Conservative Wanderer

“A troubled and afflicted mankind looks to us, pleading for us to keep our rendezvous with destiny; that we will uphold the principles of self-reliance, self-discipline, morality, and, above all, responsible liberty for every individual that we will become that shining city on a hill.” — Ronald Wilson Reagan

Daily Archives: 10 February 2011

Congressman Wolf Demands DOJ Explain Partisan Difference In FOIA Response Times

Earlier today, over on Pajamas Media, former Department Of Justice attorney J. Christian Adams posted an exclusive report on the way that the DOJ has been responding to Freedom of Information Act responses based on the partisan affiliations of those requesting information:

The data in the FOIA logs I obtained reveal the priorities of the Civil Rights Division — transparency for friends, stonewalls for the unfriendly.

Now, according to Adams, a very powerful Republican has decided to look into this, and is demanding answers from the DOJ Inspector General. The Republican in question is Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), and Adams explains his importance:

He is the wrong Congressman for the DOJ to hack off – he controls their budget.

Indeed he does… it even says so on the letterhead of his letter (which is worth reading), which indicates that he’s the ranking member of the subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee that handles Justice. He couches his request in polite language, but he is clearly demanding answers, or heads on platters.

 

How To Reduce Health Care Costs

James C. Capretta takes a look at the new Ryan-Rivlin plan, and likes what he sees:

The Ryan-Rivlin plan is entirely different because it is based on empowering consumers to find the best value possible for their defined-contribution payment. This is the way to unleash a productivity revolution in health care. The administration says it wants everyone to have access to low-cost, high-quality models, such as the Geisinger Health Plan. The way to bring that about is with a dynamic consumer marketplace in which those kinds of plans are rewarded financially for being more efficient and of higher quality. And the way to bring that about is by giving people the control and financial incentive to become active, cost-conscious consumers both of the insurance they select and the delivery system by which they get their care. And that’s exactly what would happen under Ryan-Rivlin, which is why it would work and Obamacare wouldn’t.

Gee, that sounds like something someone said way back in 2008. Glad to see you on the bandwagon, Mr. Capretta.

Handicapping the Senate for 2012

After Jim Webb’s retirement, the WaPo’s Chris Cillizza takes a look at the Senate for 2012 (bold in original):

Webb is the third Democratic (or Democratic-affiliated) Senator to call it quits already this year, joining Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (N.D.) on the sidelines. Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is the lone Republican to announce she will not seek re-election in 2012. [CW--this article was written before Senator Kyl announced he was retiring.]

While holding the Connecticut seat should pose limited problems — if any — for Democrats, both Virginia and North Dakota have deep Republican roots and will be major targets for Republicans in 2012.

The open seats in Virginia and North Dakota — when coupled with the fact that there are 23 Democratic seats up this cycle as compared to just 10 for Republicans — paint a stark portrait of the challenge before Democrats to hold their majority next November.

For Democrats hoping to hold that majority, Virginia is likely to emerge as a linchpin.

It really doesn’t look good for the Democrats, since Virginia is turning very red; they just elected a Republican Governor in 2009 by a 17-point margin, and they were one of the first to fire a shot across the bow of ObamaCare. If Virginia is a linchpin, it could be another ugly election for the Democrats.

And if you’re looking for another linchpin, look no further than ObamaCare. People (including us here) were saying it was going to be a disaster, and the Democrats ignored everyone and went ahead and did it. So the coming defeats are their just desserts.

CBO: ObamaCare Kills Jobs

Another thing that the Obamacrats denied vociferously has now been confirmed by the CBO:

Yuval Levin has a transcript of the important exchange:

Campbell: You just mentioned that you believe—or that in your estimate, that the health-care law would reduce the labor used in the economy by about one half of one percent. Given that, I believe you say, there’s 160 million full-time people working in 2021, that means that, in your estimation, the health-care law would reduce employment by 800,000 in 2021. Is that correct?

Elmendorf: Yes. The way I would put it is that we do estimate, as you said, that household employment will be about 160 million by the end of the decade.  Half a percent of that is 800,000.

Remember when Nancy Pelosi said that we had to pass ObamaCare to find out what was in it?

Two points about that statement: One, we now know why she didn’t want this stuff out before it passed. Two, given all the bad things that have already come out about this monstrosity of a program, I don’t really want to know more, I want it to be repealed at the earliest possible opportunity.