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May 25, 2012
Mark Clayton: Is Hillary's State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite
Erika Bolstad: Temple cancels Wasserman Schultz speech
The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
May 24, 2012
Jeff Jacoby: The peace process battered Israel's reputation
Michael Muskal: 'Pro-choice' position hits record low, according to poll
Chris Farrell: Are We in a Tech Bubble?
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
Dec. 22, 2009
/ 5 Teves 5770
How to lose friends and get not much
By
Wesley Pruden
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Rarely has a cowboy castrated himself in public like Ben Nelson, the senator from Nebraska, who becomes an object lesson in how a United States senator easily trades his "convictions" and "principles" for perfectly legal bribes from cynical party leaders.
When the inevitable howling erupted in Nebraska, all the senator could come up with was a variation on the oldest excuse in Washington: "I didn't do it, and maybe I won't do it again."
The senator's profile in phony determination to prevent federal financing of abortion earned him rebuke and scorn from abortion foes and advocates alike. What angered everyone was how easily he took the bribe, and how public the transaction was. After all the declarations of undying dedication to "conviction" and "principles," when Barack Obama offered the deal he offered no one else, to pay for the expanded Medicare costs for the state of Nebraska and let's forget about abortion, the senator capitulated with enthusiasm.
He tried to blame the governor. The governor, David Heineman, "contacted me, and he said this is another unfunded federal mandate, and it's going to stress the state budget, and I agreed with him," the senator said. "I said to [Majority Leader Harry Reid] that this is something that has to be fixed. I didn't participate in the way it was fixed." (He only dropped into the bordello for a shot of bonded courage, never dreaming that anything naughty was going on upstairs.)
The governor, abandoning the way governors and senators from their states protect each other's reputation for truth-telling, stuck it to the senator this time with a vengeance. He had nothing to do with the senator's "compromise," he said, and the health care bill is "bad news for Nebraska and for the United States. Nebraskans did not seek a special deal, only a fair deal."
The senator's clumsiness was followed by the inevitable whine of a politician caught with his pants down. "This is all so orchestrated," he said of the stinging backlash from the home folks. "It's so thinly disguised, it's almost laughable." But he didn't sound like a man almost laughing. Even his Nebraska colleague in the Senate, Mike Johanns, ignoring a venerable tradition that a senator doesn't rebuke the other senator from his state, said he was "stunned and disappointed" because the "compromise" language was a "watered-down accounting gimmick that leads to Nebraska taxpayers subsidizing abortions in other states."
Every president mirrors in ways large and small the politics he learned back home, and the administration's use of the battering ram in behalf of a scheme that grows more unpopular day by day reflects the down-and-dirty politics of Chicago. Richard Daley the Original lives and breathes on Capitol Hill.
It's an ill wind that blows nobody good, and the senator's colleagues can be grateful for the diversion of attention from the actual outrage. Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told the Senate that ObamaCare is so convoluted that no one (not even the dozens of lawyers who wrote it) actually understands it. The president insists that the change nobody believes in will reduce costs for everybody.
"Anyone who suggests otherwise simply hasn't read the bills," he says. Maybe that's why he so sure he's right; he hasn't had time to read 2,000-plus pages of the bill, either. Victor Fuchs, a highly regarded economist who supports ObamaCare, says a lot of the White House theory is simply simplistic. "The oft-heard promise that 'we will find out what works and what does not' scarcely does justice to the complexity of medical practice."
Some of those who understand medical complexity best argue that the dead hand of government will inevitably stay the innovation and technology that makes American medicine the envy of the world. Almost nobody here goes to Europe when gravely ill, but Europeans flock to America when hope is exhausted at home. When the unelected bureaucrats gain control of everything from bedpans to MRI machines, the dean of the Harvard Medical School warns "our capacity to innovate and develop new therapies would suffer most of all."
Nevermind. The president has the reform that does less and costs more. Earl Long, the late governor of Louisiana, once boasted that he could take a hundred-dollar bill and get anything through his legislature "and buy you a steak dinner with what I'll have left over."
President Obama goes that one better. He did it with a bribe of somebody else's money.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor emeritus of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.
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