Government

Some History: What We Have Learned Regarding Coverage

January 17, 2017 Government

I’ve been working on health coverage issues since the late 70’s. Here are some of the key things that WE have learned during the time since. Prior to Medicare, private insurers did not offer coverage to the elderly. Most elderly simply got dropped when they turned 65. That’s why we have Medicare. Prior to the […]

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Gambling for Economic Development is High Risk

April 13, 2016 Cities

Gambling is intrinsically a zero-sum game. Though there may be locally, in the aggregate, there’s no economic multiplier. So it’s never made sense to me as a viable strategy for economic development. At best, it’s a break-even. And, the odds are that, it simply transfers money from one region to another, mostly from poor to […]

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Data Thought for the Day

October 16, 2014 Data

Since the Obama election, and particularly the re-election, politicians have gained a deepening appreciation of the use of data for politics – for tactics, targeting and personalization. It’s just a matter of time – and we can accelerate that time – before they have the same appreciation of using data for governing – including both […]

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Government Technology Notices Us

January 24, 2013 Data

Government Technology ran a story this morning, Transparency: New York State Reveals All (Its Numbers) on the Governor’s budget transparency initiative. And they even mentioned the interactive visualizations that we put online. Who knows how they found us so quickly, but thanks.

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Making the Public’s Data Public – Cuomo Edition

January 9, 2013 Data

Well, this seems an especially appropriate topic with which to kick off our 2013 posts. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2013 State-of-the-State address’s includes an entire section on using technology to promote “transparency.” Among other things, the Governor has now committed to providing online copies of the State budget in “machine-readable” form. That means you […]

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Beth Noveck on Open Source Government

September 19, 2012 Government

Beth Noveck talks about much more than data. Think networks, and not just electronic ones, to open up government. TED talk takes about 18 minutes. Watch it.

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Corporations and Government are Almost the Same, Except Corporations are Voluntary?

September 6, 2012 Corporations

In the midst of the political season and the political conventions, in which the role of corporations is an increasingly significant issue (no corporations are not people), David Burge, who blogs here as Iowahawkblog, tweets this: “Government” is just a word for things we do together. “Corporation” is just a word for things we do […]

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Today’s Quote of the Day is About a Monkey, Politics and Democracy

August 24, 2012 Governance

Oddly enough, today’s quote of the day is about a macaque monkey that’s been running loose in Tampa, FL. And no, this is not about the upcoming Republican convention, to be held in Tampa. But it is about governance and democracy and finding ways to accommodate ourselves to others, including other primates, it’s from Jon […]

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Final Thoughts on the ACA Before the Supreme Court Decision is Announced

June 27, 2012 Democrat

Like most, I’ve done my tea-leaf reading. If we were sitting around over coffee or beer, I’d speculate with you on what the Supreme Court will announce tomorrow as its decision on the Affordable Care Act, health care reform. I won’t here. It’s pointless and there are thousands who’ve already covered that ground. I will […]

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Coverage Matters, Regardless of What the Supreme Court Says

June 25, 2012 Government

When the Supreme Court releases its decision today or later this week on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), there will be analyses galore on the law, the politics, and on policy as well. We’ll likely join in. But, in the midst of all that as far as healthcare is concerned , there will be one […]

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