Author Archive | Russell Korobkin

As I noted over the weekend, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the federal government. Previously, the federal government had agreed to prop them up and in effect to make good on many of their losses. So as things deteriorated, that existing guarantee and the exposure it reflected was becoming too expensive […]

One of the big stories in the last two days was the unavailability of Sarah Palin for interviews (Palin has been out campaigning and giving speeches, but has put off interviews for now). I think Barack Obama had the best term for public complaints about the opponent’s behavior: Working the refs. If I were Obama, […]

While searching for CNN’s story on Troopergate, I came across a surprising statement of Palin’s quoted by Anderson Cooper: that the war in Iraq was “a task that is from God”: [Palin] also talked to church members about “being saved” at the Assembly of God and suggested to them that the war in Iraq is […]

I watched a 5 minute, 18 second ABC investigative report on Troopergate in a genuine desire to learn more about Sarah Palin’s concerns about the dangerous Trooper who had tasered his stepson, allegedly threatened to kill a member of Palin’s family, drank beer in a police car, etc. Palin herself reported the alleged death threat […]

I have already posted about Senator Barack Obama

The homepage of the town of Wasilla, Alaska (population 5469 as of the last census), has links to three news stories. The lead story, as you might expect, is that the town’s former mayor, Sarah Palin, has been named John McCain’s running mate. The second story announces the town’s new website. The third advertises the […]

Immediately after Obama concluded his acceptance speech, the McCain campaign release a statement calling the speech “misleading” and providing a list of seven allegedly misleading claims made by Obama. McCain’s people probably should have spent a bit more time on the response rather than rushing it out the door, because much of this rebuttle doesn’t […]

I want disagree with David Bernstein’s somewhat tepid praise and second Jim Lindgren’s more effusive praise of Barack Obama’s acceptance speech. Everyone knows Obama can give a good speech, but this was his best. Three highlights: (1) Directly challenging John McCain on national security. Obama forcefully made the case that judgment matters more than experience. […]

For those of you who enjoy playing poker online, or who just think it is outrageous for the government to tell you that you may not and attempt to enlist the entire financial community to act as the poker police, my colleague, Professor Bainbridge, describes a way you can take action today: The Poker Players […]

Today, the House of Representatives passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) by a vote of 414-1, joining the Senate, which passed the bill last week 95-0. In addition to prohibiting discrimination in employment on the basis of genetic conditions, GINA prohibits health insurerance companies from denying coverage or determining premiums based on a customer’s […]

Quite a few commentators on the Eliot Spitzer scandal are searching for some deep explanation for the frequent sex scandals involving powerful men. “Do you think men of power and success, men like Eliot Spitzer, get intoxicated with this kind of success?,” asked Nightline’s Terry Moran on Tuesday. “Are they reckless? Do they secretly want […]

As a centerpiece of her now-uphill battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton continues to attack Barack Obama because his healthcare plan does not call for an individual insurance mandate — that is, a requirement that all Americans purchase a health insurance policy — whereas her proposal, like the recently-scuttled Schwarzenegger-Nunez bill in California, […]

Recession fears have caused both President Bush and Congressional Democrats to call for an enormous stimulus package to give the economy a lift. The basic idea of most of our political leaders is a one-time tax cut that will put a relatively small amount of money in the hands of a lot of consumers (and, […]

Thanks to Jocelyn Bowie for pointing me to a very interesting recent opinion in the case of Ferguson v. McKiernan, — A.2d —, 2007 WL 4555436, Pa., December 27, 2007: A man (McKiernan) agrees to provide sperm to an unmarried woman (Ferguson) who wishes to become a single parent but wants to use the sperm […]

I want to invite all VC readers in the Boston area interested in the policy issues surrounding stem cell reserach to a panel discussion of my new book tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 28, from 6-7:30 p.m. The event, sponsored by the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and the Harvard Law School’s Health Policy Center, will be held […]