SHOWBIZ/TABLOID BEAT:
So Jake Pavelka's ex-girlfriend slams the star of "The Bachelor" and claims he tried to rig the show.
Right--a real unbiased observer there. No axe to grind. None!
POLITICS AND LEGISLATION DEPT:
So what effect is ObamaCare having so far? Well:
"Democrats dragged themselves over the health-care finish line in part by repeating that voters would like the plan once it passed. Let's see what they think when they learn their insurance costs will jump right away. Even before President Obama signed the bill on Tuesday, Caterpillar said it would cost the company at least $100 million more in the first year alone. Medical device maker Medtronic warned that new taxes on its products could force it to lay off a thousand workers. Now Verizon joins the roll of businesses staring at adverse consequences. In an email titled "President Obama Signs Health Care Legislation" sent to all employees Tuesday night, the telecom giant warned that "we expect that Verizon's costs will increase in the short term." While executive vice president for human resources Marc Reed wrote that "it is difficult at this point to gauge the precise impact of this legislation," and that ObamaCare does reflect some of the company's policy priorities, the message to workers was clear: Expect changes for the worse to your health benefits as the direct result of this bill, and maybe as soon as this year."
Read the whole thing.
In 2010 elections news, Senate Democrat Barbara Boxer of California? She's still in trouble.
Not only because the polls are tight already, but especially because she doesn't come close to the 50% mark.
Meanwhile, liberal acquaintances of mine have been trying to push the notion that the American people already have a more favorable view of the health care bill, now that it's passed. Really? You'd think if that was true, then their view of President Obama would have improved...right? Lord knows how hard he pushed for the bill. But:
"Despite passage of his signature health reform bill, President Barack Obama still gets a split 45 – 46 percent approval from American voters in a Quinnipiac University national poll conducted Monday and Tuesday, compared to a negative 46 – 49 percent approval in a survey concluded Sunday before the House of Representatives voted on the health care bill. These are President Obama’s worst grades so far, tying his 45 – 46 percent approval February 11."
Other political news this week, of course, has been troubling:
"House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said today a bullet was shot through the window of his campaign office in Richmond, Va. this week, giving just another example of the numerous acts of violence and threats against members of Congress this week. Just about all the reported incidents have targeted Democratic members in the wake of their support for health care reform, but Cantor today blasted Democrats -- calling out two party leaders in particular -- for "ratcheting up the rhetoric" surrounding the dangerous threats and blaming Republicans for inciting the hostility."
Cantor has a good point, but we must also say this: anyone making death threats against Democrats who voted in favor of the health care bill is both wrong and immoral. This has got to stop. Anyone who calls himself a conservative who is doing such things is neither responsible, nor a conservative. What we must do is, very simple, point out rationally, day after day, why this health care bill is bad for the country; and begin to make our case for the 2010 elections, that we may vote out those who have supported that bill and vote in those we favor. That's it. Making death threats hurts our cause. It must stop.
