{ 2009 06 24 }
Health Care and Whimsy
- Medicine - If you have begun taking advantage of the handy new set of perma-links to my left, which come complete with a set of headers as to how often they can be expected to provide fresh content, then you probably have a good idea where this bullet point is going. It would seem that many of our trusted sources of analysis and commentary have things to say about the proposed revisions to America’s health care system, and none of them are complimentary.
In an ostensible review of Ezekiel (brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm and inspiration of Ari Gold, Ari) Emanuel’s book on health care reform, the New York Review of Books asserts a need for broad systemic changes. James Kwak, the guy who isn’t Simon Johnson at the blog that’s been perma-linked despite its refusal to update its eponymous economic forecast in the past two months, explains the necessity of a public plan, as well as the economic reasons it’s being opposed by unaligned special interests. The illustrious Nate Silver extends his much-ballyhooed powers of reasoning beyond their native realm of statistics to argue that George Will has implicitly endorsed the utility of a public plan, and yesterday, David Brooks got downright apoplectic about the way that parliamentary convolutions in Congress have kept the idea of taxing health benefits from entering the field of realistic discussion.
The long and short of it is that, by most measures, Congress is screwing the pooch on health care reform. Normally, that wouldn’t be a bold observation, but the anomaly here is that critics from both edges of the ideological horizon are striking similar notes. As troubling as it might be to people like me who receive a fair portion of their wages in the form of health benefits, people who have devoted more constructive thought to the matter than myself tend to agree, for various reasons, that the tax breaks that make such benefits popular need to expire for the system to evolve. Those of us who are legitimately threatened by that prospect are offered some solace by the point that Tom Daschle made on MSNBC yesterday morning, which was that any real solution to rising health care expenditure on a macro level needs to differentiate between money paid by the government, by health care plans, and by consumers as a secondary concern. In other words, the best way to find an ideal solution is to assume an unimaginably large pail of shekels, discern what method of disbursement enforces the highest level of efficiency, and then configure a system for filling the pail.
Assuming a massive receptacle filled with ducats is the easy part. Moving on to the second step of that algorithm, polling shows that a slight majority supports a public option, even among Republicans, yet the odds that the Senate would pass a bill providing one are slight. Nate Silver’s analysis of how PAC money might be affecting Senator’s positions has proven compelling enough to provoke at least one thoughtful response, but even dodgy donations, comfortingly simple as they are, don’t seem to explain the full breadth of opposition among legislators. [Note: The line representing "Mainline Democrats" appears to have an inflection point around $60,000, which would whimsically imply that the marginal utility of above-board bribes deteriorates after that point. Take it as yet another example of ineffective incrementalism.] If the average non-Democrat on the street is at least equally likely to support the existence of a public option as to oppose it, then how can that point be effectively driven home to legislators entrenched in positions that don’t reflect that fact? Oh, great…now I’m apoplectic.
- Program -Yesterday, this venue offered some criticism of MTV’s new programming. That endeavor was not exhaustive.
The short story is that Is She Really Going Out With Him has earned a trial series recording on my DVR. Intellectually stimulating, it’s not, but one imagines that a person who’s just read the preceding bullet might appreciate twenty minutes or so to rest his her or brain later in the day. An unabashed television adaptation of the Hot Chicks with Douchebags website, this show profiles detestable young men and their inexplicably comely girlfriends. When you say it like that, it sounds appalling, but the voice-over work is written well enough to give the entire endeavor the feel of an extended Daily Show bit.
- Housekeeping - The permanent links added to this page’s sidebar yesterday were not exhaustive. Some of you will see the latest additions and think less of the opinions provided herein. Nonetheless, the add to this site’s mission of being something besides work. Some things that aren’t your job promote personal growth; some just make you laugh. Mine is not the place to judge.
The only one I’m really on the fence about is the Hot Chicks with Douchebags link. It might give newcomers the wrong impression. Then again, one has to appreciate a guy who calls Perez Hilton a “Warholian superstar pastiche without the self-awareness,” refers to his own site as “my little corner of the simulacrum,” and entitles the link to his favorite image as “The Future ex-Mrs. DB1.” Besides, it’s the most likely way for any of us to catch a glimpse of former roommate and Mohawks Rock founder Cheyenne Throckmorton. Seriously, his visage is regularly included amongst the ranks of douchebags escorting so-titled hot chicks.
Post a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.