Author Archives: sjcammenga

I’ll Be Home for the Holidays… If I Can Afford It

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View Flying into Michigan

I love being home for Christmas, and am overjoyed at a chance to be at the Mackinac Center during break. The great, snowy state of Michigan is clearly a fitting place to spend the holidays, but if you need to fly in like I did, you may end up asking, “Can I afford it?”

Though prices often depend on when a passenger buys their tickets, statistics show that the average domestic airfare has gone up from $319 in the highest quarter of 2009 to $355 at the start of 2011. This is not surprising as most airlines are basically bankrupt and need a profit for survival. One of the most commonly cited reasons for this is the volatile price of oil, which comprises nearly 35% of operating costs. Within two years it went from $39 a barrel to $100. Mix that with the bad economy causing fewer people to fly, and most observers could assume they knew the reason for the increases.

Though these factors undoubtedly play big roles, there are additional reasons for air travel problems. For instance, American Airlines recently filed for bankruptcy citing union contracts that cost them$800 million a year more in labor costs than their competitors. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) made their own statement after, fearing that workers would lose their contracts and that airplanes would be less safe. Though workers may be asked to take cuts, this is financially preferable to the company dying altogether. As for safety, any airline which wants to stay afloat will take adequate measures to ensure customer satisfaction, safe service and good publicity without union urging.

Regulations also affect ticket costs. Early on, the prices for commercial flights were high, but in 1978 there was a massive deregulation. According to a study by the Heritage Foundation, it removed government control over fares and lowered ticket prices by almost 40%. It also allowed for the entry of new, cheaper airlines into the market alongside the luxury carriers. Today, the Department of Transportation recently passed new regulations, requiring airlines to reimburse passengers for lost bags, give greater compensation to those bumped from flights and fine any plane which waits on the tarmac for more than three hours. These may be good ideas, but wouldn’t an airline which was seeking to be competitive already try to do these things? If an airline loses my bags I am not going to fly with them again, and they have the price of my future tickets to lose, not just the bag reimbursement. In fact, according to Joshua Mitchell of the Wall Street Journal, the regulations may make things worse, as airlines are three times more likely to cancel flights than wait out the time a little longer on the tarmac. If the fine is applied, the proceeds don’t even go to the passengers, thay go straight to the Department of Transportation.

Environmental regulations are another nightmare for both airlines and passengers. A NCPPR study shows that they contribute significantly to cancellations and delays by inhibiting construction of needed runways. Despite a 25% increase in departures since the 90s, only six new runways were added at major hub airports. A runway which should take two years to build can take ten or more, as airport authorities must obtain a number of permits under federal and state laws regarding environmental concerns. These permits are often further delayed by lawsuits from groups opposed to new construction.

Perhaps the key to enjoying cheaper flights and a more stable airplane industry is just to trust the free market. Freedom – that is what I want to find in my stocking and in my state. Happy Holidays from the Mackinac Center’s interns!

Old Buildings, New Ideas

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As a photographer, I have recently been inspired while looking through pictures of the beautiful but crumbling remnants of once great buildings, specifically in the Detroit area. There is something about imagining the vibrant life that once lived within their walls and wondering at the transient nature of everything on this earth. There is something both profound and sad about them, but also something beautiful in the life they continue to live in the minds of the creative, and I don’t just mean through photography.

Where some see these buildings as failures of times past, enterprising men and women can see creative and new uses for these unique structures. Looking at pictures of old theaters, I was surprised to find the clever ways in which they were re-imagined so as to escape the wrecking ball. One old movie palace in Brooklyn, N.Y., which had been closed for 40 years and was in the process of falling apart, is being adapted so as to become a state-of-the-art K-8 charter school run by a nonprofit group called Ascend Learning. It will also be used as retail space. Though there is much need for renovations, the building will retain much of its historical character.

The United Artists Theater in Los Angeles is another theater which has found a different use after closing the curtains; it is owned by the University Cathedral and has been used as a church for years.

Turning back to Detroit, the Michigan Theatre experienced an interestingly ironic fate. Built over the small garage where Henry Ford built his first automobile, the theatre was open for 50 years before being turned into a parking garage. Though this three-level, 160-space garage required the mezzanine, balcony and staircase to be taken down, much of the architecture remains intact. Remaining pieces include the four-story lobby, ticket booth, the proscenium arch and even part of the red curtain. This unique tourist attraction has played roles in movies like “The Island” and in Eminem’s music video “Lose Yourself,” as well as providing much needed parking space for the surrounding area.

Theatres are not the only places that can have a second chance at life. London’s Docklands were converted into condominiums and New York’s emptied tool shops ended up providing some of the city’s most coveted office space. There are people who can look at a dying lot and find a canvass waiting to be filled. Given free reign, entrepreneurs and visionaries may look at something that is crumbling and use their creativity to turn a failure into a success. Never underestimate the innovative mind.

Friedman: the Influence of Ideas

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On the bookshelf of an average American patriot, it would be more common to see a collection of Ronald Reagan biographies than books on the life of Milton Friedman. Ask a person on the street who they think holds the most power in America and you have a good chance of hearing “the president.” However, the president is a single man whose power is limited by checks, balances, and, depending on his character, his personal desire for re-election. One free man with an idea can prove influential and limitless without holding public office. Milton Friedman was that man.
Behind every great success lies a great inspiration. For the millions of conservatives who venerate Reagan, they are also (wittingly or unwittingly) admiring the impact Friedman made on the mentality of his times and on Reagan himself. That the political climate even allowed a man with Reagan’s platform to be elected was due in part to Friedman’s work, starting as early as the failed Barry Goldwater presidential campaign, which began calling for a return to laissez-faire economic principles when the position was extreme. This movement gained momentum, culminating in Reagan’s election.
In 1980, Reagan appointed Friedman to the select Economic Policy Coordinating Committee. As a team they applied Adam Smith’s concepts, and the economy became a freer and more prosperous place; regulations were limited, inflation was brought under control, taxes were cut, and government began to find its place – on the sidelines. Reagan’s policies are widely recognized as bringing about the second-longest peacetime economic expansion in the history of the United States. The key to bringing this prosperity was the wisdom of those advisors who, like Friedman, truly understood economic policy. Later, Friedman was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Friedman didn’t only have an influence at home in America; his ideas brought significant changes around the world. Former prime minister of Estonia, Mart Laar, who is credited with bringing Estonia’s rapid economic development in the 1990s, said that the only book on economics he read before his election was Milton Friedman’s “Free to Choose.” Under Laar, Estonia became the first country to institute a flat tax, which was very successful. While speaking about Friedman’s “Free to Chose” TV series, Reagan mentioned that the principles Friedman expressed had also helped inspire the Polish drive for freedom.
Although politicians come and go and their ideas can change with the political winds, the protection and presentation of sound economic ideas remains a vital tenant of freedom. Politicians are only in power for a few terms at most, but influencing the electorate and swaying public opinion toward freedom is a full time job with no term limit. This position in the cause of freedom is taken today by think tanks like the Mackinac Center. They, like Friedman, publish articles, give lectures and research responsible policy changes, sharing their findings publicly.
As an intern at a think tank, I am inspired by Milton Friedman. Looking at his example, I know that as a responsible citizen, I can live an influential life of loving and sharing liberty without needing to be elected. My job is to provide, present and protect the principles which will bring about the next age of prosperity.

A Union Story

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A long time ago in a town not so far away, a plant was built for a business called Dow. Though this plant has since been sold to SC Johnson, what happened there in earlier days should not be forgotten. When the plant was built, Dow’s union came with the building. As time wore on, the union began asking for things like higher wages, benefits and more skilled trades work. These bargaining sessions grew more and more strained. Eventually, the negotiations completely broke down and the union went on strike.
Unable to bargain with the union and determined to continue production, the plant contacted people who had sons looking for jobs, people within the company working on salaries and people from the company’s Midland plant to become strike breakers. This was harder than it sounds, as it was by no means a peaceful strike. According to one employee with a family member who crossed the picket line, the workers parked outside of the plant and took a bus in for their own protection. Police would do their best to hold back the protestors as they tried to take the top off the gas and cause an explosion to punish those crossing the line. During the height of strike activity, workers would often spend the week at the plant, and the company provided them with food and sleeping quarters for their safety.
Eventually, these measures were successful and something very rare happened; the union was defeated and removed from the business. When the company was able to continue running without the workers, the union went broke and could no longer pay for the protest. After the protests ended, the company allowed former union members to return as salary workers.

This was a great victory for the company and those who were willing to take the risk of crossing the picket line. Ironically, conditions became better after the union was gone. Realizing the value of good incentives, the company began to make their own improvements. Some were as small as bringing in food to improve worker morale. Others were larger, like later on when they installed air conditioning to make the hot and noisy working conditions more bearable. Many other changes followed these - no bargaining necessary. 

 

The (Government-free) Pursuit of Artsy-ness

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Even people who are not art fanatics have to admit that it is impossible to live without it. Let’s face it, you would lose the music you listen to on the way to work, the TV drama you watch at night, every painting you ever hung to hide your ugly white walls and even your fashionable clothes. Human creativity is a beautiful characteristic and should be enjoyed and encouraged; some have even gone so far as to say that art is a “basic human need.”

As an English major who loves attending poetry readings and can’t remember a year without being in a drama production, I will not deny that art is near and dear in my heart. However, I would disagree with those who claim it is such a basic need that it should be sponsored by the government. The government’s job is to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Though art is certainly part of many people’s happiness, the government cannot promise or provide happiness, only the safe pursuit thereof. Who is the government to know what will bring happiness to the artistically minded in the first place?

Art is a basic human response to life and beauty; where humans are, art will happen with or without funding. People with a passion for painting, writing or composing will not require government funding, or possibly any outside funding at all! They will make it their hobby and set aside portions of their own paycheck to afford the materials needed to create. Where more expensive art is concerned, there is a long tradition of patronage that I see no reason to break. Though wealthy people today may not have a personal artist who writes them symphonies on commission or paints their portrait yearly, they have founded many philanthropic foundations in support of the arts, sponsored the building of theaters and become collectors of the pieces which private artists have produced. On the homepage of the Arts Funding Watch website alone, I saw numbers adding up to at least $70 million being raised to support the arts. So why would the government need to become involved in this already functioning system? It doesn’t.

This is not to say that the government can have no contact with art. For instance, I would not begrudge it adding statues to beautify the capitol building, or painting a mural beneath a formerly graffiti-ridden bridge. What I would like to discourage is spending the tax money which could be going towards our national debt on art that we might not even choose for ourselves. By all means, beautify the city in ways that we can’t, but leave the creating to us. It will be better this way. Maybe the arts will take a hit financially, but if it is truly good, beautiful, edifying art, then a passionate patron will seize the opportunity to support it as they have in the past.

Next time your family visits the privately funded Meijer Gardens, Getty Museum or Huntington Library, be sure to remind them, “The free market made this.”

Ludington and the Private Sector

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Every year when school gets out I know I can soon look forward to a family reunion at Ludington State Park. Last year I wrote about privatizing the state park, but this year I learned some interesting history to share and consider. As it is the Park’s 75th birthday this year, they were leading history walks throughout the summer, one of which my family and I attended.

The land on which the park rests was originally purchased by private owners before it was sold to the state. It was not developed until the Great Depression, when the CCC was formed. They camped on Hamilton Lake and built the beach house and other parts of the park as part of FDR’s New Deal. (Though our guide was all for the plan, I could not help thinking of “Great Myths of the Great Depression”).

The most fascinating part of the tour was learning that the Hamlin dam, which has provided us with a lake and fishing grounds for years, was a pork barrel project. It was pushed for by the owners of resorts on the other end of the lake after the old dam broke and the shoreline receded, destroying their view and swimming areas. It took me awhile to sort out my feelings on this one, as pork barrel spending is one of those things that make my skin crawl and yet it was caused by businesses which I would tend to support. Much of this feeling was probably encouraged by the tourguide’s less than enthusiastic view of the private sector. I was thoroughly disappointed that they did not just pool their resources and invest in a dam themselves. Upon further research, however, I learned that it is in fact not allowed for any private entity to build a dam on a stream on state property. This would render it impossible for the people owning these resorts to restore the value of the land themselves if they were building it on the State Park’s property. Now, maybe they were excited about the idea of using the government to spend money on the dam so they would not have to, but despite their actions, the fact that they were able to get it built as pork was a flaw of the government’s, not their’s. Though they may have found a way to use the government for a short time, they were actually entering into a realm of less freedom and more government power. Were there less regulations and were the government limited (even to the extend of not owning the land), the dam could have been a result of the resort owners pooling their money and building it themselves.

This being said, I am not the ideal campsite guest for a big government friendly tour guide.

Literature and Liberty: An English Major’s Place in the Movement

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As a student, I have taken my turn reading through the sappy, statist pages of “The Jungle,” as well as the contrasting pages of “Animal Farm.” These books are powerful because they portray important ideas in an entertaining, understandable way. Properties like these make literature a powerful tool in any intellectual movement, and although some would claim that free-market literature lacks the emotional appeal of that which promotes more government intervention, there is still compassion and power in many novels which promote liberty.

I received much of my personal inspiration and knowledge of the workings of the free market and alternate economic systems from books like “1984” and “Atlas Shrugged,” and can testify firsthand to the effect they had on me. However, looking beyond the usual suspects for “liberty literature,” it is interesting to note that some literature which at first glance appears to be sympathetic to big government actually has some free-market leanings. One example is found in Charles Dickens.

In “A Christmas Carol,” Scrooge refuses to give money to the sweet and needy Crachit family in a classic example of the heartless actions of big business owners… or does he? When the men first come to his door with a collection for the poor, he turns them away, grumbling that there are jailhouses, union workhouses and poor laws to take care of the problem that he already pays his taxes to. It is only when the ghosts make him aware of the needs in his own neighborhood, his personal experiences and knowledge of the needs of his neighbors enables him to give generously in a way that makes the maximum positive impact on all involved.

When one starts looking with a close eye at every media one is presented with, many hidden philosophies will emerge. For instance, while watching “Jaws” with my fellow interns, we noted the surprising role the mayor played in insisting the beach be kept open despite the dangers it posed. The police chief had no power to overturn this decision for the safety of the people. In the end, it is the privately contracted boat and the help of a scientist (who buys all his own equipment with no federal help, by the way) and freelance shark killer that get the police chief where he needs to be to protect the people of the town.

Following free-market ideals does not mean ignoring the plight of the poor or endangered. Instead it encourages personal responsibility in reacting to these situations. Sometimes when there is trouble in the town, the cloud which has covered the hopeful rays of help is in the shape of “Big Government.”

Friends, Freedom and Facebook

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I have been a fan of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy for a long time, but it was not official until I decided to friend them on facebook! Facebook has millions of users and has changed the way people communicate, advertise and share their thoughts.

Facebook is the dominant social network in most countries, but what you may not know is that there are several exceptions. These are mainly autocratic states.  Though facebook is not officially blocked in any country, there are measures put in place in many stricter countries like Iran and China, who offer alternative social networks which are more censored. This caution is because facebook is more than just a place to write about what you had for dinner or see pictures of a friend’s new puppy. It is a place where you can link to breaking news, have discussions and freely state your opinion on issues. The traffic of friends reading and referencing their friends’ facebook pages can cause stories, good or bad, to spread quickly. Governments fear when they cannot control the story, and Facebook is a forum of freedom.

Though free countries have this valuable forum, only the slightest fraction of a percent of what goes on facebook is related to policy or politics. True, it was designed to connect with friends and not to discuss the value of free market ideas, but there are many opportunities it provides that we can all make an effort to take advantage of. Some have already been realized. The U.S. government has its own page where it posts things like videos of President Obama’s speeches. The state of Michigan has a page on which to share information as well. The Mackinac Center itself has a page where it posts new articles to raise awareness of what is happening in Michigan policy and share new ideas of how to improve the state. The market itself can find uses for facebook. Not only can businesses take out ads, they can create free pages to keep customers informed of specials and upcoming events.  As private citizens looking to promote freedom, posting links to important news, having debates, or writing thought provoking statuses can be a way of informing friends who may not think of such things themselves.

Though many of its uses are not fully realized, there are steps being taken as businesses and organizations learn how to use facebook to their advantage. We too should use this aspect of American freedom to spread the truth to our friends at home and around the world.  If you want to try liberty, maybe you should try facebook!

Some Ideas That Merit Attention

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The idea should be simple. Yes, schools need reform. One solution that would both improve the budget and give incentive to improved teaching practices is merit pay. What is difficult about this solution is how to implement it, as determining merit is not simple.

The standard answer is to determine a teacher’s merit by their experience or degree level, but these have not been proven to increase student performance in every case. Basing merit upon only test data and academic student performance diminishes the importance and scope of the teaching profession. A more well-rounded option for judging would be adding feedback from the students and parents themselves through valid and reliable teacher evaluations.

If changing the base pay seems too much to give for such varied ways of determining merit, reform-oriented school boards may want to give teachers bonuses for their effectiveness instead as a smaller, but still valuable incentive. Though state spending on public schools is high and still rising, student achievement in Michigan is not. Perhaps one of the best options is giving the money back to the parents who originally earned it so that they can decide for themselves what teacher at what school has the merit to best educate their child.

Though most teachers are in the profession because they care about the growth of the students and are driven by the intrinsic reward of doing a good job, all people are also encouraged by financial rewards and recognition for a job well done. Rewarding the key people financially who can improve the state education system is a logical way to use the budget to encourage positive growth in schools.

Capitalism, Compassion and Ayn Rand

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Say the word “capitalism” in some groups and people will instantly assume that you promote dog-eat-dog greed, corrupt business practices and can’t be bothered to care about the poor.

It is not difficult to figure out why people who do not understand the whole system would think this. Capitalism does have an individualistic focus, but that does not mean that there is no room for giving. One of the most memorable quotes from “Atlas Shrugged” summed up much of Ayn Rand’s philosophy; “I swear by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”

Rand was self-focused and did not condone making sacrifices with no benefit. This does not mean, however, that there was no love, compassion or special giving in the world she advocated. Her idealistic characters in “Atlas Shrugged” made a daring raid to secure the safety of a friend, risking their own lives in the process. Although the act appears selfless, these individuals benefited from saving the friend and not needing to suffer the grief of losing him to the looters. Rand takes great pains to show that the individual achievements that her characters profit from also have a positive effect on others. Acting in self interest and making money does not mean that the gains are hoarded. As the business owners became richer, they hired many people to keep the company running at capacity, and invested money into developing newer, better and cheaper products for the consumers. When their businesses were flourishing, everybody won.

To conclude in Rand’s own words, showing that individuals know how to create prosperity better than the government: “America’s abundance was created not by public sacrifices to “the common good,” but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for America’s industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages and cheaper goods with each new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance – and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way.”

The Final Bell: Thoughts on School Day Length

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During the discussion on how to improve Detroit Schools, one man said that, although he does not necessarily like the concept of charter schools, they have some good ideas which he would like to instate. However, the policy he was referring was longer school days.           

As a future teacher myself, many of my friends have done student teaching. Though they are college kids who are accustomed to thriving on a lack of sleep, by the time they get back from school they look exhausted and still need to grade papers and prepare assignments. A seven hour day at school is really a ten hour day after commuting, grading papers and preparing lessons. Another hour of school would be another hour away from either their personal refreshment and sleep, or the amount of time they spend giving feedback while grading or preparing for the next day.

A longer day would be difficult for students as well. One teacher pointed out that her students are already more distracted after lunch, and are often not very attentive by the time the last bell rings. If they were to sit for another hour, it is questionable how much more they would retain. One study found that students were on task for about one-third of the hours spent in school. Perhaps using more of that time to provide a quality education, rather than aiming for another hour or two, would be wiser.

Longer school days come with a high cost for the government and businesses as well. Base pay for teachers would need to increase proportionately to the length of the school day. This would obviously cost the districts more, but lengthening the school day could also have a negative effect on the businesses that rely on the ordinary length of the school day or the school year to allow them to employ student workers in the afternoon or evening.

Many people, including President Obama, have called for longer school days as a component of school reform. It is an issue in contract negotiations across the country. In the end, I believe that longer school days will cost more and be harder on teachers and students. Perhaps this is one option that we could pass up.

Rearden Metal

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Michigan can feel like it’s full of shakers, but there are still many movers. In a scene that could be straight out of “Atlas Shrugged,” an amateur metallurgist in Detroit has created his own version of Rearden Metal called Flash Bainite. Flash Bainite has been proven at six ballistic testing labs to be pound for pound the strongest, most ballistically resistant, readily weldable metal known to man. The process produces steel that is 7 percent stronger than the other forms of steel and even some titanium alloys. In addition, it is more ductile than other steels, which allows it to crumple more before breaking and better absorb impacts. If it sounds like this incredible process would be too expensive to be viable, think again. The process to give steel this strength takes around 10 seconds and is more energy efficient and cheaper than traditional steel making. It is even environmentally friendly as it uses water instead of polluting oils or molten salt and only one Kwatt of energy. The best part is that this amazing metal was created by a DIY American’s ingenuity without an ounce of government funding for his tinkering. I want the first bracelet!

Detroit Charter Schools

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Detroit Public Schools appear to be taking steps to improve its performance at last, starting with a change in the leadership of failing schools. DPS has reported a 58 percent graduation rate, compared with the state average of 89 percent, and in 2009 the district recorded the lowest scores ever in the 21-year history of the national math proficiency test.

Back when Gov. Granholm was left to deal with this, she proposed increasing the dropout age and creating smaller high schools to boost graduation. This could be difficult however, as the district also has a $327 million budget deficit. To combat this, closing 50 percent of its buildings was suggested. The new emergency solution for both of these problems is to convert about 40 of DPS’s 142 schools into charters. This would result in the estimated savings of between $75 and $99 million, as well as avoiding costs related to closing schools. DPS alumni who gathered for the meeting explaining the plan couldn’t understand the rationale behind this. “Why can’t traditional schools do these things?” one questioned.

I’m glad they asked! The answer in brief is because it all comes down to money. While charter schools don’t get as much per-pupil funding as conventional school districts receive, they also have more flexibility when it comes to dealing with unions. That allows school leadership to devote more time to educating students, including the ability to work with the staff to determine which teachers are performing up to expectations. Opponents worry that charters will reject struggling students, but state law requires charters to accept all students if space is available. Critics also argue that charters in Detroit have not historically scored better than the public schools, but even if this is true they have certainly not scored worse, and marginal improvements for less money is still a good option. It just shows that every system has room to grow.

Though charters are not a guarantee of academic success, they provide competition and alternates to improve the chances of finding a school which is a good fit for any student. There are currently 174 charter schools in the Detroit metropolitan area. Converting these new charters would make Detroit one of the districts with the highest percentage of students in charter schools.

Musings on Minimum Wage

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As a student trying to pay my way through school, I know I have been blessed to land a summer job at all, much less somewhere I am passionate about. Last year (2010), youth employment was lowest since 1949, having dropped 17.5% from the year before (2009). Interesting to note is that the minimum wage was last raised in the summer before, in 2008. Earlier in history, data from shows that at least 20,000 jobs were eliminated by the 1996 hike. This appears to be a pattern.

Minimum wage is definitely not the sole cause of the terrible unemployment numbers in the state today; the whole of Michigan has been suffering, especially after the collapse of the auto industry. The key to moving beyond failing industries is to support Michigan’s other businesses and encourage the establishment of new ones. When minimum wage is raised, the effects reach these businesses. Common summer employers, like farmers or resort owners, will readily admit to relying on the kids they employ in the summer to keep the business going. A higher minimum wage can discourage them from hiring too many employees or even be enough the shut them for good if they cannot afford the extra pay. 

Interestingly enough, Michigan is one of the few states which allow younger workers to be paid less than minimum wage. When a business is paying less, it is able to afford more workers. If less pay seems unfair, another beauty of a free market is the ability to walk away from a job if one doesn’t wish to live off its pay.

As a student, I am often willing to work cheaper. My younger brother who is looking for a job is willing to work for cheaper. I know students who have happily worked for a stipend less than minimum wage. I understand the importance of being able to support a family on a wage; this was the intent of the first wage law. However, I don’t think it would be all bad to have the freedom to choose to work for less if that is what it takes to be competitive and earn money for college.

Obamacare Continued

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The Obamacare saga continues, with The New York Times reporting that many states lack the authority to enforce key provisions of the Health Care Reform Law. Michigan is one of those states.
When it comes to enforcing the new standards the States are expected to play the primary role – if they don’t the federal government will step in. What can states do if they do not currently have the power to enforce the health care law’s provisions? They could count on the goodwill of the insurance companies, rely on “persuasion” or general laws currently in place banning unfair practices. The other option? Make some more laws! Another increase in government power – exactly what we need.