Archive for November, 2009

Obama Not So Hip When It Comes to Health Care

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

When it comes to health care reform, President Obama is more old hat than hip, according to this Wall Street Journal columnist:

In a world defined by nearly 100,000 iPhone apps, a world of seemingly limitless, self-defined choice, the Democrats are pushing the biggest, fattest, one-size-fits all legislation since 1965. And they brag this will complete the dream Franklin D. Roosevelt had in 1939.

The culture still believes the U.S. has a hipster for president. But the Obama health-care bill, and maybe this whole administration, is starting to look totally out of sync with the new zeitgeist, the spirit of the age.

Everything about the health-care exercise is looking very old hat, starting with the old guys working on it. Max Baucus, Patrick Leahy, Pete Stark—all were elected to Congress in the 1970s, and live on as the immortals in Washington’s Forever Land. But it’s more than the fact that Congress looks old. The health-care bill is big, complex, incomprehensible and coercive—all the things people hate nowadays.

Fareed Zakaria—hardly a bullhorn for the right—sounds a similar theme in a recent Washington Post column.

Posted in Health Care, Obama | No Comments »

It’s the Banks’ Turn to Bailout out the Feds

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

After the federal government spent nearly $600 billion bailing out beleaguered banks, it is about time the banks repaid the favor. According to the New York Times, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation needs billions of dollars to replenish its depleted coffers. The bad news: the money will be used for more bailouts.

Posted in Bailouts | No Comments »

Only in Louisiana

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

This is the sort of headline that makes one pause: ‘Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.’ The reason? The justice of the peace was concerned that the offspring of such a union would not be accepted by either ‘black society’ or ‘white society.’ Such explicitly retro segregationist sentiments are even in rare in the South—especially in a state that has elected a governor of Indian descent.

But that may not the most surprising part about this story. Rather, it is that the justice of the peace was not altogether wrong. The idea that someone may not be “black enough” pops up in some surprising places—even during the supposedly post-racial presidential campaign of Barack Obama in the mainstream TIME magazine of all places. One case in point was this New York Daily News op-ed by Stanley Crouch, provocatively titled ‘What Obama Isn’t: Black Like Me.’

Back in Louisiana, it looks like the PC police got this one right. After numerous calls for his resignation, the justice of the peace obliged.

Posted in Race, Social Order | No Comments »

Fall of the Wall: Not a Happy Anniversary for All

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. While this is undoubtedly a day of celebration for many Americans, Germans, and other Westerners, not everyone benefited. Thousands of migrant workers from Mozambique and Vietnam, for example, were displaced, as this article reports. Of course, it does not seem to have crossed the mind of this reporter that the labor shortage in East Germany might—just might—be related in some way to the communist policies of the government.

Posted in Communism, Europe | 1 Comment »

Nanny State to Regulate Cheerios, Rhinestones

Monday, November 9th, 2009

President Obama is taking on the ailing U.S. health care system, global warming, two wars, the Great Recession… and now, Cheerios?

The Washington Post reports that the White House has woken up a giant regulatory apparatus and is dusting off regulations on everything from cereal advertising and pool drain safety to the amount of lead in rhinestones on children’s clothing.

It’s not for nothing that Reason Magazine dubbed Obama the ‘President of Everything.’

Posted in Liberalism, Regulation | No Comments »

Last of the Matadors?

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Catalonia is considering a ban on bullfighting, according to the New York Times. At first it might seem a classic clash between cultural conservatism and political correctness. But this story is full of twists and turns. While it is true that animal rights activists are among those calling for the ban, they have an unlikely ally: Catalan nationalists who see bullfighting as an imposition of Spanish culture on their fiercely independent province, dating back to the dreaded Franco days. Here’s another twist: in the Catalan region of southern France, bullfighting is a cause de celebre among nationalists because the sport is illegal in Paris.

Posted in Culture, Europe | No Comments »

Vote First, Ask Questions Later

Monday, November 9th, 2009

How do you vote on a bill that hasn’t even been written yet? Apparently, the Senate Finance Committee found a way. For more, click here.

Posted in Health Care | No Comments »

The Tea Parties and King George

Friday, November 6th, 2009

The Tea Parties are widely and correctly seen as a conservative uprising against President Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress. But beneath the surface there is an undercurrent of discontent toward President George Bush and Republicans as well, as this CNN story suggests.

At the first Tea Party in Rhode Island, for example, organizers displayed a banner with the headline: “The Biggest Spending Program In the History of Mankind.” Most of these programs were the infamous bailouts: $29.5 billion for Bear Stearns, $97.4 for the auto industry, $300 billion for homeowners, $700 billion for TARP—the Troubled Asset Relief Program. But domestic spending was not the only fiscal grievance. The Iraq War, at nearly $600 billion, made the cut too.

All this happened not under a Democratic presidency, but rather a Republican administration. In fact, there was only one Obama program on the list and it was at the bottom—the $787 billion economic stimulus bill.

To be sure, the Tea Partiers kept their power dry until Bush left office. So there is a partisan coloring to this movement, but at its core it is a non-partisan reaction to this brave new era of big government ushered in at the behest of both Republicans and Democrats. Unfortunately, until winner-take-all laws are changed, there will be no third-party outlet for all this populist furor.

Posted in Conservatism | No Comments »

The Scarlet Letter 2.0?

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Call it the scarlet letter, Internet-style. A new Oklahoma law that went into effect this month requires doctors to post details information about woman who have abortions—including her relationships, financial background, and reasons for getting the procedure—everything, it seems, except names and addresses.

While this may be one small step forward for the pro-life movement, it is a big step back for privacy. And, it is a departure from a pro-life trend that emphasizes compassion toward mothers considering abortions. As this writer noted in the late 1990s, the movement has shifted from an almost exclusive focus on the baby to the mother:

It is not surprising that the first people in the pro-life community to notice the need for a different approach were those who actually work with women in crisis. When crisis pregnancy centers first sprang up across the country, for example, they chose names such as “Home for the Little Ones” or “New Life Ministries.” Today you will see names such as “A Woman’s Concern” or “Lighthouse for Women.”

In contrast, consider a common pro-life slogan: “Abortion Stops a Beating Heart.” While this may be an effective phrase among pro-lifers, the effect upon a young woman in crisis would probably be to: 1) provoke anger at the messenger (pro-lifers), 2) confirm her sense that pro-lifers ignore her life and situation, and 3) drive her further into denial and despair. If the pro-life goal is to lower the abortion rate and not just to state an objective fact, we have to ask whether such a message may well be counterproductive.

Needless to say, this Oklahoma law—exposing as it does the nitty-gritty personal details of women who obtain abortions—is sure to antagonize and alienate women facing crisis pregnancies.

Posted in Abortion | No Comments »