How Washington went about setting health care policy is for more erudite minds than mine but here goes: Tom, Dick and Harry rolled into the ER in ambulances and each was having a heart attack – Tom’s so poor he couldn’t afford to buy health insurance, Dick could almost afford it but not quite,…
Read MoreIt happens on Wall Street: A tycoon calls an eager young executive into his office and hands him a job to do (like selling Facebook stock) and says, This is your responsibility – you ‘own’ it. Three years into the ‘Great Recession’ no politician in his right mind wants to ‘own the economy.’ It…
Read MoreWhen Dr. Craigon Gray headed Medicaid in North Carolina he didn’t care much for home health care – he would tell anyone who’d listen how home health care was riddled with fraud. Now a lot of folks suspected Dr. Gray’s animus towards home care (and his preference for sending elderly people to nursing homes)…
Read MoreWill Republicans now make the same mistake on health care reform that President Obama made? Apart from never adequately explaining his reform, the President hurt himself by focusing on health care when Americans were focused on the bad economy. Now a poll shows that, however they feel about the law, Americans want to…
Read MoreTo celebrate Independence Day, Congress should oblige those patriots who attended the “Hands off My Healthcare” rally in Raleigh this weekend: Pass a law making them ineligible – now and in the future – for Medicare. And give them medals for their sacrifice. Oh, that’s not what they meant? No, they want government…
Read MoreVenerated Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who is seventy-eight years old, just faced his first primary in three decades – a Tea Party opponent ran against him who said Washington could do with one less politician who’d spent years voting for more debt and more spending. Senator Hatch weathered the storm but, then, after the…
Read MoreLike Charlie Brown, Governor Perdue and Democratic legislators took three mighty swings at the Republicans’ best pitches. And whiffed on every one. It was an inglorious end to the party’s first legislative session out of power. And maybe a taste of how things will be for a while. Some Democrats thought Governor Perdue…
Read MoreSpeaker Thom Tillis says Republicans “own the economy” and is optimistic: “I think we are seeing some green shoots.” But Pat McCrory says Governor Perdue owns the economy and it’s “broken.” Nationally, of course, Republicans say President Obama owns the economy and it sucks. Obama avoids sounding too optimistic. Democrats say it’s…
Read MoreAs an aspiring geezer, I’m inspired when white-hairs beat the young guns at their own new-media game. So today we celebrate Lyle Denniston, the 81-year-old, twice-retired blogger at SCOTUSBlog. He got the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act right and he got it first. Actually, the trigger-happy hot heads at CNN…
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