Obsessive behavior surrounding climate change continues as the EPA releases their new Tier 3 program for sulfur regulation in gasoline. The program sets new vehicles emissions standards and lower sulfur content in gasoline beginning in 2017. The policy is projected to be more effective than past emissions policy, because it controls vehicle emissions as well … Continue reading
February’s job report looked so promising. Unemployment was down by .2% and 236,000 jobs were added to the economy. The economic outlook was great. Then the jobs report for March came out. What happened? In a blog post I wrote last month I predicted that the promising economic outlook was premature and that March’s report … Continue reading
Last week, the AFL-CIO, the largest labor union in the country, and the US Chamber of Commerce finally reached a deal on the amount of visas that will be granted to guest workers, once immigration legislation is introduced and hopefully passed. During the last attempt to pass immigration reform in 2007, one of the main … Continue reading
Cheers to the President…and to his $100 million research initiative to map out the human brain. Government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the National Science Foundation, are joining the initiative as well as private sector organizations such as The Allen Institute for Brain Science, Howard … Continue reading
Whenever I attempt to explain things about the economy to friends and family, their eyes glaze over, they give a few head nods and grunts of approval, but really they just wait for a chance to change the subject. Similarly, when I express my enthusiasm for baseball, people act surprised exclaiming, “But baseball is so … Continue reading
This week, half of the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises celebrated their Opening Days, marking the first day of baseball season. Opening Day attendance can tell us a lot of things. For example, attendance at the Washington Nationals’ home opener was up 11% this year, due to high hopes for the team this season. But … Continue reading
The unstable housing market caused investors to become apprehensive about investing in homes, but the low home prices simultaneously caused investors to worry about missing out on a good investment. These big time – Wall Street – investors, called cash buyers, do not use 15-to-30 year mortgages; if they want a home they have the … Continue reading
Last Friday, among the flurry of amendments that the Senate passed before it adjourned for a two-week recess, the Brown-Vitter amendment, which pledged to end funding advantages to banks with more than $500 billion in assets, passed in a 99-0 vote. Great, right? Senator Vitter, one of the co-authors of the amendment, stated afterwards, “This … Continue reading
Last week, Senator Rand Paul spoke out on behalf of immigration reform. His proposal for reform surprised many, as he usually takes a more conservative stance on social issues. However, it’s apparent that even some of the most conservative factions of the GOP are realizing that it is not a smart move to be on … Continue reading
On March 19th-21st, the Subcommittees on Communications and Technology, Health, and Oversight and Investigations under the Energy and Commerce Committee conducted a series of hearings to evaluate the role of technology in healthcare and to examine the potentially harmful federal regulations impacting patient safety and innovation. Following the hearing series on March 21st, the Senate … Continue reading
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