A few days ago, somebody emailed me a link to web footage of some political speaker. A black man, with the air of a preacher to him (pardon the stereotype), railing against Obama. It was pretty funny. He was calling the President 'Mr. Long-Legged-Mac-Daddy,' and was yelling "You pushing these white people too far! They ain't gonna take it! They gonna rise up, and if you think it was ugly and violent when black people riot, you ain't seen nothin' yet! And I hope they let me join them!"
That's just me paraphrasing. Most of it was pretty over the top, even when you don't factor in him talking about Obama's documented history of homosexuality. But the general point he was making was that, no matter of political correctness, middle-class white people pay a lot of taxes, are being expected to pay a lot more taxes, and are not going to be getting any additional benefit to their lives for having paid those taxes. The average American taxpayer is a middle-class working stiff with a full-time job. Since he has a full-time job, he almost certainly has healthcare already. He will not be pleased at working until July each year before a cent he earns is his own. Not mentioned - but thoroughly implied in the tirade - was that these middle-class white people also tend to own a lot of guns.
All in all, it was pretty funny shit.
But it got me to thinking, and I have to say that I honestly like the way that things are going in this country. I think it's a travesty the way Obama is running the show, but the practical result has been a whole hell of a lot of Americans becoming involved in the political process. Take a look at those town hall meetings; the vast majority of the questions faced where on-point, not accusatory, and should have been anticipated by any rational politician about to present themselves in the public forum. On at least a few occasions, the politicians in question have been completely incapable of rational response, and have ended up looking like jackasses.
I think this is because a lot of those politicians are relics from an era that has now passed. When America was fat and healthy, nobody really cared what their congressmen did. Those congressmen certainly didn't have to face public criticism and questioning of the positions they adopted. All they ever had to do was smile and kiss babies in election years. And look at their responses to these new challenges: usually something along the lines of "How dare you question me! I'm a CONGRESSMAN!!!" Publicly elected officials are getting indignant at the people who put them into power.
I expect a great many of them will be retiring before they run for re-election. Seriously, whoever is gonna run against Barney Frank ("Talking to you is like talking to a dining room table!") has got to be fucking drooling. The man is on film, voicing his contempt for the very people who elected him! I'm taking bets now: he will retire from congress rather than run for re-election. If he does run next year, he will be defeated. Regardless of his seat, next year's mid-term voter turnout is probably going to dwarf any mid-term turn-out in history, and I frankly expect a massive shift towards conservatism and Republican politics.
Barack is simply handling the situation so amazingly badly that most incumbent Democrats who do run will need to distance themselves from him. Look at his antics. His staged "town hall" meeting, with scripted slow-pitch questions. His thumbing his nose at his own party. Acorn employees being caught as the persons behind the "Obama is Hitler" thing. Even professional douchbags like Chris Matthews are having a harder and harder time making excuses for him, and the White House's response to any and all criticism - keeping in recent Democratic mold - has been roughly along the lines of "How dare you question me! I'm PRESIDENT!!!"
The response warms my heart. People are going to come out and vote. Obama is absolutely going to usher in a new era of change, because whatever Republican gets the nomination in 2012 is going to win by a fucking landslide. Congressional elections that year will swing Red as well. All in all, Barack is going to be this generations Jimmy Carter: someone who, for all his intelligence and good intentions, handled the country so amazingly BADLY that whoever follows him will have the full support of a majority that has become quite vocal.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
You Can't Eat Your Cake And Have It Too
The fight continues over nationalized healthcare, this time with the far left in an uproar, because Obama is no longer considering the "public option" as critical to his program. Nobody should be surprised with this: both Congress and the American public as a whole has expressed that they do not endorse that end. The President NEEDED to back off, or else get his throat cut politically. But other than softening his expressed goal, his main efforts right now are defusing assertions that this plan would largely cut down Medicare's services for the elderly because of cost constraints, and so forth. Also lots of discussion about "death panels," etc. For the most part, he's blowing smoke, and responding to every question and challenge with a sincere promise that they are addressing all points, and that details are being worked out.
But he's not giving us details. It might be because he doesn't have them, but it's more likely because, if people knew the details, they would be even more outraged than they are now.
Even putting aside pesky points like the 9th and 10th Amendments, I really don't know why this is getting so much consideration. Is it really that difficult for people to grasp that the American healthcare system simply cannot effectively cover the entire populace?
Lets spell it out. Healthcare a COMMODITY, and it is expensive. And it's not expensive just because of the evil insurance industry and the Plaintiff's attorneys. Healthcare is a highly skilled field that plays for high stakes (literally life and death), and is EXTREMELY technologically oriented. All efforts that are successful are nothing more than a holding-action anyway; we're all going to die, so even the greatest healthcare victories are ultimately moot. But there are unquestionably lots of highly intelligent, highly trained people who need to get paid (and paid well) for the services they provide.
Rest assured that healthcare providers and professionals have NO SHORTAGE WHATSOEVER of work. Have you been to a doctor's office lately? Or - even worse - an ER? The fact that doctors are consistently behind in their appointments - I waited until almost 5 for my 3 pm appointment - and that the average ER wait is several hours really speaks for itself: even in its current form and with its current load of patients, our healthcare system has severe problems coming through. But it does come through. Look at the statistics: American healthcare is generally excellent, with substantially better cancer survival rates, for example, than even the best numbers among socialized-healthcare nations.
The expressed intention of the Obama agenda is universal healthcare. We have been promised that care will remain excellent. But that is, in a word, IMPOSSIBLE.
The legislation being considered does not substantially address things like training more doctors, building more hospitals, or streamlining the referral process (which is a massive part of healthcare these days). It does not increase the amount of patients that our doctors are capable of treating in a day, and does not mandate the acquisition of more doctors. The plan, apparently, is to try to use Federal law and the BILLING structure of the industry to try to extend our current healthcare TREATMENT structure over an additional 40 million people.
How does this make sense to ANYONE?
There are only so many doctors, and only so many hours in a day. If you require those same doctors to see more patients, they are not going to be able to do the kind of job we expect them to do. Further, if there is more healthcare being demanded by more people from the same number of doctors and hospitals, the cost of healthcare is NOT going to go down, it's going to go UP. That is fucking freshman economics. Add in that, with doctors so rushed, mistakes are going to be made, and medical malpractice cases are going to rise as well, and rightly so. Our government is on the verge of Ordering doctors to do more, without providing them the means to do more.
I hope I don't need to remind anyone what happens when the government decides that it knows business better than the businesses do, but - for quick reference - recall Enron, Grey Davis and the California energy meltdown, and our current foreclosure market. Governments are not all-powerful, and while they can legislate, the act of legislating does not CREATE anything. Ordering the current healthcare system to provide coverage for 40 million additional people - without a drop in quality of care - is like trying to feed an army with one man's lunch. A few loaves of bread and some of fish, for example. No matter what the liberals believe about Obama (and no matter what he might believe about himself), he's not qualified to make that happen.
Besides being beyond the powers of the Federal Legislature, quality national healthcare is beyond the capability of the healthcare system itself. There is only so much water in the well. More people drinking means less water for each. There is no way around this.
So Barack's plan is, frankly, bullshit. It's designed to get a bunch of his cronies into positions where they can make a bunch of money, control peoples' lives (by controlling their healthcare), and perpetuating a welfare state. It ABSOLUTELY will not result in a general reduction of the cost of healthcare; that part at least is simple supply and demand. It ABSOLUTELY will result in a sharp across-the-board decline in the quality of care, as doctors are now expected to see five patients in the time previously allotted for three or four. Do you believe in nationalized healthcare enough to accept a 20 or 25% reduction in the quality of your care? That's what's going to happen. If you are willing, do you really expect others to feel the same?
If the government was serious about reducing the cost of healthcare, how about this: for every year of service provided in a public clinic, hospital, or care institution, the Federal government will forgive 20% of the student loans of any doctor, nurse, or other skilled healthcare practitioner. Put in five years public service, and - in addition to your regular salary over that period - your student loans are totally forgiven. You know: solve the problem though the taxing and spending power, rather than by institutionalizing an entire industry. Give people economic incentive to become doctors and nurses, and give them incentive to use their skills for the benefit of the public. Solve the healthcare shortage by generating more healthcare, rather than by trying voodoo to stretch too little healthcare too far.
But I guess we don't have time for a rational solution. Obama only has a few years to carve his legacy, and so he needs to make a dramatic splash, rather than making an effective change.
But he's not giving us details. It might be because he doesn't have them, but it's more likely because, if people knew the details, they would be even more outraged than they are now.
Even putting aside pesky points like the 9th and 10th Amendments, I really don't know why this is getting so much consideration. Is it really that difficult for people to grasp that the American healthcare system simply cannot effectively cover the entire populace?
Lets spell it out. Healthcare a COMMODITY, and it is expensive. And it's not expensive just because of the evil insurance industry and the Plaintiff's attorneys. Healthcare is a highly skilled field that plays for high stakes (literally life and death), and is EXTREMELY technologically oriented. All efforts that are successful are nothing more than a holding-action anyway; we're all going to die, so even the greatest healthcare victories are ultimately moot. But there are unquestionably lots of highly intelligent, highly trained people who need to get paid (and paid well) for the services they provide.
Rest assured that healthcare providers and professionals have NO SHORTAGE WHATSOEVER of work. Have you been to a doctor's office lately? Or - even worse - an ER? The fact that doctors are consistently behind in their appointments - I waited until almost 5 for my 3 pm appointment - and that the average ER wait is several hours really speaks for itself: even in its current form and with its current load of patients, our healthcare system has severe problems coming through. But it does come through. Look at the statistics: American healthcare is generally excellent, with substantially better cancer survival rates, for example, than even the best numbers among socialized-healthcare nations.
The expressed intention of the Obama agenda is universal healthcare. We have been promised that care will remain excellent. But that is, in a word, IMPOSSIBLE.
The legislation being considered does not substantially address things like training more doctors, building more hospitals, or streamlining the referral process (which is a massive part of healthcare these days). It does not increase the amount of patients that our doctors are capable of treating in a day, and does not mandate the acquisition of more doctors. The plan, apparently, is to try to use Federal law and the BILLING structure of the industry to try to extend our current healthcare TREATMENT structure over an additional 40 million people.
How does this make sense to ANYONE?
There are only so many doctors, and only so many hours in a day. If you require those same doctors to see more patients, they are not going to be able to do the kind of job we expect them to do. Further, if there is more healthcare being demanded by more people from the same number of doctors and hospitals, the cost of healthcare is NOT going to go down, it's going to go UP. That is fucking freshman economics. Add in that, with doctors so rushed, mistakes are going to be made, and medical malpractice cases are going to rise as well, and rightly so. Our government is on the verge of Ordering doctors to do more, without providing them the means to do more.
I hope I don't need to remind anyone what happens when the government decides that it knows business better than the businesses do, but - for quick reference - recall Enron, Grey Davis and the California energy meltdown, and our current foreclosure market. Governments are not all-powerful, and while they can legislate, the act of legislating does not CREATE anything. Ordering the current healthcare system to provide coverage for 40 million additional people - without a drop in quality of care - is like trying to feed an army with one man's lunch. A few loaves of bread and some of fish, for example. No matter what the liberals believe about Obama (and no matter what he might believe about himself), he's not qualified to make that happen.
Besides being beyond the powers of the Federal Legislature, quality national healthcare is beyond the capability of the healthcare system itself. There is only so much water in the well. More people drinking means less water for each. There is no way around this.
So Barack's plan is, frankly, bullshit. It's designed to get a bunch of his cronies into positions where they can make a bunch of money, control peoples' lives (by controlling their healthcare), and perpetuating a welfare state. It ABSOLUTELY will not result in a general reduction of the cost of healthcare; that part at least is simple supply and demand. It ABSOLUTELY will result in a sharp across-the-board decline in the quality of care, as doctors are now expected to see five patients in the time previously allotted for three or four. Do you believe in nationalized healthcare enough to accept a 20 or 25% reduction in the quality of your care? That's what's going to happen. If you are willing, do you really expect others to feel the same?
If the government was serious about reducing the cost of healthcare, how about this: for every year of service provided in a public clinic, hospital, or care institution, the Federal government will forgive 20% of the student loans of any doctor, nurse, or other skilled healthcare practitioner. Put in five years public service, and - in addition to your regular salary over that period - your student loans are totally forgiven. You know: solve the problem though the taxing and spending power, rather than by institutionalizing an entire industry. Give people economic incentive to become doctors and nurses, and give them incentive to use their skills for the benefit of the public. Solve the healthcare shortage by generating more healthcare, rather than by trying voodoo to stretch too little healthcare too far.
But I guess we don't have time for a rational solution. Obama only has a few years to carve his legacy, and so he needs to make a dramatic splash, rather than making an effective change.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Another Animal For The Zoo
As fall creeps inexorably upon us, I must, alas, speak of football, lest I explode. I know most of my readers don't give a rats-ass about ANYTHING football-related. Except Lisa, and even her attention is largely limited to the Griz (which is understandable) and the Cowboys (which in unforgivable). But although I love you guys, I don't always write for you guys, and I'm in one of those states of mind where I REALLY need to write about SOMETHING.
So. Football. The big news this off-season is the Michael Vick thing, who signed this week with the Eagles. This surprised me only a little. Having a through-and-through class guy like Tony Dungy in his corner gets him a lot of respect, and provides at least the reasonable confidence that Vick is not going to GET CAUGHT doing anything else illegal and/or idiotic. To be honest, Philly (and probably a few other teams, to lesser degree) didn't need any more assurance than that.
Of course, having Tony as his babysitter doesn't change the fact that Michael Vick, whether or not he's still doing it, is a man who - for years - bred, participated in fights between, and even personally killed household animals (in creative and brutal fashion, no less) because HE LIKED IT AND THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD FUN. But we're all about second chances aren't we? Especially when that second chance might give the home team another angle in the rushing attack. So make no mistake, Philly and its fans are going to embrace Vick. If for no other reason than that Philly fans are absolutely incapable of rational thought when it comes to their sports teams, they will continue their rabid support, games will continue to sell out, and any PETA protesters that might be in attendance should at least be aware of the possibility of getting shivved by a hard-core fan who's had a bit too much Yuengling.
Makes you proud to be an American, eh?
For my part, and setting aside that I'm a dog kind of guy, this signing pisses me off because it astronomically increases the Eagles chances of winning the Super Bowl, and I'm not a fan. Philly is gonna be strong this year. And not because of anything Vick might contribute on the field, mind you. Guy is three years older, hasn't played a snap, and was over-rated at his best. The Eagles' on-field product was looking pretty good to start with anyway; whatever raw talent he might bring, Vick will be a drop in the bucket, especially since the #1 guy on that team wears #5, not #7.
His contribution to the game will probably be minimal. But Vick's contribution to the DRAMA is already remarkable.
Seriously, think about Philly and the Eagles. Do you think there is any possible way that they might carry away a Lombardi Trophy with class and dignity? NO. FUCKING. WAY. If they win it all, there needs to be strife, contentions, angles for recriminations, and "Yeah, but look at what you had to stoop to to win." Hell, their best finish in the last 20 years came with Terrel Owens and his associated side-show in their locker room. Think that was a coincidence? With all this drama, all this contentiousness, and all this off-the-field bullshit, the team, the fans, and the city will be foaming at the mouth and running through walls all season. Even if Vick never takes that field, and barring serious injury to Mike Westbrook, the Eagles are gonna be tough.
Think about it. If they win a championship with him on the roster, then football history, for all eternity, will recall that the Eagles where finally able to climb the mountain after they signed the most notorious and publicized ex-con in the history of the game. Since this is the Philadelphia Eagles we're talking about, do you imagine a championship could happen any other way?
So. Football. The big news this off-season is the Michael Vick thing, who signed this week with the Eagles. This surprised me only a little. Having a through-and-through class guy like Tony Dungy in his corner gets him a lot of respect, and provides at least the reasonable confidence that Vick is not going to GET CAUGHT doing anything else illegal and/or idiotic. To be honest, Philly (and probably a few other teams, to lesser degree) didn't need any more assurance than that.
Of course, having Tony as his babysitter doesn't change the fact that Michael Vick, whether or not he's still doing it, is a man who - for years - bred, participated in fights between, and even personally killed household animals (in creative and brutal fashion, no less) because HE LIKED IT AND THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD FUN. But we're all about second chances aren't we? Especially when that second chance might give the home team another angle in the rushing attack. So make no mistake, Philly and its fans are going to embrace Vick. If for no other reason than that Philly fans are absolutely incapable of rational thought when it comes to their sports teams, they will continue their rabid support, games will continue to sell out, and any PETA protesters that might be in attendance should at least be aware of the possibility of getting shivved by a hard-core fan who's had a bit too much Yuengling.
Makes you proud to be an American, eh?
For my part, and setting aside that I'm a dog kind of guy, this signing pisses me off because it astronomically increases the Eagles chances of winning the Super Bowl, and I'm not a fan. Philly is gonna be strong this year. And not because of anything Vick might contribute on the field, mind you. Guy is three years older, hasn't played a snap, and was over-rated at his best. The Eagles' on-field product was looking pretty good to start with anyway; whatever raw talent he might bring, Vick will be a drop in the bucket, especially since the #1 guy on that team wears #5, not #7.
His contribution to the game will probably be minimal. But Vick's contribution to the DRAMA is already remarkable.
Seriously, think about Philly and the Eagles. Do you think there is any possible way that they might carry away a Lombardi Trophy with class and dignity? NO. FUCKING. WAY. If they win it all, there needs to be strife, contentions, angles for recriminations, and "Yeah, but look at what you had to stoop to to win." Hell, their best finish in the last 20 years came with Terrel Owens and his associated side-show in their locker room. Think that was a coincidence? With all this drama, all this contentiousness, and all this off-the-field bullshit, the team, the fans, and the city will be foaming at the mouth and running through walls all season. Even if Vick never takes that field, and barring serious injury to Mike Westbrook, the Eagles are gonna be tough.
Think about it. If they win a championship with him on the roster, then football history, for all eternity, will recall that the Eagles where finally able to climb the mountain after they signed the most notorious and publicized ex-con in the history of the game. Since this is the Philadelphia Eagles we're talking about, do you imagine a championship could happen any other way?
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