Inside our President's mind, maybe?

Nobel Peace Prize

President Barack Hussein Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize today. Am I surprised and shocked? Definitely. Do I think he is deserving of the prize well that is where the real question arises. In my own opinion he does. In my lifetime I can't remember another person that has been able to affect the spirit of so many people as President Obama has. He is not Mahatma Gandhi who by the way never won the prize and definitely deserved it. I would ask you though for a second to think of another person who has so instantly changed the perception of America worldwide. I would ask you to think of another person that has captured the imagination of the world as the President has. I agree with a lot of the critics that he has not been able to deliver on that promise but we haven't really given him much time. I don't remember us judging any other president with a microscope to such a degree as we have President Obama. Every move he makes is scrutinized and challenged, but yet how many times have we heard him loose his cool, say the wrong thing, give a shoulder massage to a foreign dignitary (thanks President Bush), or seemingly loose sight of his goal. To get someone to have hope in change, to actually have them believe in it is to me a great feat and President Obama has gotten a nation to believe and some may argue even a large segment of the population of the world...

New Rules

I should be studying... really I should but this was bugging me and yet again I have neglected to post in a while. Why is it that fringe movements like the Washington Tea Party can get so many things done, that Rush Limbaugh, O' Reilly, Fox News, Conservative radio etc... can garner so much support. Recent Census Bureau data revealed that the shape of the economy post Bush is the worst of any president in modern history. The list of atrocities that have taken place in an era of Republican control while a Republican president and a Republican congress is long and somewhat frightening. There are prison abuse stories, a history of torture, secret prisons, lack of due process, etc... Amazingly until the final days Republicans stuck by President Bush, probably not a wise thing but they did.

On the other hand, So many people are already questioning Obama and the current Democratic party congress on why things haven't turned around including many democrats. Just a thought the United States is like a huge Oil Tanker in an ocean that we are expecting to maneuver like a small speed boat. On top of that the previous regime has ensured that we aren't in open waters either. The multiple missteps have ensured that we are actually in a sea of sorts with very few exit points and only careful maneuvering will ensure that we will actually make our way out safely. I am not saying that we should give the administration and Congress a free pass that's what the nation seemed to do with the last president and look where we ended up, but in light of the circumstances under which President Obama took over we may want to be a little patient...

Our voices of support have to be loud and perhaps even slightly uncivil. Yes I know we are the party of the educated, the party that doesn't play dirty, the party that likes to do things the right way... At some point if the war is in the trenches we may have to adjust our methods. If a Congress man is willing to call the President a liar during a speech in the House we know the other party is not willing to abide by the rules.Ok , I concede we may not want to stoop to their level but we should at the least be prepared to write, post, message, spread the word about our dismay at the discourse taking place around us about the current administration. When things like Death Squads, comparisons of Obama to Hitler, other misconceptions about the health care plans are being put forward daily.

Health Care Reform

*** Let me preface this by saying these are just my opinions, rants, etc... proceed with caution***

Let's just start with a question what do we think is a more primitive need, basic health care or education? I am not sure we all agree but I think its health care. The constant chatter out of Washington (Mostly Republicans) is that a government option would mean that we wouldn't have a private system. Just in case someone missed it our K-12 education system is a public one and last I checked there were plenty of private schools around. Is the public school system a great one, I would be the first to point out that it isn't, but ponder the alternative for a second is a bad education or a sub par one better then not knowing how to read at all... A public health care system may not deliver excellent care to all its patrons... last I checked our current private system with the highest paid doctors on the planet... doesn't either. The goal of a health care system at least a public one should not be to provide heart transplants, brain surgeries, or other complicate procedures to the masses. Instead the goal should be to provide basic services to everyone in an efficient manner. (No the regional county hospital is not an efficient manner) I am well aware that the goal should be to save everyone and the goal of the public school system is to graduate everyone. Unfortunately the first priority has to be to provide baseline services and then work on improving the system from that point on... I am not a guru by any means and I definitely don't know all the nuances but I think the solution to this problem has to be multi-faceted... Here are some of my suggestions

1. Increase the number of AMA certified Medical schools ( the number of Caribbean Schools has gone from 3 to something like 30 in the last few years if nothing else those would be dollars spent on our soil ... stimulus anyone) Theoretically an increase in Supply of doctors should decrease salaries
   
2. Provide federal loans that could be considered grants if the Physician or health care professional chooses to stay in the primary care fields. Incentivizing Primary Health care would go a long way in keeping better people in the primary fields rather then losing them to Specializations.
   
3. Create a government option that is designed to compete with the for profit Insurance companies... such and entity would be required to provide baseline profit returns to its own fund and its reports made public so it could be self sustaining.
   
4. Create a separate federal board with state offices to hear about claims that are denied by Insurance carriers. The board would be made up of Industry experts and the decisions of the board would be binding.
   
5. Create a national Information system. A system of Medical Records for all citizens housed and run by the government. Access to the system would be fee based as to help defray the cost.
6. Provide Grants and low interest loans to allow for practices to update software to interface with nationwide system. Prioritize grants and loans based on practices that provide a higher percentage of care to low income families as these practices tend to be less profitable. Grants should also be prioritized based on specialty with primary care practices taking precedence over others.
   
7. Create legislation that requires all health Insurance carriers to provide Insurance to the at risk population, each carrier would be required to insure a certain percentage of people that would otherwise be considered uninsurable. The percentage would be fixed providing a measure to spread risk across the whole system and not burden any particular carrier.
   
8. New legislation to bring the Health Insurance system under national purview considering it is fragmented and currently run state by state.
9. A review of the current Reasonable and Necessary and Usual and Customary standards employed by the industry. Health care professionals should be responsible for determining what care they believe is best for their own patients. Doctors would be subject to blind audits at random by a board of their own peers and those that abused the privileges would be reimbursed at a lower percentage. Boards would be set up nationwide and could loose their accreditation as they would also be cross audited by each other.
   

Those are just some suggestions I have. Just curious to see what if anything happens with the current legislation...

USA

It seems no matter what the US does these days we are a step behind. European and Asian countries seem vastly ahead of (even in their respective global slowdowns). They have been sitting patiently the last decade as we have pigeoned holed ourselves as a society. When the time was right they struck by buying up our car dealerships at steep discounts.

Looking forward it seems we are in for scary times. Today in Russia leaders of the four largest emerging market economies discussed ways to reduce their reliance on the United States. The dollar at some point is no longer going to be the favored global reserve currency which makes you wonder where we are headed.

There is hope though with Obama. Though some people doubt his spending patterns I feel its neccesary to fix a broken system, we can no longer patch up holes. The foundation needs to be recreated though its a tough road ahead Obama can re build the foundation.

Observations through June 2009

2009, not sure about you but for me this year is flying by. I don't think I have even gotten used to writing 2009 when I have to date things and it is already June. I haven't posted in a while and thought I would share some of my observations to this point in the year. 

• We have an African American President no, no really we have an African American President don't tell me you thought you would see this in your lifetime. 
• We have an African American President named Barrack Hussein Obama ... I know you didn't see that coming. 
• We may soon see the first Hispanic women on the Supreme Court. 
• Guantanamo should soon be closed
• GM, and Chrysler have both filed for bankruptcy 
• The federal government has had to pump a trillion dollars to keep the economy of the strongest country in the world moving.

Outside of the political and financial world there are plenty of other things to talk about. Is it just me or is 2009 gearing up to be the year of blockbusters. I mean seriously Up was amazing, Star Trek epic, Hangover is hilarious, and we still have movies like Transformers, Sherlock Holmes, and a new Harry Potter movie to go. If the movies don't provide some headlines there is always sports.

Tennis, yes tennis makes for some interesting memories as Nadal gets upset at the French and absent his arch nemesis on clay Federer finally wins at the French. The NBA playoffs provide round after round of sheer brilliance. The Celtics v. Bulls series was nothing short of amazing, a coming out party for Rondo and Rose. These NBA playoffs are arguably the best ever if not the best in a long time. We haven't even seen the end of the Finals yet. No Kobe v LeBron finals but we still got the commercials. In case you forgot we still got football season to go. Does anyone even remember who won the Superbowl(Steelers) or the Bowl Championship(Florida Gators) oh and of course March Madness what a year for sports.

2009 so far has been jam packed with headlines and events, some which we may remember for the ages... 

Mr. President!

Mr. President,

Welcome to the White House. 

Today will be a day filled with festivities and much reverie. But once the confetti has been cleaned up, the roadblocks lifted, and everyone including you has gone to bed.  A new day will dawn.  

We have a lot of work that needs to be done; both you and I know it.  It is a daunting task but “we the people” have chosen you as our Commander in Chief.  I know four years may not be the amount of time needed to restore America, but we need to start somewhere. It’s time to loosen the tie, roll up the sleeves, and get down to business. We have a failing economy, enemy’s at bay, technology that needs updating, and a healthcare that’s sick. We need you to be forthright, daring, and swift with your actions.  The success of this great nation lies within your grasp.

We the people remain faithful in you.  Bring about the change you promised us.

Welcome to the White House, Mr. President.

Your Citizens, await.