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May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review Oct. 8, 2007 / 26 Tishrei 5768

The cold cackle of opportunism

By Wesley Pruden


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Nothing defines the difference between politicians and real people like the occasional renewal of the Incumbent Protection Act, which always appears disguised as something else.


This congressional session's Incumbent Protection Act is the so-called S-CHIP, which extends "free" (i.e., government-paid) health insurance to millions of middle-class children whose parents can afford to buy the insurance that the rest of us have to pay for.


Legislation like this makes nearly everybody feel warm and fuzzy, like a supper of beef stew and cornbread on a cold winter's night. Who wants the little children to be sick? And if the government pays for it — the health insurance, not the beef stew and cornbread — it doesn't cost anybody anything. The voters get "free" insurance, the congressmen get free protection against losing an election. It's win-win all around.


The polls show that the public is all for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Why not? The public will always be for anything that's "free," even beef stew and cornbread. The Senate voted for it by 68 to 31, the House by 265 to 159, margins wide enough to put fuzzballs on the slippers of a lot of congressmen, but maybe not wide enough to overturn the president's principled veto. We can expect to hear a lot about cold, heartless Republicans who cackle like Nurse Hillary at the prospect of little children getting sick with no prospect of getting well.


Naturally the Democrats, whose idea of national defense is to deny that we need one, contrast the $60 billion the expanded child-health program will cost over five years to the president's request for $189 billion to pay for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is a version of the bumper sticker, typically seen in Cleveland Park, yearning for the day when there will be plenty of money for schools, libraries and places to hold hands and sing kumbaya and the Army and the Navy will hold bake sales to pay for their weapons. Can't we all just give peace a chance?


"While [President Bush] continues to demand billions to fund his flawed war policies he is telling the most vulnerable segment of our society that there just isn't enough money for them to have adequate health care," complains a tearful Rep. Ellen Tauscher of California, who only wants to buy the world a Coke.


The president, as Mzz Tauscher knows well, is not telling the little children any such thing. The president actually proposes to enlarge the program, and spend more money, not less — $5 billion more. He proposes covering 95 percent of the poor children before considering whether to include middle-class children, some of whose parents earn up to $90,000 a year. The president would take the $5 billion for the poor children out of general revenue, and not raise the federal tax on cigarettes, which would fall mostly on the blue-collar Americans who smoke. These blue-collar smokers, who we can all agree ought to quit smoking at once, must now smoke more cigarettes to pay for the windfall for the middle-class parents who now pay for insurance on their kids. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois is typical of the Democrats who refuse to engage debate. He told the president to sign the bill "for the sake of the kids."


Some members of the president's own party urged him to sign, too. The Republicans, despite occasional outbursts of principled opportunism, are most comfortable as the "Me, too" Party. Rather than attempt to explain what a sham this legislation is, the Republican sister women in the Senate retreat, repeating the argument that they have no choice but to vote for something they know is wrong and bad for the country. That's the only way they can stay in Congress, so they can continue to vote for more stuff they know is wrong. The first duty of every congressman is to protect the incumbent.


The president and his party would be easier to pity, even to shower with a little compassionate conservatism, if they had not abandoned their promises and principles six years ago to give the Democrats lessons in how to blow through billions of dollars in search of a bridge to nowhere.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor in chief of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.

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