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.

Obama Wants to Limit Health Care

Seniors and the poor are the president’s targets. In his July 22, 2009 press conference the transcript reads, “And it’s about the fact that the biggest driving force behind our federal deficit is the skyrocketing cost of Medicare and Medicaid.” Today CNN quotes the President saying, “…must get control of Medicaid/Medicare spending.” The problem is Mr. Obama never talks about the ways to control costs. Will there be limits on the payments to doctors and hospitals, limits on payments for drugs, or limits on payments to insurance companies? Ignoring the discussion on cost control, I believe, is intentional.

Once again it’s the rich and powerful versus the rest of us. Insurance companies, large medical care businesses, and pharmaceutical companies are permitted to charge what ever they want. There are no incentives to lower the costs. The middle class senior relies on Medicare for health insurance. The poor and disabled rely on Medicaid. If it’s the middle class and poor versus the rich and powerful it doesn’t take a terribly smart person to realize who will win that confrontation.

In California the poorest among us have been impacted most by the budget cuts. Medicaid and in home health care services were cut in the face of a rising budget deficit. The influential and high ranking members of government were not significantly impacted.

“If only the elderly would die without making a fuss the Medicare system will be able to handle its costs. Why must you old people be so uncooperative?” They won’t say the words exactly like that but everything points to those thoughts. Of course the president denies this idea. Unless he proposes other cost savings ideas this can be the only conclusion that can be reached. This is disgusting.

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.

Quarter ending 6-30-09:	Aetna	$2.475 billion
	Coventry Health Care	$619 million
	CIGNA	$378 million
	Humana	$1.073 billion
	UnitedHealth	$859 million
	WellPoint (Blue Cross/Blue Shield)	$3.592 billion