In 1991 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service instituted a nationwide ban on the use of lead shot to hunt waterfowl due to studies that suggested ducks and geese often mistake the small pellets for food, resulting in lead poisoning.
In August 2007, the Interstate-35W bridge across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis suddenly collapsed, killing 13 people. The event led many to decry the state of the nation’s infrastructure, and stress the need for more federal funding to maintain and repair that infrastructure.
A single, oft-cited statistic is that women make 79 cents for every dollar that men make doing the same work. However, that average number fails to account for factors aside from discrimination that can affect an individual’s pay. When experience and other factors are considered, the wage gap narrows.
Stock market volatility remains one of the primary objections to switching from the current pay-as-you-go method of funding Social Security benefits to a system of prefunded personal retirement accounts. However, three Texas counties that opted out of Social Security 30 years ago have solved the risk problem.
In December 2010, Congress extended the research and development tax credit through tax year 2011, but it has since lapsed and has not yet been renewed for 2012. The tax credit was first enacted in 1981 in an effort to improve the international competitiveness of American businesses by encouraging innovation and new technology.
Protection against criminality is a traditional function of government. Where government fails, however, people often turn to the private sector. That is why there are three times as many private security guards as public police. The need for private security is greatest for low-income families, since they are victimized by crime more often than other income groups. In fact, the rate of crimes against households in poverty is three times greater than against higher income families, according to U.S. Department of Justice data.
Low-income families need transportation. They need to get to and from jobs, medical clinics and schools — in addition to markets for other jobs and services. The automobile is the most convenient form of transportation, but it is expensive to own and operate. Fares for public transit, such as buses, are low, but the service is slow and inflexible — and the buses may not go where the traveler needs to go.
The federal and state governments levy taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel primarily to fund highway construction and repair. These taxes average 40 cents on every gallon of gas purchased. However, a significant portion of revenue is diverted to other purposes, such as education and public safety.
A recent American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) report estimated the United States will need to spend $2.2 trillion over the next few years to bring the country’s infrastructure to acceptable levels. A $2 trillion projected estimate for infrastructure sounds daunting, but it is important to examine what planners consider ‘infrastructure.’
With more children spending time in nonparental care, concerns about the quality of out-of-home care have increased. These concerns have led state and local governments to regulate and license facilities and caregivers. However, these barriers to entry make it more costly to become a child care provider, driving up the price of nonparental care.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) – the new health reform law – contains financial incentives for the states to establish health insurance exchanges where qualifying individuals and small businesses can purchase subsidized, individual health insurance, starting in 2014.
There is a looming physician shortage. Nonphysician primary care providers, or nurse practitioners, could help fill the gap. Nurse practitioners, also called advanced practice nurses in some states, have more advanced training than licensed vocational nurses or registered nurses, often earning a doctorate in their field before entering the workforce. This gives them the ability to diagnose and treat ailments much like a primary care physician.
Housing affordability has steadily decreased in the United States and abroad over the past decade. This decrease is due in large part to strict land use regulations– known by a variety of names, such as compact city policy, growth management, smart growth and prescriptive land use.
Dodd-Frank was a response to the 2008 financial collapse intended to increase oversight of massive financial institutions, such as large banks and stock brokers, and monitor consumer transactions, such as payday loans and mortgages. It was meant to address the concern that financial institutions in the United States had grown “too big to fail” and would need to be “bailed out” by the government to prevent financial collapse.
As the United States recovers from the 2008 recession, many consider any employment growth to be a good sign. But uncertainties about future tax and health care costs could be inhibiting permanent job growth, shifting more of the labor force to temporary and part-time employment.
One of the primary goals of the federal health reform law — the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) — is to ensure that all Americans have health insurance. In 2010, the number of uninsured rose to 49.9 million, or 16.3 percent of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The rise over the past decade in the proportion of the population that is uninsured is largely due to the recession, population growth, immigration and individual choice.
Restrictions on who can and cannot practice a certain profession have increased significantly in recent years. Occupational licensing — the most onerous restriction — requires people to pass tests and meet other criteria before they can practice a trade. It is a barrier to employment, disproportionately affecting low-income and immigrant workers, and frequently benefitting established practitioners by limiting competition from new entrants.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to expand its reach, creating a host of new regulations at a high cost to the economy. This is especially true of two new EPA initiatives: a proposed revision to the national ground-level ozone standard and the attempt to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.
Over the past two years the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed or finalized a number of air quality regulations that could seriously retard the economic recovery. Economists estimate that two of the new rules — the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards — will cost millions of jobs and raise energy prices with little or no public health benefit.
Recent government promotion of ‘energy efficient’ consumer products has increased sales of various household appliances, such as washing machines and toilets, and light bulbs. These products have been touted as environmentally friendly.
Producing electricity close to the point of use — called distributed generation — eliminates the need for long-distance transmission lines. Solar photovoltaic technology (‘solar’) generates power using panels of semiconducting cells that convert sunlight into electricity. Solar is one of the most widely used distributed generating sources.
After Congress repealed the prohibition on owning gold in 1975, the market price shot up to $139 an ounce. Recent concern over the 2008 stock market crash, and doubts about the strength of the dollar have led many investors to buy gold. Gold is at its highest price in history, over $1,400 an ounce.
Congress established a mint in 1792 and defined the dollar in terms of a specific weight in both gold and silver. This put the new republic on a bimetallic standard, common at the time. Initially, the official ratio of gold to silver at the mint overvalued gold relative to silver, so silver became the de facto standard.
Public education now costs federal, state and local governments upward of $500 billion annually. This total is up from $354 billion 15 years ago and currently represents the largest state and local government expenditure. While spending increased nearly 50 percent, enrollment increased by just over 10 percent, reading and science scores held steady and on-time graduation hovered at 70 percent.
Medicaid is a joint federal-state health program, primarily for the poor. At the federal level, Medicaid is an entitlement. Each enrollee has a right to benefits. However, federal funds are not distributed equally. Each state determines its own Medicaid spending, but receives federal funds based on a matching formula.