My Real Politik

I Dare You To Convince Me We Don't Need Medical Reform

So, I really want someone to try and convince me that a gov't sponsored health care option is a bad idea. 

Here are some basic stats according the the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association:

-The United States spends more then any other nation in the world on health care- nearly 17% of our GDP and is expected to reach almost a quarter of the GDP within the next 15 years. As of now, that's almost $7,200 per person- this rate has increased 6.8% every year. 

-The fastest growing rates of uninsured persons happens to be in the $25,000-$75,000 percentile- thats middle class Americans who are quickly losing their insurance. With Unemployment rates ever increasing, these rate increases are expected to be exponential. 

  

-50% of Middle Class Americans have serious trouble paying both Medical Bills and Insurance Coverage

Almost 48 Million Americans do not have health insurance for a number of reasons. I am one of those Americans- the industry I work in rarely offers health benefits and many companies are cutting their health benefits.

According to Harvard University, 62% of all bankruptcies are Medical Bankruptcies. Most of these Americans already had medical insurance, but had their claims denied.

To add a more personal note to this, my mother works for a major medical insurance company (who won't be named) and she tells me first hand how often they find any possible way to deny health coverage- it's about collecting premiums without having to pay out for coverage. It's actually a formula- that's the goal of the insurance industry. 

So, as a Middle Class American, if I don't have a job that offers me medical benefits, what motivation do I have to inquire about personal medical insurance when I have absolutely no guarantee that the insurance I can't afford will even cover me when I have a medical problem. The financial risk is so unsettling that I've resigned myself to not having health insurance until I get older. And I'm not alone- I have countless friends that have ended needing some sort of medical help- be it surgery, or emergency visits- and it put them in a massive amount of debt.

The United States is the only developed nation in the entire world that does not offer any public health care option. There's really no reason for it- I'm not saying that gov't sponsored health care is going to be top notch, but it'll provide care to me and the 48 million other Americans who need it. 

There are a number of logistical issues with gov't health care, however that is not a good reason to take it off the table. Democrats have been pushing for some form of Universal Health Care for almost a hundred years now, from FDR to Truman through Clinton and now, and have constantly met with the same old arguments: its too expensive, it'll ruin the health industry, it'll take coverage away from americans, etc etc etc. I say- where is the evidence for any of these claims? If the system we have was working for Americans, then why on earth would we keep pushing for medical reform? Proponents have nothing to gain from pushing for this reform, whereas opponents have quite a large amount of lobbying money to lose. The American Medical Association et al has injected billions of dollars into lobbying efforts on both sides of the isle- over $160 Million just last year according the the Center for Responsive Politics. Ironically, less the 20% of the country's medical profession is actually represented by the American Medical Association- and the AMA has often been blamed for limiting the number of doctors able to practice, as well as pushing for higher medical costs. When you include the Insurance and Pharmaceutical Industries, they spent HALF A BILLION dollars in one year- 2008- and are well on their way to top that this year. 

So... who really has something to gain by keeping medical reform off the table? I'm legitimately asking- not, I'm DARING you to convince me that this is a bad idea.

The Media's Taint

Video: Ahmadinejad Planned a Political Coup Post Election

This video has begun to make it's way around the blogosphere which is reportedly a recording of a conversation that took place between Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi and others in Qom immediately after the elections. It's unclear at this point whether this was recorded recently or after his first term election (as he is lacking some grey in his beard). It was submitted via CNN's i-Report.

Here are some of the highlights:

• "Islamic rule should not and cannot be limited only to Iran. Our efforts to expand it throughout the world are soon to be materialized with the help from God."
• "The revolution was hard and, began with difficulty, and the road ahead is even harder and more difficult. But this difficult road is exactly what to be expected." 
• "All the things that we have planned and talked about, is becoming a reality." 
• "I think timing is right, all necessary arrangements have been made. I seek your support and help. I am almost nobody compared to you in this struggle, in this grand movement. This is a blessing and is the beginning of a grand evolution in the world. I think this can become a reality. And building Iran as an example for others to follow and be a witness to on the road to realize the grand Islam.
• "It is possible to accomplish this, otherwise I would not be here sitting with you. Tehran is ready; the university is working on implementing it. Everything is taken care of in Tehran; we need your endorsement and approval."   

 Of course, one can only speculate as to the implications here. There's a reasonably solid breakdown, and summary transcript (w/ .pdf files) along with varying interpretations at The Jawa Report.

On My Shit List

Three Republicans are  on my Shit List today after managing to tastelessly insult the citizens of Iran, grass roots movements and minorities all in on shot! Thanks to the Daily Show for calling out these ignoramuses. 

Last Thursday, Republicans were up in arms over the Democrats "closed rule" mandate limiting the amount of amendments Republicans were able to propose to a $64 Billion Departments' of Commerce and Justice funding measure (Republicans  had proposed over 100 amendments thus far). 

•  Rep. David Dreier had the nerve to tweet "I wonder if there is not more freedom on the streets of Tehran right now than we are seeing here."  
• Rep. Pete Hoekstra tweeted "Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in the House last year when Republicans were shut down in the house."

• Rep. John Culberson tweeted "Oppressed minorities includehouserepubs: we are using social media to expose repression..."

Gotta toss the bullshit flag here. Frankly, I'm really sick of hearing the "Republicans are a repressed minority" argument. It wasn't accurate 10 years ago, and it's not accurate now. You're a minority because only 23% of the country wants to identify with you and you consequentially lost an election. You are a minority because your 8-year dominance of the government was an utter failure. And as Democrats learned during the 6 years they were the Congressional minority, being a political minority sucks. 

Now, of course both Parties in Congress have been able to maintain a +-54% disapproval rating which is nothing shy of down right pathetic. The fastest growing political association happens to be Independents at 39%. Yet, as much as the petty quibbling of both parties is an absolute outrage, I fail to have any sympathy for Congressional Republicans. They were utterly unwilling to extend any form of courtesy or respect towards the minority Democrats in the previous Congressional sessions. Moreover, its not so much the complaints as it is the context they are choosing to abuse for political gain. Assimilating a political minority to the struggles of Blacks and Homosexuals (to name a few); or to even suggest a comparison of the plight of the Iranian protesters to their pettifog is so morally abhorrent that I'm ashamed to have them in office. 

For these reasons, Congressmen, all three of you are currently on my Shit List.  

JOURNALISM IS DEAD! Didn't you know?

I just finished reading Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra." In it, Zarathustra makes the infamous proclamation that "God is dead [and good riddance!]" Take out the word "God" and replace it with "Journalism," and you have a description of the modern media. 

In "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," centuries of proselytized morality have reduced mankind to a mindless mob that considers hedonism to be sacrilegious. Man hates himself and God dies from utter pity.

If we reflect on this history of television we can see the consequences of journalism's degeneration from the exposure of Watergate down to selling the Iraq war- the newspaper is dead, and any intention of actually informing and educating the public has been replaced with an endless barrage of He-said-She-saids and troglodytic diatribe."Palin vs Letterman;" "Obama swats a fly;" "You'll never believe what Cheney is saying now!"  These could be headlines for the National Enquirer if they weren't already being used by FOX/CNN/MSNBC. 

These substandard attempts at reporting aren't just sophomoric, they sedate the very collective conversation that Journalism was intended to incite. And they're recycled ad absurdum; as if only 5 things had happened in the world, and any other event should be rendered insignificant. 

The political pundits have embraced this form of news because it allows them to spout off a rhetorical opinion and pass it off as fact. 

The impotence of the media is all too apparent in the recent coverage of the protests in Iran. The news circuit right now is being fueled not by journalism but by twitter, facebook, youtube, and a conglomerate of blogs and user generated content. 

This relaxed integrity has stripped journalism of its significance. Lets rightfully acknowledge the death of Journalism, and honor it's passing by looking to ourselves to maintain the social conversation. The day the world can converse absent our governments and media is the first step towards social evolution. 

Fair and Balanced

The War on Bugs

G. I. Jo(k)e

Military Intelligence (or why torture works)