Monday Musings: February 21. 2011

I hope you’ve been watching what has been happening in the Middle East. It all started with the Tunisian Revolution. Where they don’t have guns. No ‘Second Amendment remedies’ were available to the people of Tunisia.

Facebook brought down a government. And, Twitter.

Same in Egypt - with a few molotov cocktails.

Have the people, like Sharron Angle, given any thought to this? Does that make them question their assumptions about how citizens might alter the course of a government? It seems that caliber and semi-automatic clip size isn’t the only way to effect change.

Of course, America isn’t Tunisia. We’ve never, ever had a dictator who’s been in power - dyeing his hair to appear younger, and hopefully, fool the masses into forgetting how long he’s been there - for 30 years. We don’t have to worry about such things with the Constitutional term limits already imposed on our presidency. Eight years, max. But, listening to the Tea Party, you’d think we were all somewhere else. Different place, time … planet perhaps.

And Sharron Angle is hopping from presidential primary state to state. How bizarre, nee delusional, is that?

The thing that really occurs to me about the Tea Party, much like the old, deposed dictators of Tunisia and Egypt - and maybe Libya and more -  is that they just don’t ‘get it’. The power of the internet - techonology - can potentially surpass weaponry.

Just a thought I had.

There was actually some worthwhile reading and reporting in the ever shrinking Reno Gazette-Journal this morning.

The Fact Checker, by Mark Robison, debunked the claim that teacher salaries are about $55,000 … therefore, it’s no big deal if the Legislature cuts them. Right? Wrong. In reality - which isn’t where the Tea Party and most of the GOP reside - teacher pay is about six percent less than that on average.

Teachers, with their education, could earn a lot more in the private sector - even after benefits are factored in. A lot more. But flogging them makes for such good - if useless and non-productive - political theater. So what could the real problem be?

Uh, lobbyists.

In the RG-J today, there was a feature - print only - on “The Industry of Influence”, describing the increasingly large role that lobbyists play in Carson City. I’d give you the links to verify, but the RG-J is stubbornly holding to its title as “The Most Annoying Not Really Online, Make You Buy the Analog Version Or Else Eat Shit” newspaper in the country. Here it is Sunday night, and I can’t bring up any of the articles in today’s paper, no matter what I type into Google. The RG-J ranks right up there with small North African dictators and Sharron Angle: They don’t ‘get it’.

Here’s the ClifNotes version, since you can’t pull this up online: 609 registered lobbyists in the Nevada legislature. 445 of those are paid - it’s their paycheck. 900 lobbyists are projected to be hard at work in Carson City by the end of this current session. There is a 14 to 1 ration of lobbyists to legislators. The City of Sparks is spending $30,000 to lobby. The City of Reno is allocating $73,500. Washoe County had budgeted $117,5000. $500,000 is the amount some of the highest paid lobbyists can make.

I chose the wrong profession. Wouldn’t even have to get stoned and nekkid with a trucker for this.

Is this all a part of ‘belt tightening’? Should I - as a taxpayer - now hire a lobbyist to protect my interests? Do you think this is as out-fucking-rageous as I do? Who stands up in Carson City for me?

My biggest question here - as the GOP and Tea Baggers decry unnecessary spending and the need to trim budgets and deficits - why aren’t the GOP and Tea Baggers up in arms about this? Why aren’t they insisting on robust campaign finance reform that would tell paid lobbyists to go find honorable work? Why is wasting money here alright?

Just think of the number of teachers we could put back on the payroll if we eliminated the lobbyists. Oh, and one other thing: You elected legislators. You didn’t elect those lobbyists. Yet, all too often, it’s the lobbyists that are running your government. How do you like that?

Analysts say that our silly, antiquated Nevada system of a biennual legislature is a part of the problem. Okay, I can sorta, kinda see that. No staff to speak of.  But, how does that explain the massive, unelected lobbying industry (shadow government) that’s taken legislatures over in every other state and Congress on the federal level?

How’s that workin’ out?

Here’s another thing I wonder about - why is it that ‘belt tightening’ always begins and ends of kids, usually poor kids, the poor in general, the environment, public employees, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and such. They must not have really well-paid lobbyists. Not like General Dynamics, United Technologies, Rathyeon, General Electric et al. Notice how often the word ‘General’ comes up? Can you say ‘military-industrial complex’?

Worrying about how much some poor kid and his mother might be gettin’ away with (as opposed to a defense contractor and his handmaidens like Rep. John Boehner ) is much preferred to the Senator Muskrat D. Cornpone’s out there. Then they don’t have to think too much about the real issues- when they’re not fighting a re-enactment of the glorious Battle of Who Gives a Rat’s Ass.

The really sad thing is when I occasionally hear a Liberal friend bring up welfare moms as a favorite boogey-man. Sigh. What I want to ask is this: How many welfare mom’s can you fit into the annual  national defense contractor budget?

Sheesh. Is it so much to ask that people just think things through a bit?

You might have noticed a couple small changes on the mavenandmeddler.

The Lifestyle & Health tab went away, to be replaced with Skeptical Maven. The blog has to honestly reflect what I’m thinking about, and I’ve decided that talking about skeptical issues - from critical thinking, to logical fallacies, to quack cures - better suits my readers. Or at least that’s what I hope for. For the time, I’ll keep the information regarding health ( and cancer ) that have been living there, and may occasionally add to it, but the topic will be primarily skepticism and related topics. Just use the Search to find old articles.

Oh, if you know a Medicare beneficiary that was all worried over Obama Liberals wrecking their Medicare, ask them how they liked the check they received the other day. And the letter, informing them that - in accordance with the Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare - they got a $250 rebate to help with prescription drug costs. Also, as part of the new law, said Medicare beneficiaries are going to receive a 50% discount on covered brand-name drugs, once the coverage gap is reached, with more savings after the gap is closed completely in 2020. It was appreciated here at Rancho Maven.

Don’t you just hate government helping folks?

Have a good week and stay in touch.

-maven

True, false and the in-between of health reform: Medicare and seniors

Mr. Maven has expressed some concern that seniors, like himself, might be on the losing end of health care reform. It does look like other seniors who don’t already have a Primary Care Physician could be in a pickle. Our own doctor, a Family/Primary Care Physician here in Reno, has also expressed some concern that Medicare will cut reimbursements to the extent that he will have to limit how many senior patients he accepts in the future.

Actually, most of the changes will be in regard to Medicare Advantage Plans that many seniors - including my 92-year-old mother - participate in. I’ve been of the opinion that her Medicare Advantage Plan is simply a convenience that adds to the overall costs of administering Medicare. Without, I have to deal with a few small bills that she would go ballistic over and refuse to pay. With it, she’s happy and it saves me hearing about it all. If it saves the system money, I’m ready to let it go.

Unfortunately, Medicare reform doesn’t address the issue of getting more young doctors to go into primary care practice. This is a very real problem that we face as a country. The reform, however, does have some provisions for encouraging new docs to enter the primary care arena rather than more lucrative sub-specialties.

It’s important not to confuse a shortage of primary care docs with other needed reforms in health care overall or Medicare specifically.

In the end, however, seniors - while they won’t be making out like bandits with reform - will see some very positive changes over time, such as the close of the Medicare prescription ‘doughnut hole’. And, certainly, cracking down on Medicare fraud can also only offer positive benefits.

This is what the Kaiser Health Foundation has to say (which is also echoed by The Commonwealth Fund):

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Help save healthcare reform from Joe Lieberman

This just in from Firedog Lake:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is bending over backwards to give Joe Lieberman what he wants on the health care bill.

Public option - GONE. Medicare expansion - GONE. Joe says he’s looking around for other things he might want to take out of the health care bill, because “Democrats haven’t given up enough yet.”
But if there’s one thing Reid fears more than Lieberman, it’s losing his own seat.
He’s up for reelection next year, and with a 38% approval rating, the Senate Majority Leader is trailing “generic Republican opponent” by ten points.
We need to immediately raise at least $120,000 to run a TV ad in Reid’s home state of Nevada to save health care reform from Joe Lieberman and the insurance industry. Click here to donate now.

Senate Dems sell country and healthcare to the highest bidder

Well, my less optimistic Dem friends were right. We’ve been ‘had’ by the Dems and especially by the corporate bosses that run them all. The best reading of the Senate bills’ defeciencies can be found on Firedog Lake. You should look that over, but if not, take a glance at the reader comments:

“This is a total failure by the Obama administration and the Democratic party. We need to pressure Senators to pull the individual mandate. Right now the party is mandating that everyone is bound by law to buy one of the insurance industries crap policies. This actually takes more pressure of them for delivering care since you have to get some policy from some one and they all try to keep their policies within the same range of crappy. If the Democratic party is identified as mandating individuals turn over their hard earned funds for service rejections, we may have to form a new party with a different name to get anyone to vote for us again.

No public option, then kill the bill or at least kill the individual mandate.”

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"Keep moving toward the finish line..." on health care reform

That’s what Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid said and he’s spot on regarding the repeated attempts by Ben Nelson to insert highly restrictive abortion language into what appears to be an emerging health care reform bill that just might - might - make sense after all.

Reid’s right. This isn’t an abortion bill, and it would be criminal to derail health care reform over this issue.

Meanwhile, and I hope I’m not speaking too soon, it seems like the Senate is trudging ahead - nipping and tucking - toward a real bill.

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Harry Reid gets it. And, better yet, says so.

I knew that the Repubs were all about undefensible distortions. Everybody else seemed to know it But getting our leadership to call them on it is another thing entirely.

Better late than never.

SENATE HEALTH REFORM BILL WILL REDUCE PREMIUMS FOR NEVADANS
State-by-state analysis of CBO data estimates a savings of nearly 20 percent for Nevadans’ health care premiums

Washington, DC—Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement this afternoon in response to declarations of support for reform from several respected seniors’ advocacy organizations:

“For years, Senate Democrats have proudly supported and defended Medicare while Republicans have worked to tear it down piece by piece.  Throughout this debate, Republicans have continued their unfounded attacks on our plan to reform America’s broken health system.  Several respected seniors’ advocacy organizations - including AARP, the Alliance for Retired Americans and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare - have rebuked their claims point by point.  

“Since they have no plan of their own to fix our broken health care system, I’m sure their campaign of distortions will continue.  But the reality is that our plan saves Medicare and protects it for the future by cutting waste, fraud and abuse, and ensuring that the program’s funds are used to improve seniors’ care and not to line insurers’ pockets.”

I especially love that part about “Since they have no plan of their own…”.

Duh.

Help Public Citizen fight for Medicare for all

After spending billions lobbying Congress, the health care industry is trying to take over the entire health care reform process to ensure maximum profits no matter the cost. And the cost is the 100 Americans who will die this very day because they lack basic health insurance.*

How many more men, women and children must suffer and die before we say “Enough!” to the immoral corporate profits insurers reap by denying millions of Americans health insurance?

Single-payer, Medicare-for-all reform is the only way to drive that number to zero. That’s why Public Citizen needs your help to fight the insurance industry lobbyists.

Our Board of Directors has pledged $20,000 if 400 people join us in this fight by making a donation to Public Citizen by midnight tomorrow! Please join the 151 people who have already contributed. Your gift could earn us an additional $20,000!

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Obama says it again, if you didn't get it the first time

There have always been those folks that resist the truth: men really did land on the moon, there really was a holocaust, Obama is a native born American … and no, the pope did not have John Lennon killed. Oh, and trial attorneys are not the only thing wrong with the health care system.

For every event there will be a cadre of loonies and an oversupply of fanciful interpretations of history. I think some people just have a need for fairy tale and drama. They lead boring lives without enough gumption or imagination to do anything constructive about it. Religion proves this.

But then there are those - and they may all belong to the cold, wet Tea Bag coalition - who are just going to be stupidly stubborn. They’re gonna resist all evidence to the contrary in a dogged determination to show everybody that they’re right!

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I wish it really was just about health care

Mr. Maven decided that he wanted to weigh in on this volatile, and contentious topic:

The real issue is whether our elected politicians can even do the right thing for their country and constituents, or are they so deeply indebted to special insterest groups ( lobbyists ) for campaign contributions that they are held hostage by campaign contributions trumping ‘doing the right thing’.

Another way to phrase this: Are we still capable of self-governance? Or, have we thrown in the towel to mob rule driven by corporations and their shills from ‘K’ Street?

We have a leaderless political party (the GOP) , mistakenly referred to as ‘conservative’, that has only one agenda. It is to make certain the present administration fails, no matter the cost to society or country. I have not yet heard one solution or suggestion from these people. Just fault finding, outrageous deception and venomous lies

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AARP Healthactionnow.org: Get the facts on health care reform

AARP and their other site HealthActionNow.org have a lot of great articles and information on the myths surrounding health care reform that are viral now, being passed around by right wing front groups and their minions that have been planted in Town Hall meetings.

Challenge your assumptions!

Get the real facts. And please, the next time somebody over the age of 60 tells you that the government shouldn’t involve itself in healthcare, ask them when they plan to dump Medicare, or their VA medical benefts or military TriCare benefits for straight private sector insurance.

Five will get you ten they won’t…

Blue Dogs deal. Sort of.

Well, the vote won’t happen before the recess. That gives those scurilous right wing fringe groups plenty of headway to spout their nonsense, in concert with the Faux News fun house.

According to Blue Dog spokesman, Mike Ross (D-Ark), “The American people want us to slow down, and that’s what we’re doing here.”

Which American people told him to do that? The ones with great health insurance? Or the ones that have been lining all the pockets on the hill with campaign money?

Both, I expect.

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Single payer, universal coverage: an idea from 1945

That’s absolutely true, and I have it directly from theoriginal informationhoused at the Truman Library. For you youngsters … that’s President Harry S. Truman, the guy who took over when Roosevelt died. It was a bold plan, even for that time, but one that addressed urgent needs across the country.

Whatever happened to that plan?

Well, along came the American Medical Association hand in hand with the Cold War, as it was being whipped up by Republican rightwingers … like Joseph P. McCarthy.

“I recommend solving the basic problem by distributing the costs through expansion of our existing compulsary social insurance system. This is not socialized medicine.” President Truman

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Medical costs and billing can make you sick

Back in December, Mr. Maven went in to the local hospital to have a very common procedure done that required an overnight stay - they put in a pacemaker. Since one of the ‘leads’ came loose, they had to do it again the next morning and that meant another nights stay. Do you want to take a guess at the bill?

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