JdV: Pork barrel system ends with line-item budgeting.
Byline: BEN R. ROSARIO Speaker Jose de Venecia yesterday described the House proposal to scrap the lump-sum pork barrel system as the real institutional reform that would ensure transparency in budget allocations and erase suspicions of large-scale corruption and misuse of funds. "We are proposing...

The `gate-less community: in any other administration, Bush's scandal-plagued Army secretary would be history. But the rules have changed.
ONE WEDNESDAY MORNING IN LATE May, Army Secretary Thomas White arrived late at his ornate Pentagon office, the strain of a breakfast meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff still visible in his face. Not quite one year into the job, he was suffering through one of the rockiest...

Physicians in FTC's scope. (Policy & Practice).
The Federal Trade Commission's health care antitrust efforts in the coming year will focus on three areas: pharmaceuticals, physicians, and hospitals, an antitrust attorney said at a meeting of the Washington Legal Foundation, Washington. The United States now spends $1.3 trillion yearly on health care, said attorney Daniel L....

The Way it was: 1977.
Early Call for Board Audit The spotlight is on the board and will remain so with increasing intensity. It took some massive jolts like Penn Central, BarChris, Ampex, Lockheed, Equity Funding, and Gulf Oil to bring directors into the real world of corporate accountability. The pleasant, perfunctory,...

Should physicians be allowed to negotiate collectively with health plans? (Pro & Con).
YES: Antitrust laws aim to protect consumers by encouraging competition. But in many communities, a few powerful health plans exercise monopolistic power over doctors and their patients. This allows them to determine the scope, coverage, and quality of health care. These plans may dictate contract terms that...

Physicians in FTC's scope. (Policy & Practice).
The Federal Trade Commission's health care antitrust efforts in the coming year will be focused in three areas: pharmaceuticals, physicians, and hospitals, an antitrust attorney said at a meeting of the Washington Legal Foundation. The United States now spends $1.3 trillion yearly on health care, said attorney Daniel L....

Physicians in FTC's scope. (Policy & Practice).
The Federal Trade Commission's health care antitrust efforts in the coming year will be focused in three areas: pharmaceuticals, physicians, and hospitals, an antitrust attorney said at a meeting of the Washington Legal Foundation. The United States now spends $1.3 trillion yearly on health care, said Daniel L. Wellington,...

Outcome of Medicare modernization predicted.
CHICAGO -- The Medicare Modernization Act is here to stay, former Medicare chief Tom Scully said at a conference sponsored by America's Health Insurance Plans. Even if Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) is elected president and the Democrats take control of the Senate, Republican control of the...

Diamonds (and greed) are forever.
MANY SEE EXPENSIVE diamonds as the perfect gift for their significant others. Yet, couldn't some other gem have the same impact? There is an extraordinary logic to the diamond trade: Diamonds are presumed of value because they are pricey. Consumers are told they are pricey because they are rare...

Sound facts: while radical musicians often risk censorship or worse in many parts of the world, the global entertainment industry helps keep them poor and disenfranchised while reaping huge profits.
A cacophony of censorship Index on Censorship has reported 214 cases of music censorship in the last 20 years. A breakdown of these incidents, though not necessarily an accurate reflection of music censorship worldwide, provides some insight. (1) * 57% of British students support censorship...