The D.C. Dubstep

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/opinion/brooks-the-dc-dubstep.html?_r=0

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, Feb 22, 2013 at 8:31 AM
Subject: re: The D.C. Dubstep
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

    In 2013, Americans spend more for healthcare than anyone has since the invention of money. Yet our healthcare outcomes are distinctly second-class. In only one demographic does Americans' health approach that of other developed-world nations--those over 65yrs of age.  Forget the magic-of-the-marketplace rhetoric. It's when Medicare kicks in that Americans--on average--finally get first-rate medical care.

    So it is a more than a little perverse that when Mr. Brooks looks to fix our budget deficit, his first target is Medicare. But then his first target is Medicare whatever the subject.  In medicine, we call one who proffers the same "cure" regardless of your symptoms a "quack". In healthcare, we call him a "Republican hack".

Barry Haskell Levine

Who Will Mind the Drones?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/opinion/an-executive-branch-drone-court.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 9:21 AM
Subject: re: Who Will Mind the Drones?
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

   Professor Katyal draws a fanciful distinction between our protection from unlawful search and seizure---which he acknowledges is properly guaranteed by a court of our Judicial branch--and our right to life, liberty and property--which he would entrust wholly to our Executive.  Indeed, if our Executive is to be empowered  to deprive a citizen of life without due process of law, all other constitutional guarantees are moot. So which is it to be? A constitutional republic? Or a tyranny that wears the constitution as a fig leaf when it's convenient?

Barry Haskell Levine

White House Tactic for C.I.A. Bid Holds Back Drone Memos

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/us/politics/strategy-seeks-to-ensure-bid-of-brennan-for-cia.html?_r=0

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 9:03 AM
Subject: re: White House Tactic for C.I.A. Bid Holds Back Drone Memos
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

     It is famously unclear what our Constitution implies by "advice and consent of the Senate" in the appointment of public officials. But we have hundreds of years of legal reasoning on what "consent" means. Without information, consent cannot exist.

    So come on, professor Obama. Inform us what John O. Brennan has been doing in twenty-five years at the CIA--or at least what he has done these last five years in the White House--and what our CIA is doing now. Or drop the pretense that you're operating within our Constitution.

Barry Haskell Levine

Rubio and the Zombies

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/opinion/krugman-rubio-and-the-zombies.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, Feb 15, 2013 at 9:52 AM
Subject: re: Rubio and the Zombies
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

    Karl Popper that Science advances by falsification. By killing off false explanations, we move closer to knowing what's true. We need to take the obverse seriously; Economics won't be a Science until bad ideas that it has already falsified stay dead.

Barry Haskell Levine

Bitterly Divided Senate Panel Backs Hagel for Defense

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/us/politics/hagel-faces-tense-panel-vote-on-his-pentagon-confirmation.html?_r=0

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Wed, Feb 13, 2013 at 8:52 AM
Subject: re: Bitterly Divided Senate Panel Backs Hagel for Defense
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

   Despite this paper's innuendo, one needn't be a shrill political hack to question senator Hagel's finances. It's clear at a glance that the members of the current U.S. Congress fail to represent their constituents in many ways. They're whiter, taller, older, maler and richer on average than the people who elect them. None of these differences should be disqualifying. But when a public servant gets rich on the job, everyone should take interest.

   Let's confirm senator Hagel for secretary of Defense; he's eminently qualified. But let's first shed daylight on his wealth and that of all of his colleagues. 

Barry Haskell Levine

Obama’s Turn in Bush’s Bind

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/world/obamas-turn-in-bushs-bind-with-defense-policies.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 9:33 AM
Subject: re: Obama’s Turn in Bush’s Bind
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

     Each president of the United States takes an oath "to uphold the Constitution". That's not partisan; that's his job description.  Any president who would deprive an American citizen of life, liberty or property without due process of law  or who would authorize unreasonable searches and seizures should be impeached by our congress.That's in their job description. Impeachment of the president of the United States is not a small matter. It was never meant to be a parliamentary maneuver to grab power from the Executive branch. But it is the lever given to congress to redress criminal behavior in the Executive branch. A congress that does not enforce the law on our president isn't doing its job.

Barry Haskell Levine