The John Batchelor Show

Tuesday 17 February 2015

Air Date: 
February 17, 2015

Photo, left: The Royal Arms of Scotland as used until 1603, from a window in Parliament House, Edinburgh 
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Larry Kudlow, CNBC senior advisor; & Cumulus Media radio
 
Hour One
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 1, Block A:  Stephen Moore, chief economist, Heritage Foundation, in re: Court order from Texas to put a stay n the president's action concerning 5 million immigrants; it was to go in effect this week . DHS bill. Executive Order (ruled unconstitutional) can be rescinded by the president.  Will all proceed through the courts and take a good long while, during which time Team Obama will begin to implement it.   I think it'd be crazy to close down DHS. Under Obama's plan, undocumented will get driver's license. Soc Sec card, back tax payments  and may be able to vote, since in some states all it takes is a driver's licenses. Why does the GOP not have a plan? / A lot of illegal immigrants are farm workers. In the short term, this debate is about the court order.  This is a pattern of this president: to issue extra-legal orders to circumvent Congress. / The country is annoyed at his highhandedness. Problem is, you can always find a lawyer [to argue your position].  / To stop illegals, have a clear visa policy on farm workers and brainiacs. Need to have entry based not on family ties but on skill. GOP needs to come around together; this is frustrating.
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 1, Block B: Stephen Moore, chief economist, Heritage Foundation, in re: ACA – the Affordable Care Act is not affordable.  The deductibles are so high that even people with fed subsidies are avoiding their physicians. Health care costs – Medicaid & Obamacare costs – are up 30% in four months!  At the same time, it’s blowing a hole in the fed budget and in family budgets: not only the deductibles, it’s the premiums. Btw, Medicaid is a deeply problematic system that works poorly.  . . . Burr Hatch Upton bill seems to be picking up support; need to sell this to some moderate Dems (if there are some). Medicaid is one of two completely govt-run health plans; the other is the VA. Both are disasters. . . .  Economy: things are better because of fracking - $100 million to the American consumer.
 
How Medicaid Fails the Poor (Encounter Broadsides), by Avik Roy
 
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 1, Block C:    Avik Roy, Manhattan Institute & senior editor, Forbes.com, in re: King vs Burwell  (King: head of HHS; Burwell: many states complaining about ACA and the requirement that they set up their own exchanges).  Arguments due in early March.  King can win, or Burwell can, or there's a compromise.  If King wins, then five million people lose their coverage; six months to 18 months to set up exchanges.  We’ve seen this president make up all sorts of law/legal rationales; I believe that Plan A for the Administration is that  . .  .    I've read leftist supporters of ACA say that no workaround exists.  I still think that there's a greater-than-zero chance that the WH will come up with a challenge.  JB: And recreate the same battle we've seen for the past five years?  AR: True, need to have a bridge so people don’t lose coverage . . . Burr, Hatch, Upton Unveil Obamacare Replacement Plan. Today, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) unveiled the Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility, and Empowerment (CARE) Act—a legislative plan that repeals Obamacare and replaces it with common-sense, patient-focused reforms that reduce health care costs and increase access to affordable, high-quality care.  In contrast with Obamacare and its government-centered mandates and regulations, this bicameral proposal empowers the American people to make the best health care choices for themselves and their families.  [more]  -- means-tested subsidies. If you give everyone a tax credit . . . My own plan: gradually phase out the subsidies – as is, you can get a subsidy but if you go ten cents over a limit you lose everything, which discourages b[people from earning more.  . . .  Switzerland gives you the tax credit, it gradually phases out, and if you’re middle class you're expected to buy your own health care. 
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 1, Block D: Avik Roy, Manhattan Institute & senior editor, Forbes.com, in re: How to modernize and improve Medicaid?  Bur Hatch Upton effectively allows people on Medcaid today to take the tax credit and buy healthcare on their own; similar to my, "Transcending Obamacare" – let people buy health insurance, have a health saving account, or both. A third of physicians have   Obamacare's worst feature is that it expands Medicaid – people on it don’t do better than people with no insurance at all. Medical malpractice insurance:   . . .  tort law is regulated at state, not federal, level.  . . .  If premium cost over 7% of your income, you’re thrown off the mandate . . . .
10 Countries with Universal Health Care Have Freer Economies than the U.S.
Wikipedia: King v. Burwell, Halbig v. Burwell, Pruitt v. Burwell, and Indiana v. IRS are a set of related lawsuits challenging U.S. Treasury regulation, 26 C.F.R. § 1.36B-2(a)(1), issued under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The challengers argue that the text of the ACA only allows for subsidies on state-run exchanges, and that the regulation as implemented by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), providing for subsidies on state-run exchanges as well as federal exchanges, exceeded the authority Congress granted to it. All of the "v. Burwell" cases were originally titled "v. Sebelius" until Kathleen Sebelius was replaced by Sylvia Mathews Burwell as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Hour Two
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 2, Block A:  Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; author: Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, & The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag after Stalin; in re:  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31511926
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 2, Block B: Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; author: Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, & The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag after Stalin; in re: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/17/ukraine-pro-russia-forces-s...
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 2, Block C: Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; author: Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, & The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag after Stalin; in re:  Putin Urges Kyiv to Surrender Debaltseve / Putin tells Kiev to let troops surrender as Ukraine ceasefire unravels  /  'Surrender now' Putin tells Kiev  /  Explore in depth
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 2, Block D: Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; author: Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, & The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag after Stalin; in re: http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-army-rebels-miss-deadline-start-weapons-pu...
Hour Three
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 3, Block A:   Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review & Pirates fan, in re: Click here for link / No city could be a better backdrop than Philadelphia for the 2016 Democratic National Convention if Hillary Clinton is the party's presidential nominee. “It will be an awesome homecoming for her and her neighbors from Scranton, who will no doubt be a major presence in Philly,” said Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro, a Democrat. Vice President Joe Biden, a Scranton native, said Thursday he's pondering a presidential run.
The Democratic National Committee signed a contract with the City of Brotherly Love to host its gathering, the first time since 1948. Philadelphia is preparing for Pope Francis' visit in September. The city beat out Brooklyn and Columbus, Ohio, for the political party the week of July 25, 2016, a week after Republicans gather in Cleveland. Both states are pivotal in presidential races because of their large number of electoral votes. “The good news is that we got the convention; the bad news is that we got the convention and we have to raise a boatload of money,” said ex-Gov. Ed Rendell, who chaired the Philadelphia DNC 2016 host committee. The DNC's chair, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, said city officials committed “to a seamless and safe convention.” “Philadelphia's deep-rooted place in American history provides a perfect setting for this special gathering,” she said in a statement confirming the choice.
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 3, Block B: Rich Lowry, NRO, in re: THE MIDDLE EAST, Authorization for Failure  President Obama’s plans are irresponsible.  The Editors
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 3, Block C:   Seb Gorka, Marine Corps University & Breitbart, in re: http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/02/14/the-cost-to-america-of-a-awol-president/
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 3, Block D:  Brent Skorup,  , in re: Net Neutrality's Threat to Innovation  A new blog post from Brent Skorup explains the problems with the recently unveiled net neutrality proposal:  In the net neutrality plans laid out by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, the Internet, one of the consistent bright spots in the U.S. economy, would be subject to 80-year old telephone regulations.
Hour Four
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 4, Block A:  John Nicolson, Scottish National Party, in re: Scottish Labour abandoned social democracy to the SNP – and now it's paying the price  How the party is being "Pasokified".  http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/02/scottish-labour-abandoned-s... (1 of 2)
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 4, Block B: John Nicolson, Scottish National Party, in re: Scottish Labour abandoned social democracy to the SNP – and now it's paying the price  How the party is being "Pasokified".  http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/02/scottish-labour-abandoned-s... (2 of 2)
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 4, Block C:  Michael Ledeen, FDD & WSJ, in re: http://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-ledeen-a-chance-for-italy-to-distinguish-itself-1424206385#livefyre-comment
Tuesday  17 February 2015  / Hour 4, Block D:   Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re: SpaceX signs leases for first stage landing pads.  The competition heats up: SpaceX has signed leases at both Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base to use abandoned launchpads as landing pads for its Falcon 9 first stage.
South Korea unveils its own lunar rover  The competition heats up: South Korea has revealed its preliminary design for a lunar rover, set to launch in 2020 on a Korean-built rocket.  The article does not indicate whether this project has actually been approved or is merely being touted by Korea Institute of Science and Technology, which made the announcement. The cost to build it is estimated to be more than $7 billion, which seems quite exorbitant and over-priced.
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