National Politics
As reports of a less than agreeable reception for members of Congress at health care town halls have circulated, other congressional delegations around the country, not excluding Rhode Island’s, have been strangely slow to schedule town halls in their own states. However, the tax-payer funded body which characterized the use of private jets by taxpayer…
In one of the meaningful transitions that used to make me daydream about the possibilities now manifested in MP3 players that can put an entire music collection on shuffle, the Eagles’ “Hotel California” followed directly upon the “We Are the Ones” Obama-adulation song. “You can check out anytime you want,” sings Don Henley, “but you…
… is pretty obvious and substantial, actually. About Sarah Palin’s resignation, David Frum has made this observation. Sarah Palin’s most notable achievement as governor of Alaska was to increase the payout from the state’s energy tax take by $1200 per resident. Isn’t it odd then that she would use her farewell address to warn against…
It is definitely not our practice to run political ads for political reasons (or only for political reasons), but this one from the Republican National Committee on the healthcare legislation is funny enough to merit a few minutes of your time. As one might expect, the “side effects” disclaimer is the key.
I’m not sure what to make of this, from David Brooks… It was interesting to watch the Republican Party lose touch with America. You had a party led by conservative Southerners who neither understood nor sympathized with moderates or representatives from swing districts. They brought in pollsters to their party conferences to persuade their members…
Noting a New York Post article on Washington’s spending bonanza, Glenn Reynolds writes: And yet members of Congress would be hard-pressed to tell you where the money’s going. This isn’t just undisciplined spending. It’s looting. I’d like to know whether the culprits will face a consequence for the travesty beyond their names’ being footnotes in…
Stated in passing — as an inarguable truism — is the most eerie part of President Obama’s recent healthcare remarks (video, at about minute two): We’re now at a point where most everyone agrees that we need to invest in preventive and wellness programs that can save us money and help lead healthier lives. Put…
This bit of cynicism should be beneath the cool-headed genius whom we elected president: Obama countered yesterday that “if we step back from this challenge at this moment, we are consigning our children to a future of skyrocketing premiums and crushing deficits. If we don’t achieve health-care reform, we cannot control the costs of Medicare…
It really is astonishing. With the economy flailing and the trends in job losses disappointing even the whiz kids of the Obama administration, despite its having whipped out the “stimulus” credit card, with “cap and trade” energy policy seeking to raise the cost of doing business (and of simply living), the Democrats are hitting the…
Ben Stein presents an excellent image: True, by many metrics, the economy has stopped falling drastically, but we are still in a painful recession, large by postwar standards. The bank crises seem to have abated for now and Wall Street is paying itself fantastically well again, thank heavens, after being rescued with taxpayer money. But…