ObamaCare’s broken promises, Defending the burkini ban, along with other notable commentary
View from abroad: In Defense of France's Burkini Ban
Iain Martin, editor of the British free-market journal Reaction, says his initial response to France's make an effort to ban burkinis on its beaches was “that of each and every good liberal sap: Wear what you like.” But on reflection, he notes that “France is under attack” from ISIS in what is “as close as possible get” to war “without a proper declaration of hostilities.” In such circumstances, he asks, “who the hell shall we be to get all pious and pompous with French mayors and their citizenry when they wish to assert their muscular secularism?” Now lawyers in French courts are “doing battle over definitions of freedom.” Says Martin: “Try searching for that in Saudi Arabia and you won't get very far.”
Health expert: Exposing O'Care's Broken Promises
Aetna's exodus from almost all its health-insurance exchanges is “just the latest bit of evidence that ObamaCare is really a failed law built on false promises,” writes the Cato Institute's Michael Cannon for Time. Its “only real selling point was it supposedly guarantees use of take care of people with expensive illnesses,” yet “ObamaCare is denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.” And regardless of the president's promises otherwise, “few Americans have as numerous health-insurance choices as [members of] Congress.” Cannon agrees that “no one wants the system we'd before ObamaCare,” but says repealing it “would create space for any sounder and much more sustainable health reform than this ongoing failure.”
Political analyst: Hillary Forgets Bill's Economic Lessons
Donald Trump's abandonment of traditional GOP principles “has been so spectacular that it's simple to miss that Democrats will also be veering in a direction that's ominous,” writes Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune. Veering far left to defeat Bernie Sanders may have worked for Hillary in the primaries, but it “neglects the lessons taught by another Clinton, Bill.” Specifically, “Clinton knew that a booming economy is the closest thing to a cure-all. He pursued it with a mixture of fiscal discipline, free trade and a light regulatory hand.” But Hillary, “pushed leftward by Sanders, has forgotten what fueled that prosperity.” She shows “no inclination to restore the balanced budget that Bill did so much to attain. It was an achievement that had not been realized in nearly 30 years – and it has not been duplicated since.”
Mideast analyst: A poor Defense of a Horrible Policy
President Obama will probably end his term “without having defended a single Syrian civilian in the Assad-Russia-Iran onslaught.” Frederick C. Hof writes around the Atlantic Council's Site that “this thoroughly avoidable result may well actually define Mr. Obama . . . like a failed president.” His climbdown from that “red line” in the sand concerning Syria's utilization of chemical weapons was “a body blow to American credibility not lost on Russia's Putin.” Fact is, Obama's entire Syria policy “rests on its desire to accommodate Iran” and protect the nuclear deal. Bottom line: “A colossal mistake has been made: one fully exploited by Russia by an Iran not likely to abandon the nuclear agreement if it is [Syrian] client gets spanked.”
Under the radar: Soros Is Remaking the Justice System
Democratic mega-donor States is directing his wealth this season right into a little-noticed campaign “to advance among the progressive movement's core goals – reshaping the American justice system,” reports Scott Bland at Politico. He's “channeled more than $3 million” into local district-attorney campaigns – an amount that “exceeds the total allocated to the presidential campaign by all but a number of rival super-donors.” And he's doing this “through a network of state-level super PACs and a national '527' unlimited-money group, each named an alternative on 'Safety and Justice.' ”
