The Talking Texan

Where Obama Feared To Tread - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast

If Democrats wish to have integrity on this matter, they’ll need to push for massive tax increases—not just increases on the very rich (there aren’t enough of them to fix this hole) but on nearly everyone.  The Democrats are not going to do this; Obama has steadfastly refused.  So what will the Democrats offer instead?  I suspect that they’ll keep offering the fictitious notion that we can keep spending more and everything will be alright.  Will that work with the voters?  Americans don’t believe in this fantasyland, not for a second; but they also hate the reality of the need for actual sacrifice enough that they may vote for it anyway.  Even when the electorate votes for politicians who promise to provide less, their anger usually swells once the promise of actual cuts inches toward reality.  That’s what the Republican governors are learning now—sometimes Americans vote for the candidate with a grasp on reality because they like to feel like they also grasp reality; that doesn’t mean they actually want to confront reality—they just want to feel like they have.

(via jeffmiller)

In Health Law, Rx for Trouble - WSJ.com (h/t Reason). Is it an unintended consequence if everyone with a brain saw it coming?

There have been numerous unintended consequences of the health care bill already; there will be far more to come.

I don’t believe that it is possible for our government to design a system that could manage all of our nation’s health care.  Certainly, the hastily drafted pastiche of compromise they enacted has no chance to work.  

(via jeffmiller)

(via jeffmiller)

Ryan Widmer jurors: 7-4 for conviction | cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com

The case is sad.  A woman died in her bathroom while her husband was downstairs, watching television.  There’s no evidence that he killed her, but they prosecuted him anyway.  In the first trial, a jury unanimously found him guilty; the verdict was set aside for juror misconduct.  In the second trial, the jury couldn’t reach a verdict … but most jurors wanted to convict.  

There are some people who figure that the government wouldn’t bring a case if the defendant weren’t guilty.  These people scare me.  The government makes mistakes all the time.  

There are some people who figure that everything bad must be someone’s fault.  These people scare me too.  Sometimes bad things happen.  Sometimes things happen that we can’t explain.  

The other day, I was eating lunch in downtown D.C., and some people outside were protesting B.P.  Fine.  I have no problem with that.  But one of the protesters had a cardboard cut-out of the B.P. C.E.O. wearing pinstripes.  And that upset me.  It’s possible that there was criminal misconduct.  But not every bad thing has to be a crime.  Sometimes, people make honest mistakes.  Sometimes, people are wrong when they tried to be right.  Sometimes, bad things just happen.  

When something bad happens, our first thought should be to comfort those who are hurt, to fix the problem, and to clean up the damage.  Too often, though, people jump right to punish.