In case you missed it…
Energy Policy:
Government’s attempts to centrally plan Nevada’s Energy future has created a mess for ratepayers. Renewable Portfolio Standards, crony “green-energy” subsidies and NV Energy’s utility monopoly have resulted in ever-increasing energy costs for the state. As a consequence, ratepayers are in desperate need of sound policy solutions. Join NPRI on June 15th for a policy luncheon outlining how rational energy policy can bring superior future economic success to the Silver State. (RSVP here)
Healthcare:
Over half of the 23 healthcare co-ops created by Obamacare have gone bankrupt, leaving little doubt that the program is in need of substantial reform. The latest co-op to declare insolvency, Ohio’s InHealth Mutual, is the 13th — leaving nearly 22,000 consumers with a mere 60 days to find new health coverage. Despite $129 million in taxpayer-backed loans, the company reported an underwriting loss of more than $80 million. (Read more)
Free markets:
Socialism doesn’t work. Thanks to the central planners in Caracas, the nation of Venezuela is in an apocalyptic economic freefall. Due to inflation, food items such as McDonalds French-fries cost hundreds of dollars, and basic living supplies such as sugar, toilet paper and fuel are so scarce that rioting is almost non-stop in major metropolitan areas. Moreover, the economic collapse brought on by the nation’s socialist policies have resulted in widespread violence, the world’s highest murder rate and tyrannical martial law throughout the nation’s population centers. (Read more)
Economic development:
They descended on Nevada legislators in 2013, promising new jobs in the state’s depressed areas and higher tax revenue for state government. “They” included the head national lobbyist for one of the nation’s biggest firms targeting the government-subsidized investment industry, Advantage Capital Partners, and the legislation’s sponsor, State Senate Republican Minority Leader Michael C. Roberson. And the result was $112 million in taxpayer money being spent for, essentially, zilch. (Read more)
Labor force:
A record number of Americans are no longer working, or even looking for work, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. In May, the number of Americans not participating in the labor force climbed to nearly 95 million. To put that number into perspective, that is almost 15 million more people not looking for work since the tail end of the “great recession” in 2009. (Read more)