Broadband Plans, Saving Healthcare Dollars and Obama’s Diplomacy
The Federal Communications Commission drafts a “national plan” for broadband policy.
The White House announces proposed healthcare cost-saving measures.
President Obama continues to insist that ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya be returned to power.
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1. TECHNOLOGY
The Federal Communications Commission drafts a “national plan” for broadband policy.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Information Policy Analyst Ryan Radia on how the government has failed consumers:
“As some critics note, the government has failed broadband consumers – but not because officials have been too averse to regulate and legislate. In fact, the current broadband marketplace is anything but free. Distortions stemming from ill-conceived regulations at all levels stifle the broadband market. The Commission can best serve the public interest in broadband by relaxing outmoded regulations that distort efficient market outcomes.”
2. HEALTH
The White House announces proposed healthcare cost-saving measures.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Gregory Conko on the debate over cost-benefit analysis in health policy:
“…what are we to make of various Democratic proposals to allocate fewer health care resources on the basis of their expected value to society? My colleagues and I have been critical of the Administration’s desire to insert comparative effectiveness analysis into both the new drug approval process and government health program reimbursement policies. Cost-benefit and comparative-benefit analysis are useful tools and should be used in regulatory analysis. But, these analytical tools don’t take sufficient account of the vast differences from person to person in both physiology and value preferences, and they should be relied upon much more sparingly where collective decision-making is intended to cut off individual choice.”
3. INTERNATIONAL
President Obama continues to insist that ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya be returned to power.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Attorney Hans Bader on how Obama’s actions are having wider consequences:
“Nicaragua’s corrupt, authoritarian president Daniel Ortega is now pushing a change to his country’s constitution to extend his rule. Ortega is a former communist backed by Venezuela’s anti-American strongman Hugo Chavez. He uses vote fraud, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation to expand and perpetuate his power. Ortega has been emboldened by the Obama Administration’s demand that neighboring Honduras permit the return of its corrupt, bullying ex-president Mel Zelaya, who was removed for similarly seeking to perpetuate his rule.”
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