The General Accounting Office finds that there is insufficient competition in the small group health insurance market. This is just another indication of our present national health care crisis. Will our nation ever confront the problem? (Matthew Miller outlined an innovative idea that could gain bipartisan support in the October 2000 Atlantic Monthly.)
April 2002 Archives
It is a sad commentary on our times when Robert C. Stempel, the former chairman of General Motors, has a more forward-looking energy plan (replacing gasoline in automobiles with hydrogen) than most of our economic and political leaders.
A person can hope. Marianne Means writes: "No matter what, McCain is well positioned to be a central player in the next presidential election. The one thing he is unlikely to do is sit it out on the sidelines."
Is President Bush helping himself with his trips to California? Hoover Institution Research Fellow Bill Whalen analyses the White House strategy. Does it make more sense for Bush to try to make California a toss-up state, or to spend resources in other states that were already close in the 2000 election? As Whalen writes: "In the 2000 election, Bush lost six states -- Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon and Wisconsin -- by a little under 109,000 votes. To put that in perspective, Bush lost Santa Clara County alone by nearly 144,000 votes. Those six states account for 44 electoral votes -- 10 shy of California in the last election."
Debra Saunders would like to see some of the "compassionate" in President Bush's vaunted "compassionate conservatism." As Saunders writes: "A just sentencing system distinguishes between drug kingpins and their errand runners. Contrary to that spirit, federal conspiracy laws designed to sentence drug ring capos for crimes committed under their direction are being used to make messengers and girlfriends serve extra time for crimes their higher-ups committed. It's not conservative; it's insane."
James Pinkerton gives President Bush an "A" for the economy and a "F" for his foreign policy.
A glimpse of a growing problem: Mexico and the United States are at odds over Rio Grande water rights. Water supply problems are popping up around the nation, and the world.
A new political movement is seeking to protect our common assets from continued enclosure and deterioration. Common assets include those resources on which everyone relies but for which no one is singularly responsible. As Jonathan Rowe writes, this common assets movement, "It is not antimarket, because a market needs a commons, just as shops need sidewalks and life needs air...By the same token, the new commons movement does not seek to expand the role of government in our lives. The state can undermine the commons much as the market can, as the former Soviet Union showed all too well. Instead, this movement invokes government the same way the advocates of the market do, to establish ground rules and boundaries."
Thomas Oliphant writes about the lessons we can learn from this weekend's Middle East agreement "The first is that much more can be accomplished in private by officials who are shutting up in public. Second, there appears to be a role for Americans on the ground that can be pivotal in arranging agreements and making them work."
When will Massachusetts voters rise up against the arrogant reign of the state's Speaker of the House Thomas M. Finneran? Finneran today continues to defy the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the voters of his state. He refuses to implement the "Clean Elections" public campaign financing law, passed by a 2-1 referendum margin in 1998, because he finds it, as Joan Vennochi writes, "silly, frivolous, and insulting." But, Mr. Speaker, it is the law. Frankly, Speaker Finneran, it is the cynical contempt people like you have for our electoral system that is a major cause for its deterioration. The majority spoke. Massachusetts, and the nation, will be a much better place with Speaker Finneran is returned to private life.
The Baltimore Sun asks a great question: Where has $4 trillion gone? Projected federal budget surpluses for the next decade have dropped by that amount. Meanwhile, instead of trying to shore up the government's finances in order to prepare for the prepare for looming retirement of the baby boom generation, Washington is seriously considering making last year's tax cuts permanent. This is policy myopia at its worst.
Walter Pincus writes about more turmoil within Congress' attempt to investigate the intelligence failures connected to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The staff director for the Congressional committee looking into the problem has abruptly resigned, likely setting the investigation back months. A full accounting of what happened, or did not happen, before Sept. 11 is vital to future counterterrorism efforts.
The shortage of donor organs is a huge problem. But any step towards paying donors for organs, even the small one described here by the Washington Post's Susan Okie, is dangerous.
While we should be concerned about too many oil mergers and market rigging by the companies that remain, the fact is that the price we pay at the pump is not too high. Drivers pay less than half of the costs of their driving (link to pdf file), and it is time to make drivers pay the hidden costs of their automobile use.
Gene Wojciechowski examines the latest curse to befall my beloved Chicago Cubs this year. It is time to take down the (ahem) so-called "security screens" at Wrigley. No team that uses the threat of terror as a false excuse to obstruct the view of people watching games from the rooftops across the street deserves to win.
Slate has a new editor. Jacob Weisberg will take the helm of the Microsoft-backed on-line magazine. Based on Weisberg's previous work, I think it is a good choice. Slate would not have gone wrong had they picked the runner-up, Deputy Editor Jack Shafer.
Cal Thomas exposes yet another example of Pat Robertson's hypocrisy. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) still does not get the credit he deserves for denouncing Robertson during the 2000 presidential primary campaign.
California's Assembly is working on a bill that would make the state a leader on global climate change. (Which is a good thing, since most people in Washington, D.C., are ignoring the problem.) The bill would direct the California Air Resources Board to figure out how to reduce automobile carbon dioxide emissions. When the federal government refuses to lead, the state governments can be vital laboratories for the Republic.
Ray Krone, recently the 100th person exonerated after being found guilty of a capital crime, writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer today urging Congress to take action to keep the innocent off death row. If we are going to have a death penalty, then DNA evidence needs to be used quickly when possible to confirm, or as in Krone's case refute, the charges.
Today's New York Daily News editorial hits the mark. When it comes to airline security, "If the feds feel any urgency, it's not apparent."
Did Sept. 11 really change America? Then, as Arianna Huffington asks, explain all of this news coverage of the Robert Blake murder...
Congressional action in response to the Enron debacle has not been encouraging so far. The Los Angeles Times seeks a reasonable compromise between what the House passed last week and what the Senate may consider. What really needs to be changed are the incentives. Our market system relies on trust as a common asset. History shows that our market system will falter if investors cannot trust corporate financial reports.
A few months ago, when Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) dared raise a tepid question about the Bush Administration's plans for the war on terrorism, Congressional Republicans reacted with a harsh verbal attack. Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, for example, suggested that Daschle's "divisive" remarks "have the effect of giving aid and comfort to our enemies." Explain this tidbit, then, from Jules Witcover: "That dilemma has since been complicated in Congress, where House Republicans, led by Majority Whip Tom DeLay, are poised to offer a resolution this week expressing "solidarity" with Israel and condemning Palestinian terrorism, in spite of a reported direct plea from Mr. Powell to delay doing so." How were Daschle's hesitant questions worse for our foreign policy than a direct rebuke of our Secretary of State?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorializes against the recently negotiated federal farm bill. Says the paper, "This is nothing more, nor less, than pure pork-barrel spending—enough to keep partisans happy on both sides of the aisle." There are, as the editorial admits, some good points to the bill, including an increase in money available for conservation programs. But, as the AJC explains, this just proves that "Washington has perfected the technique of combining inexcusable pork-barrel legislation with a few tidbits of goodness, sort of like flavored arsenic."
Added: The Christian Science Monitor also editorializes against the Farm Bill.
The Brookings Institution is going to release a study Tuesday urging the Bush Administration to focus on terrorist threats that could cause the largest number of deaths and economic losses. The Washington Post's Bill Miller writes: "There are an unlimited number of potential vulnerabilities," said report author Michael E. O'Hanlon. "We're going to have to spend some time prioritizing and organizing our thinking. We really should be focusing on potentially catastrophic attacks, meaning large numbers of casualties or large damage to the economy." This discussion will be a test of how serious our nation is about preparing for—and preventing—terrorist threats.
The practice of secret "holds" in the U.S. Senate, allowing senators to stop legislation or nominations anonymously, should come to an end. If a Senator wants to place a "hold," it should be made publicly so constituents can hold their lawmaker responsible. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) are trying to bring "holds" out into the open. I wish them luck.
Politicians love to say how important education is to them. Unfortunately, our political leaders suffer from an acute case of budget myopia. During boom times, they always seem to forget to save money for the inevitable economic slowdowns. David Broder looks at how legislators are slashing state education budgets across the nation.
The California gubernatorial race this year is a mess. Gov. Gray Davis (D) has a 14-point lead over GOP challenger William Simon, but Californians are displeased with the choices. The Davis campaign's communications team should work on a more positive message than, "Despite what people think about the governor, they will see there's no way they can vote for Bill Simon." If this election becomes a referendum about Davis' success in office, the Governor is in trouble: 50 percent of California voters do not like him. Simon is too conservative for this state, but the Davis campaign better take him seriously.
It is a dream, and likely little more, for the forseeable future. It is time, however, for the the "public interest" doctrine to make a strong return to American broadcast television. The airwaves belong to all of us, the public. We are we allowing a few corporations to make large profits using our property while they ignore their public service obligations?
Today's Catholic leadership would do well to follow the example set by St. Augustine's handling of a church scandal nearly 1,600 years ago.
This New York Times editorial makes an important point about President Bush's refusal to consider mandating reductions in power plant greenhouse gas emissions. "Yet several progressive utilities who call themselves the Clean Energy Group and whose voices are not much heard in the White House — they include Consolidated Edison of New York and Public Service Electric and Gas of New Jersey — would prefer a bill that includes carbon dioxide because they think that it would help them make more rational investments in pollution-control technology." Other forward-thinking businesses are coming to a similar conclusion. There will be more on this subject in the days to come.
We must reform the congressional and state legislative redistricting procedures before our nation goes through the process again in a decade. The deals cut to ensure safe seats for incumbents are increasing the polarization of our political system as moderates from both parties are squeezed out. Most Americans will not have the chance to vote in a truly competitive Congressional election during the next 10 years. This is not healthy for our electoral system.
Steve Chapman, as usual, reminds everyone of the issue that really should be at the core of the Catholic Church's pedophila scandal: "Sexual abuse of children is a crime and should be treated as a crime no matter who commits it."
As Thomas Oliphant explains, the energy bill passed by the Senate last week is a mess. But the problem goes beyond the special-interest subsidy lover's dream the bill became. The United States needs to embark on a campaign to eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels. Our fossil fuel addiction reduces air quality, emits greenhouse gases, and threatens our national security. Our foreign policy should not be subject to the whims of extremists simply because they reside on large oil reserves. It is time for bold thinking and the creation of an alternative energy policy to serve as the foundation of a real 21st century economy.
The Brookings Institution's Michael O'Hanlon asks some excellent questions about Osama bin Laden's rumored getaway from the Tora Bora region in December.
Thomas L. Friedman sends a memo to President Bush about the present situation in the Middle East "If there is no creative diplomacy to take advantage of this moment, creative depravity will fill the void." Does our vaunted national security team have a plan?
While working on a newsletter layout tonight, I happened to turn on the ABC broadcast of the movie "Armageddon." You may remember when fear of asteroids hitting the Earth was all the rage a few years ago. Well, Armageddon the movie was pure pulp...as people said, "Die Hard" on an asteroid. But, as we Americans so often do, we get on with our lives and forget real dangers long before we should. While we should not obsess, concern is warranted.
Not so surprising news item: The New York Times reports that the White House rejected a stricter alternative to its "Clear Skies" power plant emissions reduction proposal.
The Washington Post reports that factions within Afghanistan welcomed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with a new round of fighting. The war on terror cannot be won if Afghanistan remains in chaos.
