21 October 2009

Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR lgn@limitedgovernmentnetwork.com

FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS mean military intervention to change those conditions. But
neither does it mean remaining silent, as the Obama
‘Is Obama Punting on Human administration too often has. Countless victims of abuse,
from Cuba to China and far beyond, have written about how
Rights?’ [‘Cato at Liberty] important it was that they knew that the world knew about
OCT 20, 2009 04:46P.M. them: When America speaks, the world listens. But equally
important, history demonstrates that regimes that respect
That’s today’s Arena question over at Politico. their own people respect other people as well. It’s time for
Obama to speak out.
My response:

This morning, both Bret Stephens, in the Wall Street Journal,

and Mona Charen, at Real Clear Politics, catalogue Obama’s FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
silence on human rights — China, Tibet, Sudan, Iran, Burma,
Honduras — and his backpedaling from his campaign ATR May Rate a Vote Against
rhetoric. Meanwhile, Eric Posner, at the Volokh Conspiracy,
rightly credits Obama for, among other things, not backing “Doc-Fix” Without Spending
the Goldstone Report and pressuring Spain to water down its
undemocratic “universal jurisdiction” statute, even as he Cuts [Americans for Tax
condemns the administration, again rightly, for its decision to
join “the comically named U.N. Human Rights Council,” Reform]
bastion of some of the world’s worst human rights abusers. OCT 20, 2009 04:00P.M.

What’s missing, it seems, is any coherent and Americans for Tax Reform sent the following keyvote alert to the U.S.
systematic approach to those matters. During the Senate this afternoon. Click here to read the full letter: Americans for
Reagan administration I served for a time at State as director Tax Reform MAY RATE a vote against a doc-fix mea...
of policy for the Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian
Affairs — now called, interestingly, the Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor. Things were simpler during the
Cold War. We focused on totalitarian regimes, somewhat less FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
on authoritarian regimes, since people were allowed to leave
those. And, yes, realpolitik played at least a part in our Fight the Bag Tax [Americans
thinking, as inevitably it must. But the basic principles were
clear: If human rights were to be respected, not simply for Tax Reform]
behavioral but systematic change would be required. And OCT 20, 2009 03:53P.M.
Reagan kept the pressure on, publicly. With the fall of the
Berlin Wall, millions saw that kind of change, in varying Floridians have a chance to stop an increase in their taxes. A plan
degrees. But the contrast between totalitarianism and released by the state would have added a tax to a simple, everyday item:
democratic capitalism is less clear today than it was then, and shopping bags. Some legislators wanted to make Fl...
the Obama administration, in both its foreign and domestic
policies, is doing little to clarify it.

The promotion of human rights starts at home, with allowing

people to plan and live their own lives, not with vast public
programs that compel people to live under government
planning. And in foreign affairs it requires both private and
public diplomacy, quiet and not-so-quiet attention to the
conditions that give rise to human rights abuses. That doesn’t

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR lgn@limitedgovernmentnetwork.com
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
Baucus Finances Health
Overhaul by Raiding Social
Security [Cato at Liberty]
OCT 20, 2009 03:45P.M.
Andrew Biggs, FTW.
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
“The Scariest Jobs Chart Ever”
(AKA We Told You So)
[Americans for Tax Reform]
OCT 20, 2009 03:13P.M.
Do I even need to comment on this chart? Do I even need to remind
people how President Obama promised his so-called Stimulus would
create millions of jobs? And that Vice-Presid...
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
Arizona Republic Corrects its
Tax Credit Savings Estimate in
Response to Cato Input [Cato at
Liberty]
OCT 20, 2009 03:13P.M.
Last Wednesday, the Arizona Republic published a fiscal impact
assessment of the state’s education tax credit programs for k-12 private
school choice. While the story itself was a good faith effort, there were
errors in both its data and assumptions. I wrote an op-ed intended for
the Republic correcting those errors and e-mailed a copy to the story’s
author, Ron Hansen, the same day his story was published.
While the paper’s editorial page expressed no interest in printing my
submission, the Republic published a correction today based on the
accurate spending and savings figures I provided. In a phone call,
Hansen indicated that the correction was precipitated by my e-mail,
though he opted not to mention that in his story, saying that he didn’t
think the source of the correction was important.
On the one hand, Hansen and the Republic are to be commended for
publishing a correction, and it should be noted that the bad data were
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21 October 2009
provided to them by Arizona Director of School Finance, Yousef Awwad.
On the other hand, their correction is incomplete — acknowledging only
the bad data and not the mistaken assumption explained in my op-ed.
So while the Republic has now raised its savings estimate from their
originally reported $3 million to a corrected $8.3 million, they have yet
to explain that this figure could actually understate the total savings.
Still, their response is better than I expected. Most newspapers, in my
experience, do absolutely nothing when factual and reasoning errors in
their education stories are brought to their attention, and in fact go on
to repeat those same errors in subsequent stories.
And they wonder why two thirds of the public now doubt their
credibility….
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
9/11: All the PSA We Needed
[Cato at Liberty]
OCT 20, 2009 03:11P.M.
Right on the heels of my post the other day discussing the error in
inviting terrorism reporting, here’s another video (and suspicious-
activity-reporting Web site) produced by the Los Angeles Police
Department.
The production values in this video are hipper, and L.A. appears to have
its share of actors willing to look concerned about terrorism. But really,
the attacks of September 11, 2001 were all the Public Service
Announcement we needed to encourage reporting of genuine suspicions.
Asking amateurs for tips about terrorism will have many wasteful and
harmful results, like racial and ethnic discrimination, angry neighbors
turning each other in, and—given the rarity of terrorism—lots and lots of
folks just plain getting it wrong. People with expertise—even in very
limited domains—can discover suspicious circumstances in their worlds
almost automatically when they find things “hinky.”
My impressions of the LAPD were formed up in the late 80’s and early
90’s when I lived in southern California. To encourage reporting, what
that department needs most is to make the community confident of its
own fairness and competence. Reporting of meritorious suspicions will
naturally follow that. There’s no need for it to artificially gin up crime or
terrorism reporting.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR lgn@limitedgovernmentnetwork.com 21 October 2009

FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS

FED AND THE MARKET
Ryan Ellis on CNBC Debating -Is this a liquidity driven market or is it profits/economic driven?
-Is the market rally being driven by easy money from the Fed?
Bank Windfall Profits Tax
*Jim Lacamp, portfolio manager and advisor at Macroportfolio Advisors
[Americans for Tax Reform] *Ned Riley, founder and CEO of Riley Asset Management
OCT 20, 2009 02:30P.M.
Please join us. The Kudlow Report. 7pm ET. CNBC.
...

FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS

FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
Bernanke Is Playing with Fire
On Tonight’s Kudlow Report
[Larry Kudlow’s Money
[Larry Kudlow’s Money
Politic$]
Politic$] OCT 20, 2009 01:04P.M.
OCT 20, 2009 01:12P.M.
Fed chairman Ben Bernanke delivered a big speech yesterday and never
mentioned the beleaguered dollar. Not once. This is just incredible —
beyond the pale. And so for now, the story remains the same: Gold and
commodities continue to boom, while the greenback plunges further.

Let’s be clear here: Mr. Bernanke is playing with fire. He is creating and
fueling yet another speculative bubble that could spell doom for the bull-
market recovery. This is why I’ve been calling it a storm cloud.

One last point here. The dollar’s demise is a sign of global declinism for
This evening at 7pm ET:
America. This could be the worst part of the whole story. If the Obama
administration wants to undermine American leadership and
WHAT WOULD PRESIDENT PAWLENTY DO ABOUT THE
exceptionalism, and treat this country like all the other C-students
DOLLAR?
around the world, they are sorely mistaken.

Plus a look at healthcare, deficits and more.

When the U.S. leads, the world prospers. When the U.S. declines — as in
the 1970s — the world falls apart. The dollar therefore becomes a symbol,
Joining us will be Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota.
as well as a reality.

DOLLAR: POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS

Guests:

*Peter Morici, economist and University of Maryland Business Professor

*Brian Carney, member of The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board
*Robert Lenzner, National Editor of Forbes magazine

WILL CALIFORNIA BE SAVED BY A SUPPLY-SIDER?

California Insurance Commissioner & candidate for CA Governor Steve

Poizner will be aboard.

THE STOCK MARKET

CNBC’s Michelle Caruso-Cabrera reports on CAT, YHOO and more.

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR lgn@limitedgovernmentnetwork.com
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
College Prices Aren’t So Bad
When Other People Are Paying
[Cato at Liberty]
OCT 20, 2009 12:42P.M.
Today the College Board — maker of such fine products as the SAT and
Advanced Placement exams — released its annual reports on college
prices and student aid. College prices, it seems, have gone up
significantly over the last year. However, if the following statement from
the reports’ author, economist Sandy Baum, is accurate — I haven’t been
able to see the reports myself yet — student aid largely offset the price
increases. And do you know what that might mean? Colleges were able to
charge students more without greatly affecting access by pawning much
of the new charges off on donors and taxpayers:
Sandy Baum, the College Board senior policy analyst who
wrote both reports, said it was important to focus on the net
price students actually paid, after subtracting grants and tax
benefits, rather than the published tuition, or sticker price.
And in that regard, Ms. Baum said, the situation looks far less
dire. “Over all, it could have been worse,” she said.
So could it actually be, as I and others have argued repeatedly, that
student aid helps fuel tuition increases by having third parties cover
so much of the new costs? Here’s yet more evidence saying that yes, it
could.
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
All patients are equal, but some
patients are more equal than
others [Americans for Tax
Reform]
OCT 20, 2009 12:38P.M.
Government run healthcare - the promise of equality for all! Everyone is
equal, universality for all! In reality, of course, it doesn’t work like that.
Like in George Orwell’s masterpiece Anim...
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21 October 2009
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
Bernanke Criticizes Trade
Deficit, but Not Trade [Cato at
Liberty]
OCT 20, 2009 12:06P.M.
In a speech on the West Coast this morning, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke
at first glance appears to be agreeing with the critics of trade who blame
the trade deficit for much of our economic ills. “Bernanke Calls for
Action on Trade Gap,” according to the Wall Street Journal. “Bernanke
warns against trade imbalances,” chimes in the French news agency,
AFP.
Underneath the headlines, however, Bernanke’s comments offer no
comfort for the critics. The real culprit is not “unfair trade” or “currency
manipulation,” but misguided tax and spending policies in the United
States and other major trading countries.
That is a point I hammer home in Chapter 5 of the new Cato book, Mad
about Trade: Why Main Street America Should Embrace Globalization:
If our politicians are determined to do something about the
trade deficit, the most constructive step they could take
would be to promote a higher level of national savings. More
domestic savings would reduce the need for foreign funds to
finance domestic investment. … The most direct approach
would be to reduce or eliminate the federal budget deficit. If
the federal government were to borrow a few hundred billion
dollars less each year, the pool of domestic savings would rise
and more domestic funds would be available for investment.
…Ironically, many members of Congress who complain
loudest about the trade deficit have voted in the name of
economic “stimulus” to plunge us ever deeper in debt.
Chairman Bernanke agrees. His policy prescription was not to raise
barriers against imports, but to cut the federal government’s appetite for
debt.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR lgn@limitedgovernmentnetwork.com
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
Tuesday’s Daily News [The Club
for Growth]
OCT 20, 2009 11:50A.M.
Pete du Pont suggests that Congress consider the costs before passing
“cap and trade.” Good advice, but it hasn’t stopped them before.
Amity Shlaes writes about the payoff to “grumpy grannies.”
The White House could learn a thing or two about health care from
Singapore, says WSJ’s William McGurn.
Great line by Richard Rahn: “[the] tendency to enact destructive, rather
than constructive, solutions for problems (most often created by
government) has now gone into hyper-drive.”
The public option is getting a new life in the Senate.
China is imposing new tariffs on nylon imports from the United States.
IBD Editorial: Graham Joins Kerry on Cap-and-Trade.
A Dismal Prediction: 20 reasons America has lost its soul and collapse is
inevitable.
The Politico: “Has Rep. Shea-Porter ‘gone native’?”
NY-23: Scozzafava calls the cops.
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
7 Obama Lies in Under 2
Minutes [The Club for Growth]
OCT 20, 2009 11:32A.M.
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21 October 2009
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Flex Your Rights [Cato at
Liberty]
OCT 20, 2009 11:29A.M.
Friends of the Cato Institute who closely follow the news about search
and seizure and other civil liberties issues will probably know that there
are simple, practical steps one can take to exercise our constitutionally
guaranteed liberties, even when confronted by the police.
For everyone else, there’s Flex Your Rights. Founded by former Cato
intern Steven Silverman, Flex Your Rights aims to teach ordinary citizens
how to make good use of their civil liberties:
The vast majority of people are mystified by the basic rules of
search and seizure and due process of law. Consequentially,
they’re likely to be tricked or intimidated by police into
waiving their constitutional rights, resulting in a greater
likelihood of regrettable outcomes.
The sum of these outcomes flow into all major criminal
justice problems — including racial and class disparities in
search, arrest, sentencing and incarceration rates.
In order to ensure that constitutional rights and equal justice
are upheld by law enforcement, we must build a
constitutionally literate citizenry.
“Regrettable outcomes” aren’t limited to time behind bars for breaking
the drug laws. Consider also damage to property during searches, loss of
dignity and privacy, wasted law enforcement time, and police violence
during what’s sure to be a nerve-wracking encounter. All of this can
happen even when you’re not violating any laws at all, and that’s reason
enough to refuse a search.
The police, and the laws themselves, should work for us, and if we don’t
require their help, then that should usually be for us to decide. Flex Your
Rights is here to help you do so. They’ve just launched a revamped
website, which looks great, and they also have a new film in production
titled 10 Rules for Dealing with Police. I look forward to seeing it!
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR lgn@limitedgovernmentnetwork.com
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An Overdue Acknowledgement
that Stuff Costs Money [Cato at
Liberty]
OCT 20, 2009 11:27A.M.
The Institute of Medicine issued a report today calling on whole scale
changes to the National School Lunch and National School Breakfast
programs (although nowhere does it question why we even have national
nutrition programs, which surely properly belong to the states and/or
school districts. But I digress). The changes all sound sensible enough:
setting calorie limits for meals, increasing the amount of whole grains,
fruit and vegetables in school meals, and reducing fat and sodium.
But here’s the clincher: the recommendations would cost money!
The panel acknowledged that its recommendations would
increase costs and called for a higher federal reimbursement
to school districts, capital investments and money to train
cafeteria workers to make the changes. Food costs for
breakfasts could rise as much as 9%, and for lunches as much
as 25%, if all the recommendations were enacted, the
committee said. (source: LA Times)
We should be grateful that the authors at least acknowledge the
budgetary impacts of their recommendations. So often it is assumed that
school nutrition programs can and should be changed regardless of the
costs to taxpayers. Last week I taped a television debate show called Two
Way Street (the show is scheduled to air in January, so check your local
listings!) with a woman called Ann Cooper, the “Renegade Lunch Lady”
(here’s Ann’s website). Ann is on a mission to “change the way our
children are eating”. Her intentions are good, and I certainly agree with
her that our woeful agriculture policies are skewing incentives towards
certain food groups and away from fruit and vegetables.
Having said that, Ann’s experience with school cafeterias was, from what
I can gather, gained in East Hampton, NY and Berkeley, CA. Hardly
representative samples of consumers across America (although she has
reportedly worked in Harlem and New York City, also). So often
“success” in these sorts of places is seen as a scalable blueprint for the
rest of the country. Indeed, Ann used her time on the show to encourage
viewers to contact their member of Congress and urge increased Federal
funding for nutrition programs.
On the contrary, I would argue that people instead encourage their
congresscritters to devolve their ill-gotten power over school nutrition
programs back to the local school districts, where they can make the best
assessment of the costs and benefits of different plans, given local needs
and resources.
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21 October 2009
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
Department of Bias [Cato at
Liberty]
OCT 20, 2009 11:15A.M.
The Department of Justice just invalidated a move by the residents of
Kinston, North Carolina, to have non-partisan local elections. Rationale?
The Justice Department’s ruling, which affects races for City
Council and mayor, went so far as to say partisan elections
are needed so that black voters can elect their “candidates of
choice” – identified by the department as those who are
Democrats and almost exclusively black.
The department ruled that white voters in Kinston will vote
for blacks only if they are Democrats and that therefore the
city cannot get rid of party affiliations for local elections
because that would violate black voters’ right to elect the
candidates they want.
This, coming from the same Department of Justice officials that wouldn’t
know a civil rights violation if it picked up a club and barred them access
to a polling place.
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
Internet Companies’ Bogus Plea
for Regulation [Cato at Liberty]
OCT 20, 2009 11:14A.M.
Some of the most prominent Internet companies sent a letter yesterday
asking for protection from market forces. Among them: Facebook,
Google, Amazon, and Twitter.
A Washington Post story summarizes their concerns: “[W]ithout a
strong anti-discrimination policy, companies like theirs may not get a
fair shot on the Internet because carriers could decide to block them
from ever reaching consumers.”
No ISP could block access to these popular services and survive, of
course. What they could do is try to charge the most popular services a
higher tariff to get their services through. Thus, weep the helpless, multi-
billion-dollar Internet behemoths, we need a “fair shot”!
Plain and simple, these companies want regulation to ensure that ISPs
can’t capture a larger share of the profits that the Internet generates.
They want it all for themselves. Phrased another way, the goal is to create
a subsidy for content creators by blocking ISPs from getting a piece of
the action.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR lgn@limitedgovernmentnetwork.com
It’s all very reminiscent of disputes between coal mines and railroads.
The coal mines “produced the coal” and believed that the profitability of
the coal-energy ecosystem should accrue only to themselves, with
railroads earning the barest minimum. But where is it written that
digging coal out of the ground is what creates the value, and getting it
where it’s used creates none? Transport may be as valuable as
“production” of both commodities and content. The market should
decide, not the industry with the best lobbyists.
What happens if ISPs can’t capture the value of providing transport? Of
course, less investment flows to transport and we have less of it.
Consumers will have to pay more of their dollars out of pocket for
broadband, while Facebook’s boy CEO draws an excessive salary from
atop a pile of overpriced stock holdings. The irony is thick when
opponents of high executive compensation support “net neutrality”
regulation.
Another reason why these Internet companies’ concerns are bogus is
their size and popularity. They have a direct line to consumers and more
than enough capability to convince consumers that any given ISP is
wrongly degrading access to their services. As Tim Lee pointed out in his
excellent paper, “The Durable Internet,” ownership of a network service
does not equate to control. ISPs can be quickly reined in by the public, as
has already happened.
A “net neutrality” subsidy for small start-up services is also unnecessary:
They have no profits to share with ISPs. What about mid-size
services—heading to profitability, but not there yet? Can ISPs choke
them off? Absolutely not.
Large, established companies are not known for being ahead of trends,
for one thing, and the anti-authoritarian culture of the Internet is the
perfect place to play “beleaguered upstart” against the giant, evil ISP.
There could be no greater PR gift than for a small service to have access
to it degraded by an ISP.
The Internet companies’ plea for regulation is bogus, and these
companies are losing their way. The leadership of these
companies should fire their government relations staffs, disband their
contrived advocacy organization, and get back to innovating and
competing.
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21 October 2009
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
Coverage From Our TV Ad [The
Club for Growth]
OCT 20, 2009 11:08A.M.
From The Politico:
The Club spent $300,000 to air the advertisement, which is
up in all three media markets in the sprawling upstate New
York district. That means the Club for Growth has spent over
$550,000 in the race in ads attacking Republican Dede
Scozzafava and backing Hoffman.
For context, the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee has poured in $386,000 in independent
expenditures, according to the latest FEC filings, while the
National Republican Congressional Committee has spent
$567,000 on behalf of Scozzafava.
PAID FOR BY CLUB FOR GROWTH PAC AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY
ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE’S COMMITTEE. 202-955-5500.
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
The Baucus Bill [The Club for
Growth]
OCT 20, 2009 10:27A.M.
If you’re into self-torture, you can read the newly-released health care
bill proposed by Senate Democrats. It’s only 1,502 pages (PDF).
Remember HillaryCare back in 1993? That was a modest 1,342 pages.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR lgn@limitedgovernmentnetwork.com
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Cap and Tax Will Hurt Virginia
[Americans for Tax Reform]
OCT 20, 2009 10:19A.M.
In our continuing, daily, state by state, look at the financial impact of the
Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Tax Bill, we will show you the projected
losses in Gross State Product, Personal Income, and N...
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
More on the ‘Doc Fix’ [The Club
for Growth]
OCT 20, 2009 10:05A.M.
The Club signed a coalition letter with 19 other groups urging the Senate
to vote down the “doc fix” bill. To learn the details about the bill, the
letter is below the break.
And if anybody thinks this isn’t a bribe by the Democrats to get doctors
on board their nationalized health care scheme, there’s this report in The
Hill [emphasis mine]:
At a meeting on Capitol Hill last week with nearly a dozen
doctors groups, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
said the Senate would take up separate legislation to halt
scheduled Medicare cuts in doctor payments over the next 10
years. In return, Reid made it clear that he expected
their support for the broader healthcare bill,
according to four sources in the meeting.
[...]“They said they’re going to need our help in getting
healthcare reform over the goal line and they expect our
support,” said a participant who represents doctors. “Reid,
Baucus and Dodd. All three said the same thing: They
want and expect our support.”
[...]Reid also asked that doctors ease up on demands for
medical malpractice reform during the upcoming healthcare
debate. Democrats have traditionally resisted calls for tort
reform, which trial attorneys — a reliable base group —
staunchly oppose.
RedState’s Erick Erickson adds, “This week the Senate is considering its
next payoff to a powerful lobbying group.”
And Heritage’s Conn Carroll shares this ominous thought:
After thousands of Americans attended hundreds of townhalls this
summer, after the President of the United States delivered a rare speech
21 October 2009
to a Joint Session of Congress, after endless coverage of legislative
markups in the relevant congressional committees, what if the Senate
began actual floor votes on the health care overhaul and the drive-by
media refused to cover it? Couldn’t happen? It already is.
Finally, here’s Senator John Thune on Fox News:
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
Key Vote Alert - ‘Doc Fix’ [The
Club for Growth]
OCT 20, 2009 09:52A.M.
KEY VOTE ALERT
“NO” to “Doc Fix” (S. 1776)
The Club for Growth urges all Senators to vote “NO” on the
so-called Medicare Physician Fairness Act of 2009, otherwise
known as the “Doc Fix” bill (S. 1776). A vote on this proposal
is expected later this week. This key vote will be part of our
2009 Congressional Scorecard.
This bill is not offset with any spending cuts so the
overall tab will recklessly add almost $250 billion
over ten years to the national debt. This is also a
deceptive attempt to hide the true cost of health care
reform.
Reasonable people can argue about the merits of a “doc fix”,
but fiscal prudence demands that it not add one penny to the
national debt. This bill needs to have a full offset of spending
cuts to meet that requirement. Also, it’s clear that Senate
leaders are stripping this bill out of comprehensive health
care reform legislation in order to avoid the task of selling an
expensive proposal to the public that breaks the President’s
revenue neutral pledge. When it comes to overhauling one-
sixth of the national economy, the American people are
entitled to honesty and transparency from their elected
leaders in Washington.