Strange as it is to see a silver lining in war casualty totals, there it is: The U.S. military’s 11 combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan in November were the fewest in one month since the Iraq war began 5½ years ago. The most came in November 2004, when 129 died in combat in the two conflicts. Though the improving security in Iraq is key to the decline, the situation is less clear in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military saw one combat death last month but there were 11 other combat deaths among coalition forces.
There has been talk of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell joining the Obama Cabinet, perhaps as energy secretary. But it’s difficult to imagine that happening given the flap over his comments, picked up by an open mike, about Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to be secretary of homeland security: “Janet’s perfect for that job. Because for that job, you have to have no life. Janet has no family, perfect. She can devote, literally, 19 to 20 hours a day to it.” Never mind the two family men who’ve held the job, Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff.
Rendell has suggested the story is much ado about nothing and that he was talking about “all workaholics,” not just single working women. But New York Times columnist Gail Collins responded: “It’s unmarried women at the top who often wind up portrayed as vestal virgins who live only to serve their chief executive. (Condoleezza Rice’s public image is so extreme that people must be wondering if she plans to immolate herself on the White House lawn during the inauguration.) Instead of being celebrated for their achievements, they wind up regarded as slightly fanatic.”
“The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq,” President Bush told Charles Gibson of ABC News. “A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein.” So if the intelligence had correctly concluded that Iraq didn’t have WMDs, Gibson asked, would there have been a war? “You know, that’s an interesting question,” Bush said. “That is a do-over that I can’t do. It’s hard for me to speculate.”
Don’t put a period at the end of the Bush era just yet. Politico reports that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush may run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Mel Martinez, who announced Tuesday that he won’t seek re-election in 2010. After the November election, Bush offered a prescription for the GOP that included showing no tolerance for corruption, practicing limited government, embracing reform and standing for working families and small businesses. Bush also recently said that the GOP needs to broaden its base to avoid becoming “the old white-guy party.”
It’s no longer news that at least 47 million Americans lack health insurance, and an additional 50 million are “underinsured” – meaning whatever ails you is excluded. But we seldom hear that private health insurance wastes $350 billion every year. Nearly one-third of our health care costs are eaten up by overhead: marketing, billing, profits, denying coverage, and hassling patients and doctors. While 30 cents of every dollar of health costs pays for overhead, Medicare costs 3 cents on the dollar. As the economy hemorrhages more than 200,000 jobs every month, insurance costs soar, and with employers large and small unable to afford to insure their employees, an employer-based system has become a nonstarter. – Amy Isaacs, national director of Americans for Democratic Action
As a new Congress begins to look at health care insurance options, some of the members are already discussing proposals for a single-payer, universal health care plan. That’s not the best solution. Senators and representatives would be much better off focusing on health care solutions that effectively bring down health care costs, expand access to quality care, and reward patients for shopping around. Instead of wasting time on a system that limits our choices, creates long waiting times, and has the potential to jeopardize our health, the United States should opt for a system of innovation and choice. Congress should act now to let American consumers – not federal bureaucrats – make their health care decisions. When we force medical providers to compete on price, we’re all much better off. – Devon Herrick, National Center for Policy Analysis
Strange as it is to see a silver lining in war casualty totals, there it is: The U.S. military’s 11 combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan in November were the fewest in one month since the Iraq war began 5½ years ago. The most came in November 2004, when 129 died in combat in the two conflicts. Though the improving security in Iraq is key to the decline, the situation is less clear in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military saw one combat death last month but there were 11 other combat deaths among coalition forces.
