How American Health Care Killed My Father
David Goldhill, The Atlantic, September 2009, page 38

This article profoundly effected my views on the health care debate. I wasn’t happy with either side of the debate, but wasn’t sure how a better plan would look. It’s an extremely complex issue. I like David’s ideas very much.

When it comes to the current debate about health care/insurance reform the Republicans on the right are disingenuous, crazy and blinded by their hatred for a black president. The proposals on the left are merely Band-Aids and do not address, nor will they fix, the causes of our medical mess.

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government · health care · politics · the atlantic

The July/August 2009 issue of Technology Review is especially good. In it there are articles on Wolfram Alpha, cap and trade, Obama’s technology stimulus, and nuclear fusion. It also contains an entire section on cloud computing and a thought-provoking essay on privacy in the age of Facebook.

A Pound of Cure (subscription required)
Andy Kessler, Technology Review, July/August 2009, pg. 75

The health-care industry’s reluctance to digitize its records is rooted in a desire to keep medicine’s lucrative business model hidden. Dangling $19 billion in front of a $2.4 trillion industry is not nearly enough to get it to reveal the financial secrets that electronic health records are likely to uncover–and upon which its huge profits depend. In those medical records lie the ugly truth about the business of medicine: sickness is profitable. The greater the number of treatments, procedures, and hospital stays, the larger the profit. There is little incentive for doctors and hospitals to identify or reduce wasteful spending in medicine.

According to a 2003 article by Dr. Steffie Woolhandler in the New England Journal of Medicine, administration accounts for 31 percent of expenses in the U.S. health-care industry, or more than $500 billion per year. (To put that in perspective, Google has spent well under 10 percent of that on all its R&D.)

I always laugh when people argue that a government health care system would be inefficient. I think they must never have visited a doctor’s office or dealt with their own health insurance company.

government · health · health care · insurance · policy · technology review · united states · usa

All but the Ring: Why Some Couples Don’t Wed
Lisa Selin David, Time, May 25, 2009

A Gay-Marriage Solution: End Marriage?
Michael A. Lindenberger, Time, March 16, 2009

Is marriage on its way to becoming the relationship equivalent of our appendix (in that it’s no longer needed but can cause a lot of pain)?

I sure hope so. Marriage is an archaic institution that has a benign effect on a relationship, at best. The legal benefits of marriage, however, are significant. Committed Unmarrieds pay dearly for their decision to forgo government’s stamp of approval on their relationship. The same-sex marriage fight is primarily one of benefits and semantics. If government would get out of the business of marriage, these problems would disappear immediately. There would be no losers (except, perhaps, the wedding industry and divorce attorneys).

Thank you for directing my attention to these articles, Brian.

court · gay · government · law · lgbt · marriage · politics · prop-8 · same-sex

The road not taken
The Economist, March 21, 2009, pg31

I recently wrote about home ownership and how the recession has the power to change America’s landscape. These changes should be encouraged and accelerated.

Recession and Geography
Brent Danley, The Rhetoric, February 22, 2009

The essay I read today in The Economist magazine only strengthened my opinions about both home ownership and health care. Both issues are devastating our economy and weakening our chances to grow and lead.

“Mobility is part of the American dream”, the author writes. And I agree. People should move to where the work is and where they will be able to find employment that will best utilize their talents and skills. Unfortunately, policies of past administrators have succeeded in promoting home ownership as the new American Dream. The consequences of this short-sighted idealism should be obvious to even the casual observer.

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america · economy · government · health care · home ownership · insurance · mobility · policy · united states · worker

Stem cell scientists hail new era
Carolyn Y. Johnson, Boston Globe, March 10, 2009

Obama yesterday followed through on promises he made during his election campaign, signing an executive order allowing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and directing the National Institutes of Health to write guidelines within 120 days for how the research should be conducted.

He also signed a memorandum to elevate science within his administration, clarify the responsibilities of the office of science and technology policy, and ensure that “we base our public policies on the soundest science . . . and that we are open and honest with the American people about the science behind our decisions.”

“President Obama’s new executive order on embryonic stem cell research is a sad victory of politics over science and ethics,” Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said in a statement.

That’s rich. It is the science community that has been hampered by W.’s anti-science policies and who are cheering this executive order. Furthermore, stem cell treatments and cures have the potential to help many millions of people live longer healthier lives. It is immoral to oppose this research.

My favorite part of this wonderful news may be the memorandum President Obama signed that elevates science within his administration by saying, “we base our public policies on the soundest science”. I think the American people deserve more than wishful prayers. This shift in public policy gives me great hope.

executive order · government · obama · politics · research · Science · stem cell · stem cell research

A few short days after terrorists flew jets into the World Trade Center I went through the TSA checkpoint at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kansas with a box cutter in plain sight. It was an accident; I had forgotten it was clipped in my laptop case. The TSA agent searched the case and made me turn on my laptop so she could be assured it wasn’t a disguised bomb. She missed the razor blade and passed me through without question.

Sometime later I passed through another TSA checkpoint with Kirsten. They confiscated a tiny bottle of lotion from Kirsten and completely missed the folded-up scissors in her purse.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is a joke. In an article published in the November 2008 issue of The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg calls it security theater.

The Things He Carried
Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic, November 2008

In this interesting essay Goldberg not only describes how to foil the TSA security measures, he tells how he did it, over and over again. What is more interesting than evading security is whether or not any of that theater makes us any safer. Why wouldn’t a terrorist simply detonate their bomb in the totally unsecure TSA checkpoint where people are congregated in the interior of the busy airport? Or perhaps they’d just walk into the airport through the back door.

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government · richard reid · safety · security · terrorism · travel · tsa

A reassuring figure for Treasury
Economist.com, November 22, 2008

I’m so glad Hank Paulson is going to be leaving with W. What a disaster. I’m equally thrilled by President-elect Obama’s choice for his replacement. Perhaps I should be grateful Mr. Paulson was ineffective, otherwise we would have privatized Social Security. Imagine that!

Mr Geithner looks a lot younger than his 47 years (though not as young as he did before the crisis began). He skateboards and snowboards and exudes a sort of hipster-wonkiness, using “way” as a synonym for “very” as in “way consequential” and occasionally underlining his point with the word “fuck”.

Cool.

In temperament he seems similar to Mr Obama: he is suspicious of ideology, questions received wisdom, likes a competition of ideas and is keenly aware of how uncertain the world is.

He is a quick learner: within a year of joining the New York Fed he could debate the intricacies of monetary policy with academic experts. But he will join an Administration rapidly filling up with heavyweights on economic policy, not least of them Mr Summers. Indeed, one of the big questions of the new team that Mr Obama is expected to unveil on Monday is just how Mr Summers, a brilliant but intimidating and sometimes abrasive figure, will fit in.

Mr Obama is assembling a formidable economic team. With the economy perhaps on the precipice of its worst recession since the Depression, he will need it.

So instead of an ideological crony we’re going to get competence? Fuck yeah.

Related post:
Krugman for Treasury, November 10, 2008

economy · geithner · government · obama · paulson · politics · treasury

I’ve recently been having a discussion with a friend about economic philosophies, among other things. The last three books I’ve read have been about economics. I dig the free market, I do, but only one that is heavily regulated. Capitalists serve themselves first, and society maybe never. Taking care of us is the responsibility of the collective we call government.

I read a very interesting article in the current issue of Esquire magazine about Dean Kamen, his inventions and idiosyncrasies (which are many). One quote that particularly resonated with me concerns America and her values.

you get what you celebrate in a free market and America builds momuments to the things it values and unfortunately most of those monuments are giant sports arenas, which don’t contribute anything to the future.
~John H. Richardson, Esquire, December 2008, page 98+

Well said.

business · capitalism · economy · esquire · government · politics