A new study by the state of Arizona shows that private prisons end up costing the state more than public facilities. From the New York Times: The conviction that private prisons save money helped drive more than 30 states to turn to them for housing inmates. But Arizona shows that popular wisdom might be wrong: [...]

I’m beginning to suspect the Republican’s decision to hold the debt ceiling hostage to demand only big cuts in spending and President Obama’s almost enthusiastic desire to play along was a way to deal with the problem of the nonexistent bond vigilantes by actively creating some. Most of the elites in Washington would love to [...]

Earlier this year, Connecticut’s Democratic Governor, Dannel Malloy, reached a deal that effectively gutted much of the SustiNet proposal that was a top goal of many health care activists in Connecticut. Originally, the SustiNet plan would have combined everyone currently covered by the state into a single insurance pool, and they would be offered a [...]

It is another year for record profits for the health insurance industry. From the New York Times: The nation’s major health insurers are barreling into a third year of record profits, enriched in recent months by a lingering recessionary mind-set among Americans who are postponing or forgoing medical care. The UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest [...]

This quote from Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell about why Democrats and Republicans should seek a “grand bargain” is one of the most honest and revealing statements about the problem with our political system. Via David Weigel: This was the year after the bipartisan agreement between Reagan and O’Neill raised the retirement age for [...]

The cynicism of American politicians is a strong and persistent theme, but this most recent move by Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell takes it to a whole new level. A mere six months after Republicans won big by attacking Democrats for “cutting Medicare,” McConnell is now demanding cuts to Medicare or else he will [...]

One of the biggest problems in America is that there are basically three ways to bribe government officials, and only one of them is actually illegal. Having what is essentially a standing job offer is a legal way for corporations to use huge financial payments to people in power to encourage them to make the [...]

The cost of private health insurance in America continues to rise at an alarming rate. From CNN Money: American families who are insured through their jobs average health care costs of $19,393 this year, up 7.3%, or $1,319 from last year, according to independent actuarial and health care consulting firm Milliman Inc. The rate increases [...]

The House Republican budget written by Paul Ryan has received a huge amount of criticism for its plan to replace Medicare with a poorly indexed private voucher program that could result in more and more seniors every year being unable to afford health care. Less focus has been put on how equally devastating the Ryan [...]

An overwhelming majority–59 percent–of the American people think that with Osama bin Laden dead, it is time to bring our troops home from our nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan according to the newest Gallup poll. I don’t know which of the two great absurdities about this situation is more amazing to me. The fact that [...]