Barack Obama Brings No Change

The very wealthy people of the United States have convinced the rest of us that we are all part of the “middle class.” The poorest of us are part of the “lower middle class.” There are very few “poor people” in America. You see the very wealthy hired some very brilliant marketing experts to sell the rest of us on the idea of a “middle class.” In other countries we would be called “the peasants”. After all which sounds nicer 1) middle class or 2) peasants?

The average family income in the U.S.A. is $70,000. The median White family income in 2003 was $48,000. Read William Domhoff’s “Who Rules America?” and you realize the enormous disparities in wealth in America.

Now we have a new CEO for AIG. That is a company that received loans from the U.S. government totaling $85 billion. The loans have not been repaid. Newly-appointed CEO Robert Benmosche will receive an annual salary of $7 million and is eligible for a performance-related bonus of $3.5 million.

And you thought that things would be different with Barack Obama as president.

We Need Health Care Reform

There is no health care crisis in the United States. 85% of all Americans have health care insurance. No one is turned away from a hospital. Most areas offer no cost medical care to low income families. Even Kern County California, a small town and farming area, provides similar services.

President Obama is in the wrong fight. His focus should be solely on lowering the cost of health care. That is an issue facing everyone in America. Health care for every American is a wonderful idea but the time has not come to make this a reality. Lower costs will probably help to add more families to the insured rolls.

President George W. Bush tried to revise Social Security and he failed. The reason that these changes fail is that the public basically likes and is comfortable with the existing systems. There is no obvious reason to change either of these programs. It’s the American idea, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it (spoken) also if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

I skim read H.R. 3200 ‘‘America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.’’ This is not a law. It is a proposed law or bill. Why didn’t I read every single word? There was too much legal jargon that only a lawyer could understand and he would have to be familiar with U.S. Code (USC). That is the codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States. This proposed law is 1,017 pages long. References to advance care planning and advance directives in the bill only aid those opposing a new health plan. Most people already know about medical power of attorney and advanced health directives. Including help in preparing those documents in the proposed law only supports the fear that the government will try to reduce health care costs by encouraging the elderly to sign documents that will deny them medical care.

Medicare recipients are rightfully concerned about the loss of Medicare benefits. There is too much language in this bill about changes to existing Medicare plans. This is an alert to seniors and the AARP that savings in a new national health plan will come at a cost to seniors. After all it is senior citizens that do receive the most health care services. The AARP has not endorsed this plan or any plan.

The Administration is correct in identifying serious flaws in our health care system. Those flaws should be addressed. Throwing out the entire system because there are a few problems is the wrong approach. After all, most parts of health care do operate fairly well. Cost of medical care is the number one issue according to the president. That is the challenge that should be addressed. I am sure there are other issues but here is my list. Mr. President just address these issues:

All medical facilities must implement on line medical records. The benefit is the sharing of information between doctors and easy access by the doctor of a patient’s history. Kaiser Permanente Southern California has that program in place. The two doctor office caring for my mother still uses had written records as does my dentist.
Insurance companies must be prohibited from denying health care coverage based on a patient’s medical history. There should be no criteria for premiums. Everyone should be pay the same rate based upon geographic area.
Eliminate lifetime caps on the amount of coverage set by insurance companies.
Regulations must deny insurance companies the right to cancel insurance.
Insurance companies must be allowed to sell their plans in any state thus increasing competition.
Generics drug manufacturers should have the right to produce copies of brand name drugs after five years rather than the current rule of no limits on Biotech drugs and standard limits on other drugs of 17 years.
Develop improved Medicaid programs for those not covered by existing plans due to their cost. The plans must be limited to those currently eligible for Medicaid.
Impose excess profits tax on all health care providers (i.e. insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, hospital associations, health care provider associations, etc.).
Tax breaks for individuals similar to businesses who have no employer provided insurance.
Portability and of coverage and reduced costs of coverage for those who have lost their employment.
Tort reform that will reduce the cost of a doctor’s business insurance.

Just these improvements will lower the cost of medical care for everyone. These are enhancements that both Democrats and Republicans will be willing to support.

An Ominous Day In History

On this date in 1945 the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki, Japan, instantly killing an estimated 39,000 people. The explosion came three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. That second bomb quickly brought an end to WWII. Those two bombs brought the world into a frightening nuclear age that may yet see the destruction of the world.

The unfortunate reality is that Germany was working on the development of the atomic bomb too. How would the world be today if they had developed and dropped the bomb before the United States?

The fear that another mad man might obtain and detonate a bomb today is real. The United States and its allies must take every measure to prevent Iran and North Korea from obtaining the ability to have bombs. Intimidation by the threat of a nuclear attack on their neighbors and the United States cannot be permitted. Nations near Iran and North Korea have every right to take all necessary action to prevent those countries from acquiring nuclear capabilities.

Service to the Community When it’s Convenient

First it was Sarah Palin, then William Bratton, and now Mel Martinez. All three of these people have resigned their leadership positions in government. I know William Bratton was not elected chief of police for Los Angeles but he did sign an agreement to serve in that capacity for a second five year period.

None of these three people gave coherent explanations for their resignation.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin gave a rambling resignation speech that was entirely confusing and left most people asking, “What did she say?”, or words like that.

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said, “There is never a good time to leave, but there is a right time. It is the right time.”

Florida Senator Mel Martinez said in his resignation statement, “There’s no impending reason, it’s just my desire to move on.”

In all three instances these people were successful in their positions. Perhaps the going was getting rough. So unlike Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who works for $1.00 a year in a very difficult job, these three decide to move on because everything was not to their liking. My question is what were their real reasons for wanting those high profile jobs? It certainly was not a sense of duty.

In Over His Head

President Barack Obama continues to play the part of a great leader. As an outstanding speaker he is an attention getter.

He seems to believe that speeches alone will result in obtaining the legislation he wants. The problem is that neither he nor his staff have done the in depth analysis to completely understand the consequences of the grand legislation that is part of his dreams for America.

While George W. Bush relied on others to develop the strategies for his administration, Obama has been the grand planner. Their intentions were good but both men did not do the due diligence necessary to convince others that their objectives were worthwhile. Obama still has plenty of time to correct this behavior.

Bush allowed others to devise the justification and plans for the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. He attempted to revise social security based upon the opinions of his advisors who did not represent majority thought. He allowed others to manage the country’s finances.

Obama, in his short time in office, has created a $787billon economic recovery act that has had little effect on the economy because too little of it has actually been spent. The idea behind this bill was admirable but the implementation has been very poor. Less than 10% of the allocated funds have actually been disbursed.

The war in Afghanistan is now being managed as the war in Iraq using a troop surge to gain control of that country. The surge in Iraq idea was condemned by Obama but now he says is the right thing to do in Afghanistan. Was Bush correct or is Obama wrong to use this tactic? Efforts to dominate those nations have historically met with failure. Why will the United States be more successful now? Was the United States successful in Iraq?

Now we have a health plan that is called a cornerstone to Obama’s ideas for America. Lacking in detail of costs and consequences, it is not a plan that most Americans will be willing to support. Most people have medical insurance through their employer. There is little or no reason for them to support this overhaul of medical care. The changes proposed are similar to Bush’s ideas about changing Social Security in that the public is promised a better plan.

Obama’s biggest problem is that he has not involved himself in the legislation that he has proposed. He asked Congress write legislation with only limited input from his staff. Congress wrote laws that were in their best interest. That is the reason that so little of the stimulus money has been spent. That money is primarily going to projects that senators and representatives want, not shovel ready projects. That is the reason health care legislation will not provide the needed reform. Insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and other large health care providers donate millions to their representatives. They have the influence.

Unfortunately Barack Obama is too naive to understand the impact of outside forces. The truth is he is in over his head.

Freedom of Speech

In the United States we have the right to call people names. That includes calling the president of the United States a name. Fox News Channel commentator Glenn Beck said he believes President Barack Obama is a racist. He went on to say Obama has “a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.”

The president’s mother was white. His white grandparents from Kansas were primary in his upbringing. They were the people who gave him the direction that ultimately helped him to excel in college. It’s not likely that he would hate white people.

I am so very white but I did not know there is a white culture in America. Is a white culture a religious thing or is it an ancestral thing? My grandparents came from Eastern Europe and I was born in Canada. What culture would that be?

Not to worry, the item titled “Fox’s Glenn Beck: President Obama is a racist” was under the heading Entertainment News. Glenn Beck will say almost anything to get attention. Beck’s hatred for white people or the white culture remark sounds racist to me. We do protect freedom of speech in America.

It’s Called PORK

The $787 billion stimulus package signed into law this past February has not resulted in the promised thousands of new or saved jobs. The reason is clear. Nearly 90 percent of the stimulus money has not yet been spent. This is very bothersome to me because President Obama emphasized “shovel ready” projects to invigorate the economy.

The boulevards and primary avenues in the San Fernando Valley certainly need repaving but there are no road graders to be found anywhere near those streets. There are plans in the works for widening the infamous 405 freeway and extending the Orange Line Busway but little or no action has occurred even though those projects have been on the table for years. Los Angeles City officials are asking for more than $7.3 billion of the stimulus money.

Based upon the mere 10 percent of the package being spent to date one can only conclude that this entire effort was a “feel good” action that played well politically at the time but likely will not pay well in the 2010 congressional elections.

I notice that the press has not done a good job of tracking the many projects that the stimulus package was going to aid.

The stimulus money will undoubtedly be spent but it won’t be on “shovel ready” projects. Perhaps it will be spent on every congressman’s pet projects. It’s called PORK.

Defense Secretary During the Vietnam War

For all his faults Robert S. McNamara (June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) took on the job that few of us would take. America’s leaders really believed that the fall of Vietnam would result in communist domination of South East Asia. Forgotten by most of us is the fact that the West was in the midst of a war with the U.S.S.R. on the future of world economies. Both McNamara and LBJ were wrong but thought they were right. I do not buy McNamara’s contention that he thought the war was wrong. He adopted that view after he saw that it was a losing proposition costing thousands of American lives. American right wing radio still believes we did the right thing and so do many Americans. As recently as last week radio show host Hugh Hewitt was talking about the war and why it was the right thing to do. I initially supported the war until I realized we had no offensive plan to end the war and the South Vietnamese were not interested in winning the fight.