Borderland: The Failure of the Virtual Fence

March 18, 2010

[tweetmeme] The announcement this week that the feds have frozen funding for the much-maligned SBINet project, the Boeing-managed program launched in 2005, shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Costs have already doubled beyond what was originally anticipated, and it still isn’t working. So far, only a 28-mile prototype of the virtual fence in Arizona […]

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Bush, Obama, and the Intellectuals

March 18, 2010

“America’s intellectual class seems to adore President Barack Obama nearly as much as it reviled his predecessor. While Bush was routinely derided for his purported lack of intelligence and learning, Obama has been embraced by the intellectuals as one of their own — to a degree unmatched by any president since perhaps Woodrow Wilson.”

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Health Bill Has Democrats Scrambling to Find More Votes

March 18, 2010

“People close to the situation said House leaders Wednesday appeared about ten votes shy of the 216 needed to pass the legislation, which could be voted on this weekend. The tension was exacerbated by controversy in Washington over a possible tactic, known as ‘deeming,’ that Democrats are considering using to speed the vote.”

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HCR Roundup: Slaughter Strategy Fallout

March 16, 2010

[tweetmeme] The tea party activists took to DC today in a big way, in person and on the phone. And a lot of their frustration seems to be tied to the so-called “Slaughter strategy,” which Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) says is great “because people don’t have to vote on the Senate bill,” which the Washington […]

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Health Care: The Anti-Jobs Bill?

March 16, 2010

“Because employers would get penalized if any of their low- and moderate-wage workers ended up in the new subsidized insurance pool, they would avoid hiring such workers. Democrats claim they want to jam through HCR so they can turn their attention to jobs, but the bill provides a strong disincentive for businesses to hire.”

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How Obamacare Will Reshape the Workforce

March 15, 2010

[tweetmeme] CBS News features my latest piece on Obamacare’s effect on the workforce. It’s a topic that has received surprisingly little attention, given the radical impact this legislation would have in a time of economic strain. Over at Patterico, DRJ points out that “Section 401 imposes a tax on uninsured individuals equal to 2.5% of […]

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Dodd's Financial Rules Package Would Result in More Fed Muscle

March 15, 2010

“Mr. Dodd’s bill would allow the Fed to examine any bank-holding company with more than $50 billion in assets, and large financial companies that aren’t banks could be lassoed into the Fed’s supervisory orbit. This came after Treasury officials pushed Mr. Dodd to bring more companies under the Fed’s purview.”

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Credit Agency Warns U.S. and Others of Risk to Top Rating

March 15, 2010

“The United States, Germany and other major economies have moved “substantially” closer to losing their top-notch credit ratings and can not depend solely on economic growth to save them, a report warned on Monday.” The ratings of the Aaa governments are currently stable, but distance-to-downgrade ain’t looking good.

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Endgame: Pelosi's Health Care Gamble

March 13, 2010

[tweetmeme] This is it, folks — the health care endgame. Appropriately named Slaughter strategy, come on down! In addition, it looks like House Democrats won’t have to vote directly on a Senate bill they really don’t like. The speaker hasn’t made a final decision, but she told her rank-and-file during the meeting that the plan […]

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Pelosi Goes Over Bill With Caucus, Plans Vote Next Week

March 12, 2010

“Pelosi and her caucus discussed President Barack Obama’s proposed changes to the Senate healthcare bill on Thursday as she aimed for a vote as early as next week. Pelosi and Democrats are struggling to garner the 216 votes necessary for approval, with members divided on abortion and deep, caucus-wide mistrust of the Senate.”

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