SUNDAY,  AUGUST 16,  2009

NOT GOOD TIMING FOR OUR LIBS - AT 11:22 P.M. ET: 

SASKATOON — The incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association says this country's health-care system is sick and doctors need to develop a plan to cure it.

Dr. Anne Doig says patients are getting less than optimal care and she adds that physicians from across the country - who will gather in Saskatoon on Sunday for their annual meeting - recognize that changes must be made.

"We all agree that the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize," Doig said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"We know that there must be change," she said. "We're all running flat out, we're all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day demands."

COMMENT:  This is important because the Canadian plan is being looked at as a possible model to (scream loudly) Save Our Medical System, which apparently is coming apart, performing surgery without anesthesia, and allowing poodles to deliver babies. 

But the Canadian plan, like many single-payer plans, is running into trouble.  And the major flaw in all single-payer plans is that there's no alternative, at least not one that covers the entire population.

August 16, 2009   Permalink

THIS CLARIFIES EVERYTHING - AT 10:53 P.M. ET:  In case you've wanted to know where President Obama really has been, we finally have the answer, and are rushing it to you:

CARACAS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is "lost in the Andromeda" galaxy on Latin American policy, his chief critic in the region, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, said on Sunday, while demanding the closure of U.S. military bases.

And because of cutbacks at NASA, we just can't reach him.

Last week Obama said critics of U.S. involvement in Latin America who are now asking Washington to do more to restore the ousted president of Honduras "can't have it both ways."

"We are not asking you to intervene in Honduras, Obama. On the contrary, we are asking that "the empire" get its hands off Honduras and get its claws out of Latin America," Chavez said in a rambling weekly television and radio show.

COMMENT:  I was wondering what the American left will say now.  On the one hand, Danny Glover and a bunch of nitrogen-filled Hollywood types have been running down to Caracas to kiss Chavez's ring.  On the other hand, Chavez is now attacking The One, the Most High, The Health Giver. 

I suspect that every therapy center in Los Angeles will be jammed for days with patients trying to "work this out."  There will unquestionably be seminars on college campuses.  The New York Times editorial page will come to some kind of conclusion, probably calling for Chavez and Obama to meet at a White House picnic table.  Hey, Professor Gates came away happy, didn't he?

And yet, it's good to know that the president has been located in the Andromeda galaxy.  Now you know where to write.

August 16, 2009   Permalink

WILL COMMON SENSE PREVAIL? - AT 3:17 P.M. ET:  Looks like some Dems are starting to get the message.  From Fox:

Momentum behind a new government-run health care plan appeared to slow considerably Sunday, as a lead Democratic negotiator called the option a "wasted effort" and President Obama's health secretary suggested the White House is ready to accept a health care reform package without it.

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., one of six negotiators trying to hammer out a bipartisan compromise measure on the Senate Finance Committee, told "FOX News Sunday" that the so-called public option simply does not have the votes to pass.

"The fact of the matter is there are not the votes in the United States Senate for the public option. There never have been," he said. "So to continue to chase that rabbit I think is just a wasted effort."

Conrad and other negotiators on the finance committee are instead pushing a system of nonprofit insurance cooperatives, as an alternative to the public plan.

COMMENT:  At least they're thinking, and starting to listen to the "mobs" out there. 

Look, there are things wrong with the system, including vast administrative costs.  They can be fixed, or at least eased, by a series of fixes.  You don't have to "overhaul" everything.  If you have a flat tire, you don't replace the engine. 

But now the Republicans should fight for malpractice reform to be included.  That is absolutely vital to any true reform measure.  If Democrats fight malpractice reform, they will be exposed before the public as cynics and hypocrites.  Let the exposure begin.

August 16, 2009   Permalink

TONE DEAF, REQUIRES TREATMENT - AT 10:53 A.M. ET:  It appears that some members of the Obama administration have difficulty learning.  There are remedies, and skilled professionals ready to help.  Consider:

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she hopes the final reform package will include measures to encourage end-of-life counseling – despite the controversy such a proposal has caused in recent weeks.

“I am hoping at the end of the day it will be in the package,” Sebelius said on ABC’s This Week. She said end-of-life decisions were among the most important that a family needed to make.

COMMENT:  Yes, Ms. Sebelius, we know, we know.  The problem is, read the bill.  The end-of-life counseling provision, as Sarah Palin astutely pointed out, is in the section of the House bill devoted to saving money.  Got that?

Do you understand, Secretary Sebelius, the implications of that for older people? Have you thought about it?

At any rate, a Senate panel is apparently deleting the provision.  Sure, good counseling is useful and can be enlightening...when properly and respectfully presented.  Don't just dump it on us and say, "It's good for you.  I said so."

August 16, 2009   Permalink

 
NORTH KOREA THREATENS - AT 10:39 A.M. ET:  I guess the effects of Bill Clinton's visit have worn off:

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea followed recent conciliatory gestures toward the U.S. and South Korea with a return to threats Sunday, warning them of "merciless retaliation" over sanctions imposed on its government, and nuclear attacks in response to any atomic provocation.

Seoul and Washington will kick off annual computer-simulated war games Monday, which North Korea sees as preparation for an invasion. The U.S. and South Korea say the maneuvers are purely defensive.

"Should the U.S. imperialists and (South Korean government) threaten the (North) with nukes, it will retaliate against them with nukes," North Korea's military said in a statement reported Sunday by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

COMMENT:  We are getting nowhere with North Korea, and the story just below shows just how concerned our allies are.  Once again the Obama policy of "engagement" seems aimless, with no achievable objectives.  The scheduled US/Washington war games are routine.  What we're hearing from North Korea is its true voice. 

The president is already in trouble on domestic policy.  His foreign policy seems headed for oblivion very quickly.  Where will he be on January 20th, his first anniversary in office?  We don't make predictions here, but Mr. Obama's first year is shaping up to be as unsuccessful as Jack Kennedy's.  Kennedy turned his presidency around in his second year, but he didn't have the burden of left-wing ideology that Obama carries.

August 16, 2009   Permalink

OUR EMBARRASSMENT  - AT 9:47 A.M. ET:   Reader James Birdsall alerts us to this piece from Japan's Asahi Shimbun.  It's clear that Japan is worried about North Korea, so worried that it may change its constitution to deal with the threat:

An advisory panel to Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday called for a change to the interpretation of the Constitution that would allow Japanese forces to shoot down missiles fired by North Korea at the United States.

The controversial proposal to grant Japan the right to exercise collective self-defense was one of several changes needed to protect the country in a rapidly shifting national security environment, the panel of nine experts said.

In a report presented to the prime minister, the panel also suggested easing the country's tough restriction on weapons exports.

And...

The report also touched on the possible need to strike enemy military bases, and called for discussions with the United States about how to divide up roles when jointly undertaking such a mission. The report proposed that Japan consider the appropriate military equipment, operational methods and cost-benefit analysis needed for such an attack.

But then there's this, which should embarrass us, but not surprise us, in light of the Obama administration's foreign policy:

The relative decline in the power of the United States meant that Japan needed a more flexible approach to its national security strategy, the panel said.

COMMENT:  Did you ever think you'd read those words? 

Japan gets it.  It sees what the age of Obama is really about, and it doesn't like what it sees.  I suspect the same thinking is going on in other countries - friend...and foe.

August 16, 2009   Permalink

STUNNING - AT 9:32 A.M. ET:  Rasmussen is today reporting the worst combination of numbers for President Obama since inauguration.   Only 47% approve of the president's job performance, while 52% disapprove, a gap of five points.

At the same time, Ras's presidential approval index, measuring the gap between those who strongly approve and those who strongly disapprove stands at minus nine.  Only 32% strongly approve, whereas 41% strongly disapprove. 

What is so striking here is that the president's numbers continue to deteriorate just as he's mounting a personal campaign for the Democratic health plan.  Usually a president who goes on the offensive can pick up some points simply because of the publicity he attracts.

Is it possible that the objections to President Obama, previously based on disagreement with his policies, are turning personal?  If so, he's in serious trouble, and I believe, very cautiously, that personal dislike is indeed growing.  The fact is that the very characteristics that won the election for Mr. Obama - his charm and his speaking ability - can turn against him if these things are seen as part of a pattern of deceit and dishonesty.  The likable man is suddenly seen as a fake.  The eloquent man is suddenly seen as slick, a shady salesman. 

We stress that polls are snapshots in time.  Only trends count.  We'll be watching the trends as people return from summer distractions and focus even more on the political combat.

August 16, 2009   Permalink

SATURDAY,  AUGUST 15,  2009

RECESSION IS OVER, RECESSION IS OVER, PLEASE TELL CHICAGO - AT 9:27 P.M. ET:  Apparently, Obama's home city hasn't gotten the White House e-mail.  From CBS:

The City of Chicago will basically be closed for business on Aug. 17, a reduced-service day in which most city employees are off without pay, according to a release from the Office of Budget and Management. City Hall, public libraries, health clinics and most city offices will be closed.

Emergency service providers including police, firefighters and paramedics will be working at full strength, but most services not directly related to public safety, including street sweeping, will not be provided, the release said.

COMMENT:  I wonder:  Under Obamacare, will there be days off too?  I mean, will emergency rooms be closed on Thursdays to save money to put into some congressman's favorite road project?  Just asking.

If you have friends in Chicago, please call and tell them the economy is booming again, all because of the stimulus package.  Pass it on.

August 15, 2009   Permalink

ROGUE-STATE MISSILE FLOPS - AT 7:38 P.M. ET:  More big doings from the cultures we must strive to understand:

Twenty Syrians were killed and over 60 injured in a failed Scud missile test carried out by Syria, Iran and North Korea in May, Japan's Kyodo News reported on Friday.

One of two missiles had apparently strayed off its course due to a technical malfunction, landing in a civilian populated area in a town on the Syrian-Turkish border. The victims were all civilians.

The incident was part of a botched attempt to test a new short-range ballistic missile developed together by the three countries, the report said.

COMMENT:  Nothing to see here, folks, nothing to see.  Just technical development by people responding to BUSH (!!).

Why, one conversation with Barack Obama and they'll beat those missiles into whatever the Koran says you beat missiles into.  Maybe armored burkas.

We are still not sufficiently alarmed about the technical progress being made by rogue states.  It's something that happens behind the headlines, but it's going on 24 hours a day, and we are the ultimate target.

August 15, 2009   Permalink

THE REAL ECONOMY - AT 7:09 P.M. ET:  With all the hype about the economy suddenly returning from the dead - tofu in every pot and two iPods in every pocket - some truths are starting to come out.  One of them involves the real employment picture, and it isn't pretty, as NRO Online reports: 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines the hires rate as the “number of hires during the month divided by the number of employees who worked during or received pay for the pay period that includes the 12th of the month.” And the latest hires rate — the worst in the history of this measure — confirms what BuzzCharts has been reporting for months (see “Obama’s Magical Misery Tour” and “The Jobless Recovery”): Entrepreneurs and business managers are frozen. They’ve stopped posting want ads and they’ve stopped adding staff. When I look at the chart above, I see a giant sign hanging in the window of America. It reads: “Help Not Wanted.”

And...

...Obama has made them scared. Everywhere I go I hear the same story. Business owners know the little details that academics and pundits don’t, and they know what not to do. They know, for example, that payroll taxes are not only scheduled to rise, but already have risen. And they know all too well that government-mandated unemployment compensation is funded by employers through an unemployment-compensation payroll tax. As a result, they know not to hire.

COMMENT:  Wait 'til they get the bill for Obamacare, a system that will include absolutely zero reform of the vastly corrupt malpractice system. 

We may be in a kind of economic recovery, but it's a jobless recovery.  Once again the people who run for office caring about "the people" have shown that they don't really care at all.

August 15, 2009   Permalink

BACKWARDS IN TIME - AT 11:27 A.M. ET:  Reader Joseph J. Gallick alerts us to something that should be a national scandal, but won't be because most of the media isn't interested.  The Wall Street Journal is:

Never has Ronald Reagan's dream of layered missile defenses—Star Wars, for short—been as politically out of favor as in the Age of Obama. Nor as close, at least technologically, to becoming realized.

The latest encouraging news came Thursday courtesy of the Misssile Defense Agency. The Airborne Laser prototype aircraft this week found, tracked, engaged and simulated an intercept with a missile seconds after liftoff. It was the first time the Agency used an "instrumented" missile to confirm the laser works as expected. Next up this fall will be the first live attempt to bring down a ballistic missile, but this test confirms how far along this innovative effort has come.

And the tragedy...

Yet the Obama Administration isn't buying it. Funding for missile defense was cut in the 2010 budget by some 15%—$1.2 billion to $1.6 billion, depending on how you calculate it...As the Administration keeps defense spending growth flat, while breaking the bank on its domestic priorities, Secretary Gates has to make hard choices. But he might try harder to convince his boss at the White House that Star Wars isn't a sci-fi fantasy. That's what critics used to say about stealth aircraft as well.

COMMENT:  Although the administration has authorized a modest increase in ground forces, its overall commitment to national defense seems as weak as Bill Clinton's, who famously refused to have regular meetings with his CIA director.

This is a leftist administration, bolstered by the leftist base of the House Democrats.  Visionary defense systems just aren't their thing.  I hope we don't pay a terrible price for this down the road, but I fear we may.

August 15, 2009   Permalink 

WELL, WHAT DO YOU KNOW? - AT 10:32 A.M. ET:  This is one of those rare moments in journalism.  Savor it:

A senior editor of the New York Times apologized to The Washington Times for publishing a front-page story Friday that accused The Washington Times of being "decidedly opposed" to President Barack Obama.

Dean Baquet, Washington bureau chief of the New York Times, telephoned Washington Times editors, offered an apology to the staff and said he would run a correction.

"I would never say your paper has been anything but absolutely fair and objective to Obama," Mr. Baquet told The Washington Times' Managing Editor-Print David Jones.

"We agree and accept the Times' apology," Washington Times Executive Editor John Solomon wrote to his staff.

COMMENT:  We'd like to think this is the start of a trend, but we're not that naive.  It's one thing for The New York Times to apologize to fellow journalists.  Journalists have a kind of affection for each other.  It's quite another thing for The Times to do what is so clearly necessary - apologize for some of its absysmally slanted reporting in recent years, clear the air about its Vietnam coverage, and pledge to be a better, more objective newspaper.

Don't hold your breath.  Unhealthy.

August 15, 2009   Permalink

OH COME ON, GET REAL - AT 10:18 A.M. ET:  This is another one of those "if we engage them, they become just like us" stories that makes the blood boil.  From AP:

YANGON, Myanmar -- U.S. Sen. Jim Webb won the release Saturday of an American prisoner convicted in Myanmar and sentenced to seven years in prison for swimming secretly to the residence of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the senator's office said.

Yettaw, 53, is to be officially deported Sunday, when he will fly with Webb on a military aircraft to Bangkok, according to a statement from Webb's office.

COMMENT:  Senator Webb didn't win anything.  The government of Myanmar (Burma) is absolutely repressive, and the United States has taken a tough line toward it.  This "release" is simply a propaganda move by the Burmese thugs to show the value of ending our isolation of them.  Webb is being used, but he seems to enjoy it.  You'll recall that Webb is the former Reagan administration official who became a Democrat and is widely regarded as, to put it mildly, an eccentric.  He was elected to the Senate from Virginia in 2006 on a fluke, after then-Senator George Allen's campaign imploded.

The term "useful idiot" comes to mind.

August 15, 2009   Permalink

CAN'T BE BOTHERED - AT 10:04 A.M. ET:  One of the wonders of the last campaign was the organization put together by the Obama forces.  And where is it today, during the health-care debate, when Obama needs the troops?  Well, they just can't be bothered.  The New York Times reports:

As the health care debate intensifies, the president is turning to his grass-roots network — the 13 million members of Organizing for America — for support.

Mr. Obama engendered such passion last year that his allies believed they were on the verge of creating a movement that could be mobilized again. But if a week’s worth of events are any measure here in Iowa, it may not be so easy to reignite the machine that overwhelmed Republicans a year ago.

More than a dozen campaign volunteers, precinct captains and team leaders from all corners of Iowa, who dedicated a large share of their time in 2007 and 2008 to Mr. Obama, said in interviews this week that they supported the president completely but were taking a break from politics and were not active members of Organizing for America.

COMMENT:  Not at all unusual, especially in movements of the left.  They're fun and cozy during election campaigns, not so much fun when the real work of governing begins.

We saw this same phenomenon in the fifties with the "madly for Adlai" crowd, those who believed Adlai Stevenson was also some kind of messiah because he spoke well and sounded Ivy League.  They would ride through towns honking their horns during presidential campaigns, but were nowhere to be seen between elections.  Dahlings, we do not mix with the masses. 

Another factor is that governing often takes the bloom off the rose, as the starry-eyed realize that there's a real world out there - like other countries that may not fall in line just because The One makes a speech.

Campaigns are about cheering.  Governing is about doing.

August 15, 2009   Permalink