I DON’T FIND THIS TO BE THE CASE, but then, I don’t often drink enough to prompt a hangover. Drinking After 40: Why Hangovers Hit Harder.
Archive for 2013
November 20, 2013
“SMART DIPLOMACY” ILLUSTRATED: Data visualization shows US isolation in pushing for brutal Trans-Pacific Partnership.
FROM RADLEY BALKO, more on the abuse of license plate scanners.
“FIXING” OBAMACARE with a National Health Charter?
Both Mr. Obama and Republicans are blowing smoke in claiming that the damage done to the individual market by the forced cancellation of “substandard” plans (i.e., those that don’t meet the purposes of ObamaCare) can somehow be reversed at this point. It can’t be.
What can be done is Congress creating a new option in the form of a national health insurance charter under which insurers could design new low-cost policies free of mandated benefits imposed by ObamaCare and the 50 states that many of those losing their individual policies today surely would find attractive.
What’s the first thing the new nationally chartered insurers would do? Rush out cheap, high-deductible policies, allaying some of the resentment that the ObamaCare mandate provokes among the young, healthy and footloose affluent.
These folks could buy the minimalist coverage that (for various reasons) makes sense for them. They wouldn’t be forced to buy excessive coverage they don’t need to subsidize the old and sick.
If this idea sounds familiar, it was proposed right here three years ago, after the 2010 elections in which Democrats lost the House due to public disquiet over ObamaCare.
Because such a move could be sold as expanding the options under ObamaCare and lessening the burden of an unpopular mandate, it always had potential to draw Democratic support. That’s doubly true now that Democrats are saddled with President Obama’s promise that anybody who liked their existing insurance can keep it. Mr. Obama’s promise is not literally keepable but the national charter would be the next best thing, letting millions find policies that are a good deal for them in their particular circumstances.
And, yes, this would also blow up the disingenuous financial engine of ObamaCare. This is a feature not a bug.
Whatever the GOP does, it should probably be sold as “fixing” ObamaCare, even though the base would rather call it a repeal. The fix above, though, is basically a repeal. I’d add HSAs.
ROGER KIMBALL: Obama And The Limits Of Schadenfreude. “I suspect that one of the reasons Obama’s approval rating is in free fall is because of his obvious surprise and petulance in his public encounters over the disaster of Obamacare. He has made some grudging half apologies, but it is clear that the only thing he is sorry about is that he cannot — not yet, anyway — simply decree what happens with health care in this country. He believes himself above the law and is impatient about finding a means of achieving that discretion. For our own good, of course. Many observers on the Right have long known this about Obama. Suddenly, though, it is out there for all to see.”
I haven’t hit the limit yet. Maybe next week.
TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 195.
NICK GILLESPIE: Why Youth Is Revolting Against Obama (Hint: It’s Not Just Obamacare). “In 2008, he seemed like the coolest cat to hit the national scene in a long time, almost scientifically engineered to appeal to idealistic young Americans. How times have changed. . . . Millennials may be young, but they’re not stupid. As bad as Obama’s time in office has been for older Americans, nobody has taken it on the chin quite as bad as kids under 30, who are more likely to be unemployed, broke, and facing decades of sub-par wages if and when they do finally get a job.”
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Is The MOOC Hype Dying?
Thrun’s change of focus may not be as big a shift as it appears on its face. It’s been apparent from the beginning that the format is better suited for some subjects than others. Math, science and business are easier to teach online than liberal-arts subjects like English and philosophy that rely more heavily on in-class discussions. And while a liberal arts education remains a good option for many people, the vast majority of American college students are choosing majors that are tightly linked to future careers: only 7 percent of all students major in the humanities. On the other hand, subjects like business, science, nursing and computer science are among the most common majors in the country. Even if MOOCs only impact the “vocational” side of the higher-ed world, this still amounts to a pretty sizable chunk of the industry.
Furthermore, while MOOCs as they’re currently offered may not be enough to upend the higher-ed system on their own, there’s lots of promise for “blended” courses in which the online material is supplemented by regular meetings with teachers or tutors who lead discussions and proctor exams. These meetings could be handled remotely using teleconferencing technology, or they could be done in person at local testing centers, in either case adding that human component that remains the weakest link in how these courses are offered today.
Whether this hybrid form comes from initiatives like Udacity’s partnership with Georgia Tech, or whether a lithe startup spawns the capabilities to facilitate a truly next-generation university is an open question. But the opportunity is there. There is plenty of room to disrupt how higher ed is delivered to students today.
If you value a liberal arts education, you should hope that there’s a way to deliver it for less than six figures.
PETER BERKOWITZ: Obama’s Slow Learning Curve.
CHANGE: Obama Breaks The Health Law To Save It. “Now, the administration seems to be saying that it will allow people to qualify for subsidies for policies purchased direct from insurers. It’s hard to see, however, how this can be legal. The language of the statute is quite clear.”
MY POPULAR MECHANICS COLUMN is on license-plate scanners and government stalking.
SCOTT WALKER: Chris Christie’s Worst Nightmare?
YOU CAN’T SPELL ‘MISOGYNY’ WITHOUT MSN: Sarah Silverman to MSNBC: ‘I Think Vaginas Really, Really Scare People.’ Scary? Honey, you’ve managed to make them boring, which is a much greater feat.
JAMES TARANTO: Snake Eyes: ObamaCare was a losing ideological bet.
The most interesting opinion survey we’ve seen about the ObamaCare cataclysm is one that’s only indirectly about ObamaCare. Gallup asked Americans: “Do you think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage, or is that not the responsibility of the federal government?” Only 42% of those surveyed said it is the federal government’s responsibility, vs. 56% who said it isn’t.
More telling is the trend. Gallup has been asking the question since 2000. “Prior to 2009, a clear majority of Americans consistently had said the government should take responsibility for ensuring that all Americans have healthcare,” the firm reports. The proportion answering “yes” peaked in 2006 at 69%–27 points higher than today’s number. Then it began declining, to 64% in 2007 and 54% in 2008.
The current 42% is the lowest figure ever recorded, but the percentage answering in the affirmative hasn’t risen above 50% since 2009. Remember what happened in 2009? . . .
Perhaps the most dramatic finding: The proportion of Democrats who say it isn’t the federal government’s responsibility in 2013 (30%) is higher than the proportion of all voters who said the same thing in 2006 (28%).
The electorate is capable of learning from experience.
RANDY BARNETT: Damn, It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta.
HMM: Spain orders arrest of China’s ex-president Jiang Zemin. Spanish court issues international arrest warrant for ex-president and three others over actions in Tibet. Prof. Doug Levene emails: “I wonder if all the international law scholars who were so enthusiastic about the Spanish exercise of universal jurisdiction against Bush and Israeli officials will continue to be so enthusiastic?”
THE HILL: Obama Hits New Low With Dems At Capitol. “House and Senate Democrats are increasingly frustrated, bitter and angry with the White House over ObamaCare’s botched rollout, and that the president’s mea culpa in a news conference last week failed to soothe any ill will. Sources who attended a meeting of House chiefs of staff on Monday say the room was seething with anger over the immense damage being done to the Democratic Party and talk was of scrapping rollout events for the Affordable Care Act.”
He’s gone from asset to liability.
UPDATE: Obama’s poll numbers crash and burn; Reason brutally nutshelled.
OBAMACARE: It’s Not Katrina. It’s Something Worse. “According to last week’s Quinnipiac poll every single grouping – Republican, Democrat, Independent, Men, Women, White or Black – polls at an above 60% level in describing the state of the nation’s economy in ‘poor,’ or ‘not so good’ categories. A striking 61% of Black Americans polled say this – with 23% expressing disapproval with President Obama’s handling of the economy.”
K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: Tennessee school safety officer arrests parent for calmly objecting to pick-up policy.
The school safety officer was reportedly upset because the parent had called the local sheriff to complain about the school’s new pickup policy and the long waits, and what followed was an argument in which the reasonable, quiet-spoken and polite parent was arrested for “disorderly conduct” by the school safety officer, who put him in cuffs and then into the back of a cruiser without advising him of his rights or enumerating the charge against him.
Presumably the officer was trying to help the local school board get rid of excess cash on its books by creating enormous, pointless liabilities for it.
There’s been a modest interest in reviving corporal punishment lately. I think we should start with petty officials who abuse their power. A dose of public humiliation seems exactly right. And cheaper for the school systems, too. But the big takeaway here is that putting your kids in the hands of these people is a bad idea.
IRS SCANDAL UPDATE: IRS Workforce Turnover Part of Tea-Party Scrutiny Fallout. “Most senior officials in the IRS’s Exempt Organizations Division have either retired or been pushed out following the agency’s disclosure earlier this year that the office was giving extra attention to some of the anti-tax Tea Party groups seeking tax exempt status, Owens said at a Nov. 15 conference in Washington, and he expressed concern about the loss of seasoned personnel, Bloomberg BNA reported.” They don’t seem like much of a loss to me.