A lot of people are engaging in online debates and conversations about the health care bill today. and it’s especially interesting to observe the muted, if any, celebration of liberals and other engaged Democrats about their party’s success in pushing through the legislation, overcoming what many political handicappers pegged as extremely long odds. Their disappointment [...]

In January, after Massachussetts sent Republican Scott Brown to the Senate, destroying the Democratic supermajority needed to pass the health care overhaul without resorting to the reconciliation process, the plan appeared all but dead. Now, some view the bill’s success as comparable to the Resurrection, while others liken it more to the return of Jason [...]

And so it is done. The health care bill is on its way to President Obama for his signature, at which point it becomes the law of the land. Then, this week, the Senate will take up a series of changes that Democratic House members demanded in exchange for passing the Senate bill. Reaction from [...]

From the Library of Economics and Liberty, libertarian Bryan Caplan, Associate Professor of Economics at George Mason and an adjunct scholar of the Cato Institute, offers 15 books that influenced his thinking: 1. Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. While I ultimately didn’t learn much of substance, this book got me very excited about about ideas. [...]

…let’s start the new week with a pair of Ridiculous Job Posts. Professional Psychic Tarot Readers Professional Psychic Tarot Readers PROS ONLY (worldwide) Date: 2009-12 Professional Psychic & Tarot Readers PROS ONLY. Upscale and Ethical Network seeks professional readers. This is a professional network – not a 900 line nor PRN. Clients are given the [...]

From the Kaiser Family Foundation site, the Health Reform Subsidy Calculator, which figures out health insurance premiums and government subsidies toward paying them for purchasers of individual insurance under the House, Senate, and Obama compromise plans. Not applicable to those who already receive coverage through an employer.

Who’d have thought CSPAN was going to be the most dramatic thing on TV this weekend? Some assorted commentary on the impending health care bill vote in the House, which is slated for Sunday and which will in part resolve the long-running issue one way or the other. Managed Care Matters: Unsustainable, irrational, unaffordable health [...]

“I decided long ago that this is one of the few issues I will decide without regard for political impact – it is too important. I will cast my vote on the basis of what I think is in the best interest of our country, state and district; if there is a political price to [...]

On Intrade, a futures exchange in which people can place bets on whether specific events will occur or not, the wager titled “Will ‘Obamacare’ health care reform become law in the United States before midnight ET 30 Jun 2010″ is now priced at about 78. That means the market for this bet has judged the [...]

From The Journal of Private Enterprise, an extract from the paper “Homer Economicus: Using The Simpsons to Teach Economics.” Bureaucrats and bureaucracy As Gwartney, Stroup, Sobel and Macpherson (2003, 135) state, “Economic analysis suggests a strong tendency for bureaucrats and public-sector employees to favor expanding their budgets beyond what would be considered economically efficient.” The [...]