SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET:

CHILLING – From NBC:  A notorious al Qaeda magazine is encouraging lone-wolf terrorist attacks on U.S. economic leaders, including Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and Warren Buffett.  The list in Inspire magazine also included industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch, internet entrepreneur Larry Ellison, and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. A prominent economist was also on the list but asked that his name be withheld. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was named, though not Janet Yellen, who succeeded him.  Also pictured was Jim Walton, one of the heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, although he was misidentified in the caption as his late father, Sam Walton. Several other names on the list were misspelled.  If I were any of these people, I'd take it seriously, although I'm sure they all have security. 

THE GUEST LIST – It must be terrible to be left out, when you probably know all the invited people, and have plenty on them.  From the New York Post:  Anthony Weiner will be conspicuously absent from the fundraiser his boss, Michael Kempner, is throwing for his wife’s boss, Hillary Clinton. Weiner has been kept away from Hillary since his second sexting scandal first broke in 2013, even though Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, has a bigger role than ever in Clinton’s presidential campaign.  Kempner and wife Jacqueline are hosting a fundraiser that Hillary will attend Sept. 24 at their home in Cresskill, NJ.  If they would only take away Anthony's iPhone, he might reform.  And they could save the $60-a-month Verizon fee. 

ANOTHER OBAMA SUCCESS STORY – From Powerline:   The Washington Post reports that nearly 1 in 4 of the people who picked a health care plan for 2015 through Obamacare marketplaces have dropped or lost their coverage. As of the end of June, 9.9 million people were paying for health care plans they obtained through the federal or state-run insurance exchanges created by the Obamacare legislation. That’s a decline from the 12.7 million who signed up for a 2015 plan.  What explains the drop? The obvious explanation, and the main one cited by the Post, is that a huge number of those who signed up either failed to pay their premiums or paid them for a while but then stopped.  Some may have stopped because they (or their spouse) got a job that provided health insurance or they became eligible for Medicaid. But it seems likely that the vast majority stopped paying (or never paid) because they didn’t want to pay. Sharp increases in some premiums likely contributed to this desire.  I feel so much healthier knowing my government has such a successful medical plan in place.

September 9, 2015