SerPolUS_IDES

H.J. Aaron (health economist) and R.D. Reischauer (former director of HBO): "Health care reform advocates will and should celebrate their history-making legislative success.... But supporters must not relax. They should prepare to meet the serious challenges that remain.... Far from having ended, the war to make health care reform an enduring success has just begun. Winning that war will require administrative determination and imagination and as much political resolve as was needed to pass the legislation."

John K. Iglehart: 'President Barack Obama, sealing a hard-fought and historic victory, has signed into law the Democrats' comprehensive health care reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a sweeping measure that would expand coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans. Appearing March 23 in the White House, Obama said, "Today . . . health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America. . . . We have just enshrined the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care." '

The passage of health care reform is the end of the century-long welfare project and the beginning of the task of saving the country from fiscal ruin. [FS: I completely disagree with Brooks's conclusions.]

It's long past time to acknowledge that a party that promotes ignorance and provides a safe house for bigotry cannot serve the best interests of our country.

In the debate leading up to the victory for health care reform, President Obama urged lawmakers to do what is right, while opponents relied on fear and cynicism.

Harvard econ prof David Cutler says the Obama plan will cut costs-$600 billion over the next decade-and that those in Washington should not walk away from it.

Dr. Peter J. Pronovost, medical director of the Quality and Safety Research Group at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, travels the country advising hospitals on innovative safety measures.

In Haiti, more than half of food distributions go through religious groups like World Vision that have indispensable networks on the ground. [Liberal snobs who sneer at] faith-based organizationstypically give away far less money than evangelicals. They're also less likely to spend vacations volunteering at, say, a school or a clinic in Rwanda.

The Coffee Party was formed on the opening premise that the federal government "is not the enemy of the people."

Republicans are getting away with their populist masquerade, and Democrats are not convincing the country that they offer anything better.

Peter B. Bach, M.D., M.A.P.P.: The Debate over Regional Variation in Health Care Spending: "The regional variations in health care spending that are documented by the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care have been cited by many as a justification, and possible basis, for changes in provider payment rates. ..."

Dr. Desiree Pardi, a leading practitioner in palliative care, counseled patients about accepting death, until cancer spread in her body, and she chose to fight it.

Mark Lillo charts how both right and left libertarianism & radical individualism have led to "communities of like-mindedness"; and now to an angry movement that wants to be free from government agencies that protect their health, wealth, and well-being; free from problems and policies too difficult to understand; free from parties and coalitions; free from experts who think they know better than they do; free from politicians who don't talk or look like they do.

Safire describes the differences in nuance and spelling between the Yiddish noodge and the English nudge, with a political context

Shakespeare in the Park tickets can now be requested online, and TKTS has smaller satellite booths in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan.

After 4 years, Matt Gross is handing in his Frugal Traveler badge, but he forever remains an eager, untiring traveler - and, depending on your point of view, a frugal one.

The Douro winemaking region offers breathtaking views, cities that invite exploring and the delight of discovering it all for yourself.

Larry King interview

A nun at a Catholic hospital in Phoenix has been excommunicated for allowing an abortion to be performed on a woman who doctors say would otherwise have died. Sister Margaret McBride may also be expelled from her order. Now, there's a debate about the church's quick, severe penalty while it waited years to punish pedophile priests.">