HOUSE CENSURES CHARLIE RANGEL; Rangel blames everyone but himself.

POLITICS AS WARFARE? For the Democrats, yes.

SO NOW IT’S ILLEGAL to pay for your own healthcare out of your own pocket?

“I hold that there is a rational basis for Congress to conclude that individuals’ decisions about how and when to pay for health care are activities that in the aggregate substantially affect the interstate health care market,” ruled U.S. District Judge Norman Moon, a Clinton appointee. “Nearly everyone will require health care services at some point in their lifetimes, and it is not always possible to predict when one will be afflicted by illness or injury and require care.…

“Far from ‘inactivity,’ by choosing to forgo insurance, Plaintiffs are making an economic decision to try to pay for health care services later, out of pocket, rather than now, through the purchase of insurance. As Congress found, the total incidence of these economic decisions has a substantial impact on the national market for health care by collectively shifting billions of dollars on to other market participants and driving up the prices of insurance policies.”

OK, fine. So let’s enshrine that in granite. Start by making it illegal for any current or former elected or appointed federal official to spend so much as one thin dime out of his or her pocket on his or her (family’s) healthcare. Tough luck if the insurance company’s ‘death panel’ decides not to fund the care.

Question: would former president Clinton be alive today if his quadruple heart bypass had been funded entirely by insurance?

NEVER MIND THAT IT IS BOTH VACUOUS AND BANKRUPT. Democrats Suffering From 'Intellectual Elitism'.

Linked from Instapundit.

SMART GRID? The “smart grid” rollout appears to be having some problems. One example: “[L]ast year the [Dutch] rebelled against a proposed compulsory rollout of smart meters, on grounds that the equipment could reveal too much personal detail to utility company employees and expose citizens to wrong-doing.” They’re almost certainly right.

And then there’s the cost: “In England, the Department of Energy and Climate Change intends to see all households equipped with smart meters by 2020, at a cost of about $13 billion. The anticipated average saving to each household will come to $45/year.”

According to Google, there are roughly 25 million households in the UK. If the Brits equip those 25 million households with smart meters, at an average savings of $45/yr, they will recoup the initial investment cost in a mere 11-1/2 years ... around 2031.

Right now, the “smart grid” isn’t looking so smart.

A WIN-WIN TAX COMPROMISE: allow the Bush tax cuts to expire only for those making $250K or less. The Republicans get to keep those small businesses creating jobs, and the Democrats get to rake in an additional $2.5 trillion in taxes (there are a lot more of us poor schlubs, you see, and with small business creating more and more of us ....). Win-win.

Linked from Instapundit.

MORE REGULATION: Senate passes bill to boost food safety.

Despite wide bipartisan support, the legislation stalled as it came under fire from advocates of buying locally produced food and operators of small farms, who say it could bankrupt some small businesses. Senators agreed before Congress left for Thanksgiving to exempt some of those operations from costly food safety plans required of larger companies.

What they don’t tell you is how much this regulation will add to the cost of putting dinner on the table.

[Update & bump] Corporate welfare?

THE BIGGEST ISSUE TO COME in a single chart.


It reminiscent of aviation's ”coffin corner”, that part of an aircraft’s flight envelope where a slight reduction in speed will cause the wings to stall and the aircraft fall out of the sky and a slight increase in speed will cause the wings to fall off - and the aircraft fall out of the sky.

Raise taxes - the economy collapses. Raise spending - the economy collapses.

THE GREAT PLACATOR NEEDS TO THROW SOME ELBOWS. The Washington Post’s Courtland Milloy provides a sad commentary -- on two levels.

The first is Milloy’s assertion that Obama needs to “throw some elbows.” More correctly, the Obama administration is finally finding out what happens when the electorate refuses to be bullied -- a fat lip hurts.

And second is Milloy’s admission that he voted for the black -- and not the man. That’s going to hurt much more, for the next black man to aspire to the presidency is going to be faced with the near-insurmountable obstacle of Obama’s failed presidency.

UN’S CANCUN (!) CLIMATE SUMMIT: Scientists call for rationing in the developed world (well, except for themselves).

Perhaps it’s time for this reminder.

TEA PARTY ORGANIZER: liberals use "slave owner" tactics. Obviously overblown, but I think there is some "there" there.

MIDTERMS MATTER: a look back to before November 2nd. Do Democrats really think in stereotypes?

THOMAS SOWELL on the cult of multiculturalism. Read both parts.

THIS IS WHY the American people have thrown you out of power.

SEVEN YEARS? Hah! Obama's drilling moratorium will last no more than 2 years. Our next president will reverse the moratorium within hours of her inauguration.

DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL. The results are in: 70 percent of service members say that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would have a positive, mixed or negligible impact on the effectiveness of the armed forces. That’s not quite true, of course, but I think it’s clear that DADT’s time is limited.

My concern is about moving too fast. As I’ve pointed out before, gays in the military is not the same as gays in civilian life - you can’t leave the gay co-worker behind at the end of the workday. It’s going to take time for the military to adjust, and the military should be allowed the time needed.

Much more on the DoD report here and in the comments.

OFFICIALS AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY removed a work of video art depicting Christ with ants crawling over him; Washington Post writer Blake Gopnik is upset: “If anyone's offended by any work in any museum, they have the easiest redress: They can vote with their feet, and avoid the art they don't like.”

I’d rather vote with my money.

Get the government out of funding the arts. Gopnik is free to wallow in dung if he so chooses, but his wallowing should not confer on me an obligation to purchase the dung.

[Update] Robert Knight at the Washington Times fires back with both barrels.

GUN RIGHTS FOR TEENS? Well, given the youth voting record in the 2008 election, they’d do less damage having gun rights instead of voting rights.

I WOULDN'T MIND having my pay “frozen” at $193,400 (not including benefits) for two years -- if I had any pay.

OH, REALLY? Federal pay freeze to slam region.

"A federal pay freeze saves peanuts at best, and while he may mean it as just a public-relations gesture, this is no time for political scapegoating," said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

They may be peanuts to you; they’re food for me.

Patricia Niehaus, a 27-year federal employee and president of the Federal Managers Association, said federal workers were told to expect a 1.4 percent raise this year. "Now nothing for two years," Niehaus said. "We are a common target and almost a helpless target in some respects."

At least you’ve still got a job. I don’t. Don’t look to me for sympathy.