TOM MAGUIRE: Warren Buffett and I have the same advice. “If cost control is the problem, ObamaCare is not the answer.”

NANCY PELOSI: “A bill can be bipartisan without bipartisan votes.” Uh, right.

ACTA UPDATE: A SECRET COPYRIGHT TREATY dirty laundry motherlode.

GOOD NEWS: African poverty is falling.

BRET STEPHENS: How Milton Friedman Saved Chile.

HAROLD FORD, JR. WON’T RUN FOR SENATE IN NEW YORK. “Under intense pressure from Democratic Party officials, Harold E. Ford Jr., the former Tennessee congressman, has decided not to challenge Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand in the primary this fall, according to two people told of his plans.” Sad to see him give in to the racist response his candidacy promoted . . . .

BYRON YORK: Treasury Nominee Profited From Offshore Tax Dodge. Nothing wrong with this — but kinda hypocritical given the Obama Administration’s posturing. Then again, tax hypocrisy from Treasury nominees seems de rigueur for this crowd . . . .

JUDGES, CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENTS, AND CHARITABLE DONATIONS: “Late last year, in a class action claiming that tech giant AOL LLC improperly inserted footers in its users’ emails, Los Angeles federal judge Christina Snyder awarded $25,000 in settlement funds to a Los Angeles legal-aid organization that has the judge’s husband on its board.”

MCCAIN VS. HAYWORTH: Arizona Tea Party Leaders Decline to Endorse in AZ Senate Race. “The Tea Party is a non-partisan, grassroots movement that stands for limited government, free markets, and fiscal responsibility. Both McCain and Hayworth’s records during their many years in Washington leave much to be desired on these issues.”

FRANK J. FLEMING: Why do liberals insist that the freedom enjoyed by a child is superior to that treasured by adults?

RICHARD FERNANDEZ: Society may pretend to run on champagne but maybe it really travels on Dr. Pepper.

BROOKLYN D.A. SAYS “NO CRIMINALITY” IN ACORN TAPES, and ACORN is playing the victim card. But “not technically a felon” doesn’t really make them look much better, since they were clearly willing to assist.

UPDATE: Was the fix in? “The Brooklyn DA is a member of the ACORN/Working Families Party. That means he signed their pledge, and worked for their endorsement.”

KINDA DIFFERENT FROM THE “TEA PARTY” COVERAGE: Soft-focus reporting on the “coffee party.” Plus, from Allah, “Exit observation: I’m getting a distinct ‘beta male’ vibe from this group. Does that mean I have to root for them?”

UPDATE: Reader Aaron G. emails:

So the New York Times article describes the Coffee Party’s origin thus:

“The snowballing response made her the de facto coordinator of Coffee Party USA, with goals far loftier than its oopsy-daisy origin: promote civility and inclusiveness in political discourse, engage the government not as an enemy but as the collective will of the people, push leaders to enact the progressive change for which 52.9 percent of the country voted in 2008.”

Except the woman mentioned as starting it-Annabel Park-is not some Jane Shmo who got thrust into it by accident, she’s a career activist. A fact that is not exactly hidden either. The first results for her name on google bring up her Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/annabelpark .

Spoiler: the only private sector work listed is “Strategy Analyst: The New York Times”

Oops.

THE UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS MUST LOOK BAD if Larry Summers is already rolling out the spin.

HE’S GOT MY VOTE: Mickey Kaus for Senate! “Pioneering political blogger Mickey Kaus filed to run for U.S. Senate in California, he told LA Weekly. The Venice resident said he’ll run this year against Barbara Boxer for her seat.”

UPDATE: Rob Kiser emails: “Someone needs to remind LA Weekly it’s not ‘her” seat. It’s the ‘people’s seat’.”

GLOBAL WARMING SUICIDE PACT: Enviros’ “Eliminationist Rhetoric” claims lives of parents, kids. “Argentines Francisco Lotero, 56, and Miriam Coletti, 23, shot their children before killing themselves after making an apparent suicide pact over fears about global warming.”

UPDATE: Related: Head of ‘Climategate’ research unit admits sending ‘pretty awful emails’ to hide data.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Blaming Al Gore? No.

After a year’s worth of unhinged lefties blaming conservative bloggers, pundits, and activists for every crime spree on the planet, it would be just deserts to blame Al Gore for the alleged global warming-inspired murders reported in the UK Daily Mail today. But count me out of that game. . . . In any case, Al Gore is responsible for enough fraud and misery without overreaching and laying this strange case at his feet.

Leave the hysterical smear-mongering to Frank Rich, Andrew Sullivan, Paul Krugman, and Keith Olbermann.

Well, they’ve had more practice.

MEGAN MCARDLE: What to do about long-term unemployment? Cut taxes and deregulate, for a start. . . . .

IMAGINING A REVERSE JOHN YOO. Isn’t that called a “Gorelick?”

UPDATE: Reader John Marston writes:

Of course, the big difference is that Yoo has been threatened with loss of his law license or worse – Gorelick went on to a politically plum position she wasn’t remotely qualified for at Fannie Mae and bagged big bonuses while it helped drive the country into financial crisis. It has been reported she made $26 million during the six years she was there. She should be forced to give it all back and spend a few years in jail for good measure.

Gorelick has certainly been proof of the “failing upward” thesis.

RE-REALIGNMENT: Poll: Obama Approval Rating Now Negative In Every Red State That Flipped in 2008.

WHY ARE MILLENIALS so darn optimistic?

UPDATE: A reader emails:

I know why they are both optimistic and happy – they all still live at home. The Millenials’ parents (Baby Boomers) in contrast are totally depressed, since these youthful and optimistic slackers are delaying retirement. I know, as I have two Millenials at home and both are totally clueless about their impact on us.

D’oh!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Michael Cecire writes:

Happily, I do not live at home (quite the opposite: Tbilisi!), but I wonder if Baby Boomers moaning about their leeching Millennial children ever gave thought to the fact that much of my generation’s upbringing, not to mention an economy captive to a welfare-entitlement tsunami, is really a function of the Boomer generation’s narcissism and we-are-the-world asshattery ?

Ouch.

MORE: Will Collier comments: “The ‘Millenials’ are far from the only folks with that attitude. A considerable and cross-partisan chunk of my own turning-forty generation has always been resigned to the fact that we’re going to be saddled with cleaning up after the irresponsible Sixties pukes.”

WHICH COUNTRY WON the Vancouver Olympics? I boycotted ’em over the women’s ski jumping discrimination, so I don’t really care. More on that, including an interview with world champion Lindsey Van, right here.

AT AMAZON, 40% off Best Books Of The Month.

WHY DOES THE AMERICAN LEFT FEAR THE RISE OF INDIA? When they were socialists they were role models. Now that they’re capitalists . . . there’s the fear that they might be role models.

GATEWAY PUNDIT: Revealed: Media’s Phony Tea Party Leader Is a Phony Soldier Too. “Even Mother Jones reported in January that Dale Robertson is not and never was a tea party leader and that the mainstream media had ‘lost its edge’ in linking Robertson to the movement. But, that didn’t stop liberal media hacks from repeating the lie that Robertson was a leader in the Tea Party movement.”

NOT AFRAID OF THE LATEST MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY: Obama got “virtual colonoscopy.” “The president was checked for and found free of colon cancer with a virtual colonoscopy, a scan that avoids the more invasive visual inspection with a camera device that is passed into the large intestine.” Hmm. So can I assume that an average 49-year-old man will be able to get one of those under ObamaCare?

UPDATE: Canadian reader Russ Smith writes:

I read your post concerning Obama’s virtual colonoscopy with interest. I live in the country regarded as America’s hat* (Canada).

Anyway, in the land of “free medicine” (cough) I just underwent a colonoscopy and had to wait over 8 months before they could squeeze me in. Good thing I didn’t have cancer percolating through me for all that time (the results were negative). I would settle for faster appointments let alone more modern techniques (sigh).

Interestingly, if you click on the “virtual colonscopy” link in the AP article you get 146 results. If you add “-obama” to the search criteria it drops down to 56 results (I had to do that as the original search had nothing but Obama for the first four pages). I came across this article stating that virtual colonoscopies are not covered under Medicare. So you can bet your sweet bippy they won’t be covered under Obamacare.

My bippy is pretty sweet, so I’m not putting it on the block over this question, especially as radiologist Girish Patel writes in agreement:

I was pleasantly surprised to learn from your post that President Obama underwent virtual colonoscopy.

I am a radiologist in active practice, and I can assure you that CMS (Medicare) currently does not pay for this procedure and it is considered experimental – even thought we have been doing it for almost 10 years.

The statement on CMS website says: ““evidence is inadequate to conclude that CT colonography is an appropriate colorectal cancer screening test” to be covered for Medicare beneficiaries.”

So if Michael Kinsley’s definition of rationing holds — when the President can get a treatment that ordinary Americans can’t — then we’re already there. Quoth Kinsley: “Here is a handy-dandy way to determine whether the failure to order some exam or treatment constitutes rationing: If the patient were the president, would he get it? If he’d get it and you wouldn’t, it’s rationing.” So what’s the likelihood that Obamacare would narrow the gap between you and the President, as compared to the current government system of Medicare? Too slim to bet my sweet bippy on, that’s for sure. . . .