Daily Policy Digest
| Leave the Consumer Price Index and Cost-of-Living Adjustment Out of the Budget Talks House Republican hope that switching to a chained consumer price index would slow adjustment of income tax brackets for inflation and reduce annual cost of living increases for Social Security retirees... |
| Surprise: New Insurance Fee in Health Overhaul Law A new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies... |
| School Reform, the Texas Way About 1.2 million students drop out of high school each year in the United States; 44 percent of the dropouts who are under age 24 are jobless... |
| Raising Medicare Eligibility a First Step toward Deficit Reduction Over the next 20 years, spending on the major entitlement programs is projected to continue to rise very rapidly, reaching 15.1 percent of gross domestic product in 2030... |
| Increases in Education Spending Do Not Result in Higher Academic Performance Federal spending has increased for elementary and secondary education programs; however, two-thirds of students still can't read or solve mathematical problems at grade level... |
| Benefits at What Age? Over the past 20 years, life expectancy at age 65 has risen five years for men with above average income but only one year for men with below average income.. |
| Deposit Insurance Is Not Free Total expenses for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Deposit Insurance Fund have averaged $2.67 billion each year... |
| The Impossibility of Rapid Energy Transitions Three different types of momentum are necessary when talking about making energy transitions: technological, labor-pool and economic... |
| The Failure of Wind Power Princeton, Massachusetts' Municipal Light Department's wind-energy project has lost nearly $2 million... |
| Senator Slams Homeland Security Program for Wasteful, Frivolous Spending The Department of Homeland Security's Urban Area Security Initiative grant program has cost $7.1 billion over the last decade... |
