Leadership, Views on News • August 12th, 2009

The gold rush, 2009-style

by Chris Lato

If there’s a theme that ties these different bits of news together, it’s that money does, indeed, grow on trees these days.

In New York, for example, they’re giving out ‘free money.’ Well, it’s actually ‘stimulus’ money but it might as well be free, right?

Meanwhile, John Stossel raises some fascinating points in a column about whether Big Pharma and Big Insurance really oppose healthcare ‘reform.’ As he points out, both will get a lot of new customers – and, if everyone has to have insurance, then the risk will be spread out to include the millions of young and healthy types who until now have chosen voluntarily in this big, freedom-loving country to exercise that freedom and not purchase health insurance.

The devil is in the details (I need to find a new cliché) but BP and BI want a say in how this will go, with an eye on maintaining. At the same time, will this reduce the potential for drug research and development, with new limits on drug pricing in effect? And will the number of free-market insurance options plummet as government starts throwing around all that free money to undercut the ‘competition?’ Stay tuned.

Then there’s the story of the top legal eagle in the governor’s office who – wait for it – was not licensed to practice law in Wisconsin. (She is, however, the daughter of a prominent Democrat state senator.) She just resigned from her $100,000 a year post, and the state is now about to spend a lot more free money to make sure she didn’t actually, you know, break any laws or commit ethical violations.

And while we’re discussing the concept of using free money to keep lawyers employed, Steve Baas wonders whether common sense will prevail as Milwaukee city leaders consider whether to join the appeal of the ruling that tossed out the city’s mandatory paid sick-leave requirement, a free-money concept if ever there was one. Anyone taking bets on which way the city will go?

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