Andrew Lloyd Webber on the UK's new taxes. Related: Envy and social behavior
Dear Greens: Why not start here?
Quel horreur. Swine Flu hysteria. Must be a slow news week. Not worth linking.
Support your local Islamophobe
This is what I call an exciting cruise
How to solve MA's deficit: Jules
Why the Law is foreign to Justice Ginsberg. Am Thinker
A shortage of primary care docs?
MADD is mad, but they have some power now. At Maggie's, we say "Don't drink and drive: you might hit a bump and spill your drink."
More on the Ricci case. Ricci may be the rock upon which America's racial spoils system finally founders.
Al Gore: Raging Capitalist
Prince Charles gets it: It's about conspicuous virtue, not reality
Judd Gregg: Elections have consequences. A quote:
...while the aspiration for universal coverage may be noble, the practical realities of getting there may prove harder for the American public to swallow. "There's no question," the senator says, "that this is a debate about rationing to a large degree. All your single-payer systems are rationing systems. It's also a debate about technology and innovation. Because you will not have capital pursuing technology, innovation and science if it's health-care related, because the return on capital won't be there. And these things are so expensive, especially on the pharmaceutical side and the biologic side, that you'll dramatically slow improvements in the quality of health care through science with a single-payer plan." Mr. Gregg thinks that critique will resonate with the public.
Even so, given the balance of power in Washington, Mr. Gregg gives the Democrats good chances of success in nationalizing our health-insurance market. "I think the odds are pretty good that it's going to happen -- that you'll have a major health-care reform bill pass." As he says, "Elections have consequences."
Via Driscoll:
Judith Klinghoffer’s article, “Obama’s Polls Trail Those of W.; Gallup Covers it Up,” notes that Bush’s approval rating taken by Gallup stood at 62 percent after his first 100 days, while Obama’s currently stands at 56 percent.
A few minutes later, moderator John Scott returned to the subject:
JON SCOTT: And in the first term, George Bush had a 60 percent approval rating after his first 100 days-
PINKERTON: And Bush 41 as well, who I worked for way back when. And Laura Bush has a higher rating than Michelle Obama.
SCOTT: Is that going to get mentioned in the press?
PINKERTON: You just wouldn’t know it from reading the mainstream media.