When I was a kid, my favorite Superman comics featured Bizzaro World, a place where everything was topsy-turvy and kryptonite was good for you. Today, you can find a real-life congressional version of Bizzaro World at the House Agriculture Committee, a place where deficit spending is rarely criticized and corporate welfare is stoutly defended. On Wednesday, the Republican committee chairman, Frank Lucas, successfully blocked a small but bipartisan effort to reduce agricultura

The Affordable Care Act was passed with the intent of insuring 700,000 uninsured and functionally cost-prohibitively uninsurable patients because of pre-existing conditions. By the end of 2012, 78,000 were insured. The AP reported last week over 100,000 were insured via the program at the end of February, a highly unlikely number. In any case, a majority of targeted patients remain uninsured, perhaps more.           The ACA allocated $5 billion for the program to cover uninsu

The leading edge of the baby boomers hits age 65 this year and will contribute to a surge in Delawares senior population over the coming decade. The Delaware Population Consortium projects a 10% increase in the states population from 2010 to 2020 while the senior population jumps 41%. This surge in seniors has tremendous implications for consumer markets, financial services, the labor force, housing and government. Is Delaware beginning to prepare for the Gray Wave?

As evidenced by recently released data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Delaware is part of a nationwide carelessness in the administration of unemployment insurance benefits.   Over the past twelve months Delaware has made an estimated overpayment of unemployment benefits of more then $12 million, an administrative error rate of 9.5%. The total overpayment in Delaware for the last three years is almost $43 million, for an error rate of 9.3%. Among all the states Delaware h

In 1994 the State of Delaware made a successful bet on legalized gambling. Legislation authorized three horse racing tracks (now racinos) to build casinos for slot machines, which the State designated as video lottery terminals due to constitutional restrictions. Operations began in 1995 and revenues from slots and numbers lotteries are now the states fourth largest source of revenue. Gambling revenue to the state represents a voluntary payment of taxes. Unlike income and bus

Given two very different decades of performance, how do we expect employment in Delaware to perform in the coming years?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act   On May 11, 2011, the Caesar Rodney Institute filed an amicus curiae or “friend of the court” brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in State of Florida, by and through Attorney General Pam Bondi, et al. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, et al. (CV 11-11021). This case involves challenges by 26 States (not including Delaware), the National Federation of Independent Business and two individ

The recently released Transportation Trust Fund Task Force report projects a shortfall of $3.7 billion between spending and revenues over the coming ten years. The danger of not dealing with the shortfall is deterioration in Delaware’s transportation infrastructure and the resulting negative consequences for the state’s economy.   The Task Force report is excellent and comprehensive. It recommends both cost containment measures as well as alternative ways to enhance revenue.

The EPA altered regulations to switch to a new class of refrigerants that supposedly reduces global warming.  The reality is by 2100 the change will reduce forecasted temperature by 0.001 degree C, but will cost billions, add up to $70 to every new automobile, and increase flammability.  Read this report to learn the details.

Snapshot of Delawares economy as of March 2010