Klein & Soltas, Washington Post
Obamacare got some very good news on Thursday.In 2009, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that a medium-level "silver" plan "” which covers 70 percent of a beneficiary's expected health costs "” on the California health exchange would cost $5,200 annually. More recently, a report from the consulting firm Milliman predicted it would carry a $450 monthly premium. Yesterday, we got the real numbers. And they're lower than anyone thought.
Real Immigration Reform Requires Free Markets
On May - 24 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Ross Kaminsky, TAS
Only in the United States Congress could a legislative provision entitled “Market-Based H-1B Visa Limits” actually mean that “the number of visas calculated under subparagraph (A) for any fiscal year shall not be less than 110,000 or more than 180,000.”If you read even a few pages of the so-called Gang of Eight immigration bill trudging its way through Congress—a bill that contains many provisions as horrendous as that one—you can’t help but think of Otto von Bismarck’s famous sausage-making analogy and wonder...
Only in the United States Congress could a legislative provision entitled “Market-Based H-1B Visa Limits” actually mean that “the number of visas calculated under subparagraph (A) for any fiscal year shall not be less than 110,000 or more than 180,000.”If you read even a few pages of the so-called Gang of Eight immigration bill trudging its way through Congress—a bill that contains many provisions as horrendous as that one—you can’t help but think of Otto von Bismarck’s famous sausage-making analogy and wonder...
A Mission on Climate Change
On May - 24 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- President Obama should spend his remaining years in office making the United States part of the solution to climate change, not part of the problem. If Congress sticks to its policy of obstruction and willful ignorance, Obama should use his executive powers to the fullest extent. We are out of time.With each breath, every person alive today experiences something unique in human history: an atmosphere containing more than 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide. This makes us special, I suppose, but not in a good way.The truth is that 400 is just one of those round-number...
WASHINGTON -- President Obama should spend his remaining years in office making the United States part of the solution to climate change, not part of the problem. If Congress sticks to its policy of obstruction and willful ignorance, Obama should use his executive powers to the fullest extent. We are out of time.With each breath, every person alive today experiences something unique in human history: an atmosphere containing more than 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide. This makes us special, I suppose, but not in a good way.The truth is that 400 is just one of those round-number...
Japan’s Recovery Model
On May - 24 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Paul Krugman, New York Times
These days we are, in economic terms, all Japanese "” which is why the ongoing economic experiment in the country that started it all is so important, not just for Japan, but for the world.In a sense, the really remarkable thing about "Abenomics" "” the sharp turn toward monetary and fiscal stimulus adopted by the government of Prime Minster Shinzo Abe "” is that nobody else in the advanced world is trying anything similar.
These days we are, in economic terms, all Japanese "” which is why the ongoing economic experiment in the country that started it all is so important, not just for Japan, but for the world.In a sense, the really remarkable thing about "Abenomics" "” the sharp turn toward monetary and fiscal stimulus adopted by the government of Prime Minster Shinzo Abe "” is that nobody else in the advanced world is trying anything similar.
The ObamaCare Nightmare Scenario
On May - 24 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Peter Suderman, Reason
At a congressional hearing yesterday with Gary Cohen, the Health and Human Services official charged with managing the implementation of Obamacare, Republican legislators charged that Cohen’s agency may be improperly allowing some states to run “assister” programs that pay people to help individuals sign up for the health law’s coverage options. Republicans charged that HHS may not have the statutory authority to fund those programs in states running their own exchanges. That includes states like California, which plans to use a significant part of the...
At a congressional hearing yesterday with Gary Cohen, the Health and Human Services official charged with managing the implementation of Obamacare, Republican legislators charged that Cohen’s agency may be improperly allowing some states to run “assister” programs that pay people to help individuals sign up for the health law’s coverage options. Republicans charged that HHS may not have the statutory authority to fund those programs in states running their own exchanges. That includes states like California, which plans to use a significant part of the...
Why GOP Attacks on Obama Aren’t Working
On May - 24 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Charlie Cook, National Jrnl
Henny Youngman, the late borscht belt comedian, told hundreds of politically incorrect jokes. One of them was his response when asked, "How's your wife?" "Compared to what?" he'd say.Many women find the joke tasteless, but it can be a useful framework for thinking about national politics. Americans may not be ecstatic about President Obama and his policies, but compared with the Republicans, they think Obama doesn't look so bad. This might partly explain why, even with all of the controversies engulfing the Obama administration these days,...
Henny Youngman, the late borscht belt comedian, told hundreds of politically incorrect jokes. One of them was his response when asked, "How's your wife?" "Compared to what?" he'd say.Many women find the joke tasteless, but it can be a useful framework for thinking about national politics. Americans may not be ecstatic about President Obama and his policies, but compared with the Republicans, they think Obama doesn't look so bad. This might partly explain why, even with all of the controversies engulfing the Obama administration these days,...
Ailes Grabs Moral High Ground Over Obama
On May - 24 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
David Zurawik, Balt Sun
The Obama White House has been trying to de-legitimize Fox News almost from the day it took office. Remember the media blitz of 2009 launched by then White House Communications Director Anita Dunn?
The Obama White House has been trying to de-legitimize Fox News almost from the day it took office. Remember the media blitz of 2009 launched by then White House Communications Director Anita Dunn?
Climate-Change Wars Begin This Summer
On May - 23 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Jonathan Chait, NY Magazine
The biggest piece of President Obama’s second-term agenda is his widely expected plan for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue new carbon regulations for power plants, a move that could bring the United States in line with the greenhouse-gas-reduction goals it agreed to in Copenhagen and open the way for an international treaty to control climate change. If the administration unveils such a plan, conservatives will undoubtedly challenge its legality. The legal challenge won’t take place for two years, but the two sides are preparing for war already. The field of...
The biggest piece of President Obama’s second-term agenda is his widely expected plan for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue new carbon regulations for power plants, a move that could bring the United States in line with the greenhouse-gas-reduction goals it agreed to in Copenhagen and open the way for an international treaty to control climate change. If the administration unveils such a plan, conservatives will undoubtedly challenge its legality. The legal challenge won’t take place for two years, but the two sides are preparing for war already. The field of...
Few Answers on How IRS Targeting Started
On May - 23 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Dixon & Temple-West, Reuters
Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS tax-exempt unit, angered lawmakers by reading a statement before refusing to testify, but she was dismissed from the hearing with a warning that she could be called back for another appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS tax-exempt unit, angered lawmakers by reading a statement before refusing to testify, but she was dismissed from the hearing with a warning that she could be called back for another appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Urgent Advice for Graduates
On May - 23 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Jon Lovett, The Atlantic
I recently turned thirty, which I know seems like a generation away to those of you graduating this morning. But it's more than just the worst. Thirty is a year where you're left straddling two worlds. One foot stands in the world of the young, among the bright eager minds and supple bodies of students like you. And the other foot stands in the world of the grey and decrepit; the ancient shapes of your professors and parents; their dulling senses; their craggily, wizened faces. And by the way, congratulations parents! This is your day too.
I recently turned thirty, which I know seems like a generation away to those of you graduating this morning. But it's more than just the worst. Thirty is a year where you're left straddling two worlds. One foot stands in the world of the young, among the bright eager minds and supple bodies of students like you. And the other foot stands in the world of the grey and decrepit; the ancient shapes of your professors and parents; their dulling senses; their craggily, wizened faces. And by the way, congratulations parents! This is your day too.
The Crony in Charge of Your Medical Records
On May - 23 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Michelle Malkin, Townhall
Who is Judy Faulkner? Chances are, you don't know her -- but her politically connected, taxpayer-subsidized electronic medical records company may very well know you. Top Obama donor and billionaire Faulkner is founder and CEO of Epic Systems, which will soon store almost half of all Americans' health information.If the crony odor and the potential for abuse that this "epic" arrangement poses don't chill your bones, you ain't paying attention.
Who is Judy Faulkner? Chances are, you don't know her -- but her politically connected, taxpayer-subsidized electronic medical records company may very well know you. Top Obama donor and billionaire Faulkner is founder and CEO of Epic Systems, which will soon store almost half of all Americans' health information.If the crony odor and the potential for abuse that this "epic" arrangement poses don't chill your bones, you ain't paying attention.
World Still Needs American Hard Power
On May - 23 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Robert Kaplan, Stratfor
Hard power has not been in vogue since the Iraq War turned badly in about 2004. In foreign policy journals and at elite conferences, the talk for years has been about "soft power," "the power of persuasion" and the need to revitalize the U.S. State Department as opposed to the Pentagon: didn't you know, it's about diplomacy, not military might! Except when it isn't; except when members of this same elite argue for humanitarian intervention in places like Libya and Syria. Then soft power be damned.
Hard power has not been in vogue since the Iraq War turned badly in about 2004. In foreign policy journals and at elite conferences, the talk for years has been about "soft power," "the power of persuasion" and the need to revitalize the U.S. State Department as opposed to the Pentagon: didn't you know, it's about diplomacy, not military might! Except when it isn't; except when members of this same elite argue for humanitarian intervention in places like Libya and Syria. Then soft power be damned.
The Obama Administration Pleads Inefficacy
On May - 22 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Chris Stirewalt, FOX News
Lerner is set to invoke her Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate herself for her role in the IRS targeting of President Obama’s political enemies before a House panel today. She will not be saying how or why the agency did so or how many of her subordinates were involved. Most significantly, she will not be explaining who else in the Obama administration was aware of the misconduct. One might have thought that the very fact that her office was at the center of the abuses would have been enough to earn Lerner at least an indefinite paid vacation from her duties. Surely when it...
Lerner is set to invoke her Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate herself for her role in the IRS targeting of President Obama’s political enemies before a House panel today. She will not be saying how or why the agency did so or how many of her subordinates were involved. Most significantly, she will not be explaining who else in the Obama administration was aware of the misconduct. One might have thought that the very fact that her office was at the center of the abuses would have been enough to earn Lerner at least an indefinite paid vacation from her duties. Surely when it...
Questions About Obama & the First Amendment
On May - 22 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Major Garrett, Natl Jrnl
Unconstitutional. Sweeping. Secretive. Abusive. Harassing.Gary Pruitt, the president and CEO of the Associated Press, used those words on CBS's Face the Nation to describe the Justice Department's seizure of two months of AP reporters' phone records in New York, Washington, and Hartford, Conn. As Attorney General Eric Holder said in an entirely different context, that's not hyperbole.Original reports on the subpoena indicated it called for the capture of phone logs of reporters' office phones, cell phones, and home phones. The subpoena did not allow the Justice...
Unconstitutional. Sweeping. Secretive. Abusive. Harassing.Gary Pruitt, the president and CEO of the Associated Press, used those words on CBS's Face the Nation to describe the Justice Department's seizure of two months of AP reporters' phone records in New York, Washington, and Hartford, Conn. As Attorney General Eric Holder said in an entirely different context, that's not hyperbole.Original reports on the subpoena indicated it called for the capture of phone logs of reporters' office phones, cell phones, and home phones. The subpoena did not allow the Justice...
Bad Faith and Budget Politics
On May - 22 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Paul Starr, American Prospect
Compromise is often an unhappily revealing art. “Ideals may tell us something important about what we would like to be. But compromises tell us who we are,” the philosopher Avishai Margalit writes. In finding compromises with Republicans on the federal budget, Democrats need to remember not only who they are but who the voters depend on them to be.From that standpoint, the start of the budget battle in early April did not go well. Acceding to Republican demands for cuts in Social Security and Medicare, the president’s budget left his party open to a cynical but...
Compromise is often an unhappily revealing art. “Ideals may tell us something important about what we would like to be. But compromises tell us who we are,” the philosopher Avishai Margalit writes. In finding compromises with Republicans on the federal budget, Democrats need to remember not only who they are but who the voters depend on them to be.From that standpoint, the start of the budget battle in early April did not go well. Acceding to Republican demands for cuts in Social Security and Medicare, the president’s budget left his party open to a cynical but...
What If Americans Don’t Pay Their Taxes Next April?
On May - 22 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Charles Hurt, WT
You know you are a serious societal pestilence when even politicians can kick you around. Which is why the Senate Finance Committee called Steven Miller, former acting IRS commissioner, to testify about the agency’s scheme targeting conservatives for tax punishment.
You know you are a serious societal pestilence when even politicians can kick you around. Which is why the Senate Finance Committee called Steven Miller, former acting IRS commissioner, to testify about the agency’s scheme targeting conservatives for tax punishment.
The Political Environment Turns On Dems
On May - 22 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Stuart Rothenberg, Roll Call
While national polls haven’t shown a shift in the public’s opinion of President Barack Obama’s performance, recent controversies have, in my view, significantly changed the political landscape.And changes in the landscape have led the Rothenberg Political Report to change its Senate ratings.For the past few years, the public’s focus has been on Republicans’ opposition to the president’s agenda, their desire to shrink (even cripple) government and their conservatism. But the IRS scandal, along with controversies involving the attack...
While national polls haven’t shown a shift in the public’s opinion of President Barack Obama’s performance, recent controversies have, in my view, significantly changed the political landscape.And changes in the landscape have led the Rothenberg Political Report to change its Senate ratings.For the past few years, the public’s focus has been on Republicans’ opposition to the president’s agenda, their desire to shrink (even cripple) government and their conservatism. But the IRS scandal, along with controversies involving the attack...
U.S. Must Cut Climate Pollutants
On May - 21 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Daniel Weiss, RealClearPolitics
Poet T.S. Eliot famously wrote that "April is the cruelest month," but this May could be the scariest because of a recent cascade of alarming news about climate change. On May 9 the planet breeched the 400 parts per million threshold for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for the first time in human existence. Nearly one-third of the contiguous United States suffers from severe to exceptional drought. The Mississippi River went from near record low flows in January to floods in May.A NASA-led modeling study released on May 3 "provides new evidence that global warming...
Poet T.S. Eliot famously wrote that "April is the cruelest month," but this May could be the scariest because of a recent cascade of alarming news about climate change. On May 9 the planet breeched the 400 parts per million threshold for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for the first time in human existence. Nearly one-third of the contiguous United States suffers from severe to exceptional drought. The Mississippi River went from near record low flows in January to floods in May.A NASA-led modeling study released on May 3 "provides new evidence that global warming...
Obama’s Approval Rating Holds Steady
On May - 21 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Cohen & Balz, Washington Post
Majorities of Americans believe that the Internal Revenue Service deliberately harassed conservative groups by targeting them for special scrutiny and say that the Obama administration is trying to cover up important details about the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans last year. But a new Washington Post-ABC News poll also finds that allegations of impropriety related to the controversies have yet to affect President Obama’s political standing.
Majorities of Americans believe that the Internal Revenue Service deliberately harassed conservative groups by targeting them for special scrutiny and say that the Obama administration is trying to cover up important details about the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans last year. But a new Washington Post-ABC News poll also finds that allegations of impropriety related to the controversies have yet to affect President Obama’s political standing.
Just the Facts for J. Russell George
On May - 21 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Lydia DePillis, The New Republic
If you've tried and failed to avoid taxes over the past decade or so, blame J. Russell George. President George W. Bush nominated him as the Treasury inspector general for tax administration in 2004, just six years after President Bill Clinton created the position. Every year, his 800-person agency generates hundreds of audits, saving the Treasury billions of dollars in taxes that might otherwise go uncollected.
If you've tried and failed to avoid taxes over the past decade or so, blame J. Russell George. President George W. Bush nominated him as the Treasury inspector general for tax administration in 2004, just six years after President Bill Clinton created the position. Every year, his 800-person agency generates hundreds of audits, saving the Treasury billions of dollars in taxes that might otherwise go uncollected.
Obama Can Still Build a Second-Term Legacy
On May - 21 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Joseph Nye, CNN
(CNN) -- Many a modern president has lost momentum and suffered what are termed "scandals" in his second term. President Barack Obama's current problems are part of that tradition. But with the exception of Richard Nixon, scandals have not proven fatal. Indeed, Ronald Reagan's Iran-Contra scandal and Bill Clinton's impeachment over the Monica Lewinsky affair were far more serious than what we know so far about Obama's involvement in Benghazi, the Internal Revenue Service or subpoenas of records of reporters' calls. Yet Reagan and Clinton finished their...
(CNN) -- Many a modern president has lost momentum and suffered what are termed "scandals" in his second term. President Barack Obama's current problems are part of that tradition. But with the exception of Richard Nixon, scandals have not proven fatal. Indeed, Ronald Reagan's Iran-Contra scandal and Bill Clinton's impeachment over the Monica Lewinsky affair were far more serious than what we know so far about Obama's involvement in Benghazi, the Internal Revenue Service or subpoenas of records of reporters' calls. Yet Reagan and Clinton finished their...
Ends Justify Means for Obamaites?
On May - 21 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Jim Geraghty, New York Daily News
Don't let anyone fool you: Everyone in politics is tempted to believe that their noble ends could justify unethical and illegal means.Those who had hoped that President Obama would usher in a new era of higher standards in Washington must be shell-shocked by last week's revelations:-The Internal Revenue Service admitted to delaying conservative organizations' tax-exempt status while quickly approving groups that had liberal or progressive orientations. The IRS asked these groups all sorts of invasive questions, including what kind of books they read, and leaked some information...
Don't let anyone fool you: Everyone in politics is tempted to believe that their noble ends could justify unethical and illegal means.Those who had hoped that President Obama would usher in a new era of higher standards in Washington must be shell-shocked by last week's revelations:-The Internal Revenue Service admitted to delaying conservative organizations' tax-exempt status while quickly approving groups that had liberal or progressive orientations. The IRS asked these groups all sorts of invasive questions, including what kind of books they read, and leaked some information...
White House Is Making It Worse on IRS
On May - 21 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Howard Fineman, Huffington Post
WASHINGTON -- So far, voters don't seem to be abandoning President Barack Obama over controversies gripping the Beltway world. But White House aides are tempting fate with their reluctant, piecemeal and contradictory disclosures of what they knew and when they knew it, especially about a report on the Internal Revenue Service's 18-month effort to target tea party and other conservative groups for special scrutiny.The aides either have forgetten or are unable to implement the basic lesson of scandal control in Washington: Get the full story out -- all of it -- as fast as you can...
WASHINGTON -- So far, voters don't seem to be abandoning President Barack Obama over controversies gripping the Beltway world. But White House aides are tempting fate with their reluctant, piecemeal and contradictory disclosures of what they knew and when they knew it, especially about a report on the Internal Revenue Service's 18-month effort to target tea party and other conservative groups for special scrutiny.The aides either have forgetten or are unable to implement the basic lesson of scandal control in Washington: Get the full story out -- all of it -- as fast as you can...
Republicans Obsessed With Exploiting Scandals
On May - 20 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Paul Brandus, The Week
We just had a week that showed, once again, why the American people are right to hold their elected leaders in contempt, and why trust in government is so low. It really does seem like our lawmakers spend all their time trying to put the political screws to the other party "” while the people's business goes undone.Let's take the ongoing Benghazi saga. The White House, trying for a change to get in front of the controversy, released more than 100 pages of emails sent in the frantic aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2012, terror attack. They showed that Republicans,...
We just had a week that showed, once again, why the American people are right to hold their elected leaders in contempt, and why trust in government is so low. It really does seem like our lawmakers spend all their time trying to put the political screws to the other party "” while the people's business goes undone.Let's take the ongoing Benghazi saga. The White House, trying for a change to get in front of the controversy, released more than 100 pages of emails sent in the frantic aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2012, terror attack. They showed that Republicans,...
