Blog

I don't in any way want to suggest for a minute that people shouldn't be taking Democratic efforts at a health care overhaul seriously (of course they should). But setting aside things like this:
Asked what effect a government-managed health care coverage option would have on access to health services, 40 percent said it would make the situation worse, 38 percent said it would make it better and 22 percent said it would remain the same. Asked what its effect would be on the quality of...

> More

I'm still fence-sitting on this, but I will say that I liked some comments she made yesterday, as reported by Bloomberg:
“In business, the predictability of law may be the most necessary."
“[Drafting agreements between companies] made me very respectful about the importance of predictability in terms of courts’ interpretation of business terms.”
“That was very, very critical to organizing business relationships in our country.”
Well,...

> More

NY Post headline: DEM HEALTH RX A POI$ON PILL IN NY / TERRIFYING 57% TAX LOOMS FOR BIGGEST EARNERS.
Some choice excerpts are:
New York's top income bracket could reach as high as 57 percent -- rates not seen in three decades -- to pay for the massive health coverage proposed by House Democrats this week.
and
The $544 billion tax hike would violate one of President Obama's ironclad campaign promises: No family will pay higher tax rates than they would have paid in the...

> More

Judge Sotomayor's confirmation hearing is underway and I'm watching it live right now. What am I hoping for? Well, unlike many of my friends on the right and the left, at present, I don't have a firm view of how I personally would vote on this nomination were I in the US Senate-- which I suppose is rather the point. At this stage, I'm really angling for a comprehensive and exhaustive hearing because ultimately, the things I've heard most about Judge Sotomayor are that a) she has a compelling...

> More

We're now into day 4 of fairly heavy coverage of the Sarah Palin resignation announcement, and after having appeared yesterday on CNN.com to discuss the matter (and being booked for evening cable tomorrow to discuss it further-- more on that later), I find myself posting on the subject again. Palin, as seems to have been the case consistently since John McCain selected her as his running mate, is a hot topic, and her decision to resign is garnering a pretty firm and hardened negative reaction...

> More

Michael Owen has never played at Arsenal and he's not quite talent he was a few years ago, but nonetheless, this image from the BBC Sport homepage still shocks a bit.

The Scum?  Really?  How disappointing...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

> More

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, but with today's news that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will not run for re-election and is resigning from office, I felt I needed to say something.
Obviously, last year, I spent several months working hard to elect Palin to the vice presidency, and was happy to do so. It wasn't always easy (the phenomenal amount of media attention, irrespective of it being positive or negative, ensured that). Likewise, I imagine the decision she announced...

> More

Please remind me again who was the "change" candidate last year?
 

> More

I've been a longstanding critic of Britain's NHS, having been a patient within the system for the roughly 10 years that I lived in the UK and having been in a position to read, watch and hear the barrage of stories pointing out real flaws in the NHS system both firsthand and via news reports during the time I lived there.
So, it disturbs me a little that some out there seem to think the NHS presents a model worthy of consideration for emulation as part of the debate over health care...

> More

That's the title of this article by David Paul Kuhn over at Real Clear Politics, where he notes this, on the subject of Don't Ask Don't Tell, a policy with which I have taken plenty of issue just this year alone (emphasis and edits mine):
During the campaign, Obama pledged to... push for the reversal of the prohibition against gays serving openly in the military, as well as overturning the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriages and codified...

> More