News Brief

Catching up on the news:

Iran tested several missiles in the past few days, and Americans are nervous about the possibilities of a foreign country perpetrating a strike . . . Israel. Iran has been developing its missile technology for some time, and its nuclear program is hardly a secret. It seems to play more for the benefit of the media to scare people than to produce anything constructive. Except for one thing: the Russians were alarmed enough to consider sanctions against Iran. The Iranians have largely been seen as rattling their sabers to simply scare the United States, but with new missiles that could theoretically reach Europe, other nations are taking notice.

Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee, a group of bipartisan bean counters, voted down the public insurance option despite the arguments in favor of its effectiveness in keeping insurance companies on their toes, as well as its own cost-effectiveness. Republicans argued against it, saying it could lead to single-payer system, as if that were a bad thing, and they trumpeted the ruthless efficiency of the free market, as if that were a good thing. The only thing keeping this proposal alive is the wide public support it has, along with strong support from Senate Democrats such as Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Charles Schumer of New York. There's another Senate committee with another bill, but it seems perverse that a policy proposal that's supported two to one by the American people was defeated in committee by practically the same margin.