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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Feb. 16, 2009
/ 22 Shevat 5769
Paddling backward on a sea of pork
By
Jack Kelly
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
There was an awkward moment for Sen. Arlen Specter (R-sort of-PA)
Tuesday when Megyn Kelly of Fox News asked him about a provision in the
stimulus package he'd just voted for of which he evidently was unaware.
The provision creates a National Coordinator for Health Information
Technology who will monitor treatments to make sure what your doctor is
doing is what the federal government deems cost effective. It's modeled
on the practice in Britain where elderly patients are denied expensive
treatments because they are likely to die soon anyway.
If the provision had been law, Sen. Specter, 79, might have been denied
the cancer treatments that have kept him alive.
Stuff like this is why there should have been hearings on the stimulus
package, Sen. Specter told Ms. Kelly. But it was his vote, and those of
Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, "moderate" Republicans from
Maine, which rushed the bill through without hearings. Congress will
fix the "kill Granny" provision, Sen. Specter assured Ms. Kelly. But
it's a lot harder to remove a bad idea once it's become law than to keep
it from being enacted in the first place.
Whatever you think of the merits of the "kill Granny" provision, what's
it doing in an economic stimulus bill?
The greatest achievement of Bill Clinton's presidency, many think, was
welfare reform. Both the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill
restore the funding system of the old Aid to Families With Dependent
Children (AFDC) that President Clinton reformed.
"The new welfare system created by the stimulus bills is actually worse
than the old AFDC program because it rewards the states more heavily to
increase their caseloads," said Heritage Foundation analysts Robert
Rector and Katherine Bradley.
What is a provision encouraging people to quit work and go on welfare
doing in an economic stimulus bill? And, as with the "kill Granny"
provision, shouldn't such a major policy change be subject to debate
before it is enacted into law?
President Obama said it would be a "catastrophe" if the stimulus bill
wasn't passed as is, on his timetable. That view wasn't shared by the
nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which said the economy should
start to recover by the end of the year even without a stimulus bill of
any kind, and said the bill the president wants would do nothing to help
the economy this year, and though it would help somewhat next year,
would hurt economic growth in the years after 2010.
The president has been disingenuous in describing the bill, and its
critics.
"What it does not contain is not a single pet project, not a single
earmark," Mr. Obama said in his news conference Monday. But how would
you describe the $30 million in the bill to protect, among other things,
the habitat of the salt marsh harvest mouse in House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi's district? Or the $2.25 billion for national parks sought by
Craig Obey, chief lobbyist for the National Parks Conservation
Association, and the son of Rep. David Obey (D-Wis), chairman of the
House Appropriations Committee? Or the $8 billion for a light rail line
between Los Angeles and Los Vegas, sought by Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-Nev)? Or the $300 million for, among other things,
electric golf carts which would be built in North Dakota, home of Sen.
Byron Dorgan, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee? Or...the
list is legion.
"Some of the projects bear the prime characteristics of pork -- tailored
to benefit specific interests or to have thinly disguised links to local
projects," said the Associated Press.
Critics of the porkalooza want to do nothing, President Obama said at a
rally in Fort Myers, Fla, Tuesday.
"In truth, few of those involved in the stimulus debate are suggesting
that the government should not take action to aid the economy," noted
the Washington Post.
Mr. Obama is still in campaign mode, because he is very good at it, and
it is easier than governing. But at some point, people care more about
performance than about the promises you make. That point may be closer
than Mr. Obama realizes.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a
deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan
administration. Comment by clicking here.
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© 2008, Jack Kelly
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