No doubt the snowballing opposition of New Yorkers, most notably Mayor Michael Bloomberg's recent reversal of support for the local venue, of the ill-advised KSM civil trial in New York City, which would hit the city with an enormous security expense in a deep recession, is finally having an effect on the White House, with reportedly the White House directing the Justice Department to search out alternate venues.
This would be an improvement over the status quo, but President Obama should consider making the right decision--a military tribunal--instead of paying off a political chit to his progressive cronies. I disagree on principle with his attempt to reduce the concept of terrorism to mere criminal activity. I have zero interest in risks of national security leaks or in providing KSM a platform for promoting his unacceptable ideology.
Obama Visits the GOP House Republican Retreat in Baltimore
I watched the televised exchange between the President and the House Republicans on FNC earlier today; I'm not going to give a comprehensive review but simply am simply going write a few general comments over the give-and-take (including discussions with some of America's rising political stars, including Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, and Mike Pence).
- The double speak is simply nauseating. Remember Obama's demagogic appeals that the Republicans are the party of "no", no good ideas, etc.? But in the discussion, he rattles off a number of issues acknowledging bipartisan support (such as the Afghanistan surge), and then argues that he has included Republican ideas in his health care reform.
- He constantly shot down basic Republican ideas, using CBO estimates to trivialize the benefits of malpractice tort reform (despite demonstrable success in Texas, where the number of insurers and doctors subsequently increased and insurance rates came down), not to mention the lower costs of defensive medicine, the significance of which he himself has acknowledged in the past.
- Another dismissed idea was the issue of interstate insurance competition, which he argues, unpersuasively, would simply lead to cherrypicking the best health risks and leaving heavily-mandated states with soaring insurance rates, and he also argued that it would be a race to the bottom of mandated coverages (as companies cut benefits to lower prices). Just what constitutes basic coverage is precisely the issue; I believe that open competition by allowing Americans the liberty of choosing the basket of coverages will allow the market to decide which benefits are mandatory, and states will have to drop unnecessary coverages, e.g., in vitro fertilization, to remain competitive. Part of the problem small businesses face is (unlike big companies which can self-insure with a minimum basket) being captive consumers for high-cost special-interest state mandates). (Oh, that's right: the President defines "special interests" in principle to be supporters of the GOP; the lobbyists he hired in the White House, the crony unions he's repeatedly supported in the auto bailouts and reorganizations and health care deferrals aren't, of course. Of course, who were top 2 recipients of AIG donations? Democrats Chris Dodd and Barack Obama. What party received the most contributions (57%) from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? The Democrats. The top 3 recipients? Democrats Chris Dodd, Barack Obama, and John Kerry. You have to wonder if these companies knew which party would take care of them if things turned sour... Obama wants to tax successful banks, not the mismanaged companies which have blown over $100B of taxpayer money.)
- He brought up the issues of preexisting conditions and scapegoated insurers, never bothering to acknowledge repeated conservative references to strengthening state/region based high risk pools and reinsurance for catastrophic conditions. I suspect the insurance industry would be willing to consider a fair share of catastrophic or high risk costs allocated on a flat percentage basis against premiums.
- There was a discussion (Mike Pence) of a Republican broad-based business tax cut versus Obama's "sculpted" tax cuts. Obama, of course, prefers the government picking winners and losers, refusing to acknowledge that the best path to business recovery and job growth is to spread tax cuts all around. He once again raised the fact (I'm providing a liberal-to-conservative translation) that he has cut Treasury checks for the 40% of American wage earners whom do not pay the Treasury a dime for US government overhead (because, of course, these suffering people are "more worthy" than economically successful parties whom actually pay taxes) Although earlier in the discussion, he tried to portray himself as a pragmatic, not an ideologue, it was quite clear he had zero interest in cutting taxes on high tax bracket individuals and companies--and that is a core progressive principle/line in the sand. Counterproductive, of course, because he doesn't see globally uncompetitive tax rates results in LESS domestic investment and jobs, not more. He just doesn't get it.
Political Cartoon
IBD cartoonist Michael Ramirez shows that "change" hasn't happened to Barack Obama himself; he's now into at least his fourth year of Bush bashing. If there wasn't a real George W. Bush, I believe that Obama would have had to invent him in order to rationalize his own mediocre performance in office.
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Beatles' Second Phase Hits
The final installment in my Beatles retrospective focuses on the post-1966 era, as Beatles albums transitioned from collections of unrelated love singles and other tracks towards more of a concept album approach, in particular, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", which I personally regard as the greatest album ever recorded. It was unusual in the sense that no singles were released from the album. But the signature four-bar instrumental introduction to the title track medley and McCartney's spot-on vocals make for one of my all-time favorite Beatles performances. George Harrison, despite a limited ration of tracks on Beatles albums, composed some of the group's strongest tunes, including the earlier-cited "Something" and the track listed below (with the ironic guest performance of legendary rock guitarist Eric Clapton).
Finally, how can I leave out the song born from the love/hate relationship among members of the world's greatest band already in the process of breaking up; Paul McCartney wrote and performed the song, which he credits to a dream in which his beloved late mother, Mary (whom died of breast cancer years earlier) appeared. One can read a number of meanings into the lyrics; for example, I think Paul may have been full of anxiety over the conflicts among band members or the uncertainty of the future without his fellow band members: how do you follow up or top an act with 20 #1 hits, more than Elvis Presley? [We saw this concern play out before; for instance, McCartney penned the Peter & Gordon single "Woman" under a pseudonym, wanting to prove that his work could sell without his famous name attached to it.] In essence, mother Mary in the dream (and song) comforts him, tells him not to worry and despair, that things will work out in the end, McCartney's signature optimism. [The "naked" description refers to the song without Phil Spector's production techniques applied to the original track.]
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help From My Friends"
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
"Let It Be" ("Naked" Arrangement)
