Zeke Emanuel, Chair, Dept of Bioethics, NIJ Clinical Center, came up with a plausible solution to the health care crisis in this month's Commonwealth Club Magazine (page 43, March 2009). I don't have a link to share, but the title of the article is, "Scrapping the System." Mr. Emanuel has a book, Healthcare, Guaranteed.
Bonus: Of course, there's a blog: http://www.healthcareguaranteed.org/blog.cfm
"And if an epitaph be my story, I'd have a short one ready for my own: I had a lover's quarrel with the world." -- Robert Frost
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Love in the Time of Automobiles
This NYT piece, about one man's love for his wife, ought to be made into a film:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/fashion/08love.html
Kudos to Mr. Layng Martine Jr. for being a good man.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/fashion/08love.html
This incredibly capable woman who loved to hike mountains, ride waves, and run marathons, who had cleared our sizable backyard of eight-foot-high brambles and helped me move all our furniture into three houses, suddenly couldn’t do any of those things, ever again.
Not long after getting home from the hospital, when we were having dinner by candlelight at our kitchen table, she burst into tears. “I don’t know if I can do this for the rest of my life,” she said.
All I could say was, “We’ll do it together.”Kudos to Mr. Layng Martine Jr. for being a good man.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Stewart Takes on Cramer, Part 3
Years from now, if anyone wants to see the aftermath of America's financial excesses, they should review these three videos (March 12, 2009, Daily Show).
The most salient part for me was this question, asked facetiously: "A CEO lied to you? Shocking." How did we get to a world where it seems like the last remaining honest CEO is Warren Buffett?
Cramer also makes a great point when he asks, "Where are the indictments for these people?" I remember many banking CEOs going on CNBC proclaiming the safety and financial position of their company. Stewart is right to be angry when he says that CNBC assisted Wall Street in putting the wool over Main Street's eyes. Indeed, where are the indictments?
Calling All Bush II Supporters
To those of you who supported George W. Bush, WSJ letter-writer Mr. Concini has some words for you:
During the eight years of his administration the unemployment rate went from 4.2% to 7.2%; consumer confidence dropped to an all-time low; a budget surplus of $200 billion became a deficit of over $1 trillion; more than a million families fell into poverty; six million more people lost health insurance; gains of our economic growth went almost entirely to the rich, while middle- and low-income families lost ground; the unnecessary Iraq war caused huge suffering and detracted from the more serious threat in Afghanistan; and perhaps less quantifiably, we suffered a world-wide decline of respect, prestige and power.
Maybe not the worst, but certainly a contender.
Dino J. De Concini
Washington
Ouch. From what I remember, George Bush the First was a fairly decent man. Just goes to show you: monarchies and royal families, no matter their various permutations, don't work.
During the eight years of his administration the unemployment rate went from 4.2% to 7.2%; consumer confidence dropped to an all-time low; a budget surplus of $200 billion became a deficit of over $1 trillion; more than a million families fell into poverty; six million more people lost health insurance; gains of our economic growth went almost entirely to the rich, while middle- and low-income families lost ground; the unnecessary Iraq war caused huge suffering and detracted from the more serious threat in Afghanistan; and perhaps less quantifiably, we suffered a world-wide decline of respect, prestige and power.
Maybe not the worst, but certainly a contender.
Dino J. De Concini
Washington
Ouch. From what I remember, George Bush the First was a fairly decent man. Just goes to show you: monarchies and royal families, no matter their various permutations, don't work.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Gov Breaks Down Bailout Money
In case you're wondering where the bailout monies are going, the government has a breakdown here:
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=node/88
It's not a perfect breakdown--the government puts $8 billion into the category of "Other." As Krugman and other economists have pointed out, the stimulus may not be enough to create jobs, because around 20% of the monies are going to prevent government job cuts/layoffs. I would like to see a breakdown of which government employees/entities are receiving the $144 billion. That area is ripe for abuse and corruption, because the government is doling out money to itself.
The Peterson Foundation's analysis is below:
http://www.pgpf.org/newsroom/press/2010/
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=node/88
It's not a perfect breakdown--the government puts $8 billion into the category of "Other." As Krugman and other economists have pointed out, the stimulus may not be enough to create jobs, because around 20% of the monies are going to prevent government job cuts/layoffs. I would like to see a breakdown of which government employees/entities are receiving the $144 billion. That area is ripe for abuse and corruption, because the government is doling out money to itself.
The Peterson Foundation's analysis is below:
http://www.pgpf.org/newsroom/press/2010/
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