Karl Rove writes an interesting weekly column for the Wall Street Journal; this week he decided to take our national obsession for starting a virgin new year with self-improvement goals and put it into a political context for Washington. Let me give my own take:
- Obama: Listen to Some Elvis Presley (courtesy Mac Davis/Billy Strange).
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me
A little more bite and a little less bark
A little less fight and a little more spark
Close your mouth and open up your heart
Come on...I'm tired of talking
Grab your coat and let's start walking
Don't procrastinate, don't articulate
- Obama: Learn to Set Priorities. Let's get this straight: on what planet were ideological goals of expensive climate change and health care initiatives higher priorities than a dragging recession, an exploding deficit and entitlement funding (social security and Medicare) solvency?
- Obama: Learn to Be a Better Baseball Hitter. Stop swinging for the fences; all that'll get you is a lot of high-profile strikeouts. Change your stance, be patient, less predictable and wait for the right pitch, adjust your grip, grab a lighter bat, stop swinging at pitches thrown outside the middle of the plate, and learn to go with the pitch and what the opposition gives you. Remember, to win in the World Series of the global economy, we need to get runs across the plate, and a sacrifice bunt or fly ball can be integral to a winning strategy; be a team player with the business executives and Republicans on your roster.
- Obama: Know Thyself. Pick your battles, stop fingerpointing your predecessors and opposition, be more concise and practical, more civil, inclusive and constructive in dealing with the opposition, learn to live within a budget, and focus on substantive vs. symbolic accomplishments. Learn to be more timely and less tentative in making decisions, and don't announce decisions without first lining up your ducks (e.g., what to do about Guantanamo Bay detainees).
- Obama: Respect the Intelligence of the American People. This goes beyond rewarmed campaign rhetoric, a condescending tone, over-explanations and vacuous insights (e.g., whether there's evil in the world). Does Obama really think that the American people will buy a mid-term election year conversion on the primacy of jobs and holding down the deficit?
- The GOP: Stop Regifting the Same Old Fruitcake to Voters Every Election. What media conservatives fail to realize is the fact that they have invented a myth of Ronald Reagan which wasn't Ronald Reagan. Reagan as California governor signed a liberal abortion law and a state tax hike. (Even Michael Reagan admitted the same on a recent Dennis Miler Show podcast.) As President, he was more flexible on taxes (including raising payroll taxes), struck deals with Democrats and Communist leaders, and signed the last immigration reform bill. Yes, I do want to starve the progressives' endless spending sprees by cutting up their national debt credit card; I do not believe taxpayers should be forced to pay even more taxes to accommodate the progressives' endless appetite to spend other people's money (as if that was a noble endeavor!); it's time we cut off the blood money supply to these tumors imperiling the nation's economic health.
The GOP must set realistic expectations for this year's mid-term elections; let's not forget that President Obama will exercise the veto during his last 2 years in office, and even if the GOP takes back the House or the Senate (which is unlikely and an uphill battle), the Senate Democrats would still yield the power of the filibuster. What the Republicans will be able to do is block future spending sprees and force Obama to the negotiating table, insisting on more than lip service to deficit reduction, spending and non-essential (vs. e.g., active duty military) hiring freezes and government streamlining, and we should expect some narrowing on what are more legitimate aspects to health care reform, such as the subsidization of preexisting conditions.
Republicans must make it clear this fall that "it's the economy, stupid". They must hold the Democrats responsible for reckless, ineffective spending, questionable priorities, corrupt deal making, moral-hazardous socialization of personal expenses, and unnecessary and ineffective government regulatory empire building. They must remind the American people what a dangerous mistake was made by electing both a Democratic President and Congress, with no meaningful attempts at bipartisan compromise.
The Republicans must acknowledge they have learned their lessons from four years out of power in the Congress, that it has learned lessons from its own record of massive federal spending, "Bridge to Nowhere" earmarks, failure to resolve the issues of entitlement solvency, a crumbling national infrastructure, regulatory failure in the middle of an obvious housing bubble, and its own culpability in passing new entitlements (i.e., Medicare prescription drugs) without adequate funding. There is a qualitative difference, of course, with the progressive Democratic agenda, which is political excess on steroids.
The Republicans need to articulate a business growth platform and must embrace a "big tent" philosophy, including the nomination of more pragmatic candidates in blue and purple states and districts. They must emphasize their willingness to engage in good faith negotiations without preconditions with the White House to address the real national priorities.
Bloomberg reports that the non-profit organization, praised by Obama for its quality care at a reasonable cost, lost $840M last year in treating Medicare patients, with the targeted Glendale facility receiving only about half the cost of medical services to its elderly patients from the federal government. Any health care "reform" at the expense of hospitals and doctors, already forced to subsidize existing patients with other, private-sector revenues, will likely result in more hospitals and doctors failing to accept new patients, while Medicare enrollments continue to take off as the post-WWII baby boomers retire. Meanwhile, the health care "reform" in Congress continues despite an over $30T unfunded mandate on Medicare, and a huge chunk of the new entitlement's costs essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul. Why in the world would any educated person try to expand federal-mandated universal coverage at the same time the government isn't even paying the freight of its existing patient load? A far more reasonable approach would have been to guarantee catastrophic costs and to spread them across 300 million Americans.
Political Cartoon
Mike Luckovich recalls that after the shoe bomber, we all had to take off our shoes, so after the underwear bomber....
Olivia Newton-John, the late Andy Gibb, and ABBA
Mayo Clinic Arizona Clinic Stops Accepting New Medicare Patients
Bloomberg reports that the non-profit organization, praised by Obama for its quality care at a reasonable cost, lost $840M last year in treating Medicare patients, with the targeted Glendale facility receiving only about half the cost of medical services to its elderly patients from the federal government. Any health care "reform" at the expense of hospitals and doctors, already forced to subsidize existing patients with other, private-sector revenues, will likely result in more hospitals and doctors failing to accept new patients, while Medicare enrollments continue to take off as the post-WWII baby boomers retire. Meanwhile, the health care "reform" in Congress continues despite an over $30T unfunded mandate on Medicare, and a huge chunk of the new entitlement's costs essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul. Why in the world would any educated person try to expand federal-mandated universal coverage at the same time the government isn't even paying the freight of its existing patient load? A far more reasonable approach would have been to guarantee catastrophic costs and to spread them across 300 million Americans.
Political Cartoon
Mike Luckovich recalls that after the shoe bomber, we all had to take off our shoes, so after the underwear bomber....
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Cat Stevens Song:
"Remember the Days of the Old Schoolyard"
What can you say about one of the most talented pop singer/songwriters of the 1970's, Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam)? He has a very distinctive, staccato vocal style that is both effective and hard to replicate. I own copies of almost all his albums (until his career hiatus and religious conversion). What a better way to ring in a new year and decade than fondly remembering those days of childhood innocence and childhood crushes. (I still have my third-grade valentine from Lisa. She was Mrs. Darby's girl doll and I...had an unrequited crush on her.)
I'm embedding a couple of bonus videos. The first is a charming opening vignette of the same song from a 70's era Olivia Newton-John network TV special featuring the late Andy Gibb (whom is the BeeGee's younger brother and I believe still holds the record for most consecutive solo #1 singles) and the super group ABBA. The second is a tribute to one of my little sisters, Sharon, whom is also a Cat Stevens fan. She loved the song "Randy" (a variation of "Miranda") on Stevens' subsequent album. The melody and arrangement are brilliant (although the verses are obscure; some gay bloggers speculate it's about a guy, although Yusuf is married with children and has denied the speculation.).
I'm embedding a couple of bonus videos. The first is a charming opening vignette of the same song from a 70's era Olivia Newton-John network TV special featuring the late Andy Gibb (whom is the BeeGee's younger brother and I believe still holds the record for most consecutive solo #1 singles) and the super group ABBA. The second is a tribute to one of my little sisters, Sharon, whom is also a Cat Stevens fan. She loved the song "Randy" (a variation of "Miranda") on Stevens' subsequent album. The melody and arrangement are brilliant (although the verses are obscure; some gay bloggers speculate it's about a guy, although Yusuf is married with children and has denied the speculation.).
Olivia Newton-John, the late Andy Gibb, and ABBA
