Year: 2014

Charlie Cook: Christie Was a Long Shot for 2016 Before Bridgegate

Jon Ponder

Charlie Cook is one of the most hard-nosed — and accurate — political prognosticators around. When my take on political events agrees with his, it’s reassuring. When it doesn’t, it is alarming or worse, depending on the issue at hand. In the case of Chris Christie’s chances of becoming president in 2016, even prior to the Bridgegate scandal, it is reassuring to learn Charlie Cook’s take was similar to mine:

Think for a moment who makes up the Republican Party, and most specifically the part of the GOP base that dominates the presidential nomination process. Think about the people they seriously considered for their party’s presidential nomination last time around. Think Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich. Now, quickly, think Christie. Now think Sesame Street: “One of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn’t belong.” […]

Odds Even Trump Will Run for NY Governor

Buck Banks

50-50

Odds that Donald Trump will run for governor of New York, he told Fox News. Said Trump: “A group of people, a great group, a big group of people, over 50 just came in to my office and I was very honored by it. … So, they are talking to me. And I have given them certain ideas and certain parameters. And we will see what happens. But certainly it’s something I’m considering and I will make a decision pretty much by the end of the month or early February.”

International Group Accidently Provides Evidence that Obamacare is the Best Health System

Trish

If you want to live a long life, don’t come to America. According to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average lifespan of people in the United States is only 78.7 years, putting us at number 26 among the OECD’s 34 member nations. But thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the research shows there is hope for Americans in the future.

The Wall St. Journal recently looked at the new OECD study, and counted down the top five countries.

  • #5: Spain — Life expectancy of 82.4 years, even with a low gross domestic product of only $33,000 per capita
  • #4: Iceland — Life expectancy is also 82.4 years, and Iceland is third lowest in smoking rates and last in diabetes
  • #3: Japan — Life expectancy is 82.7 years, thanks to very low rates of heart disease and obesity
  • #2: Italy — Life expectancy is also 82.7 years, yet Italians spend only $3,000 per capita on health care
  • #1: Switzerland — Life expectancy of 82.8 years, but third highest in spending on health care (you already know who spends the most). Switzerland is the only country on the list that does not provide single-payer, universal access to health care. Instead, it uses a system very like the Affordable Care Act that requires citizens to buy a health plan. Doh!