William Plyler | March 2, 2010
As someone supportive of President Obama’s efforts to reform health care, I find it difficult to understand why the president hasn’t jumped on health savings accounts (HSAs) as a way to reduce health care costs. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels’ piece entitled “Hoosiers and Health Savings Accounts” on the op-ed page of the 3-1-10 Wall Street [...]
William Plyler | March 2, 2010
As someone supportive of President Obama’s efforts to reform health care, I find it difficult to understand why the president hasn’t jumped on health savings accounts (HSAs) as a way to reduce health care costs. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels’ piece entitled “Hoosiers and Health Savings Accounts” on the op-ed page of the 3-1-10 Wall Street [...]
William Plyler | February 9, 2010
The fact that an idea is promoted by Republicans should not relegate the idea to the dung heap. George Will’s column in yesterday’s Washington Post, How To Get The Country To Solvency On Entitlements, extols the virtues of Republican Congressman Paul Ryan’s outline for budget reform entitled Roadmap For America’s Future. The Roadmap includes a [...]
William Plyler | December 18, 2009
Until today, Howard Dean was best known for his primordial scream after finishing third in the 2004 Iowa caucuses. His article entitled “Health-care Bill Wouldn’t Bring Real Reform” published in today’s Washington Post may relegate his Iowa meltdown to an historical footnote. Dean’s article should send chills down the spine of every Democratic legislator. If anything resembling [...]
William Plyler | November 13, 2009
The instructor who taught my bar examination review course in 1982 announced that the multiple choice answer “violates due process” would never be a correct answer on the exam. He correctly forecast that “violates due process” would be one of the proffered answers to many of the questions, but he strongly urged us to always [...]
William Plyler | September 28, 2009
The Raleigh News and Observer’s September 27, 2009 front page article entitled “Lawsuits and Health Costs, Debate Swirls on the Effects of Malpractice Awards” demonstrates that the issue of medical malpractice reform is not going away. (See September 6 post on this issue.) The most striking feature of Sarah Avery’s article is its balanced approach. [...]
William Plyler | September 21, 2009
Judges should interpret (rather than make) the law and should not legislate from the bench. On the other hand, judges should invalidate legislation which conflicts with the Constitution. Politicians of all stripes profess to agree upon these high-minded, competing principles.
Which of these principles is emphasized by a politician in a particular situation depends [...]
William Plyler | September 6, 2009
Bill Bradley’s op-ed piece in last week’s New York Times may prove to be the turning point in the health care reform debate. Bradley envisions a grand political tradeoff between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans would agree to universal health insurance coverage in exchange for substantial tort reform, specifically, medical malpractice reform.
Bradley, the All-American basketball player [...]
William Plyler | September 6, 2009
Bill Bradley’s op-ed piece in last week’s New York Times may prove to be the turning point in the health care reform debate. Bradley envisions a grand political tradeoff between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans would agree to universal health insurance coverage in exchange for substantial tort reform, specifically, medical malpractice reform.
Bradley, the All-American basketball player [...]
William Plyler | August 22, 2009
Facebook is the perfect forum for Sarah Palin. Her posts, reprinted by major media, generate as much buzz as would op-ed pieces in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. If nothing else, the posts are thought-provoking.
Sarah Palin’s August 7 post about “death panels” was a driving force behind the deletion of an [...]