Heart and Hand Accomplished

Rigor
Supporters of President Obama’s health care law had predicted that expanding insurance coverage for the poor would reduce costly emergency room visits because people would go to primary care doctors instead. But a rigorous new experiment in Oregon has raised questions about that assumption, finding that newly insured people actually went to the emergency room a good deal more often.
...
The findings cast doubt on the hope that expanded insurance coverage will help rein in emergency room costs just as more than two million people are gaining coverage under the Affordable Care Act. And they go against one of the central arguments of the law’s supporters, that extending insurance to large numbers of Americans would reduce emergency room use, and eventually save money. (New York Times, 1/3/2014)

Well it is just all falling apart, isn't it? 

If you can't keep your doctor, and you may not be able to keep your hospital, and you pay more (unless you get a government subsidy), and it does not reduce emergency room visits, and it will not reduce health care costs, isn't it time for a time-out? What brave Democrat out there will stand up and say that the president should suspend Obamacare unless and until these issues are resolved? That Democrat could practically be guaranteed re-election.


Lab Rats
Liberals across the country are looking to Bill de Blasio, who was sworn in as mayor early Wednesday, to morph New York City’s municipal machinery into a closely watched laboratory for populist theories of government that have never before been enacted on such a large scale. (New York Times, 1/1/2014)

Detroit. What is it that Liberals don't understand about Detroit?


Deflection
Democratic Party leaders, bruised by months of attacks on the new health care program, have found an issue they believe can lift their fortunes both locally and nationally in 2014: an increase in the minimum wage. (New York Times, 12/29/2013)

It's "Wag the Dog" time for Democrats. Look for them to ramp up their usual grab bag of fringe issues as the 2014 elections near. Next thing you know, they'll declare that Republicans are engaging in a "War on Women."


Law-Abiding
Judge Rules N.S.A. Phone Surveillance Is Lawful in Case Filed by A.C.L.U.
A federal judge in New York on Friday ruled that the National Security Agency’s program that is systematically keeping phone records of all Americans is lawful, creating a conflict among lower courts and increasing the likelihood that the issue will be resolved by the Supreme Court. (New York Times, 12/27/2013)

Here is a good rule of thumb for RedStateVT readers: If the A.C.L.U. is arguing a position, it is usually something that is bad for America. 


Compounded
The September 2012 attack on the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans was led by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was accelerated in part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam. (New York Times, 12/28/2013)

The single biggest issue that could haunt a Hillary Clinton run for president is Benghazi. First, Hillary investigated herself and found that she was not at fault. However that did not make Benghazi go away, what with those pesky journalists at Fox News. Now the Hillary Clinton for President campaign office at the New York Times steps in to squash the concern. And so we are back to: It was the video all along!

This is truly pathetic.