Marc Comtois
In light of the recent CNBC report that ranks Rhode Island last, #50, in the U.S. for being “business friendly”, Bob Plain wrote this morning–under the heading of “Making Sense of the CNBC Report”–that we should “get ready for the conservative barrage that because Rhode Island ranked as the least business-friendly state we should adjust…
David Harsanyi explains just how expensive the “Affordable Care Act” will be: And even after all the taxes and mandates, the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] estimates that by 2021, around 26 million Americans still won’t have health insurance. What will it cost to provide universal coverage using the Obamacare model be? We don’t know. But…
While President Obama attempts to frame the lapse of the “Bush tax cuts” in 2013 as a supposed return to the norm–with plenty of help from the media, who have accepted the premise that the extension of current tax rates are actually revenue “losses” should they be “extended”–he also recognizes that it would be political…
Continuing along the happiness trail, if it isn’t exactly money, then what is it? According to Arthur Brooks, it may just be your political ideology. So, who is happier? Liberals or Conservatives? Scholars on both the left and right have studied this question extensively, and have reached a consensus that it is conservatives who possess…
Bob Plain tweeted a link to a story on a study showing that the “comfortable standard” of income for being happy is, generally, around $75,000 in the United States. But whereas Bob indicated “$75k is the income Mendoza Line for affording happiness”, that’s a mischaracterization of what the research shows (granted, it was a character-limited…
Yesterday we learned that the economy created 80,000 jobs and was at 8.2%, which President Obama called “a step in the right direction”. Back in 2004, coming out of a recession, the economy created 310,000 new jobs and unemployment was at 5.6%. But that wasn’t good enough–wasn’t the real story–for a little-known state legislator running…
The character of immigration has changed over the last few years, and, as Walter Russel Mead notes it’s going in a positive direction. The conventional picture is of an unstoppable wave of unskilled, mostly Spanish-speaking workers—many illegal—coming across the Mexican border. People who see immigration this way fear that, instead of America assimilating the immigrants,…
While disagreeing with the outcome, Charles Krauthammer has some ideas as to why Chief Justice Roberts may have ruled as he did in the Health Care case: Why did he do it? Because he carries two identities. Jurisprudentially, he is a constitutional conservative. Institutionally, he is chief justice and sees himself as uniquely entrusted with…
Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion. Upholds Individual Mandate as a tax under Congress’ taxing powers. Apparently a complicated opinion. Others are more equipped (and have the time) to analyze, but feel free to comment! ADDENDUM (snarky version): Roberts joined with the courts liberals, so it was 5-4. Not quite the 5-4 decision anyone anticipated,…
NB: Probably the quickest notice of the Supreme Court ruling will be posted at the SCOTUS Blog. Hope their servers can handle it! Writing about the anticipatory condemnations of the soon-to-come Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare, Yuval Levin makes an observation about what liberal commentators and politicians–who are expecting at least the individual mandate to…