Telling The Truth

Oops! Telling the Truth hurts! That is the reason I watch and listen to the Sunday morning political interview shows and listen to all talk radio. We just might get to know McCain and Obama’s real views. That will help in our November voting. I believe all of these “gaffs” were all factually correct.

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark told Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation this past Sunday that John McCain was not necessarily qualified to be president because of his Vietnam experience. Barak Obama half apologized by saying that Clark’s wording was “inartful.” Clark did not back down.

Charlie Black, campaign manager for John McCain, told a reporter that if there is a terrorist attack on the U.S. before the election it will benefit his candidate. Of course McCain criticized his advisor’s terrorism comments.

Geraldine Ferraro told the Daily Breeze of Torrance California, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” Ms. Ferraro resigned her position in the campaign rather than being fired for that remark.

Senator Clinton told Tim Russert on Meet The Press that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. relied upon President Lyndon Johnson “… to make the changes that would last for generations beyond the iconic, extraordinary speeches that he gave. That’s why he campaigned for Lyndon Johnson in 1964.” That statement by Hillary Clinton created a major uproar.

Is War With Iran Inevitable?

Is George W. Bush trying to get the U.S.A. into a war with Iran before he leaves office? That seems to be the implication of Seymour M. Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize writer for the New Yorker. I do hope that Mr. Hersh is wrong. He should be a guest on a Sunday morning interview show (Meet The Press, Face The Nation, or This Week) to discuss this article that was released on Sunday, June 29, 2008. You can read it at http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/29/9962/ .

Mr. Hersh was a guest on the Michael Jackson talk radio show this morning in Los Angeles. You can hear the interview at http://www.1260.am/programming/podcasts/ . No one wants a war but apparently Sy Hersh suspects that Bush and Cheney see this as a necessary event to protect America and the world. Shouldn’t we negotiate before we start to fight?

Party Unity My A**

Have you heard of the P.U.M.A. group? This is one of the Democratic groups that feel alienated by Barack Obama becoming the presumptive nominee. There are a few of these groups that do not accept the idea of an Obama run for president. This group received national attention when they were discussed on CNN. The letters stand for “party unity my ass.” Want to learn more about this group? Go to http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/puma-power/

My view is that unless this gaggle of people do more than write in a BLOG there will be no disruptions at the Democratic Convention. If they do get organized they could be a disruptive force at the convention. What fun!

“Project Independence” is a New Manhattan Project

Both candidates for president have energy plans according to their web sites. The ideas are remarkably similar. The problem is that neither McCain nor Obama have recognized this issue as significant enough to create a “Manhattan Project” to bring about U.S. independence from foreign oil. Some writers like James Pethokoukis in his U.S. News and World Report blog http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2008/05/30/do-we-need-an-energy-manhattan-project.html will make fun of this idea but there really is no alternative. Too many people are talking and writing about gasoline at $7.00 a gallon for this not to be a real possibility. The consequences of that situation would be devastating to our nation.

Wind: The Power. The Promise. The Business on the Business Week web site http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_27/b4091046392398.htm is a perfect example of the need for a focused national program. The forces wanting to use coal for generated electricity are fighting against those wanting to use the power of the wind. Coal generated power costs about 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour to produce but wind power costs 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Can we afford wind power?

Similarly agricultural interests want to convert corn into ethanol and that will impact our nation’s food supply. My own article on ethanol points out the lack of information on the real cost implications and the battle of farmers that are more inclined to fight for their own interests rather than the national interest. See The Energy Crises at http://coastcontact.blogspot.com/2008/06/energy-crises.html.

I believe coal is the answer for the next 100 years. In an article posted August 14, 2007 http://green.yahoo.com/blog/climate411/24/how-much-coal-does-the-u-s-have.html Jeffery Greenblatt, an expert on low-carbon energy technologies at Environmental Defense, and confirmed in a New York Times article dated June 21,2007, indicates the enormous amount of coal in our own country. Project Independence is all about converting our own coal to a non-polluting alternative to gasoline and oil and finding other long term alternatives.

From My Congressman On The High Cost of Gasoline

I sent a letter to my congressman, Henry Waxman (D) 30^th District California, about the high cost of gasoline and oil products. I voiced my dismay with the lack of action by the House of Representatives.

Rep. Waxman is the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and is a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Following is his response. You will notice

The vision for reducing our dependency on oil is vague. I expect more since Rep. Waxman is on the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Improved car efficiency by 2020 is too late. Auto manufacturers should be required to start improving auto perfromance next year.

Undoubtedly he did not personally respond to my letter. It was sent by one of his office workers.

Thank you for contacting me about the high cost of gasoline and the role of oil companies in rising prices. I strongly share your concern and appreciate your taking the time to be in touch.

According to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, the Bush Administration has now implemented 95% of the policies proposed by Vice President Cheney’s energy task force. The result? Big oil companies are now reporting record-high earnings, consumers face soaring prices for natural gas, heating oil and gasoline, and we are more dependent on foreign oil than ever. In June 2008, the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Agency (EIA) reported that California families are paying an all-time record high of $4.58 per gallon on average for regular gasoline – more than double the cost when President Bush took office. This course is misguided and unsustainable.

To reduce gasoline prices and solve many of the other problems associated with its use, we must enact policies that aggressively promote the development and use of more efficient vehicles and clean, sustainable energy alternatives. Sustainable energy alternatives and energy efficiency will not only help reduce fuel price fluctuations, but can also reduce toxic air pollution and global warming, create American jobs, and increase our national security.

On December 19, 2007, the United States took an important step toward stabilizing the global climate and achieving our clean energy goals when H.R. 6, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, was signed by the President. The centerpiece of this historic law will require an increase in the average vehicle efficiency 35 miles per gallon by 2020, a nearly forty percent increase compared to today’s cars and light trucks. This change is estimated to save American families $700 – $1000 each year, to save at least 1.1 million barrels of oil a day in 2020, and to reduce global warming pollution by an amount equal to taking 28 million of today’s average cars and trucks off the road. This new law also gave the Federal Trade Commission the authority to investigate market manipulation of oil and gas prices and fine those who engage in this behavior.

Unfortunately, the President has threatened to veto a number of other energy bills that might help to further reduce gas prices. In February, the House passed the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act (H.R. 5351), which would shift $18 billion in subsidies and tax breaks for the oil and gas industries into incentives for clean energy technologies. In May 2007, I also voted for two bills to prevent oil companies from cheating consumers at the pump. H.R. 6074 would authorize the Justice

Department to take legal action against OPEC state-controlled entities that conspire to limit the supply, or fix the price, of oil. H.R. 1252 would impose criminal penalties for price gouging, and permit states to bring lawsuits against wholesalers or retailers who charge unconscionably excessive high prices. I will continue to work hard for passage and enactment of these bills into law.

To learn more about my work in Congress or sign up for periodic e-mail updates, please visit www.henrywaxman.house.gov

and www.oversight.house.gov.

Again, thank you for contacting me and I hope you will continue to keep in touch on issues of concern.

With kind regards, I am

Sincerely,

Henry A. Waxman

Member of Congress.

Kaiser Permanente

Both my wife and I have coverage at Kaiser Permanente. I am covered under their Senior Advantage plan at the same rate as Medicare Part A and B. That includes Medicare Part A and B, special rates for lab test other procedures and they provide low cost prescription drugs as well. My wife is not old enough to qualify for Medicare and we must pay the premium for the group in the age range 60 to 65. That amounts to $387 per month and we pay a $50 co-pay for each office visit. Her plan does not provide any drug plan thus many of her prescriptions are filled at Costco.

Talking to friends and relatives, I find many either love or intensely dislike Kaiser. I call it the McDonald’s of health care because they fill the needs of most people at a low cost. The nearby facility in Woodland Hills, California has a hospital, all the labs, urgent care, and doctor examination facilities for every imaginable kind of ailment. It is truly a “one stop facility” for all your medical needs.

There are doctors there that I do not like but there are many that are very good. When I collapsed at a party with vertigo on a Saturday night my wife took me to urgent care. They put me through a battery of test that included a brain scan at 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning. They came up with the vertigo diagnosis.

What is wrong with Kaiser? They rarely send patients outside of their facilities for any treatment. They most likely will not send you to City of Hope, UCLA, Mayo Clinic, etc. The big advantage of a PPO is that you can go to those famed hospitals and the doctor of your choice.

The Death of Newspapers

Jon Fine’s weekly column in Business Week entitled Media Centric has been writing about the slow death of daily newspapers for the past two years. Here in Los Angeles we have seen the Los Angeles Times shrinking away along with its many smaller localized newspapers. The Orange County Register and the Daily News of Los Angeles have been the Times primary competitors. Sadly they too have been shrinking before our eyes.

The Daily News has had a 4 page opinion and editorial section every Sunday. It has featured some of America’s best columnists. Those writers have included Thomas Friedman, Richard Cohen, David Brooks, Bill O’Reilly, Maureen Dowd, and Thomas Sowell. Today they announced the shrinking of that section to two pages buried in the front section. http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_9661925?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com. Clearly we will see less of their writing in print in the future. Blame it on the internet. The Daily News only printed about one third of all the letters I submitted to their opinion page but it was always fun to know that my letters might appear. That is why I was motivated to start two BLOGS. They are https://coastcontact.wordpress.com and http://coastcontact.blogspot.com/ . The same items do not appear in both BLOGS. This entry is the exception.

Tell me again, this is progress, right?

What Has Israel Done That Is So Great?

For starters I must tell you that I am a Jew. That is my religion. However, I am not a Zionist. I am an American and proud of it. I have never been to Israel. If I should go there it would be as a tourist.

My view is that the U.S. should help all nations regardless of their race, color, religion or origin. Israel is a parliamentary democracy. Parliamentary democracy originated in Great Britain. Israel has been an ally of the U.S. since it came into being in 1948. Israel has depended upon the U.S. to help defend its borders but no Americans have ever fought there. Aid has always been in the form of money and military arms.

So what has the U.S. gained from this relationship? This web site tells it better than I. http://www.ads4israel.com/ .