Tuesday, October 27, 2009
There’s disagreement among Senators about whether or not healthcare reform legislation should have a “public option.” Rather than take the time and make the effort to develop the concept to the point where it either makes sense or doesn’t for all Americans, the Senate Democratic leadership and the Obama Continue…
Posted in Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, Public Option
Tagged Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, Public Option
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Proponents of the Public Option are fond of pointing to Medicare as an example of how effectively the government can provide healthcare insurance. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that Medicare is, in fact, the perfect government program with no funding or administrative issues – God’s gift to healthcare for Americans over 65. So it would seem, given that almost all of our countrymen in that age group are covered by Medicare – and that’s precisely why it’s not an argument for the Public Option.
If there was ever proof positive that a Public Option will put private sector healthcare insurance out of business, it’s Medicare. Continue…
Posted in Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, Public Option
Tagged Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, Public Option
Friday, October 16, 2009
It’s fashionable nowadays, particularly in the Oval Office and halls of Congress, to talk about healthcare reform legislation that is “deficit neutral.” The President has promised never to sign a bill that increases the budget deficit. The idea is that any legislation he approves will somehow be self-financing by virtue of the savings it makes possible and/or new tax revenues it generates. It’s an extraordinary promise from a President who, at least so far, his already increased our budget deficit, with reckless abandon, to levels that make the Bush Administration’s accomplishments seem thrifty by comparison.
The problem here is that the concept of “budget neutrality” is off point. Way off point. Continue…
Posted in Deficit Neutral, Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Tagged Deficit Neutral, Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
That scared little rodent in the picture is a Lemming.
Yesterday’s 14 to 9 vote by the Senate Finance Committee is being touted by the White House and Senate leadership as a “bipartisan” endorsement of the Committee’s proposed healthcare reform legislation. Of the 10 Republicans on the Committee, only Olympia Snowe of Maine voted for it. Good news for The Red Team: Notwithstanding Senator Snowe’s reservations and caveats, the Republicans are no longer officially the party of “No.” One of them has said “Yes.” In fact 10% of Republicans on the Committee, if you like using percentages for small numbers, support the Baucus plan.
What everyone seems to missing is that Snowe’s affirmative vote is not what’s striking here. What’s notable is the complete lack of dissenting votes among the 13 Democrats on the Committee. It’s frankly unbelievable that not one Democrat on the Committee – although there are a few elsewhere in the Senate –found enough wrong with Chairman Baucus’ legislation and had the balls to say so by casting a “No” vote.
No mistake about it, there are significant concerns being voiced by Democrats in both houses, but those concerns will be resolved soon enough by a combination of compromise that produces junk legislation and old fashion political pressure from Congressional leadership and The White House.
This is historic alright, but not in the same league as, for example, civil rights legislation. There’s no huge social principle at stake, although the President and Congress would like us to think so. This is about fixing a malfunctioning market for medical services. This is technical and “technical” isn’t something our government does well.
Only nincompoops – not a term I get to use frequently, but entirely appropriate in this instance – would try to resolve the myriad of issues that are involved in correcting this market in a single comprehensive piece of legislation to the satisfaction of 535 legislators and their various constituencies. This has been a botched effort from the beginning, initiated by an inexperienced President in cooperation with a Democrat controlled Congress with a herd mentality and leadership, particularly in the House, that is woefully inept. (Can you imagine Nancy Pelosi as President of the United States?)
Whew. Quite the rant. Sorry. Can’t help myself. (I’m not a Republican, in case you’re wondering, but a registered independent in a heavily Democratic state.) In any case, getting back to the unanimity among Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, I ask you: Should the Democrats stay with the Donkey which they’ve had since opponents of President Jackson called him a “Jack Ass” in 1828, or update their image to something more cuddly like the cute, but cowardly Lemming pictured above? Hmm? Pretty much a toss-up, now that I think about it.
-wf
Posted in Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, Senate Finance Committee
Tagged Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, Senate Finance Committee
Thursday, September 24, 2009
It’s been a bad and telling couple of days for our democracy.
The Senate Finance Committee has voted against language which would have required the Senate to post its healthcare reform bill on the Internet for public review before voting on it.* To their credit, it has been Republicans in both the House and the Senate who are the ones pushing for this public review – and for updated information from the Congressional Budget Office. It’s the Democrats, in marked contradiction to candidate Obama’s promise of a transparent government, who are opposing allowing the public time to study this legislation prior taking a vote.
Just to be clear, the Republicans are asking for only a measly 72 hours during which the public – ordinary citizens like you and me – would have to read over 1,000 pages of complex, comprehensive healthcare reform legislation, think about it, talk among ourselves and convey our opinions to our Congressmen and Senators who would then need days to sort through the deluge of comments they’re likely to receive. All this in just 72 hours, and the Democrats won’t even give us that? What in the world are they so worried about?
To be fair, they’re probably more concerned about what the Congressional Budget Office might tell us. Either way, this healthcare reform legislative process has just gone from “difficult” to “nuts.”
There’s a common sense rule in business that the more the other side is pushing to close a deal, the more carefully you need to look at what they’re offering. This is one of those times.
More importantly, there’s a bigger issue at play here than healthcare reform. What the Democrats – and we’ve got to include President Obama – are telling us is that we, the people, are not even allowed a peripheral role in the legislative process. Legislation is their business. They, the Democrats in Congress, will determine when we’re allowed to speak and under what circumstances. What arrogance. Fair enough. We’ll just wait until Tuesday, November 2, 2010 and let them know what we think when it’s our turn.
-wf
*See “GOP seeks 72-hour window to read bills,” in today’s on-line edition of The Washington Times.
Posted in Congress, Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Tagged Congress, Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Monday, September 21, 2009
Johnny Carson, the 30 year host of The Tonight Show before Jay Leno, was a consummate comedian, a natural talent who worked hard to perfect his understanding of comedy and the skill with which he made it happen. Barack Obama is a skillful orator who talks too much. I’m beginning to think he doesn’t know the difference between campaigning for office and managing the government now that he’s been elected.
So far at least, Carson is turning out to have been far better at what he did, than President Obama is at what he does. I know, there’s an apples and oranges problem in this comparison, but they do have something in common.
Carson had his own rules of comedy that he would discuss occasionally in the self-deprecating humor he would use when he screwed up. He was a master at making the most out of blowing a joke, his seemingly adlibbed recoveries often being more humorous than the original material had he delivered it perfectly. One of his rules which he would use when a joke had gone badly was that, if you had to explain it to the audience, it couldn’t have that funny to begin with. (You had to have been there, to have seen his monologues night after night, to appreciate how good he was it this, at leveraging his own shortcomings to his advantage and our delight.)
It’s a point that President Obama should study. Doesn’t it occur to him that if he has to keep explaining his healthcare reform program again and again and again, at every possible venue save only weddings and Bar Mitzvahs although I expect it’s only a matter of time, that the problem may not be that no one’s listening, but that no one understands or likes what he’s talking about?
Once again, I’d like to suggest that the President and Congress step back and solve one specific healthcare issue at a time, rather than struggle to enact comprehensive legislation so complex that not even its originators fully understand the implications and costs of what they’re proposing.* Individual issues are easier to define, to legislate and budget – and for the public to understand.
In the meantime, President Obama’s pitch is beginning to sound worn, and more than a bit desperate. For a guy who used the media so effectively to get elected, as President he’s beginning to suffer from over-exposure.
-wf
*If you have time, you might want to read…
“A Bits and Pieces Approach to Healthcare Legislation”
(#1: Pre-Existing Conditions)
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #2: Overcharging the Uninsured”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #3: Buying Prescription Drugs from Canadian Suppliers”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #4: Coverage for Illegal Aliens”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #5: Coverage for People Who Can’t Afford It”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #6: Standardization of Forms”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #7: Making Cigarettes Illegal”
“Obamination: The Fallacy of the Public Option”
“Healthcare Reform Legislation: The Idea That Will Finally Make It Happen”
Posted in Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Tagged Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Thursday, September 17, 2009
President Obama is clearly desperate to pass healthcare reform legislation, even to the point of pressuring the Governor of Massachusetts to appoint an interim replacement for Senator Kennedy. He’s worried that the vote is going to be that close.
For President Obama, it’s clearly more about politics, about a selfish, immature, unstatesmanlike desire to get his personal agenda approved, than about the quality and general acceptability of what Congress enacts. When it passes, he’ll cross another major issue off his campaign checklist, and we’ll be left to deal with the consequences for years after his term(s) in office.
The question is simple: Is it wise to pass legislation this sweeping, this expensive, of such profound importance for all Americans, by what may turn out to be a margin of only a single vote?
We’ve waited all this time. Why not work a little harder, wait a little longer to get it right, to produce legislation which a substantial majority of our elected representatives support?
No less an impressive statesman and President than Thomas Jefferson once observed that “Great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities.” Although it was 200 years ago when he said that in 1808, it seems no less relevant an observation today.
If you’re interested, here are some recent posts on the subject of healthcare reform legislation…
“A Bits and Pieces Approach to Healthcare Legislation”
(#1: Pre-Existing Conditions)
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #2: Overcharging the Uninsured”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #3: Buying Prescription Drugs from Canadian Suppliers”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #4: Coverage for Illegal Aliens”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #5: Coverage for People Who Can’t Afford It”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #6: Standardization of Forms”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #7: Making Cigarettes Illegal”
“Obamination: The Fallacy of the Public Option”
“Healthcare Reform Legislation: The Idea That Will Finally Make It Happen”
-wf
Posted in Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Tagged Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Monday, September 14, 2009
ATTN: Republican Members of the House and Senate
We’re all concerned about the deficit, about government spending that’s out of control, about an inexperienced, naïve President who fervently believes in the power of government to influence the private sector, almost regardless of the cost.
The good news is that President Obama has pledged, time and time again, that he will not sign healthcare reform legislation that increases our budget deficit. Fine, let’s call him on it.*
It’s simple. All you need to do is require that the President and Democrats in Congress agree to put a reasonable limit on the deficit as a condition for Republican support for healthcare reform. Demand “fiscal responsibility.” What could be more consistent with the classic definition of “Republicanism”?
One of two things will be true. Either the President will decline in which case it will be obvious that he doesn’t really support limited government spending and/or believe in his ability to accomplish prudent fiscal management, or he’ll agree, in which we’re all better off for it and Republicans running for office everywhere will get credit for having suggested the idea in the first place.
Can you imagine a President or Congress which, particularly under the circumstances, declines to limit the budget deficit even to levels in the trillions of dollars? Whatever the outcome, it’s not often that an entire political party finds itself in such a profoundly win-win situation. To fail to take advantage of it would prove to me and the American people that you (the Republicans) deserve to be a minority party.
*If you have time, you might want to read, “Calling the President Out,” published Friday, September 11, 2009.
-wf
Posted in Congress, Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Tagged Congress, Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
*His expression, not mine.
Healthcare Reform and the Budget Deficit Blues
Friday, September 11, 2009
President Obama swears up and down that he’s not going to allow healthcare reform legislation which increases the deficit. I don’t believe him. I don’t think he knows how much healthcare reform is going to cost us. I think he’s well on his way to demonstrating complete and potentially devastating incompetence in the fiscal management of our government.
However, I could be wrong. But, just in case I’m not, here’s a way he can overcome my concerns. In yesterday’s prime time speech before a joint session of the Senate and House, President Obama said the following… “If you misrepresent what’s in the plan, we will call you out.” It was bold talk that should go both ways. And so I’m asking the President to put his career where his mouth is.
I want President Obama to pledge that, if it is determined by his own Administration while he is in office that a deficit is resulting from healthcare reform legislation which he signed, he will resign. My father always taught me that if someone really meant what he said, what he promised, he should be willing to put it in writing. I agree and I’m asking President Obama to do the right thing. He’s a standup guy. Why shouldn’t he?
You know, now that I think about it, it’s hard to figure out precisely what caused a given dollar of deficit, so let’s give the President a break. I’ve got a better idea.
Let’s ask the President to pick a number which is the maximum deficit he will allow while he’s in office, whatever the cause. Pick a number. A big, scary number that couldn’t possibly happen, that would spell end of the US government as we know it. All I want him to do is promise that, if the deficit exceeds that number, he resigns.
Now, how can he possibly decline to make such a commitment? He’ll mock the idea, of course, trivialize and ignore it. You know why? Because the one thing he knows for sure is that he doesn’t have control over the deficit, that he’s promised so much to so many that will negatively impact our national solvency for years to come, that he can’t possibly accurately anticipate how much it’s all going to cost or how he’s going to fund it.
If only Congress would pass meaningful balanced budget legislation, with the flexibility to handle true crisis situations, I’d let President Obama off the hook. In the meantime, I’m doing precisely what he would do were the situation reversed. I’m calling him out – but not holding my breath or leaving my wallet where he can get to it.
-wf
Posted in Budget Deficit, Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Tagged Budget Deficit, Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Monday, August 31, 2009
“Great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities.”
– Thomas Jefferson, 1808
So where is Mr. Jefferson now that we need him?
If you’re interested, here are some recent posts on the issue of healthcare reform legislation…
“A Bits and Pieces Approach to Healthcare Legislation”
(#1: Pre-Existing Conditions)
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #2: Overcharging the Uninsured”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #3: Buying Prescription Drugs from Canadian Suppliers”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #4: Coverage for Illegal Aliens”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #5: Coverage for People Who Can’t Afford It”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #6: Standardization of Forms”
“Bits and Pieces Healthcare Legislation #7: Making Cigarettes Illegal”
“Obamination: The Fallacy of the Public Option”
-wf
Posted in Congress, Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Tagged Congress, Healthcare Reform, News, Politics, President Obama
Short Fiction To Go Saul’s Laws
Washington Post Op/Ed New York Times Op/Ed WSJ Op/Ed Chicago Tribune Op/Ed Dallas Morning News LA Times Op/Ed SF Chronicle Op/Ed
WordFeeder 