Republicans

Conservatives love to apply “cost-benefit analysis” to government programs—except in health care. In fact, working with drug companies and warning of “death panels,” they slipped language into Obamacare banning cost-effectiveness research. Here’s how that happened, and why it can’t stand. Read More »

Americans' distrust in the media hit a new high this year, with 60% saying they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. Distrust is up from the past few years, when Americans were already more negative about the media than they had been in years prior to 2004.

“This massive IT launch sure came in on time, under budget, and without headaches” is a statement that nobody has ever said. But even controlling for that, Healthcare.gov looks to be having a disastrous launch. Read More »

If White House officials don’t get behind a House-passed bill that overhauls how the government buys information technology, they’re likely to face wrath from congressional Republicans and Democrats alike, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said Thursday. Read More »

My Sunday column on the potential consequences of Obamacare’s botched rollout ended by sketching a scenario in which the program’s Medicaid expansion is deemed a success while its reform of the individual market leads to much-higher-than-expected costs and much-lower-than-expected participation rates. This combination would no doubt be politically helpful to the Republican Party in the short run, but (I argued) it would actually leave liberals with a fairly clear path forward... Read More »