Still Gettin' Screwed by the Banks

One year ago I wrote about Shiti Group and Why does Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup, get to keep his job? According to the AP, Pandit claimed that Citigroup was profitable up through February and has agreed to take a $1 a year salary until Citi is profitable again. To date we have bailed out Citi to the tune of $45 billion. The government forced them to cancel their order for a $50 million corporate jet and hanging on a thread is their $400 million naming rights deals with the Met's stadium. Timothy Geithner let Pandit keep his job while offing the board, a move that is usually reserved for shareholders or the mafia.

Here's the deal, we are still letting the losers dictate the terms of Financial reform. One year ago, scum of the earth like Limbaugh and the entire Fox network and getting the ignorant masses worked up into a Santorum (Santorum "that frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex." thanks to Dan Savage) by tossing around terms like NATIONALIZATION and SOCIALISM. Why do these guys get any play? Haven't they been entirely discredited? Look at Sweden's bailout. By taking over the banks Sweden not only solved their banking crisis (one that is remarkably similar to ours) but the final cost was less than 2% of GDP. We could be approaching 60% of GDP and if we let Geithner have his way that could climb to 100% of GDP.

What should be do? Last year I was advocating for a temporary take over of the banking system, locking Limbaugh away, shutting down FOX and telling everyone else to enjoy a nice cup of shut the fuck up! Obviously none of this happened and not surprisingly we are no where near reform.

The only way to find out what the financial system is up to is to start checking out this site: Planet Money and listen to the podcast.

So the mess that was the financial system bailout. The populist anger over executive pay and bonus and the voice of reason from Paul Volcker and Simon Johnson seems to be drowned out.
Mr. Volcker recently made two important points:

1. The financial sector does not add anywhere near as much social value as its proponents claim.

2. Too big to fail banks are alive and well - and this poses a major problem to our future prosperity.

The message yesterday and from other statements made by Mr. Volcker is clear. Our biggest banks are out of control and will not be reined in by the measures currently on the table. We need a much stronger approach to big banks - an approach that will strip government-backed banks of their ability to take crazy risks and, most likely, an approach that significantly constrains (and hopefully even reduces) their size.

Chris Dodd (D Conn) in an 11th hour bid to save his legacy before leaving office has supposedly taken the financial reform bull by the horns (puns all intended). But as of yesterday Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who recently expressed his disappointment with his fellow Republicans on the committee for missing an opportunity to shape the legislation, went a step further on Tuesday, telling the Wall Street Journal that he "absolutely cannot support" the current bill.

Explaining that he has serious concerns about the bill in its current form, Corker added: "I am absolutely not throwing in the towel. I have no plans to support the current legislation. I hope we'll get back to the negotiating table."

Either the Dodd legislation is so flawed that Corker cannot support it because it won't do any good to Corker is now following his obstructionist partners in crime...

Where's the Pot of Gold?

I haven't written much over the last week, well nothing at all actually... I found this on How Stuff Works and thought it was a light read.

You can't reach the end of the rainbow because a rainbow is kind of like an optical illusion. A rainbow is formed because raindrops act like little prisms. The raindrops split light up into bands of color. The colors you see in a rainbow come from millions of raindrops that are sitting at different angles in the sky. These raindrops split the sunlight into colors for your eyes to see.

When you move toward the rainbow, the angles change. So millions of different raindrops create the new rainbow with the new angles. In order for the angles to work out, the raindrops have to be a certain distance from your eyes. So no matter how you move, the rainbow will always be the same distance away from you. That's why you can never reach the end of the rainbow.

The Benefits of Health Reform In Colorado

DPC Special Report 1
DPC Staff Contact: Jacqueline Garry Lampert (202) 224-3232 March 22, 2010 DPC Press Contact: Barry Piatt (202) 224-0577
Available Online: dpc.senate.gov
We won't get these benefits because our Attorney General is suing to block it.

Together, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act will ensure that all Coloradans have access to quality, affordable health insurance. The Congressional Budget Office has determined that these two bills are fully paid for, will bend the health care cost curve, and will reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the next ten years with further deficit reduction in the following decade. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act will reduce the cost of health care for the middle class, ensure health security to seniors, and provide tax credits to small businesses and individuals to further reduce the cost of health coverage.

Key Benefits for Colorado
•Provide tax credits for up to 68,800 Colorado small businesses to help make coverage more affordable. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10]
•Prohibit insurance companies from excluding coverage of pre-existing conditions for the 1.2 million children in Colorado, starting this year. [U.S. Census Bureau, 1/7/10]
•Close the "donut hole‟ and improve other Medicare benefits for 574,000 Colorado seniors. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10]
•Reduce Medicare premiums for the 394,000 Colorado seniors who are not enrolled in Medicare Advantage and will no longer subsidize these private insurance plans. [Senate Finance Committee]
•Ensure affordable coverage options for 826,000 Coloradans who are uninsured and 345,000 Coloradans who purchase health insurance through the individual market. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10]
•Ensure immediate access to affordable insurance options for as many as 104,110 uninsured Coloradans who have a pre-existing condition. [staff estimate using Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), 4/09 and HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10]
•Provide tax credits for up to 439,000 Coloradans to help make health insurance more affordable, bringing $7.1 billion in premium and cost-sharing tax credits into Colorado during the first five years of the health insurance Exchange. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10; Senate Finance Committee]
•Reduce family health insurance premiums by $1,510 - $2,160 for the same benefits, as compared to what they would be without health reform by 2016. [Senate Finance Committee estimate based on CBO, 11/30/09]
DPC Special Report 2
•Provide access to Medicaid for 286,388 newly-eligible Coloradans, and provide $5.7 billion in federal funding for the cost of their coverage. [Urban Institute, 1/25/10; Senate Finance Committee]
•Create 4,100 - 6,500 jobs by reducing health care costs for employers. [U.S. Public Interest Research Group, 1/20/10]
•Allow 476,210 young adults to stay on their parents‟ insurance plans. [U.S. Census Bureau, 1/7/10]
•Provide more federal funding for 160 Community Health Centers in Colorado. [National Association of Community Health Centers, 2009]
Affordable Coverage Options for Colorado Small Businesses
Small businesses make up 76.7 percent of all Colorado businesses, yet just 38.1 percent of these small businesses are able to offer health insurance to their employees. [AHRQ, accessed 3/20/10; AHRQ, accessed 3/20/10] Starting this year, up to 68,800 Colorado small businesses will be eligible for tax credits for a percentage of their contribution to their employees‟ health insurance. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] Small businesses of the size that qualify for these tax credits employ 246,458 Coloradans. [AHRQ, accessed 3/20/10]
Protecting Children
Recognizing the special vulnerability of children, health reform prohibits insurance companies from excluding coverage of pre-existing conditions for the 1.2 million children in Colorado. This takes effect six months after enactment and applies to all new plans. [U.S. Census Bureau, 1/7/10]
Strengthening Medicare for Colorado Seniors
Health reform improves Medicare benefits for the 574,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Colorado. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] Each year, 102,000 Colorado seniors hit the Medicare Part D "donut hole.‟ [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] Starting this year, seniors who hit this gap in their prescription drug coverage will receive a $250 check, and the "donut hole‟ will be completely closed by 2020. The 574,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Colorado will see other improvements to the program, including a free, annual wellness visit and no cost-sharing for prevention services. Finally, by gradually moving to a more fair payment system for private insurance companies who participate in Medicare Advantage, health reform will lower Medicare costs for the 394,000 Colorado seniors not enrolled in Medicare Advantage, by as much as $45 in premium costs each year. [Senate Finance Committee]
Affordable Coverage Options for Coloradans
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act contain several provisions to expand affordable coverage options for millions of Americans. First, health reform will provide immediate access to quality, affordable health insurance for as many as 104,110 uninsured Coloradans who are unable to obtain health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. [staff estimate using AHRQ, 4/09 and HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] This new $5 billion program will take effect 90 days after enactment of health reform.
DPC Special Report 3
Second, health reform will ensure that the 826,000 uninsured Coloradans and 345,000 Coloradans who purchase health insurance through the individual market have access to affordable health insurance options through state-based health insurance Exchanges. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] By reforming the insurance market and forcing insurance companies to compete for business through the Exchange, health reform will reduce family health insurance premiums by $1,510 - $2,160 for the same benefits. [Senate Finance Committee estimate based on CBO, 11/30/09] In addition, 439,000 Coloradans will receive premium tax credits to help make health insurance even more affordable. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] During the first five years that the health insurance Exchange is operational, Coloradans will receive $7.1 billion in premium and cost-sharing tax credits to further reduce the cost of health insurance. [Senate Finance Committee]
Finally, health reform will open access to Medicaid for 286,388 newly eligible Coloradans, by expanding eligibility to non-elderly parents, childless adults, children and pregnant women with income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. [Urban Institute, 1/25/10] The federal government will fully fund the cost of covering these newly eligible individuals for three years and will pay 90 percent of these costs after 2020, compared to the current contribution in Colorado of 50 percent of costs. In total, Colorado could receive $5.7 billion in federal funding during just the first five years of this coverage expansion. [Senate Finance Committee]
Affordable Coverage Options for Colorado Young Adults
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “Young adults often lose their health insurance if covered under a parent‟s or guardian‟s policy at age 19 or upon graduation from high school or college.” [NCSL, accessed 3/20/10] Starting this year, 476,210 young adults in Colorado will be able to remain covered by their parent‟s insurance policy until age 26. [U.S. Census Bureau, 1/7/10] In addition, once the health insurance Exchanges are operational in 2014, 790,234 Coloradans under age 30 will have access to less costly catastrophic-only health insurance plans. [U.S. Census Bureau, 1/7/10] These plans will also be available to others who are exempt from the individual responsibility policy.
Job Creation
A recent analysis found that slowing the growth rate of health care costs will make it more profitable for businesses to expand employment, leading to estimated job gains nationwide of 250,000 – 400,000 per year for the next decade as a result of health reform. [Center for American Progress, 1/10] For Colorado, this could mean 4,100 - 6,500 new jobs each year. [U.S. Public Interest Research Group, 1/20/10]
Support for Colorado Community Health Centers
Community health centers provide critical health care to Coloradans, regardless of their ability to pay. Health reform makes an immediate and substantial investment in the 160 federally-funded health centers in Colorado. [National Association of Community Health Centers, 2009]

Teabagger's Parents and Grandparents

Actually, looking at the age of some of the teabaggers it might be the same generation... the dream lives on.

The Immediate Benefits

KEY PROVISIONS THAT TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY UNDER SENATE BILL AS AMENDED BY RECONCILIATION BILL
Below are some of the key provisions that will take effect immediately, under the legislative package the House will consider later this week (the Senate health bill as amended by the reconciliation bill). The reconciliation bill is based largely on the improvements put forward by the President’s proposal – moving towards the House bill in certain critical areas.
1. SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDITS—Offers tax credits to small businesses to make employee coverage more affordable. Tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums will be immediately available to firms that choose to offer coverage. Effective beginning for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2014, the small business tax credits will cover 50 percent of premiums.)
2. BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE—Provides a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the donut hole in 2010. Effective for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2011, institutes a 50% discount on brand‐name drugs in the donut hole; also completely closes the donut hole by 2020.)
3. FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER MEDICARE—Eliminates co‐payments for preventive services and exempts preventive services from deductibles under the Medicare program. Effective beginning January 1, 2011.
4. HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES—Creates a temporary re‐insurance program (until the Exchanges are available) to help offset the costs of expensive health claims for employers that provide health benefits for retirees age 55‐64. Effective 90 days after enactment
5. ENDS RESCISSIONS—Bans health plans from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Effective 6 months after enactment.
6. NO DISCRIMINATON AGAINST CHILDREN WITH PRE‐EXISTING CONDITIONS—Prohibits health plans from denying coverage to children with pre‐existing conditions. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, this prohibition would apply to all persons.)
7. BANS LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Prohibits health plans from placing lifetime caps on coverage. Effective 6 months after enactment.
8. BANS RESTRICTIVE ANNUAL LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Tightly restricts new plans’ use of annual limits to ensure access to needed care. These tight restrictions will be defined by HHS. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, the use of any annual limits would be prohibited for all plans.)
9. FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER NEW PRIVATE PLANS—Requires new private plans to cover preventive services with no co‐payments and with preventive services being exempt from deductibles. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2018, this requirement applies to all plans.)
10. NEW, INDEPENDENT APPEALS PROCESS—Ensures consumers in new plans have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal decisions by their health insurance plan. Effective 6 months after enactment.
11. ENSURING VALUE FOR PREMIUM PAYMENTS—Requires plans in the individual and small group market to spend 80 percent of premium dollars on medical services, and plans in the large group market to spend 85 percent. Insurers that do not meet these thresholds must provide rebates to policyholders. Effective on January 1, 2011.
12. IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED UNTIL EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE (INTERIM HIGH‐RISK POOL)—Provides immediate access to insurance for Americans who are uninsured because of a pre‐existing condition ‐ through a temporary high‐risk pool. Effective 90 days after enactment.
13. EXTENDS COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 26TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE – Requires health plans to allow young people up to their 26th birthday to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice. Effective 6 months after enactment.
14. COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS—Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for nearly a doubling of the number of patients seen by the centers over the next 5 years. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.
15. INCREASING NUMBER OF PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS—Provides new investment in training programs to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.
16. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SALARY—Prohibits new group health plans from establishing any eligibility rules for health care coverage that have the effect of discriminating in favor of higher wage employees. Effective 6 months after enactment.
17. HEALTH INSURANCE CONSUMER INFORMATION—Provides aid to states in establishing offices of health insurance consumer assistance in order to help individuals with the filing of complaints and appeals. Effective beginning in FY 2010.
18. CREATES NEW, VOLUNTARY, PUBLIC LONG‐TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM—Creates a long‐term care insurance program to be financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide benefits to adults who become functionally disabled. Effective on January 1, 2011.
OFFICE OF SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI MARCH 18, 2010

Just the Beginning

Teabaggers have ridiculed a man with Parkinson's, compared Obama to Hilter, threatened violence with guns, used racial slurs, and said health care is a privilege and not a right. Health care is a privilege? Are the Teabaggers so out of touch that they believe all working people can afford health care? I couldn't afford an extra $180 a month for insurance and that's with a $2500 deductible! Even with a good job I pay almost $100 a month but that includes dental and optical and a much lower deductible.

Here are several reasons why health care should be a right and not a privilege:

Drug resistant infections
out of control emergency rooms
new pandemics on the horizon
lost productivity
spiralling costs for everyone...

How about just the first point? For every infection that goes untreated and festers or for every patience that does not follow their medication regimen we are setting the stage for super bugs. TB now comes in a bright, new, shiny drug resistant strain, childhood illnesses once thought to be eradicated are making a comeback.

When I was in school we had immunization day. We were given Polio vaccines right in school. There have been cries, on the right, of socialized medicine invading our country and we are on a slippery slope to becoming a European style state but many of the people so violently opposed to the public option also received Polio Vaccines in Public schools, as well as other vaccines, TB tests, and fluoride treatments. There was a time when we as Americans all worked together to achieve great things and I was hoping we were about to experience a Renaissance but I was wrong. I was not so naive as to believe that Obama would be able to cure everything but he came with a message of hard work and pulling together and personal responsibility that I liked.

The reason I think this health care reform is a good start (but only a start) is that I hope it will put us on track for a single payer system. Or, if not a single payer system then establish a system of private NON-PROFIT insurers. We always hear about the English, Canadian, or French system but what about the German system?
excerpted from Germany’s Health Care System: It’s Not The American Way
by Uwe E. Reinhardt

First, Germany’s system is almost elegant in its simplicity. That is probably
no historical accident. Germans appear to understand the trade-off
between the operational simplicity of a system and its fairness and efficiency
in each particular instance...
Second, the ethical precepts driving German health policy differ substantially
from those driving American policy. Germans, along with other
Europeans and Canadians, view health care as part of the cement that binds
a people sharing the same geography into a genuine nation. All social
classes in Germany thus are made to share the same health care system.
About 90 percent of the population gains access to that system through one
social insurance scheme that is administered by some 1,000 fiscally independent,
semiprivate sickness funds operating under the constraints of a
federal statute. Only about 10 percent of the German population has
private commercial insurance, but they share the same health care delivery
system and merely enjoy more amenities.
Under Germany’s statutory insurance scheme, premiums are based on
ability to pay. With the financial burden of illness fully socialized in this
way, the system inevitably would be subjected to top-down global budgeting,
including controls on price and volume. Germany’s clear social ethic,
to which all political parties still pledge explicit allegiance, makes the
global budgeting described by these authors politically acceptable.
The United States never has had a one-tier health care system, and, as
the recent debate on health reform in Congress has demonstrated, the
United States never will have a one-tier health care system. A working
majority of the politicians representing Americans in the policy arena
evidently view health care as essentially a private consumption good of
which low-income families might be accorded a basic ration, but whose
availability and quality should be allowed to vary with family income. This
view lends official sanction to the following three-tier system: Tier I for
the low-income uninsured: a system of public hospitals and clinics that
rations health care severely through constraints on capacity. Tier II for
the insured, broad middle class: a system of competitive, integrated private
health plans budgeted on a per capita basis, with limited choice of providers
and with varying degrees of tacit rationing. Tier III for the Medicare
population and the moneyed elite: the traditional, open-ended, free-choice
fee-for-service health care system with little or no rationing of care.

The interesting thing is that this article was written in 1994 and things have not changed. Well what has changed is that we spend a great percentage of our GDP, 14% in '94 and over 16% now, Germany still only spends about 10%.

The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland do not use a government-run, Medicare-like health insurance plan. They all rely on purely private, nonprofit or for-profit insurers that are goaded by tight regulation to work toward socially desired ends. And they do so at average per-capita health-care costs far below those of the United States — costs in Germany and the Netherlands are less than half of those here.

So really the Teabaggers are willing to risk another 1918 flu pandemic, or the rampant infection from the next superbug because they don't want to give any handouts... I am truly saddened at the level of hate this country has come to. Just wait for the immigration reform. If you thought health care was a fight you ain't seen nothin' yet

WTF

If you can't read the title it says "if Brown can't stop it a Browning can..."



This is the type of violence that the Republicans and their anti-American supporters have been striving for ever since the Obama Administration took office with the pledge to clean up the GOP's mess.

In attendance and apparently proud to be part of a group of anti-American traitors engaged in seditious behavior were Republican Reps. Steve King (IA), Michele Bachmann (MN), and Mike Pence (IN), and the insanity was in part organized by Dick Armey's Freedomworks and Art Pope's Americans for Prosperity. Americans for Prosperity "advocates pro-tobacco industry positions on issues like cigarette taxes and clean indoor air laws" [SourceWatch].
Story from epluribus media

Teabaggers Mock A Man With Parkinson's Disease

COLUMBUS - In a scene reminiscent of non-violent civil rights confrontations from the 1960s, Ohio Tea Partiers quickly turned ugly when facing off with health care advocates in front of Ohio Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy's office Tuesday.

In shocking video taken by a Columbus Dispatch reporter Doral Chenowith yesterday, Tea Party protestors mock a seated counter-protestor with a sign indicating he has Parkinson's disease. They then proceed to hurl wadded up bills at him shouting, "I'll decide when to give you money!"
On March 17th outside of Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy's (D-OH15) district office teabaggers mocked and scorned a man who had a sign stating that he had Parkinson's. They told him "he's in the wrong end of town to ask for handouts", called him a communist and threw dollar bills at him to "pay for his health care".

Census

When I was a kid I remember my Kindergarten teacher talking about the importance of the Census. I also remember classroom discussions about it in high school. The thing that strikes me as funny is that in the 44 years of my life we are still answering the same dumb questions about the census and idiots like Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) are still promoting the stupidity. Last June Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann told the Washington Times that she and her family will not be fully filling out the 2010 census forms. Bachmann believes the upcoming census to be "very intricate" and "very personal" and expresses concerns about ACORN's involvement in the data collection. Bachmann claimed that since President Obama has come into office, he is making available $8.5 billion – with a 'b' - to ACORN, an organization that is repeatedly under indictment for voter fraud in multiple states across the country. But the fact is, ACORN isn't eligible for this funding...
Another right-wing nut job. The Constitution is clear, we conduct a census every 10 years. What were the questions asked in the first census of 1790?

Name of the head of each household.
How many free white males age 16 and older.
How many free white males under age 16.
How many free white females.
How many of all other free persons.
How many slaves.

Questions in this year's census?
There are 10 questions on the short form and they are basic questions concerning how many people live at this address, what type of dwelling and some personal information... the same kind of information you would provide to get a Blockbuster card... so do your patriotic duty and fill it out!

Making Amends

There are definitely cycles in life and I've been thinking about my past and trying to come to terms with some of the things I've done. I've been clean and sober for nearly 24 years and while I don't attend meetings very much I do continue to work the steps and sometimes the steps work me. I created this video a few years ago and wanted to revisit it because of all of the people I have harmed there is one who will never be able to hear my amends. This is a story about Opie.

Word Clouds

I was experimenting with Wordle last night. Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight created two word clouds based on Gallup's health care survey. Gallup provided the verbatim responses and Silver snagged those to create his Wordle clouds so I thought I would too. It's very addicting and I soon found that several hours had passed. The top one is the against reform responses and the bottom one is the for reform responses. Each image definitely tells a different story...



I thought I could do another based on Constitution. What evolved shows a document that is heavily weighted for the States. If you have not played with Wordle it creates a graphic illustration of text by giving weight to words that appear most often. Articles and common words are deleted like A, The, An, And... It's a pretty interesting tool to play with and explore.

A Different Stir

Fred Phelps, founder and pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., claims to be a man of God. But when I interviewed him days after he initiated a vulgar protest at a dead Marine's funeral, he reminded me more of Lucifer

.
That's how Michael Smerconish, from the Philadelphia Inquirer, starts his March 14th OP-Ed piece about free speech versus the right to gather.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case concerning Phelps' right to protest and assemble. Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who died in combat in Iraq on March 3, 2006. Joining his family, friends, and loved ones at his funeral a week later were Phelps and several protesters from Westboro Baptist. According to a lower court's recounting of the facts: "They traveled to Matthew Snyder's funeral in order to publicize their message of God's hatred of America for its tolerance of homosexuality."

Phelps has made it his mission to get the USA back on track by protesting at the funerals of fallen soldiers. His signage reflects a perverse ideology and is littered with phrases like: "God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11," "Pope in Hell," "America Is Doomed," "Fag Troops," "You're Going to Hell," "God Hates You," "Semper Fi Fags," "Thank God for IEDs," and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."

Snyder's father, Albert, sued Phelps and some of his parishioners, initially winning a $10-million-plus award but that was thrown out by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

The Judge, Robert King, wrote in the court's opinion,"As utterly distasteful as these signs are... they involve matters of public concern, including the issue of homosexuals in the military, the sex-abuse scandal within the Catholic Church, and the political and moral conduct of the United States and its citizens." They are protected by the First Amendment, the court concluded, because they didn't assert "objectively verifiable facts" that specifically apply to Matthew or Albert Snyder.

I've long been an atheist and I find acts like those of Fred Phelps not only distasteful but proof that Christianity has fallen off the rails. Yes I know that Phelps is a tiny minority but he represents a larger fallacy in Christian theology, that God, if he did exist, would waste his time micro-managing the world and it's day to day outcomes.

I recently heard Rabbi Harold Kushner, who has written a dozen books offering guidance from the Bible for living a life that matters. His best-known title is When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

He says that if he had to face the fact that God was either all-powerful but not kind, or thoroughly kind and loving, but not totally powerful, he would rather compromise God's power and affirm his love.

"The ... theological conclusion I came to is that God could have been all-powerful at the beginning, but he chose to designate two areas of life off-limits to his power," Kushner says. "He would not arbitrarily interfere with laws of nature. And secondly, God would not take away our freedom to choose between good and evil."

I found that comforting. The God, that I don't believe in, chose to be all loving but not all powerful. This makes more sense that telling a parent who recently lost a child that we cannot know the will of God... or however that lame argument goes.

Too bad that people like Phelps are the ones who make the news more often. Of the 2 billion Christians on the planet I have heard no one make as much sense as Rabbi Harold Kushner.

Separation of Church and State

I have written before about the sway Texas holds in the development of public School curriculum: Why Does Texas get to Pick Textbooks and the controversy continues. Before I go on I have to disclose that I lived in Dallas for 3 years while in grad school. I attended the University of Dallas, voted the most conservative college in America, but that's a different story. Every night the local new would highlight some row at the school board. Black, White, Hispanic... All fighting and even throwing furniture. It was quite bizarre.

But I digress, according to the AP this morning, A far-right faction of the Texas State Board of Education succeeded Friday in injecting conservative ideals into social studies, history and economics lessons that will be taught to millions of students for the next decade.

Teachers in Texas will be required to cover the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation's Founding Fathers, but not highlight the philosophical rationale for the separation of church and state. Curriculum standards also will describe the U.S. government as a "constitutional republic," rather than "democratic..." The Judeo part of Judeo Christian cracks me up because the colonist really hated Jews. Many colonies were set up to promote one protestant religion excluding Catholics, Jews, and differing sects of protestantism. Quakers were particularly singled out and were even executed for their beliefs in Pre-Revolutionary America.

Republicans easily pushed through amendments heralding "American exceptionalism" and the U.S. free enterprise system, suggesting it thrives best absent excessive government intervention. Also Board members argued about the classification of historic periods (still B.C. and A.D., rather than the more academically adopted B.C.E. and C.E. If you have not seen C.E. it is a numbering system that splits between the Common Era and Before the Common Era and is widely used everywhere except Texas)

To me this is the most telling statement: Democrats did score a victory by deleting a portion of an amendment by Republican Don McLeroy suggesting that the civil rights movement led to "unrealistic expectations for equal outcomes." Wow! McLeroy was the character who wanted classic myths and fables rather than newly written stories whose messages they didn’t agree with... He has been in charge of changing textbooks for years and still wants apocryphal stories such as Washington and the cherry tree to be taught versus real history. Here is Mcleroy's rational for evaluating history books:

“… we are a Christian nation founded on Christian principles. The way I evaluate history textbooks is first I see how they cover Christianity and Israel. Then I see how they treat Ronald Reagan — he needs to get credit for saving the world from communism and for the good economy over the last 20 years because he lowered taxes.”

Hopefully McLeroy's tenure on the Texas Board will be ending soon. He was removed as the chairman by the Texas Senate because of his religious views; he believes in a literal reading of Genesis... He faces a tough re-election. He is in a neck and neck race for the GOP primary. There is not a Democratic challenger so if he squeaks out a primary victory he will still hold sway over the next generation of textbooks. Maybe it's time to pray.

Why is Medicine So Expensive?

If you are one of the 255 million Americans WITH health insurance you probably have seen an EOB or Explanation of Benefits. What is shocking about and EOB is the difference between what a doctor charges and what insurance actually pays. For example, I recently had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic prescribed by my doc, actually he's a Physician Assistant. To treat my hives the EOB show the doc billed, my copay and the plan allowance:



the strange thing about the charges is that I was never given IV Therapy. The PA mis-coded a procedure. As a health care consumer, with insurance, I have little knowledge of the true cost of health care. Does an injection of steroids to treat an allergic reaction really cost $75.60? Why is the plan allowance only $6.36 and I only have to pay .64¢? What happens to the other $68.60? And, what about the mis-coded treatment. The receptionist asked why I care... She said I only have to pay $2.37 for it and my insurance picks up the rest so what's the big deal...

Doctors are paid by a scheme called Fee For Service The idea of a government-run health-insurance plan made doctors nervous, and Lyndon Johnson's administration was worried that doctors wouldn't take Medicare patients. So Joseph Califano, Johnson's adviser for domestic affairs, made what seemed like a small concession: Medicare would pay doctors whatever they thought was reasonable. This concession cause health care costs to spiral out of control. By 1967 the Johnson Administration knew Fee for Service would soon bankrupt the country with spirally health care costs But doctors, who had a lot of sway with Congress, found they liked the payment system. So the system stayed in place for decades, as medicine got more expensive.

By the mid-1970's health care costs were growing faster then anticipated. By capping what doctors would be paid it was thought costs could be contained. Unfortunately Docs found a loop hole by ordering more tests and more procedures. Many time Docs pit patients against insurance companies knowing that we intrinsically trust our doctors and not the faceless insurance giants. Instead of thinking of our doctors as finance managers on car dealer lots trying to talk us into buying extended warranties; we blindly follow their advice even if it involves treatments and test that have no value.

Another reason health care costs are so expensive might be due to the fact that most new doctors start their profession $150,000 or more in debt. The cost of medical school is so expensive that doctors will take 50 years to pay off student loans.

I think the system is so broken that it will take a total overhaul to fix it. Single payer will end the bureaucratic nightmare that is currently health care billing. Student Loan forgiveness programs for Docs will change the mindset and encourage more medical student to consider Primary Care instead of Specialties. The end of the Fee for Service model and adoption of a salary system will trim cost too. Finally. reigning in big Pharma and controlling costs of prescription drugs needs to happen. But it will never happen. It's too much. There would have to be a populist revolt.

Failure to Lead

I remember the argument like it was yesterday. I was searching through the bins at Ace Hardware trying to find the right screws for the bathroom project. I was picking up boxes and discarding them with one hand and holding my phone with the other. It was late September 2008 and I was trying to convince my mom that Barack Obama was different, that voting for McCain was a mistake and that we needed to change direction. She was dismissive. She said she didn't trust any of them and that nothing would change. That's when she told me about her "wasted" vote. My mom, a life long Republican, voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976.

1976 was the Bicentennial year. The country was trying to forget it's economic troubles and trying to put the Nixon scandal behind us. The only thing I remember about the Presidential election was that a peanut farmer from Georgia was running and that he looked at Playboy. That night at dinner, my brothers and I asked mom and dad who they voted for and my mom was actually swooning over Carter. She kept saying that he's so smart and that he will take this country in a new direction and that he's so smart and he will change Washington and that he's so smart... For those too young to remember the late 70's stagflation (a period of slow economic growth and high unemployment with rising prices) was gripping the country, fuel prices were through the roof and Chrysler was heading for bankruptcy.

The savior from the south lasted one term, the Iran Hostage crisis did him in and Ronald Reagan was elected overwhelmingly in 1980. My mom was anti union and anti tax; my dad was an old school Democrat and pro-union his dad was in the union and they took care of him. Reagan was the cowboy riding in from the west to bust up the unions and clean up America. Even though I was just a teenager I knew Reagan was trouble but the country loved him and eventually we recovered from the malaise of the 70's and launched into the self-centered, coke-snorting, economic boom of the 80's...

Is Obama really that different? Will he become this generation's Carter? How can candidate Obama, a man so clear and articulate, so utterly fail to lead? His push for Health Care reconciliation isn't even an 11th hour push. It's 2:00am, last call and the lights are on. Frank Rich, in his op-ed column for 3/6/2010 so eloquently put it:

At last he pushed for a majority-rule, up-or-down vote in Congress. At last he conceded that bipartisan agreement between two parties with “honest and substantial differences” on fundamental principles wasn’t happening. At last he mobilized his rhetoric against a villain everyone could hiss — insurance companies. In a brief address, he mentioned these malefactors of great greed 13 times.

There was only one problem. This finest hour arrived hastily and tardily. At 1:45 p.m. Eastern time, who was watching? Of those who did watch or caught up later, how many bought the president’s vow to finish the job “in the next few weeks”?

But once again the Republicans are the master of the message and have cornered the conversation into talking points that start with ramming the legislation down the throats of the American voters and end with cries of socialism. What is lost in the battle are the costs. Today's Prime Number in the Times is 197: The amount, in thousands of dollars, that the typical married couple at age 65 should expect to spend on uninsured health care costs over the rest of their lives...

My parents lost their health care this fall. My Dad's pension went belly-up and they searched in earnest for a new prescription drug benefit but ended up with a band aid fix from Walgreens. Thankfully they are healthy but what happens if that changes. Will Medicare step in or will my brothers and I be saddled with the costs? I still find it amazing that Obama, with all his political capital and moral high ground has lost the argument to a few talking points and a few talking heads.

The Rough Rider

I thought that since the conservatives are demonizing Teddy Roosevelt I would look into his history and see what it could be that chaps their hide. Here is a brief time line:
1876-1880 Attends Harvard (has an education that's troubling...)
1880 Becomes a Republican (makes amends for attending Harvard)
1882 Joins National Guard (very patriotic nothing funny here)
1882 Publishes his first book The Navel War of 1812
1883 Establishes 2 cattle ranches in the Dakota Region (I've got nothing)
1884 Wife and Mother die on the same day
1884-1898 Publishes 10 more books
1898 Spanish American War Cavalry Regimen Rough Riders
1898 Elected Governor of New York
1901 Vice President, McKinley assassinated and TR becomes 26th President
1902 Orders antitrust suit under Sherman Act to dissolve Northern Securities Company in the first of 45 antitrust suits. (Conservatives are steaming)
1902 Crater Lake National Park established (Conservatives loathe this... Yellowstone was the first National park founded in 1872)
1903 Treaty signed with Panama for building of Panama Canal, which was completed in 1914. (This is a big deal with conservatives)
1906 Awarded Nobel Peace Prize for ending Russo-Japanese War in 1905 (again conservatives hate this)

So, Promoting conservation, Panama Treaty, Peace Prize, and trust-buster; all progressive reasons conservatives hate TR.
Woodrow Wilson coming soon.

Well this fits

Funnier than Leno. The stand-up begins at 2:27/7:07 mark. Sorry about the commercial.

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Submitted Without Comment

Perhaps never before in American history have two individuals so captured the hearts, minds and imaginations of such a wide proportion of the citizenry as have Sarah Palin and Barack Obama. Both are charismatic, charming in their own ways, in dramatic, stand-above-the-crowd fashion.

At present, with a “post-American” president at the helm, Sarah Palin carries the torch of liberty and American exceptionalism in the palm of her lovely hand. She is the surviving embodiment of the spirit of 1776 and the Reagan reformation.

She is at once the American phoenix and the shining city on the hill, captured in the imaginations of a people still yearning to be free and determined to strive for greatness, even if the rest of the world prefers to drown in mediocrity, corruption and defeatist socialist uniformity.

What are the Republicans up to?

During the CPAC convention, Glenn Beck was the keynote speaker. We was espousing long held beliefs of the John Birch Society AND the JBS was a sponsor of the event. Even though the radical ideas of the John Birch Society have been promoted by the Ron "Get rid of the Fed" Paul most people dismiss him as a kook, Glenn Beck with his wild popularity (though still considered a kook) has brought JBS ideas back to the forefront.
The basic tenets of the society are:
Strict Constitutionalism
Isolationism (no United Nations...)
Anti Income Tax
Anti Social Safety Net
Anti Busing for the Purpose of Desegregation (I through this in for context... they were anti civil rights)
Judeo-Christian value (without the Judeo part as they hate Jews)
Big 10th Amendment proponents (powers to the states...)
Basically the idea is that Bush was not really a conservative. Bush's No Child Left Behind, Medicare Drug Benefit, and huge Growth of Debt and the Federal Government was a betrayal of the conservative movement and that's why they lost the last election. Also given the fact the McCain Loved Teddy Roosevelt, anathema to JBS, was a reason to stay home. The new direction of the party seems to be a Pre-Teddy Roosevelt revolution. They want to dismantle the legacies of Roosevelt, Wilson, FDR, and Carter. More about the History of the JBS tomorrow.