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It seems to be more than just coincidental, that around the time the IRS workers in Ohio were in the process of giving tea party and other conservative groups the 3rd degree, the administration was pushing what thus far has been the hallmark of the Obama presidency...the federal overhaul of the health care system. The same groups that were the loudest in opposing Obama Care are the groups targeted by the IRS. And isn't it interesting...that the woman who was running the tax exemption department at the IRS from 2009 through 2012---Sarah Hall Ingram is now the chief of the health care reform office? There's also nothing to suggest she'll be removed from her job, but the president has to be a little uncomfortable about the point person for his landmark legislation being subjected to a top to bottom review of her tenure at IRS.

Now with republicans skeptical about Obama Care to begin with, and armed with the knowledge that somebody in the administration gave the IRS the green light to take it to the President’s political enemies...and that the person who ran the unit responsible for the unusual audits is now running Obama Care - welcome to Watergate 2.0 - republicans will investigate. Angry democrats will investigate, and with the knowledge that the administration has been pushing the AP around, the national media - which seemed to be joined at the administrations hip - is finally waking up and starting to dig into what could be a disgraceful abuse of power.

Meantime, you have to wonder if the government’s hijacking of health care will be a national disaster. Freshman congressman Ami Bera, one of two physicians in the house, says the administration has done a poor job of explaining the massive medical package and he worries that it might wind up costing many of us more than we currently pay. Meantime...the Wall Street Journal reports a disturbing trend: employers are looking at bare bones compliance - that is, offering health plans to workers that provide preventive care, checkups and the like, but little more. Some nix hospital stays, x-rays, and other customary benefits. The bottom line? It could be the Obama administration's obsession with health care reform and a carefully orchestrated campaign to neutralize opposition could wind up killing Obama Care. Stay tuned.

Crane's Corner News and Comment
Power Dreaming


Do you ever stop to think how many wacky things we humans do? We get on aluminum cylinders with a couple hundred strangers...and trust a couple of other strangers to get that sucker off the ground...and keep it flying 7 miles high, 500 miles for a couple of hours. We go to sporting events to watch millionaires fail 3 times out of 4 in their effort to hit a sphere traveling at 90 miles per hour, Meantime, we chug down 9 dollar beers after paying 20 dollars to park our car.

We make time in our busy schedules each November to vote for people who spend our tax money on things we don't want or need, and make laws that make earning a living as difficult and as expensive as possible.

And yet--if I tell you that today...somewhere between work and golf or Friday night's festivities I may invest a couple of bucks on a Powerball Ticket, you will snicker, convinced I am wasting my money. My old pal Cameron Swayze, who used to anchor the news on WCBS in New York, refused to read any lottery numbers---insisting any lottery is a tax on the stupid.

You're probably thinking...Ed--do you know what the odds are of winning the Powerball Jackpot----why yes---175 million to 1. How steep are those odds----you---me---anyone who buys in to this Powerball game has a better chance of dying in a plane crash..a car accident..or dying in the emergency room after a pogo stick accident. You would have a better chance of getting a hole in one--picking a perfect March Madness Bracket...being elected President...canonized as a Catholic Saint...Marrying a Super Model...being murdered by a serial killer..or winning an academy award.

BUT---for those few hours between the time the gas station clerk wishes you good luck and hands you the ticket---you can power dream..imagining what you can do with oh---400 million dollars after taxes...The imagination conjurs up the ultimate bucket list. No room in First Class. Charter a plane. Can't get a table at the hot restaurant---buy it. Pull up to Vivek Ranadive's limo and bum some Grey Poupon. Buy and overhaul the Mets. Help a lot of sick kids. Feed a lot of Hungry people. Tell your boss you won't be in tomorrow..or ever.

Cost of a powerball ticket. Two dollars. Power Dreaming. Priceless.

 LISTEN: Cranes Corner: Power Dreaming