DATELINE: Frenzyville, Apr 1 – The Obamacare signup deadline came and went on Monday. It was pretty much unusual business as usual on the website – long periods of unavailability and notices of delays for those surfing the site. I use the word “surfing” because no one knows what site visitors are actually up to. Are they just looking around, trying out the sign up process with no intention of finishing, trying to finish without paying, trying to pay. Who knows? According to HHS, noRead more…
We’ve come to expect unusual political gymnastics from our congressional representatives in election years. We understand that politicians talk and act in strange ways during these times, driven exclusively by self-preservation, i.e., getting re-elected. This behavior is necessitated by…
DATELINE: Naiveville, Mar 26 – President Obama is on a foreign tour this week trying to sell the efficacy of a unified U.S. – European front against Russian aggression in Ukraine. His speeches are flowery and the reception warm and enthusiastic, at least from the handpicked audiences. None of this is surprising. After all, our President won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for public speaking, which beats, by far, any other medal offered for stump oratory. In foresight, the award was very unfortunate for twoRead more…
Unintended consequences are side effects of actions that were not anticipated. Although most people think of unintended consequences as the negative results of government laws and regulations, the term is neutral. It includes, as well, positive outcomes of both government action and actions of individuals. Unfortunately, big government legislation necessarily contains so many negative, yet unanticipated, outcomes that it puts people…
DATELINE: DoesItGetAnyWeakerThanThisville, Mar 17 – Obama’s non-sanctions imposed on 11 individuals in response to the Crimea’s pro-Russian referendum are echos of the Marvin Gaye oldie, “I’m your puppet”. The so-called sanctions, announced today, consist of personal, but not business, asset freezes and travel bans to the United States. No reaction at all would have been better than shadow boxing with those Obama claims to blame for the Russian invasion of Crimea. Even in that, he’s way off the mark. Putin pulls the strings of the 11Read more…
Hurricane Sandy was very helpful to Barack Obama in his successful bid for re-election in 2012. Mitt Romney’s incompetent campaign and the President’s stage presence weren’t enough to secure victory. Obama was trailing in the national polls for most of the month preceding Election Day…
