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duran
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duran
An excellent summary of what’s going in Health care, and Finance reform right now.
Bill Moyer interviews Matt Taibbi and Robert Kuttner
Amidst fading hopes for real reform on issues ranging from high finance to health care, economist Robert Kuttner and journalist Matt Taibbi join Bill Moyers to discuss Wall Street’s power over the federal government.
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duran
Ignorance, fear, hate… makes a really pretty picture.
I’m speechless.
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duran
American Healthcare, Some numbers.
Taken from This comment on
Reddit.comI’ve posted this in a few Health care links:
At the moment the USA pays roughly 15% of its GDP, 5% more than any
other nation, and pays more than DOUBLE the average per
capita for healthcare. How much? DOUBLE This is
extremely wasteful. Universal Health Care makes sense.The UK enacted health reform in 1948. just after the nightmare of
WWII they were broke. Universal Health Care saves the country money.The US system in extremely costly and ineffective at delivering
healthcare. It is very effective in transferring money into the pockets
of the Insurance companies and Medical establishments.World
Health care Organization rankings by performance1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal13 Monaco
14 Greece15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland..
…. .37 U.S.A
WHO’s assessment system was based on five indicators:
1. overall level of population health;
2. health inequalities (or disparities) within the population;3. overall level of health system responsiveness (a combination of
patient satisfaction and how well the system acts);
4. distribution of responsiveness within the population (how well
people of varying economic status find that they are served by the
health system);5. and the distribution of the health system’s financial burden
within the population (who pays the costs).World
health care Organization rankings by per capita spending
2001 in $ppp(Medical research spending not included)1 United States: 4,271
2 Switzerland: 3,857
3 Norway: 3,182
4 Denmark: 2,7855 Luxembourg: 2,731
6 Iceland: 2,701
7 Germany: 2,697
8 France: 2,2889 Japan: 2,243
10 Netherlands: 2,173
11 Sweden: 2,145
12 Belgium: 2,137
13 Austria: 2,12114 Canada: 1,939
15 Australia: 1,714
16 Finland: 1,70417 Italy: 1,676
18 United Kingdom: 1,675
19 Israel: 1,607
20 Ireland:America #1 in spending yet #37 in performance. Need more be said?
On top of the public purse monies the citizens of the US pay ANOTHER
amount of cash, equal to the amount they pay in taxes, from their own
pockets for their personal healthcare.So the USA pays approx DOUBLE the OECD average and
yet manages not to have Universal Health Care. It’s a hell of an
achievement. How can Americans pay for a Rolls Royce and yet take
delivery of a Chevy with a puncture?The USA needs to find the solution every other Western nation has
found Universal Health Care free at the point of
delivery.What hasn’t it?
This is why. The Medical-Industrial Complex has donated $833,259,267
directly to members of Congress. Not counting the huge amounts of money
given to presidential candidates like Obama, McCain and Kerry, the
biggest donations have gone to the 3 worst industry shills who have been
well-paid to make sure there will never be effective, robust health care
reform:Arlen Specter (R-D- PA- $4,026,933)
Max Baucus (DLC- MT- $2,833,731)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY- $2,758,468)And when you just go right to Big Insurance, the non-presidential
candidates who got the biggest legalized bribes were the 7 senators who
have been tasked with the job of killing effective health care
reform.Ben Nelson (DLC-NE- $1,196,799)
Max Baucus (DLC- MT- $1,184,113)
Joe Lieberman (DLC- CT- $1,036,302)Arlen Specter (R-D- PA- $1,035,530)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY- $929,207)
Chuck Grassley (R-IA- $884,724) -
duran
And with this, its come full circle, and I laugh my face off.
Karl Rove Asks Obama Lawyers for Executive Privilege.
Subpoenaed by Rep. John Conyers to testify before Congress, Karl Rove has left the debate over whether or not he is protected from testifying to Barack Obama.
The former Bush strategist had previously refused to appear before the House Judiciary Committee by claiming that executive privileges allowed him to keep his conversations with the president private. With Bush out of office, Rove instructed his lawyer, Robert Luskin, to ask the Obama White House whether the same privileges currently exist.
Asked for an answer at the White House briefing session, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama’s legal counsel was still looking into it.
“The office of White House counsel is studying those issues and will advise us when we have a recommendation,” Gibbs said.
It is a fairly clever maneuver on Rove’s behalf — forcing Obama to make a judgment on executive privileges that could have ramifications later in his presidency. But it is also, probably, the only move he could have made, beyond acquiescing to Conyers’ demand and traveling up to Capitol Hill.
Now that his shield is gone, he’s asking the democrats for cover.
I don’t know the legalities behind it, and I won’t be too surprised (cynical) if it works, but I’m falling out of my chair thinking about him begging the Obama administration for protection. -
duran
The NY Times endorses Obama…
… Not really a surprise if you ask me …
But the opening paragraph kinda left my head spinning.
Hyperbole is the currency of presidential campaigns, but this year the nation’s future truly hangs in the balance.
The United States is battered and drifting after eight years of President Bush’s failed leadership. He is saddling his successor with two wars, a scarred global image and a government systematically stripped of its ability to protect and help its citizens — whether they are fleeing a hurricane’s floodwaters, searching for affordable health care or struggling to hold on to their homes, jobs, savings and pensions in the midst of a financial crisis that was foretold and preventable.
– The New York Times Endorses Barack Obama
… Now. As you all probably know, I’m really not a fan of Bush and what he’s done over the past 8 years. He’s a fascist and a war criminal… But, who am I to say that?
The NYTimes though, have through the last 8 years, been a liberal news paper, with decidedly left positions on things, but also a paper that as journalism goes, does a good job of being balanced in its presentation of most things, and have had the credit of offering the objective news, as much as they could. At times I was angry at them for not simply stating the opinion, when all they would do is state the fact. But that is what good journalism is supposed to do. Report the facts, and let us as readers do the judgment.
Its never that cut and dry, never. But at the least, the grey lady was as even handed as it could have been.
To read though, in this Editorial, such a scathing summation of the last 8 years under George W. Bush, has me a bit surprised. The language they chose left no room for forgiveness or acceptance of what might be argued was a difficult time, fraught with challenges… and clearly states that he failed, and made things worse.
Its nothing new to most of my readers that I am not a fan of Bush, as I said. But this is the first time I’ve seen a major news source of our land state so clearly, and succinctly exactly what I’ve thought for all that time as well…
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duran
Just a good quote…
“I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it? To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”
- Author David Sedaris, on undecided voters
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ben
Sounds like he’s an arrogant ass who can’t understand why everyone doesn’t think the way he does.
Why does this man hate individuals who think differently?
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duran
I don’t think he says he hates them. He’s stunned and surprised by their existence.
His quote specifically makes reference to one candidate being “shit with bits of broken glass in it”
And in fact, he never mentions which one is which.
You could take his name away from it, and probably post it on any conservative blog or forum and get a chuckle out of it.
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ben
Note I didn’t mention a party, either.
I’ll stand by what I said, no matter where that particular comment was posted. It’s an awfully arrogant thing to say. He has his mind made up [Looking at it strictly on its own merit, it doesn't say for who... but we both know better, yes?] and can’t understand why people aren’t thinking his way.(This isn’t Ars, don’t take the “hates” so literally. It’s nuanced, and you should know me better. :p )
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duran
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House Obsession
Yep. Scary. Very scary.
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theRizz
You know… the complete ignorance of some folks in this country is down right embarrassing… along with being scary. And why do people continue to think he’s a Muslim? (not that there’s anything wrong with that if he were) But he’s not?! Don’t they remember all the Rev Wright stuff?
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duran
“The future is in beta”
I don’t know who said that. Part of me wants to say William Gibson. But I’m not sure.
This evening I’m headed up to NYC to visit my brother for a few days. I decided to take Bolt Bus. They say it has wifi, and the price is very good.
So what the hell. It can’t be worse then the China Town bus, can it?Right now, as I type this, I’m sitting about midway back on the bus, plugged in and on the internet at 75mph headed north on I95. The fall evening has turned dark, and I’m listening to friskyradio typing in to the glow of my monitor as the highway blurs by me in the windows. I’m in a sort of future pause right now, as I see what tomorrow will bring us, and how its already here if you’re looking in the right spot.
In 83 Gibson wrote about a ubiquitous data network. At the time it was raw fantasy with the “internet” as we know it only a sketch on a drawing board, and barely connecting only the most major Universities in the world. His vision was of a matrix of computers, connecting everyone together, making communication and the exchange of data effortless and integrated fully with our daily lives. We’re not quite there yet with the level of Virtual Reality he predicted, but its almost impossible to not find somewhere where I can get on line… and the power to share, collaborate, and integrate that it brings us is amazing.
Case in point.
Obama Iphone App.The Obama campaign continues to blow the lid off of what you can do with the internet in coordinating grassroots campaign movements. Wired has a great article on how it is connecting people all over the country in a way that has never been done before, for the purpose of grassroots organizing.
And now the Obama campaign has an iPhone app thats leveraging the digital device we have in our pockets to track and manage that same campaign at the level of what you, as a single person can
The ability to share information quickly and effortlessly is the biggest problem with running any organization. Your team can not execute the plan if they don’t have the knowledge to do what you want them to do. The advent of the internet as a way of distributing that information easily was the first step. The devices that most of us carry in our pockets are just waiting for the connectivity to take the next step.
The iPhone, I’ve always said, is the first generation of a new paradigm in connected devices. its easier to use, slicker, better interface, and developed in mind for applications as a small computer, not as a phone. Its screaming for applications that leverage our own personal data, such as your phone book, and GPS sharing, with a larger organizaation that needs you to participate in the mission at hand. Leverage this for any grassroots or low capital oganization that needs to maintain connectivity and organization and you no longer have to have offices, phone trees, or even email if the system communicates the data you need to share exactly how it needs to be consumed at the other end. If that data integrates with you personal knowledge, such as the phone book, or GPS system, you then have the ability of coordinating that data with real action in real time. The Campaign software tracks calls made, and your position when you make the call (its not tracking who, just that a call was made from its interface). This data can be shared with the head quarters, and you’ve instantly got a knowledge network based on not only abstract contact info, but also geospecial relationships. You know know exactly where the holes are in your coverage, and can see whos near by to fill it.
I think its brilliant, and for the purpose of a volunteer force organizing to elect a man president its perfect for their needs.
this *IS* what we’ll see in 4 years, and in 8 years, and I cna’t even imagine in 12 years….
The military has been working on the smart warrior technology that does this for the use of soldiers on the ground for decades, I think a simple iPhone app made it look old, and useless all of a sudden.
I don’t want a day when you can’t unplug.
But the day when everything I need to do my job, and connect with who and what I want to connect with is right around the corner, and I can taste it. The future is in beta, and we’re all testing it.-
MarquezTraci31
It’s known that money makes people independent. But how to act if somebody does not have cash? The one way only is to receive the home loans or financial loan.
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Brendon
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duran
What if…
Barack Obama knocked on Josiah Bartlett’s door and asked for some advice…
Taken from this NY Times article.
Hit the jump for the full copy ripped shamelessly…
(More …)
Joe 9:15 pm on January 28, 2009 Permalink
Dude… it’s the Huff. I doubt much, if any begging is going on.