PrintMarch 11, 2011
The Baehr Essentials
I think we can root for both sides to lose this battle. AOL stock has traded straight down since its purchase of the Huffington Post. Any wonder why Arianna asked for her $300 million in cash?
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The CBO has a new report out on the deficit. Here is a brief summary: federal spending on healthcare and social security, will grow by 2% as a share of GDP by 2020. GDP in that year will be over 20 trillion. So add another $400 billion above and beyond the current 10% share of GDP (which will be 2 trillion in that year). Remember that ObamaCare was going to slow the cost curve. That was a lie, derived from double counting Medicare savings, a new long term care program that collected revenues but no expenses for 5 years, extraneous budget cutting items like student loan restructuring tucked into the bill, and absurdly low estimates on how many companies might drop their health coverage, and instead chose to pay a modest penalty, thereby dumping tens of millions of people into the heavily subsidized public system.
Charles Krauthammer on the administration's Social Security fabrications. The truth- there is no money in the social security trust fund. Where is Al Gore's lock box?
Wouldn't it be a lot easier if the Obama administration just granted a waiver from the Obama care rules to every registered Democrat? Is anyone counting the screwups in the bill -- the $105 billion implementation slush fund, the new 1099 form, the waivers of the percentage of premium spent on care rules, the long term care program that HHS officials and the CBO say will go bust in short order?
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The Palestinians have been off on a unilateral path for a few years, working to delegitimize Israel, and finding reasons (facilitated by Obama's ill conceived demand for a total settlement freeze) to stay away from negotiations with Israel. Caroline Glick suggests it is time for Netanyahu to seize the initiative with a unilateral plan of his own that she argues would significantly change the dynamic that has begun to endanger support for Israel in the United States, and made it a pariah overseas.
Khaled Abu Toameh provides evidence that there may be a need on campus for Arab Apartheid Week.
Some encouraging demographic news from Israel.
There are lots of hate crimes in America directed against members of a religious group, but it is Jews who are the primary target, not Muslims.
Can Keith Ellison now stop crying?
Breaking news: NPR and Hamas have merged.
Kudos to Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner, for defending Israel in a debate on the Goldstone Report, sponsored by the Israel hating Nation Magazine and held at the Israel hating (other than for its President Bob Kerrey) New School in New York. His opponent was former Washington State Democratic Congressman Brian Baird, and was moderated by Israel hating, Iranian mullah defending and J-Street fave, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen.
A Facebook page in Arabic calls for the start of the third Palestinian intifada.
How about the 10th intifada?
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Cory Booker, the African American who serves as Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, calls for the end of teacher tenure. Booker must be another one of those right wing Republicans who wants to destroy unions. Actually, unlike Obama and most other elected Democratic officials, he is willing to take on the teacher unions if it means better education for inner city kids. The best political documentary I have seen focused on Booker's first (unsuccessful) run for Mayor of Newark against long time thief (I mean Mayor) , Sharpe James. It is called "Street Fight."
Megan McArdle on firing bad teachers.
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What is the key to human longevity?
What would Alvin Wong say?
