Saturday Musings

Well, it has certainly been a tough week for those of us who would like to see rational discussion of serious complex issues and the only thing I can say about the special election results is "Hang on, it is going to be a wild ride through the 2012 election and I personally doubt that the 2012 election will give us a definitive direction."  If Obama wins reelection, the Republicans will still do everything to keep him a failure (and the country will suffer as it has for the last 10 years).  If the Romney wins, the Democrats will still have 40 senators and will adopt the Republican scorched earth policy of protecting whatever they can through obscure Senate procedural rules that the Republicans use so well to maintain their agenda.

On some other points briefly:

1.  I see the Republicans do not want to fund the Food Safety administration because it would be an "increase in taxes", even though the Food Industry, which would pay the fees, supports the changes and funding.  Is there no regulatory role that the Republicans will support?  It was a failure of banking regulation that put us in this dire economic situation and the fact that 99.9% of our food is safe is the result of good oversight of food production and distribution.

2.  The President's Israeli policies are blamed for the loss of the Congressional Seat in NY.  Yet, the U.S. is suffering deteriorating relationships with every Middle Eastern country other than Israel because we are seen as Israel's protector.  Now, I know that the Palestinians do not present the ideal negotiating partner, but no one short of someone willing to commit genocide can fail to see that the Palestine must come into existence as nation if peace is ever to be found.  Israel's government and its supporting majority (there is a minority that see this as I do in Israel) cannot fathom giving up the West Bank settlements for a successful peace process.  The President has simply tried to get Israel to step up to the plate and negotiate in a sincere manner.  For that he is blamed for insufficient support for Israel.  Well, somebody has to tell the Israeli's to start dealing with reality.  The Arab world is not willing to suffer intolerant autocratic governing.  That is the message of the Arab Spring.  Military control of a nation is seen as intolerant autocratic governing and that is how Israel's control of the West Bank is seen in the Arab world.  This is not a sustainable position and Israel has to be willing to allow change.  Otherwise, it will find itself (and the U.S. will as well) more isolated on this point and the risk of someone terrible happening to Israel will increase.  Israel has benefited from peace with Egypt and Jordan.  That could end if they do not find a way to allow a Palestinian state.  This is where President Obama has been cajoling Israel to go and for that he is blamed as being an insufficient supporter of Israel.  Well, the U.S. has a right to develop its own Middle East policy and not be a prisoner of Israel's policies.  We can support and protect Israel while urging them to find a path to the negotiating table.  We can urge them to give up the West Bank settlements to attain a peace treaty.  Mutual religious fervor, which is what you have between the most conservative wings of Islam and Judaism, will inevitably lead to conflict and that must be defused by both Israel and a responsible Palestinian government.  Only a government that is in charge of a Palestinian nation will have the necessary respect to make that happen.

3.  RedStateVT renewed his high deductible health care policy recently and was upset that the cost went up from $220/month to $300/month (for those who do not recognize those $ costs be aware RedState has a $25,000 deductible) despite his son getting a job and dropping off the policy.  The HealthCare company blamed the Affordable Health Care Act, so RedState did also.  Now I know my healthcare provider is losing money on our high deductible so it is entirely possible that RedState's was too and the person on the phone didn't know that or didn't care to share it.

But that is just background for the point I want to make here.  RedState paid almost his entire deductible over the last year with a series of medical needs.  Because he had access to the insured price for those services they fit within his deductible and what he could afford.  If he had not had access to the insured prices, I bet they would have been closer to $75,000 and RedState would have been complaining about that.  There is no justice in the uninsured paying one much higher price and the insured another lower price.  One of the primary goals of the Affordable Health Care Act is getting the uninsured access to insurance so everyone's cost is on the same playing field.  The Insurance Exchanges are supposed to be the market based vehicle for that to occur, but Republicans everywhere are fighting the establishment of these exchanges.  Why do the Republicans want to prevent the establishment of a market based solution to providing heath insurance for the nearly 50% of the population that no longer gets health insurance from an employer?  Nothing frustrates me more about the current state of political interaction between Republicans and Democrats than the unwillingness to allow a market based solution to develop on this point.

4.  And that readers, is why I am very pessimistic about where this country is going.  Unlike many, I do not blame the President.  The Republicans set up to make his Presidency a failure and they have been successful in domestic policy.  I note that the President has had a very successful Presidency in Foreign Policy (absent Israel, but that is not his fault).  Republicans have worked themselves into a state where they believe that the government can do nothing to help anyone in any area other than National Defense.  For those of us who have seen the government do things to help people over the last 80 years and seen the nation accomplish great things, this belief defies my logical base and is an exhibit of self interest at the expense of societal progress or even maintaining what society has accomplished since 1930.