Editorial

President Barack Obama embraced his role as persuader-in-chief Sept. 9 to start his closing push for major health-care reform. With the president’s conciliatory tone, offers of compromise and — let’s not forget — a solid Democratic majority in Congress, it is a safe bet some elements of this overhaul will become law before 2010.        The question now becomes: Can Congress focus on the reforms that are necessary and limit the cost for taxpayers? If the president is as serious about bipartisanship as he claims to be, we hope the … [Read more...] about Persuasive speech, expensive worries

Observed on southbound U.S. 131 outside Kalamazoo on Monday afternoon: a red tractor-semitrailer truck traveling at 70 mph and weaving on and off the road. Was the vehicle malfunctioning? Did it have a flat tire? Was the truck driver falling asleep at the wheel? Was he having a seizure? No to all of the above. The driver who was weaving on and off the highway, traveling at a high rate of speed and endangering the lives of all motorists in his vicinity, was holding a cell phone on his steering wheel and text messaging while … [Read more...] about Text messagers: Don’t be driven to distraction

By Janet Neilson By now, Americans are familiar with the stories of Canadians who would have died because of their government’s health care rationing had they not been able to get care in the United States. Perhaps just as troubling, however, are the less dramatic but much more common instances of minor indignities, inequities and inconveniences imposed by the Canadian health care system. Nearly every Canadian has such stories. Even the experiences of those satisfied with the country’s health care system show that residents … [Read more...] about Take a closer look at issues with Canadian health care

THE RICH LOWRY COLUMN By Rich Lowry If Dick Cheney had a fantasy scenario for how the Bush administration interrogation program worked, it might go like this: A top-level al-Qaida operative is captured, but resists traditional interrogation. He is then waterboarded, after which he becomes an invaluable resource. Eventually, the terrorist conducts tutorials on al-Qaida doctrine and operations for the benefit of American intelligence officers. Except it’s not a fable. It describes the course of 9/11 mastermind Khalid … [Read more...] about Yes, harsh interrogations Work

By PAUL KERSEY If you've ever watched rodeo — I don't pretend to be a cowboy, but I've seen enough to get the general idea of things — then you've probably seen an event called calf roping. In this contest, a calf is let loose to run around the ring. A rider on horseback throws a lasso around the calf's neck, jumps off his horse and then ties up the calf's legs, rendering the animal immobile. Since the cowboy hardly ever fails to catch and tie up the animal, the competition centers on who can do it the fastest. Calf roping isn't … [Read more...] about The Employee Free Choice Act rodeo

THE RICH LOWRY COLUMN By Rich Lowry The Obama team is saddled with a foundering health-care strategy. But it has a fallback plan — relying on the sheer dimwitted gullibility of the American public. How stupid do they think we are? Stupid enough to think that a new $1 trillion health-care entitlement is just the thing to restore the country to fiscal health. Stupid enough not to know that almost every entitlement known to man has cost more than originally estimated, with a congressional committee in 1967 underestimating by … [Read more...] about Stupid nation

Dropping your child off at a daycare home or center is never easy for a parent or guardian. I am the parent of a young son, and I know how hard it is to leave your child in someone else’s care. We research our options, and hope that we have chosen the safest provider for our children. When a constituent of mine from Dearborn Heights came forward with her heartbreaking experience involving a home daycare provider, it became extremely clear to me that we must do more to protect our children. In June 2007, Patricia Chorba was … [Read more...] about New reporting guidelines needed for daycare providers

THE RICH LOWRY COLUMN By Rich Lowry One of the few strictly accurate things that President Barack Obama routinely says about his health-care reform is that it’s much bigger than just the so-called public option. Yet when his administration signaled that the public option could be dropped, the left threw a collective tantrum. Why the uproar over what Obama at his recent Colorado town hall called a “sliver” of reform? After all, the left should be delighted about the movable feast of statism in the congressional bills: new … [Read more...] about Obama’s option play