Wow - a real mouthful!

The Context Of Middle-Class Frustration:

"The members of the lower class are generally seen as the clients of a collectivist movement, the recipients of the social benefits it promises. Their desperation and anger become fuel for the movement, providing both righteousness and voting power. The collectivist only needs to conceal any hope of finding prosperity beyond the generosity of the State, and keep the lower class convinced that government is the only moral actor in the economy. Review the speeches of Barack Obama, and search for anything that suggests the poor should look anywhere beyond the government and its social programs for salvation.

It’s clear that the middle class is the great enemy of collectivism. Only they have the combination of voting power, money, and economic self-interest to see the growth of government as undesirable, and provide effective resistance. They generally view their interactions with government in a negative light – they’ve all spent time in the Department of Motor Vehicles mausoleum, spent hours wrestling with tax forms, or been slapped with a traffic citation they don’t think they deserved. They understand the inefficiency and emotional instability of government, and instinctively resent its intrusion into their lives. A health-care takeover is the best chance collectivists will ever have of persuading the middle class to vote itself into chains… but for the better part of a century, they’ve been able to hear the hammers of the State ringing on the metal of those chains, in the forges of taxation and regulation."

Heh...

Revenge Isn’t An Economic Policy:

"President Nero needs to stop fiddling while the USA is burning! Cut tax rates,
start drilling for oil and cut Congress' pay!"

Hitting the nail on the head!

Obama: The Anti-John Adams:

"...Ann has smart commenters, and Kent offers this brilliant summary. ”Because, so far as President Present is concerned: this is a nation of men, not laws. He is, at his core, the anti-John Adams.”

That’s it. I find a whole host of reasons to dislike Mr. Obama, but this sums the issue up as nicely and succinctly as I can imagine. If you haven’t watched the HBO series on Adams, you must do so as soon as possible. After completing it, sit back and ponder the proposition that Obama is, at his core, the anti-John Adams."

Funny, I bet Hannity and Limbaugh don't think radio is "a dying industry"...

Air America to Cease Broadcasting Immediately:

"“The fact of the matter was, it was always a very challenging business proposition, and it never had the right management,” said Sam Seder, who hosted programs on Air America until last year.

The headwinds were enormous, he said, adding, “Radio is a dying industry.”"

Amazing isn't it? For "progressives", it's NEVER their fault. The only possible reason for failure is someone or something elses doing, because they think their cause is just; and, logically, the only reason for failure is the forever "other" who deny them their rightful place of success. Hence, the need for government protection....

What a forever crock....

Certainly, Congress cannot.....

Can Immigrants Solve Our Health Care Problems?:

"First, let’s dispel a common myth: By providing outpatient care earlier, we can diagnose and prevent disease before it becomes expensive to treat. Fewer hospitalizations and fewer emergency room visits, some hope, will reduce overall costs. The effect is undeniable, but overstated. On balance, findings from the RAND Health Insurance Experiment, one of the largest social experiments ever conducted, suggest that insurance increases costs. The best estimates suggest spending by the uninsured could increase by $85 billion with universal coverage."

Why would anyone be surprised?

Charles W. Calomiris:

"I am puzzled that anyone can claim to be puzzled by the collapse of the popularity of the Obama Presidency (which I have been tracking and talking about here in the Arena for many months). Candidate Obama was elected by misleading people that he would govern as a moderate. That cat is now out of the bag. He is obviously a leftist bent on redistribution, rising control of the economy by government, protectionism, and bailing out auto unions. His political style is also not as advertised: he is just another Chicago-style political bully, who uses backroom deals (healthcare is the most obvious example) to get what he wants.

Finally, the idea that he would help heal race relations has been damaged by various actions and statements (one of my friends who voted for Obama partly in the hope that his presidency would change race relations in America was very bothered by the President's recent statements about how much minorities would benefit from healthcare 'reform' -- isn't he everyone's President, my friend wondered). The problem is not with the execution of the Obama presidency; the problem is that America really didn't want this President and they thought that they had elected a different one. Spin won't solve this problem; elections will."