1. “Premiums would largely stay the same. The change in the average premium in the large group market would be between 0 percent and a 3 percent decrease, for instance, compared with where they’d be under current law in 2016.”

In real national healthcare, your tax is the premium. In this plan, you pay your premium, and will likely pay more in taxes to cover anyone who can’t pay that premium, so you WILL pay more either way.

2. It’s government-run health care.

No. It’s government controlled health care. It has been government controlled healthcare for decades, ever since the early 70s when Richard Nixon created more government alphabet soup than Campbell’s! Well… more than any other president.

3. If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.

Liking your plan has long been a luxury most never had, and most still won’t have.

4. The bill cuts Medicare by $500 billion.

I am not sure if it’s true, but I have heard that more than any other insurance plan, the biggest denier of claims is Medicare. Whatever the case, here we have the Republicans pulling the same dirty polemic trick that Democrats compulsively commit in flagrant delicto. They call a decrease in an increase a cut. In other words, Medicare will not be cut, spending on it will increase, but not as much as it currently increases,

5. The health care plan would be the largest middle-class tax cut for health care.

Even if totally true, it’s simply not believable. If taxes don’t go up, premiums must go up. There are millions of uninsured to be covered, our good wishes won’t do it, and we can’t deficit spend at ever increasing rates forever. But really! Are taxes going down for the middle class? No. Are insurance premiums going down for the middle class? Maybe a little, or maybe they’re going up. Mr President, just because Americans are born every minute, it doesn’t mean we’re all buying this!

6. Medical malpractice is the biggest driver of health care spending.

Medical malpractice may not be a main driver of costs, but it is the main reason our healthcare providers are herded into monopolies and oligopolies in our communities. Especially for OB/GYN doctors, who pay annual malpractice insurance premiums averaging $100,000.00 annually. Because doctors must pool their resources to stay in practice, we have gone from private practice, to corporate health care. In areas too sparsely populated to host large group practices, there is a doctor shortage. Medical malpractice is why.

In Summary:

In my view, we have neither free market or government health care. Our health insurance companies are no less than Freddie Macs & Fannie Maes, private for profit entities that are tied to the regulation of the state’s command, yet consumed by their need for profit. They are already too big to fail, but as their demands increase even further to go beyond the role of enterprise, further into that of social engineering, they will collapse just like our financial center did under similar pressure to produce non-existent capital on behalf of government social engineers who wanted inflated housing for everyone for little interest, and no ability to pay.

We are so screwed!

One thing I have discovered at this stage in life, the only people who don’t make mistakes and missteps are those who do nothing. If you’re well-intentioned and active, you are bound to make quite a few! For this reason, we should, in tandem, strive to our best, but also not take ourselves too seriously. I am pretty sure that I have fallen prey to that flaw in this blog and elsewhere. Whether my words are profound or profane, as a true believer in the US Constitution’s First Amendment, I find the road to both individual and the collective good is paved with the free exchange of ideas. Just watch out! The winter has been long, and there seem to be quite a few pot holes!

With our politics divided into warring factions; Whose ongoing legacies are staggering national debt, ongoing global conflict due to interventionist designs by all controlling parties, government intervention in the lives of citizens when not wanted, and government failing to intervene on behalf of citizens when wanted, and altogether fomenting civil disharmony; It is time to declare a view that is unobstructed by the deleterious, and pernicious factionalism of common politics.

In a diverse community, we ought not desire to in any way limit the various pursuits, values, and displays of each person. Likewise, in a diverse community no one should suffer that the values of another, or even a majority be imposed, other than the common sense rules of law and civility which equally protects all from force, and fraud.

Cherishing liberty, we must also come together for areas of the common good. Too long we have pitted one group against another as our leaders make use of factions to gain political power with which they reward friends, and punish their opposition.

We must understand that no amount of money can save those bent on self destruction, yet we also must understand that aid is needed to ensure that anyone can rise above poverty, mental illness, and unfortunate circumstance. Because of the nature of our existence, we can’t expect equal outcomes, so for some we must make unequal efforts to aid those who need.

As a positive political movement that is dedicated to the benefit of all, we see the value of the liberal values of generosity, the progressive intention to elevate the least among us, and to hold the power of wealth in check. Likewise the conservative values that preserve traditions, to seek counsel before change, and to hold the power of government in check. That these values thrive, and play on the same field is of vital importance to the country we so value. Unfortunately, when tightly held, the adherence to views leads to very distorted views of one side against the other, and good people eventually stop merely disagreeing, and a spirit of war arises. A spirit that in the end destroys a people and their civilization.

Today in a flight of fancy, or possibly something more meaningful, I proclaim my political alignment to be Blue, because the sky is blue. The sky is neither left, right, or even center. The sky is big enough to cover all of the earth, and anything beyond. Well… ok… the sky isn’t really blue. It’s just light passing through atmospheric gas, and of course at night it has no color at all. All I am really saying is that we shouldn’t limit our sights on some ideology, and miss out on seeing any and every view of possibility there is. Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of politics, and for this reason too, I Am Blue.

Once Upon A Time

When this country was founded, there really was little effective health care. People got sick, and they either recovered or died. Even if you had wealth, and could buy all the available health services of the 18^th century, it was nothing. Compared to that time, anyone with 20 dollars could buy more excellent remedies over the counter at Walmart right now!

Back in the 60s when the US was the very best country in the world for health care, hospitals were operated by churches and charities, and most doctors were general practitioners in single practices on street corner offices. It was nothing like the corporate medicine today. Corporate medicine (like corporate anything) came about because of government regulation, and other factors like increasing expenses due to malpractice lawsuits that made it impossible for physicians to go it alone. As the government vise tightened, charities were no longer up to the task of running hospitals, for the need of lawyers, accountants, and businessmen who had the requisite guile necessary to craft a survivable entity was essential after Nixon unleashed an ocean of regulatory alphabet soup back in the early 70s.

The Valve That Shuts Down Choice

Government is great at running monopolies, and that’s great for highways, police, fire departments, and so forth. When it comes to health care, energy, phone companies, and business in general… government regulation is great at creating monopolies. You see, regulation is great for halting new competition, shutting down smaller competition, and causing competitors to merge in order to survive. So where we used to have 20 healthy US oil companies, we have 3. Where we had many grocery stores, and mom and pop stores… we have Walmart. Where we had 20 different doctors, we now have a group of 20 doctors. The list goes on and on. The bottom line, the big corporation is a direct result of big government.

That Which You Fear, Has Long Been Here

All of the ills ascribed to national health care by it’s often hysterical opponents are also imbedded in corporate health care:

1. Rationed health care has been going on for some time for people in HMOs, unless they could pay out of pocket.

2. Providers already have had the long practice of denying some life prolonging procedures on the basis of age, or other factors such as diet or smoking, based on diminishing returns.

3. In many private plans, you can’t choose you doctor if he/she is not on the list of providers for you plan. In many plans, you can’t just go to the specialist that you know you need to see, but must first visit a gatekeeper physician.

4. If you’re worried about government trying to control your lifestyle, some private insurers already pull the rug out from people who make “poor lifestyle choices.”

5. If you object to national healthcare because you don’t want to pay more for other people who don’t contribute such as slackers or illegal aliens…. we do that already! That’s all in our medical bills and insurance premiums right now.

What To Do? What To Do?

The real bottom line here is that we already have everything that could possibly be wrong in national healthcare, and it’s been decades since we have enjoyed truly private healthcare. I am not sure there is a path back to workable free market healthcare, and I don’t find  anyone, even obstructionist Republicans advocating for it. Perhaps it is time to boldly go forward, if only for the reason that we can’t find reverse.

Today the news is filled with eulogies of television news legend, Walter Cronkite. Chatter everywhere speaks of how it was from the lips of “Uncle Walter” that we learned that JFK was assassinated, men have set foot on the moon, that Vietnam was a quagmire, Nixon was a crook, and countless other things.  The story of this man’s passing is filled with the essentials of news… who, what, when, and where, but I have found the why, and how somewhat lacking.

Today with literally endless choices for news that ranges from the three old broadcast networks, to CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, the BBC, and even Al Jazeera, there is no way for even the most popular choice to come close to Walter Cronkite’s sometimes 50% audience share. I am a bit hard pressed to find a percentage count, but the number #1 news cast these days seems to be NBC‘s nightly news with over 5 million viewers. It appears that at the height of his power, Cronkite had around 20 million viewers.

Even Dead Last Came In Third

Walter Cronkite wasn’t always number one. During the the 60s, the Huntley Brinkley Report on NBC was often the top dog with Cronkite’s star reaching it’s ascendancy after 1970. Though he is now being most closely associated with the news of the 60s, it was the 70s where he ruled. He never wore out his welcome, and when Walter Cronkite retired, he left as a still victorious champion of TV news for over a decade!

For many people Walter Cronkite was the epitome of broadcast professionalism, and he was their eye on the world in a turbulent time of change. I suspect that if you look deeper, you will find that he was actually the most comfortable choice for many in an era of… well 3 choices. And as did the other 2 choices, he reported the stories of that time as they occurred… as he should. This is not to belittle the man’s accomplishments, but to show why never again will anyone will attain his heights so long as the First Amendment, and choice are the rule… as they were NOT during his reign. Today, we don’t simply have choices… we have every choice.

Just as we have gone from having massively popular Top 40 radio stations with 70 shares, and a major musical act such as The Beatles was simultaneously experienced by everyone from children to old ladies on the Ed Sullivan Show, we will never again have one man so relied upon for our news. For ten years now, I have watched as act after act holds the number #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Chart, that I have never heard of, and who’s great hit I may never hear. The fact is, there is no mass appeal radio anymore, no ubiquitous pop music, no new Beatles, no news hegemony, and perhaps with the possible exception of The Super Bowl, what’s left of pop culture is niche. In those ten years I have also become someone who rarely watches any TV at all.  I am not unusual.

E Pluribus Unum In Reverse

So it is with the chatter of a million bloggers, amateur reporters, talking heads, a choir of singing  forum trolls, and on and on… we commend the passing of an era that must never be again, for we have sacrificed the one voice for many. No longer tied to monopolies, oligarchies, and cartels of wisdom… and in the light of a more fully realized First Amendment, we bid farewell to Walter Cronkite, mass media, and pop culture. Rest in peace!

The small head of the comet has passed, and the tail is long, bright, and glorious to behold!

]]> http://rickpa.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/r-i-p-uncle-walter-pop-culture/feed/ 0 rickpa http://rickpa.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/such-power-as-we-have/ http://rickpa.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/such-power-as-we-have/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:55:43 +0000 rickpa http://rickpa.wordpress.com/?p=88 ]]> We do what we can to make our world better, yet whatever good we accomplish fades, and seems to lose it’s promise with every passing hour. No war has won a lasting peace, no good society has been able to end crime and violence, no movement has ended racism, no program has ended poverty forever, and no just revolution has eradicated tyranny.

The ONLY thing the force of aversion can grant us is more strife. So no matter how repugnant we find ideas and events, it’s only our aversion that is assured, but the causes of aversion are unabated. Even as we might beat, punish, fine, and imprison the repugnant folks behind our aversion. There is no end to this. Ever!

The only thing that’s truly within your power to change is your mind.

Goodness: A Yummy Banquet Of Death

In the animal world, creatures fight over food, territory, and mating. Surely modern humans also fight for these, but on those matters, things are contained in the police reports of our local paper, and don’t destroy or disrupt lives on a massive scale.

Ever since human thought enabled our species to considering the world around us, we have sought perfection in our environment. Of course every person develops their own ideas as to what this perfection is, and how it might be obtained. How tightly one holds their views of perfection, and the acceptance of such views among masses of people can upend the social order. Sometimes for good, but when it’s for ill, it’s a party banquet for Death & his friends!

The Want Of Happiness; The Root Of Calamity
“Christianity will one day bring a perfect world, so we must rid the world of heretics, and unbelievers, then we shall have heaven on earth!”

“Only Islam can make a good and just world, and to save the world, infidels must convert or die.”

“The German people would have their rightful place if not for the Jews.”

“True communism will bring about happiness and equality, but Kulaks, capitalist roaders, and revisionists stand in the way. They must be eliminated for the greater good.”

“We can use our military to secure us from terrorism, and make the Middle East blossom with peaceful friendly democracies that will sell us cheap oil.”

“I would be happy if only I can have a baby.”

“I would be happy if I didn’t have this brat child.”

“I will only be happy if you marry me.”

“I will be happy only if you drop dead.”

“I will only be happy if I drop dead.”

We’re Going To Achieve Utopia, But We’ll Have To Kill You

The goal of communism is a society that is decent for everyone, and the reason society isn’t decent is because of capitalists, kulaks, bourgeoisie, revisionists, blood sucking religions, and other enemies of the people. So to make a society that is decent for everyone, some 80 to 100 million human beings were starved, tortured to death, and executed. Of course it never became decent. Communism would have been different if they wanted to make capitalists, the landed gentry, and others equals with the people rather than eliminating them. They may have still had despotic leadership, but Communism might at least have not unleashed the horrific hellish vortex of blood that sucked over a third of humanity into the suffering of their state serfdom in the last century. Then again,  it was the murderous enmity and blame against the upper classes that powered communism, so could it have really done other than what it did?

Impermanence: Change You Can Believe In!

The world is always changing. Good times come, and good times go. Nations, political movements, religions, ourselves… bodies and minds… everything changes and eventually goes away. No war that is won secures the peace for more than couple of years. The phenomenal world simply doesn’t work that way. When things go bad, we consider that someone is at fault. Even your beloved spouse, who was your whole life, is now the spawn of hell. Impermanence.

True Good Is Only Measured By How We Deal With Others

Thinking ourselves good, and righteous, we seek to out, punish, and excise the bad and impure one that plagues the world. In our delusional pseudo-goodness, we fail to see that we are the true enemy. Blaming others is the seed of murder. All murder. And the germ of that seed is self-cherishing… the belief that one is right and good above others. If we truly want to be right and good, we must embrace the rightness and goodness in the least among us… which is likely ourselves.

The biggest big government in history so far, George W. Bush!

President Obama seems to be on his way to surpass Bush in growing government, but that history is not yet written. The history on Bush is settled in many areas, and I find that our current President has quite a formidable task ahead if he is going to take the mantle of “The Most Socialist President Ever.”

In terms of spending: Can anyone deny that Bush spent more than any previous US president?

In terms of regulation: Sure Bush didn’t heavily regulate in ways Democrats want to regulate, but everything from travel, to banking to doing business was regulated to comply with the rules of the War On Terror, and the Insane War On Drugs. Some of this may seem necessary after 9/11/01, but many have found airport security and other measures to pass the bounds of reasonable to be simply egregious.

In terms of diminished rights: I am sure you can think of some good examples where due process has gone out the door in the War On Terror.
New layers of bureaucracy. Homeland security is invaded every aspect of American life.

New health care entitlements: Medicare Part D is the biggest expansion of public health care since 1965. My parents, and many older Americans are enjoying free (or greatly reduced costs for)prescription drugs. Regardless of it’s merits, it’s still a big government program.

Choices That Offer No Choice

Sure there is a difference in style between Bush and Obama, as is evidenced in President Obama’s overseas trips, but the actions so far have been nearly identical. The bailout/stimulus packages that Republicans are castigating President Obama for were begun by Bush. In fact, everything President Obama is done so far could have just as easily have been done by Bush, or McCain. While Bush might not have been for the global warming legislation that has passed the House of Representatives, McCain likely would have. In reality, the difference between Democrats and Republicans is the difference between products made by Nestle and Hershey*.

The most right-wing administration (in governance) in my view…. in my lifetime, was the Clinton administration. Government intrusion, and government spending actually shrank, and more deregulation on private enterprise occured than at any other time in the modern era. In fact, those relaxed banking regulations that many Democrats have blamed for last years financial crisis were policies set by the Clinton administration.

The bottom line here is, if either Bush or Obama have alarmed you, you probably should have been alarmed for a long time, and continue to be alarmed for the forseeable future.

* Special thanks to my gaming guildmate, Earnie of Noble Fist for the candy bar analogy.

What Do These Items Have In Common?

Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.  So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

“When morning dawned, Rama, taking the car Pushpaka given to him by Vibhishana, stood ready to depart. Self-moving was that car, and it was very fairly pointed and large; two stories it had, and windows and flags and banners and many chambers, and it gave forth a melodious sound as it coursed along the airy way. Then said Vibhishana: “What more may I do?” and Rama answered: “Do thou content these bears and monkeys who have accomplished my affair with divers jewels and wealth; then shall they fare to their homes. And do thou rule as one who is righteous, self-controlled, compassionate, a just collector of revenues, that all may be attached to thee.” Then Vibhishana bestowed wealth on all the host, and Rama was taking leave of all the bears and monkeys and of Vibhishana; but they cried out: “We wish to go with thee to Ayodhya.” Then Rama invited them gladly, and Sugriva and Vibhishana and all the host mounted the mighty car; and the car rose up into the sky, drawn by golden geese, and sailed on its airy way, while the monkeys, bears, and rakshasas took their ease.” – Ramayana

“And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

Lhabab Düchen, is a Buddhist festival celebrated to observe the descent of Buddha from heaven back to earth. Buddha had left for heaven at the age of 41. He was exhorted by his follower and representative Maugalyayana to return and after a long debate managed to return. He returned to earth by a special triple ladder prepared by Viswakarma, the god of machines.

Myth Me Blind

Since the dawn of sentient discursive thinking, all sorts of notions have been developed as to how we came to be, and why the world is as it is. Though much over time has been explained, and proven to be different than first conceived, there is a truth in every story. Something happened.

Tibetans used to believe that Caucasian folks were some kind of demonic non-humans, so it isn’t a stretch for primitive folks to see different racial types as something other than human. What then of intelligent beings who really aren’t of this world?

Go up to any pre-technological human being with a bright flashlight, and they will observe a fire by which nothing is consumed. Let them view the activities at a modern airport, and they will relate it to something that they already know, maybe a flying chariot. Perhaps if they saw a ramp up to board an airliner, it would be a “special triple ladder.”

Myth The Old Days, We Will! – spoken in my best Yoda voice

We live in a world where many bright, and sincere folks hold a religious faith, and these people accept all of the stories that go along with their faith as quite respectable, but if one were to suggest to such an astute and respectable individual that their faith might have otherworldly origins of another type, they are likely to see you as being out of touch with reality, and not so respectable. In fact, they might just consider you to be a servant of evil!  Whoooo! Hooooo!

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12.

So we have this whole idea about this great conflict, of which humanity generally plays the part of pawns. That’s what we get from three Abrahamic religions, but the view of heavenly conflict also seems to run in earlier views such as the ones existent in Sumer, and Babylon. Then there is the Hindu view of the ongoing battles between the Asuras and Devas, or even Buddhist accounts of Asuraloka. (See my first post.) The question I have is, why is it so acceptable to hold the view that the world is a battlefield between God and Satan, but it’s craziness to consider that we might be in the middle of something that resembles the human conflicts that we have always known, advanced by mortals who just happen to be more tech savvy than ourselves? Could ‘God Wars’ actually be more like ‘Star Wars?’

In considering our human world, and our incredible acceleration in technology….in considering our behavior towards one another over known history, I find that the simplest explanation is not so simple when we don’t have the facts, but we have many facts now that were not even dreamt of 100 years ago… let alone thousands of years ago when human lore was enshrined as scripture. The time has come to not simply believe. It’s time to think, and consider what we’re going to do next. I can only hope that whatever paradigm shift new knowledge (or new understandings of ancient knowledge) brings us, that we heed the universal ethical council that has been passed down in those ancient tomes, and that the universe will be better and kinder for it.

While a nuclear North Korea is a fearful thing, there is a story here that’s not being covered, and it’s truly an amazing story! How is it that a nation (actually nations as Britain, Canada and other allies in WW2 helped in various ways.) with mid-20^th century technology created an atomic bomb, a feat that modern nations such as North Korea have only managed (quite poorly by accounts), and others such as Iran are still working on, despite having modern nuclear reactors supplied for some time by Russia? How is it that we can send a number of humans to the moon and back, while other nations (despite ambitions) can’t even send a rocket halfway to the next continent?

Charlie Stole The Handle, & The Train Won’t Stop Going!

Since Scottish inventor, James Watt perfected the steam engine in the mid 18^th century, technology has gone distances beyond his (or anyone of his time’s) imagination. When William Murdoch (another Scottish inventor) perfected a prototype steam locomotive, it wasn’t a great leap. When John Fitch of the United States put one on rails, that too wasn’t a big deal. When the British ran a train from Manchester to Liverpool, they were getting somewhere, but when that technology was put to the task of connecting America’s wide open spaces, something huge had happened. Still, the technology itself was pretty much on a modest and graduated curve. The innovation was in the application.

Even the internal combustion engine seemed right in line, and cars today move pretty much the same as they always have. What has changed is the technology behind the technology. From tubes to transistors to chips, the equipment used to manufacture has radically transformed the final product. With music, the same technology was employed for 90 years to play recordings scratched on a surface, and reproduced with mechanical needles in grooves. Mid 20^th century, along side records sprang forth metal oxide coated plastic tapes with sound etched in by magnetic patterns. Then magically in the 80s, we replaced our record needles and tape heads with a LASER and optical sensor. Now we don’t even think about such things as our libraries of music are mp3s, wma, waves, and such on a massive computer hard drive. We might store some of these on CDs, but the CD is not necessary. The leap from a vinyl album to an mp3 playlist couldn’t have been foretold 20 years ago when CDs hit their stride, and the absence of a physical product probably would not be seen as desirable 10 years ago, but now it’s just the way we do it.

Watch It. That Last Step Is A Doozy!!!

100 years ago, the world was still getting around with horses, buggys, trains, steamboats, and on foot. There were a few primitive automobiles, and even fewer flimsy airplanes, and hydrogen airships. Contrast that world with now, and contemplate the technology that you now take for granted. How did this all come to be? Why is it that our civilization can invent bombs, send probes across our solar system, or post many silly blogs in cyberspace where people on the other side of the world can view….or not? What’s next? Can we even conceive it?