SURGERY WITH A WARRANTY: Seems like a good idea to me, and probably better at improving the quality of care than malpractice suits, or regulation.
Archive for 2007
May 17, 2007
PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Ramesh Ponnuru criticizes PorkBusters. Meanwhile, Sen. Tom Coburn offers a defense:
Porkbusters represent what is arguably the only grassroots movement since 1994 to gain traction and build momentum on the core American principle of limited government. The Porkbusters movement is not particularly concerned with the electoral fate of Republicans or Democrats, but they are concerned with the fate of the Republic and their own tax dollars. Quite simply, Porkbusters is a movement comprised of individuals who are just plain sick of their money being wasted, quite often in secret, by self-serving politicians.
Establishment Republicans loathe the Porkbusters because they are effective. They are so effective, in fact, that one powerful politician said of them in 2006, “I’ll just say this about the so-called Porkbusters. I’m getting damn tired of hearing from them. They have been nothing but trouble ever since Katrina.†Recall that in October 2005, the Senate voted to protect the “Bridge to Nowhere†by a vote of 82-15. Today, thanks to unrelenting pressure, both parties are clamoring to out-reform the other. Rather than belittling this movement, the Republican establishment should embrace and learn from it.
One of the most troubling aspects of the establishment’s hostility toward Porkbusters are not necessarily the arguments marshaled in defense of pork but the degree to which apologists are out of touch and unaware of their own condescension toward the movement.
Which unawareness is itself evidence of why the GOP lost in 2006. As Coburn notes: “The results of the last election, however, suggest that pork projects really are both bad policy and bad politics. Among the nine Republican appropriators (members who have the greatest ability to bring home the bacon) who were vulnerable in the last election, only three won.”
More here.
AN AGREEMENT on immigration.
UPDATE: A poll.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Deja Vu.
Pro-immigration writer Nick Gillespie isn’t that happy: “Anything that brings people into the official economy is a good thing. It’s not clear that this reform will do that, especially given the touchback provisions.”
Is a bill that makes everyone unhappy a good compromise? Possibly, but not necessarily.
THEY WERE FOR PREWAR PLANNING before they were against it.
ANOTHER ITEM THAT HAROLD FORD WILL BE GLAD TO HAVE OUT OF THE WAY before he runs for office again. You can’t blame him for his family, but if this had happened before the election, well, it wouldn’t have helped.
ED MORRISSEY is liveblogging from the Online News Association conference. Just keep scrolling.
LYNNE KIESLING looks at turning coal to gasoline.
Are we turning into a nation of wimps? Do boys need to be boys? Is there something parents and schools should be doing differently? We talk with British author Conn Iggulden, whose new book, The Dangerous Book for Boys, takes an old-fashioned positive look at boyhood, bravery, and the nature of risk, about those subjects and others — including the effect of modern parenting and education on military recruitment and the future of Western civilization. Is being optimistic old-fashioned? Plus, revelations about Helen’s misspent youth!
Iggulden thinks that the pendulum is swinging back, and I suspect that the strong reaction to his book is evidence that people want to help — and check out the enthusiasm in the reader reviews.
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Music is “Status No” and “IWDWIST” by Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere. This podcast sponsored by Volvo Motors USA. Plus, comments and discussion over at my lovely and talented cohost’s place.
UPDATE: Reader Rick Sawyer emails:
I bought this book a few weeks ago when I saw it at a bookstore. I bought it b/c of your mention, actually! It was a great read. What I’m going to do, is add some of the interesting stuff I did as a boy, give it to the older men in my family for their ideas, and then give it to my brother in law who has three boys under the age of five. I thought it would be a great male bonding exercise for my family…
I think it would. Iggulden said the book is in part a “refresher course for dads.”
HERE’S MORE ON THE CITY OF POMONA / FOOTHILLS CITIES BLOG STORY: The Pomona city officials come off quite badly. I don’t think they’re used to having their activities noticed.
COURT’S DECISION strengthens aggregators.
DODD HARRIS is back in the blogosphere.
SANDY BERGER UPDATE: “Samuel R. Berger, the Clinton White House national security adviser who was caught taking highly classified documents from the National Archives, has agreed to forfeit his license to practice law.”
This would seem to be the key bit, though: “In giving up his license, Mr. Berger avoids being cross-examined by the Board on Bar Counsel, where he risked further disclosure of specific details of his theft.”
Hmm. That would seem to confirm suspicions that we haven’t gotten the full story. And why has the Justice Department seemed so uninterested in following through here? Theft of classified documents in a politically-charged setting would seem worthy of their attention.
FREE WILL FOR FRUIT FLIES: Does this mean it’s okay to blame mosquitoes for biting me? Probably not, if you read the article. But I still will.
IN THE POLITICO: “‘Fairness Doctrine:’ Anything But Fair.”
A SPOT OF GOOD NEWS: “The first crude oil pumped by a foreign company in Iraq in decades will flow into the global market next month.” The amount is small, but it’s coming from Kurdistan. The Kurds — who have kept order and freedom in their part of Iraq — deserve to be the place where this gets going. Peace and order should be rewarded.
THE SECRET TO Charlie Gibson’s success.
A U.S. ATTORNEY ROUNDUP, at the Wall Street Journal.
EARMARKS in Tennessee.
SCIENTOLOGY: A uniter, not a divider! At least, they managed to get Johnathan Pearce to sympathize with a BBC reporter. No small feat, that. And an amusing line from the comments: It seemed to me that on one side you had representatives of a fanatical cult trying to foist its views on the rest of the world and on the other… the Church of Scientology.
IS IMMIGRATION A HOT ISSUE? I don’t know, but it got this guy both the Republican and the Democratic nomination in the same election. (Via RWN).
FOR THE SURGE, before he was against it.
A LOOK AT SIMPLE SHARED BELIEFS as a means of producing group solidarity. And, perhaps, a reflection in practice.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION UPDATE: They’re revamping the famous Airplane gas station that amused tourists en route to the Smokies for decades.