Nearly all major newspapers around the country on March 10th proclaimed this news: the use of public transit last year reached its highest level since 1956. The somewhat breathless New York Times story read like a news release from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), including the claim from APTA...
There are two policy issues involved in whether Virginia should expand Medicaid: first, is whether the budget should be the vehicle through which a major new government entitlement program is determined; and second, whether expanding Medicaid is a sound policy overall. Holding the budget hostage to this debate is serious...
Surely Virginia Commonwealth University has an economics department. Surely, there is someone at the state’s largest institution of higher learning who is conversant with the law of supply and demand. But, then, maybe not… The VCU Board of Visitors will be asked to increase tuition 3.5% next academic year and...
I just returned from Germany and Poland and was startled to discover the regulatory control the European Union exercises over its farmers and agriculture. This should not be a surprise, however, when a farmer has the EU paying one-half the cost of his tractor and/or farm equipment.In eastern Germany, we...
The Interstate highway system is wearing out. Over the next two decades, nearly all of its 47,000 miles will have to be rebuilt, to make it serviceable for another 50+ years. In addition, several hundred major interchanges are horrible bottlenecks and need to be replaced with more modern designs, and...
The Obama Environmental Protection Agency recently slashed the maximum allowable sulfur content in gasoline from 30 parts per million to 10 ppm. The agency claims its new “Tier 3” rule will bring $7 billion to $19 billion in annual health benefits by 2030. “These standards are a win for public...
With the General Assembly deadlocked, it’s time to think through the Medicaid expansion issue. Here are some thoughts and questions that need to be part of this debate and need to be answered before the federal Medicaid program is expanded: The “Virginia Way” is to look before we leap.
... As Baby Boomers reach their retirement years, the Age Wave is washing over the country. The big push among the G.I. Generation and the Silent Generation was to head south, settling in Florida and Arizona. But Boomers have other ideas. They are more inclined to age in place. And if...
Top Senate Banking Committee members released plans this week to wind down mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and replace them with a complicated apparatus disturbingly similar to Obamacare. While the proposal by Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD), the chairman, and Mike Crapo (R-ID), the ranking member, was announced with...
The Jefferson Journal: Thoughts on Expanding Medicaid
There are two policy issues involved in whether Virginia should expand Medicaid: first is whether the budget should be the vehicle through which a major new government entitlement program is determined; and second, whether expanding Medicaid is a sound policy overall. Here are some thoughts on both of those.
...