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- Is Obama losing momentum for health care reform? Is this his "Waterloo?" The latest evidence of this decline is a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that reports a decline in support for the president's handling of health care from 57 percent in April to 49 percent today. But digging a bit deeper into the numbers, there is not only a 59 percent overall approval rating, but also the small fact that the president is trusted by 20 points or more compared to congressional Republicans on the economy, health care, and deficits. As I've said before, until Republicans are trusted again on these issues, erosion of the president's approval will simply not translate into electoral gains for the opposition party.
- While the politics of health care reform are treacherous waters, the policy side is pretty straightforward: the current system, as the president is fond of saying, is unsustainable. And he's right! But while there is a rough consensus amongst Democrats about the nature of reform, conservatives either don't understand the issues or want nothing to change and libertarians are content to slap additional markets over the existing mess until they're left with -- this is no joke -- insuring insurance. 'Tis truly a free man who can delude himself so thoroughly.
- In an odd op-ed in The Washington Post, Reason editors Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie take the position that Obama's fiscal profligacy is a continuation of the policies of George Bush, right down to "perpetual crisis-mongering." They simultaneously argue that Obama is already well on the road to "Carter Country" and unless he starts acting more like Bill Clinton (?) he's doomed to be a one-term president. I'd call this a typical specimen of libertarian wishful thinking, or as John Sides memorably put it last year, "The active fantasy lives of libertarians."
- On the 40th anniversary of the successful Apollo 11 moon landing there has been quite a lot of debate about whether manned space exploration is a wise use of public funds, whether we ought be spending that money on something else, or even whether the achievement itself was all that impressive. But these concerns are less about the merits of Apollo and more about framing tomorrow's debate over space exploration. Suffice it to say, Cold War politics might have got us there, but the moment itself was a testament to humanity's ability to briefly exceed our physical limitations while expressing a deep humility over our small place in the universe.
- Weekend Remainders: Feel the power of Al Franken-introduced legislation; clearly Newt Gingrich wants to be the next Tom Clancy; remember, it's not the press' political biases that matter, it's their bias towards power and authority; the GOP loves the CBO when they like the results; and the anatomy of a hug-dodge.
--Mori Dinauer
