I noticed something that didn't seem right when going over a batch of the new polling that has been released since the first of the month. I was particularly interested in how the public option was polling. I started to notice a trend it appeared the the public option was still polling rather high compared to the more generic questions of Health Care Reform and Presidential approval.
I have gone back to the three polls that I could find that had a) Presidential Approval, b) Health Care Reform Approval, and c) Public Option Approval. I came up with three polls to compare and charted the average approval rating from the three polls
At first I scratched my head on this. This morning I am setting around waiting fort the Senate Finance Committee (bill with out a public option) to vote and it seem to make more and more sense. Is it as simple as the 18% disparity between approving of health care reform and approving of the public option are those of us who know reform will not work with out a robust public option?
The easiest way I can think to break down the proposed health care reform is as follows. (this is extremely simplified)
1) Forbid Insurance companies from denying or cancelling coverage for preexisting conditions. Forbid Insurance companies from charging those who get sick more than those who are healthy.
2) Coupled with the above changes. The government will a) require large employers to provide health insurance b) requiring individuals who are not covered by large employers to buy heath insurance. (this will increase the number of customers by 40 something million helping to offset the additional cost from step 1)
3) the government will give assistance to those individuals who they deem can not afford the required insurance.
As a result we now have a system where insurance companies will have to pay out higher cost as a result of step 1) These companies will have greater incomes because they will have 40 million new customers to take premiums from.
The remaining question is if everyone in the country is required to have health insurance one way or another and there are literally only a few insurance companies to choose from what will keep the companies from raising and raising their rates like they have over the last decade?
As a matter of fact the report that the Insurance Industry just commissioned has said they will in fact raise rates by 110% if this reform is passed.
This is why a truly effective public option is required. Health Care Reform without a competitive public option is simply a hand out to the private companies that have seen their profits increase by over 400% over the last 10 years.
This is a little outside of the political spectrum. However, it caught my attention this morning.
I was looking through the unintended creepiest ads over at Huffington Post.
Creepy Ads The worst of which would be great SNL Commercial parodies.
What truly caught my attention is that the voice over sounds like Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame. I am pretty sure he started his career or at least got his break as a voice over announcer. You can hear him on the Discover Channel on shows such as Deadliest Catch, Monster Garage, etc.
I must admit I was as surprised as anyone upon the announcement of President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. I spent a good part of the time yesterday tormenting those on the right whose heads are continuing to explode.
Another good part of the day I set about to understand the decision. I have to admit I am guilty of what many / most of us are guilty of. Seeing the world from the American Perspective. Remember this is an International Peace Prize not a US Peace Prize.
For the last 8 years the United States under the leadership of George Bush has done pretty much whatever we wanted militarily. The United States had said we are going back into the business of building new types of nuclear weapons. The United States had said we will torture anyone the President / Vice President wishes. We will hold people in secret prisons as long as we desire without cause. We stated, will not talk to anyone who does not agree with us. Let us not forget the true Bush doctrine "you are either with us or against us".
Now when I tuck my son into bed at night and I close my eyes real tight none of that affects me. As a result when a new President comes into office and changes all of the above that as well does not affect me either. However, since this is an international Peace Prize I must attempt to perceive this world from someone else's perspective.
One might understand the new sense of peace that people of the world must sense when they put their children to bed at night. They now know that the World's Most Powerful country is a country that is attempting to be its neighbor not it's master. One can make a valid argument, that shift deserves recognition. I have written only half jokingly that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for "peacefully overthrowing a powerful, violent, and corrupt regime".
Two images come to mind, one is the image of the Iraqi reporter throwing a shoe at President Bush and one is of 200,000 Europeans showing up to listen to candidate Obama speak in Germany. It was only a year ago during the campaign that many, many people (myself included) were talking about the importance that President Obama would make as the new face of the world's most powerful country. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised by this award after all.
I could have saved you a couple of moments by posting this video first it is definately worth a look
Open to Letter to Superintendant of Schools Quincy, IL
I am writing to express complete amazament and embarrassment at the decision made to "protect" students from President Obama's stay in school message.
The fact that you were a teacher and coach of mine, I have attempted to see the situation from your point of view and give you the benefit of the doubt. However, I can not understand the cowardly approach taken at the behest of a handful of hyperpartisan members of the community. As a teacher, as a coach, as a superintendant of schools leadership is one of the most improtant requirements. It is obvious in this situation such leadership was traded for an attempt to find an easy answer.
I must say this decision reflects extremely poorly on this community in the light that a great number of Quincy students have a personal connection to this President. Then Senator Obama's trip to Quincy a mere 16 months ago shook their hands and touched their imagination and now they are given the message that the President is not to be trusted is simply heartbreaking.
It is too late to make this decision right. I can only hope that the decision makers in future display the backbone to fight for our children and not cower from the mob
Many times I have found that I have a kernel of an idea, a concept. At a later time a I come across a writer / thinker / pundit who has the same or similiar notion and much more fully fleshes it out. This occurred again in a small part with Eugene Robinson's column in the Washington Post. This column has been a good deal of attention from others in the "chattering class". Jeffery Toobin of CNN has touched upon it and I have seen it referenced in other columns.
Two major points of the article
1) White Male is not an ethnicity it is not a gender. White Male is the standard by which all else is to be measured. White Male is the neutral and everything else is a deviation of that standard.
2) Much of the anger over the "wise Latina" comment is based upon the concept that a powerful, wealthy, white, male could not get away with saying such a thing. This is probably true. But, let's be honest the historical context of what it means to have been a white male and what it means to have been a latina is completely different in this country.
I read a quick note to the editor in this mornings paper. The writer stated that if a Senator doesn't realize that a man and a woman can look at the same set of facts and come up with two different answers, that person doesn't deserve to be a Senator.
This statement which has a humorous side to it relates back to the concept of the standard the normal. If White Male is the standard. Then if a White Male and a Minority Female look at the same set of facts and get two different answers. Well the White Male's answer is the normal or the standard and anything else must be less than correct.
As you can tell by all the above babbling I am not a writer by trade or study. Take a moment to read Eugene Robinson's Column.
