Commentary by Froma Harrop

Is the Sequester That Awful? By Froma Harrop

The sequester may be "dumb," as the president says, but one thing it is, is interesting. Especially the politics.

First off, it slashes defense spending, which Democrats want and most Republicans don't. With the exceptions of Hawaii and Maryland, the deepest defense cuts are being felt in the red (or purple) states so intent on shrinking government.

Irony abounds. Note the spectacle of red-state politicians fighting off tax hikes that would hit hardest on the blue states, where incomes are higher.

Let's talk about Virginia, whose economy will be most hurt by the squeeze on civilian defense jobs. Thanks to the war on terror, a civilization of gleaming new office towers had spread across its northern countryside. No doubt these people are doing useful work, some of them. But inadequate attention has been paid to what the taxpayers were getting in return.

How to Live Long Is Everybody's Guess By Froma Harrop

The latest dispatch from the food wars: For those at high risk of heart disease, following the Mediterranean diet results in 30 percent fewer heart attacks and strokes. Focused on nuts, beans, fatty fish, fruits and vegetables -- all washed down with olive oil and wine (separate glasses, please) -- the diet is said to be more effective in combating cardiovascular disease than the low-fat regimens now in vogue.   

Price-gouging in 'Free Market' Medicine By Froma Harrop

When folks pan the Affordable Care Act for being nearly 3,000 pages long, here's a sensible response: It could have been done in a page and a half if it simply declared that Medicare would cover everyone.

The concept of Medicare for All was pushed by a few lonely liberals. And it would have been, ironically, the most conservative approach to bringing down health care costs while maintaining quality.

Amazon Rules the Sales-tax Jungle By Froma Harrop

SEATTLE -- Lunch hour in the South Lake Union neighborhood. Workers walk dogs they can take to the office. Lines form in hip restaurants. Something big is going on here, but the only sure sign of a major employer is the many blue ID cards hanging out of jackets.   

Republicans Plagued by Good News By Froma Harrop

MEDFORD, Ore. -- "Obama says he's going to make middle-class jobs," the breakfast room troubadour bellowed at the Holiday Inn Express to those who wanted to listen -- and to those who didn't. "Did he make your job?" he went on, cornering a female employee. "Private companies make jobs."    

On Valentine's Day -- Women Try; Men Don't By Froma Harrop

The following is a crashing generalization, but here goes: When it comes to how we dress, there are serious gender inequities -- in standards of comfort and in body exposure. Valentine's Day underscores a third that rankles just as much: inequality of effort. 

Tough Times for California Bashers By Froma Harrop

Something about California sets conservative teeth on edge. In the Republican manual, liberal spending priorities married to an activist government cohabiting with a hedonistic culture can lead only to failure.

'Baby Bust' Baloney By Froma Harrop

America's alleged "baby bust" is pushing the country over "a demographic cliff." So argues Jonathan V. Last in The Wall Street Journal. Stacking one highly debatable claim on the next, Last builds a palace of hooey, in the basement of which sits a conservative agenda that's not very conservative.

Here are the agreed-on facts: America's fertility rate -- the number of children born by the average woman -- has dipped below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. Were it not for immigrants' having more children, it would be lower still. All arrows point to it going down further, as the Latino fertility rate plummets. (In Mexico, it's at the replacement level.)

Not All Smiles on Immigration Reform? By Froma Harrop

Such a happy scene: Republican senators grinning next to Democratic senators as though the debt-ceiling crisis, ObamaCare and Sarah Palin never happened. The unifying event is a bipartisan plan to reform the immigration laws, which definitely need fixing.    

Let's Stop Arguing About Birth Control By Froma Harrop

I'm looking forward to the year 2040, because that is when we won't be debating anymore whether birth control belongs in a basic health plan.    

The Thinking Gets Better, the Second Term Around : A Commentary by Froma Harrop

The Obama administration initially billed France about $18 million to cover U.S. military support for its mission in Mali, while Canada offered similar services at no cost.

More Thoughts on Aaron Swartz By Froma Harrop

Open-access people, meet the copyright laws. Much has been written about Aaron Swartz, the computer genius who killed himself after being charged with a variety of cybercrimes. Some ardent friends accuse the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of having cruelly called in the police to deal with him.

By then, MIT had foiled multiple attempts to illegally download academic journals and realized that someone had broken in to a wire closet to achieve the same end. MIT security analysts had also detected activity from China on the netbook being used, making them extra wary.

Aaron Swartz Was Accused of Real Crimes By Froma Harrop

Aaron Swartz: Robin Hood or John Dillinger? He was not as virtuous as Robin and hardly as bad as John. Call the computer genius saint or sinner, few will argue with labeling his suicide at age 26 a "tragic loss."

His friends in the "free culture movement" now accuse federal authorities of having driven Swartz to kill himself over "baseless" charges. But he did break into a computer-wiring closet at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and download academic papers for free distribution to the world. Had he been a street kid ripping off copper pipes, as opposed to tech star "liberating" information, would there have been much outcry over a prosecutor's threat of jail time?

From "Downton" to Golden Globes, It's All Downhill By Froma Harrop

"When it comes to torture," Amy Poehler said Sunday night as she opened the Golden Globes award ceremony, "I trust a lady who spent three years married to James Cameron." Yuk, yuk, YUCK.

That same evening on PBS's "Downton Abbey," the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) admonished granddaughter Lady Sybil, "Vulgarity is no substitute for wit." Now that was clever.

Can Hillary Pace Herself? By Froma Harrop

The football helmet that State Department staffers presented Hillary Clinton upon her return to the office was cute, but only sort of. Same went for the "Clinton" football jersey bearing the number 112. That's how many countries she's visited since becoming secretary of state.

Clinton had been away sick for a month. She had suffered a stomach virus, which dehydrated her, which made her woozy, which led to a fall, which caused a concussion, which landed her in a hospital with a blood clot in her head.

The Hagel Defense By Froma Harrop

A decorated Vietnam vet, Chuck Hagel combines experience in war with skepticism over turning to military solutions where diplomacy might work. Add to those qualifications a tendency to speak his mind (after using it), and the former Republican senator from Nebraska seems uniquely placed to lead the Department of Defense in 2013.

Left Should Know, Obama Did Good By Froma Harrop

To my friends on the left: This one's for you.

Your grumbling that President Obama again gave away the store to Republicans is unwarranted. The deal to evade the fiscal cliff was no repeat of the debt-ceiling fiasco of 2011, when Obama famously bargained with himself. This time, he suppressed the urge to publicly consider raising the Medicare eligibility age. Meanwhile, he put off the clash over entitlements for another day.

The Wrong Republicans By Froma Harrop

"The damage may have already been done," starts a Wall Street Journal news story about the fiscal cliff. This is damage a fix at this point can't fix. That Washington couldn't stop big automatic spending cuts and tax increases in an orderly manner marked another hit on the psyche of American business and consumers. Feeling captive to a bizarre political game is not pleasant, and yes, the damage can already be measured in dollars.

The Politics of Threat By Froma Harrop

The people are sad. If holiday shopping is any measure of public mood, the joy vanished this year. The grade-school massacre depressed everyone, and now our rapid approach to the Fiscal Cliff has many scared and afraid to spend money.

Getting More for Less in Health Care By Froma Harrop

Sad, sad, sad that in talking about budget cuts, we use painful words like "extracting billions from Medicare" or "slashing the Medicare entitlement." Has it ever occurred to the gladiators that improving the quality of health care can also save money? If Medicare spends less on a patient because the hospital does a good job the first time, that's what we call a win-win situation. The patient gets better care. The taxpayers get billed only once. Yay.