Garance Franke-Ruta

A MANDATE’S FIRST YEAR. Ezra points out something J. Goodrich also noted in the comments on my item, and which I should have pointed out myself, as well. The disproportionate influx of sick and elderly into an expanded government insurance system under a mandate law during its pre-penalty period is to be expected. And yet […]

THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES. Matt makes a good point about the way that health insurance mandates are designed to get around the problem of healthy individuals opting out of insurance pools, but speculates that mandates will only result in the creation of targetted new private plans for low-risk individuals, and that the insurers will […]

DEPT. OF HEADS IN THE SAND. Because if you can’t document a problem, it doesn’t exist, right? The A.P. reports: The Bush administration is drastically scaling back efforts to measure global warming from space, just as the president tries to convince the world the U.S. is ready to take the lead in reducing greenhouse gases. […]

NEW FACES IN CHARGE. Election 2008 has been hailed as a milestone in American cultural evolution on account of the strong showings thus far by a black man and a white woman running for the Democratic presidential nomination. But a look at George Washington University’s highly bookmarkable comprehensive campaign 2008 site, Democracy in Action P2008, […]

NO BEARDS HERE. Andrew Sullivan points readers to The Museum of Beards and asks: “How have I lived this long without knowing about this?” Sounds like the kind of thing Ben Romney, one of Mitt‘s five sons, might be interested in, too. Today on the Romney campaign family blog, Five Brothers, he writes: Many of […]

PITCHMAN FIRST, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SECOND. MSNBC’s First Read digs up a nice little detail on why Fred Thompson is delaying his formal candidacy announcement: apparently for financial reasons. For the month of June, Thompson’s voice will be heard in radio ads for a company called LifeLock. LifeLock, based out of Tempe, Ariz., is also doing […]

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. More support for the view that President Bush will not be withdrawing troops from Iraq during his time in office comes in the form of this disturbing anecdote in The Dallas Morning News this morning, which was forwarded to me by a liberal writer. Syndicated columnist Georgie Ann Geyer writes: [T]here […]

FROM DISSING THE SYSTEM TO FIXING IT. John Harris interviewed Al Gore before his lecture and book signing last night at GWU, sponsored by bookstore Politics & Prose. As we’ve noted repeatedly on this site, Gore doesn’t seem likely to be running again. Harris reports: When the inevitable question came — his intentions about 2008 […]

NEW BLOG ON THE BLOCK. New America Foundation fellow Daniel Levy, also with The Century Foundation and an occasional Prospect contributor, has joined the foreign policy blogosphere with new blog on the block Prospects for Peace, which will cover Middle East issues and the Isreali-Palestinian conflict. Check it out. –Garance Franke-Ruta

FROM RUSTIC TO RUSTY. Powerline’s Paul Minrengoff was at a dinner with still-exploring, potential G.O.P. presidential contender Fred Thompson last night and pronounces him a bit rusty. His impressions: First, Thompson exudes the same great presence and ease of manner in person that he does on television. He’s likeable and quick with the good one-liner. […]