What’s New @ the NCPA

Week beginning July 23, 2009

As Congress and the Obama Administration step up their efforts to nationalize health care, the NCPA launched a petition drive at freeourhealthcarenow.com to educate the public about free-market health care reforms.

As of the July 4 holiday weekend, more than 275,000 Americans had signed the petition, and Steve Forbes commented on it in his Fact & Comment column.

To date, more than 683,000 Americans have signed the petition, and the number of signers is increasing by the thousands every day.

"If successful, ObamaCare will create a terribly bureaucratic and dysfunctional health care system. Millions will lose the insurance they now have, the government will determine what kind of insurance you can have and a national health board will have the authority to deny treatment," said NCPA President John C. Goodman. "That's why we created a petition that demands patient-friendly health care and protects our right to choose the best health care for each of us and our families."

The "Free Our Health Care NOW!" campaign emphasizes four key elements in health care reform:

• Choice: The right to choose your own doctor and a health insurance plan that fits your family's needs and budget.
• Access: Receiving the care you need when you need it.
• Fairness: Providing the same tax breaks employees receive if you have to pay for your own health insurance, and having government assistance redirected to those who truly need help.
• Responsibility: More control over your own health care decisions and a health care system that encourages everyone to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse.

To sign the petition, go to www.freeourhealthcarenow.com and fill out the short online form. After you sign the petition, we urge you to distribute it to your e-mail contacts. You may also join the NCPA and help us educate the public about current health care initiatives and fund our important health care work.

NCPA Capitol Hill Briefings Focus on Trustees' Report, Climate Change

 The NCPA sponsored a Capitol Hill briefing to show that the deficits of Social Security and Medicare are significantly greater than those reported just the day before by the Obama Administration.

"Congress is responsible for the rising deficits in these programs, and they must get them under control," said NCPA Senior Fellow Tom Saving, who is a former Public Trustee of Social Security and Medicare.

In addition, the NCPA sponsored a Capitol Hill briefing to release a new study, Ten Cool Global Warming Policies.  "Any policy that helps us adapt regardless of the outcome and direction of future climate change is a good policy," said NCPA Board Chairman Pete du Pont, who moderated the briefing. "These policies are worth pursuing whether humans are the cause of global warming or not."

NCPA's Herrick Addresses Congressional Health Caucus

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), chairman of the Congressional Health Care Caucus, sponsored a Capitol Hill briefing about the folly of health insurance mandates. NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick was one of the featured speakers. "Insurance mandates don't produce the results that policymakers hope for, nor are they without unintended consequences," Herrick said. "Competitive insurance markets would do more to solve the problem of the uninsured than mandates."

NCPA Living Legend Series Features Ebby Halliday

Ebby Halliday, legendary Dallas realtor, focused on what it takes to be a great salesperson for invited guests at the most recent edition of the NCPA's Living Legend series. "A person who knows the product and has a desire to make life better for other people can be a good salesperson," Halliday said, noting that she started in sales as an eight-year-old growing up in rural Kansas. Halliday said her first product was Cloverine salve, which she sold door-to-door, or as she put it, "farm-to-farm."

"You need a servant's heart and to have an interest in people and what you're selling," she added, noting that she's happy there are more women realtors today than when she pioneered in the field.

New Books at the NCPA Store

Enjoy these great titles at discounted prices -- free shipping too!

The First Billion is the Hardest by T. Boone Pickens

1,000 Dollars and An Idea by Sam Wyly -- Autographed

My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas -- Autographed

Is Progress Speeding Up? by John Marks Templeton

Building Prosperity by Gene W. Heck

The End of Prosperity by Arthur Laffer, Stephen Moore and Peter Tanous

To shop all NCPA publications, please visit http://www.ncpa.org/shop/.

NCPA Publications

A new law designed to protect children from lead could shutter small businesses, thrift retailers (including some large charities) and public libraries, as well as limiting the availability of consumer goods for children, says H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow with the NCPA. Read "Getting the Lead Out Kills Small Businesses, Doesn't Save Children."

There are vast amounts of oil shale which can be converted into high-quality liquid fuels, says H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow, and Tomas Castella, a research assistant, both with the NCPA. Read "Oil from Stone: Securing America's Energy Future."

A return to Keynesian economic policy will not bring us economic prosperity, says the late economist Gerald W. Scully, a former senior fellow with the NCPA. Read "Fiscal Policy and Economic Recovery."

Excise taxes are very regressive, says D. Sean Shurtleff, a policy analyst with the NCPA. Read "Not-So-Sweet Excise Taxes."

Get caught up on what's happening at the NCPA: read the July/August issue of NCPA Alert.

Read the latest in energy and environmental news in the latest issue of Clearing the Air.

NCPA Scholars and Research in the News

Congress shouldn't fight global warming by freezing the economy, says NCPA Chairman Pete du Pont, in his latest op-ed for the Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal. Read "The Big Chill."

A recent post on NCPA President John Goodman's health policy blog - discussing the complexity of the health care system -- was quoted at the American Spectator blog on July 4. Read "Why Health Care is so Hard to Fix." Read Goodman's blog post: "Why Health Reform Is Bound to Fail."

Goodman was quoted in an article by 20/20 anchor John Stossel in the July 8 issue of Real Clear Politics. Read "Insurance Is No Answer."

In the July 7 issue of the Washington Post, Goodman stated that areas with high Medicare spending do not correlate with high medical spending overall, suggesting that fixing excesses in Medicare will not necessarily translate to the broader system. Read "In Retooled Health-Care System, Who Will Say No?"

In response to the question posed by Marilyn Serafini at the National Journal Health Care Expert blog on July 6 -- What are the best and worst ways to address drug costs as part of health care reform? -- Goodman stated that, in general, the cost of drugs is not a social problem.  To the contrary, the return we are getting on drugs, at the margin, is higher than the return we are getting on doctor or hospital therapies.  We should be spending even more than we currently spend to encourage more R & D. Read Dr. Goodman's response here.

Goodman was interviewed on America's News Headquarters on July 5.

A recent post on Goodman's health policy blog was quoted in the June 30 issue of FOX News Business edition (online).

In an interview with Michael Savage on "Savage Nation" on June 29, Goodman stated that the health bill out of Congress "will tell you what type of insurance you have to have and what is in your health plan. At the end of the day, millions of people are going to lose the insurance that they have and they will be pushed into this health plan."

Goodman was a guest on FOX New's "Special Report with Bret Baier" on June 23. 

In response to the question posed by Marilyn Serafini at the National Journal Health Care Expert blog on June 29 — Members of Congress last week were considering three distinct employer mandate proposals. Which are the best and worst ideas, from both a policy and political perspective? — Goodman stated that all the economic evidence shows that health insurance is a dollar for dollar substitute for wages. A mandate on employers, therefore, is a stealth mandate on employees. The ultimate burden falls completely on the shoulders of workers.

In response to the question posed by Marilyn Serafini at the National Journal Health Care Expert blog on June 22 - What Will Manage Health Reform Once It Is Passed? - Goodman stated that no amount of "management" can make things work as long as social cost exceeds social benefit for every actor at every margin. Read Dr. Goodman's response here.

A Forbes interview of NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick was published online on July 22. Read "What To Do If Your Job Doesn't Offer Health Insurance." The article features - in a slideshow of pictures -- Herrick's "8 Ways to Cut Your Health Care Costs."

In the July issue of the Heartland Institute's Health Care News, Herrick stated that the missing half of the health care debate is just how these wonderful-sounding benefits like universal coverage and improved access to care will be paid for.

In an article in the Chicago Tribune reporting the use of stories from real people in campaigns for government-run health care, Herrick stated, "What's lost in the storytelling is policy nuance and the difficult question of how to finance an expansion of health coverage." Herrick's comment was also quoted in the July 6 issue of The Prairie Star.

In the June 21 issue of Investment News, Herrick stated that policymakers' concentration on home care makes sense from the perspective of comfort and cost.

Burnett was a guest on KRLD Morning News (AM) on July 1 to discuss poor road conditions in Texas and how the tax money for roads is going to other places.

In the July issue of The Heartland Institute's Environment and Climate News, Burnett was quoted, "After the activists' media allies sounded the alarm that pesticides and global warming are killing frogs and bees, they became strangely silent about reporting the exculpatory evidence that natural factors are to blame," Burnett added. "The general public has no idea that humans in fact were not to blame, unless they subscribe to and read academic journals." Read "Parasite Tied to Global Bee Deaths."

In another article in the July issue of Environment and Climate News, Burnett stated that there are a number of Democratic congressmen who don't support the climate policies being pushed by the Democratic leadership in Washington. Read "Polls: Voters Skeptical of Global Warming Claims, Bills."

In the July 12 issue of the Wall Street Journal, NCPA Distinguished Fellow Bob McTeer was quoted: "Oil market speculation is back in the news. I'm afraid I don't have much to contribute since Milton Friedman convinced me long ago that profitable speculation is stabilizing and destabilizing speculation is unprofitable. Speculation is profitable if the speculator buys lower than he sells; it's unprofitable if he sells lower than he buys. Even if they don't make a profit, they are trying." Read "Don't Shoot the Speculators."

In the July 12 issue of the Financial Post, McTeer stated that another stimulus package would be a huge waste of taxpayer money.

McTeer's writings on the Fed were cited in an article by Larry Kudlow in the July issue of National Review.

McTeer appeared on CNBC's The Kudlow Report on June 23 to discuss the Fed.

NCPA Distinguished Fellow Terry Neese told the San Francisco Examiner on July 12 that small-business owners like her are worried that the provision [requiring small companies with more than 25 employees to offer health coverage or pay a $750 penalty per employee], in addition to an Obama administration proposal to mandate sick leave for companies with 25 employees will force them to lay off workers. Read "Examiner Editorial: Obamacare would create more unemployment."

An article by Neese appeared in the Oklahoma City Business News Examiner on July 7. Read "What do small business owners want?"

An op-ed by Neese appeared in The Plain Dealer on July 3. Read "Independence Day, freedom and freeing our health care."

Consumer Driven Health Care Website

The NCPA's consumer driven health care website provides the latest, most comprehensive information and research about consumer directed health reforms.  The site also features the weekly Health Policy Digest and SPN Medicaid Exchange, a joint project of the NCPA and the State Policy Network, and John Goodman's Health Care Blog.  Visitors can also add comments to blog postings.  Visit the NCPA's CDHC website.

NCPA Online

The NCPA's Daily Policy Digest, a daily public policy newsletter that has over 7,500 readers, is now available as an RSS feed.  Click here to subscribe.