Does the government really ruin everything?

During this health care debate, one of the constant refrains heard is, "Keep government away from health care, all they do is screw everything up." If that is the case, why not take government out of all that it does, if you really think it can do no right. What would an America without government intervention in our lives look like?

First most people would not be able to read this, since government provides a comprehensive public education that serves the vast majority of people in this nation. Not everyone can afford what the market has determined as the cost of a private education. Would people say that we should just scrap public education that we have featured as part of the American experience since colonial times.

Next, let us imagine life without police, fire, EMS and public works. All of these are government provided for the most part around the country. I don't see people storming City Hall and demanding a return to for-profit fire protection. I don't think people would say that having sewers, paved streets, and a police is such a bad thing. Would you really want to hire your own 24 hour private fire, ambulance and security force?

The government also provide for our military. Would anyone want us to dissolve our armed forces and rely on private armies to defend our nation? This is the army that secured the freedom of the world when it defeated fascism during WWII. I think I would trust my nation's security our government run army rather than say Blackwater or Wackenhut.

And don't forget about the post office. You put that stamp on your properly addressed envelope and place it in the blue box on the corner. You wait a few days. Then who would have thought, it arrives at the address you designated on the envelope. If that isn't screwed up I don't know what is.

Now government isn't the answer to everything. There are things that the government should not do. Ensuring the general welfare of its citizens is not one of them. Government is the only means we have of ensuring that the free market remains free, that competition is fair, and that those who wish to innovate can. It also can provide a narrow range of services, many would call the commons, which operate better as a monopoly and very limited overhead. Education, roads, water, sewer, emergency services are all things that benefit the community as a whole and whose costs ought to be shouldered by all citizens and business in the community. Taxes are the way we pay for all of this. People might thing the term tax and spend is bad, it is actually fiscally responsible. What should worry you is your elected representatives who wish to spend more and tax less. Common sense should dictate that that paradigm just doesn't add up.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson...ignoring the facts

As part of the recent push to make the people's voices are heard in the health care debate, I e-mailed my elected representatives to make my opinions known. Most representatives send back a reply of some sort, either e-mail or some boilerplate reply with a stamped signature.

When I received my reply from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) I found more than I expected. I expected her to ignore the economists and push hard for the status quo. Even the idea of using tax monies to subsidized the inflated insurance company profits by proposing both vouchers to pay for insurance for the uninsured and coming out against allowing people to buy into the Medicare system. I did not expect the Senator to lie, yes lie in her response.

In the 3rd paragraph she comes out against allowing Medicare to compete with the private insurance since she believes this would lead to a single payer system. If you believe in the free market you should welcome this competition. If, as you state, government will run this inefficiently and bungle the system, then they will fail in the market. You are in effect stating that the current, for-profit players in the system's products are so poor and lacking that an inefficient government administered program would threaten their hegemony. If that is the case the problems in are health care system are worse than we thought.

In the same paragraph Sen. Hutchinson stated that she would not cover her family with government sponsored insurance. As a member of Congress she has access to a clinic in the Capital building run by the Department of the Navy, a government agency, which provides quick service in the event of feeling ill while at the office and not wanting to wait to make an appointment. If she needs a higher level of care or surgery, she can be treated at Walter Reed Medical Center run by the U.S. Army, another government agency. As a member of Congress she is able to pick plans to cover her family from a government administered insurance exchange, the same exchange that Ted Kennedy wanted to open up to the American people as far back as 1976 and that Barack Obama advocated during his campaign last year. You are the recipient of government administered health care right now.

The most incredible statements occurred at the end of the next paragraph in which she was trying to muddy the waters on the idea of a co-op. In her words, "The Administration has tried to bail out the banking, housing, and auto industry; would these co-ops be next? " That kind of sentiment might fire up those that might take what she says as gospel, but the rest of us might want to check out her statements. When you do, this sentence is a huge lie. First, it is not the administration of Barack Obama that bailed the banks or the housing market. It was a bill passed by Congress before the August recess in 2008 and signed into law by then President George Bush that bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and tried to mitigate the damage the sub prime lending meltdown caused. This bill passed with overwhelming support in the Senate and you voted Yea for final passage. Troubled Assets Relief Program, or the bank bailout was considered in September 2008. George Bush both proposed the legislation and signed it into law, and once again Kay you voted for its passage. Then when Barack Obama wished to extend a line of credit to our auto makers, which account for millions of jobs and the bulk of our manufacturing base only then did you come out against such actions. When George Bush asked you to write a blank check to Wall Street to save the very people whose reckless speculation helped cause, you could not say yes fast enough. Kay, get the facts straight before you pass judgement, trying to blame Barack Obama for the state of the Economy, which because of the Stimulus package is beginning to turn around, is like a homeowner blaming the firemen for the loss of their possessions in the fire they caused when they left the cigarette burning on counter which caused the fire.

Your letter was enlightening, you have proved what the progressive pundits have said all along, that the Republican party is devoid of real ideas for change, that their mantra is simply to oppose all legislation, cause gridlock and hope people aren't any wiser come election day. Texas deserves better in its elected representatives, it deserves fresh ideas in order to tackle the real problems it faces. Texans from Midland to the Rio Grande Valley need real leadership. With you and Rick Perry all we are left wondering is who is pulling the strings we see.

Healthcare reform and the politics of fear.

In this editorial opinion, Bill Moyers brought an eloquence to our national discourse that has not been seen since Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite. While he explored the health care debate he also touched on the growing fear, bordering on paranoia that is bubbling to the surface in American life. While the debate may seem new, it is clear that some of it is a result of the latent racism the is still lurking beneath the facade in some parts of the nation.

It has been said that it is easier to say we are sorry than to admit we were wrong, the tone of our national discourse would seem to illustrate this. If we step back, for the most part a President speaking to our children on staying in school and working toward goals is not some plot to indoctrinate the children with a socialist message. The idea of offering our citizens the opportunity to buy into Medicare before we reach 65 as an alternative to private insurance is not close to socialized medicine. Yet the debate would suggest that some can not make these distinctions.

Who are the ones making the noise, many of them were the ones who have supported the Neo-Conservative movement since the days of Ronald Reagan. If people like Paul Krugman or Thom Hartmann are correct, it is the economic policies pursued since 1980 caused the current economic condition. Beginning with Reagan, all of the market safeguard put in place by Roosevelt as a result of the Great Depression began to be dismantled one at a time. These safeguards included the protection of workers who wished to organize, the separation of investment banks from commercial banks among others.

These policies saw the nation's average wage decline while the earnings for the wealthiest grow at astounding rates. We saw government abdicate its responsibility to regulate the market and ensure safety to a the industries themselves with disastrous consequences.

Remember people do not like being told they were wrong. People voted for the conservatives not only because they bought into the idea of prosperity but because the conservatives would play to the fears. They voted for people who preached a smaller government but advocated a government large enough to interject itself in the most private affairs of its citizens. They see people around them that are different from themselves and fear the change that it represents. The conservatives played to those fears. Now with our economy holding on by a thread they do not want to face the reality that they voted for the leaders whose policy brought us to where we are now, and they don't like it.

Since the days of old, it is easy to exploit fear during times of economic distress. Blame the other guy for what is wrong. That is easy. In this case President Barack Obama is of mixed ethincity and that brings old prejudices back into vogue. Hate groups have seen an upsurge in membership and activity. At least 2 times at a recent town hall meeting in an Hispanic congressional district, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez was grilled on the potential of health care money being spent on care of illegal immigrants by angry white audience members.

Instead of trying to learn from the mistakes of the past, the Republican party has tried to blame incoming administration for the problems they created. To blame Barack Obama for the state of the economy right now is akin to blaming the firemen for the loss of your house when you are the one who left the cigarette smoldering on couch cushion that set the blaze. The situation we are in took over 20 years of effort to cause, it will not be fixed overnight. It took FDR more than one term to fully repair the damage to our nation from the Great Depression.

It is up to each of us to rise above our level of discourse and begin the vital debate on the issues that are really pressing. We need to encourage our elected leaders to quit thier bickering and do the jobs they were hired to perform. We are not their servants, they are ours. They are the ones who are supposed to put petty differences aside and do what is right for the nation as a whole. That is the true intention of our founding fathers.

The Healthcare Town Hall Meeting: South Texas Style

This past Friday the healthcare debate came to South Texas when former Mayor Henry Cisneros moderated a townhall debate for Rep. Ciro Rodriguez at the newly constructed performing arts center at Palo Alto College on San Antonio's Southside. While this lacked the faux pas of Representatives Wally Herger and Lynn Jenkins it was quite lively.

Ciro represents a district that was drawn up by the courts to provide a better opportunity at Hispanic representation, though you would not know it by looking at the audience. This audience was very, very white, and it would seem not willing to listen to the remarks of the Congressman. No less than 4 different people brought up government funded abortions. On each occasion Rep. Rodriguez pointed to to the copy of the house bill sitting on a table and said that it is not part of the bill and is not allowed because of the Hyde Amendment. One of the 4 questioners brought up grant money for Planned Parenthood. This is hypocracy at its finest. Planned Parenthood does many things in the community, abortion couseling is only one of them. They are an organization that works to make contraceptives avilible and aid in resposible family planning. If one is against abortion, don't work to outlaw it, use sensible education which takes the stigma off of contraception and family planning so that unintended pregnancies can be prevented.

While we had nobody in the crowd who questioned Obama's citizenship, on more than one occasion the stigma of healthcare for illegal aliens reared its ugly head. I am sure there are families in the area who are decended from the original Tejanos whose claim for citizenship in Texas predates many of the Anglos in attendence. The most outrageous comment came from someone who heard on, I think she said Fox News (suprise suprise) that Obama wanted to outlaw certain internet sites.

On the whole Ciro performed adequately but he could have been much much stronger. He showed brief glimpses of passion and fire to fight for what he know is right, but these were tempered by the hostility he was getting from the largely angry, white people in attendence. This would have been a time where Ted Kennedy would have stood up, outlined his principles, presented his arguments and not be afraid to proclaim himself a liberal. Ciro, stand tall and fight for good solid legislation. The members who came before you saw similar opposition to Medicare and Medicaid, and the Democrats in Congress stood tall and did what had to be done.

I leave you all with a little thought, this was the Dali Lama's definition of the True Meaning of Life, and it described Ted Kennedy and the entire Progressive agenda:

We are visitor on this planet.

We are here for ninety or one hundred years at the very most.

During that period, we must try to do something good, something useful with our lives.

If you contribute to other people's happiness, you will find the true goal, the true meaning of life.

H.H. the 14th Dali Lama

Edward Kennedy, One of the last of the great American Statesmen

Today our nation lost one of its great leaders. Ted Kennedy, the Senior Senator from the great state of Massachusetts passed away at home surrounded by his family. He had his personal faults, as we all do, but he rose above them, and in doing so tried to inspire the nation to achieve its own greatness.

Inspired by her Sister Eunice's work with Special Olympics, Kennedy championed causes such as civil rights, improvements in educational opportunities and raising the standard of living of the poor and downtrodden.

One of his greatest passions was his desire to see America establish universal healthcare. In 1976 he recounted his Father's struggles after suffering a stroke. He was able to see his father recieve the best of care. He stated that this level of care should be availible to all. He said, "If this health insurance is good enough for the President, Vice President and Members of Congress, it should be good enough for all Americans."

He felt so strongly about healthcare and Barack Obama's vision for universal coverage, he gathered his strength and trekked to Denver to rally the troops and pass his torch to the next generation.

As we sit here in debate as to the future of healthcare reform, we must keep Teddy's spirit alive and make this the single piece of landmark legislation that would befit his legacy to public service. WWTD....what would Ted Do should be our battle cry. The bill crafted by Senator Dodd and Kennedy's Health Labor and Pensions Committee delivers this promise. Let this strong piece of legislation go to the President's desk and become Teddy's legacy.

"The Dream Shall Never Die" Edward Kennedy (1932-2009)

Lou Dobbs is Lying to America Again!!!

Lou Dobbs is at it again. First he egged on the "Birther" movement, questioning the citizenship status of Barack Obama, even though that issue has been settled. Now he is falsely claiming that Barack Obama wants to take away everyone's guns. Once again Lou, you conveniently ingnore the facts that prove your assertion false to scare people and egg on the lunatic fringe in this country with baseless accusations.

The treaty in question, CIFTA is aimed at stemming the tide of weapons and explosives from reaching the hands of criminals and drug cartels in the Americas. Many of the weapons used to kill judges, policemen and innocent people in battles to control the drug trade are purchased legally and then shipped on and disappear into the black market. In the text of the treaty, there is no mention at all of a database or registry of gun owners. Article VI states that all firearms bear marks to identify the country of origin, place and time of manufacture and a serial number to identify a weapon. Article IX states that each party to the treaty verify that shipments of arms and ammunition are undertaken by dealers, arms makers and intermediaries who are properly accredited and licensed in their country and that said transactions are being made between lawful entities. Finally Article XIII does provide for the exchange of information. The information is limited to, routes used by criminal organizations in the transport of illegal arms, the names of suspected arms traffickers and their methods of concealing arms shipments. The names of persons engaged and liscenced in the manufacture, transport, distrobutions and sales of arms and ammuntion so that each state can perform its due dilligence under its responsibilities under Article IX. No where in the text of this treaty does it state that private gun ownership will be infringed upon in any way.

In the Case styled DC v. Heller, Justice Antonin Scalia stated:

Like most rights, the right secured by the Second
Amendment is not unlimited. From Blackstone through
the 19th-century cases, commentators and courts routinely
explained that the right was not a right to keep and
carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever
and for whatever purpose.

The only effect on our current gun laws that ratification of CIFTA would have would be the closure of the gun show loopholes, requiring all firearms sales to be documented and ensure that applicable background checks are made. I can't think of anyone who would want persons with a history of domestic voilence easily purchase a handgun, unless you happen to be someone who enjoys pistol whipping your spouse/significant other and likes to have the option of showing once and for all if she really steps out of line. Nobody would oppose laws to keep felons from leagally purchasing firearms, unless you are the person who needs a good shotgun and pistol to rob the corner store and you are pressed for time.

The only thing that most gun laws seek to do is say codify responsible gun ownership. I have no problems with concealed carry except that there are a few places that they do not belong, such as taverns, and schools. Guns and alcohol don't mix well. The only caveat I would lobby for is that in addition to a training class for concealed carry that persons be required to obtain and maintain liability insurance so that any damage or injury they inflict on innocents be fairly compensated for.

Lou, the truth is the only gun law that President Obama has really mentioned is the redrafting of the ban on assault weapons. This is a measure of law, that if enacted properly and not allowed to be weakened by NRA is something that is supported by law enforcement organizations, the American people and just makes plain sense. The 1994 ban was allowed to expire despite the protest from those who put thier lives on the line to protect us and our neighbors. There is no sporting purpose for such weapons, since most states ban the large magazines for hunting and there is really no international sport shooting comptition using such weapons.

Lou, just because CNN gives you a time slot does not mean that you can say whatever you want. Your profession calls for integrity in the manner of how things are reported. Edward Murrow famously said, "Just because your voice reaches from coast to coat does not mean that you are any wiser than when your voiced reached the end of the bar."

Lou report the facts for a change, you might see your dismal ratings improve.

Barney Frank on how to deal with crazies

Congressmen Barney Frank gives all of us a lesson in how to deal with the crazies who seem to dominate the debate. I am not against debate. I encourage all people to press their elected officials on the tough issues. Think about what you are saying when you debate. Debate facts not debunked falacies. In a poll by NBC 91% of Americans favor reform in our healthcare system. Just remember if you hear something about what might and might not be included in the reform go to Fact Check and see if it is true or not. There is nothing in the bill about "Death Panels", nor is there anything in there about healthcare rationing. Let us keep the push on and take this issue to the finish line.

What was McCain Thinking...

Last August John McCain, the self-styled maverick, shocked the world when he named then Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his reanimate to appease the fanatical right wing in the party. Since then she has gone from fresh new face of the party, to candidate for an extended run on the Jerry Springer show.

First she had to withstand ethics complaints, that averaged nearly one per month in office. Then she unexpectedly decided to no seek re-election, and based upon this resigned since she did not wish to be a "lame duck" in office.

It is hard to see what the folks in Alaska saw in her. Her answers in a relatively tame interview with Katie Couric were bizarre at best. She could not name a single newspaper that she read daily. She could not name one Supreme Court decision she disagreed with. Then she stated that she had vast experience with foreign policy since she could see Russia from her porch.

Then, after leaving office has been spouting complete lies concerning the healthcare debate. She stated that the House Bill HR 3200 contains provisions for a "Death Panel" to decide the fate of the seniors and the terminally ill. Truth is the passage she quotes on her Facebook page states nothing of the such. The passage mirrors a bi-partisan addition to Medicare, that allows payment for their physician for consultations concerning end of life care. This consultation is to make sure that a person's wishes are stated so that there is no ambiguity over them. A person can state whether or not they wish to be kept on life support for an extended period of time. They can discuss options for care in a nursing home or other skilled facility. All this passage states is that the physician will be paid for his services.

Perhaps we have not seen the last of Sarah Palin. Maybe she can take her show on the road and hit the circuit, Maury, Sally, and yes a weeks run on Jerry Springer. Maybe after she has read, and we hope understand the issues, then maybe she can intelligently engage in the debate of the issues our day.

A day without a union member...

In the last 2o years or so, the term union has come to be associated with many negative images. However that was not always the case, much of what we have come to expect in a workplace, such as safe conditions, fair pay all came as a result of collective bargaining and later codified into law at the Federal level. While companies like McDonald's and WalMart do everything in their power to prevent unionization, it is not because it is bad for the worker, but it would not allow the employer to mistreat their employees, and would force them to provide a living wage and decent package of benefits such as insurance. Truth is we encounter union members in our daily lives more often than we care to admit.

Turn on the TV, just about anyone involved with a program on television, from the actors, camera men, to the electricians all union or guild members. The police and firemen that protect us are all members of a union. The athletes we see play baseball and football, all union members.

These workers did not form these unions to get rich, they formed them to democratize their workplace. To enjoy the same voice in the place of employment that they have in government. The ethos of unions, according to labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein, is to give workers an equity stake in their workplace. The mantra of a fair days wage for a fair day's work. It is about creating a system that gives the employee a say in the workplace, it establishes a list of seniority, and ensures that if both the good times and bad times are shared in a fair manner.

Is the bitterness we see amongst the masses, founded in truth, or is it found in jealousy, that some workers had courage to stand up for themselves and demand fair treatment, while they cowered and meekly took what their employer had to offer, not willing to risk the pittance to achieve something better. It was the strong unions that ushered in an age where our middle class grew strong, and the American dream became a reality. It was organized labor that dealt the fatal blow to the Soviet Union when Lech Walesa and his fellow shipyard workers in Gdansk came together and demanded more and Soviet Union did not roll their tanks in and crush this uprising as they had done in Hungary in the 1950s.

Get involved and tell your elected representatives to support the Employee Free Choice Act and make it easier for the American workers to organize and rekindle the American Dream for all.

Just the Facts Please

It is time that those who continue to spout off lies get a dose of the truth. In the last few months, the tone of discourse in the nation has been shockingly uninformed. Not what you would expect from someone who is apathetic, but someone who listens but does not take the futher leap and determine if what they have heard is in fact the truth.

Take the absurd belief that Barack Obama is not a citizen. Not one court in the land where the challenge has been made has dignified the claim with a hearing of the facts. Since August 2008 an independent website FactCheck.org run by the Annenberg Project and University of Pennsylvania have had images of the birth certificate on the web for all to see.

This group has no interest one way or the other in our political system other than demonstrating the legitimacy or lack thereof of claims made by politicians, interest groups or other individuals as part of our nation's political discourse.

Check out the site, and see who is exaggerating the truth and who is not. They can show you thier analysis, and they annotate it so that you can check the data for yourself and see if you arrive at the same conclusion.

Health Care, Why Call it a 'Right'?

Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, did see Healthcare as a right. He did not want to see the access to a Doctor being determined on status. He saw Healthcare as part of the commons that could be provided for all so that all could benefit.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

It is time to call them out..

The Republican party, under the leadership of the neo-cons is in its death throes and we must be careful that they don't succeed in taking the nation down with them. Look at the rhetoric and their participation in our democracy since Barack Obama took the oath of office and it becomes apparent.

They have criticized every plan, suggestion or policy initiative brought forth by the Democratic leadership in Washington and elsewhere. They voted against the stimulus plan that sought to cut taxes for working Americans. They cried out when consideration was being debated to help save companies that employ blue-collar workers. They are now attacking the plan to overhaul healthcare in this country. Has any of the leaders put forth constructive suggestions of their own? Not one. They still propose the same policies that led to the economic crisis that we are in, and those that caused the last major economic crisis, the Great Depression.

The Republican Party has become the party of no...no ideas, no help to average working Americans, no to anything that doesn't benefit the wealthiest 1%. You listen to their mouthpieces, Rush, Beck, Dobbs, Hannity, and all you hear is hate speech. Rush, when you say you hope Obama fails, you are saying you hope America fails, and I hope that all who care about America choose not so spend any money with any company that sponsors such speech. This is no better than Sarah Palin pandering to the closet racist in an effort to blunt the Obama surge in November.

I am not the greatest supporter of our President. I think he should listen to people like Paul Krugman, Bernie Sanders, and Dennis Kucinich and push his agenda with more vigor. Push for single-payer or a public option with the same enthusiasm that he used in the campaign. It is also imperative that the grassroots movement that swept Obama to the White House get out there and get active and keep on until the job is done. Don't be afraid to point to the hate speech and call it racist. Dare the opposition to stand up and put forth something more than the same worn out rhetoric. Challenge the opposition to put forth their own plans for vigorous debate. On this the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock, we need to harness the passion of the anti-war movement and push our leaders in Washington to do the people's business and usher in an era of change.

Can Anyone Define Hypocrisy

Lately we have seen a racheting up of nasty rhetoric concerning the healthcare debate, particularly from media figures including Rush Limbaugh. Rush has likened the idea of universal healthcare to policies enacted by Hitler during his reign as German head of state. Obama's attempts to bring about meaningful reform in healthcare are much closer to the New Deal programs of FDR or LBJ's Great Society than anything a fascist head of state would propose.

Some on that side would argue that all that is necessary for the system to funtion is less regulation, like we saw with the banks last year. They argue that allowing companies to sell their policies across state lines will help lower costs. All we will see is companies cherry pick the states that have the least oversite and allow them greater latitude in denying coverage. In short it will get worse long before it gets anybetter. I would point out that the same people who advocate this free market approach quickly change thier tune when say the subject is importing perscription drugs from Canada and Mexico, where they will oppose this since it would prevent the Pharmacutical companies from gouging the American consumers so that they can affort the big salaries and corporate jets.

Everyone in America wants to see our economy recover, jobs created, and prosperity to resume. This can not happen, over the long term, without significant changes in how we view and pay for healthcare. The argument for single-payer, is that in the long term it would do the best job of controlling healthcare costs and improving our healthcare system.

Some of the criticism of the proposals being debated in Congress are completely false. The idea of creating a panel of doctors to look into the statistical effectivness of various treatments. The idea is to see if one treatment regime is significanlty more effective than another, and if two are bot equally effective, compare for cost. In Obama's comaprison, we have two pills, each equally effective, the red pill is 10x the cost of the blue pill, anyone here would pick blue if they were buying the pills themselves.

Some would argue that taxes would go up, and they might, but you would end up with a bigger take-home paycheck. If we went to a universal single-payer system, costs could be shared over the widest possible pool of persons. A notional tax for this would be lower than the premiums now being charged by private plans. Some people pay more for health insurance than they do for a mortgage or rent.

Get out there, get vocal and make sure that those who profit from this broken system do not succeed in preventing meaningful change.

Who is the Lewin Group

All over the media members of Congress who oppose significant reform have cited the Lewin Group as source for their information. The Washington Post has dug beneath the surface and found that this group in neither non-partisan, nor independent, but a wholly owned mouthpiece of UnitedHealth Group. This is the same company whose 2nd Quarter profits rose more than 155% over the same quarter last year, in the midst of a recession no less. The same insurance company that paid its former CEO over $1.5 Billion in compensation as he left the company amidst a scandal.

Where is all this money coming from, you, me, anyone that has their insurance through them or one of their subsidiaries. They get this by taking in more money and paying for less care. If we get the reform we seek, their executives might have to look elsewhere for their privat e jets and multi-million dollar compensation packages. Oh and not to mention probably less of a likelihood that their insurance claims will be denied for some nebulous reason.

Pass this on and make your voice heard.

Obama vs. Big Healthcare

Barrack Obama tried to pitch his plan for the need for healthcare reform to the American people last night, and may have missed the plate. While he clearly stated his case for the need to reform healthcare costs to ensure the long-term health of our nation's economy, he did little to motivate those who wish to delay or quash any action on the subject, despite a majority of Americans wishing for some substantive healthcare reform to take place.

Over the last few weeks the President has taken flak from every side with a stake in this project and mentioned some of the partisan attacks last night. He could have done better the Center for Responsive Politics has compiled a list of recipients of cash from Big Pharma, HMOs, Doctors and all related industries. Call out Max Baucus and the rest of the obstructionists as to how much money they haved taken from insterests that profit from the system as it is.

This dilemma points to the great battle looming, the decorruption of the political process. We need further campaign finance reform, perhaps moving toward a publically financed campaign system so as to freeze the corproate money and lobbying out of the political process. If we can do that we can

The Great Healthcare Boondoggle

This week, everywhere we look the top story has been health care and healthcare reform. In what we like to call the greatest nation on earth the number of people who are uninsured has risen to over 45 million and continues to grow. The number on this don't lie we spend more money on healthcare per capita than anyone in the world. Yet for all this money we spend we rank 37th in the world between Costa Rica and Slovenia as ranked by the World Health Organization. Clearly something has to be done.

What do the top nations on that list have in common? They made healthcare a right and provide it all of thier citizens. France ranks top of the list with Italy not too far benind are a few of the smallest European nations. These nations provide comprehensive healthcare to all of their citizens. What does that do?

1. It allows doctors to treat conditions when they are mild and very easy to treat, well before they become serious or life threatening.
2. They do a better job of preventive care, keeping things such as obesity and diet in check which goes a long way to keeping costs down by seeing lower instances of hypertension, adult onset diabetes and stroke that are linked to obesity.

Now we must demand more from our elected officials. We must expose the those who are dragging thier feet for the amount of money they are recieving from those who profit under the status quo. We must not buy into the falsehoods floating around indended to scare us.

• There are a few people that come to the US to seek care that they might not otherwise have access to, but there are more Americans that travel to Mexico and Canada to fill perscriptions and seek medical care there.

We must demand that reform include a public option to compete with the insurance compaines.

• They are talking about making insurance an individual mandate, and if that happens a public option is necessary to get any sort of real reform, since without that, people will be forced to buy policies from companies who are profit driven and can deny payment thus deny treatment to pad thier bottom line.
• We must have the public option have the ablitity to negotiate with drug companies to keep costs in check.
• Provisions must be made to hold insurance compaines and thier officers responsible for any of their policyholders who dies because of a denial of treatment.

We can demand better from our healthcare system. To those who cry that it won't work, remember every other nation seems to get it to work rather well. Just remember citizens should not be afraid of thier government a government should be afriad of its citizens.

Are we really that different...

Everywhere we turn around people on the TV try to tell us that we are different. We see every possible basis of difference extolled by our popular culture. Whether it is the color of our skin, our religious faith, how we choose to express love, our gender, it seems that everyone wants to point out the differences.

What if we were more alike than different? Would that alter our perception of the outside world? If we truly looked at the person next to us, or accross from us as a brother rather than a stranger, would we see hate so rampant?

I am sure you have heard of the game...Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. It is a take on the idea that we are separated by anyone else in the world by no more than 6 persons. That our relationships are that interconnected. If so, why should we hate our fellow man? If it is true that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Then all the matter that makes up all objects and things sprang forth from the big bang at the start of time. If this is true than we are truly all connected in a profound way.

Think about this next time you hear someone trying to point out our differences.

Knowlege truly is the ultimate power, lets be downright dangerous my friends.

Musings From a Dangerous Mind

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends....If you are drawn to this blog, congratulations, you have looked around and it occurs to you that things around you aren't always what the voice on the TV paints it to be.

The freedom of the press is the first right granted us in our Bill of Rights in the Constitution. It was believed, by our founding fathers, that we the people need unbiased information on our government to allow the citizen electorate to make informed decisions at the ballot box. We were never meant to have the talking head or the detached voice speaking from our TV give us gospel truth, it is only one of many possible opinions about what the world around us.

I hope that this blog will explore us as citizens, what we have in common and how that relates to the world around us.

Let us get ready to take a trip down the rabbit hole and see how our world looks from a new perspective.