• Pinboard Links,  The Afternoon Flap

    The Afternoon Flap: November 3, 2011

    November 3, 2011 /

    These are my links for November 3rd PM.

    • Cain Catches Flak, but Will It Shoot Down His Candidacy?– Washington was all a-Twitter (literally) Monday over Politico’s story about the sexual-harassment charges against Herman Cain — and about Cain’s serial self-contradictions.Faithful Fox News viewers saw him in the afternoon saying he didn’t know the terms of a settlement reached with the complainants and then saw him tell Greta Van Susteren in the 10 p.m. hour that he did.

      The Politico story, quoting no named sources, described Cain’s alleged misconduct as “conversations allegedly filled with innuendo or personal questions of a sexually suggestive nature” and “physical gestures that were not overtly sexual.”

    • Ron Paul Fever at Zuccotti Park– I hear many names bandied about in Zuccotti Park, and not just at the fringes. Among the most popular are Karl Marx, Hugo Chávez, Michael Moore, Paul Ehrlich, and Dennis Kucinich. But today I heard a less predictable one spoken more widely: Ron Paul.There are three key reasons for this, I think. The first is a good old marriage of convenience, the same sort of unholy alliance as arose in the early 20th century when Baptists and bootleggers came together to argue for the prohibition of alcohol in America. You see, Ron Paul is angry, too, and he wants to “restore” America to its old ways. The majority of Paul’s policy positions may be radically different, but much of his rhetoric is in line with Occupy Wall Street’s, particularly his anti-Hamiltonian conviction that the banks have callously denatured the United States. For many, this alone is enough to make him an ally.

      The protesters I spoke to today were predominantly appalled when I told them of Paul’s attitude towards Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the federal government in general, not to mention of his deregulatory zeal and staunch pro-life commitment. But, ultimately, this didn’t matter as much as the fact that he wants “change,” too. Revolution first, details later — we’ll just leave the specifics to Working Group 48.

    • Who Dropped the Dime on Cain? – Fred Thompson– In a case of an untimely death, the first thing the cops do when they arrive at the home of the deceased is to try to determine whether the death was the result of a self-inflicted wound and, if it wasn’t, whether a member of the family did it. Statistics show that these are good places to start looking. If the recent events surrounding sexual-harassment allegations against Herman Cain sink his campaign, the same postmortem may be appropriate.First, Cain’s self-inflicted wounds. When the allegations became public, he started defending himself with an unloaded gun. Even an admirably unconventional campaign cannot defy certain principles. One would be never to eat at a place with an “Eats” sign in the window. Another is that when it hits the fan, you should get your recollection and your facts as straight as you can before you start talking. You can’t outwit the media at their own game if you don’t know the game they’re playing. Now it’s not just about whether he was overly friendly with Miss Molly at the Fourth of July picnic — it’s also about catching him in inconsistencies.
    • If Cain sinks, will Gingrich benefit? – In the early summer of 2007, an over-the-hill John McCain, his campaign in shambles, was given up for dead in his race for the Republican presidential nomination. He wouldn’t give up, though, and by sheer force of will managed to grab his party’s spot on the ticket — and lead it to a crushing defeat.
      In the early summer of 2011, an over-the-hill Newt Gingrich, his campaign in shambles, was given up for dead in his race for the Republican presidential nomination. He wouldn’t give up, though, and by sheer force of will has managed to talk himself back into contention for his party’s spot on the ticket. But do Republican voters really want to be led to another crushing defeat?
      That, alas, is almost sure to happen if Gingrich is the Republican standard bearer. Like McCain, he’s quite old by any non-Reagan presidential standards (indeed, if inaugurated he would be just four months younger than Reagan was on his Inauguration Day). Like McCain, he has a nasty temper (although, to be fair, it’s nowhere near as nasty as McCain’s). Like McCain, he has a sordid history with, uh, relationships, although his is more well known than McCain’s and does not enjoy the excuse of a “pass” to re-sow wild oats due to brutal years in captivity.Short answer is: MAYBE.
    • Poll Watch: Voters Evenly Divided As to Whether Allegations Against Cain Are Serious and True– Two-thirds of America’s voters recognize that Herman Cain is the Republican candidate who has been accused of sexual harassment. Voters are evenly divided about the allegations and most Republicans believe the public airing of the charges suggest Cain is considered a serious threat to win the nomination.The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 39% believe the allegations against Cain are at least somewhat likely to be serious and true.  Thirty-eight percent (38%) disagree and 23% are not sure. Those figures include 17% who believe it’s Very Likely and 11% who say Not at All Likely.
    • The Generation Gap and the 2012 Election– In the last four national elections, generational differences have mattered more than they have in decades. According to the exit polls, younger people have voted substantially more Democratic than other age groups in each election since 2004, while older voters have cast more ballots for Republican candidates in each election since 2006.The latest national polls suggest this pattern may well continue in 2012. Millennial generation voters are inclined to back Barack Obama for reelection by a wide margin in a matchup against Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate who has run the strongest against Obama in many polls. By contrast, Silent generation voters are solidly behind Romney.

      In between the youngest and the oldest voters are the Baby Boom generation and Generation X. Both groups are less supportive of Obama than they were in 2008 and are now on the fence with respect to a second term for the president.

    • Gallup Poll Watch: U.S. Unemployment Improves to 8.4% | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Gallup Poll Watch: U.S. Unemployment Improves to 8.4% #tcot #catcot
    • The Blame Game on Herman Cain – NYTimes.com – The Blame Game on Herman Cain
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: It Is Running at Night Season: 7 Tips for Safety – It Is Running at Night Season: 7 Tips for Safety
    • President 2012: Mitt Romney Welcomes Rick Perry to California with New Attack Ad » Flap’s California Blog – President 2012: Mitt Romney Welcomes Rick Perry to California with New Attack Ad
    • Chantix IS Unsuitable for First-Line Smoking Cessation | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – Chantix IS Unsuitable for First-Line Smoking Cessation
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: November 3, 2011 – The Morning Drill: November 3, 2011
    • House Issues Subpoenas to White House Regarding Bankrupt Solyndra | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – House Issues Subpoenas to White House Regarding Bankrupt Solyndra #tcot #catcot
    • Numbers USA Sponsors Twitter Campaign to Pass H.R. 2885 and E-Verify | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Numbers USA Sponsors Twitter Campaign to Pass H.R. 2885 and E-Verify #tcot #catcot
    • Charlie Hebdo Reprints Mohammad Cartoon Defending the Freedom to Poke Fun | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Charlie Hebdo Reprints Mohammad Cartoon Defending the Freedom to Poke Fun #tcot #catcot
    • The Morning Flap: November 3, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: November 3, 2011 #tcot #catcot
  • Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: November 2, 2011

    November 2, 2011 /

    These are my links for November 1st through November 2nd:

    • Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu Considers Pre-Emptive Attack On Iran To Prevent Nuclear Capability– Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to rally support in his cabinet for an attack on Iran, according to government sources.The country’s defence minister Ehud Barak and the foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman are said to be among those backing a pre-emptive strike to neutralise Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

      But a narrow majority of ministers currently oppose the move, which could trigger a wave of regional retaliation.

      The debate over possible Israeli military action has reached fever pitch in recent days with newspaper leader columns discussing the benefits and dangers of hitting Iran.

      Mr Lieberman responded to the reports of a push to gain cabinet approval by saying that “Iran poses the most dangerous threat to world order.”

      But he said Israel’s military options should not be a matter for public discussion.

    • Attorney says Cain violated deal, allowing accuser to speak– The lawyer for one of the women who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment said his client might get a chance to speak publicly about the allegations because the GOP presidential candidate violated the confidentiality agreement between the two.Attorney Joel Bennett told CBS’s “The Early Show” on Wednesday that his client hasn’t spoken publicly because of the confidentiality agreement, but that Cain’s comments might have cleared a path.

      “There was more than one incident that my client received sexual harassment,” Bennett said. “She would like to speak out for the record, only because Mr. Cain has stated that he didn’t sexually harass anyone, that there wasn’t any substance to the allegations, and basically made it look like she was some type of frivolous claimant looking for money.”

      According to Bennett, one of the stipulations of the confidentiality agreement was that neither party could make disparaging remarks about the other. Bennett said Cain violated that agreement on Fox News on Monday when he said that he had been told that the accuser’s performance in the workplace “was not up to par.”

      “I think she’s upset about his statements and would like the record to be balanced and clear,” Bennett said.

      The New York Times reported Wednesday that Cain’s other accuser received a full year’s salary, worth between $35,000 and $40,000, as a part of her severance package.

      Cain was accused of sexual harassment by two female employees when he headed the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s.

    • French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo firebombed after prophet Mohammed announcement– The offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo have been destroyed by a petrol bomb, a day after it named the Prophet Mohammed as its “editor-in-chief” for this week’s issue.The fiercely anti-clerical magazine said the move, which included renaming the publication “Sharia Hebdo”, was intended to “celebrate” the victory of Islamist party Ennhada in Tunisia’s election.

      Charlie Hedbo’s editor-in-chief, known as Charb, told France Info radio: “We no longer have a newspaper. All our equipment has been destroyed or has melted.”

      No injuries have been reported

      A single Molotov cocktail was thrown at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris’s 20th arrondissement at around 1am. The ensuing fire was rapidly put out, but a large amount of material in the office was destroyed, police said.

      “We cannot, today, put together a paper,” said Charb. “But we will do everything possible to do one next week. Whatever happens, we’ll do it. There is no question of giving in,” he said, adding that the magazine is filing a legal complaint against persons unkown.

    • Herman Cain Accuser Got a Year’s Salary in Severance Pay– The National Restaurant Association gave $35,000 — a year’s salary — in severance pay to a female staff member in the late 1990s after an encounter with Herman Cain, its chief executive at the time, made her uncomfortable working there, three people with direct knowledge of the payment said on Tuesday.The woman was one of two whose accusations of sexual harassment by Mr. Cain, now a Republican candidate for president, led to paid severance agreements during his 1996-99 tenure at the association. Disclosure of the scale of the severance further challenged his initial description of the matter as a “witch hunt,” as did new descriptions from the woman’s friends and colleagues of her level of discomfort at work.

      Adding to the pressure on Mr. Cain, a lawyer for the second woman called on the restaurant association to release her from a confidentiality agreement signed as part of her settlement, raising the prospect that she could publicly dispute Mr. Cain’s account of what happened. The lawyer said the confidentiality agreement had left her unable to respond to Mr. Cain’s denials of any inappropriate behavior toward the women.

      “He’s basically saying: ‘I never harassed anyone. These claims have no merit,’ ” said the lawyer, Joel P. Bennett of Washington, who represented the woman in her initial agreement. “And I’m sure my client would have a comeback to that.”

      There will be more…..

    • President 2012 Poll Watch: North Carolina remains close– North Carolina continues to look like a toss up for 2012, with Barack Obama unpopular but none of his prospective Republican opponents setting the world on fire either.45% of voters in the state approve of Obama with 50% disapproving, numbers pretty much in line with where he’s been for the last 3 months. Obama’s big issue continues to be with independents, only 38% of whom think he’s doing a good job to 56% who give him poor marks. He’s been consistently right around the 80% mark with Democrats (78/16 this month) and favor from Republicans is still virtually nonexistent (6/91).

      Despite his weak approval numbers Obama trails only one Republican for reelection in the state, Mitt Romney, and even then it’s just a 1 point margin at 46-45. That represents a simple flip from last month’s poll when Obama led Romney 46-45. We’ve been polling these guys head to head every month for a year now and their head to head has continuously been in the margin of error.

      Each candidate has a couple of things going for him in this match up. Romney’s up 49-34 with independents and gets 16% of the Democratic vote, more than any of the other candidates. Obama’s benefiting from in migration to the state. 79% of North Carolinians consider themselves to be Southerners. They go for Romney 48-44. But with the 21% of voters who don’t identify with that label, Obama’s up 50-43. The folks moving into North Carolina are a big part of why the state’s become more competitive at the Presidential level. The other key thing for Obama is that he’s showing little slippage with the two key groups that drove his victory in the state in 2008: he’s up 89-8 with African Americans and 64-28 with voters under 30.

      Against the non-Romney potential Republican candidates Obama hold leads ranging from 3-8 points. It’s impossible to say what impact the last three days will have long term on Herman Cain’s candidacy but he was the only other GOP hopeful to really come close to Obama on this poll, trailing 47-44. Obama has pretty healthy leads right now against the rest of the Republicans- it’s 7 points over Newt Gingrich at 50-43, and 8 points over Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, and Rick Perry at 50-42, 48-40, and 50-42 respectively. It’s probably good news for GOP hopes of beating Obama that no one in that last quartet except for Gingrich is looking like a particularly strong candidate for the nomination right now.

      Increasingly it looks like Newt Gingrich will be contending with Mitt Romney or be teamed up with him.

    • Mr. Herman Cain’s former employer making this statement « Gretawire – Mr. Herman Cain’s former employer making this statement
    • Rice: Cain shouldn’t play the “race card” – CBS News Video – Condi Rice: Cain shouldn’t play the “race card”
    • Perry wasn’t drunk at speech, says host – The Hill’s Ballot Box – Perry wasn’t drunk at speech, says host
    • Herman Cain waived confidentiality: accuser’s lawyer – CBS News Investigates – CBS News – RT @daveweigel: RT @CBSEveningNews: Cain accuser’s lawyer speaks out, says #HermanCain waived confidentiality:
    • Poll: Cain, Romney Tied in Florida – Washington Wire – WSJ – RT @WSJWashington: Poll: Cain, Romney Tied in Florida
    • Posting negative comments on social media sites will get you fired at Apple | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence – RT @briansolis: Reading “Posting negative comments on social media sites will get you fired at Apple”
    • The Afternoon Flap: November 1, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Afternoon Flap: November 1, 2011 #tcot #catcot
  • Pinboard Links

    The Afternoon Flap: November 1, 2011

    November 1, 2011 /

    These are my links for November 1st from 13:51 to 14:56:

    • Satire on Occupy Wall Street Trips Up Rick Perry– Last Friday, at the swanky Barley House tavern in Concord, N.H., Mr. Perry took a little jab at the Occupy Wall Street crowd, referencing an amusing quote his son had sent him from a protester occupying Toronto.“I don’t know if it can be proved up or not,” Mr. Perry conceded, “the young man’s name was Jeremy and he was 38 years old. But he said, ‘We got here at 9 o’clock, and those people, this was in Toronto, I think Bay Street is their comparable [Wall Street], he said those bankers that we came to insult, they’d already been at work for two hours when we got here at 9 o’clock, and when we get ready to leave, you know, they’re still in there working. I guess greed just makes you work hard.”
    • Democracy Versus Mob Rule – Thomas Sowell– In various cities across the country, mobs of mostly young, mostly incoherent, often noisy, and sometimes violent demonstrators are making themselves a major nuisance.Meanwhile, many in the media are practically gushing over these “protesters,” and giving them the free publicity they crave for themselves and their cause — whatever that is, beyond venting their emotions on television.
    • Lawyer: Cain accuser wants to talk but is barred by agreement– One of the women who accused GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment wants to tell her side of the story but is barred by a confidentiality agreement, her attorney in Washington said Tuesday.Lawyer Joel P. Bennett called on the National Restaurant Association, where the woman and Cain worked in the late 1990s, to release the woman from her written promise not to talk about the allegations or disparage the trade group.
    • Who Are the 1 Percent? – There is a real and potentially fatal problem with the “Us vs. Them” narrative that Occupy Wall Street has made the focal point of its campaign — most famously with the “99 percent against the 1 percent” rhetoric — and that is that it does not transmute smoothly into the more intimate “Me vs. You.” It is one thing haphazardly to generalize about “the 1 percent,” or “the rich,” or “Nazi bankers” and “fascist policemen,” and quite another to get down to cases. When I interviewed a lady who labeled the bankers and the police “Nazis,” she was notably reluctant to describe any one of those to whom I pointed in such extreme terms — “Well, maybe not him personally . . .” Put a face on an epithet, and the vitriol soon dwindles; indeed, the targets who retain their “miscreant” sticker even when named tend to be a long, long way away — far enough removed to be usefully employed as abstractions. This was something I noticed particularly keenly on Friday, at Occupy Wall Street’s march on the banks.
    • The Gingrich revival– Just a few months ago, Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign looked like it was in its death throes. His poll ratings were in free fall after his criticism of fellow Republican Paul Ryan’s plan to reform Medicare as “right-wing social engineering”, and his top staff had quit en masse. But somehow, Gingrich has managed to gradually rebuild his campaign and rehabilitate himself in the eyes of Republican voters.The chart below shows how Republican’s views of Gingrich have changed over the course of the campaign. You can clearly see his ratings sliding in May-June, but then recovering slowly since July. Although they’ve levelled off in the last couple of weeks, they’re now almost back up to the very strong numbers he enjoyed when he launched his campaign and put him just about on a par with Mitt Romney.

      More than likely, the only anti-Romney candidate left.

  • Mark Steyn,  Pinboard Links,  The Sunday Flap

    The Sunday Flap: October 30, 2011

    October 30, 2011 /

    These are my links and comments for  Sunday, October 30th:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 31st on 10:08

    May 31, 2011 /

    These are my links for May 31st from 10:08 to 12:43:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 25th on 18:08

    May 25, 2011 /

    These are my links for May 25th from 18:08 to 18:28:

    • OBAMA’S MEDICARE HYPOCRISY – Piously posturing as the savior of Medicare, President Obama lashed out at the House Republicans for embracing the budget proposed by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). But a comparison of the president’s own plans for Medicare with those in the Ryan budget shows that the Democratic cuts are far more immediate and drastic than anything in the GOP proposal.

      While the Republican Medicare changes only take effect in 2021, Obama’s cuts will begin hurting seniors right away. The president’s healthcare legislation imposed a hard spending cap on Medicare ?– the first time it has ever had one — which he has just proposed lowering by another one-half of 1 percent of GDP (a further cut of about $70 billion a year).

      Obama’s cuts, which will take effect immediately, are to be administered by his newly created Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) of 15 members appointed by the president. Its recommendations for cuts in Medicare services or for reductions in reimbursement will not be subject to congressional approval but will take effect by administrative fiat. Right now.

      The IPAB will be, essentially, the rationing board that will decide who gets what care. Its decisions will be guided by a particularly vicious concept of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QUALYS). If you have enough QUALYS ahead of you, you’ll be approved for a hip replacement or a heart transplant. If not, you’re out of luck. Perforce, many of these cuts will fall on those at the end of their lives, reducing their options to accommodate Obama’s mandate to cut costs. If death comes sooner, well, that’s the price of aging in Obama’s America.

      Ryan’s approach is totally different.

      ======

      Read it all

    • NEWT’S RIGHTabout Ryan’s Medicare Cuts – In the 1980s, the pre-Blair leftist Labor Party issued its campaign manifesto to oppose Thatcher’s Conservatives in the coming national election. Its loony, leftist proposals were so extreme that the Tory media promptly dubbed it “the longest suicide note in history.”

      The Republican proposal to shift Medicare from the current system to a voucher-based program of private insurance – in TEN years – falls into the same category. Don’t blame Newt Gingrich for saying so. In fact, we have to hope that Romney, Bachmann, Daniels and the other candidates join him in distancing himself from the plan if we have a hope of electing any of them president!

      Worse, the Ryan budget continues the $500 billion in Medicare cuts which formed the basis of the Republican critique of Pelosi and Obama in the 2010 election. It keeps the money in the Medicare system rather than spending it on other entitlements as Obama did, but that is scant compensation for someone seeking care now to stay alive!

      (When I first endorsed Ryan’s plan in a column and video, I was under the impression – as he had told me – that he would eliminate the $500 billion cut. I must have misunderstood him because his plan keeps that very cut on which we based our entire 2012 campaign. When I found that out, I switched to opposing his plan).

    • Paul Ryan: 2012’s Goldwater? – I used to worry that Sarah Palin would be the Barry Goldwater of 2012. My bad. Paul Ryan is the Barry Goldwater of 2012.

      The Goldwater effect continues on this morning after the NY-26 debacle. Henry Olsen of AEI, as smart a political numbers guy as can be found on the political right, crunches the numbers to compare the performance of the 2011 special election candidates with the district-wide performance of all other GOP and Democratic candidates in 2010. He finds:

      Republican congressional candidate Jane Corwin is running 18 points behind the worst-performing Republican of 2010
      Democrat Kathy Hochul is running even with Barack Obama’s performance in the district in 2008 – the best Democratic showing in NY-26 in three decades.
      The Republicans suffered their worst losses in the least-educated portions of the District, where former GOP voters seem to have deserted the party for an independent candidate, Jack Davis.

      What should make this race all the more alarming for Republicans is that NY-26 turned into a referendum on the Ryan plan for Medicare. As Henry Olsen says:

      blue-collar voters react differently to issues than the GOP base does. They are more supportive of safety-net programs at the same time as they are strongly opposed to large government programs in general. These voters crave stability and are uncertain of their ability to compete in a globalized economy that values higher education more each year. They are also susceptible to the age-old Democratic argument that the secret Republican agenda is to eviscerate middle-class entitlements to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.

      The Ryan budget is uniquely vulnerable to that attack because it fuses very tough Medicare reforms with big tax cuts in the same document.

      =====

      Read it all.

      Frum is right in part and the GOP should not in lockstep endorse the entirety of the Paul Ryan Budget Plan.

    • Bill Clinton to Paul Ryan on Medicare Election: ‘Give me a Call’ – The day after the stunning upset in the special congressional election in upstate New York, Rep. Paul Ryan is a man under fire.

      But ABC News was behind the scenes with the Wisconsin Congressman and GOP Budget Committee Chairman when he got some words of encouragement none other than former President Bill Clinton.

      "So anyway, I told them before you got here, I said I’m glad we won this race in New York," Clinton told Ryan, when the two met backstage at a forum on the national debt held by the Pete Peterson Foundation. But he added, “I hope Democrats don't use this as an excuse to do nothing.”

      Ryan told Clinton he fears that now nothing will get done in Washington.

      “My guess is it’s going to sink into paralysis is what’s going to happen. And you know the math. It’s just, I mean, we knew we were putting ourselves out there. You gotta start this. You gotta get out there. You gotta get this thing moving,” Ryan said.

      Clinton told Ryan that if he ever wanted to talk about it, he should “give me a call.” Ryan said he would.

      ======

      Better start the discussion because the numbers will become real soon enough.

    • Five GOP senators jump ship in Ryan budget vote – Five Republican senators jumped ship and voted against House Republicans' 2012 budget on Wednesday.

      Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joined four other Republican senators who'd previously announced their opposition to the budget, which has sustained withering criticism by Democrats who say it would end Medicare as Americans currently know it.

      Sens. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) voted against it as they'd previously said they would, largely because of the reforms contained within the budget to Medicare, transforming it into a voucher-based system for Americans under the age of 55.

      Also as expected, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted against the plan because he views it as not going far enough.

      The budget, crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), had been the subject of scrutiny from Democrats, who credited its Medicare provision for a victory on Tuesday night in a special election to an upstate New York congressional district.

      The underlying bill failed in a 40-57 vote, with 60 votes being needed to bring up the Ryan budget for debate. Two Republican senators did not vote.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 19th on 14:49

    May 19, 2011 /

    These are my links for May 19th from 14:49 to 18:54:

    • On Medicare: Newt’s Right? – In the 1980s, the pre-Blair leftist Labor Party issued its campaign manifesto to oppose Thatcher's Conservatives in the coming national election. Its loony, leftist proposals were so extreme that the Tory media promptly dubbed it "the longest suicide note in history." The Republican proposal to shift Medicare from the current system to a voucher-based program of private insurance – in TEN years – falls into the same category. Don't blame Newt Gingrich for saying so. In fact, we have to hope that Romney, Bachmann, Daniels and the other candidates join him in distancing himself from the plan if we have a hope of electing any of them president! Worse, the Ryan budget continues the $500 billion in Medicare cuts which formed the basis of the Republican critique of Pelosi and Obama in the 2010 election. It keeps the money in the Medicare system rather than spending it on other entitlements as Obama did, but that is scant compensation for someone seeking care now to stay alive! (When I first endorsed Ryan's plan in a column and video, I was under the impression – as he had told me – that he would eliminate the $500 billion cut. I must have misunderstood him because his plan keeps that very cut on which we based our entire 2012 campaign. When I found that out, I switched to opposing his plan). Gingrich was entirely correct in denouncing this part of the Ryan Budget. The rest of the document is fine. But Obama has, as we predicted he would, focused all his fire on the Medicare portion and that is what the campaign of 2012 will be about – unless the GOP candidate for president disavows the plan. And the height of lunacy is that the Medicare voucher-based conversion is slated to take effect in a decade! Who can predict how medicine will evolve next week let along a decade hence? To hold the Republican Party's political fortunes hostage to a program that might or might not take effect in a decade is pure insanity. So Gingrich called it what it is – "right wing social engineering." Granted, Paul Ryan has the best of intentions. He wants to keep the Medicare system solvent in the face of escalating costs, but even he concedes that changing Medicare is not necessary over the next nine years to reduce the budget deficit. It is only in 2021, when those who are now 55 turn to Medicare that he would effect his changes. The House should drop the Medicare part of the program, repeal the $500 billion cut that the Republicans vilified in the campaign, and go ahead and implement the rest of the Ryan budget. Newt has acted responsibly and in the best interests of the Party by describing accurately what the stakes are. Don't blame him. Honor him for saying and doing the right thing.

      =====

      I think it was the way Newt said it and now he is backing away.

      The medicare cuts will be a disaster and the GOP Presidential nominee should reject them.

    • Did Daniels Previously Support the Individual Mandate? – By Katrina Trinko – The Primary Event – National Review Online – Did Mitch Daniels Previously Support the Individual Mandate?