By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
The young drop coverage to avoid higher premiums
Independent voices from the TWT Communities

Americans enter President Obama's second term more upbeat about the direction of the country than they were four years ago, when the recession was at its depths, but voters are less sure that government can be of any use to them.

Neil Armstrong would always be taking that first step onto the moon, and Dick Clark was forever "the world's oldest teenager." Some of the notables who died in 2012 created images in our minds that remained unchanged over decades.

Friends and former colleagues, including Vice President Joe Biden, two former Pennsylvania governors, judges and others on Tuesday mourned the loss of former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, calling him an "irreplaceable" man who was so determined to beat a string of illnesses that he managed to teach one last law class less than two weeks before his death.

Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter was an "irreplaceable" force who approached politics — and life — with grit and determination, a who's who of politicians and others said Tuesday at the longtime senator's funeral.

Former longtime Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, who as a Republican pushed two conservative justices onto the Supreme Court and then later switched to the Democratic Party and became a deciding vote for the health care law, died Sunday.

Chris Chocola likes taking on his party's establishment and beating it at its own game. That's what he does for a living, and he has helped pull off some big upsets.

Like many liberal causes that have gone mainstream, powered by partisan media, Earth Day had some very rad- ical beginnings.

If you're Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, and you've been around long enough, Arlen Specter has done something to make you mad. Originally a Democrat, he was elected district attorney in Philadelphia in 1965 as a Republican, supported Richard Nixon as Pennsylvania chairman of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP) in 1972 and lost his bid for a third term as district attorney.

Rick Santorum is as unpopular in Pennsylvania today as he was six years ago when home-state voters kicked him out of the Senate in a rout. That sour public perception may doom his fading chances of sticking around in the GOP presidential race, along with other hurdles that dot his path to a possible, and needed, victory in the April 24 primary.

Former Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who has been trading barbs with Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum the last few days, said Wednesday his former colleague and fellow Pennsylvanian isn't ready for the Oval Office.

After a big win in Saturday's Kansas caucuses, Rick Santorum is riding high almost everywhere but in his native Pennsylvania.

When Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania endorsed moderate Arlen Specter over conservative Pat Toomey in the state's GOP Senate primary in 2004, the head of the conservative Club for Growth predicted "our members won't forget that for a very long time."

Republican Mitt Romney fought Saturday to prove he is the strongest challenger to President Obama, an increasingly difficult task given the tight race in his native state of Michigan against surging conservative Rick Santorum.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter said Friday that ex-Senate colleague Rick Santorum is "so far to the right" that it's not realistic for him to win the presidency.

Under fire after a strong February, former Sen. Rick Santorum found himself on the defensive as his opponents said his tough conservative talk on the campaign trail was belied by his record during his time in Congress, particularly on spending.
He said his former Senate colleague's fights with cancer should give hope to all families battling the disease.