Category: Issues of the Day

An excerpt from a short post on capital punishment by Hendrik Hertzberg:

Now that we are learning more about what “lethal injection” sometimes entails, it doesn’t look so nice. Perhaps this is an area where we could learn from our Chinese friends. Their method of execution, I’m convinced, is the kindest of all: a pistol shot to the back of the head. It’s quick, it’s inexpensive, and it’s not as messy as you might assume.

Go if only to read what he reveals about the guillotine method.

And, if this is a topic that interests you, read: In our country, if a death sentence were pronounced honestly, it would sound like this.

Why in America, with our immense wealth, should the poor get sicker and the sick get poorer? We have been promising ourselves a system of national health insurance for a quarter of a century. I am tired of apologizing year after year as we fail to achieve it. We have put a premium on conversation instead of coverage. America is the only industrialized nation in the world which does not provide basic health service as a universal right. As President, I will make sure that we do.

Morris Udall, 1976.

Yes, nineteen-seventy-six.

Charles Pierce, source of the above, has much to say on the topic, including this:

The political class in this country–politician and journalist, lobbyist and legislator, Republican and Democratic, Executive and Legislative — has made a collective decision to protect the profits of one of the least popular industries in the history of the Republic, to preserve the iron grip of corporate bureaucrats over the practice of medicine in America, and to refuse virtually without serious discussion to adopt measures favored by 77 percent of the voting public.

Amen. It’s enough to make you sick — if you can afford it.

If you had been standing with me at my kitchen sink to witness all this, you would likely have breathed softly, as I did, “My God.” The spectacular perfection of that nest, that tiny tongue, that beak calibrated perfectly to the length of the tubular red flowers from which she sucks nectar and takes away pollen to commit the essential act of copulation for the plant that feeds her – every piece of this thing and all of it, my God. You might be expressing your reverence for the details of a world created in seven days, 4,004 years ago (according to some biblical calculations), by a divine being approximately human in shape. Or you might be revering the details of a world created by a billion years of natural selection acting utterly without fail on every single life-form, one life at a time. For my money the latter is the greatest show on earth, and a church service to end all. I have never understood how anyone could have the slightest trouble blending religious awe with a full comprehension of the workings of life’s creation.

From A Fist in the Eye of God, a wonderful piece by Barbara Kingsolver from her 2002 book Small Wonder: Essays.

Go read the essay.

Thanks to Debby for the link.

Headline at nytimes.com:

Thousands Rally in Capital to Protest Big Government

Most took the Metro to get there; others took the interstates. Many will be visiting the museums and art galleries later.

Kathy Flake on how the British are looking down at us. These comments via Twitter; note subject is #welovethenhs (we love the [British] National Health Service).

@PG_Rule #welovethenhs Pity that US healthcare (hardly an integrated system delivering value to all stakeholders) has not a cure for myopia

@willshome Let’s get this straight: in the Bible does the Good Samaritan care for the man set upon by thieves, then sent him a bill? No. #welovetheNHS

I know, the death panel allegation people don’t want facts, but for those that do The New York Times has some journalism today.

“There is nothing in any of the legislative proposals that would call for the creation of death panels or any other governmental body that would cut off care for the critically ill as a cost-cutting measure.”

The Times discusses the sources of the misinformation, “openly emanating months ago from many of the same pundits and conservative media outlets that were central in defeating President Bill Clinton’s health care proposals 16 years ago.”

Man carrying “death to Obama” sign at Maryland town hall detained by Secret Service.

The full sign actually read: “Death To Obama, Death To Michelle And Her Two Stupid Kids”

Talking Points Memo

It isn’t freedom of speech to yell “fire” in a crowded theater and this kind of protest isn’t freedom of speech either. These people should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

And any politician or media celebrity who doesn’t speak forcefully against this type of behavior should be run out of office or fail to find advertisers.

“Recently, we flew back to New York to consult with perhaps the world expert on Myasthenia. After reviewing her symptoms and treatment he declared that the doctors in Scotland were doing all the right things. He then asked how much this cost. He had a bit of a hard time understanding that the cost was exactly zero.”

TPM reader JR

Damn socialists.

Tom provided the following in a comment but I thought he added measurably to the discussion the nation should be having (instead of the one we are having) and so wanted it to have more visibility.

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I gave up stuff like this when I went from political to wine blogging, but yesterday I got into an email argument with a friend and spent much of the afternoon reading through sections of the House version of the bill. The sections I read focused on whether the bill would make the government plan mandatory, as is widely believed.

I think I read about 50 or 60 pages of it, legal language with lots of references to other parts of the legislation and even standing laws going back to the 1950s. And I’ve got to say: this law is really well thought out. (Keeping in mind that it won’t get really cluttered with special interest crap until it goes to conference.) The protections in the law for people who don’t want to give up their private insurance are detailed and comprehensive.

It got to be kind of fun. My friend would email me a complaint, and I’d go find the relevant portion of the legislation and discover that the rightie scare story he was reading had the law exactly wrong. It’s going to forbid companies from offering private insurance! No, it’s not. It’s going to force me into the government plan! No, it’s not. If I have another kid, that kid will have to go into the government plan while the rest of the family stays in the private plan! No, it’s not. If I decline the government plan, I’ll have to pay a tax penalty! No, you won’t.

The legislation bends over backwards to let people and companies make their own choice, but to hear the opposition tell it, it’s a Nazi takeover. Instead of town meetings, politicians should host small-group readings of the legislation. I thought the afternoon was fascinating.

There are things in the law worth debating. (For example: The tax on small business seems to me kind of extreme, “small business” being defined by size of payroll, with the tax kicking in at $250,000. That’s a small, small business.) But it’s amazing, after an afternoon of exchanges with a friend who is a serious wingnut, that absolutely none of the complaints he raged over turned out to be true in any way, shape or form. That’s a pretty good batting average, if you think about it. Almost like someone is deliberately making things up.

Someone long familiar in these parts, Kathy Flake, helps us out:

It’s a sacrifice, but someone has to do it. And obviously, it’s not going to be Sarah Palin.

I start my day with a cup of tea, or three, a bowl of shredded wheat, strawberries and soymilk. This takes time, so I sit at my desk and I read what people who really understand health care reform have to say. They’re journalists, economists, and writers who’ve studied the issue for years, and understand the intricacies of health care policy and the current proposals for reform much better than I do, even though I paid attention in my Economics classes.

She says, “If you read nothing else but Ezra Klein’s columns, you’ll be very well informed on the health care reform debate. In fact, on days when I’m limited to one cup of tea, I make sure Ezra’s the one I’m reading while I’m sipping.”

KathyF has more.

OpenCongress, Avelino’s place of employment and devotion, is a good source, too: House Health Care Bill – H.R.3200: America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009

this morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US department of energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the national oceanographic and atmospheric administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the national aeronautics and space administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US department of agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the food and drug administration.

At the appropriate time as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the national institute of standards and technology and the US naval observatory, I get into my national highway traffic safety administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the environmental protection agency, using legal tender issed by the federal reserve bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US postal service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the department of labor and the occupational safety and health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to ny house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it’s valuables thanks to the local police department.

I then log on to the internet which was developed by the defense advanced research projects administration and post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right

My source, Discourse.net. He doesn’t know its origins.

The recent attacks by Republican leaders and their ideological fellow-travelers on the effort to reform the health-care system have been so misleading, so disingenuous, that they could only spring from a cynical effort to gain partisan political advantage. By poisoning the political well, they’ve given up any pretense of being the loyal opposition. They’ve become political terrorists, willing to say or do anything to prevent the country from reaching a consensus on one of its most serious domestic problems.

Steven Pearlstein

Under the previous administration every major policy initiative — and I mean every one, from tax cuts to Social Security privatization to the Iraq war — was sold on false pretenses; there was never any effort to resolve problems, as opposed to exploiting those problems to further an unrelated agenda. Terrorists attack America? Now we can have the war we always wanted!

Paul Krugman

Not to mention their racist, anti-Hispanic, anti-gay, anti-science overtones.

About 60 percent of people participating in Medicare rate their coverage as a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale (versus 36-40 percent for private insurance), and 84 percent rate it as a 7 out of 10 or higher …. In the most recent Kaiser Foundation tracking poll, moreover, 77 percent of Americans would like to see Medicare expanded to people aged 55 and older.

FiveThirtyEight.com

And, once again, I’ll point out that I have had the public option (federal sponsored health insurance) since 1973 and it’s been just fine, thank you very much.

“Tomorrow night, beers will be hoisted in the White House. Match the drinkers…with their preferred brews…”

Hendrik Hertzberg has the drinkers, the beers and the answers.

Current percentage of medical costs paid by private insurance: 35

Current percentage of medical costs paid by government: 47

Paul Krugman Blog

Christopher Hitchens with another take on Gates-gate.

For my part, I have tried to make my point of view clear about this incident. Police do occasionally overreact when provoked (unless you think rude driving and flipping the bird deserved my being stopped at gunpoint). But I also don’t think we should decide a police officer is racist because his department may have that reputation.

In other words, I actually doubt Crowley acted as he did toward Gates because Gates is black. I think Crowley arrested Gates because Gates was acting like an asshole.

I just don’t happen to think you should be arrested for acting like an asshole. It’s our god-given right, especially in our own home.