Overview for News

Obama: Carter 2.0

Recent stories that reveal President Obama's leadership style as a "micromanager" have drawn comparisons to Jimmy Carter -- who famously took over the scheduling of the White House tennis courts. Our best presidents have not been micromanagers. Should we be worried? Yes. Of all the many, many …

Written by Gusher on Tuesday August 18, 2009

After the Public Option

Maybe the right way to approach healthcare is to begin by addressing the problems that bother the public most. Almost all of those involve specific practices by insurance companies - especially those that cut off coverage after an insured becomes sick. What if we just start there? Maybe the right …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday August 18, 2009

Obama - Getting the Big Things Wrong

Obama has been trying to bring about major changes in both energy and healthcare policy, on top of his massive stimulus spending. In so doing, Obama has spread his political capital thin, let his energies dissipate and largely left it to Congress to figure out what's going to be in all this …

Written by Kenneth Silber on Monday August 17, 2009

Obamacare: A Giant Wealth Transfer to the President’s Supporters

Obamacare is an attempt at an inter-generational and inter-demographic wealth transfer. It is an effort to redistribute income and benefits to the core of Obama’s support and the urban precincts of Blue America away from older and suburban Americans. Obamacare is an attempt at an inter-generation…

Written by Lloyd Green on Monday August 17, 2009

New FCC Officer’s Proposed Regs Would Stifle Free Speech

Mark Lloyd has been named Chief Diversity Officer at the Federal Communications Commission. Lloyd is expected to continue the push for localism regulations which could send many radio stations in small markets out of business. According to Jillian Bandes, localism (read: government-forced …

Written by Dustin Siggins on Monday August 17, 2009

Thomas Hardy's Jude: Not Nearly Obscure Enough

Negative reviews of Jude the Obscure so jolted Thomas Hardy that he left off writing narrative fiction ever after. When this story is usually told, much is made of the supposed squeamishness of Hardy’s Victorian contemporaries. One critic nick-named the novel, “Jude the Obscene.” Negative …

Written by David Frum on Sunday August 16, 2009

The Headlines Review

Napoleon Linardatos presents a humorous take on today's headlines. Napoleon Linardatos presents a humorous take on today's headlines. “Cash-strapped Cuba says toilet paper running short” - Reuters , 8.10.09 Now the socialist government of Cuba is left with the hope …

Written by Napoleon Linardatos on Sunday August 16, 2009

The Science Behind a Fat Tax

From today's New York Times : "Only 10 percent of early deaths are the result of substandard medical care... The biggest contributor, at 40 percent, is behavior." From today's New York Times : J. Michael McGinnis, a senior scholar at the Institute of Medicine, has estimated that only 10 …

Written by David Frum on Saturday August 15, 2009

German Social Democrats Mulling Grand Deal with Former Communists

With general elections upcoming in Germany on September 27, many signs suggest that the Social Democrats are prepared to enter into a coalition with a party which includes remnants of the former East German Communist Party. With general elections upcoming in Germany on September 27, all the …

Written by John Rosenthal on Friday August 14, 2009

Remember Afghanistan? Iraq?

This week’s Jo Moore award goes to us, the media, for abdicating our responsibility to cover substantively important stories so that we could go live to “Joe the Plumber High School in Just Another Small Town USA” where there are angry people yelling at some congressman. At 9:55 am (EST) on …

Written by Jeb Golinkin on Friday August 14, 2009

The Big Money Speaks

Yesterday, the first ad debuted in what is being described as a $12 million campaign in favor of the Democrats’ health plans. After an August of angry public meetings, September looks to be the month when the big money is heard. Yesterday, the first ad debuted in what is being described as a …

Written by David Frum on Friday August 14, 2009

Still the Best Healthcare in the World

Fear of the loss of American medicine at its best is what is riling the town halls. Americans like what they have. They worry that it cannot continue. And they correctly surmise that a president with other spending priorities seeks to take it away. A pregnant American arrives at her doctor’s …

Written by David Frum on Friday August 14, 2009

Kaus Takes an Edwards Victory Lap

With John Edwards at last acknowledging paternity of Rielle Hunter's baby, Mickey Kaus lovingly chronicles the collapse of Edwards' "edifice of lies." With John Edwards at last acknowledging paternity of Rielle Hunter's baby, Mickey Kaus lovingly chronicles the collapse of Edwards' "edifice …

Written by David Frum on Friday August 14, 2009

Group Think in Obamaland

In politics, it is easy to assume that everyone thinks just like the allies with whom you surround yourself. How do Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer author an article that uses the word "un-American," regardless of its context? Between their two offices, a minimum of 10 different sets of eyes must …

Written by Henry Clay on Friday August 14, 2009

Not the Color of His Skin, But the Cost of His Plans

Even though there are many people who don’t like the fact we have a black president, I don’t think that’s where the town hall anger is coming from. Rather, people are waking up to the reality of how much a government healthcare plan will cost. One thing is for certain, healthcare reform is …

Written by Crystal Wright on Thursday August 13, 2009

The Reckless Right Courts Violence

Hysterical talk from TV and radio hosts may be a cynical marketing exercise. But it's getting too dangerous to ignore. A man bearing a sidearm appears outside President Obama's Aug. 11 town hall meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., under a sign proclaiming, "It is time to water the tree of liberty." …

Written by David Frum on Thursday August 13, 2009

What I Saw at the Town Hall

Twenty minutes into my two-hour wait to get a seat at Senator Ben Cardin's town hall event, I started keeping a "Nazi tally" by counting references I overheard to Adolf Hitler, Germany, or the Nazi Party. The town halls are exactly what you're seeing on TV. The crowds are overwhelmingly conservativ…

Written by Alex Knepper on Wednesday August 12, 2009

Americans Ignore the True Costs of Health Insurance

In the health insurance debate nobody seems to talk about the role of the American paycheck. The Republican party should push for health insurance "cafeteria plans," where individuals can take their hidden paycheck costs in paid insurance premiums or in ordinary taxable cash. One thing I'm …

Written by Thomas J. Marier on Wednesday August 12, 2009

Europe's Fear of Capitalism

Which German politician said the following? "As a citizen, I would not like again to become the object of Anglo-Saxon financial capital. Germany does not protect me from this, but only Germany in Europe does." Which German politician said the following? As a citizen, I would not like again …

Written by John Rosenthal on Wednesday August 12, 2009

Birthers: Ignorance is No Excuse

According to a new poll, 7% of North Carolinians who voted for John McCain do not believe Hawaii to be a part of the United States. They may be older voters who never quite absorbed the news that our 50th state is indeed our 50th state. Sadly, even if the latter is the case, it doesn't explain …

Written by Eugene Debs on Tuesday August 11, 2009