Book-smart Obama, aides show dearth of know-how

President Barack Obama’s administration reminds me of William F. Buckley’s comment that he’d rather be governed by the first 400 people in the Boston phonebook than the faculty of Harvard University. And with good reason. Look at the lack of common sense coming from the Obama administration. While almost 60 percent of Ronald Reagan’s advisers came from the business world, only 10 percent of President Obama’s have real-world experience. He has surrounded himself with book-smart people, who, like himself, have barely run a lemonade stand.

Look at the handiwork of these elites. The American people have demonstrated they’re  far smarter than Obama and his advisers by opposing the administration’s half-baked ideas, such as spending $1 billion and shutting down Lower Manhattan to try  Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian court; giving the Miranda warning to the Christmas Day bomber after questioning him for only 50 minutes while he was bragging he’s just one of many; prosecuting CIA interrogators who helped keep us free from attack for eight years; imposing a cap-and-trade tax that would kill the economy and increase the price of electricity and gasoline for all Americans; and insisting on government healthcare that would turn the entire system upside down when all that’s needed is a few simple adjustments, like tort reform, tax breaks for individuals and the ability to purchase insurance across state lines.

Woodstock, Ga.

Barrasso’s healthcare approach catastrophic

From Helen Logan-Tackett

Republican Sen. John Barrasso from Wyoming, during an exchange with President Barack Obama at the healthcare summit, said, “I say sometimes the people with catastrophic plans are the people that are (the) best consumers of healthcare in ... the way they use their healthcare dollars.”

... Sen. Barrasso’s proposal of denying healthcare until a person is dying from an illness is the catastrophe. It arises from the inhumane belief that those who can’t afford to buy healthcare must needlessly suffer and die from an illness that may have been cured or its effects ameliorated.

Sen. Barrasso and those in Congress who oppose healthcare reform need to remember it was one of our Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, who wisely said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” President Obama’s healthcare bill humanely and thriftily reforms the practice of medicine in our country.

Fullerton, Calif.

---