President Obama More Effective in Cutting Spending Than President Bush Was

This news come from all places the Washington Times, which has a conservative reputation:

President Obama notched substantial successes in spending cuts last year, winning 60 percent of his proposed cuts and managing to get Congress to ax several programs that had bedeviled President George W. Bush for years.

The administration says Congress accepted at least $6.9 billion of the $11.3 billion in discretionary spending cuts Mr. Obama proposed for the current fiscal year. An analysis by The Washington Times found that Mr. Obama was victorious in getting Congress to slash 24 programs and achieved some level of success in reducing nine other programs.

Among the president's victories are canceling the multibillion-dollar F-22 Raptor program, ending the LORAN-C radio-based ship navigation system and culling a series of low-dollar education grants. In each of those cases, Mr. Obama succeeded in eliminating programs that Mr. Bush repeatedly failed to end.

Why Republicans and Teabaggers Should Support Health Care Reform

Republicans, and in particular the Tea Party crowd, like to beat their chests about the deficit. Well, what single issue is largely responsible for our national debt, both now and the future? Health care costs. And what is the first step to getting our hands around this problem? Passing health care reform. Imagine how much more effective this bill could be if nearly one half of the political spectrum spent all its energy lying about the bill.

We've literally never had a deficit problem this large before. And it's not the fault of the stimulus or the bailout — both of which were short-term costs that account for about 3 or 4 percent of the long-term deficit — or even any particular policy. It's mainly health-care costs — in the private and public sectors — with an assist from demographic changes. But however you slice it, it's going to require some really tough decisions from a Congress that shows no capacity for making such tough decisions. Inaction isn't an option unless you're comfortable with crisis being the outcome. Link

Rush Limbaugh = Soulless

While tens of thousands of dead lie in the streets of Haiti after a devastating earthquake, this is conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh's take on the events.

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Seriously. We Are Debating Whether We Need Health Care Reform?

After looking at this graph you still believe that the status quo in health care is sustainable or acceptable (which is what a vote against the health care bill is in essence), then clearly something is amiss.

Enlarge the image to clearly grasp the fact that the United States spends over $4,000 more per person ($7,290) on health care than the average of other industrial countries, while having a life expectancy that is below average (78 years).

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President Obama More Effective Than LBJ?

President Obama set a new record last year (2009) for getting Congress to vote his way, clinching 96.7 percent of the votes on which he had clearly staked a position.

That was a bit less than 4 percentage points higher than the previous record, set by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, according to an annual study by Congressional Quarterly.

Yet if you listen to pundits on television and in Washington, you'd think the President's first year has been a disappointment.