Finally some realism in the realm of municipal finance. ========= By Robert C. Pozen And Ronald J. Gilson While underfunded public-employee pensions capture the headlines, health-insurance benefits for retired state and local workers are also a huge problem. But a recent ruling by the Supreme Court may help state and local governments scale back these benefits. Unlike public pension plans, retiree health benefits aren’t... Read more
Archive for the ‘Socialism’ Category
Debt-Saddled Municipal Budgets Get a Lifeline
March 7 | Posted by mrossol | American Thought, SocialismThe Worldview that Makes the Underclass
December 29 | Posted by mrossol | American Thought, Big Govt, Economics, SocialismThis is a rather long piece, but it is well worth your time. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Reading this, its almost impossible to see from one paragraph to the next for all the smoke. ================= The following is adapted from a speech delivered on May 20, 2014, at a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar in Dearborn, Michigan. I worked for 15 years... Read more
Urban Rioting
December 29 | Posted by mrossol | American Thought, Socialism, US CourtsEdward Banfield on urban rioting in the 1960s in “The Unheavenly City” (1968): The rioters knew they had little or nothing to fear from the police and the courts. Under the pressure of the civil rights movement and of court decisions and as the result of the growing ‘professionalism’ of police administrators . . . the patrolman’s discretion in the use... Read more
UVA, Ferguson and Media Failure
December 11 | Posted by mrossol | American Thought, SocialismNo one is surprised. ===== In March 2007 the New York Times Magazine ran a stunning 12,000-word cover story on the subject of “The Women’s War.” It told the story of several female veterans of the war in Iraq, of the sexual assault some had endured in the military, and of their subsequent struggles with alcoholism, depression, PTSD and other effects of... Read more
Why I Just Can’t Become Chinese
August 31 | Posted by mrossol | American Thought, China, SocialismIsn’t it interesting. Consider the metric: Population vs % Naturalized Citizens. And now, ask yourself “Why?” ========= Try as I might, I just can’t become Chinese. It started as a thought experiment: I wondered what it would take for me, the son of Chinese immigrants, to become a citizen of China. So I called the nearest Chinese consulate and got lost in a voice... Read more
North Carolina Got It Right on Unemployment Benefits
July 6 | Posted by mrossol | American Thought, SocialismVery nice to see. There needs to be a better balance between helping those in need, and expecting effort on their part. ============= Raleigh, N.C. A year ago, North Carolina became the first state in the nation to exit the federal government’s extended-benefits program for the unemployed. Facing the prospect of job-killing hikes in payroll taxes to pay back Washington, Gov. Pat... Read more
