Swim Club Racism in Philly?
A rather thinly sourced piece in the Philadelphia News alleging racism at a private swim club is getting quite a bit of attention. More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason. "I heard this lady, she was like, 'Uh, what are all these black kids ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 9, 2009 09:09
CIA Lying to Congress?
The CIA has been lying to Congress about somethingoranother for years now, sources tell NYT. The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta, has told the House Intelligence Committee in closed-door testimony that the C.I.A. concealed “significant actions” from Congress from 2001 until late last month, seven Democratic committee members said. In a June 26 letter to Mr. Panetta discussing ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 9, 2009 08:37
Seen in the Comments–Vizzini Edition
In this post of mine on Efficiency and Administrative costs frequent commenter Michael Reynolds wrote, How about we take the French system plus 20%? Hell, France plus 50% would represent a staggering windfall for us. In fact, we could buy France with the savings. I don't think that word (windfall) means what you think it means. That the French and their ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 8, 2009 16:37
Obama Revamps White House Communications
Danny Glover reports on President Obama's total restructuring of the White House message machine in a piece ominously titled "The Cost of Controlling The Press." Barack Obama's White House is spending more than $80,000 a week to staff its old and new media offices. Add the price of speechwriters and the White House communications tab reaches nearly $100,000 a week, or ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 8, 2009 07:21
Irvine’s Little Police State
Kevin Drum links an LAT piece on the "charm" of Irvine, California, a "little planned community" that both conforms perfectly to Malvina Reynolds' "Little Boxes" stereotype - with houses made out of ticky tacky that all look the same -- and seems to make everyone who lives there feel safe and happy. And, mostly, it is indeed quite charming. But ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 7, 2009 09:53
Looking At Medicare Administrative Costs
Are they lower? This article by the Heritage Foundation makes an interesting point. Medicare beneficiaries are by definition elderly, disabled, or patients with end-stage renal disease. Private insurance beneficiaries may include a small percentage of people in those categories, but they consist primarily of people are who under age 65 and not disabled. Naturally, Medicare beneficiaries need, on average, more ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 6, 2009 14:00
Quote of the Day - Analogies Edition
Xrlq: Q: What’s the difference between a pit bull wearing lipstick and a hockey mom? A: A pit bull doesn’t quit. Ouch.Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 4, 2009 11:53
Palin Resigning as Governor
Sarah Palin has announced that, not only will she not seek re-election as governor of Alaska in 2010 but that she is resigning her office later this month. Andrew Hinkelman and Lori Tipton for KTUU: Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks, she said during a news conference at her Wasilla home Friday morning. Lt. Gov. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 3, 2009 15:48
Obama: Ricci “Moved the Ball” on Race
President Obama told the AP that the Ricci case "moved the ball" on race relations. President Barack Obama said Thursday the Supreme Court was "moving the ball" on affirmative action in this week's decision favoring white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., but he added that the court had not ruled out the use of racial preferences in the future. In a White ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 2, 2009 14:01
Sarah Palin Pop Culture Celebrity
As we discussed on last night's edition of OTB Radio, Sarah Palin is a story that simply refuses to go away. Despite the campaign being long over and her return to Alaska, where she had managed to live without notice in the lower 48 for years, controversies surrounding her continue to crop up. Has a failed vice presidential nominee every stayed ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 2, 2009 12:14
Conscience of the Conservatives
Mark Tapcott hath a point: [I]n a Beltway Confidential post Tuesday, I asked what is the difference between folks on the Right calling the eight Republican House members who voted for Obama-Waxman-Markey the "cap-and-traitors," and the infamous "General Betrayus" ad bought by the Left's Moveon.org in The New York Times. In no time at all, comments variously described your humble servant as ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 2, 2009 11:30
Everyone Has a Plan Until they Get Hit
Megan McArdle, reporting from an annual gabfest in Aspen: The questions for [Austan] Goolsbee are much more hostile than they were last year. I don't know whether to attribute this to the economy, or the fact that the disadvantages of Obama's policies are now apparent. All policies sound better when they're in white paper, and Obama's rhetorical deftness made it particularly ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 2, 2009 06:59
OTB Radio - Tonight at 5:30 Eastern
The next episode of OTB Radio, our BlogTalkRadio program, will record and air live from 5:30-6:30 Eastern. Dave Schuler and I will be talk about the pullback of American forces from Iraq's cities, newly minted Senator Al Franken, and all manner of other things. We'll also be taking calls at (646) 716-7030. Owing to a high trolls to legit callers ratio, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 1, 2009 17:21
Al Franken Won: Minnesota Supreme Court - Coleman Concedes
In a 5-0 decision, the state's highest court ordered that Al Franken be declared the winner. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled today that Democrat Al Franken won the U.S. Senate election and said he was entitled to an election certificate that would lead to him being seated in the Senate. "Affirmed," wrote the Supreme Court, unanimously rejecting Republican Norm Coleman's claims that ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 30, 2009 14:40
Health Care, Pooling, and Monopsony
At a recent press conference President Obama had this to say about the public health care option he is floating as part of his proposal for reforming health care and its impact on private health care options, Now, the public plan I think is a important tool to discipline insurance companies. What we've said is, under our proposal, let's have a ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 30, 2009 12:28
