China Blasts Australia Over Trade and Human Rights Disagreements

August 18, 2009

“Australia’s relationship with China has plunged to a decade low,” with Beijing royally pissed at the Rudd government. “The Chinese have effectively banned visits by senior officials and sanctioned a press campaign against Australia, angered by several recent Rudd government decisions, such as granting a visa to exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.”

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A Marshall Plan For Africa: But Does Aid Really Help?

August 18, 2009

“The Marshall Plan made loans to European businesses, which repaid them to local governments, which used that revenue for commercial infrastructure (ports, roads, railways) to serve those businesses. Aid to Africa has instead funded government and NGO development projects, without involvement of the local business sector. The Marshall Plan worked. Aid to Africa hasn’t.”

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Blue Dog: Let's Just Start Over on Health Care From Scratch

August 18, 2009

“When a questioner, Ray Evans, said he believed the President wants to do too much at once and asked whether Boyd would ‘be willing to scrap everything’ and start over to do pursue reform incrementally, the congressman responded: ‘I think that is an excellent idea … we may end up there.’” Hooray for do-overs.

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Feingold on the Public Option: It's Not Negotiable

August 18, 2009

“A public option is a fundamental part of ensuring health care reform brings about real change. Opposing the public plan is an endorsement of the status quo in this country that has left tens of millions of Americans uninsured or underinsured and put massive burdens on employers.”

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Obama's JFK Mistake: All Glamour, No Game

August 18, 2009

When it comes to domestic policy, thus far there is no presidency that Barack Obama’s resembles more than John F. Kennedy’s. This is not a positive statement: Kennedy, equipped with a similarly strong majority on Capitol Hill, was nonetheless a legislatively frustrated president. By mismanaging his health care insurance reform, Obama now risks the same thing.

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Chicago City Government Takes the Day Off: Will Anyone Miss It?

August 16, 2009

“The City of Chicago will basically be closed for business on August 17, a reduced-service day in which most city employees are off without pay, according to a release from the Office of Budget and Management. City Hall, public libraries, health clinics and most offices will be closed.” Other than garbage men, will they be […]

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Winners and Losers in Auto Industry Bailout, Cars for Clunkers: Mostly, Losers

August 16, 2009

“At the macro level, Cash for Clunkers has given all car companies a shot in the arm, but the auto industry needs more than that. It’s a “feel-good business,” as the saying goes in Detroit, and the stock market’s recent rally surely helps.” But consumer confidence remains in the “feel awful” range.

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The US Economy is Still Struggling, Despite Slowing its Downward Pace

August 16, 2009

Caution, not optimism: “Certainly, the economy is levelling off: output is no longer in free-fall, and unemployment is no longer growing at post-war record rates. But it is unclear whether the bottom for output has quite been reached. Once it has, growth may be slow for some time.” And unemployment will continue to increase.

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Why Does Obama Think Doctors and Patients are Making Irrational Decisions?

August 16, 2009

There’s an inherent disconnect between POTUS’s hypotheticals and reality: “Mr. Obama’s clinical scenarios represent an excessive—if not erroneous—take on how doctors are influenced by financial incentives. This jaundiced view on medical decision-making may explain why programs the White House is proposing to lower health-care costs rely on the direct regulation of medical decisions.”

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Party Leadership Preps Liberal Base For Sellout on Health Care

August 16, 2009

Goodbye, public option: “the signs were everywhere this week that Democrats, stung and seemingly caught by surprise by the vehemence of the opposition to President Barack Obama’s overhaul plans, were already gaming out September and what it would take to get a bill to Obama’s desk.” Hello, angry lefties.

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