
 |
|
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
|
| |
Jewish World Review
January 15, 2009
/ 19 Teves 5769
Diplomacy that heals
By
David Broder
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
When George W. Bush was running for the presidency, he said he aspired to be an education president. He followed through in his first year by pressing Congress to pass the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act. He found an effective partner in Margaret Spellings, who served first as the White House staff person in charge of drafting the legislation and then as secretary of education.
The president was initially much less engaged in the business of the Department of Health and Human Services, but he was exceptionally fortunate to find two of the ablest fellow governors in his party to run that giant and vital agency.
In his first term, it was Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin; in his second, Mike Leavitt of Utah. Both were leaders of the National Governors Association, where I got to know them, and both earned the trust of governors and legislators of both parties even before they took up their Washington duties.
Last week, I did an exit interview with Leavitt, as I had done four years earlier with Thompson.
The two men shared responsibility for one of the biggest innovations and achievements of this administration, the addition of a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. The law was passed in the first term, and I well remember Thompson out on the House floor, imploring reluctant Republican conservatives to furnish the last few votes.
It fell to Leavitt to make it work, and the start-up was highly controversial. Democrats lambasted the administration for rejecting price-setting powers and direct negotiation with pharmaceutical companies on the drug costs.
Leavitt told me that the competitive model employed for the new Medicare Part D has worked "better than anyone expected" and that costs to the beneficiaries and the Treasury are running almost 40 percent below the original budget, with 85 percent customer satisfaction.
Leavitt advocates using a similar market mechanism to control costs in the portions of Medicare that cover hospital and doctor services -- a controversial approach very much at odds with the position staked out by President-elect Barack Obama during the campaign.
Nonetheless, Leavitt is highly complimentary of the person picked to succeed him at HHS, former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle. And he has advice for Obama and the incoming administration.
I was struck by the fact that one of his strongest recommendations echoed something that Thompson had told me. When I interviewed him in January 2005, Thompson said he had developed a passion for "medical diplomacy." "I have traveled to 37 countries," he said, "helping deliver medicine for AIDS, malaria and other diseases. I dedicated a hospital for women and children in Kabul, Afghanistan. The gratitude of people for what America, with its wealth of medical talent, can bring is overwhelming."
Four years later, Leavitt has reached exactly the same conclusion. As he told me, "The language of health is heard by the heart."
In one of his summing-up reports, Leavitt spelled out the message: "Give a mother with HIV-AIDS hope that she can raise her children, and her gratitude will never wane. Heal a father's child, and he will never forget. Give a teen with disfigured legs the mobility of a wheelchair, and he will praise your name forever. As Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said to me, 'Health is a good messenger of peace.' "
Leavitt said that since the Bush administration took office, overseas medical assistance financed by both government and the nonprofit sector has expanded markedly. But there is so much more that can and should be done.
He points out that the Castro regime in Cuba and now Venezuela's Hugo Chavez have dispatched doctors by the thousands to assist poor populations in Latin America.
The United States could do so much more than those countries and, in the process, begin to reap the rewards that it deserves for its generosity.
When two Republican Cabinet members who have seen the potential with their own eyes offer such a suggestion to the incoming Democratic administration, it's probably worth listening to them.
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.
To comment, please click here.
Previously:
01/12/09: An early drubbing for Obama
01/09/09: Tales From Longworth
01/05/09: Missing A Few Sages
01/02/09: Illinois Outdoes Itself
12/29/08: The GOP Goes South
12/15/08: Health Reform's Moment
12/11/08: Long Path to a Fall in Illinois
12/08/08: Rescuing a college education
12/04/08: The danger of holdovers
11/31/08: Addressing the States' Dire Straits
11/28/08: Good time for a brainy president
11/24/08: Rising Hope For Fixing Health Care
11/19/08: A Force for Good but Not at State
11/17/08: GOP has work to do
11/13/08: Obama's good start
11/10/08: Governors Know Best
11/06/08: The Task Ahead
11/03/08: The Amazing Race: I thought 1960 was the best campaign I'd ever cover. But 2008 has that election beat
10/30/08: What We've Learned About McCain
10/27/08: A New England Brawl
10/23/08: Blue Sparks in Red Ohio
10/17/08: Obama's Assurance Policy
10/14/08: Live from the Pennsylvania frontlines
10/12/08: The proposals that could bind Obama
10/09/08: What do we really know about them?
10/06/08: The uplifting debate
10/02/08: Economics Exam in Michigan
09/28/08: McCain out-pointed Obama
09/26/08: Credibility Test for Congress
09/22/08: A debate's high stakes
09/22/08: Down days for McCain
09/15/08: The Next President's Due Bill
09/11/08: GOP celebration and Dem gloom are premature
09/08/08: Can we count on change?
09/03/08: Palin's Learning Curve
09/02/08: How Palin could help
09/02/08: What Happened to the Obama of 2004?
08/26/08: The Women Hit Their Mark
08/25/08: The Joe I know … and what it means for McCain
08/21/08: In N.H., a Deal to Close
08/18/08: Obama's Well-Oiled Machine
08/14/08: Pros and Conventions: Useful Ideas From the Stevensons and Friends
08/11/08: Rivals in Search of Trust
08/07/08: A Way Back to the High Road?
08/04/08: A Slate To Revive The Senate
07/31/08: When Congress Works
07/29/08: Management 101 for Senators
07/24/08: Obama's success abroad was pure luck
07/21/08: Obama's success abroad was pure luck
07/17/08: Governors offer real world wisdom. Obama and McCain would be wise to listen
07/14/08: Foes and allies strive to peg a shifty Obama
07/10/08: Fixing How We Go to War
07/07/08: Decider on the High Court
07/03/08: One Nation No More? Civics Needs a Boost, but Our Identity Endures
06/30/08: Dumbing Down the Presidency
06/26/08: Voting's Neglected Scandal
06/23/08: Why don't we know what makes Obama tick?
06/19/08: Foreign Policy's Best Hope
06/16/08: Perot, Back On the Charts
06/16/08: The Many Gifts of Tim Russert
06/12/08: Why Hillary played the womyn card
06/08/08: Eclipsed by the Adventures of Hillary
06/02/08: Obama in retreat
06/02/08: Reality vs. the Mythmakers
05/29/08: Hamilton Jordan's Message to Obama
05/27/08: Let the Veepstakes Begin
05/19/08: The mental exercise of placing Obama in the Oval Office requires more imagination than did moving Reagan from the silver screen to Pennsylvania Ave.
05/15/08: For Obama, a Lost Moment
05/12/08: The price of delay
05/08/08: Phoniness and inevitability
05/05/08: Winning by destruction: An insider reveals the Hillary game plan
05/01/08: Candidates' high-mindedness is rooted in religiosity; but Hillary and McCain don't have hater as inspiration
© 2008, by WPWG
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Tony Blankley
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Alan Douglas
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
Marybeth Hicks
David Horowitz
Jeff Jacoby
Renee James
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Ben Wattenberg
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

Mr. Know-It-All
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
Tech Maven
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|