What Health Care Changes will we Get?

There is a lot and I do mean a lot that still has to happen before any bill is passed and signed into law, but if I had to guess, I think we will see the following changes:

1) Increased insurance provider options for some or most people
- I can't see through the cloudy crystal ball to determine whether there will be a public option, co-opts or enable health care companies to compete with one another nationwide, but competition and choice (limited) is a good thing and will reduce costs

2) Coverage for pre-existing conditions in almost all situations
- I hesitate to say ALL situations, but that is the goal

3) Assistance determining what health care insurance options are the best fit
- a relatively low cost item that will make life a whole lot better for those who struggle with such decisions

4) Premiums effectively lowered (through subsidies) for lower income families and individuals
- questions now are how much, to whom, what is the sliding scale and how would this be administered

5) Increased opportunity to get prescriptions at lower costs
- this may happen from non-government entities like Walmart and perhaps Shoppers Clubs like BJs, Sam's and Costco getting in on the potential increased revenue and membership.

Again, I am not sure what the price tag will be (but it will be lower than any number currently mentioned), whether or not there will be a public option or just the THREAT of a public option is certain triggers are hit (most likely compromise), whether some plans are taxed (unlikely since the premium isn't dependent just on value but also the actuarial expected cost of the insured) or even if health care is mandatory (unlikely unless heavily subsidized and the minimum requirement is very small).

But, if we get the items in numbers 1 through 5 (and we may not get much more), that will be a significant improvement without negatively changing the way most covered Americans get their insurance.

Senator Michael Dukakis?

I can't take credit for starting this scoop, as I read it on The Political Wire, but I can provide some glimpses into what type of Senator Michael Dukakis might be.

First, let me get on with a full disclosure. Michael Dukakis went to my alma mater, Swarthmore College. Second, he also ran cross-country at Swarthmore, like I did. So, although he is definitely left of me on the political spectrum, (I have never found his views incompatible with mine), I can admit I am probably in the tank for him due to our common background.

That being said, he has some serious shortcomings, at least in the public eye.

He ran one of the worst presidential campaigns of the last 50 years.

* He ignored the Willie Horton ad smear campaign crafted by Lee Atwater and discounted the fact that, yeah, a lot of Americans really aren't smart enough to see through that trash.

* He is very smart and doesn't know how to consistently speak in language that is understandable by many of the people trying to listen to him.

* He allowed himself to be filmed in an army tank with a helmet on. The RNC didn't even have to add words (but they did) when they ran a commercial with those images.

But....and these are some big buts, a Senator and the Presidency are very, very different. Despite the fact that whenever a senator looks in the mirror they see a potential presidential candidate, the actual responsibilities and talents required to be good at the job are very different. Some people who probably would have failed miserably as President have gone on to be very, very good senators. In fact, I would say this is probably true of the person Dukakis would be replacing, the late Senator Ted Kennedy.

Dukakis would not be more liberal than Ted Kennedy (that is almost impossible).

Dukakis is smart and knowledgeable about both domestic and international issues.

Dukakis is a really good guy. I mean a really good, down to earth guy. The kind of guy that if you struck up a conversation with at a local coffee shop, you would find yourself still there fully engaged in the conversation an hour later not knowing what happened to the time. I think he could wind up working well within the halls of the Senate, trying to find common ground with the few moderates there.

Apparently, his selection would not be a boost to Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick's re-election attempt, as Dukakis still has some serious negatives in his home state, mostly due to his inability to offset the impact of the 'soft landing' of the US economy on Massachusetts.

BTW, Dukakis would be the 2nd Swarthmore grad from the mid-50s in the senate as Michigan senator Carl Levin graduated in 1956, one year after Dukakis.

How Kanye West can help get a Health Care Bill Passed

What?

Yeah, even I said that after I typed the title, but give this a couple of seconds and you'll see where I am headed.

So we all know about Kanye West's latest outburst, this time at the VMA Awards this past Sunday grabbing the mike from Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech. Well, it turns out that on Monday, while President Obama was being 'miked' for an interview on CNBC, he was speaking with some folks and commented that Kanye was a "jackass" for doing it.

Rather than generating one more wave of un-pleasantries from his opponents, this comment seems to have united almost everyone behind President Obama. For example, read the comments posted under these articles:

USA Today
Politico
Fox News

You can also hear the actual audio at TMZ. Over 90% of those voting at the TMZ site supported Obama's remark.

So my thinking is, let Kanye rip away. Perhaps Obama's detractors will realize they may have more in common with him than they think and perhaps we can get a more rational conversation going on how to improve health care coverage in the US.

BTW, Kanye's interruption was to say he thought this video by Beyonce for "All the Single Girls" should have won.


But perhaps Justin Timberlake should have been equally upset that his version of the same video wasn't even nominated:

A Political Emmy

It has been said that politicians are overly dramatic and often acting. Yesterday, an Emmy was given to someone portraying a politician.

Tina Fey was appropriately rewarded for one of the best spot-on (and quickly created) impersonations ever with her portrayals of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live last Fall.


When Sarah Palin was named as John McCain's running mate, one of the first things that hit me was how much she looked like Tina Fey. An observation became a reality and rewarded us with one of the funniest Political seasons ever.

Many of the videos have been taken down by NBC, but here is one of my favorite skits with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin:



Yeah, you can't find those SNL videos listed anywhere. Which is why you have to come to The Voting Booth Blog, because we remember where they are located:



And Finally, the SNL Sarah Palin & Katie Couric interview skit, which unfortunately cannot be embedded so you'll just have to click on the link and go to YouTube.

Unexpected Health Care Plan Turning Point

I didn't post prior to President Obama's speech to the joint session of Congress last night because there really didn't seem like there was much to talk about. In fact, other than unloading several times on Republican efforts to deep-six anything the Democrats come up with, there wasn't much new in what Obama said.

However, there certainly is something to talk about from last night's speech.

Republican Congressman Joe Wilson from South Carolina, made the cardinal mistake of saying what he was thinking, at a loud volume, when nobody other than the president was making a sound. After President Obama had stated that his Health Care plan would NOT offer free care to illegal immigrants, Joe Wilson shouted "You lie!" very clearly in front of a national audience.


Previously little known outside his home state, Joe Wilson is about to become infamous nationwide as Democratic leaders are going to use his name as a rallying cry to line up support behind Health Care legislation. Democratic fence-sitters, especially those from districts that do NOT have a significant Republican majority so not want to be associated with Joe Wilson by voting 'No' on Health Care reform.

As I posted on Twitter before the speech, I thought that those who support the President would think it was a good speech and those who oppose him will not like the speech. No surprises there. But Obama didn't have to move the opinion dial very far on this issue. He just had to tweak a few, important votes in the middle and he may very well have done it. I think his tone and the examples of coverage, especially for pre-existing conditions will give some Blue Dog Dems and perhaps a Repub senator or two sufficient support from their constituents to vote "Yeah" on what will be a somewhat stripped down bill. Oh yeah, and Joe Wilson helped push the opinion dial a bit further as well.

POTUS as Teacher

I just finished listening to the President's Address to School Children on my computer during my lunch break (pause to appreciate what technology enables us to do).

You can view the speech at your leisure later today at the Whitehouse website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/

During his inaugural address, President Barack Obama challenged the youth of the nation to stay in school, work hard and make something of themselves. Today, on the first day of school in many districts around the country, he slammed home the message again. All politics aside, when the President takes time to tell our kids that much is expected of them if we are to continue being a great nation, you have to appreciate the potential positive impact that may have.

The President as 'Teacher-In-Chief' is written about by Rudy Ruiz in this nice essay: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/08/ruiz.obama.students/index.html.

Since the text of the speech was posted yesterday, complaints about content have been replaced with complaints that President Obama is circumventing parents and local school administrations. It seems that anyone so concerned about needing to feel they have control over everything their children are taught at school (which they don't actually have anyway) should seriously consider home-schooling. Children are affected more not by what they are taught at school, but by what they do not get taught.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming on Health Care legislation.

Words My President Told Me

I guess some parents are confusing Tuesday's scheduled speech by the President to schools around the country with the movie "Lies My Mother Told Me". Why else would they be against their children hearing the leader of our country from speaking to them about:

During this special address, the president will speak directly to the nation's children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school. The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.

Ooooooh, them's fighting words. Seriously, how can anyone be against that content? Which leads us to a few possibilities:

1) The President is lying

Yup, he has been waiting for this opportunity to misdirect us into thinking he will be speaking about something innocuous and universally supported such as the importance of education and will use the opportunity instead to put socialist thoughts into the minds of our children. Boy, wouldn't that make him popular?

2) Some people hate him so much they don't want their children to have anything to do with the President of the United States.

Now that is the American way, when your personally preferred political party is out of power, redirect your children's educational focus on civic awareness so they don't know there really is a President.

3) Some people are afraid their children will have a different opinion than they do.

Now we are getting to some deeper fears. It is one thing to be afraid of 'socialist ideals' (but don't let anyone touch Social Security or Medicare) but it is quite something else to face the prospect that your children may have different political opinions than you and even make you explain why you believe certain things.

4) Obama is such a good speaker that in one 15-20 minute talk, he will capture our children in a Svengali-like trance.

Seriously, how many parents out there think that they have ever been successful convincing their children to do anything after mentioning it one time. At lunch time. When there are a few dozen other kids nearby.

One of the first things I tell someone who asks for advice about speaking to a group of people is that the audience will likely forget most of the content of what you said, but they may remember how they felt when you were speaking with them for the rest of their lives. I think this is (consciously or unconsciously) at the heart of the majority of complaints. Our children may listen to an intelligent, thoughtful, caring person and walk away remembering that they felt good about themselves and their future and want to hear more from him. Even then, our children will make their own decisions, much as they will about studying, dating, drinking and career. Listening to the President of the United States talk to them about the importance of education can only help their ability to make decisions in these other areas.

Back in the Saddle

It has been a while since we last posted. While a quelling of significant political news over the summer was a partial contributor, the main reason is that I became part of the statistic that was just unveiled as 9.7%. I was laid off.

You learn a whole lot about the importance of government created safety nets when your career and livelihood are ripped out from under your feet. Unemployment benefits helped (although finding part time work and having a side business made getting payments a struggle at times). At the time I was laid off, Pennsylvania did not even have a mini-COBRA plan providing post-employment health care options for those laid off by small companies with fewer than 20 workers. Pennsylvania passed a mini-COBRA bill over the summer, but not in time to help me. The significance of a national Health Care bill that disentangles health care insurance from employment became very apparent.

When you lose your job, you lose your income, your daily routine a peer group and often your confidence. Losing reasonable cost Health Insurance at the same time is like throwing water on a drowning person. (COBRA is often very expensive, especially if you just lost your income).

We will be exploring the Health Care debate in upcoming posts, now with the fortunate/unfortunate insight of having looked up from inside the crevice of the Recession.

I am employed once again in a very good job, with a very good company, even though it required us to move to another state and leave all our friends and a neighborhood and community we loved. But as tough as it has been to give up so much, we were lucky. 9.7% of those in 'The Work Force' and many more who have just stopped looking are not as fortunate. If you ever want to stop feeling sad for yourself while going through a tough time, just think about those who really would rather be in your shoes. If that doesn't help, just remember to always look on the bright side of life: