Awaiting creative answers for health care costs

For decades, there has been wide disagreement over what national health care should look like. The result of that disagreement is a disjointed, mismatch of those with Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and no insurance. Meanwhile, health care costs seem to be forever rising in spite of the reforms (Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare) designed to make care more affordable.

‘Fiscal cliff’ goes by many different names

In reporting on the “fiscal cliff,” and by using that descriptor, is the media overstepping its role and doing more harm than good? Perhaps. As it turns out, the cliff goes by a variety of names, including fiscal obstacle course, fiscal slope, fiscal whatchamacallit, debtpocalypse, and my favorite: Fiscal Clifford the Big Red Dog.

The business of love

Cupid’s back. And the arrows he slings are pricey for his targets.

The Census Bureau recently released a host of facts and figures it compiled tied to the lovers’ holiday, which, in case you were wondering, was first recognized in Rome in A.D. 496 by Pope Gelasius I. More than 1,500 years later, the holiday means big business.

Reflections on 2011

It seems only natural this time of year to have one eye on the past while the other eye looks ahead.

Obama meets Zuckerberg in Facebook townhall

What better place for a show of transparency than the Web?

OTC on NPR

Ozarks Technical Community College officials have been touting the school’s efforts to retrain victims of layoffs from the recession – and now the school will have a chance to show off its efforts on a national stage.

Bad week for automakers continues

On the heels of General Motors’ announcement that it is shutting down the Pontiac brand, Chrysler made the sad – but not unexpected – announcement today that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The death of a muscle car legend

Fans of the GTO, the Firebird, the Bonneville, the Grand Am and “wide-track design” are mourning today.

The way to an investor’s heart …

For the numerous investors who lost money to convicted Ponzi scheme perpetrator Bernard Madoff, finally some good news.

What was Fed chairman’s message?

In a taped interview aired Sunday night, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that the recession would “probably” end this year if the federal government’s efforts to reinforce the country’s banking system are successful.

Color me cynical, but I didn’t find Bernanke’s comments particularly newsworthy – or reassuring, for that matter.