Here’s a fun article by the Chronicle’s Mark Morford on how to talk with complete idiots. You ignore them, in Denialism blog fashion.
Morford points to this youtube video, which is divine:
Category: Politics
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Is Government Health Care Unconstitutional?
David Rivkin and Lee Casey consider this question in today’s Journal, explaining that the Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence limits the government’s power to unduly burden choices about healthcare:
It is, of course, difficult to imagine choices more “central to personal dignity and autonomy” than measures to be taken for the prevention and treatment of disease — measures that may be essential to preserve or extend life itself. Indeed, when the overwhelming moral issues that surround the abortion question are stripped away, what is left is a medical procedure determined to be “necessary” by an expectant mother and her physician.
If the government cannot proscribe — or even “unduly burden,” to use another of the Supreme Court’s analytical frameworks — access to abortion, how can it proscribe access to other medical procedures, including transplants, corrective or restorative surgeries, chemotherapy treatments, or a myriad of other health services that individuals may need or desire?
If only the right to privacy had so much influence in government decisionmaking!
I don’t even know where to start with Rivkin and Casey’s argument, except to say that privacy is not going to stop government-supported (or even government-dominated) healthcare. But it is fun to see the conservatives get all libertarian on you once they’re out of power. We’ll be hearing “privacy this” and “my rights that” a lot. Where were those rights during the warrantless wiretapping and FISA debates, by the way?
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It Begins!
Obama’s honeymoon is over, and so is my intermittent blogging, because business groups have finally started their machines! Christopher Conkey reports in the Journal:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it will spend $100 million in an effort to stem the “rapidly growing influence of government over private-sector activity,” in a major new move by the powerful business group to counter the Obama administration’s regulatory agenda.
[…]
Chamber president Thomas Donohue said his organization is launching its “Campaign for Free Enterprise” because an “avalanche of new rules, restrictions, mandates and taxes” could “seriously undermine the wealth and job-creating capacity of the nation.” Funds from the Chamber’s campaign will be largely spent on advertising and lobbying.
This is reminiscent of a similar campaign, started by the National Association of Manufacturers, to fight the New Deal. And smaller efforts are afoot as well. Frank Davies of the San Jose Merc reports that:
NetChoice, a group backed by AOL, Yahoo, eBay, Oracle and other online companies, launched a campaign Tuesday against proposed laws across the country that it says would harm e-commerce and consumers. The list is dubbed iAwful, a catchy acronym for Internet Advocates’ Watchlist for Ugly Laws.
The list, mostly state proposals, includes North Carolina bills to impose sales tax on digital downloads and on the resale of sports and concert tickets, and New York’s effort to tax job-seeking and résumé services.
Yes, choice, that’s what we want. Of course, state laws are a form of democratic choice. But they’re bad choices! Obviously NetChoice will make better ones.
Davies’ report continues: “States are hurting and looking for taxes from anywhere they can,” said Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice. “We’re also seeing more business online, and a disruptive technology that kids understand better than many legislators, so it’s a perfect storm.”
Wait, I recognize that name. Steve DelBianco…isn’t that the same Steve DelBianco that works for the libertarian Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), where he is Vice President for Public Policy? And isn’t it interesting that NewChoice’s postal address is the same as ACT’s?
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The Obama Plan – Part I
We’re starting to hear about how Obama intends to implement healthcare in this country.
President Barack Obama says he’s open to requiring all Americans to buy health insurance, as long as the plan provides a “hardship waiver” to exempt poor people from having to pay.
Obama opposed such an individual mandate during his campaign, but Congress increasingly is moving to embrace the idea.
In providing the first real details on how he wants to reshape the nation’s health care system, the president urged Congress on Wednesday toward a sweeping overhaul that would allow Americans to buy into a government insurance plan.
Obama outlined his goals in a letter to Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairmen of the two committees writing health care bills. It followed a meeting he held Tuesday with members of their committees, and amounted to a road map to keep Congress aligned with his goals.
The letter published at whitehouse.gov, lays out some basic ideas, but it seems as though Obama is willing to have congress work out the specifics.
Let’s go through his recommendations and talk about the implications.
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Are Patients in Universal Healthcare Countries Less Satisfied?
A dishonest campaign has started against healthcare reform in this country and the first shot has come from Conservatives for Patients Rights (CPR), a group purporting to show that patients in universal health systems suffer from government interference in health care. To bolster their argument, they have a pile of anecdotes from people around the world who have suffered at the hands of evil government-run systems. The problem, of course, is that anecdotes are not data, it is impossible to determine the veracity or reasonableness of these claims, and there is no way, ethically or practically, to respond to claims against doctors in these systems.And should we be surprised? Every other country in the industrialized world has universal healthcare. Some are government run, single payer systems, others are mixtures of private and public funding to guarantee universal coverage. I would be shocked if you couldn’t find a few people to provide testimonials about how they’re angry at their coverage. After all, Michael Moore made an entire movie about such testimonials against our system.
So what do we do? How do we find out the truth when the ideologues and financially interested parties have started a campaign to muddy the water with anecdotal attacks?
We look at the data of course. And surprise, surprise it doesn’t support CPR’s assertions that our system couldn’t stand some improvement.
During the next couple of weeks, I think we should talk about what healthcare looks like here in the US and around the world. Rather than a few horror stories, let’s take an in-depth look at what’s happening in universal systems, and whether or not we should consider a change.
Let’s start with an examination of some data from the literature on different experiences people have with these healthcare systems.
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The Teabaggers Are Nuts
Via Brayton I caught this disturbing video of the new right-wing fringe movement:
Now, if you guys have been following along for the last few years of denialism blog, you know you should immediately be suspicious of people alleging conspiracy theories. This one is a doozy. The administration as a culmination of a 5 decade communist plot to take over the country? This movement is disturbing, and as radical and unhinged as the 9/11 truthers. I would emphasize as always, no political ideology is safe from this paranoid fringe, and this is a great example of how ideology is the universal threat to rational thinking.
I also can’t help but think this teabagging movement represents a more mainstream identity of growing right-wing hate in this country. With new reports of growth of white supremacist recruiting, recruitment of members of the military and the Father Coughlin-esque ranting of Glenn Beck and Limbaugh I’m worried we’re seeing the rise of new hate movement. Seeing their signs – blaming Obama for economic woes he’s had all of three months to address, Obama’s Plan:White Slavery, The American Taxpayers are the Jews for Obama’s ovens, Obama is the Anti-Christ, drumming up paranoia about guns, and internment camps, secession from the union for the love of Benji, Obama is a Muslim, let’s waterboard Obama – my interpretation of these events isn’t that they are legitimately angry at government spending or taxation. I just don’t buy it. After all, why get angry now? We’ve spent hundreds of billions under Bush, and wasted huge amounts in foreign wars and disastrous national policies. The tax increase? 3% on those making more than 250k? I somehow don’t see that as taxing our children’s future away, or these folks as representative of the wealthy Americans that are targeted by the tax. The people leading this movement may be recruiting a large number of people who share this unbalanced delusion about taxes and “big government” but it’s clear there is also an ugly, nationalist, and frankly racist theme behind this new movement.
The leaders of right-wing talk are playing a dangerous game, tapping into a dark, paranoid underbelly of American politics. I’ve been following Orcinus pretty closely in the last few months and am increasingly disturbed by what I see. While we might want to dismiss the paranoid rantings of pundits like Beck, we should remember that such conspiratorial beliefs aren’t meant to convince the masses. They exist to radicalize ideologues, and ideologues are dangerous, whether left-wing or right-wing. Conservatives may be furious that the the FBI and DHS are tracking right wing extremism, but I see this as a rare example of them actually seeing a threat coming, and being ready to do something about it. For those of us old enough to remember Oklahoma City, I don’t think we should be dismissive about the terrorist potential of the militant right, especially with Beck and Limbaugh stoking the fires of paranoia.
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Nerds once again in control of government
And I breathe a sigh of relief. Working nights my schedule is a tad goofy, but I wake up today to see this guy describing the changes in the new budget:
This is Peter Orszag the new director of the Office of Management and Budget. He is a nerd and I instantly like him. I was not surprised to find he used to be a blogger.
It was especially refreshing because for too long our government has been run by this guy:
In particular I agree with their emphasis on health care as a necessary element for creating a viable modern economy. America has to compete with other countries that provide this for their workers, and we have a system that regularly ruins the finances of our citizens. I also agree with it as a moral necessity. Within the last week I’ve admitted several people for whom a hospitalization would result in significant financial stress. I talk about it with them, and they’re terrified. On the one hand, they need help. Sometimes their life depends on it. On the other hand, if they lack insurance a hospitalization can bankrupt them, and they’ll honestly admit, they avoided doing anything about their problems until they become life-threateningly severe because they are they can’t afford the help. This isn’t just stupid system, but immoral.
Additionally the need for reform of redundancy and costs in medicine would be a welcome reform. While the privacy issues with the electronic medical record are significant (I’d love if Chris would comment on this), the obvious need for it is undeniable. I can’t tell you how many times tests, expensive tests, are repeated because of incompatible records systems, delays in record transfer, and, frankly, the fact it’s sometimes just easier to duplicate the test than do the scut to find the answer. The emphasis on evidence based medicine, an attack on redundancy, and improvements in coverage will go a long way towards decreasing the terrible costs to insurers and the government, and terrible financial harm medical care can do to our countrymen. I am excited about seeing how this will be implemented, and relieved that once again we have people in charge who use words like “data” and “evidence” and seem that if there are problems generated by these reforms, they will be receptive to criticism.
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Gupta for Surgeon General? Cool.
As my regular readers know, I recently lost my father-in-law. He was a terrific teacher and loved to brag about students who had done well. One of his favorite “brags” was Sanjay Gupta of CNN, and now, the Washington Post is reporting that Obama wants Sanjay to be the next Surgeon General.
Dick, I wish you were around to see it.
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Open letter to the protesters at the corner
(note: i didn’t go out except to the hospital, and had to rely on what my upset friends and family reported)
Dear Protesters,
As someone who loves our American democracy, I value your right to protest. I would even fight to protect it. Still, I wish you would exercise some common decency.
Today, when you came to my neighborhood, obstructing the busiest intersection, you caused a great deal of fear and confusion. While I understand that many of you are probably upset about the war in Gaza-Israel, there is no Israeli consulate here. There is no significant Israeli population at all in fact. There are, however, thousands of Jewish families, whose homes and synagogues are immediately adjacent to your protest. When you claim to be against Israel and not Jews, your protestations seem disingenuous, given your choice to terrorize our—Jewish, not Israeli—neighborhood.
You will no doubt object to the loaded term “terrorize” but it is hard to see it otherwise. When my baby sitter, who escaped Azerbaijan with her family to come to America, sees “Death to Jews, Death to Israel”, she is scared. When my patient who survived the Holocaust is driving to Havdalah services at the synagogue sees swastikas in front of her supermarket, she is scared. When my daughter asks, “what is that?” what would you have me tell her?
“They are mad about a war, honey.”
“Where, Daddy?”
“In another country, honey.”
“Do they hate Jews, Daddy?”
“I don’t know, honey.”
When Arab Islamic terrorists attack America, I do not come to your neighborhood to blame you. When Gaza launches rockets into southern Israel, I do not come to you on behalf of my cousins there. I know that you are not Hamas. You are not terror. You are my neighbor. We are Americans. Our values, our desires are the same.
Or so I thought.
Now I don’t know.
Please, if you wish to make a statement, do so, but don’t Balkanize our community. Don’t bring foreign conflicts to my corner. Protest in front of the Israeli consulate to ask for a halt to the invasion, the bombing. Protest in front of the Egyptian consulate to ask them to open their borders to Palestinian refugees. Write to Hamas and its supporters asking it to renounce terror, and recognize its neighbors’ (not just Israel, but Fatah as well) right to exist.
But don’t come to my corner, my deli, my temple. I can’t help you. And now I don’t like you.
And that saddens me.
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Terrorism denialism
I was reading two articles on disparate subjects and found them oddly linked in my mind. The first former terrorist Bill Ayers’ explanation of why he didn’t respond when Obama was smeared by association and the second P. Michael Conn and James V. Parker writing for the WaPo about the escalation in recent years of animal rights terrorism.
What struck me about both these articles is the interesting divide between how terrorists justify their behaviors and diminish their objectives of striking fear into their opponents, and the reality of what the subjects of such acts perceive. Conn and Parker are quite right to use the label “terrorist”, as even though the ALF has been unsuccessful in actually killing someone so far, they’ve come close, demonstrated carelessness for human life, and ultimately are using acts of violence to intimidate others into changing their behavior.
Now frequently AR terrorism been downplayed in discussions on this blog as property damage, or mere economic assaults on research science. As an example of this mentality, listen to Ayers downplay the Weather Undergrounds violent activity:
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