EPPC - Yuval Levin RSS Feed

The Summit of Folly

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

The Democrats have made it clear they plan to press ahead with their health-care bill, leaving Republicans with little choice but to restate the full indictment of Obamacare. There is certainly no shortage of material to make the case that Congress should scrap it entirely and start over.

After Obamacare

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

On heath care, the Democrats are paying the price for a profound miscalculation. Republicans would be wise to be clear about their own priorities and proposals, and to learn their own lessons from the debacle that is now completing its final chapter.

Obamacare: Act II

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

Whether the health care bill now being pushed through Congress ends up passing or not, health care is likely to be a critical issue in the 2010 congressional elections. In their rush to pass a bill before public opposition can stop them, Democrats in Washington might just have turned health care into a Republican issue.

A Fine Mess

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

The legislative process producing the health care bill has been ugly -- so ugly that it has distracted both voters and legislators from the product being cobbled together. A look at the bill itself reveals an appalling disaster in the making, for its own sponsors no less than for the rest of the country.

He’s No Stupak

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

Senator Ben Nelson said he wanted more restrictive language on abortion funding, but Senator Harry Reid's revised plan, which Senator Nelson now supports, would allow subsidized insurance plans to cover elective abortions. One can only imagine how much worse it would be if Senator Nelson were still "negotiating."

From Awful to Worse

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

Every criticism lodged against Obamacare this year applies to Senator Harry Reid's new "compromise," and at least one more in addition: The only thing it compromises is the chance of reforming American health care for the better.

What Is the Case for the Senate Bill?

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

For liberals, the Senate health-care bill is not as good as the bill the Democrats originally proposed, and it is also worse than the status quo -- because it funnels huge amounts of money to the insurance companies they hate so much and doesn't really change the system.

What Coattails?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

While Democrats and the press have been trying to peddle the story of Republican division and civil war, the age of Obama has so far actually involved a resurgence of Republican unity and Republican prospects.

Same Old Obamacare

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

The Baucus bill is far from a compromise measure. It is a massively ambitious, costly, intrusive, inefficient, and clumsy combination of mandates, taxes, subsidies, regulations, and new government programs intended over time to replace the American health insurance industry with an enormous new government entitlement.

Obamacare: It’s Even Worse Than You Think

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

President Obama's strategy to pass sweeping health care legislation rested on stealth and speed, but things have not gone as the Democrats intended. As details have emerged, an extraordinary wave of public concern has washed over the debate and left the plan's champions reeling.

Obama’s Case Against Obama

Thu, 21 May 2009 00:00:00 EST

For all the controversy surrounding his invitation, President Obama's commencement address at the University of Notre Dame actually offered pro-lifers some causes for optimism by unintentionally clarifying the profound and growing weakness of the case for America's radical abortion laws.

Stop ObamaCare

Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 EST

President Obama and his congressional allies are pursuing a mammoth, complex, hugely expensive, ill-designed reform that is not likely to be popular when understood. Conservatives have a very real chance at stopping it if they highlight its key weaknesses and supply a superior alternative.

The Real Lessons of Stem Cells

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

President Obama's decision to support the destruction of embryos with taxpayer dollars not only ignores the ethics of the stem cell debate but also the key scientific developments of the past few years, which have shown that the cells the scientists seek can be obtained without unethical practices.

The Anti-Stimulus Plan

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

President Obama's budget seeks to use the economic crisis to launch an ambitious liberal transformation of America into a European-style social democracy; but it ignores the crisis itself as it does so.

The Republicans’ Road Back

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

American conservatism has never lacked for eulogists, but eulogies are no more apt today than in 1993 or 1977. By reconnecting with their principles, and applying them again to the practical problems of the day, conservatives can surely recover, and help the country do the same.

Science Over All?

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

President Obama's stem cell rhetoric this week is a powerful example of a very dangerous inclination among policy makers to leave science policy to the scientists--and so to leave it devoid of ethics, prudence, wisdom, and responsibility.

Obama’s False Choice

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

George W. Bush's stem-cell-funding policy will stand as a model of how to strike a sensible balance between science and ethics in the age of biotechnology. Barack Obama's overturning of the Bush approach offers an unfortunate example of how fragile that balance often is.

Biotech: What to Expect

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

The new political environment in Washington puts the modest bioethics achievements of the pro-life movement at grave risk, and yet some recent scientific developments offer real hope. Defending human life and human dignity in the age of Obama will require a clear-eyed understanding of both.

Partisanship Is Good

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

The persistence of partisanship is inevitable -- yet it should not disappoint us. At its best, the partisan fray expresses the maturity of our political life; and even at its worst (which is to say, most of the time) it is a better way to govern ourselves than the pursuit at all costs of an elusive technocratic consensus.

The Meaning of Sarah Palin

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

Sarah Palin's 66 days on the national stage as John McCain's running mate exposed some deep fault lines in American politics, and brought to the fore the promise and the peril of a populist conservatism.