Obamacare numbers coming in huge: Here’s a guide to GOP excuse-making Against all odds and expectations, enrollments in health plans qualified under the Affordable Care Act surged Monday toward—and maybe beyond—the 7-million figure projected by the Congressional Budget Office before Oct. 1, when the open-enrollment period began. The deadline for starting enrollment applications for 2014 plans was…
A “nation of takers?” Here are the real “takers” In the debate about poverty, critics argue that government assistance saps initiative and is unaffordable. After exploring the issue, I must concede that the critics have a point. Here are five public welfare programs that are wasteful and turning us into a nation of “takers.” Perhaps…
Banks won’t do business with legal marijuana sellers—enter PotCoin So far 20 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of marijuana for medical or recreational purposes, but with the rise of the legal pot business has come a wave of robberies and other crimes targeting pot dispensaries and their owners. The purveyors of legal pot…
When the government outsources to private companies, inequality gets worse State and local officials nationwide are responding to budget crunches by siphoning off public services to private contractors—the classic “market-based solution” for a fiscal crisis. But on balance, the savings of these supposedly cost-saving outsourcing measures often turn out to be less than advertised. A new…
Ethics board: ‘Substantial’ belief McMorris Rodgers misused funds An independent congressional ethics board found “substantial reason” to believe Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the fourth-ranking House Republican, improperly used official funds for campaign activities. The full findings of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) were made public for the first time on Monday by the House…
CA to send voter registration cards to Obamacare applicants Facing legal action from the ACLU and rights groups over federal voter registration laws, California will send applications to about 3.8 million residents who applied under the Affordable Care Act. Under a deal announced Monday by several voting-rights groups, the state will send voter registration cards to nearly…
Wealth over work It seems safe to say that “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” the magnum opus of the French economist Thomas Piketty, will be the most important economics book of the year—and maybe of the decade. Mr. Piketty, arguably the world’s leading expert on income and wealth inequality, does more than document the growing concentration…
The rise of anti-capitalism We are beginning to witness a paradox at the heart of capitalism, one that has propelled it to greatness but is now threatening its future: The inherent dynamism of competitive markets is bringing costs so far down that many goods and services are becoming nearly free, abundant, and no longer subject…
Big business takes on tea party on Common Core Tea party activists have been waging war for months against the Common Core academic standards. Now, in a coordinated show of muscle, Big Business is fighting back—and notching wins. The urgent effort stems from a sense among supporters that this is a make-or-break moment for the Common…
Changes in the Central District affect the African-American community When Mount Calvary Christian Center pastor Reggie Witherspoon was growing up in the Central District in the 1960s and ’70s, the neighborhood was tight-knit and largely African-American. But today, it’s another story. “It’s radically different,” he says. Now, he can visit the neighborhood and not see…