Michael B. Duff

To figure out where people are, he asks three questions: Whose judgment do you trust more: that of the American people or America's political leaders? Has the federal government become its own special interest group? Do government and big business often work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors? Those who identify with the government on two or more questions are defined as the political class.

Yes, if you look at huge numbers of organizations — including those organizations that Mayer used to gain her "facts" against the dreaded "Kochtopus" — you will find that they are funded by…Soros. In fact, a number of organizations that Krugman likes to use as his own fact gatherers are funded by Soros and his Open Society Institute. Furthermore, we often see the NY Times editorial page using Soros-funded outfits as their sources. However, I don't ever recall Krugman mentioning the OSI in any of his columns or blogs, yet Soros is far wealthier and more active than even the Koch brothers. For that matter, Soros was every bit as active against George W. Bush's presidency as was the right against Bill Clinton when he was in the White House.

The problem here is not that these programs should’ve been given more money. It’s that, like so much of what’s in the PPACA, they were poorly conceived, designed to be passed quickly but meant to be fixed down the road when they eventually broke down. And most likely that will mean throwing extra money at whatever problems inevitably arise, despite the fact that the funding issues on both programs were foreseeable. Conveniently for advocates, that plan makes the programs look cheaper up front that they actually are. Ultimately, though, it’s just a way of hiding their true costs.