Sunday, September 30, 2012
Presidential politics Reading: Marathon men and medical care
Posted by Max Brantley on Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 11:26 AM
* ON RUNNING: An essay in the sports section by Amby Burfoot and George Hirsch pays tribute to "the honorable clan of the long distance runner." That would NOT include Lyin' Paul Ryan, the vice presidential candidate whose loose connection to a fact-based world covers a broad spectrum of topics:
As amateur marathon runners for nearly 50 years, we were surprised when our sport made headlines recently for an unusual reason..Last month, The New Yorker published an article on the Michigan dentist Kip Litton, who digitally fabricated an entire marathon and outsmarted computer timing systems. Then Representative Paul D. Ryan, the Republican candidate for vice president, misstated the finish time of his only marathon. He told an interviewer he had run “a 2-hour-and-50-something” marathon when his actual time was 4:01:25. That was roughly equivalent to a golfer’s claiming a 3 handicap when his typical round is 100.
We have rarely encountered tales like Litton’s and Ryan’s. For true distance runners, to lie about time or distance is to lie to ourselves, to diminish the importance of the many sacrifices we make to reach the starting line
That New Yorker story is fascinating, by the way.
* WHY CONSERVATIVES SPURNED THEIR OWN HEALTH CARE IDEA: J.D. Kleinke of the American Enterprise Institute makes the conservative case for Obamacare. Yes, I said AEI. Yes, I said FOR Obamacare. As Ernie Dumas has written a number of times, the idea of a health mandate was conceived in conservative think tanks and Mitt Romney — heard of him? — endorsed the concept heartily in Massachusetts.
If Mitt Romney’s pivots on President’s Obama’s health care reform act have accelerated to a blur — from repealing on Day 1, to preserving this or that piece, to punting the decision to the states — it is for an odd reason buried beneath two and a half years of Republican political condemnations: the architecture of the Affordable Care Act is based on conservative, not liberal, ideas about individual responsibility and the power of market forces.This fundamental ideological paradox, drowned out by partisan shouting since before the plan’s passage in 2010, explains why Obamacare has only lukewarm support from many liberals, who wanted a real, not imagined, “government takeover of health care.” It explains why Republicans have been unable since its passage to come up with anything better. And it explains why the law is nearly identical in design to the legislation Mr. Romney passed in Massachusetts while governor.
...IN the partisan war sparked by the 2008 election, Republicans conveniently forgot that this was something many of them had supported for years. The only thing wrong with the mandate? Mr. Obama also thought it was a good idea. [my emphasis supplied]
Speaking of...
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Friday finish — An oldie but goodie for legislature? A rebuttal for Tom Cotton
May 17, 2013A new school leader in Mineral Springs, a political rumor from Fayetteville and a deconstruction of Rep. Tom Cotton's slam of Obamacare. /more/
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Massive resistance to Obamacare produces results
May 16, 2013Sarah Kliff at the Washington Post's Wonkblog disputes those who think serial votes by the U.S. House against Obamacare are meaningless political theater. /more/
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News update: E-mails on Imboden graduation controversy, more
May 7, 2013Some late arriving news item: * IMBODEN SUPERINTENDENT DID TALK ABOUT BRYANT HUDDLESTON AS GRADUATION SPEAKER: We've been writing about the complaint by California TV producer and former KAIT anchor Bryant Huddleston that an invitation for to speak to this year's graduating class at Sloan-Hendrix High School in Imboden had been withdrawn because he is gay. /more/
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'Obummer': Maybe that Kenyan ain't so bad after all
May 3, 2013Since it's customary to blame President Obama for any and everything unpleasant — see U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton (Club for Growth, D.C.) and the Boston bombings — should he also get some credit for positives? /more/
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Wednesday report: Fraud, race for governor
May 1, 2013Top of the morning to you. Another slow day at the outset. /more/
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Obamacare application simplified
April 30, 2013The Washington Post's Wonkblog reports that the feds have developed a simpler application for health coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. /more/
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Against all odds, Obamacare prevailed in Arkansas
April 25, 2013So backward-looking was the Arkansas legislature all winter that you wanted to search the rest of the paper every day for the latest news on the hookworm epidemic and yesterday's lynchings, but then it did something truly progressive. /more/
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ICYMI: Challenge planned on Obamacare laws; surprise, open carry may be legal in Arkansas
April 24, 2013Things you might have missed if you don't carefully peruse the open lines: * AND YOU SAY YOU THOUGHT THE LEGISLATURE DEFEATED OPEN CARRY: Thanks to Theodosius for pointing me to Act 746, by Rep. Denny Altes (a tipoff to craziness for sure) and others such as Bullet Bob Ballinger. /more/
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Dumas: Obamacare covered a sorry legislative record
April 23, 2013Ernie Dumas writes this week that the 2013 legislature's approval of Obamacare, against long odds, made up for a multitude of sins. /more/
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Guns, fetuses, God and Obamacare: The legislature wraps it up
April 23, 2013At 9:17 a.m., the House adjourned until a formal close May 17. The Senate should follow in short order, if it hasn't already. /more/
- More »
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