I have a feeling today is going to be “put a movie in for the kids and blog about healthcare” day because I really want to respond to McArdle’s post and some other things I’ve read — but I’m not there yet; first there are morning, and even afternoon, errands. But let’s start with a question:  If you could pick one element, and only one, of O’care to eliminate in the coming budget battle, what would it be?  What’s your top priority? ... Read more

Here’s a comment I posted on instapundit.com earlier this morning: It’s foolish to imagine that ObamaCare will just collapse under its own weight. Has Medicare collapsed? Has Medicaid? Or Food Stamps? No — ObamaCare may be many things (a thicket of regulations, a fraud- and identity theft-prone computer system, a set of mandates) but fundamentally it’s an entitlement program. Once people have begun receiving subsidies, how is it any more likely that politicians will be able to cancel them than... Read more

Lovely way to start a Friday.  I started looking at The Great Deformation yesterday, was thinking about the whole ObamaCare mess this morning, and am now reflecting on the political system in general, and the fact that ordinary citizens really have no way to make their voice heard — unless their point of view lines up with an existing pressure group to which they can send money. Maybe if I was in a more “purple” district or state — but my... Read more

Yes, usually, the phrasing would be simply “making the case against Obamacare.”  Why have I chosen the convoluted title above? Because the anti-Obamacare pundits, as far as I can see, aren’t really trying to react to the claims of its supporters.  They point to the new opportunities for healthcare coverage, and the subsidies that will reduce costs for people with lower incomes and larger families.  Complaints of cost increases for those not cushioned by subsidies are met with disdain —... Read more

I’m sitting at the desk with this book in front of me, not sure if I dare read it. Not because it’s 712 pages — but because, well, I’m flipping through and see that there’s much that I agree with.  Stockman details the “crony capitalist plunder” of TARP and the bailouts, and says that a calm examination of the situation should have shown that an AIG bankruptcy, for instance, would not have destroyed the global economy, but that these bailouts... Read more

Reading the stinkers, so you don’t have to!  Or, that was an hour of my life I won’t get back (except that I read/paged through this while at the kids’ gymnastics class). I’m not going to spend much time talking about this book.  A 28 year-old wrote it, and, well, it shows.  Her basic premise is that Generation Y has been screwed over by their elders:  unable to find paying jobs worthy their top-notch education and sufficient to pay off... Read more

According to the exit polls (as of 6 pm), Angela Merkel has handily won the plurality, but, as expected in their multiparty system, not the majority of votes. According to the two major exit polls (ARD/ZDF), the results are: CDU/CSU: 42%/42.3%SPD:  26%/26.3%Greens:  8.1%/8%Left (Linke):  8.5%/8.5%Liberals (FDP):  4.7%/4.5%AfD (Euroskeptics):  4.9%/4.8%Pirates:  2.3% Any party with less than 5% of the vote is out of parliament entirely, and the remainder of the votes are distributed proportionately, which means that, if these results hold,... Read more

Here are some English-language links:  Photo galleries, and some commentary on the upcoming coalition-formation, and some background on why she’s so successful with German voters, the “Mutti” factor. Read more