Undernews For August 15, 2009

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HOW TO SURVIVE THE HEALTH CARE DEBACLE

Sam Smith, Progressive Review - The health care debate has come down to a struggle between greed and hypocrisy. The Republicans see health as a prerogative of wealth while the Democrats want just about anything they can call reform in the next election and have sold themselves to the insurance companies in the process. The public is clearly left out in this discussion.

Further, the Democrats are hurting themselves even more than usual. They don't understand, for example, that when they label as Nazis their opponents at fake town hall meetings, many other ordinary citizens with doubts about the Obama approach may take that personally. And when they stiff single payer, they are all but shoving progressives out the door.

And some of it doesn't have to do with healthcare. One of the town hall protesters, when interviewed later, seemed mainly concerned about the soaring number of "czars" in the Obama administration. There was a time when Democrats wouldn't think of calling one of their appointees a czar.

At the same time, there is the quality that Neal Cavuto nailed, namely that Obama is approaching this matter like a used car salesman - don't worry about the specifics of the deal, just get the customer to buy into it as fast as possible and don't let them leave the lot before they do.

Then there's the rationing controversy. The Obama crowd acts as though it's all nonsense, when in fact it's a major medical issue that should be openly discussed and not concealed under a cloud of spin. For example, rationing fan Peter Singer wrote in the New Times Magazine, "In the current U.S. debate over health care reform, 'rationing' has become a dirty word. Meeting last month with five governors, President Obama urged them to avoid using the term." Why did Obama have to warn five governors not to refer to an issue that the president claims doesn't even exist? Besides, when you commodify health care you are talking about rationing whether you use the term or not.

Further, hidden just behind the Democrats' current troubles is their assumption that "we can do it better than you can." It's there in all the regulations and controls slowing down the stimulus package; it's there in the extraordinary invasion of local control of public schools; and it's there in the health care effort.

When you don't trust people, they know it. There has been a growing snottiness about non-elite America among the liberal czars and czarinas that is playing a role in the kickback over healthcare.

Michael Lind recently offered an example

[][][] In a recent Washington Post column, Kathleen Parker quoted Ohio Sen. George Voinovich's assertion that the Republican Party is "being taken over by Southerners" to suggest that the GOP risks becoming a permanent minority party of the old Confederacy. In itself this is a legitimate point that I and many other critics of Republican conservatism have made for years. However, at Mother Jones, the blogger Kevin Drum used Parker's political argument as an excuse for all-too-typical liberal Southern-bashing. According to Drum: "There are, needless to say, plenty of individual Southern whites who are wholly admirable. But taken as a whole, Southern white culture is [redacted]. Jim Webb can pretty it up all he wants, but it's a [redacted]." Drum did the redacting on his own blog post, explaining he'd blacked out the offending text "on the advice of my frontal lobe." Drum's creepy bigotry becomes clear when other groups are substituted: "There are, needless to say, plenty of individual blacks who are wholly admirable. But taken as a whole, black culture is [redacted]. Barack Obama can pretty it up all he wants, but it's a [redacted]." [][][]

Finally, the public may not know the figures, but it knows it's not at the table, that something bad is going, something of the sort described by Bloomberg News:

[][][] If there is any doubt that President Obama's plan to overhaul U.S. health care is the hottest topic in Congress, just ask the 3,300 lobbyists who have lined up to work on the issue. "That's six lobbyists for each of the 535 members of the House and Senate, according to Senate records, and three times the number of people registered to lobby on defense. More than 1,500 organizations have health-care lobbyists, and about three more are signing up each day. Every one of the 10 biggest lobbying firms by revenue is involved in an effort that could affect 17 percent of the U.S. economy. [][][]

So here are. We're not going to get single payer. We may not even get a public option. Yet hidden behind all the uproar are a number of reforms that Democrats could pass on their own, or even with GOP help. And if the Republicans try to block the measure because of some of the items, they could be put in a separate bill and passed anyway.

The result would not be the historic, ground-breaking, earth shaking measure that Obama has obsessed over, but a modest measure improving the state of healthcare in America. Here are some existing proposals that might be included, taken from a list compiled by Joshua Holland for Alternet:

[][][] Insurance companies could no longer deny coverage to people because they've had health problems in the past, nor could they charge hugely different rates for different groups of people (premiums could only vary by age, geography, tobacco use and family size).

- The House bill bans the insurance industry's habitual practice of collecting premiums until someone gets sick, and then digging through their histories for an excuse to cancel coverage.

- Insurers wouldn't be allowed to cancel an individual's coverage for reasons other than failing to pay the premium.

- Insurers would no longer be permitted to impose annual or lifetime caps on benefits.

- Insurers that sell insufficient, cheapo plans that leave people vulnerable to medical crises would be required to disclose that fact to their customers.

- All insurers would be required to disclose how much of their spending is on health care and how much goes to costs like overhead, advertising, etc.

- If the House measure passes, individuals would face a maximum of $5,000 in out-of-pocket expenses a year, and families no more than $10,000. For poorer families, the limits would be much lower: $500 per year, for example, for a family making less than 1.33 times the poverty rate.

In 2007, Harvard researchers studied thousands of bankruptcy filings and found that medical causes played a role in more than 6 in 10.

- In the House bill, individuals making less than 400 percent of the poverty line -- $43k per year and families earning under $88k -- will be eligible for subsidized coverage on a sliding scale.

- Many small businesses would be eligible for tax credits for insuring their employees.

- All of the plans being considered by Congress make more of the working poor eligible for Medicaid by lifting the income limits on eligibility. [][][]

There you have it. A bill that could be passed in September filled with good things most of which you probably haven't even heard mentioned in the debate, thanks to all the bipartisan showboating. And the only thing odd about this is that it is a compromise being proposed by progressive populist and not by those who yammer all the time about their love for the middle.

It's not single payer; it's not a public option. But neither is it the present disaster.

MADOFF'S MISTRESS

ABC - While Bernard Madoff swindled tens of millions of dollars from one of the country's leading Jewish charities, Hadassah, he was also having an affair with its chief financial officer, Sheryl Weinstein. Weinstein reportedly admits the affair in a book to be published later this month, "Madoff's Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie and Me," to be published by St. Martin's Press on August 24. . . Weinstein did not return calls seeking comment today and it is not known how long her affair with Madoff lasted or whether or when she told her husband of 37 years about the extra-marital relationship.

WHO'S HE TALKING ABOUT?

Huffington Post - Former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean fired one of the clearest warning shots at hesitant Democratic lawmakers, insisting that if the party was unable to produce a health care bill with a public plan, there would be electoral consequences. "I do think there will be primaries as the result of all this, if the bill doesn't pass with a public option," Dean said, in a phone interview with the Huffington Post.
The former Vermont governor added the caveat that he thought "cooler heads" would ultimately prevail and that a government run option for insurance coverage would be passed. But his remarks are some of the most threatening yet to be directed at Democrats from within the party.

WORLD POPULATION TO HIT 7 BILLION BY 20011

CNN - The world's population is forecast to hit 7 billion in 2011, the vast majority of its growth coming in developing and, in many cases, the poorest nations. A staggering 97 percent of global growth over the next 40 years will happen in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the Population Reference Bureau's 2009 World Population Data Sheet. . .
In the developed world, the United States and Canada will account for most of the growth -- half from immigration and half from a natural increase in the population -- births minus deaths, according to the report. . . A stark contrast can be drawn between Uganda and Canada, which currently have about 34 million and 31 million residents, respectively. By 2050, Canada's population is projected to be 42 million, while Uganda's is expected to soar to 96 million, more than tripling.

NASA LACKS MONEY TO TRACK DANGEROUS ASTEROIDS

Wired - Without more funding, NASA will not meet its goal of tracking 90 percent of all deadly asteroids by 2020, according to a report by the National Academy of Sciences. The agency is on track to soon be able to spot 90 percent of the potentially dangerous objects that are at least a kilometer (.6 miles) wide, a goal previously mandated by Congress. Asteroids of this size are estimated to strike Earth once every 500,000 years on average and could be capable of causing a global catastrophe if they hit Earth. In 2008, NASA's Near Earth Object Program spotted a total of 11,323 objects of all sizes. But without more money in the budget, NASA won't be able to keep up with a 2005 directive to track 90 percent of objects bigger than 460 feet across. An impact from an asteroid of this size could cause significant damage and be very deadly, particularly if it were to strike near a populated area.

CANCER MORTALITY HAVE STEADILY DROPPED OVER PAST THREE DECADES. . .AND WHY WE DON'T KNOW IT

Scientific Blogging - According to a recently published report in the journal Cancer Research, cancer mortality rates have been steadily dropping over the last three decades.. . . Cancer mortality rates are typically reported as composite age-adjusted rates. And while those have slightly declined since the 1990s, they tend to emphasize the outcomes of elderly Americans, whose mortality rates are obviously much higher than those among younger patients. . . By stratifying cancer mortality rates by age, [the research] found that every group of individuals has seen a drop in cancer mortality since 1925. Unsurprisingly, it was the youngest groups that saw the biggest decline at 26 percent, and these tend to be the individuals who are overlooked by traditional mortality statistics.

HOW GRAND JUNCTION HANDLES HEALTH CARE

Christian Science Monitor - The national average for Medicare reimbursement is $8,300. But in Grand Junction it's about $2,400 less. . . John Hopkins, CEO of Rocky Mountain Health Plans, says communication is what makes care so affordable here. Doctors meet regularly with the HMO to talk about a variety of topics, including quality of care, pharmaceuticals, healthcare infrastructure and overall costs. As a result, the HMO was ahead of the curve when it started using generic prescription drugs to keep costs down. . . The foundation for low cost, high quality care was set in the 1970s when doctors and members of the community came together to decide on a system in which physicians are paid a similar amount regardless of whether their patients have Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance.

LARGE ANTARCTIC GLACIER THINNING FOUR TIMES FASTER THAN A DECADE AGO

BBC - One of the largest glaciers in Antarctica is thinning four times faster than it was 10 years ago, according to research seen by the BBC. A study of satellite measurements of Pine Island glacier in west Antarctica reveals the surface of the ice is now dropping at a rate of up to 16m a year. Since 1994, the glacier has lowered by as much as 90m, which has serious implications for sea-level rise . . . Calculations based on the rate of melting 15 years ago had suggested the glacier would last for 600 years. But the new data points to a lifespan for the vast ice stream of only another 100 years.

ABOUT THAT TERRIBLE BRITISH HEALTH SYSTEM

Independent

Health spending as a share of GDP

US 16%
UK 8.4%

Percent of total spending on healthcare

US 45%
UK 82%

Health spending per head

US $7,290
UK $2,992

Practicing physicians (per 1,000 people)

US 2.4
UK 2.5

Nurses (per 1,000 people)

US 10.6
UK 10.0

Acute care hospital beds (per 1,000 people)

US 2.7
UK 2.6

Life expectancy:

US 78
UK 80

Infant mortality (per 1,000 live births)

US 6.7
UK 4.8

Source: WHO/OECD Health Data 2009

ENTROPY UPDATE

Guardian, UK - You may not be able to attend Harvard, but now at least you can wear the clothes. University fashion ranges typically consist of nothing more than scratchy jumpers and polo shirts emblazoned with a crest and the wearer's comedy nickname. But Harvard, the oldest university in the United States, does things differently. . .
The collection, Harvard Yard, is named after the park at the centre of the campus, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is made up of preppy American classics - think tailored chinos, Liberty prints, short-sleeved check shirts, striped blazers, waistcoats, knitwear, coats and loafers.

THE LAND BUBBLE

Scott Thill, AlterNet - In the past six months, big players in the global economy have grabbed 50 million acres of arable land, from Africa to Southeast Asia. . . The bubble money has now moved on from housing and turned to the commodities markets, especially global food production. Given what that money did to the housing market, things don't look good for local communities whose land is being bought up by governments, sovereign wealth and hedge funds, and other investors on the hunt for real value in a hyper-real economy. . The hard numbers are alarming: According to the Guardian, in the last six months over 20 million hectares (around 50 million acres) of arable land, mostly in Africa and Southeast Asia, have been sold or negotiated for sale or lease. That's about half the size of all arable land in Europe, or the size of entire U.S. states North Dakota or Oklahoma. . .

TOP MEANEST CITIES

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless have issued a report listing the top the top 10 U.S. cities with the worst practices in relation to criminalizing homelessness. The national ranking is based on a number of factors, including the number of anti-homeless laws in the city, the enforcement of those laws, the general political climate toward homeless people in the city, and the city's history of criminalization measures.

Top Ten Meanest Cities:

1. Los Angeles, CA
2. St. Petersburg. FL
3. Orlando, FL
4. Atlanta, GA
5. Gainesville, FL
6. Kalamazoo, MI
7. San Francisco, CA
8. Honolulu, HI
9. Bradenton, FL
10. Berkeley, CA

MAYOR BRAD PITT OF NEW ORLEANS?

MSNBC - Brad Pitt hasn't thrown his hat in the ring to be mayor of his adopted hometown, New Orleans. Others have done that for him, launching a grassroots campaign complete with nifty T-shirts touting "Brad Pitt for Mayor." But he's more than willing to serve, the actor told Today's Ann Curry with a self-deprecating laugh. "If chosen, would you run?" Curry asked in the prerecorded interview that ran Thursday. "Yeah," Pitt said. "Would you serve?" "Yeah. I'm running on the gay marriage, no religion, legalization and taxation of marijuana platform," he joked. . . "I don't have a chance," Pitt predicted. . . Birth of a notion The Brad Pitt for Mayor movement began as a whim by Tulane art history professor Thomas Bayer, who posted a tongue-in-cheek list of 13 reasons Pitt should be the city's next mayor. Reason No. 2 is as thanks for what he's done for the city. The next reason is: "If we elect Brad Pitt mayor, Angelina Jolie would be the First Lady of New Orleans." Reason No. 12 is: "Instead of having to sue for the release of public records, or to attempt to restore accidentally deleted emails, we can learn everything about our first executive from the pages of the National Enquirer and People Magazine."

INSURANCE COMPANIES RESCIND THOUSANDS OF POLICIES

David S. Hilzenrath, Washington Post - You might have known that insurers can deny health coverage based on preexisting medical conditions, but here's something else to worry about: They can take away the coverage you thought you had when actually need it, the government says. The Department of Health and Human Services put a spotlight on that practice Tuesday in its continuing campaign to build support for an overhaul of health insurance. . . The department cited recent research by the staff of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which found that three large insurers rescinded almost 20,000 policies over five years, saving $300 million in medical claims. At least one insurer included such savings in an employee performance evaluation.

HOW DIFFERENT GROUPS SPEND THEIR DAY

The American Time Use Survey asks thousands of American residents to recall every minute of a day. Here is a chart on how people over age 15 spent their time in 2008 broken down by hour, age and other factors.

IS THERE ANYTHING OUR LEADERS AREN'T AFRAID OF

Sun Journal, Paris, ME - Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School will be the site of a National Guard riot control drill to prepare in the event of a panic over distribution of serum to treat the swine flu. The school on Route 26 at the Paris-Norway town line has been designated by state officials as a distribution site for the H1N1 flu vaccine. The drill is to prepare for a worst-case scenario should the serum have to be transported from Augusta and people rush to get it. On Thursday morning, four or five National Guard Humvees will travel from Augusta to Paris with vials of fake serum. The National Guardsmen will take on the roles of panicked citizens and military police and practice what they would do, such as using tear gas, in the case of a riot. . . Plans were developed in April to have vials of serum sent from the federal government to Augusta, Parker said. From Augusta, the supplies will be transported to designated distribution centers. During the April conference, concerns were raised about a possible out-of-control rush on the serum, Parker said. Because of that concern, Gov. John Baldacci and Gen. John Libby, adjutant general of the Maine National Guard, agreed that a plan should be devised to quell such a disturbance. . .

TASER TORTURE OF THE DAY

Syracuse News - In January, an Onondaga County sheriff's deputy pulled over Audra Harmon, who had two of her kids with her in her minivan. A routine traffic stop escalated quickly. The deputy, Sean Andrews, accused her of talking on her cell phone. She said she could prove him wrong. He said she was speeding. She denied it and got out of the van. He told her to get back in. She did, then he ordered her back out. He yanked her out by the arm, knocked her down with two Taser shots and charged her with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. His rationale on the disorderly conduct charge: She obstructed traffic when she got out of the van. The speeding accusation: going 50 mph in a 45-mph zone. The scene along Hopkins Road in Salina on the afternoon of Jan. 31 was captured by a camera on the dashboard of Andrews' patrol car. Harmon, 38, says the video is proof of police brutality. She plans to sue the sheriff's office today, claiming Andrews was improperly trained in the use of his Taser. It's not supposed to be used to take down people who pose no threat, she said. . . Harmon was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and going 50 in a 45 mph zone. The district attorney's office dismissed the charges a month later -- after watching the videotape, said her lawyer, Terrance Hoffmann..

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