No matter how many times we have discussions with readers, colleagues, friends - and even people we just stumble into conversation with at the store - we continue to be amazed at how little so many Americans know about what's going on in their world today.
We're aware that it's not exactly easy for many folks to keep up with news that's actually important and will impact their lives. In a world where so many Americans have multiple part-time jobs, multiple family members to take care of, and the main media focus is on everything from Husker football to dying comedians - but not nearly enough on real news - staying informed isn't always easy. Being a watchful citizen requires reading, learning, listening - and NOT watching Fox News.
You may have missed the latest study from Fairleigh Dickinson University, released last week, which proves that once again, people who watch Fox News are not only misinformed, but are actually LESS informed than people who read or watch no news at all. While this poll was conducted exclusively in New Jersey, it's only one of a handful of polls that have proven that FNC, while great at propaganda and television graphics, is almost criminally bad at delivering honest factual information.
One of the key successes of President Obama's first term has been the Affordable Care Act, Already, millions of young American adults who didn't have health insurance are now covered. So "ObamaCare" has already proven a success in some ways - though you wouldn't know it if you watch Fox or listen to the screamers on right-wing radio.
Thankfully, our friend, journalist Rick Ungar, recently took a good look at at a real, live success in keeping health care costs low that uses some organizational structures similar to those in the ACA - what many on the right call, "Obamacare."
As Rick points out in Forbes, in Grand Junction, Colorado, over the last thirty years, physicians, the community, and a not-for-profit insurance company have worked together to create an original - and amazingly effective health care delivery system.
Chronic diseases are way down in Grand Junction, while coverage for low-income and Medicaid participants is around 88 percent - more than double what it is in all of Western Colorado. Costs are kept down for everyone, while doctors and medical centers are kept in line not by bigger government, but by their peers. Meanwhile, doctors, nurses, and other medical staff still earn very healthy incomes.
The Grand Junction experiment proves several things - including the fact that "consumer-driven health care", and fee for service care simply don't work.
It also proves that on contentious issues, solutions that benefit everyone without costing too much can be found - IF those involved are willing to commit to fixing the problems and are ready to compromise.
Of course, it helps to be as informed and educated as possible.
We recommend you start by turning off Fox News and seeking factual information elsewhere. Anywhere.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Time To Ditch The Leftovers
If you're like many Americans - including some of our staff - the last of your Thanksgiving leftovers may still be taking up a lot of space in your refrigerator or freezer. Depending on what you do with them, leftovers can be quite tasty, when served as turkey pot pie, for example.
The problem some folks have however, is knowing when to cut their comestible losses and get rid of leftovers that have been around too long.
For the Republican Party, they keep opening their political icebox - but the stench isn't going away.
In fact, Monday afternoon, the stench of the former prime choice Herman Cain gained a new aroma of failure, as a Georgia woman came forward to accuse Cain of a thirteen year affair. For Cain, when you add this scandal to the host of gaffes and other sexual misconduct allegations, his political goose is far more than cooked.
We're aware that for some politicians, affairs may not seem like a big deal these days. After all, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich not only is known to have had sexual affairs - he even left one of his spouses while while she was undergoing cancer treatment, to marry his next wife.
Speaking of Newt and leftovers, we keep thinking Mr. Gingrich is the Republican Party's version of the embarrassingly old jar of jelly or can of vegetables that too many of us have buried in the back of our food pantries. Newt's claims about being a historian expired back in 1995, when Washington Monthly exposed him to be a factually challenged student of history. Despite his current poll numbers and endorsements, his current campaign has failed to build any serious infrastructure and is dangerously empty. Like a nearly empty pie shell rotting in the fridge, Newt's campaign only looks good until you put some pressure on it - then it crumbles.
Not to be outdone by Cain or Gingrich, the man who is still the likely nominee for the GOP in 2012, Mitt Romney, got strung up by four minutes of his own words on Monday. Admittedly, the new campaign mini-movie, 'Mitt v Mitt' is a creation of the Democratic Party. Still, there are plenty of other websites where the former governor's harsh words and past positions are shown to strongly contradict his own current positions. In short, Mitt's already turned on himself - not a good sign for the GOP's most likely dish.
We realize there are more potential Presidential candidates for the GOP than just Romney, Gingrich, and Cain. That said, the strong likelihood is that one of those three will be the main political course the Republican Party serves up in next year's presidential contest.
Democrats shouldn't be claiming their political kitchen is spotless either - especially in light of the widening scandal at the Federal Reserve. If this disgusting display of mismangement had been contained to President Bush's adminstration and ended when President Obama took office, we could say this was simply another example of Republican hypocrisy.
Unfortunately, this mess at the Fed appears to have begun under Bush's people, and continued into the Obama administration - where it seems that the policy recipes for secrecy of Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner have grown far worse than simply growing stale.
After looking at the full menu of what's currently on political display, we have no doubt the appetites of some Americans may be curbed for a short time - a good thing, in light of the way too many of us stuffed ourselves this year.
The problem some folks have however, is knowing when to cut their comestible losses and get rid of leftovers that have been around too long.
For the Republican Party, they keep opening their political icebox - but the stench isn't going away.
In fact, Monday afternoon, the stench of the former prime choice Herman Cain gained a new aroma of failure, as a Georgia woman came forward to accuse Cain of a thirteen year affair. For Cain, when you add this scandal to the host of gaffes and other sexual misconduct allegations, his political goose is far more than cooked.
We're aware that for some politicians, affairs may not seem like a big deal these days. After all, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich not only is known to have had sexual affairs - he even left one of his spouses while while she was undergoing cancer treatment, to marry his next wife.
Speaking of Newt and leftovers, we keep thinking Mr. Gingrich is the Republican Party's version of the embarrassingly old jar of jelly or can of vegetables that too many of us have buried in the back of our food pantries. Newt's claims about being a historian expired back in 1995, when Washington Monthly exposed him to be a factually challenged student of history. Despite his current poll numbers and endorsements, his current campaign has failed to build any serious infrastructure and is dangerously empty. Like a nearly empty pie shell rotting in the fridge, Newt's campaign only looks good until you put some pressure on it - then it crumbles.
Not to be outdone by Cain or Gingrich, the man who is still the likely nominee for the GOP in 2012, Mitt Romney, got strung up by four minutes of his own words on Monday. Admittedly, the new campaign mini-movie, 'Mitt v Mitt' is a creation of the Democratic Party. Still, there are plenty of other websites where the former governor's harsh words and past positions are shown to strongly contradict his own current positions. In short, Mitt's already turned on himself - not a good sign for the GOP's most likely dish.
We realize there are more potential Presidential candidates for the GOP than just Romney, Gingrich, and Cain. That said, the strong likelihood is that one of those three will be the main political course the Republican Party serves up in next year's presidential contest.
Democrats shouldn't be claiming their political kitchen is spotless either - especially in light of the widening scandal at the Federal Reserve. If this disgusting display of mismangement had been contained to President Bush's adminstration and ended when President Obama took office, we could say this was simply another example of Republican hypocrisy.
Unfortunately, this mess at the Fed appears to have begun under Bush's people, and continued into the Obama administration - where it seems that the policy recipes for secrecy of Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner have grown far worse than simply growing stale.
After looking at the full menu of what's currently on political display, we have no doubt the appetites of some Americans may be curbed for a short time - a good thing, in light of the way too many of us stuffed ourselves this year.
Monday, November 28, 2011
While You Were Out... Cold...
After a few days off, it's good to get back in the swing of things - especially if some of that time off involved avoiding certain people swinging at each other and spraying pepper spray. We're not just talking about the cops involved in attacking students and others in the Occupy movement.
Yes, the retail melees among holiday shoppers heated up while we were away, and the Republican party's slugfest to find the "Not Mitt Romney" candidate also continued - though we think the GOP may be punch drunk as Newt Gingrich is now the current flavor of the month.
Attacks on and evictions of Occupy protests have also continued in a confusing and contradictory fashion. And speaking of confused, Europe still hasn't figured out what to do about its collective finances. In the Middle East, Yemen's President Saleh finally resigned, while the second revolution in a year in Egypt sprang up in Tarhir Square, on the edge of their first post-Mubarak election.
Finally, the Congressional Supercommittee proved they were not-so-super after all, as they admitted they could not come up with a budget compromise. This was an outcome many people - including us - had been quietly expecting, the closer the deadline approached.
The failure of the not-so-supercommittee - which was primarily due to Republican members not willing to compromise - was actually one of the first things that occurred in our absence. It may have landed one of the strongest political punches of anything that happened over the Thanksgiving break.
As Ezra Klein, who kindly kept working over the holiday break, pointed out last week, the failure of the supercommittee to come to an agreement now forces Republicans to face not just one but two sets of fiscal triggers set to go off a year from now.
The first trigger happens on January 1, 2013, when the Bush tax cuts run out, returning tax rates on all Americans to their Clinton-era levels - effectively a $3.8 trillion boost to our nation's finances. The second trigger - caused by the failure of the supercommittee - will trigger $1.2 trillion dollars in cuts, mostly from military spending.
What that ends up delivering to Americans is massively progressive legislation that will reduce the U.S. deficit, while showcasing the failure of hard-line extremists on the right - exactly at the beginning of the 2012 election.
To make matters worse for intransigent Republicans, the President is urging a vote this week by Congress to extend the payroll tax cut for workers and for extension of federal unemployment benefits. Many in the 1% strongly support extending both benefits - because without them, those of us in 99% will stop spending partway through the holiday season, and certainly after January 1. If we in the 99% don't spend, many in the 1% may be joining the rest of us in a tight financial situation far sooner than they'd like.
Congressional Republicans have a choice these next two weeks: vote in favor of a tax cut, along with unemployment benefits, and maybe their constituents won't put coal in the stockings of those congresspersons. Or they could vote against a tax cut and UI benefits - and be Scrooges to 100% of Americans.
No matter what happens, we're pretty sure many Republicans - especially those on the supercommittee - aren't going to end up on Santa's "Good" list this year.
Yes, the retail melees among holiday shoppers heated up while we were away, and the Republican party's slugfest to find the "Not Mitt Romney" candidate also continued - though we think the GOP may be punch drunk as Newt Gingrich is now the current flavor of the month.
Attacks on and evictions of Occupy protests have also continued in a confusing and contradictory fashion. And speaking of confused, Europe still hasn't figured out what to do about its collective finances. In the Middle East, Yemen's President Saleh finally resigned, while the second revolution in a year in Egypt sprang up in Tarhir Square, on the edge of their first post-Mubarak election.
Finally, the Congressional Supercommittee proved they were not-so-super after all, as they admitted they could not come up with a budget compromise. This was an outcome many people - including us - had been quietly expecting, the closer the deadline approached.
The failure of the not-so-supercommittee - which was primarily due to Republican members not willing to compromise - was actually one of the first things that occurred in our absence. It may have landed one of the strongest political punches of anything that happened over the Thanksgiving break.
As Ezra Klein, who kindly kept working over the holiday break, pointed out last week, the failure of the supercommittee to come to an agreement now forces Republicans to face not just one but two sets of fiscal triggers set to go off a year from now.
The first trigger happens on January 1, 2013, when the Bush tax cuts run out, returning tax rates on all Americans to their Clinton-era levels - effectively a $3.8 trillion boost to our nation's finances. The second trigger - caused by the failure of the supercommittee - will trigger $1.2 trillion dollars in cuts, mostly from military spending.
What that ends up delivering to Americans is massively progressive legislation that will reduce the U.S. deficit, while showcasing the failure of hard-line extremists on the right - exactly at the beginning of the 2012 election.
To make matters worse for intransigent Republicans, the President is urging a vote this week by Congress to extend the payroll tax cut for workers and for extension of federal unemployment benefits. Many in the 1% strongly support extending both benefits - because without them, those of us in 99% will stop spending partway through the holiday season, and certainly after January 1. If we in the 99% don't spend, many in the 1% may be joining the rest of us in a tight financial situation far sooner than they'd like.
Congressional Republicans have a choice these next two weeks: vote in favor of a tax cut, along with unemployment benefits, and maybe their constituents won't put coal in the stockings of those congresspersons. Or they could vote against a tax cut and UI benefits - and be Scrooges to 100% of Americans.
No matter what happens, we're pretty sure many Republicans - especially those on the supercommittee - aren't going to end up on Santa's "Good" list this year.
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