Think tank wrap-up

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The UPI think tank wrap-up is a daily digest covering opinion pieces, reactions to recent news events and position statements released by various think tanks.

Institute for Public Accuracy

(The IPA is a nationwide consortium of policy researchers that seeks to broaden public discourse by gaining media access for experts whose perspectives are often overshadowed by major think tanks and other influential institutions.)

WASHINGTON -- Venezuela, missile defense

-- Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Weisbrot is currently in Venezuela.

"Six months ago, when the opposition forces overthrew the democratically elected government of Venezuela and installed the head of the business federation as president, the Bush administration at first welcomed the coup, retreating the next day after it became clear that other countries in the Americas were not going to recognize the illegal government.... This time around, too, neither the White House nor the State Department has indicated that a coup would result in any diplomatic or commercial sanctions against an illegal government."

-- Alice Slater, president of the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment, commenting on the recent announcement that the United States will institute a ballistic missile defense system.

"The tests are not hitting their targets, but that doesn't seem to be dissuading the Pentagon from continuing to spend billions of dollars. What this will do is start an arms race in space. China has been putting forward resolutions at the United Nations to keep space free of weapons. The whole world votes for it except for the United States and Israel. But it is not accurate to call this 'missile defense' -- it's an offensive weapons system. The U.S. Space Command talks openly about dominating the world from the 'high ground' -- that is, through a space-based weapons system as outlined in their 'Visions for 2020' report."

The Cato Institute

WASHINGTON -- Consumer Driven Health Care Would Improve Quality, Lower Costs

The American health care system is in need of major reforms that would leave more health care spending decisions up to individual consumers rather than third-party insurers and government administrators, according to Tom Miller, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute.

In "Improving Access to Health Care without Comprehensive Health Insurance Coverage: Incentives, Competition, Choice, and Priorities," a chapter in the new book "Covering America: Remedies for the Uninsured, Volume 2" (Economic & Social Research Institute), Miller details the benefits of a market-based health care system.

Miller's plan includes:

-- Tax credits available to all taxpayers who want to purchase high-deductible insurance coverage as an alternative to an employer-sponsored health plan

-- Greater emphasis on expanding the safety net system instead of increasing subsidies to purchase comprehensive health insurance for the uninsured

-- Greater flexibility in health insurance regulation, promoted through interstate regulatory competition that attracts insurers and their customers to market-based insurance options

-- Tax incentives to encourage voluntary contributions to community-based nonprofit intermediaries that serve the uninsured

"By more effectively combining consumption of care with its purchase, we are more likely to arrive at the optimal mix of access, cost, and quality," Miller writes.