�鶹Ů��

The cataract of insurance co-op failures—nine down, 14 to go—has liberals defensive over ObamaCare. Most amusing is their attempt to blame this debacle conceived by liberals and perpetrated by liberals on, yes, Republicans. The federally sponsored co-ops were designed as an alternative to for-profit insurers, and they’re now going insolvent one by one. The emerging sentimental narrative is that a “Republican filibuster” in the Senate in 2009-10 prevented Democrats from adopting the White House’s preferred public option, and therefore naturally the inferior co-ops were bound to have problems. (10/22)

Federal Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled last month that the House of Representatives has legal standing to sue Mr. Obama for continuing to hand out cost-sharing payments under the Affordable Care Act even though Congress had never appropriated the money. On Monday she ruled against the Administration’s request to appeal her ruling before she has a chance to rule on the merits of the House case. And well she should since the appeal was an attempt either to delay the lawsuit past Mr. Obama’s Presidency, or else pre-empt her by going to the Obama appointees who now dominate the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. (10/22)

In slashing federal spending and revenues, [Rep. Paul Ryan] would crimp Medicare into a voucher system, undermine Social Security with privatization, and abolish the corporate income, estate, and alternative minimum taxes. He proposed cutting $5 trillion in spending over a decade, severely harming Medicaid and food stamps while fattening the Pentagon budget. Oh yes, he would kill the Affordable Care Act that is now helping 16 million Americans. On that record, Mr. Ryan could very well be the speaker that the Freedom Caucus, but not the nation, deserves. He showed real cunning in stating his conditions for agreeing to accept the office, but he will have to be even more crafty to survive their demands and ultimatums. It will be interesting to see if he can look beyond appeasing that caucus and focusing on the poisonous politics of House Republicans to finding solutions for the nation’s neglected problems. (10/22)

A week ago, Paul Ryan looked doomed. Now, he looks really, truly doomed. ... Boehner spent his tenure trying — and failing — to corral ultra-conservative Republicans into a working majority. ... They threatened government shutdowns (and achieved one). They tried to block routine increases in the federal debt ceiling. They kept the House from passing spending bills in key areas, such as transportation, where there once was bipartisan agreement. They insisted on more than 50 useless attempts to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act, knowing these measures would fail in the Senate or be vetoed by President Obama. As presumptive speaker, Ryan can look forward to more of the same. (Eugene Robinson, 10/22)

Now a clear majority of the Freedom Caucus has come out for Ryan, the peppy poster child for the governing option. This accommodation will quickly be tested on the debt ceiling and next year’s budget. Will the whole conference unite behind an approach to governing that doesn’t rely on showdown and shutdown politics? (Michael Gerson, 10/22)

Preliminary forecasts predict a close presidential election in 2016, making voter turnout a key factor, especially in battleground states. Voter turnout has been studied for years, but only recently have researchers begun to study how people’s health affects their involvement in politics. Unsurprisingly, healthy people are more likely to go to the polls, even after taking account of factors known to be associated with turnout, such as people’s level of formal education or the strength of their partisan loyalties. (Sarah Gollust and Wendy Rahn, 10/22)

In 183 countries around the world, a working mom can can take time off to be with a newborn — and have an income while she does so. Fathers can count on that too, in almost as many nations. On average, their combined leave amounts to 37 weeks at roughly three-quarters pay. There’s one big exception — the United States, where there’s no national requirement for paid family leave. Instead there’s a hodgepodge of state and company policies that mean a family’s circumstances depend on where they live and work. Overall, just 12 percent of workers have access to paid leave. (Jennifer Oldham, 10/23)

This year state lawmakers moved to counteract the troubling and deceptive practices employed by some "crisis pregnancy" centers to deter women from considering an abortion. Their response — the Reproductive FACT Act, which Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed into law — requires licensed facilities primarily offering family planning or pregnancy-related services to notify customers that the state offers free or low-cost access to a variety of family planning services, including abortion, and to provide a phone number for the local county social services office. ... Now, two religiously affiliated nonprofits that operate free pregnancy counseling services have filed suit, seeking an injunction to halt the law from going into effect in January. The plaintiffs ... argue that requiring such disclosure violates their 1st Amendment rights. (10/22)