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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
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Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
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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)
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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
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Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
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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
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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
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John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
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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
March 16, 2010
/ 1 Nissan 5770
Health-care reform for the ages
By
Rich Lowry
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The finale of the health-care debate couldn't be more fitting. House Democrats are considering passing an exotic parliamentary rule relieving them of the burden of voting for the underlying bill, which will be "deemed" passed.
So a bill sold under blatantly false pretenses and passed in the Senate on the strength of indefensible deals would become law in a final flourish of deceptive highhandedness. How appropriate for what would be the worst piece of federal domestic legislation since the fascistic, recovery-impairing National Recovery Act of 1933 or the Prohibition disaster in 1920.
After Scott Brown's victory, Democrats claimed to understand how the ugly process had undermined support for the bill. Since then, to paraphrase Alice, it's gotten uglier and uglier. Because they no longer had 60 votes in the Senate, Democrats decided to bypass regular order in the upper body with so-called reconciliation rules dispensing with the filibuster.
The rules were supposed to be used to eliminate all its unsightly special deals. One of those deals for a Democratic interest group will actually be extended, however. Once touted as the prime cost-saving measure in the bill, the Cadillac tax on high-end health plans will be delayed to 2018 at the behest of the unions.
And who's to say what constitutes a "special deal"? After hearing from powerful senators, the White House has a new affection for spending provisions tailored for Connecticut, Montana and Louisiana. Obama strategist David Axelrod explains that the additional hundreds of billions in Medicaid dollars of the "Louisiana Purchase" could theoretically be available to any state -- even though the Senate bill devotes pages to describing cryptic, Louisiana-specific eligibility criteria.
Ordinarily, differences between Senate-passed and House-passed bills are worked out in a conference committee, producing a compromise bill for consideration by both houses. Instead, Democrats want the House to pass an un-amended Senate bill that will be cleaned up later. But the Senate bill is so radioactive that the House wants to sidestep a direct vote on it. No conference committee, no separate House vote: Change has indeed come to Washington.
The endlessly improvised process wouldn't be necessary if Democrats had persuaded the public of the merits of bill. President Barack Obama's "closing argument" is as unconvincing as his fantastic assurances that a new entitlement slated to grow at 8 percent a year will contain costs and reduce the deficit.
Obama has taken to lambasting the insurers. Never mind that, as Robert Samuelson of Newsweek points out, the profits of the largest insurers amount to only .4 percent of total annual medical costs, which are fundamentally driven by the price and volume of care. Obama uses Anthem Blue Cross in California as a whipping boy on the basis of its planned rate increase for individual insurance of as much as 39 percent.
And how exactly is Obama is going to stop such rate increases? Massachusetts already adopted a version of ObamaCare, and its average insurance premiums are still the highest in the country. Obama wants to set up a federal Health Insurance Rate Authority. But most states already require insurers in the individual markets to get prior approval for rate increases. Obama's anti-insurer jag is only the latest sedimentary layer on top of his ever-shifting, opportunistic and literally incredible case for his bill.
Obama has said repeatedly that he doesn't want the health-care bill to fund abortion and that it won't. But when a Hyde Amendment-style prohibition on abortion funding passed the House on a strong bipartisan vote, fulfilling his stated desire, Obama didn't ask for it to be included in the Senate bill. Now, the final bill will in all likelihood fund abortion, putting the lie to all he said.
That, too, is fitting. If they force the bill through, Democrats will have "made history," although not the kind they imagine. ObamaCare will constitute a ramshackle monument to partisan willfulness and unscrupulous salesmanship that should forever discredit its architects.
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© 2009 King Features Syndicate
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