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Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 10, 2016 17 Comments
The prof's post entitled "ObamaCare is the Gateway Drug to Single-payer" couldn't be more apt.  There are serious flaws with ObamaCare, and in the terms by which it was presented to the American people, it has been a colossal failure from its foundation to its implementation . . . at least those "good" and popular parts that Obama has allowed to take effect (he's kicked the not-so-good, deeply unpopular parts down the road). Hillary has a plan to address the problem that she sees as central to ObamaCare's continued unpopularity, and that plan (surprise, surprise) involves the federal government's involvement with / setting of prescription drug pricing.  Her plan is so threatening to free market principles that Pfizer's CEO says that if implemented this plan will lead directly to single-payer.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on September 10, 2016 15 Comments
Joy Reid has to be the rudest "host" on American TV. On her misnamed AM Joy show, Reid has made an art form out of interrupting and shutting down "guests" who don't toe her liberal line. We've reported how Reid abruptly ended a segment when a conservative Latino tried to mention Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger's support of eugenics. Then it was an African-American Republican who was chastised by Reid for daring to speak of "illegals." Today it was the misfortune of David Malpass, who held senior positions in the Reagan and H.W. Bush administrations and now serves as an adviser to Donald Trump, to be subjected to Reid's rudeness. When he tried to raise the pay-to-play nexus between the Clinton Foundation and Hillary's State Department, Reid repeatedly interrupted to accuse him of making statements that were "false" and "untrue," before asking for "help" from an anti-Trump guest who accused Malpass of coming on the show to "lie."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 10, 2016 7 Comments
So far, we've had numerous terrorist attacks on our soil since 9/11, and several stand out as particularly horrific:  the Fort Hood terror attack, the Boston bombing, San Bernardino, and Orlando.  As a result of the felt increase in terror attacks on our own soil, Americans feel less safe from terrorism. According to Pew Research, a full 40% of the American public now feel that the ability of terrorists to launch a major attack is greater than it was on 9/11.  This is the highest this number has been in 14 years.
Currently, 40% of the public says that the ability of terrorists to launch another major attack on the United States is greater than it was at the time of the 9/11 attacks, which is the highest share expressing this view over the past 14 years. About a third (31%) say terrorists’ abilities to attack are the same as at the time of 9/11, while just 25% say their ability to initiate a major attack is less than at that time.
Pew attributes this growth to . . . Republicans.
The latest national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted Aug. 23-Sept. 2 among 1,201 adults, finds that the growth in the belief that terrorists are now better able to launch a major strike on the U.S. has come almost entirely among Republicans. Today, 58% of Republicans view the ability of terrorists to attack as greater than at the time of 9/11, up 18 percentage points since November 2013.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 07, 2016 51 Comments
It's election year which means progressive celebrities are making promises they have zero intention of keeping. Namely promises to leave the country if the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, wins the November election. We've compiled a list of celebrities and public officials who've declared plans to peace out of the U.S. of A. if Trump beats Hillary.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 05, 2016 2 Comments

Holy cow! Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman John Urschel recorded a 4.0 GPA at MIT in his first semester of his PhD program. https://twitter.com/JohnCUrschel/status/735199097376940032 But it's actually not that surprising: He earned his bachelor's degree in three years at Penn State and spent his senior year working on a...

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on September 03, 2016 17 Comments
Joy Reid has a history of shutting down guests on her MSNBC show who disagree with her. Last week, Reid abruptly ended a segment when a conservative Latino guest tried to raise Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger's support of eugenics. Today, the ever PC-Reid instructed a Trump supporter not to speak of "illegals" when referring to illegal immigrants. African-American Trump supporter Paris Dennard was making the point that Trump is not opposed to immigration generally, but to illegal immigration, and that illegal immigrants take jobs from black Americans. Dennard twice spoke of "illegals." That led guest Juan Hernandez, a supporter of Libertarian Gary Johnson, to say he was "insulted." Reid agreed, adding "this is like being in a family home. And when you're in this home, we just ask that you please not use terminology that offends people. So y'all are guests in our house, please don't use that terminology."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on August 29, 2016 12 Comments
Wild-haired comedic genius, Gene Wilder, passed away Sunday night at his home in Stamford, Connecticut. Wilder was known for his leading roles in classics like "Young Frankenstein", "Blazing Saddles", "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and many more. From the New York Times:
Eric Weissmann, who was Mr. Wilder’s lawyer for many years, confirmed the death. A nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, said that the cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Mr. Wilder’s rule for comedy was simple: Don’t try to make it funny; try to make it real. “I’m an actor, not a clown,” he said more than once.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 29, 2016 17 Comments
One of my favorite articles not published at LI this year is the New York Times piece flummoxed by and bemoaning the fact that Obama's calls for gun control go nowhere and serve only to increase gun sales. Here's an excerpt:
More guns were sold in December [2015] than almost any other month in nearly two decades, continuing a pattern of spikes in sales after terrorist attacks and calls for stricter gun-buying laws, according to federal data released in January. The heaviest sales last month, driven primarily by handgun sales, followed a call from President Obama to make it harder to buy assault weapons after the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif.

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 28, 2016 50 Comments
A Harvard psychiatrist who works at Mass General Hospital is claiming that half of all college students have some sort of mental disorder. While this goes a long way towards explaining some of the campus behavior we've documented over the last few years, it also serves as just another excuse to treat college students like victims. CBS News in Boston reports:
New Concerns Arise About Mental Health Of College Students New concerns arise about the mental health of students on college campuses all across the country. Dr. Gene Beresin, a psychiatrist and Executive Director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital, says 50% to 60% of college students have a psychiatric disorder.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 27, 2016 19 Comments
In a move that is being hailed as cementing his conservation legacy, Obama has, with the stroke of his pen, expanded a national marine monument off the coast of Hawaii to over 582,578 square miles.  This move will, however, destroy commercial fishing and potential drilling and mineral collection in a vast expanse of our waters. The Hill reports:
President Obama on Friday morning created a massive national monument off the coast of his native Hawaii, the world’s largest protected area. The declaration expands more than threefold the size of the Papahānaumokuāke Marine National Monument, surrounding the outlying northwestern Hawaiian islands. The move in Obama’s final months further cements his legacy of using unilateral executive authority to protect far more land and water as national monuments than any other president.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 26, 2016 17 Comments
Advocacy group Student Matters filed a federal lawsuit in Connecticut to make education a constitutional right due to the state's restriction on magnet, charter schools, and school choice programs. It alleges the state's limited school choice for parents force "thousands of low-income and minority students to attend low-performing schools." The group insists now is the time for the federal courts to recognize education as a fundamental right:
“The fundamental principles of equality in our country demand that every child have a chance to get an education, to learn and to have that platform to succeed,” said Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., an attorney for the plaintiffs.
The Washington Post reported:
An advocacy group best known for using the courts to challenge California’s teacher tenure laws has now taken its legal strategy to Connecticut, where it has sued state officials over “anti-opportunity” laws that restrict the growth of magnet and charter schools and that limit inner-city students’ ability to transfer to more affluent suburban school districts.
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