I make these recommendations not because most of them come from the Democratic party lines, but because they will work. The problem is, if we elect McCain, he is so bound to economically-suicidal Reaganomics that the above recommendations would be beyond his comprehension. It’s almost as if the Republicans think that Reagan, like Jesus, was incapable of being wrong in word or deed…and they ignore the fact that, fiscally speaking, Republicans and Democrats were not much different until Reagan came along and threw ‘fiscal responsibility’ under the bus.
This November, we have a choice – to continue the go-it-alone, Wild-West politics of the 20th century, or to adapt to the challenges and take advantage of the realities of the relatively peaceful interdependent world of today and tomorrow. One candidate understands those challenges and realities. The other does not, and – sadly – probably couldn’t care less what ‘interdependent world’ means.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Clavos
The author says:
...America " touted as having the best health care in the world " is in thirtieth place among nations on the list of countries by life expectancy...
While essentially true as a statistic, the numbers don't account for the reason for our low standing in life expectancy, which is that the US has one of the highest rates of infant mortality in the world. The high infant mortality is not due to a lack of sophistication or quality in our medical industry (it is one of the best in the world), it is due to the high number of births to young, single mothers with little education, who do not seek out prenatal care. For example, the city of Memphis, TN, has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, and yet is also the home of one of the best pediatric hospitals in the world.
Later, the author notes:
Seems they forgot the lesson we learned the hard way during the Arab Oil Embargo in the 70’s (which allowed the more efficient Japanese autos to gain a real foothold in our market)
Japanese cars were already dominating the US automobile market by the 1970s, and while it is certainly true that they were more fuel efficient than American cars, it is not the reason they had reached that dominance. The Japanese cars were far better built and more reliable than American cars, and they were less expensive.
While by and large they've lost the price advantage these days, they are still much finer automobiles than the American car companies produce, and the Japanese still dominate the market - Toyota is now the world's largest automaker.
2 - jamminsue
Glenn, excellent! Thank you! I have been trying to think how to say this for years, and you did it!
3 - Jet
The 'Fiscal Irresponsibility' of the Republicans: Charge it all on credit and let the next generation/administration worry about how they're going to pay for it.
Simple and to the point.
4 - Glenn Contrarian
jamminsue - thanks much! That's a very encouraging start for my first post!
Clavos - no, Toyota was NOT dominating the U.S. automobile market at the time of the Arab Oil Embargo. They fared quite well in the aftermath of the Embargo, in the ensuing 'revolution' in car manufacturing. I remember this quite well, but I included the link for the reference you would need as proof.
When it comes to infant mortality, we're in thirty-second place. Statistically speaking, that's almost no different at all than where we're at with overall life expectancy. If it were truly the infant mortality rate that was keeping our life expectancy down, then the infant mortality rate would HAVE to be much higher in order to skew the results so significantly.
No sir, it's not the infant mortality rate that is keeping our overall life expectancy low. It's a combination of factors, including our obesity epidemic, the inability of so many Americans to afford health care (we were told last month it would cost $1,000/month for limited coverage for my household), the refusal by the HMO's and insurance industry to cover many surgeries and treatments that would extend one's health and life, and the fact that doctors are paid to 'push' certain medications and treatments for the sake of profit instead of for the preservation of lives.
These reasons all play a part...and except for the obesity factor, Universal Health Care would solve every one.
5 - Cannonshop
Glenn, name three things the Government does well-besides making war and building prisons.
I'll wait, I'm patient.
I've seen a kind of "universal health care" when I was in the Military. It was universally incompetent, handed out Motrin like candy (I now have a severe sensitivity to Ibuprophen and related drugs-they light my kidneys on fire is how it feels, and the bloody piss after taking them can't be good...), and That scandal, the one with the major military hospital? Spend six hours waiting in an empty emergency room at a VA hospital sometime, then get back to me on how grand it would be to extend that sort of treatment to jane and joe citizen. (I've a friend who was mis-diagnosed no less than seven times by Army, and then VA "Doctors". He's 100% disabled and can't work a straight job, he gets what the system will budget and no more. We raised some cash around and about, got him in to see a private practicioner, and lo-and-behold, his seventh try finally got an accurate diagnosis!)
Want to make a REAL fix? Cap the amount an Attorney can collect on a medical malpractice suit, as a percentage of the NET taken with a hard number at the top end, and limit punitive damages to something an insurer can actually pay without crashing the premiums. If malpractice really does a million dollars worth of damage to a patient, the doctor should be facing JAIL TIME. If it's not worth jail time, maybe it's not worth seven figures.
6 - Joanne Huspek
I would love it if you could get the State of Michigan to cut taxes. Ours just got raised last year, by a legislature heavily ruled by Democrats. Then our lovely Lansing bureaucrats decided to give a 40% rebate to Hollywood film makers. Guess where that money will come from? Not from the air. Tax dollars. The business tax has also been "realigned" meaning raised. We can't ask for property tax relief, since the local governments have decided to put a cap on any adjustments, and this in an area when home prices have fallen 26% in the last two years. Oh, but our state would have to have taxes, to fund the retirement benefits of the majority of the population left, which is state workers.
Sorry for the rant, but I'm frustrated. Democrats in my city and state have done none of the things you have suggested. Care to drop them an email? Please?
7 - Glenn Contrarian
Cannonshop -
I posted that I am retired Navy, remember? I know quite a bit about military health care. I know the local civilian hospital said my wife was losing her baby and induced a miscarriage, and I later found out the hospital was flat wrong - and it cost me a child. Tripler Army Hospital in Hawaii, however, saved the lives of both my wife and my youngest son.
For every story you post about how horrible military health care is, there's many, many more you don't hear where they do their job well. And why is that? Because the military health care system operates NOT for profit, but to SAVE LIVES. Civilian health care organizations, on the other hand, are largely FOR-PROFIT organizations.
AND THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING is in the FACT that the top twenty-seven nations on the life-expectancy list ALL have Universal Health Care. If it was truly as bad as you (and the HMO's and insurance industry and the Republican party) would have us believe, then those top twenty-seven spots would NOT be held by UHC countries, but by us.
No matter what anecdotes or stories you post, the proof is in the OVERALL HEALTH of the country's population...and that proof is 100% for Universal Health Care. If you believe yourself to be a patriot, then do what helps out ALL Americans, and not just what a political party tells you.
8 - bliffle
Loose cannonslop asks:
#5 " September 5, 2008 @ 07:09AM " Cannonshop
Glenn, name three things the Government does well-besides making war and building prisons.
1-interstate highway system
2-ARPA, DARPA, internet
3-Social Security
Want to make a REAL fix? Cap the amount an Attorney can collect on a medical malpractice suit,...
I'm surprised that this stupid idea gets repeated, even in 2008. Studies have shown that cost of litigation is less than 2% of premium cost.
9 - Glenn Contrarian
Joanne -
When I read your comment, I have to bear in mind that I'm only getting your side of the story. I will say that perhaps the reason an economically-depressed area gave a tax break to a filmmaker was to entice him and other filmmakers to consider filming there in the future, and thus giving the subsequent boost to the local economy - I've seen this many times over the years.
When it comes to taxes, I notice you said a 'cap' was put on any adjustments. A 'cap' means that the taxes cannot be RAISED any further.
I suspect a great deal of your area's troubles come from the depressed housing market and the big drop in property tax revenue that came along with it. Want to know who to blame? In 2003, the attorneys general of ALL FIFTY states (red and blue) sent a letter to the White House informing Bush of the looming subprime mortgage crisis. Bush not only ignored them but used a Civil-War era law to nullify any federal or state legislation that had been put in place to regulate the industry. Then, the attorneys general AND the banking superintendents of ALL FIFTY states (red AND blue) protested his actions.
And you can see the result in the current subprime mortgage crisis, and how it has affected the nationwide economy and your local economy.
Oh yeah - the governor of New York pointed all this out this past February, and a month or so later was arrested on prostitution charges. That was Eliot Spitzer. You might ask why the FBI investigated a prostitution ring after Spitzer published his article when they've got murderers and terrorists to fry, but the Bush administration wouldn't ruin a person's career just because he or she said something Bush didn't like, right? Just ask the Plame family....
10 - Clavos
Studies have shown that cost of litigation is less than 2% of premium cost.
But those studies do not take into account the indirect costs of litigation, such as the millions of ass-covering tests ordered by doctors afraid of being sued.
11 - Roschelle
I'll tell you what's irresponsible....As important as our government claims our many freedoms and the fight to keep them are in the world today. We send our Secretary of State to Libya....for what...I'll answer it for ya with this equation: Condoleezza + Gaddafi = OIL!
12 - Cannonshop
Bliffle replies:Loose cannonslop asks:
#5 -- September 5, 2008 @ 07:09AM -- Cannonshop
...name three things the Government does well-besides making war and building prisons.
1-interstate highway system
2-ARPA, DARPA, internet
3-Social Security
Social SECURITY?? Bliffle, you almost had me there with the ARPA, and DARPA reference... even though all three in example two were developed for what?
Yup, to fight a war.
but Social Security?? you mean the insolvent ponzi-scheme where the congress takes fifteen percent of our income, puts it into an account that they then remove from with an IOU to inject into the general fund, leaving just enough there to pay current payouts social security?
Gramma eating cat-food social security? That IS the one you're referring to, right?
The system that's not going to be there for ME when I retire social security? I hope, I really hope you didn't just call that a triumph of government. I hope that was a brain-fart. You're usually sharper than that.
Social Security is an example of FAILURE, Bliffle. It doesn't do what it's supposed to do, it costs a lot to not do what it's supposed to do, it's broken, broken, broken, and the so-called 'fix' is a band-aid on a sucking chest wound. My Stepfather just hit the age at which he's going to have to rely on that piece of shit, along with state disability and a small (Looted by his union bosses) pension. PLEASE tell me you didn't point it out as a good example of effective governance.
I'm surprised that this stupid idea gets repeated, even in 2008. Studies have shown that cost of litigation is less than 2% of premium cost.
Malpractice Insurance. check out the monthly rates.
13 - Cannonshop
Oh yeah - the governor of New York pointed all this out this past February, and a month or so later was arrested on prostitution charges. That was Eliot Spitzer. You might ask why the FBI investigated a prostitution ring after Spitzer published his article when they've got murderers and terrorists to fry, but the Bush administration wouldn't ruin a person's career just because he or she said something Bush didn't like, right? Just ask the Plame family....
Most murders are local jurisdiction. Spitzer was investigated for taking his 'business' out of state (transportation of women for immoral purposes across interstate lines is a federal beef). Though you're probably right...
Except that the subprime Mortgage thing was going on through the nineties as well. It just wasn't a crisis because the bubble hadn't burst yet on it.
The Effa-Bee-Eye has forever been the whore of the Executive in the oval office, though- they were just as vigorous going after Republicans in the nineties with Bill as prez, and had no problem going after people who were 'weird' in the early nineties (or the sixties, or the seventies) to distract from the bureau's (many) failures in its primary mission. Spitzer was caught, because he was stupid enough to try to hide what he was doing-if he'd been doing it openly (as the Kennedy example shows) it would have been worth maybe a giggle on a slow news day. it would NOT have cost him his office.
14 - Dave Nalle
I wouldn't want to tarnish the image of the democrats, but the entire subprime mortgage mess is the result of policies which they passed and promoted both on the local and federal level. The problem was created because of excessive development and overly generous federally subsidized loan programs which originated in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were Democrat programs, and in fair lending laws which required lenders to lend under unrealistic criteria.
That said, many of the other problems we have flow from that. The government has had to back up and bail out the system and all of that expense is ultimately on the Democrats.
As for the Republicans, if you were to take away the expense of the Iraq war the Bush administration has been one of the most cost conscious and fiscally responsible of all time, far beyond anything Clinton or any other Democrat accomplished. It is not the fiscal policies which have failed, it is solely the war which has fucked us.
Dave
15 - Joanne Huspek
Thanks, Glen for letting me know I used the wrong term... meh... "cap" what was I thinking? I was probably still spitting nails from that sad performance Kwame gave last night when he said he was "sorry" for being a crook but then went on to blame everyone else.
I don't know which government agency was "responsible" for the subprime mess. The consumers have to shoulder some of the blame as well. If you KNOW in your gut that your house isn't worth diddly and the bank offers you a mortgage equaling more than it's worth, how about saying no? We did it twice when refinancing. A lot of homeowners had greed in their eyes, not sense.
As for the "filmmakers" they don't stick around long enough to make a discernible difference in the economy. Perhaps Brangelina should consider buying up some foreclosed houses in Detroit or Flint (or my middle class city) and house some orphans in them. Or Hollywood types.
16 - bliffle
Loose Cannon exhibits his ignorance again:
Social SECURITY?? Bliffle, you almost had me there with the ARPA, and DARPA reference... even though all three in example two were developed for what?
Yup, to fight a war.
No, not at all. ARPA was developed to facilitate University research projects by distributing mimeographed copies of research titles. In the 50s. DARPA was a name change to assuage the defense department funds that were sometimes diverted to basic research projects. One of those diversions was a little project by IBM and some grad students to connect a network of IBM1050 terminals to a IBM1401 computer in Raleigh by leased line (at a speedy 300cps, almost 3 times faster than TTY 110cps) to facilitate access to basic research papers among universities.
Social Security is a VERY successful program. It does what no private annuity program has ever managed to do: to pay out to every contributor and still show a surplus. In fact, it's very success is what endangers SSA, since this notion is anethema to certain rightist ideologues they are determined to defame and destroy SSA, whatever lies and manipulations it takes to do so, including routinely taking $50billion at a bite from the SSA surplus to fund the Iraq invasion.
17 - Baronius
Glenn - First article? Good job.
I don't idolize Reagan. I think he started off with three missions - winning the Cold War, cutting taxes, and reducing the size of government - and succeeded at two. The overall income of the federal government has been steadily increasing, and would be enough to offset all military spendiing and *reasonable* growth in domestic spending. If you can fault the Democratic and Republican administrations for anything, it's the creation and expansion of government programs over the last generation.
Cannonshop - It looks like Bliffle has a nickname for you. Two, really, sort of mashed up next to each other. I hope you enjoy it, because it'll last a long time. Oh, don't forget that the interstate highway system was also created for military transport. So that leaves Social Security as the government's great triumph. Yikes.
18 - bliffle
I voted for Bush in 2000 and watched in dismay as he started implementing fiscal policies that were bound to impoverish the nation. I took a foot out of the Bush camp in 2001. It is disturbing to see financial policies followed for the last 7 years which are proven destructive of society, just because they are ideologically correct.
A number of tricks have been used to cover the serious nature of our problems.
Republicans no longer are the party of real businessmen who built and sustained real companies. They are leaches.
19 - bliffle
"Oh, don't forget that the interstate highway system was also created for military transport."
What nonsense! 4-6 lanes across the country and 6-8 thru cities for Military? Nonsense. Accomodation was made to overpass height to pass certain rockets, and little more. It was convenient that those heights also satisfied truckers.
Do you make this stuff up or just echo NR?
20 - Cannonshop
Actually, I might like the nick enough to start USING it. I really don't mind being a "Loose cannon" at times.
Bliffle, Social Security, surplus? not since the sixties. Delaying the bill doesn't really help, you know-and that's what the "Fix" was. extend the dates of the payout to hide the insolvency of the system. i.e. a ponzi scheme.
(for those unfamiliar, a Ponzi Scheme is a bit like a Pyramid scheme, it pays old investors with the 'investment capital' of new investors. There is no interest accrued.) in other words, like Boeing's 13 billion dollar profit, the "Surplus" really ISN'T.
21 - Clavos
What nonsense! 4-6 lanes across the country and 6-8 thru cities for Military?
Its official name:
"Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways"
Time for bed, old man.
22 - Baronius
Trivia: For every 5 miles of interstate, one mile has to be straight and level, to function as a military airstrip in case of emergency. I don't know if they followed through on that, but that was the original plan. (That's not a crazy New World Order thing either.)
As I recall, Eisenhower was a big fan of the Autobahn.
23 - Cannonshop
Cannonshop -
I posted that I am retired Navy, remember? I know quite a bit about military health care. I know the local civilian hospital said my wife was losing her baby and induced a miscarriage, and I later found out the hospital was flat wrong - and it cost me a child. Tripler Army Hospital in Hawaii, however, saved the lives of both my wife and my youngest son.
For every story you post about how horrible military health care is, there's many, many more you don't hear where they do their job well. And why is that? Because the military health care system operates NOT for profit, but to SAVE LIVES. Civilian health care organizations, on the other hand, are largely FOR-PROFIT organizations.
AND THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING is in the FACT that the top twenty-seven nations on the life-expectancy list ALL have Universal Health Care. If it was truly as bad as you (and the HMO's and insurance industry and the Republican party) would have us believe, then those top twenty-seven spots would NOT be held by UHC countries, but by us.
No matter what anecdotes or stories you post, the proof is in the OVERALL HEALTH of the country's population...and that proof is 100% for Universal Health Care. If you believe yourself to be a patriot, then do what helps out ALL Americans, and not just what a political party tells you.
Glenn, just ask yourself...
would you let Don Rumsfeld or Karl Rove run your universal health care? Would you trust it to James Carville or Rush Limbaugh? Would you want Kwame Kilpatrick to be in charge of your Health Care??
It's a nice idea, but honestly, the corruption and mismanagement in our government, and the nature of appointed officials beholden to partisan hacks worries me a LOT when it comes to taking care of my wife's health. I'm certain that I don't trust Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Christine Gregoire, or Elliott Spitzer with it, nor do I find it comfortable to entrust my doctoring to Greg Nickels. Corruption is drawn to power, just as power corrupts, and it's bad enough when you have non-answerable, non-accountable bastards in the private sector, but those bastards can be and must be limited by legal oversight. when the oversight is the same people who're the corrupt and non-answerable bastards, they'll have even more free hands than they already do.
I'll trust someone motivated by money because they can suffer an occasional guilty pang. Ideologues have no such conscience, and will gleefully abuse power "For your own good".
I prefer my scumbags at least somewhat vulnerable to consequences.
24 - Baritone
A primary reason for the development of the interstate system was to provide what they believed would be easy egress out of urban areas in the event of a coming nuclear attack. Of course, it was a stupid notion to think that millions of people could jump in their cars and get out of harms way via the interstate system before the missiles hit.
While our interstate system is impressive, sadly it also presaged the death of our passenger rail system. The development of the interstate system in tandem with the growth of the airlines dealt the death blow to the railroads.
Now, virtually everyone drives their personal autos about everywhere. In many cities, public transportation is little more than a suggestion. That is certainly true of Indianapolis. The loss of most passenger rail service across the country is contributory to our heavy dependence on fossil fuels.
Glenn,
I agree that your first effort here is quite good.
I also agree with you concerning your defense of military and VA medical care. Surely there are problems, but on the whole, the quality of active military and veteran medical care in this country - both systems run by the government - is quite good. I have taken advantage of VA care for several years, and really have no complaints.
The only area where we may disagree is the notion that Reagan ended the cold war. That he happened to be in the White House during the death throws of the Soviet Union was little more than coincidental. The Soviet Union collapsed from its own weight and the repeated failures of their corrupt government. Reagan had little to do with the end of the "evil empire."
B
25 - bliffle
Loose cannon says:
I'll trust someone motivated by money because they can suffer an occasional guilty pang. Ideologues have no such conscience, and will gleefully abuse power "For your own good".
I prefer my scumbags at least somewhat vulnerable to consequences.
Huh?
What consequences?
Bush lied about WMD to invade Iraq. What consequences?
Bush lied to North Korea about removing them from the terrorist list and didn't. Now they're restarting their nuke program. What consequences?
Auto makers lied to their employees so the employees would cut pay in expectation of participating in Good Times. Instead the auto makers passed out generous bonuses and stock dividends. What consequences did those execs suffer?
Just now Boeing employees are insisting that, after voluntary pay cuts in years past that they share in 2008 record profits. The Boeing execs are shocked that they would be expected to keep their promises. What consequences will they suffer?
More and more it seems like our USA government is run by scoundrels who routinely make promises they have no intention of keeping, and renege on promises they've made.
More and more it appears that this has become common in business. And with politicians enthusiastically embracing the notion of the "CEO President" it has migrated to government, which used to be thought of as a sacrifice, a service to citizens, and now is seen as a pot of gold to be plundered.
And they all get richer and more powerful. And we support them, to our dishonor. People find all kinds of alibis for these low critters. A number of these apologists for the devil are seen regularly on BC, if you need a citation.