what if?

The GOP and Health Care

Many of my liberal friends think that Republicans are obstructionists and have no interest in changing our health care system.

Not true.

You may not agree with these proposals.  Yet, they are evidence that Republicans very much recognize a need for change.  At the very least, we should consider them before we pass incredibly massive laws.

Transforming health care to slow the growth of spending requires a radical restructuring of how health services are paid for. The most powerful way to reduce costs (and make room to expand coverage) is to shift away from “volume-based” reimbursement (the more you do, the more money you make) to “value-based” reimbursement.

Markets work. We should use them to drive behavior toward the goals of sustainable value in medical treatment and affordable health care for all Americans.

From Skinhead to Skullcap

The tag line of my blog is "imagine the possibilities."  Too often, we do not.

Could any of you imagine this?

When Pawel looks into the mirror, he can still sometimes see a neo-Nazi skinhead staring back, the man he was before he covered his shaved head with a skullcap, traded his fascist ideology for the Torah and renounced violence and hatred in favor of God.

“I still struggle every day to discard my past ideas,” said Pawel, a 33-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jew and former truck driver, noting with little irony that he had to stop hating Jews in order to become one. “When I look at an old picture of myself as a skinhead, I feel ashamed. Every day I try and do teshuvah,” he said, using the Hebrew word for repentance. “Every minute of every day. There is a lot to make up for.”

Whenever you think, "It cannot be done," or "It cannot be true," or "No solution is possible," think of the above story.  Sometimes, we are truly limited by nothing more than our imagination.

Bad for Biz

If the president of the United States bad mouthed your business and your community, then how would you respond?

Perhaps like this.

Wynn said since the president made his remarks, a large corporation that didn’t receive taxpayer dollars pulled out of a $5 million convention at his resorts.

“It was a direct result of the comment made by the president,” Wynn said. “Whatever the president’s intentions were, it gives you an idea of how sensitive the public is.”

The president’s comments came after Wells Fargo & Co., which received a $25 billion federal bailout, canceled a conference at two high-end Las Vegas hotels in response to criticism from Congress after press reports of the company’s lavish trips.

After Obama’s comments, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. moved a three-day conference from Mandalay Bay to San Francisco, incurring a $600,000 cancellation penalty to skip town. Morgan Stanley, which has received $10 billion in bailout funds, canceled a trip for top employees to the Monte Carlo.

Wynn agreed that Congress needs to be critical of those spending federal bailout money but is afraid Obama’s remarks have characterized Las Vegas as a place of wasteful spending.

“We have hundreds of thousands of employees here, more than the auto industry. I hope that Uncle Sam recognizes that and that the rhetoric that is used is more considered in the future because it’s been demonstrated to us that it can have unintended consequences,” Wynn said.

Las Vegas is one of the most technologically advanced locations to hold meetings, and it’s a value compared to other cities, Wynn said.

Wynn said he’s created numerous jobs in the city with his Wynn Las Vegas and Encore resorts. He said the government can’t boast of the same accomplishment.

“I created 4,000 or 5,000 jobs here,” he said. “Does that make us a bad guy? How many new jobs did Uncle Sam create? Zero. “

The Unlikely Activist

Keli Carender has a pierced nose, performs improv on weekends and lives here in a neighborhood with more Mexican grocers than coffeehouses. You might mistake her for the kind of young person whose vote powered President Obama to the White House. You probably would not think of her as a Tea Party type.

But, Ms. Carender is very much involved with Tea Party protests.

The daughter of Democrats who became disaffected in the Clinton years, Ms. Carender, 30, began paying attention to politics during the 2008 campaign, but none of the candidates appealed to her. She had studied math at Western Washington University before earning a teaching certificate at Oxford — she teaches basic math to adult learners — and began reading more on economics, particularly the writings of Thomas Sowell, the libertarian economist, and National Review.

Reading about the stimulus, she said, “it didn’t make any sense to me to be spending all this money when we don’t have it.”

“It seems more logical to me that we create an atmosphere where private industry can start to grow again and create jobs,” she said.

Perhaps some of us are going to have to review our preconceptions?

Off The Cliff?

Are Democrats simply choosing political suicide by leaping off a cliff?  Or - is something deeper occurring?

Beware of True Believers....

Records Are ...

Meant to be broken.  We all know that, particularly during the Olympics.  Yet, competition of the mind can be fierce, too.

Here is a story of some young people who challenge the boundaries of what the mind can achieve at my favorite game.

And - a photo of Richard and Andrew Jeng with friends before the game starts - along with one of "old timer" Adam Kaplan and one of his regular partners.  From my private collection :)

Woof Redux

Hey; when you don't have a dog, these photos are the next best thing.

One Cure for Our Health

Irrespective of your thoughts about current or future bills to overhaul our medical system, this is one cure we ought to adopt.  The case for tort reform from Philip K. Howard:

The only reform that can work is one that strives for reliability from case to case. For doctors to feel free to focus on the patient instead of their own self-protection, the doctors must feel that justice will make decisions based on medical science, not the emotion of the victim.

 

What most experts favor is some form of administrative compensation system, often referred to as "special health courts." The proposals for pilot projects contemplate dedicated judges, without juries, who are advised by neutral experts and write written opinions on standards of care. This proposal is supported by David Leonhardt in today's New York Times, David Brooks, consumer groups such as AARP, and most patient safety experts--as well by doctors, employers, and insurers. See here and here.

The trial lawyers hate the idea of jury-less courts that resolve cases in a matter of months not years. The trial lawyers succeeded in blocking any mention of health courts by Congress--thanks to tens of millions in political contributions.

 

But it is a scandal not to include health courts in any health care proposal. Defensiveness is pure waste. The way to get rid of it is to replace an ad hoc system of justice with one that strives for reliability.

A Teacher

Most of us realize the high value of a good education.  In addition, we know that a good teacher can make all the difference.  Well - here is the story of a superb teacher.

Paula Cheney, "Miss Cheney", my second grade teacher from East Prairie School in Skokie, Illinois, died this past week.  Miss Cheney was "just" a grammar school teacher for 44 years.  Yet, she merited a substantial obit in the Chicago Sun Times.

Paula Cheney couldn't pass a squirrel or birdie without feeding them.

If she saw an injured animal -- even a wild hawk -- she'd take it home and feed it with an eyedropper till it was strong enough to be released.

She was the same way with her third-grade students at Skokie's East Prairie School, where she taught for 44 years. Kids might have entered her classroom as tentative fledglings, but they went on to fourth grade knowing at least one person in the world cared about them very much.

Decades later, she would run into former students who would approach and tell her she was the best teacher they ever had.

All true.  When you were with Miss Cheney, you knew instinctively that she wasn't there "simply" to teach you about multiplication and how to read well.  You knew that she literally loved you and would do whatever she could to help you become a better person.

NYC Nannies

Yes, this sounds as if it's from The Onion.  But no; it is not.

Months after it barred schools from holding most food fundraisers, the city says bake sales can go on—as long as no homemade treats with undisclosed calorie counts grace the fold-out tables. The new regulation, designed to combat ever-increasing childhood obesity, limits bake sales to "fresh fruits and vegetables, or one of 27 specific packaged items" that include low-fat Doritos, Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars (blackberry only) and Linden’s Cookies (butter crunch, chocolate chip or fudge chip cookies in two cookie packs) among other things.

The problem with baked goods made from scratch is that there's just no telling how many calories and fat grams are contained within (as opposed to processed foods where fat, preservatives and artificial coloring are clearly listed). “It’s impossible to know what the content is, or what the portion size is,” said Kathleen Grimm, who oversees the regulation. But students protested, and not only because the rule means losing a part of their livelihoods: “It’s unrealistic to say a young adult can’t make a decision about whether they can eat something,” David Greenblatt, a senior, told City Room. “Soon I’ll be in college, and I won’t have Mommy or Daddy or Chancellor Klein sitting right next to me saying, ‘Hey David, don’t eat that, its too high in calories.’”

Ho ho ho; Ho Ho's are OK, but Mom's apple pie is not?  Welcome to the nut house!

Woof!

From one of my favorite photography sites

Impossible not to love these faces!
 .

"First Tea Party Terrorist?"

When I read this in the New York Times "Opinionator" column, I was outraged.  I don't know if this will ever see the light of day, but I immediately wrote this to the editor of the paper.

To the Editor:

The Opinionator column "First Tea Party Terrorist?" by Robert Wright truly is an insult to those subscribing to the underlying principles of the "Tea Party" movement.  These people are committed to an ideology that includes smaller government, less taxation, and vastly less spending by our government. 

 

Although Mr. Wright is correct that it is difficult to pin down exactly what motivates Tea Partiers, and what their belief structure "really" is - this is clear.  No where can you find Tea Partiers urging people to perpetrate violent acts against our nation or its people to secure their goals.

 

On the other hand, there are groups of people who do exactly that.  Al Qaeda followers specifically wish to do our country violent harm.  Groups like Hamas wish to destroy Israel through terror and violence.  We know these people to be terrorists, not only because they act violently, but because they belong to organizations who clearly state that terror and harm are their aim.

 

Feel free to criticize what Tea Partiers actually are doing or some of the principles they hold dear.  But just because one individual whose belief structure clearly resonates with those both on the right and the left attacks a government building, don't generalize against a large group of people.  Even contemplating that Joseph Stack is a "Tea Party terrorist" is a slur that none of these people deserve.

 

Peggy Kaplan
Minnetonka, MN

 

 

"Arrogance of Power"

So let me get this straight.  When Republicans were trying to circumvent the filibuster and get laws passed with only 51 votes in the senate, this act was:

 

• a "constitutional crisis"
• "arrogance of power"
• a "naked power grab"
• "breaking the rules"
• "ignoring precedent"
• "immediate gratification"

And more.  But - don't take my word for it, watch this video.

 

A question for my liberal friends.  If all these Democrats were correct about how awful this option was in 2005 - then why has it suddenly become such a fabulous idea today?

 

I look forward to your answers.

 

Headline of the Week

I saw this headline at Newsweek, and figured it was some sort of spoof.

The Quiet Dignity of Rielle Hunter

Is this like "The Monk-Like Sex Life of Bill Clinton?"  "The Fine Oratory of George W. Bush?"  "The Restrained Modesty of Ann Coulter?"  "The Understated Commentary of Keith Olbermann?"

If ever one had doubts about the soon demise of Newsweek, this should put such worries to rest.  These two comments do not sound like satire:

Dignified? Having a sexual relationship with a married man, especially one whose wife is terminally ill -- that is Newsweek's idea of dignified? Wow, who knew? Oh, well, what else can be expected from a publication who is falling all over itself, and disregarding basic tenets of journalism, by, for some mysterious reason, trying to rehabilitate Elliot Spitzer, who had an arrogant disregard for the rule of law -- as in it didn't apply to him. But, his claim to "dignity," apparently, was that he wore socks while having sex with prostitutes. Glad you cleared up the definition of "dignfied" for all of your readers.

This is the most disgusting thing I have ever read in Newsweek. Rielle Hunter has been paid extremely well for her silence. She deliberately had an affair with a married man whose wife had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. To attack Elizabeth Edwards and imbue Rielle Hunter with "quiet dignity" is the most reprehensible thing I have ever seen a journalist do. I have always been a big fan of Newsweek. I will NOT be reading it anymore.

"The Gift of Cancer"

A potential death sentence turns out to be a blessing.

A Milestone

Although I have been a staunch free marketer and small government proponent for years, sometimes I don't vote for candidates preaching this.  I'm also fairly liberal socially.  If a politician leans too far into homophobic country, then they won't get my vote.  Unfortunately, when liberals say there are more homophobic politicians on the right than the left - they're correct.

Now, however, it seems that the tide is turning.  A sponsor getting booted because they are unwilling to have a gay organization at a conservative convention?  Yes.  A homophobic speaker booed off the stage at this same convention?  You got it.

Here are the details.  No matter how the left tries to spin it - conservatives today just don't care what your sexual orientation is....

Times Change

Do more Democrats than Republicans support gays serving in the military?  Yes.  Does a significant majority of Republicans and Independents support gays serving in the military?  Yes again.

Yesterday, on the radio, I heard conservative talk show host Mike Gallagher debating this topic. Gallagher's guest was against it.  But, Gallagher himself could not find any reason for the ban - nor could he for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."  Essentially his argument was that certain behaviors should not be allowed in the military - but all people should be OK.  As long as they are up to the task and live according to the precepts and rules of the military - that's what matters.  (Sorry; unable to find any links to this.)

Times change.  Thank goodness!

File Under "Whoops"

White House vs. Reality 

At his briefing today, Robert Gibbs said: “We are tremendously hopeful, which is why the president posted ideas of his on the White House website today. We hope Republicans will post their ideas, either on their website or we'd be happy to post them on ours, so that the American people could come to one location and find out the parameters of what will largely be discussed on Thursday.”

A Boehner spokesman replies: “Mr. Gibbs needs to talk with his boss.  Our health-care alternative — the full text of the legislation — has been available at healthcare.gop.gov for months, which President Obama knows, since he discussed it with us in Baltimore a few weeks ago.”

Going Broke

Want to know why California is going broke?  (Or, perhaps I should have said, is broke?)  Read this.

The Best Revenge

They say that "living well is the best revenge."  I don't know if Yitta Schwartz necessarily lived exactly as she wished or not.  But I do know that she assuredly foiled the goal that Nazis had for the Jews.

WHEN Yitta Schwartz died last month at 93, she left behind 15 children, more than 200 grandchildren and so many great- and great-great-grandchildren that, by her family’s count, she could claim perhaps 2,000 living descendants.

Mrs. Schwartz was a member of the Satmar Hasidic sect, whose couples have nine children on average and whose ranks of descendants can multiply exponentially. But even among Satmars, the size of Mrs. Schwartz’s family is astonishing. A round-faced woman with a high-voltage smile, she may have generated one of the largest clans of any survivor of the Holocaust — a thumb in the eye of the Nazis.

Mrs. Schwartz did not want her children to collect photographs of her and, given that modesty, her family was reluctant to provide more than one to accompany this article. “Just keep me in your heart,” she used to say. “If you leave a child or grandchild, you live forever.”