You could argue that Medicare administrators have fallen down on the job in terms of putting downward pressure on the price charged by service providers, but private insurance have not shown any competence in this matter either.

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Challenges based on such factors, which engage biases far deeper than any purported rooting interest in a case, have been swatted down so often that a law clerk of even middling competence could prepare an opinion in less than half a day for a judge facing such a challenge.

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However, they should only work in the NHS if they have proven their competence and language skills.

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And I must tell you, I've been impressed by the competence, the management skills that so many of you have demonstrated in incredibly difficult financial times and difficult circumstances.

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In my experience, most managers in the health service have no credentials and have passed no tests of competence, although medicine and health-service management are very complex affairs.

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They might reasonably have concluded that it is, instead, Mr. Kerry whose competence to lead the Nation in this war is open to serious question.

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These traits were competence, dominance, likeability, facial maturity (in other words, did the individual have an adult-looking face or a baby-face) and trustworthiness.

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In a pastoral letter issued in early February, the CBCP listed the three main qualities a candidate must have: competence or leadership, personal integrity and commitment to the common good.

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Though the Iraqi forces have demonstrated "increasing professional competence, " the report says they still rely heavily on coalition support and guidance, especially in combat and logistical matters.

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