The U.S. economy was on the rise in the 4th quarter last year. But the experts gathered at Davos believe the upturn will be temporary.

This story perfectly illustrates the main issue with health care reform, even though on the surface it does not seem to be a story about health reform. Since the earthquake, dozens of severely injured Haitians have been airlifted to U.S. hospitals, mostly in Florida. Now, those flights are on hold. Why? Because no one is paying the bills. That's right, in the end, health care is a service provided by people to other people. The people providing the service must be paid somehow, by someone. There it is. Now, can we please craft a health reform package with that as the central assumption?

This story perfectly illustrates why government efforts to control climate change (if, in fact, such change is happening and if, in fact, humans are the cause) are doomed to fail. The government of China insists that any carbon emission goals be strictly voluntary on their part. They will not accept mandatory standards. The fact of the matter is perfectly clear and simple. No government, whether elected freely by the people or imposed on the people, will voluntarily take actions that will impede their economic growth in any substantial way.

The Justice Department will look into the unfairness of the college Bowl Championship Series to see if any laws are being broken by the process. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah made the request as his Utah Utes, despite a perfect record in 2008, were denied a chance at the national championship. Boise State and Texas Christian were undefeated this year, and also shut out, because they are not in the top tier of conferences that are the bread-and-butter of the BCS. It is an unfair system in my estimation, but I don't know if it is deserving of Federal intervention.

President Obama is trying to split the GOP from the Tea Party folks. It may be the best political option he can take, although if unemployment remains high, it probably won't do any good.