people into pigeon holes? "Men are ..." "African-Americans like," and so forth. Take any group you'd like, and there's more diversity there than you may think of at first. Putting a person into racial classification boxes ("Check one ...") and "celebrating diversity" has turned out to be a new form of stereotyping. (permalink)

Math Skills
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wraps up its series on math education in Wisconsin and the nation.

Meanwhile, it notes that over one third of all freshma