Lovers of freedom lost two strong leaders today as both Rose Friedman and Robert Novak passed away.
Rose, wife of famed Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman, was a renowned economist in her own right and co-wrote several books with her late husband, including Free to Choose, Capitalism and Freedom, and Two Lucky People. Reason’s Brian Doherty imparts a few kind words over at Hit & Run.
Robert Novak, who covered Washington politics since the Eisenhower administration, rose to fame when he published the Evan-Novak Political Report with his longtime friend Rowland Evans. Here is a nice piece about Novak’s long life over at the WSJ.
When it come to health care, Representative Eric Massa (D-NY) says definitively that he will vote against the wishes of his district, which he labels “one of the most right wing Republican districts in the country.” Massa supports a single-payer, government-run system.
According to a new Rasmussen Reports survey, a majority of American voters (54%) believe doing nothing is better than passing the health care reform proposals currently making their way through Congress.
60% of Democrats support the Congressional plans
80% of Republicans say passing nothing is better than passing the plans in Congress
66% would rather the legislators take no action vs. 23% who would like to see the Congressional plans passed
The extreme Left, led by Former Dem Party Chairman Howard Dean, is up in arms over the Administration’s hint that it may willing to forgo a government-run public insurance option in an attempt to strike a deal on health care reform. And it appears the Deaniacs are having an impact.
CNN is reporting that White House Aide Linda Douglass has sent out a written statement making clear the President still supports the “public option.”
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House sought to reassure jittery supporters Monday that President Obama is not abandoning the fight for a public health insurance option.
President Obama “believes the public option is the best way” to reform health care, a White House aide says.
The assurance came amid a media firestorm ignited over the weekend by administration officials seeming to indicate a willingness to drop such an option in order to secure congressional approval of a health care reform bill.
“The president has always said that what is essential is that health insurance reform must lower costs, ensure that there are affordable options for all Americans, and it must increase choice and competition in the health insurance market,” White House aide Linda Douglass said in a written statement.
“He believes the public option is the best way to achieve those goals.”
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made headlines this weekend when she signaled that the Obama Administration is open to dropping the so-called “public option” from legislation to overhaul heath care in an effort to reach a compromise. Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union yesterday, Sebelius said the public option “is not an essential element” of President Obama’s plan for health care reform.
Almost immediately, the media’s attention turned its focus to “insurance cooperatives,” or co-ops, as an alternative to a public option. Don’t be fooled!
As Michael Tanner at the CATO Institute points out, “Government-run health care is government-run health care no matter what you call it.” Tanner writes:
The health care “co-op” approach now embraced by the Obama administration will still give the federal government control over one-sixth of the U.S. economy, with a government-appointed board, taxpayer funding, and with bureaucrats setting premiums, benefits, and operating rules.
As much as the White House would like to claim that they are the sole source of facts about health care, President Obama recently made some comments that have little factual support in the actual House bill.
The White House claims that if you like your health care plan then you can keep it. However, no one agrees. Even non-partisan estimates agree that up to 100 million Americans could lose their health coverage. The White House can’t guarantee everyone will keep their current plan, despite the President’s political posturing.
The White House claims that government control won’t break the budget. False. The Congressional Budget Office even noted that the current version of the bill would increase the federal deficit by at least $239 billion.
President Obama: “I don’t believe anyone should be in charge of your health care decisions but you and your doctor.” But, even the current House bill establishes a Health Benefits Advisory Committee to make decisions, including cost sharing and benefits.
The White House might claim that it has a monopoly on the truth, but gap between rhetoric and reality on health care reform is about as large as America’s distrust with government-run health care.
The Associated Press is reporting that the “end of life counseling” provision passed in the HR 3200 will not be included in the Senate bill. According to the article:
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement Thursday that the provision had been dropped from consideration because it could be misinterpreted or implemented incorrectly.
By now, most people have read — or at least heard about — the USA Today column in which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer labeled the protesters of Obama’s health care plan “Un-American.” But apparently the Madam Speaker used to be a big fan of those “angry mobs.”
In a January 2006 town hall event, captured in this video being circulated on the web, Pelosi applauded a group of disruptive, anti-war protesters by stating, “your advocacy is very American and very important.” She went further in stating, “There is nothing more articulate, more eloquent to a member of Congress than the voice of his or her own constituents.”
Pelosi closed by saying “I am a fan of disruptors!” I guess she is only “a fan” when it’s convenient for her agenda.
The markets don’t like the odds of President Obama’s health care bill passing by the end of this year. The market gives it just over a 35% chance of success.
Their plan: eliminate the secret ballot for union votes. Not quite sure how that alone will ensure generations of voters to flock to the Democratic Party, but it will undermine current labor laws, increase harassment, and empower large labor unions.
The panel should have been: “How to Enrich Big Labor, Crush Worker Freedom, and Increase Donations to President Obama.”
There is acknowledgement that the US China trade relationship needs to be rebalanced, but little imagination on how to proceed. Deep down, our leaders and policymakers have convinced themselves that for all its flaws, the old system was better than anything we are going to think of, and that simply restoring confidence will fix everything, at least for as long as they remain in office.” Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Economics at Harvard University.
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