After historic election, President Obama faces the danger of becoming a one term president and can thank his own party for that. Congress has a majority of Democrats, whom the President thought would do his bidding on what ever he wanted. As we have seen, that is not the case.
The president allowed Congress to overspend on a stimulus package that has not worked very well. The president’s main mission when he took office was to fix the health care system and he had the majority in Congress to get what he wanted. Politics is politics even in your own party. Everyone in the party has had their hand out in order to secure their vote for the bill. Due to this the bill has been slow to materialize, If the President can’t get his own party to act quickly to get a major piece of legislation passed, what does that say about his leadership?
The president is a powerful speaker and I have a lot of respect for him, but being able to move people by a speech is no longer enough. The president needs to lead and he has not done it. If the President can not exert some leadership soon, voters will be looking for a new leader at the next election. It doesn’t take much for the public to turn against you when you can’t get something done, just ask President Carter and the first President Bush.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Mass election
On Tuesday January 19, 2010 Scott Brown was elected to the Senate in Massachusetts. This election not only divided that state, but it has divided America on the issue of health care. Congress no longer has a “super” majority to pass the health care plan without some sort of Republican support or filibuster. This insurance plan will be bad for America because it does not fix all the problems in the health care system.
The problem does not just sit with the Democrats or Republicans. The problem lies with both parties. The bill the Democrats have created fails to identify a key issue regarding health care, at least for me. The issue that I do not see getting corrected is the unchecked ability to increase insurance premiums for individual and group plans without a cap. Skyrocketing insurance premiums threaten to hurt the ability of individuals and families to keep their heads above water. In an economy where some companies are not giving out raises and high gas prices, we can not afford to pay significantly higher premiums for less coverage.
The governments health care plan does deal with important issues regarding pre-existing conditions and dropping coverage due to too many claims. The rest of it is expensive “fluff” that will not work. Health care reform is needed but not at the expense of common sense. I have had previous posts with my ideas regarding health care. Short of running for Congress myself, these ideas will not be considered by Congress because the special interest groups take up too much of our Congressman’s time lobbying for their interests.
Our government is broken and anyone who claims they can go to Washington and fix it is either lying or naïve to how the federal government is run. The only way it will get fixed is when Congress starts to listen to the people instead of big money.
The problem does not just sit with the Democrats or Republicans. The problem lies with both parties. The bill the Democrats have created fails to identify a key issue regarding health care, at least for me. The issue that I do not see getting corrected is the unchecked ability to increase insurance premiums for individual and group plans without a cap. Skyrocketing insurance premiums threaten to hurt the ability of individuals and families to keep their heads above water. In an economy where some companies are not giving out raises and high gas prices, we can not afford to pay significantly higher premiums for less coverage.
The governments health care plan does deal with important issues regarding pre-existing conditions and dropping coverage due to too many claims. The rest of it is expensive “fluff” that will not work. Health care reform is needed but not at the expense of common sense. I have had previous posts with my ideas regarding health care. Short of running for Congress myself, these ideas will not be considered by Congress because the special interest groups take up too much of our Congressman’s time lobbying for their interests.
Our government is broken and anyone who claims they can go to Washington and fix it is either lying or naïve to how the federal government is run. The only way it will get fixed is when Congress starts to listen to the people instead of big money.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Tyrus Thomas and the Bulls
I find it very ironic that when Tyrus Thomas came back from his broken arm, the Bulls started playing better and Vinny Del Negro may keep his job until the end of the year. Why is this ironic? It is because Thomas and Del Negro reportedly hate each other.
One of the funnier parts of the whole thing is BOTH of them may be gone by or at the end of the season. Thomas may be gone because he is a flakey and inconsistent player who the team can not rely on to show up and play hard on a consisten basis.
The coach may be gone because he is not a good coach and has no idea what he is doing.
Admittedly i don't watch too much of the Bulls anymore because they are not a good team and are not fun to watch. The team doesn't play defense very well and are always missing layups or throwing the ball away on offense. Derrick Rose is a good player but is not a focal point of the offense. This is another coaching mistake which should get him fired on it's own.
The team needs to get a better coach and some additional players to build the team around Rose. I don't think think that Kobe, Wade and James will be coming here but it's possible you can get Bosch from Toronto. That would be a start to rebuilding the team.
One of the funnier parts of the whole thing is BOTH of them may be gone by or at the end of the season. Thomas may be gone because he is a flakey and inconsistent player who the team can not rely on to show up and play hard on a consisten basis.
The coach may be gone because he is not a good coach and has no idea what he is doing.
Admittedly i don't watch too much of the Bulls anymore because they are not a good team and are not fun to watch. The team doesn't play defense very well and are always missing layups or throwing the ball away on offense. Derrick Rose is a good player but is not a focal point of the offense. This is another coaching mistake which should get him fired on it's own.
The team needs to get a better coach and some additional players to build the team around Rose. I don't think think that Kobe, Wade and James will be coming here but it's possible you can get Bosch from Toronto. That would be a start to rebuilding the team.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Andre Dawson gets into the Hall of Fame
Congratulations to former Chicago Cubs right fielder Andre Dawson for his election to the Hall of Fame. Dawson was a very good player who hit over 400 hundred homeruns and over 2700 hits. He a waa a good defensive player and a good leader.
Dawson's numbers compare favorably with other players of his era who are in the Hall. Even if the Dawson didn't hit 500 homeruns he was a very productive player.
Dawson's numbers compare favorably with other players of his era who are in the Hall. Even if the Dawson didn't hit 500 homeruns he was a very productive player.
A few thoughts and ideas about health care.
Yesterday we had our annual health insurance meeting at work. For the 3rd time in 5 years my company is changing insurance carrier AND the price that we have to pay is still going up. I have to pay an extra $20 a paycheck for a PPO(I wont go with an HMO but there were increases with those plans as well). On top of that it seems like what is covered the the amount the insurance carrier will pay towards a claim is less than previously offered plans.
It got me thinking that the government is leaving out important reform options in their health care reform. First I believe that a cap should be put placed on the percentage of how much premiums can increase on a yearly basis. The increase should be tied to inflation or another benchmark that would allow insurance rate increases to be more reasonable.
The second option that I consider to be very important is to make individual plans from insurance carriers tax deductible. This would happen if someone has to get insurance on their own or chooses to go on their own because their employer does not offer insurance or it is too expensive. Insurance premiums through the companies we work for are before tax premiums which makes them essentially tax deductable. Why can insurance bought on the open market be the same?
The government needs to reform health care but they are over reaching on how to do it. The part of the plan for not dropping coverage for people because of the amount of their claims and the denial of coverage for people with preexisting conditions is a given. They should add the ideas that I have outlined above to it and it the health care bill would not be so big, expensive and controversial. As usual the government is making things more difficult than it needs to be.
It got me thinking that the government is leaving out important reform options in their health care reform. First I believe that a cap should be put placed on the percentage of how much premiums can increase on a yearly basis. The increase should be tied to inflation or another benchmark that would allow insurance rate increases to be more reasonable.
The second option that I consider to be very important is to make individual plans from insurance carriers tax deductible. This would happen if someone has to get insurance on their own or chooses to go on their own because their employer does not offer insurance or it is too expensive. Insurance premiums through the companies we work for are before tax premiums which makes them essentially tax deductable. Why can insurance bought on the open market be the same?
The government needs to reform health care but they are over reaching on how to do it. The part of the plan for not dropping coverage for people because of the amount of their claims and the denial of coverage for people with preexisting conditions is a given. They should add the ideas that I have outlined above to it and it the health care bill would not be so big, expensive and controversial. As usual the government is making things more difficult than it needs to be.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The Bears
I was listening to the Bears press conference on my radio at work today. I was amazed to listen to Lovie Smith "I kept my job hahaha" attitude. Bringing back Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith will be very bad for the Bears in the long run.
I believe that if they don't get it right next year, the organization will replace them for a new coach and GM. What i believe will actually happen is the Bears will go the playoffs next year and Angelo and Smith will have saved their jobs for another year or two. Granted it will be good that they go to the playoffs but it will be bad for the team in the long run.
I believe the team should have replaced them this year and started the process of rebuilding as soon as possible. The team does not have the draft picks and the staff that can properly evaluate talent to get better and be a good team on a consistent basis.
I believe that if they don't get it right next year, the organization will replace them for a new coach and GM. What i believe will actually happen is the Bears will go the playoffs next year and Angelo and Smith will have saved their jobs for another year or two. Granted it will be good that they go to the playoffs but it will be bad for the team in the long run.
I believe the team should have replaced them this year and started the process of rebuilding as soon as possible. The team does not have the draft picks and the staff that can properly evaluate talent to get better and be a good team on a consistent basis.
Ted Kennedy's autobiography
I am currently reading the late Ted Kennedy's autobiography True Compass. I am currently trying to sift through what is true, what is completely B.S.(sorry mom if you ever read this) and what is his spin on the issues and memories of people and incidents that he was involved with.
I am enjoying reading about how he idolized his father and brothers. It seemed like they all could do no wrong. This was the complete opposite of the truth at least in the case of his father.
If you want an entertaining read on a colorful character in America politics, pick it up. You will be amazed at the stuff he put himself through just to get a vote for his brothers or himself.
I am enjoying reading about how he idolized his father and brothers. It seemed like they all could do no wrong. This was the complete opposite of the truth at least in the case of his father.
If you want an entertaining read on a colorful character in America politics, pick it up. You will be amazed at the stuff he put himself through just to get a vote for his brothers or himself.
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