Bush family political heir is shipping off to war

Oct 27, 2009 - This is from Yahoo! News' blog... I just though it was interesting. - 16 Comments

Who Killed California?

Oct 15, 2009 - by Troy Senik http://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/who-killed-california My apologies for having nothing originally in this post.  The text was here but didn't show up. Apparently this article is too long to be printed here, at about 11 pages.  It is nevertheless worth reading, unless, as someone has already done, you have made your  mind up what to believe before reading. - 29 Comments

I guess thay didn't like my first title ("Civil Service")

Oct 13, 2009 - Lexington Of debt and deadbeats Oct 8th 2009 From The Economist print edition A new culture war is brewing over capitalism SEVENTEEN Uncle Sams were seen begging on the streets of Washington, DC, this week. They were a sad sight, with their slightly bedraggled red, white and blue hats and their cardboard signs with the hand-scrawled plea: “I want YOU to give me $12 trillion.” It was a publicity stunt, of course, staged by DefeatTheDebt.com, a fiscally hawkish pressure group. But it captured something important about the national mood. - 0 Comments

E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Ground Beef Inspection

Oct 04, 2009 - By MICHAEL MOSS                            Published: October 3, 2009 Stephanie Smith, a children’s dance instructor, thought she had a stomach virus. The aches and cramping were tolerable that first day, and she finished her classes. Then her diarrhea turned bloody. - 3 Comments

From Citizens to "Stakeholders": The New American Constitution

Sep 08, 2009 - From Citizens to "Stakeholders": The New American Constitution By Angelo M. Codevilla "I'm going to get everybody concerned around a big table where all can express their views and their needs. And I'll express mine, and that will make sense of them all because I'll be president." - 2 Comments

Mark Tapscott: Let's talk about your gold-plated, tax-paid compensation, Mr. Waxman

Aug 26, 2009 - Mark Tapscott: Let's talk about your gold-plated, tax-paid compensation, Mr. Waxman By: Mark Tapscott Editorial Page EditorAugust 27, 2009 Ever notice how Henry Waxman's cherubic face pops up so often? Most recently, he's been in the news with his letter to 52 health insurance executives demanding that they cough up mountains of data about their compensation, expense accounts, retirement benefits, travel schedules, and shoe sizes. Okay, not that last item, but you get the drift here. - 4 Comments

White House appears ready to drop 'public option' (Running up the white flag?)

Aug 16, 2009 - White House appears ready to drop 'public option' By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer – 15 mins ago WASHINGTON – Bowing to Republican pressure, President Barack Obama's administration signaled on Sunday it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run insurance as part of a new health care system. Facing mounting opposition to the overhaul, administration officials left open the chance for a compromise with Republicans that would include health insurance cooperatives instead of a government-run plan. Such a concession probably would enrage Obama's liberal supporters but could deliver a much-needed victory on a top domestic priority opposed by GOP lawmakers. - 6 Comments

Fla. hospital defends secretly deporting patient

Jul 23, 2009 - STUART, Fla. – All sides agree on one thing in the case of a South Florida hospital that secretly repatriated a seriously brain injured patient back to Guatemala. During the early hours of a steamy July 2003 morning, Martin Memorial Medical Center chartered a private plane and sent Luis Jimenez back to the Central American country without telling his relatives in the U.S. - 82 Comments

Lights Out (comment on Energy Bill in House)

Jun 25, 2009 - Lights Out By W. James Antle, III Tomorrow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to bring the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade emissions bill to the floor for a vote. It will be the biggest political risk of her speakership and the first broad-based tax increase of the Obama years. - 1 Comment

STIMULUS WATCH: $25 check may cost you food stamps

Jun 15, 2009 - WASHINGTON (AP) - When President Barack Obama increased unemployment benefits as part of his economic stimulus, he also made some Americans ineligible for hundreds of dollars a month in food stamps. Under the economic recovery plan, laid-off workers have seen a $25 weekly bump in their unemployment checks as part of a broad expansion of benefits for the poor. But the law did not raise the income cap for food stamp eligibility, so the extra money has pushed some people over the limit. - 21 Comments