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2011_05_16postal_cover61404-postal.qxd 4/26/2011 7:09 PM Page 1 May 16, 2011 49145 $4.99 William A. Rusher, R.I.P. Medicare Reform, Obama-Style Obama-Style $4.99 STANLEY KURTZ 20 0 74820 08155 6 www.nationalreview.com base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 4/26/2011 4:53 PM Page 1 toc_QXP-1127940144.qxp 4/27/2011 2:01 PM Page 1 Contents MAY 16, 2011 | VOLUME LXIII, NO. 9 | www.nationalreview.com COVER STORY Page 30 The Acronym That Ate Health Care Remembering Bill Rusher The 2012 election, and the existence of a p. 37 free health-care market in this country, could well depend on a little-known BOOKS, ARTS agency called IPAB. Remember that & MANNERS acro nym. It stands for the 45 THE LONG CLIMB Independent Payment Advisory William Voegeli reviews The Origins of Political Order: From Board, a vastly powerful but too Prehuman Times to the French often overlooked component of Revolution, by Francis Fukuyama. the president’s health-care- 47 GENIUS REBUKED Michael Knox Beran reviews reform law. Stanley Kurtz Bismarck: A Life, by Jonathan Steinberg. COVER: DARREN GYGI 51 GREAT GENERATION ARTICLES Robert VerBruggen reviews Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: 16 DEBTORS CAN BE CHOOSERS by Ramesh Ponnuru Why Being a Great Parent Is Budget advice for the Republican leadership. Less Work and More Fun Than You Think, by Bryan Caplan. SYRIA NEXT? by David Pryce-Jones 18 52 MUSIC: THE RIGHT NOTES The horrible Assad regime faces its people. Jay Nordlinger on his friendship with the late composer Lee Hoiby. 20 THE TYRANT TEMPTATION by Steven F. Hayward Why intellectuals succumb to it. 54 FILM: PREACHER FEATURE Ross Douthat reviews 24 SHARIA CENSORS GO GLOBAL by Jacob Mchangama The Conspirator. The jihad for a world-wide blasphemy law. 55 THE STRAGGLER: 26 THAT COMMONER TOUCH by Theodore Dalrymple TUMBLED THE TOWERS Of the royal wedding and the decaying British monarchy. John Derbyshire contemplates the fragility of civilization. FEATURES SECTIONS 30 THE ACRONYM THAT ATE HEALTH CARE by Stanley Kurtz Meet IPAB, a constitutional outrage and de facto death panel. 2 Letters to the Editor 4 The Week 34 IT’S GOOD TO BE KING by Judith Miller 43 Athwart . James Lileks In the face of the Arab Spring, Morocco’s monarch hangs on. 44 The Long View . Rob Long 46 Poetry . Charles Baudelaire 37 REMEMBERING BILL RUSHER 56 Happy Warrior . Mark Steyn NATIONAl RevIeW (ISSN: 0028-0038) is published bi-weekly, except for the first issue in January, by NATIONAl RevIeW, Inc., at 215 lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. © National Review, Inc., 2011. Address all editorial mail, manuscripts, letters to the editor, etc., to editorial Dept., NATIONAl RevIeW, 215 lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Address all subscription mail orders, changes of address, undeliverable copies, etc., to NATIONAl RevIeW, Circulation Dept., P. O. 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Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors. letters--ready_QXP-1127940387.qxp 4/27/2011 2:00 PM Page 2 Letters Atomic Detail MAY 16 ISSUE; PRINTED APRIL 28 It was with great glee and anticipation that I opened the April 4 edition to read EDITOR William Tucker’s article regarding the events at Fukushima Daiichi (“Over - Richard Lowry reaction”). However, my glee turned to sorrow toward the middle of the article. Senior Editors As an individual who has spent the last quarter century performing testing on Richard Brookhiser / Jay Nordlinger Ramesh Ponnuru / David Pryce-Jones welds at nuclear power plants, I found several errors in Mr. Tucker’s otherwise Managing Editor Jason Lee Steorts persuasive defense of nuclear power. Literary Editor Michael Potemra Executive Editor Christopher McEvoy 1. The “steel pressure vessel” (reactor pressure vessel) is not “cast from a sin- National Correspondent John J. Miller Political Reporter Robert Costa gle ingot.” Reactor pressure vessels are fabricated from multiple forgings that are Art Director Luba Kolomytseva welded together. In addition, they should never be considered “nearly invulner - Deputy Managing Editors Fred Schwarz / Kevin D. Williamson able to cracks.” We have had a number of vessels with minor cracking, but fortu- Associate Editors nately the cracking was discovered and repaired with no harm to the general Helen Rittelmeyer / Robert VerBruggen Research Director Katherine Connell public or plant workers. Research Manager Dorothy McCartney 2. The event at Three Mile Island did, in fact, create enough heat to melt through Executive Secretary Frances Bronson Assistant to the Editor Christeleny Frangos the stainless steel (not chromium) cladding and affect the reactor vessel itself Contributing Editors be fore the operators regained control by injecting highly borated water. Robert H. Bork / John Derbyshire Ross Douthat / Rod Dreher / David Frum 3. The torus is not designed to collect the molten core, but is a pressure- Roman Genn / Jim Geraghty / Jonah Goldberg suppression chamber where steam is released into water to condense the steam Florence King / Lawrence Kudlow / Mark R. Levin Yuval Levin / Rob Long / Jim Manzi during an accident. The torus also helps “scrub” some of the rather nasty radio - Andrew C. McCarthy / Kate O’Beirne nuclides out of gases prior to their release into the atmosphere. David B. Rivkin Jr. NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE Editor-at-Large Kathryn Jean Lopez William A. Jensen Managing Editor Edward John Craig Manitowoc, Wis. News Editor Daniel Foster Editorial Associates Brian Stewart / Katrina Trinko IllIAM uckeR ReplIes Web Developer Nathan Goulding W T : Mr. Jensen is correct on No. 1. On No. 2, the cladding is Applications Developer Gareth du Plooy the zircalloy or steel coating on the fuel rods. It is my understanding that the steel Technical Services Russell Jenkins vessel has a chromium lining, and that when the fuel at Three Mile Island (and later EDITORS- AT- L A RG E at Fukushima) melted to the bottom of the vessel, it was not hot enough to melt the Linda Bridges / John O’Sullivan chromium. On No. 3, I was confusing the torus with the core-catcher, which is Contributors Hadley Arkes / Baloo / Tom Bethell another safety feature that lies below the pressure vessel. James Bowman / Priscilla L. Buckley Eliot A. Cohen / Brian Crozier Dinesh D’Souza / M. Stanton Evans Chester E. Finn Jr. / Neal B. Freeman Health-Insurance Equality Now! James Gardner / David Gelernter George Gilder / Jeffrey Hart Ramesh ponnuru’s “Replacement plan” (April 18) was excellent, but he is too Kevin A. Hassett / Charles R. Kesler timid about getting rid of the outrageous unfairness in the tax code that penalizes David Klinghoffer / Anthony Lejeune D. Keith Mano / Michael Novak those who don’t have employer-based health insurance. Alan Reynolds / William A. Rusher Tracy Lee Simmons / Terry Teachout Today, Americans who buy their insurance in the individual market are taxed on Taki Theodoracopulos / Vin Weber their premiums, but those who buy insurance through their employers are not. This Chief Financial Officer James X. Kilbridge is a simple problem, and easy to fix: Allow individuals to deduct their health-insur- Accounting Manager Galina Veygman Accountant Zofia Baraniak ance premiums. congress will say that it would cost too much, but we should tell Business Services them fair is fair. Alex Batey / Amy Tyler Circulation Manager Jason Ng Group health insurance unnecessarily complicates health care and increases WORLD WIDE WEB www.nationalreview.com MAIN NUMBER 212-679-7330 expenses. Individuals, not groups, are treated for medical conditions. Individuals SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES 386-246-0118 relocate and change jobs frequently, and group health insurance does not move with WASHINGTON OFFICE 202-543-9226 ADVERTISING SALES 212-679-7330 them. Individuals who are expensive to insure do benefit from group rates, but they Executive Publisher Scott F. Budd are best served by state-overseen substandard-risk pools funded by insurers. Advertising Director Jim Fowler Advertising Manager Kevin Longstreet We are a mobile society. Health insurance should not be tied to employment. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Paul Olivett PUBLISHER John F. Brinson Jack Fowler Chairman, Lehigh Valley Tax Limitation Committee CHAIRMANEMERITUS Thomas L. Rhodes Allentown, Pa. FOUNDER William F. Buckley Jr. Letters may be sub mitted by e-mail to [email protected]. 2 | www.nationalreview.com MAY 1 6 , 2 0 1 1 base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 4/26/2011 1:03 PM Page 1 More than words. Success. The world around us is getting smaller. It is no longer simply about communication. It’s about globalization. Building a bank of skills that sets you apart – anywhere your new language takes you. START LEARNING A LANGUAGE TODAY. RosettaStone.com • 1 (866) 850-7545 ©2011 Rosetta Stone Ltd. All rights reserved. week_QXP-1127940387.qxp 4/27/2011 2:03 PM Page 4 The Week n Perhaps Trump is well-suited to be president. He has over- seen bankruptcies, after all. n We speak of office holders growing into their jobs. Is Barack Obama shrinking into his? Mr.