John W Rodat

Depends on What You Mean by “Correctly”

April 9, 2012 Capital

Later in the the day after New York’s Public Health & Health Planning Council deferred Albany County’s certificate of need application for the second time, Shawn Morse, the Chairman of the Albany County Legislature pointed to this news story and posted the following on Twitter: …looks like one county can get it done and done […]

Read the full article →

There are Mandates and There are Mandates

April 9, 2012 Federal Government

Matthew Zeitlin points us to Byron Tau’s “delicious, concise blog post that consists of two things: Newt Gingrich’s support for the “Chilean model” for retirement saving, and then Tau pointing out that the Chilean model relies on mandating that workers devote a certain portion of their wages to private investments.” Zeitlin goes on: Gingrich also […]

Read the full article →

The Tail of the Recession

April 6, 2012 Cities

Even though the most recent “Great Recession” is officially over and even though it appears we are slowly emerging from its aftermath, governmental finances have not escaped its gravitational pull. The recession was bad enough. Many communities, which were economically strapped to begin with, started with a small buffer and are just now running out […]

Read the full article →

“Everything Has Changed.” Albany County Gets to Try Again, but the Bar Will be Even Higher

April 6, 2012 County Government

“Everything has changed.” Well, New York’s Public Health & Health Planning Council did not reject the Albany County Nursing Home application. As predicted here yesterday, they deferred it. But the Committee still heard testimony both for and against the application and they discussed it at some length. However in the vote of the Establishment and […]

Read the full article →

Three, Not Two Options Tomorrow on the Albany County Nursing Home

April 4, 2012 County Government

After constant struggles, tomorrow’s schedules for the Establishment and Project Review Committee and the New York Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) include review of the certificate of need application (CON) to build a new Albany County Nursing Home. In response to howls of protest by the Albany County Legislative leadership that the Department […]

Read the full article →

Another County Nursing Home for Sale

April 3, 2012 County

Now it’s Essex County. Some of the reported issues are interesting.

Read the full article →

From Sustainability to Resilience?

April 2, 2012 Economics

Ali Hibbs points us to Is it Too Late for Sustainable Development? On March 2, 1972, a team of experts from MIT presented a groundbreaking report called The Limits to Growth to scientists, journalists and others assembled at the Smithsonian Castle. Released days later in book form, the study was one of the first to […]

Read the full article →

Doubling Down on Public Pension Investments

April 2, 2012 Budget

Pension costs going up faster than revenue? You have three choices: Raise taxes, cut spending on other items and pay more into your pension reserve. Those are certainly not politically attractive options, but as often as not, these are the options for grown-ups. Reduce pension liabilities by reducing pensions promised. These are politically ugly options, […]

Read the full article →

I Wonder if This Guy Has Health Insurance

March 27, 2012 Uncategorized

Ya gotta be kidding me. Watch the whole thing. Did he break anything practicing? Well, he’s in Melbourne, where they have universal coverage.

Read the full article →

Once Again, The Argument Against Single Payer

March 27, 2012 Federal Government

Even while supporting universal coverage, I wrote and posted arguments against a single-payer system in June, 2005. At some point, I would expect that link to become inactive, so I’ve copied it below in its entirety. Though I might tinker with a couple of minor things, for the moment I’ll leave it as originally written. […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →