November 28,
2006
Vol. 2, No. 16
Also in
this issue:
Vegas hospital strike looms
Casinos go digital
Stakes high in fight
over union dues
Medicaid sees its first decline
States want better
deal from Congress
Warming bill endangers
California economy
Mr. Paulson goes to Washington
Commentary:
Democratic gasoline
Board games
The end of conservative cronyism
The social function
of stock speculators
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NV Supremes
Democratic gasoline
Editorial
New York Sun
It looks
like the Democrats are getting ready to use
their new majority in the Congress to make the
same kinds of mistakes that brought us all
higher oil and gas prices last spring and
summer. It's not just that the Democrats are
likely to push a foolhardy ethanol agenda (about
which we warned in our recent editorial, "Up,
Up, and Away") to shift Americans to a rarer,
more expensive, less efficient form of fuel.
Speaker-elect Pelosi & Co. are also now looking
for ways to punish the producers of cheaper
traditional fuels.)
The trouble is lurking in the agenda for their
first 100 days, in which they promise to
"energize America by achieving energy
independence." Lest anyone be unsure precisely
what that means, they add, "we will begin by
rolling back the multi-billion dollar subsidies
for Big Oil." In other words, as the Associated
Press reported recently, they will cut tax
incentives for exploration and for expanding
refining capacity.
[continued]
The hidden
civil war
Board games
Editorial
Wall Street Journal
The
Hewlett-Packard meltdown has offered some
poignant lessons in corporate board dysfunction, and
with any luck the Securities and Exchange Commission has
been taking notes. One way to create more HP-like
storylines would be for the nation's top financial
regulator to appease the latest political agitation for
greater "shareholder democracy." That's what the SEC
will consider at a December hearing to discuss "direct
access," or the idea of giving shareholders more power
in determining the makeup of corporate boards. What
makes the "democracy" campaign so ironic is that this
proposal isn't designed to make companies more
responsive to most shareholders.
[continued]
This article will be available to non-subscribers of the
Online Journal for up to seven days after it is
e-mailed.
The end of conservative cronyism
Voters just handed a huge defeat
to a decidedly pro-business Republican Congress
that allowed all sorts of excesses. What we may
see with Democrats, though, is protectionism and
higher taxes.
By Bill Fleckenstein
MSN Money
Obviously, the most important news of
November was the Democrats' sweep across the
country. However, it's difficult to talk
politics without letting one's own biases filter
into the equation. So, in order to make it
easier for folks to parse what I say about the
ramifications of the elections, let me just
state my biases up front.
Seeing the forest, trees and Bushes I am neither
Democrat nor Republican. Rather, I'm a
libertarian. What I believe in is less
government, not more. My "platform" is
three-sided: institute term limits, a flat tax
and tort reform. Having said that, it probably
won't come as a shock to folks to learn that I
have voted Republican the overwhelming majority
of time (though I voted for neither Bush, father
nor son, the second time around.)
[continued]
Markets
The social function of stock speculators
By Robert P. Murphy
Ludwig von
Mises Institute
Libertarian
economists typically adopt a two-pronged
approach in their advocacy of free markets. On
the one hand, they stress that people have
rights (whether God-given or self-evident from
the exercise of reason) and therefore should be
able to engage in any voluntary activities with
each other, free from political interference.
Unfortunately, this appeal to principle is never
enough, since the type of person who votes for
today's politicians doesn't care much about
abstractions.
[continued]
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Nevada schools
What
real innovation looks like in Nevada
Davidson
Academy and ACE Charter School break the rigid mold
By Joe Enge
Nevada Policy Research Institute
Many public
schools pretend to be innovative while completely
avoiding the substantive changes necessary for genuine
innovation. Yet they always ask for more money.
Nevertheless, Nevada does have some solid examples of
true educational innovation.
The Davidson Academy in Reno and the Academy for Career
Education (ACE) in Sparks are models of education that
actually serves the learning needs of students. These
are different schools for different students, the former
targeting the profoundly gifted and the latter serving
students interested in the construction trades.
[continued]
Healthcare
Vegas hospital
strike looms
By Christina
Rodriquez
InBusiness Las
Vegas
After a
half-year of fruitless contract talks, the Service Employees
International Union threatened a long-term strike of Valley
and Desert Springs hospitals starting Dec. 4.
The threat worked. Hospital officials have agreed to return to
the bargaining table for three days, Nov. 27-29.
It would be the first strike of hospital workers in Las Vegas,
but the nurses say they're ready. SEIU Local 1107 has $1
million from its national office to pay workers in full while
they strike.
[continued]
Gaming
Casinos go digital
Latest strides in surveillance may change how properties
operate
By Matt
Ward
LV Business Press
Casino operators
nationwide are set to re-invest millions into their surveillance
departments in order to replace aging analog recording
devices with new digital technology.
While the upgrades might mean some will lose their jobs, it could
also revolutionize the role surveillance technicians
play in the overall operation of casinos, industry
experts say.
[continued]
The right to work
Stakes high in fight over union dues
Washington judges: Union bosses have 'right' to
spend nonunion members forced dues on politics
By Mark Mix
Human Events
Attorneys for
4,000 Washington state teachers filed their opening
brief at the U.S. Supreme Court last week seeking a
sweeping ruling that could give unionized employees new
tools to reclaim their mandatory union dues. But the
case didn’t start out with such high aspirations.
[continued]
Demographics
Medicaid sees
its first decline
By Dennis Cauchon
USA Today
Medicaid spending
has declined unexpectedly this year, the first drop
since the health program for the poor was created in
1965.
The
historic reversal will free up billions of dollars in
state budgets. Medicaid has been the fastest-growing
expense for states over the past 10 years.
Medicaid
spending fell 1.4% in the first nine months of the year
compared with the same period a year ago, according to
the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The drop was even
greater — an unprecedented a 5.4% decline — after
adjusting for the rate of health care inflation.
[continued]
States' rights
States want better deal from Congress
By Eric Kelderman
Stateline.org
When the 110th
Congress convenes in January, there will be a new
Democratic majority negotiating with a Republican
president and, state leaders hope, a new relationship
between the federal government and the nation's 50
statehouses.
State lawmakers of both parties will be looking for
relief from some federal policies imposed on states
under the GOP’s watch, including expensive new rules for
driver’s licenses and education mandates under the No
Child Left Behind Act.
[continued]
Bureaucracy
Warming bill endangers California economy
'Typical of many heavy industries around the state,
owners of a cement plant in Mojave have already delayed
plans for a $400 million expansion and are looking to
move to Nevada.'
By Thomas Tanton
Environment News
On September
27, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed A.B.
32, the "California Global Warming Solutions Act," after
the bill was passed by the Democrat-controlled state
legislature.
The bill aims to reduce California's greenhouse gas
emissions, but analysts predict state residents will pay
a high price for the gesture, which will have very
little if any measurable effect on global temperatures.
A.B. 32 promises to reduce carbon emissions from sources
within the state, and from certain sources outside. The
act calls for limiting the state's emissions to 1990
levels by 2020, representing a 25 percent reduction from
current levels.
[continued]
Clout
Mr. Paulson goes
to Washington
He
is positioned to emerge as the most important Republican
economic figure in Washington
By Geoffrey Colvin
Fortune Magazine
The Treasury
Secretary has unmatched credibility on Wall Street and
in D.C. Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer and
Washington bureau chief Nina Easton pick his brain about
the market, the economy and politics. An exclusive
interview.
[continued]
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