Friday, September 30, 2005
WIPE THAT SMILE OFF YOUR FACE
Is it just me, or does Andrea Seabrook of National Proletariat Radio sound like she is just bursting with joy over Tom Delay’s troubles?
Again, why is it that my tax dollars are going to support NRP?
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Thursday, September 29, 2005
GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTH CARE: JUST SAY NO!
For all of you folks who think, a la Paul Krugman, that single-payer health care will be more efficient because it supposedly has lower administrative costs, please note this article from the U.K.:
A third of NHS trusts are planning to cut services including cancelling operations, closing wards and making doctors and nurses redundant, doctors' leaders warned yesterday.
Despite record funding, the financial crisis in the health service is escalating with three out of four trusts in England predicting budget shortfalls totalling £2.4 billion this year.
Even when it is flush with cash, the government manages to screw it up.
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ROBERTS NEXT TIME
My latest at the Spectator.
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Monday, September 26, 2005
PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: GEORGE ALLEN
David Snepp, spokesperson for Senator George Allen (R-Virginia), did call me back pretty quickly about PorkBusters. Some of what he had to say was encouraging. He stated that for Senator Allen, “everything is on the table except tax increases.” “Any earmark could be considered,” he said, “and the Medicare drug benefit is even on the table.”
But on specifics, it was a bit disappointing. I listed the earkmarks in the post below, and he responded that “there was no reconsideration of specific earmarks at this point.” He claimed that “we are not far enough along in the process” to have specifics.
Finally, when I asked him if Senator Allen was going to sign the Citizens Against Government Waste “Hurricane Katrina No Pork Pledge,” Snepp admitted that they “didn’t know enough about the pledge.” I’ve emailed it to him, and we’ll see what response I get.
My main thought is this: If Nancy Pelosi can come up with specifics, why is it taking Senator Allen this much time to get “far enough along in the process”?
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SELF-FULFILLING PROPHESY
In last week’s shot-in-the-arm to anti-War movement, TIME Magazine had this cover:
The lead-in to the article reads, “With doubts about Iraq growing at home, U.S. forces are struggling to put down an elusive and inexhaustible enemy.”
Doubts growing at home? I can’t imagine why.
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PORKBUSTERS: UPDATE
Well, so far all I’ve gotten from the offices of Representative Tom Davis and Senator John Warner are the answering machines.
I spoke to a very nice young woman in Senator George Allen’s office. She said that she did could not find any prepared statement on spending offsets for Hurricane Katrina relief. She then referred me to the press person, who was under deadline and is supposed to call me back.
In the meantime, here is some other lovely morsels for Virginia in the Highway Robbery Bill:
$100 million to construct a dedicated truck lane on I-81.
$30 million for the “Heartland Corridor” which is to help facilitation intermodal freight from Virginia to Ohio.
$1.2 million for the Blue Ridge Music Center.
$1 million for the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Rte. 15 scenic corridor management planning. There’s more, but right now I don’t have hours to spend on this.
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