The Race to the Bottom

Some states in America are very deliberately trying to win the race to the bottom. This is not a good thing for all of us who work for a living. If the decades old trend doesn't change course soon, some very basic workers rights will be forgotten soon.

40 hour work weeks, health care, retirement plans and regular raises are all much harder to find today than just a generation ago. It would be one thing if these cuts in employee compensation meant lower prices but, so far they just mean higher management and ceo bonuses.

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Is our Country Better Off Today?

As I spend more time in thought about our current political climate I wonder are times worse or does it just seem so? 

We are worse off and getting worse every day. 10 years ago people watched the same news casts. There was 3 or 4 news programs everyone watched and with one common news cast it seems the news had to at least try to reach out to both sides. There were generally one set of base facts given to a majority of Americans.  This (less biased) system gave more opportunities for us to hear opposing voices. It attached a person and a family to the opposing view points and this kept civility in our politics. 

Today though this is very different. There is a news cast and a news reporter to speak to every special interest in the country. If you are an investor, CNBC. If you are a liberal there is Rachel Maddow or Keith Olberman. Conservatives have Rush, O Reilly or Beck. As people with different interests turn to news reports tailored  to their point of view their points of view will become further entrenched. The other side loses its humanity and becomes a villain. 

It is frightening to think about this system continuing on unchanged. If we as a country continue to turn to tilted facts and biased news we will continue our downward spiral away from greatness.   

When our country's attention is focused we can accomplish anything! When we ignore our similarities and concentrate on our differences we become everything our country is supposed to be fighting against.  

Free press is a key to our democracy. The current system though will be the end of our democracy. Are our freedoms the key to our demise?  Or will we rise above, find our similarities, and regain our greatness? 

My Plan for America's Health Care

Many people see socialized medicine as big and expensive. With some imagination and some research I think I have found an idea that could prove many people wrong.

Currently we have many people with no insurance visiting E.R.s and driving the cost up for everyone else. My plan puts a stop to this with a fairly basic solution.

Currently when you enter the ER you are checked in and wait for the next available Dr. What if at the check in desk, the nurse at the door directs you to either a low cost clinic or if you need emergency care an ER bed. A common entrance to both facilities will give the decision to trained professionals. 

This would shift unpaid bills from expensive emergency rooms to low cost clinics. 

The current legislation mandates all citizens get health care. If we instead offered a base health system to all citizens people could just continue to do nothing. Now this universal socialized medicine would be preventative only. There would be no choice in doctors.  Only approved by doctors and debated by congress procedures would be available. It will be the cheapest lowest coverage health care available. 

When you go to your clinic, if you haven't been in a year, you will have preventative tests run and you will be informed of the results. It will then be your responsibility to take the information and change your lifestyle accordingly. 

If you don't change your lifestyle and you develop diabetes that is tough cookies unless...........

You make enough money to buy health insurance on your own. Or if you work at an employer that provides you with insurance. If you pay for your own insurance then you can live by the rules written by you your insurance provide and your state or federal regulator.

So thats my plan. It is socialized medicine. But it is not big socialized medicine. Every other industrialized country has Universal Health Care for all their citizens. They also have debt to GDP ratios double America's This seems to be a plan that could show our compassion for fellow Americans and do it in an Economically viable way.

Comparing Health Care Reform Options

Republican talking points haven't changed in months but many of their points are being addressed in the current bill that just passed the House of Representatives. So even though they will not vote for this legislation I am not sure they should feel completely left out. I will show point by point why Republicans shouldn't be so upset.

Sell insurance across state lines. Some states have very over used Emergency Rooms. Many people with out insurance or money to pay the bill use Emergency Rooms like a doctor's office. If you live in New York city these people and bills add up. At the end of the day Health Insurance Regulation and pricing charts must take into account these unpaid bills.

If you live in Iowa there are far fewer people relying on Emergency Rooms. This means state regulations and and health insurance costs will be less.

If you allow people to buy insurance across state lines people will move their plan to the state with the lowest cost for obvious reasons. This will further reduce competition and options from the market.

One way this phenomenon is already causing disruption in the market is obvious.  Common medical tests such as MRIs or Cat scans have dramatic price differences at different locations. According to http://www.comparecatscancost.com/  prices for CAT scans can very in price from $700 to $3000 state to state. Or $700 to $2200 from town to town.  The reason for this dramatic difference is due to hospital having to cover emergency room losses. But if you go to a specialty office where only people with insurance go, there bills are always paid and therefore are much cheaper.

National Insurance Exchange The current bill has a more thought out version of buying across state lines. It is a National Health Exchange. This leaves in place the current state regulations and marketplaces. It creates a new market place with one set of regulations nationwide. Any health provider can enter this market place with different plans. This will give citizens across the country another option to buy insurance and will do so with an equal opportunity for all insurance providers no matter what state they reside in.

States with high insurance rates will benefit the most from this exchange. At the same time states with low rates should not see increases in cost because this option would not be economically better than their current plans. If you just sold insurance across state lines it would obviously increase the price of insurance for those who live in the cheapest states.

I will continue to explain point by point the health care debate. If you have any points or opinions I would love to hear them.

World Series Baseball A game of Imaginery Inches

Baseball umpires are known for missing calls. Probably because noone discusses the right calls and scream cry yell and holler when a bad call goes there teams way.

This goes on all year and then in the playoffs the world gets an idea about how bad it is. 

There may be a change but if anyone that gets a paycheck regarding mlb and they complain they will be fined. If you are a player and you argue balls and strikes you are tossed immediately. 

With all the tech today it is obvious we should move to a digital strikezone, let the announcers call balls and strikes and outs on the field. Anything would be better than sticking with tradition.

No More Fisherman

The American Dream is being squashed by large corporations. Maybe not completely but our dreams are harder to obtain now than any time in history. 

 

With all the ability of corporate America, to define its costs to the penny, use its buying power and lobbying power to push common citizen’s wages down or  remove them completely, we don’t need to give them more incentives.

 

I understand that it is each corporation’s sole mission to make money. It is also our government’s duty to protect our freedoms. The freedom I am most concerned about currently is our freedom to pursue happiness. Our country has provided an immeasurably large group of consumers. We are bombarded by commercials, ads, billboards, newspapers, and radio, which describe why we can’t live without an all new product.

 

The term “fish in a barrel” comes to mind. Except this barrel is offering corporations around the world huge tax incentives in an effort to get more of them to shoot at us. Personally I am tired of getting shot at. Moving to a new barrel is out of the question. So maybe we can send a message to those supposed hunters out there. “Stop Shooting and throw us a bone.”

 

It’s getting hard to survive here in the barrel. Maybe we can get government to start protecting us fish instead of getting more shooters. Maybe you can give us some of those incentives you were talking about to get our own guns so we can shoot back at the corporations.

 

If nothing else just put corporations on the same playing field as me. I think the past 50 years of tax breaks is enough now it is time to cash in on all those incentives we have been handing out.

America Needs E.I.

America is the best country in the world we just need to remind everyone.

We need to commit 100 billion dollars over the next 5 years on becoming Energy Independent. By investing this money on this issue we take large strides in so many of America's concerns

The jobs created by this commitment will directly and immediately affect America. It will put one million people back to work with jobs that are high paying with benefits and not available to be outsourced

The health care that will be employee provided will help hundreds of thousands of Americans get health insurance for them and their family

The poverty level of America's will decrease with every person we can place in a good job. It will take a lot of manpower to install and maintain the power infrastructure through out America

The education system will have dramatically increased budgets due to the increased tax base throughout the country. Also billions of dollars that are currently being sent to foreign nations to buy energy will be kept in our borders.

Our environment will be saved at the highest level when we start utilizing our citizens ability to develop new technologies that will take full advantage of our countries renewable energy sources.

America as a country is entering into the world economy with a national debt. The best way for us to eliminate this horrible burden is by investing in our future. The best investment is Energy Independence.

This is only the first step of many we must take. It is the best first step and everyday we do not take it is another day all the topics I just brought up go on.

Let this first step land with a thud that roars across the oceans to the OPEC leaders. Lets stop talking about what we need to do and allow the thuds of our steps carry our message