John Goodman’s Commentaries
Will There be a Contract with America Next Fall?
Almost three decades ago Republicans recaptured the House, for the first time in 40 years. Led by Newt Gingrich, they ran on a one page (Reader’s Digest size) set of promised reforms. My colleagues and I supplied the tax reforms for the document.
There has been a lot of media speculation about another Contract for this fall’s election. I have made a number of suggestions, but I can’t guarantee it will happen. Nonetheless, because of the prospect that it might happen the original Contract is now being trashed as partisan and self-serving by the mainstream media.
In response to this distortion of history:
- Here is Newt’s letter to the Washington Post.
- Here is my letter to the Dallas Morning News
Pro-Patient, Pro-Family, Pro-Free-Enterprise Health Reform
Two years ago, 81 think tanks and grass roots organizations signed onto Health Care Choices, a comprehensive reform of the health care system. This was a huge accomplishment – since the conservative think tanks had been at odds over health policy for almost three decades.
The most important innovation in our approach is this: We should begin by saying Obamacare has made health insurance unaffordable and the best doctors and hospitals inaccessible. In other words, we should go right to the heart of what the other side promised and didn’t deliver; and then pledge to do what they didn’t do by empowering individuals and letting markets work.
More on that contract
Almost three decades ago Republicans recaptured the House, for the first time in 40 years. Led by Newt Gingrich, they ran on a one page (Reader’s Digest size) set of promised reforms. My colleagues and I supplied the tax reforms for the document.
There has been a lot of media speculation about another Contract for this fall’s election. I have made a number of suggestions, but I can’t guarantee it will happen. Nonetheless, because of the prospect that it might happen the original Contract is now being trashed as partisan and self-serving by the mainstream media.
Is the New York Times Racist?
President Biden’s promise to appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court has attracted support among a number of columnists and public officials on the grounds of promoting “diversity.” Charles Blow, a Black columnist for the New York Times, is much more honest. “It is important,” he says, “that Black people have a Black person on the court . . . in tune with the views of the Black community.”
Here is one thing you can take to the bank. Whomever Biden nominates, she will not have views in tune with the views of the Black community.
How Government Abuses the Elderly
The federal government spends an enormous amount of money on the elderly – far more, for example, than it spends on children. At the same time, rules, regulations, taxes and penalties create enormous burdens for senior citizens when they do such ordinary things as work for wages, withdraw funds from an IRA or even try to insure for medical expenses. Seniors who claim early retirement under Social Security, for example, face the highest tax rates in the nation when they earn more than a modest amount of wage income.
What Are Republicans For?
At his ill-fated press conference last week, President Biden threw out a challenge to his Republican critics. Biden said, “Think about this: What are Republicans for? What are they for? Name me one thing they’re for.” Asked what his agenda would be if Republicans regained control of Congress, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell replied that it was “a very good question. And I’ll let you know when we take it back.”
Is that the best response the GOP can muster? What about being for no inflation, no shortages, no more lockdowns, safe neighborhoods, secure borders, energy independence and a foreign policy that doesn’t confuse our allies and embolden our enemies?
Financial Planning for Dummies
Most people are really bad at personal, financial planning. The people who make these mistakes are not just ordinary folks. They include highly educated, sophisticated people – including virtually all economists and Wall Street analysts. They almost certainly include you, the reader. So why do so many people get so many things wrong?
Is Democracy Under Siege?
It’s the one thing that both the left and the right agree on: Democracy is being threatened as never before. The problem: Each side thinks the threat is coming from the other side. Evidence suggests that it is the threat from the left that should be the most worrisome, however. From using the FBI to spy on their enemies to using the IRS to release individual individual tax returns to criminalizing political differences and trying to imprison their opponents – it’s the anti-Trump forces that threaten to turn us into a banana republic.
The Goodman Institute – Seven Years On
In a short period of time, we have had some remarkable accomplishments. Here is a brief summary.
Why BBB Would Be Hazardous to Your Health
The Build Back Better proposal is a 2,466-page bill with a realistic price tag of $4.7 trillion. Although it appears to be dead on arrival in the Senate, its backers hope to revive most of it. John Goodman says there are good reasons to hope they fail.
One reason is drug price controls. With lower returns to new drug development, there will be fewer lifesaving drugs. University of Chicago economist Tom Philipson estimates that the resulting loss of life would be 31 times as great as Covid-19 to date.