Capitol Comment 209 – Tales from the Crypt Part I: The Pork-Laden Omnibus Appropriations Bill of 1998
Who can forget the image of President Ronald Reagan hoisting a foot-high, pork-laden spending bill during his 1988 State of the Union Address and warning the then-Democratically-controlled Congress not to…
Capitol Comment 206 – Rethinking Compulsory Auto Insurance Liability Laws
How should a civilized society respond when A crashes his car into a car driven by B, causing injury to B and damaging his property? The common law of tort…
Capitol Comment 205 – Tying Regulation to Reality
I make mistakes. For example, last weekend the one tie that I brought to an out-of-town wedding did not match my suit. I took responsibility for poor wardrobe selection and…
Capitol Comment 204 – Are Mergers Really Harmful to Consumers?
Imagine the following headline: "Policymakers Panic in Fear of Merger Mania!" Although it could be true, in reality, there is little to fear. With the economy growing rapidly for the…
Capitol Comment 202 – A Health Care Checklist for Congress and President Clinton: Time to Clean Up Your Mistakes
Members of Congress have only a few weeks before they go home and learn whether voters want them to return to Washington or stay put. Though they have much to…
Capitol Comment 201 – In Defense of Auto Choice Insurance Reform
In the current debate over auto choice insurance reform, a formidable critic of the proposal now before Congress has emerged in George Priest of the Yale Law School. Professor Priest,…
Capitol Comment 197 – Al Gore’s Hidden Phone Tax: Bad Economics, Bad Politics
If you haven’t heard of the "Gore tax," you’re probably missing an important battle over the nature of American democracy and the American economy. The battle has two fronts and…
Capitol Comment 198 – Would We Tax Freedom?
Last month, Lady Margaret spoke and the House moved. The remarks of Great Britain’s former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to the World Congress on Information Technology reinforced the idea that…
Capitol Comment 193 – A Real Patients’ Bill of Rights
America’s health care system is the finest in the world, yet American patients increasingly face higher costs, fewer choices and greater rationing of medical care. A recent news item describes…
Capitol Comment 192 – Universal Service Reform: Benchmarks for Success
Universal service subsidies keep the price of telecommunications service in hard-to-reach and high-cost areas on par with the price of service to inexpensive areas. Substantial reform for this system of…