President Barack Obama consistently accuses Americans who are skeptical about his health care plan of supporting the stats quo. Like much of what Obama says about health care, this simply isn’t true. Whole Foods co-founder and CEO has a must-read op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal outlining eight market friendly health care reforms including: Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs). Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax …
Courtesy of Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) new report, “100 Stimulus Projects: A Second Opinion”, here are the Top Ten most dubious Obama stimulus projects: “Free” Stimulus Money Results in Higher Utility Costs for Residents of Perkins, Oklahoma FutureGen: The Stimulus Earmark that Wasn’t, Becomes the Costliest Pork Project in History Little-Used “Shovel-Ready” Bridges in Rural Wisconsin Given Priority Over Widely Used Structurally Deficient Bridges $800,000 for little-used Johnstown, Pennsylvania airport to repave a back-up runway; the “Airport for Nobody” Has Already Received Tens of Millions in Taxpayer dollars $3.4 Million …
Today both the The Washington Post and The New York Times have front-page stories on Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) use of legislative “holds” to bring debate on spending priorities back to the U.S. Senate. A “hold” prevents the majority party in the Senate from moving forward on a bill until it has been debated. But in this Congress, the liberal majority does not want to debate issues or allow amendments. Of the 890 bills that have been passed in the 110th Congress, only 50 of them have been debated. For …
On Sunday the New York Times profiled Diane McLeod, a 47-year-old single mother working two jobs, who by her own admission acknowledges she spent too much money shopping to make herself feel better without reflecting on how it would impact her future. Commenting on reader reaction to the article, former Weekly Standard senior editor David Brooks wrote: “Individuals don’t build their lives from scratch. They absorb the patterns and norms of the world around them. … [W]hat happened to McLeod, and the nation’s financial system, is part of a larger …
This week’s debate over the Medicare bill (H.R. 6331) ranks as the biggest battle over health care policy since last year’s bitter debate over the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). President Bush, vowing to oppose any bill that would curtail the personal choices or benefit options of seniors enrolled in Medicare, vetoed the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act. Earlier this week, however, the House voted 383 to 41 to override Bush’s veto, and the Senate followed suit, overriding the veto by a vote of …
When Bill Clinton was elected president, he promised “the most ethical administration in history.” Instead we got eight straight years of scandal capped off with the pardon of Marc Rich. When George W. Bush was running for president, he promised “to restore honor and dignity to the White House.” Instead we got Jack Abramoff. When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) took the gavel, she promised “the most ethical Congress in history.” Instead we got the Coconut Road cover-up. The story starts with a 2006 transportation bill that mysteriously included a …
