EU Monopoly Money

In preparing for a trip to Europe, I recently exchange some dollars for what looks like Monopoly money. (It's helpful to have some of the local currency in hand when arriving in country.) Unfortunately, the euro currently trades for about 1.35 dollars, so it cost me a lot more than Monopoly money.

(But I suppose this is preferable to a time in 1994 when I withdrew 250,000 rubles from a bank and traveled halfway across Moscow to buy a train ticket to Berlin.)

Links of the Day Archive

Until I find a better, easier way (and the time to implement it), I'm archiving my Links of the Day in this blog post. I'll update it approximately every week.

The First Fallout from ObamaCare

Mike shot in Operation Ivy (1952)

We are just beginning to experience the fallout from ObamaCare, and the effects won't be confined to the health care sector.

As required by federal regulations (or perhaps laws--I'm not completely sure which) SEC rules, Caterpillar has announced that it will take a $100 million hit in 2010 due to "additional taxes stemming from newly enacted U.S. health-care legislation." John Deere, another manufacturer of construction equipment, has announced that it expects to take a $150 million hit because of ObamaCare. AT&T has announced that it will take a "$1 billion non-cash charge for the current quarter." 3M plans to take a $85 million to $90 million charge related to ObamaCare. These losses will continue to pile up as more publicly traded companies report major changes in their financial situations. (This is one instance where a federal regulations rules are actually serving a public good.)

As these hits accumulate, the effects will rampage through the economy causing destruction far beyond the health care sector. In the construction industry alone, which is already struggling to put it mildly, these losses will destroy jobs (or slow job creation), increase construction costs, and give Caterpillar and John Deere yet another incentive to relocate operations outside the United States. Perhaps we should call ObamaCare the American Jobs and Businesses Destruction and Deportation Act.

Rehashing the ObamaCare Debacle

The health care "reform" bill was and is a debacle, but not the way I had hoped it would be.

I should know better than to try to predict how Congress will act , much less how specific members of Congress will vote when under concerted pressure from the President and their congressional leadership. (See my previous post: Obamu's Health Care Debacle.) But I let my hopes cloud my political judgment.

The vote in the House was disappointing, but it should not have been surprising to see Representative Stupak sell out his stated anti-abortion beliefs for an essentially meaningless executive order. A presidential executive order cannot change a law—in this case, the Senate health care bill—although it can affect to some degree how a law is enforced. However, an executive order carries no guarantees. President Obama or any future President can withdraw it at any time without any warning.

I assume that Stupak at least knows this, so despite his protests that he was acting on principle to protect the lives of the unborn, he knows that the executive order is worthless. This leads me to the conclusion that he was just looking for political cover.

Goal of the Week: Adam Johnson v. Sunderland

 And now for something completely different . . .

This may seem almost sacrilegious during March Madness, but a few days ago I caught the last few minutes of the soccer game between Sunderland and Manchester City, two teams in the Premier League, probably the best soccer (the British would say "football") league in the world.

The game was already in stoppage time, and Sunderland was seconds away from upsetting Man City by a score of 1-0. Then Adam Johnson ruined their day by tying the game with an absolutely brilliant goal, curving the ball into the upper left corner of the goal. The goalkeeper and the defender on the line had absolutely no chance of stopping it.

For the video, see the Soccer Portal or the Manchester City website. Truly an amazing strike.