Harris pledges to rein in degree requirements for federal jobs
We wrote previously in Signaling Theory of Michael Spence’s job signaling theory: having a university degree signals both ability and character traits (e.g., persistence) that employers can use in hiring staff. Standardized testing is not an option for many employers, wary as they are of being accused of discrimination on prohibited grounds.
Now, we’re talking about any kind of discrimination in hiring. If we don’t hire for provable skills or character, what will we use to hire? Joe Lonsdale argues that government is getting dumber. This makes everything worse.
‘Vice President Harris on Friday pledged to end “unnecessary degree requirements” for some federal jobs as she courted middle-class voters in the critical battleground of Pennsylvania.
“For far too long, our nation has encouraged only one path to success: a four-year college degree. Our nation needs to recognize the value of other paths, additional paths, such as apprenticeships and technical programs,” Harris told the crowd in Wilkes-Barre, prompting applause. ‘
Obamacare Is Still Wrecking Our Health-Care System
Here’s the good news. You’ve signed up for insurance (under Obamacare). The bad news? You can’t find a doctor. And when you can, he’s a lower quality doctor. The biggest beneficiaries of these plans are large insurers because the government subsidizes the premiums and lower income people can’t afford to use the programs, given the cost sharing.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
‘Previous research by the Paragon Health Institute has revealed that millions of people have enrolled in the ACA exchanges under false pretenses to claim more subsidy than they are eligible for — leading to large windfalls for insurers, unscrupulous brokers, and call centers. This work led Congress to open an investigation and contributed to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ suspending 450 brokers. A second major problem is now getting attention — the deteriorating quality of ACA plans. A comprehensive analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that narrow ACA-plan networks are now the norm, and a new Paragon research paper offers reasons for the decline in coverage quality and recommendations to improve the ACA.
‘ACA price controls are the central reason for the decline in plan quality. These rules require insurers to offer coverage at the same price for people of the same age regardless of their health status. As the Cato Institute’s Michael Cannon has written, this creates strong incentives for insurers to design products that are bad for sick people, and it has led to a deterioration of the quality of individual-market coverage.’
BREAKING: NLRB Orders Starbucks to Reopen Two Closed Ithaca Locations
NLRB orders Starbucks to reopen Starbucks with sub-standard profitability deeming their prior closure a move to “chill unionism” after staff voted to organize.
Is it possible that sub-standard profitability was a factor at a location with a disgruntled staff? The company seems to think so, citing staff turnover at the time of the closure.
Can the government force the company to lose money by allocating capital to a less than productive use?
‘National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge Geoffrey Carter ordered Starbucks to reopen “within a reasonable period of time” two Ithaca locations that closed after employees formed a union, stating that its move to “chill unionism” violated the National Labor Relations Act.
‘Carter ruled on Friday that the May 2023 permanent closures of the Ithaca Commons and Meadow Street Starbucks locations and failure to bargain with the union were unlawful, as the board found the stores were closed for “antiunion reasons” and in an effort to quell unionizations elsewhere.’
Private Equity Fights Insurance for $15 Trillion Retirement Prize
As insurers reduced their presence in annuities markets after the Global Financial Crisis, private players have stepped into the breach, most notably private equity shops offering products backed by private credit investments. Are regulators asleep at the switch while the private equity industry plants the seeds for a new financial crisis?
‘Competitors aren’t the only ones to question the safety of private equity-backed insurers’ investments. International Monetary Fund researchers have also called on regulators to heighten scrutiny of the risks, arguing that increased corporate defaults and credit downgrades in times of economic strain could raise regulatory charges for insurers and force them to liquidate debt. The situation would be worsened by leverage, they said.’
Green tech leaders fundraise for Harris as they warn of Trump threat
Elections have consequences.
‘“There is a very good chance that he’ll try to just kill the industry and try to shut things down and maybe even revoke permits,” said Christopher MacRae Ham, manager of offshore wind at energyRe, which is co-developing a large wind project off the New Jersey coastline with Invenergy, the country’s largest private renewables developer.’
Tell me again how regulators are unbiased.
‘In 2020, the FCC secured a commitment from Starlink to offer high-speed Internet to 640,000 rural locations for $1,300 per location in federal support. After revoking that award in 2023, the government is now spending in the ballpark & upwards of $100,000 per location in cases.’
Trump’s Road Map for Taking ‘Woke’ Out of American Education
This is the rub. Schedule F. Project 2025. They all seek to reform radically the so-called Deep State. But what if the would-be reformers subvert it for their own benefit instead?
‘Conservatives have previously decried the use of federal agencies—sometimes derisively called the “deep state”—by Democrats. Now, Trump and his allies have suggested they want to turn the tables.
‘“We oppose the deep state, but what if the deep state were our guys?” said Max Eden, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.’