Just to remind everybody, there is a little website called FactCheck.org.
Nonpartisan, researched, well rounded.
It's no surprise that the majority of articles on their home page are about the Healthcare Bill.
FactCheck and SourceWatch do great jobs.
5 comments:
I can't read any more stuff about health care, Steve. It gives me ulcers and headaches. Both sides are so busy villifying the other side that I wished they would pay more attention to what needs to be done. Just socialize it and get it done. If it doesn't work, we throw them out and try something different.
Then we can get on with the important stuff like how to operate our iPhones.
Rick, that's one of the reasons I just pointed to FactCheck.org. They cut through the crap (on both sides, although IMHO, there's a lot more coming from one side than the other).
I too wish we would just go single-payor (as compared to single-insurer) with private healthcare providers, force insurance companies to be non-profit (which doesn't mean they can't make money), take all the states' requirements and merge them into one (as in, the plans cover everything), make it illegal to drop someone from the rolls, allow insurance to be portable, and allow for higher priced private plans (which is about what they have in Germany, Switzerland, and Japan). Of course, about 20% of this country would have their heads explode if such a thing was proposed (not necessarily a bad thing).
Unfortunately the opposition has adopted a "Delay and Kill" plan of operations. So, IMHO, we're going to at best get a water down version of what we need whle arguing until around Thanksgiving, and we'll have to have this conversation again in another decade (when healthcare costs will be 25% of GDP).
I think you handle this topic in such a balanced way, Steve, which is why I come back to read your writings on the topic.
The promoters for health care reform are as bad as the detractors. Evangelicals seldom make good repair people- they're too busy stumping and casting their enemies into the pit.
I wish you'd had a chance to experience Canadian healthcare. It's really not bad, and everyone seemed to feel "protected," if only for the comforting knowledge that no one would be turned away.
Where they fail miserably is that, like any centralized planning group, they're hugely inefficient and somewhat ox-like in their policies- but at least they're trying.
One of the things I've tried to do with my time on Council was to take a lot of the uncertainty our employees were facing concerning the management of the Village. I think many people were surprised to see how productive our employees became when they no longer had to worry about things that (while impacted their jobs) weren't their jobs (basically instilled consistent management and empowered them to make decisions by supporting them).
The same thing would happen for our economy if we removed the healthcare worries from our most senior and experienced workers. Just in the cubicle farmlet I work in we have three employees dealing with ongoing care concerns for members of their families. For the employees throughout the rest of the shop the constant changes in our insurance (and the uncertainty about future changes) distract them from the work at hand.
That is a really thoughtful analysis and a great example, Steve. When the problems are seen in such a way it's easy to see how important they are. Thanks.
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