Government, Politics and the Economy Partisan Lines Forming Over Healthcare Reform The top Senate Democrats and President Obama appear aligned in support of a government-run health insurance option, facing off against Senate Republicans who say they refuse to won't back such a measure. WashingtonTimes.com New Bill Could Help Merchants with Credit Card Costs Under a new bill before the House of Representatives, merchants would be able to negotiate with banks to reduce the costs associated with credit card purchases. Reuters.com [Read Full Article]

When one thinks of San Francisco and its mayor, Gavin Newsom, the first thing that naturally comes to mind is “sanctuary city.” That, and earthquakes. However, what most people don’t think about is that San Francisco is also the test-bed for a grand economic experiment that is apparently designed to answer one question: How many unfunded and intrusive government mandates on business will it take to drive small business out of a given locale? On top of that, it will also answer the question of whether or not you can tax and regulate your way to prosperity, which is an issue of growing importance these days. Let’s check the scorecard to see where Newsom’s experiment stands:  Play or pay healthcare mandate. Effective January 9, 2008, the Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO) requires Covered Employers to make health care expenditures for their Covered Employees and mandates the Department of Public... [Read Full Article]