10 Reasons to Feel Optimistic About the Future

Open Thread: Benefit Cuts for Boomers?
I received my Medicare card the other day, recognizing my 65th birthday and making me part of one of America's biggest problems. By this, I mean the burden that the massive baby-boom generation will impose on its Children and the nation's future. There has been much brave talk recently, from Republicans and Democrats alike, about reducing Budget Deficits and controlling Government Spending. The trouble is that hardly anyone admits that accomplishing these goals must include making signif...

New CNN poll shows Americans care about the deficit, only not really
When pollsters ask Americans if they want the Deficit reducing a resounding "yes" comes through in nearly every survey.  When pollsters ask Americans if they would like to do anything significant to actually reduce the Deficit a resounding "no" comes out in every survey.  This pattern was repeated once more in a poll released by CNN concerning American opinions on the deficit. The National Poll of over 1,000 adults found that 68% personally worry "a lot" about the deficit.  That n...

Plucking the Lucky Duckies
When Democrats find themselves on the ropes - electorally speaking - one of the tried and true methods used to gin up some fresh support has traditionally been to invoke the age old cries of class warfare. You know the drill: the government is inherently Racist or they want all women to stay out of the boardroom and go back to being barefoot and pregnant in the bedroom. But when you’ve got an African-American in the White House and fresh new female faces marching off to serve i...

More non-specific cuts discussed: Film at 11
I have three things to say about this story about impending Budget cuts to public Higher Education. Colleges and universities expect double-digit cuts. Financial Aid may be cut, too. “There’s no way to get through this without somebody being impacted,” said Brenda Hellyer, chancellor of San Jacinto College. Schools will react by increasing class sizes, cutting class sections and, maybe, offering fewer degree programs. Many schools will order layoffs or Furloughs; the state...

The Economic Year in Review
Get alerts when there is a new article that might interest you. As we look back on the year that is limping to an end, there is little—not nothing, just little—to cheer about. The year opened with the headline Unemployment Rate at 9.7 percent, and the rate including workers too discouraged to look for work or involuntarily on short-time (the U-6 rate, in the jargon of the trade) at 16.5 percent of the work force. It is closing with the headline rate close to 10 percent and the U-6 ra...

Today in Capitalism
Has anyone else noticed that every other ad on Cable Television these days is for Medicare Advantage plans? I guess “ObamaCare” didn’t kill Medicare Advantage after all. I also noticed a news story about a company called High Road Capital, which seems to be in the business of buying things, snapping up a whole lot of Health Care businesses. Private Equity firms have snapped up many companies that provide medical billing, coding and document processing this year in an effort ...

Twitter roundup
BrendanNyhan Dec 28, 2010 at 1:01pm As predicted (https://j.mp/c9Fe3v), overemphasis on Obama staff as cause of/solution to structural political problems https://j.mp/gYxThi Blaming staff for structural problems - Brendan Nyhan Back in January, I predicted a rash of process-based explanations of President Obama's declining political fortunes in 2010: During the next eleven months, it will become increasingly obvious th... Obama's insular White House worries his allies - latimes.com Bren...

On CNN Reuters Freeland Praises Obamacare, Claims Universal Coverage Makes Europe More Competitive Than U.S.
Appearing as a guest on Monday’s Parker-Spitzer on CNN, Chrystia Freeland of Reuters claimed that the European Economy is at an advantage compared to the U.S. because of America’s lack of universal Health Care. But, when fellow guest Will Cain of the National Review pointed out that America’s economy outperforms Europe, Freeland was only able to name one nation in Europe - Germany - whose economy is performing impressively. Freeland: "I also think it’s a little bit o...

No More Mister Nice Blog
A PAINFULLY MYSTERIOUS PROBLEM So, on one hand we have Sen. Tom "I block 9/11 First Responders from getting Health Care" Coburn predicting doom unless spending is cut immediately. Coburn, who said throughout the interview he was not trying to "scare" Americans with his Rhetoric on the Deficit, was then asked to give his worst-case scenario outlook for the American Economy. "I think you'll see 15 to 18 percent Unemployment Rate. I think you'll see a 8 to 9 percent decline in GDP. I think you'll...

Top Ten Heritage Papers of 2010
Yesterday, we posted the Top Ten Heritage Charts of 2010. Today we bring you the Top Ten Heritage Papers of 2010. This list combines all non-multimedia publications including WebMemos, Backgrounders, Center for Data Analysis Reports, Legal Memorandums, and White Papers. The papers are sorted by pageviews with the 10th most popular chart on top, and the most popular chart at the bottom. 10. Why is America Exceptional? 9. Why Government Spending Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth: Answering the ...

Your Opinions
As everyone knows, this has been a tough year for our community and for those who are in most need, the hungry and the Homeless. I do, however, want to take a moment out of this hectic season to say thanks. On any given night, we know there are at least 2,000 people and families who are Homeless. If you have never been there yourself, you can only pause and attempt to think what this may feel like, to have no place to go to sleep or prepare a meal this Holiday Season. But I say thanks because ...

America's cracked political system | Jeffrey Sachs
Then House Minority Leader John Boehner (Republican, Ohio) looks on, past then speaker Nancy Pelosi, as President Obama speaks to the press before a meeting with Bipartisan congressional leadership in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, 2009. Photograph: Reuters/Jason Reed America is on a collision course with itself. This month's deal between President Barack Obama and the Republicans in Congress to extend the Tax Cuts initiated a decade ago by President George W Bush is being hailed as ...

End-of-life counseling part of new Medicare policy
The New York Times reported over the weekend that a provision of Health Care reform Legislation that was abandoned after it became the focus of conservative outrage is making a return, this time as part of a new policy outlined in a Medicare Regulation. Voluntary counseling on end-of-life decisions was attacked by conservative pundits and politicians throughout the debate over Health Care reform, eventually labeled as “Death Panels.” The service would require Medicare to pay for end-...

North Carolina editorial roundup
If you're over 65 and want to consult with your doctor about which life-prolonging medical treatments you'd want or not want if you were incapacitated and dying, should Medicare pay your doctor for offering that medical advice? If you've ever watched a spouse, son or daughter struggle with decisions about what an aging, comatose or terminally ill patient would want — feeding tube? ventilator? resuscitation? — then you know the importance of the patient himself or herself thinking thr...

Robert L. Borosage: Bushwacking Obama: Conservative Call for "Fixing" Social Security
Beware of Conservatives bearing gifts. Today in the Washington Post,, former Bush policy advisor, Michael Gerson echoes a growing chorus of conservatiuve pundits offering up "Social Security reform" as "the answer to Obama's problems." The advice is illogical on its face, pernicious in its consequence, and poisoned from its source. Gerson argues that Obama faces a major strategic decision in his coming State of the Union address, which must take the "first cut at the Reelection message he car...

Viking Pundit
"We must now be unfair to someone" - This too-good-to-excerpt Robert Samuelson article confronts the dilemma that America faces by failing to honestly address entitlement spending. Either we pare back on Medicare and Social Security (unfair to seniors) or we impose much higher Tax Rates on workers (unfair to future generations). The alternate choice is to continue to pile up unprecedented peacetime Debt levels and risk the implosions of Greece and Ireland or the slow decline of Japan. ...

Paul Krugman the Scrooge
Oh, there’s nothing better than the Syracuse Post Standard to spread a little Christmas cheer. This morning after the gifts were unwrapped I found myself with an hour or so to spare while the Children built their little Lego® houses. I settled down to relax and read the Christmas edition of the morning newspaper before cooking breakfast. The opinion section contained columns by Cal Thomas and Michael Gerson that were totally appropriate for this holy day. Ah, but we cannot enjoy Christm...

The Health-Care Law Provisions Taking Effect in 2011
Parts of the uncatchily named Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka the health-care overhaul law, began to kick in earlier this year. But in 2011, other provisions will roll out — some as soon as January 1. The Kaiser Family Foundation counts 21 provisions taking effect next year. Among them: The requirement that the proportion of premium dollars spent on medical care must amount to at least 80% for Small Business plans and 85% for large group plans will kick in. The so-called me...

White House May Reintroduce 'Death Panels'
The Obama Administration has restored one of the most Controversial provisions of the new Health Care law. The New York Times reported the new policy will let the government pay doctors for end-of-life counseling. That counseling could include doctors discouraging patients from trying everything medically possible that might keep them alive. "The infamous Section 1233 is still alive and kicking," said Elizabeth Wickham, Executive Director of LifeTree, a pro-life Christian educational ministry....

Analysis: Consumer spending back to normal? Not so fast
By Phil Wahba and Dhanya Skariachan NEW YORK | Mon Dec 27, 2010 12:59pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - As U.S. Retailers get ready to box up their Christmas decorations after a better-than-expected Holiday Season, many shoppers plan to join them by putting their wallets back in storage. Consumers hit stores in droves this year and are feeling better about their prospects. But they still confront bleak job prospects and still are trying to pay down their hefty Debt loads. That sets the stage for a "...

Legislators acted with eye on '12 campaigns
It's no coincidence the tax-cut deal President Obama and Republicans reached extends the Bush-era Tax Breaks for two years, or just in time for the next national election. In fact, on everything from spending to Tax Cuts to Immigration, the issues Congress tackled in the nearly two months since the election - and in some instances, the matters that got blocked - seemed as geared toward preparing for 2012's Elections as wrapping up 2010's business. Lawmakers cleared a $858 billion tax deal, sent ...

CNN 2012 Poll: Obama & Palin going in different directions?
CNN 2012 Poll: Obama & Palin going in different directions? Washington (CNN) - As the start of the next Presidential Campaign nears, a new National Poll suggests that President Barack Obama's tax-cut Compromise with congressional Republicans did not hurt his standing among Democrats, while former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may be dropping in the eyes of Republicans. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday, 78 percent of Democrats questioned in the poll say...

Alfred Kahn, R.I.P.
Alfred Kahn has passed away. As you travel during the holidays, shopping around for cheap airfares, you have Kahn to thank. Kahn, a Professor at Cornell, was responsible for deregulating the airline industry. I realize all you kids think airfare competition always has been a fact of life, but before Kahn government Regulation restricted new entrants and maintained artificially high prices. Let this be a lesson for government Regulation of our Health Care industry and the Internet. From The Wal...

Kass: Here Are My 15 Surprises To Watch For In 2011
Doug Kass is a leading markets commentator, and writes daily for RealMoney Silver. > “Never make predictions, especially about the future.” -Casey Stengel > There are five lessons I have learned since my first surprise list for 2003: 1. how wrong conventional wisdom can be; 2. that uncertainty will persist; 3. to expect the unexpected; 4. that the occurrence of Black Swan events are growing in frequency; and 5. with rapidly changing conditions, investors can’t change th...

Markets close mixed on light trading
NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. markets were mixed on a light-trading Monday after the People's Bank of China said it would raise its Lending rates to slow Inflation. The bank said Sunday it would raise rates for the second time in a little more than two months. It increased the cost of Lending by 0.25 percentage points, lifting the annual Lending rate to 5.81 percent, CNNMoney.com reported. Expectations of slower Economic Growth in China reverberated through markets in Asia and Europe. The Shan...