change the game

so i watched the democratic debate last night. i'm soooooooooooo tired of debates at this point. they are losing the appeal since this race started so damn early. its the same song but remixed to death.

there wasn't any real winner in my opinion. however, i tune in this morning and everyone is putting their own spin on it. the media is a beast for real. i had to ask myself what debate were they watching?! i still think its anyone's race at this point because there is still time for someone to say something or make the wrong move and BAM. this is how Kerry became the front runner last time.

anyway, if i had to say who disappointed me it would have to be Edwards. he reminds me of the middle child that is trying to gain the attention of their parents. it was too obvious, its like alright already. enough with the shots at Obama and Clinton...we get it and we see you. we just ain't really feeling you and this is not helping your cause!

if i had to pick a loser it was Tim Russert. dude intentionally asked hypothetical questions that would get a candidate in hot water if they answered directly. the candidates were smart enough not to get caught in the trap but that just enraged Timmy and he pushed harder. you could definitely see he was trying to make it a must see tv moment but they weren't trying to have it.

overall i was underwhelmed. i still don't feel like i know all the other candidates besides the top three. however, i will say Biden has been giving me a little more every time i see him.

Rudy on Healthcare Reform

As I’ve stated in previous posts, the republicans aren’t down for the universal healthcare spill that we are hearing from the democrats which would result in big government. Instead they are putting forth a lot of practices that can be put in place to reform health care. Here are some of the practices Rudy hopes to implement while in office.


Expand Choice Through Tax Code Reform: Rudy proposes an income exclusion of up to $15,000 for those without employer coverage to make insurance more affordable. (America's tax system penalizes millions of citizens without access to employer health care, including 40 percent of employees at small firms. This would allow Americans without employer-based insurance to have tax benefits like those with employment-based coverage.)


Help Low-Income Individuals and Families Secure Health Insurance: Rudy proposes a Health Insurance Credit to low-income Americans that can be coupled with other revenue sources such as Medicaid and employer contributions to make coverage more affordable to millions of the uninsured.


Drive Quality and Price Transparency: Rudy would make the price visible and the provider qualifications. (This would basically pressure the industry to be more transparent in its practices, expand competition and open up new motivation for improving quality and reducing cost.)


Reform the Medical Liability Legal System: Defensive medicine is a tremendous burden on our nation with liability insurance in some states costing over $200,000 for OB/GYNs. Rudy’s plan is to end frivolous lawsuits without limiting compensation for real economic loss.


Reward States For Innovative Solutions: Rudy will encourage states to improve health care quality and make health insurance more affordable by offering block grants to encourage innovation, reduce health costs, enroll eligible uninsured, and solve adverse selection issues. (He’s basically putting the burden on local government. However, unlike another plan I outlined there are funds attached.)



Require Availability of Low-Cost Insurance Options: Regulation must not deny access to affordable coverage. If a state’s mandates prevent affordable health care coverage, citizens should be allowed to purchase coverage through interstate markets.


Save Lives and Reduce Costs by Streamlining the FDA Process: Rudy will bring greater accountability and efficiency to the evaluation process for new drugs by ensuring that government regulation does not delay new cures or needlessly cost lives. (Currently it takes a new drug 12-15 years to get to the market and become regulated.)


Invest In Health IT to Reduce Medical Errors, Improve Efficiency, and Detect Health Threats: Would require public-private partnerships to improve and set standards for health IT without overbearing regulations can play a major role in improving care and reducing costs.


Improve and Expand Health Savings Accounts: Health savings accounts provide incentives for consumers to maximize the value of services tailored to their needs. Rudy will expand access to these accounts by simplifying the rules and regulations so that insurance coverage will meet the health care goals of individuals and families.


Infuse Incentives in Insurance Markets That Promote Wellness and Better Outcomes for Chronic Diseases: Health insurance must be redefined to cover wellness as well as sickness. In conjunction with recommendations from doctors and nurses, Rudy will propose new initiatives to promote healthy lifestyles and wellness programs, and tie Medicaid payments to a state's success in promoting preventative care and tracking obesity for children. (This appears to be a theme in every candidate’s healthcare plan. It sounds like a no-brainer to me, I’m not sure why we didn’t reach this conclusion years before this.)

Rudy is Bringing Order to the Border!

Congress authorized the construction of 700 miles of border fence in 2006 and then appropriated over $1.1 billion for border security. However, Washington has only built a few dozen miles of fence.

Rudy will finish what Congress started by building the fence. He hopes to deploying 20,000 Border Patrol agents. Rudy will implement BorderStat to bring accountability to measuring the progress in securing our borders. BorderStat is modeled after the Mayor's New York City program CompStat. (I have heard of many city’s utilizing such programs to get a grip on spending and particularly crime. I’m aware of O’Malley using a similar program for Baltimore and is implementing the program statewide now that he is the governor. I mention this because I am aware of the benefits programs have on a local level for a particular area but I’m not sure how this will work for an issue of this magnitude.)

So the biggest issue that has people marching and hiding outing in churches is related to how illegal aliens will be identified. Also, at this point we have aliens who have children that are citizens so how will the new president deal with this? Keep reading to see how old Rudy will address such pressing isssues!

IDENTIFY ALL NON-CITIZENS ENTERING AND EXITING AMERICA
Issue A Single, Tamper-Proof Biometric ID Card: This is a Secure Authorized Foreign Entry Card (SAFE Card) to be uniform for all non-citizen workers and students, utilizing tamper-proof and biometric features for secure identification.

Create A Single National Database Of Foreigners: Basically speaks for itself. There will be a national database of non-citizens in our country. Rudy will propose consolidating all existing databases into one so a foreigner's legal status can be quickly checked. (This of course would have to rely on all non-citizens registering their information to be put into the database.)

Identify Those Who Have Left The Country With Biometric Check-out System: Forty-five percent of illegal immigrants in America came into our country legally but overstayed their visas. Rudy believes we need a biometric check-out system so we know who has left America and can focus enforcement on those who remain.

DEPORT CRIMINAL ALIENS
Deport All Illegal Aliens Who Commit A Felony: America currently only deports 14% of the roughly 300,000 foreigners who commit crimes in our country. Rudy will commit to deporting all foreign individuals who have abused their privilege of staying in the United States. (The cost for such an operation would be costly. We can barely round up the citizens with outstanding warrants so I can only imagine how thorough an agency would do in rounding up all the illegal aliens that commit a crime. Once again a great idea in theory that would more than likely be aborted due to the costs.)

AMERICANIZE IMMIGRANTS
Require All Immigrants to Truly Read, Write & Speak English: Rudy will propose that all immigrants who want to become citizens must truly read, write, and speak English and learn American civics. (I for one think this is a great idea. We need a common language in this country. Its not to say other languages cannot be spoken or have material translated but English should be the national language. Other candidates have tapped dance around this issue. What’s your take?)

Overall Rudy provides some feel good solutions. However, I could not find any costs associated with these ideas. As a budget analyst, things always come down to dollars for me. I don’t think people truly understand how much it would take to make a lot of these candidates’ ideas to fruition.

Sen. McCain

Healthcare isn’t the issue du jour for Sen. McCain and a lot of other Republicans. McCain has been known for supporting the party line even in while the administration was under much scrutiny and attack for the President’s war on Iraq. However, McCain unlike other Republicans continues to support the war in Iraq.

With that said, I will get into some of the more controversial issues. Here are some of the things Sen. McCain thinks would allow a victory in Iraq:

Provide more troops on the ground- McCain thinks there aren’t enough American forces in Iraq. He believes more troops are necessary to clear and hold insurgent strongholds; to provide security for rebuilding local institutions and economies; to halt sectarian violence in Baghdad and disarm Sunni and Shia militias; to dismantle al Qaeda; to train the Iraqi Army; and to embed American personnel in Iraqi police units. (This of course is the total opposite of what democrats want to do, which is to start withdrawing troops in the near future. My question to McCain is where the heck does he think he’s going to get more soldiers. We can’t keep up with the thousands that are being killed. When will Iraq start to take over and govern their own country?)


Implement New Counterinsurgency Strategy-For most of the occupation, military strategy has focused on securing all of Iraq by establishing bases and conducting short operations from them. Ultimately, this secured only small areas of the country. McCain believes country needs a more powerful counterinsurgency strategy. (So basically McCain is offering up more proactive measures instead of having the forces be reactive. The type of people in this area pop up in places all the time. He thinks we need to stay on top of things and deny them access. Once again in theory this is all dandy, but where is the money coming from to pay for all of this?)

Strengthen the Iraqi Armed Forces and Police- McCain would accelerate the training and equipping of Iraqi armed forces and police to enable them to play a key role in securing Iraq. (The big issue about withdrawing US forces is the uncertainty of the Iraqi forces being ready. If U.S. withdraws before Iraq is ready to take full control there is belief a civil war will ensue and energize al Qaeda and other jihadists across the globe. The rate at which Iraqi forces is going we could be there forever.)

Create the security necessary for political progress and stability- John McCain believes that only by controlling the violence in Iraq can we pave the way for a political settlement. But once the Iraqi government wields greater authority, it will be incumbent upon Iraqi leaders to take significant steps on their own. (Ok this dude is preaching to the choir. This entire plan sounds like the land of utopia! Who doesn’t want these things? The plan is to address how this will happen. How does one go about creating such a thing?)

Accelerate political and economic reconstruction in a secure environment-John McCain believes there must be a greater emphasis on non-military components promoting economic development and representative, accountable governance. (Once again these are all feel good goals with a lot of sound bites about a change is going to come but I really don’t see how he plans to implement all these grand ideas.)


Keep Senior Officers in Place-The Pentagon has adopted a policy of rotating our generals in and out of Iraq almost as frequently as the rotating of troops. John McCain believes this to be a deeply flawed practice. If these are, in fact, the best leaders for the task, they should remain on the job as long as possible. (There is some validity in this statement but its easy for someone who is not over there fighting. Many of our soldiers are on extended duty or they have a brief break and turn around to go right back. It’s as if a person does good is penalized and must stay on longer. I don’t know if I agree with that.)

Call for International Pressure on Syria and Iran-John McCain believes Syria and Iran have aided and abetted the violence in Iraq for too long. Syria has refused to crack down on Iraqi insurgents and foreign terrorists operating from within its territory. Iran has aided the most extreme and violent Shia militias, providing them with training, weapons, and technology that they have used to kill American troops. (I actually agree with this but we have not been successful in getting international support in this area. I think folks are just tired of Bush and don’t want to put the pressure down and get involved. Hopefully, with new leadership, we can garner more support)

Win the Homefront- So this is basically a lot of rhetoric about fighting the good fight and achieving the impossible.

I apologize if my analysis of McCain’s Iraq Strategy appeared to be bias. However, I can do so much with the material I’m given!! It lacked real substance. If anyone disagrees then please comment!

Mitt Romney-Health Care

Gov. Romney does not think a federal government overhaul is the answer to the nation’s healthcare problem. Romney believes the issues should be addressed on a state level. Basically, states should develop plans that will be tailored for their specific state because developing a universal health care plan is bound to fail. Instead, the federal government would play a supporting role by offering tax breaks for individuals to purchase private insurance, granting governors more flexibility in using federal healthcare funds, overhauling the malpractice litigation system and making other changes.

I have yet to see a comprehensive universal healthcare plan from Romney. However, he has made stump speeches putting forth points from his plan. The plan is predicated on federal tax breaks and incentives to states to help the uninsured afford coverage. Instead of using federal money to reimburse hospitals for treating people without insurance, Romney would direct States to use that money to help low-income people buy insurance at a lower cost.

So here’s the big issue, how much will this cost? Apparently, the plan would not require any new money. It relies entirely on reallocating existing federal spending on healthcare and creating a more vigorous market to drive down premium prices. Also, there would be no free rides according to Romney. Everyone would have to pay for healthcare but it would go according to what one can afford. Hmmm, I’m not sure I see how this is going to work. Will this be like section 8 for healthcare?! Also, if it’s the federal government’s role to facilitate the plan then, what division would be responsible? There will definitely be cost associated with the administration of this plan.

Romney's proposal also looks to make insurance premiums more affordable for individuals by deeming health costs tax deductible once they enroll in a plan. This is similar to what Romney did in Massachusetts. A law was passed to give individuals access to the same tax deductions available to businesses and other groups. Unlike the Massachusetts law, Romney's proposal would not penalize anyone for failing to buy insurance…it won’t be a mandate to have health insurance. Apparently, this did not go over well in Massachusetts when he made health insurance a mandate.

To lower healthcare cost for states, Romney has proposed federal incentives for those that deregulate their insurance market. For example, it would require states to get rid of laws that require insurers to pay for certain medical services, such as in-vitro fertilization. This is pretty conservative if you ask me. I know plenty of folks that utilized this option in their healthcare plan because they were unable to get pregnant. Hell, maybe one day I might want to take advantage of this option! So I’m not happy about him requiring states to discontinue paying for this service. As a Mormon with 5 kids, one would think he was all about building families!

Romney’s plan would really put the ball in the state’s court with more flexibility in how they use federal Medicaid dollars, making it easier for states to develop innovative programs. I think if State’s could have gotten a handle on healthcare we wouldn’t be discussing this in the presidential election. So far, the plan appears to be unrealistic. This should be interesting as it unfolds…

Sen. Clinton's health care reform

Senator Clinton’s agenda to lower health care cost and improve health care for Americans is the first part of her plan for health reform.

Since 2004 Clinton was heavily involved with health reform. She will build off her previous work to lower costs by modernizing our nation's health care infrastructure.

Currently, Clinton does not have a full universal health care plan. However her plan will consist of three parts: lowering costs, improving quality and making sure everyone is insured which she describes as a "moral imperative".

I will share with you Clinton’s 7 step strategy which addresses lowering cost

A national prevention initiative to reduce the incidence of such diseases as diabetes and cancer that impose huge human and financial costs (The goal is to focus on prevention: wellness not sickness. Clinton plans on incentivising insurers by requiring those that deal with federal employee healthcare to bring in preventive strategies.)

Institute a new "paperless" health information technology system (Use more computer technology: to increase security and accessibility of records, reduce costs and errors, and share research. According to Sen. Clinton, if all hospitals used a computerized physician order entry system, an estimated 200,000 fewer adverse drug events would occur, saving roughly 1 billion dollars per year.)

Transform care of today’s chronically ill population to improve outcomes and decrease costs ending insurance discrimination to help reduce administrative costs. (The bottom line to this strategy point is to co-ordinate and streamline the care of chronically ill patients. The cost of caring for this patient population accounts for 75 per cent of national healthcare spend.)

Create an independent "best practices" institute to empower consumers, providers and health plans to make the right care choices (Improve the quality of care to help drive down costs. Clinton envisages the institute being "apartnership among the public and the private sector, to finance comparative effectiveness research, so that doctors, nurses and other health professionals, as well as consumers and businesses, would know what drugs, devices, surgeries and treatments work best".)

Implement smart purchasing initiatives to constrain excess prescription drug and managed care expenditures. (The goal is to get prescription drug costs under control. Americans pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs; and yet in most instances the research and development of those same drugs was carried out and funded in America. An important part of the solution would be to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices, to allow importation of cheaper drugs, and generics.)

End insurance discrimination to help reduce administrative cost. (Offer individuals and small businesses market access to larger insurance pools. Clinton thinks this part of the plan is to lower costs and end insurance company discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions. This means that people with pre-existing conditions would be offered insurance on a par with others. This would prohibit insurance companies from carving out benefits or charging higher rates to people with health problems. This would help people in terms of debt as well. Most Americans are heavy in debt due to medical bills because they don’t have insurance to pay for medical expenses.)

Put in place common-sense medical malpractice. (Reform medical malpractice in a way that works for doctors and patients alike. Clinton offers one already in use called the National Medical Error Disclosure and Compensation (MEDiC) Act. This program has been used successfully at the University of Michigan Hospital system.)

Senator Clinton states there her proposal would reduce costs and improve quality in the health care system. if the 7-step strategy were implemented they would lower national health spending by at least $120 billion dollars a year. Since this is not the entire plan, Clinton has not stated how much this plan will cost. This strategy is only addressing the savings that will be realized. However, Clinton has stated that the money save from the waste we eliminate and the way we change how we care for people should be used to help finance coverage for the 45 million Americans who have no insurance. If businesses received a proportionate reduction in their health benefits spending, they would achieve at least $25 billion in savings. All of these savings would be reinvested in the system to help cover the 45 million uninsured.

Presidential Election

the election heating up or fizzling out depending on who you talk to. the candidates are really spinning the same sound bites. however, candidates that are able to repackage the sound bites are winning i.e. Hilary.

i will try to be as impartial as possible when discussin the issues over the next couple of months. i think my generation is in search of a candidate but have no idea what the issues are or what the candidates plan to do to address these issues. i fear like in previous years this will come down to a popularity contest.

so with that. i will focus on the top 3 candidates in the democratic and republican party. i hope to break down each issue and the candidates plan as much as possible. this will be politics for dummies. my comments with be in red.

in the number 3 slot for the democrats we have John Edwards.

universal health care- i chose this issue first because its the number one domestic policy issue of voters.so i'm sure you hear all the democratic candidates talking about universal health care and it always brings a warm fuzzy feeling but we never hear the plan and most importantly who's going to pay for this.


under the Edwards plan which would cost about $90 billion to $120 billion annually:

• families without insurance will get coverage at an affordable price.
• families with insurance will pay less and get more security and choices.
• businesses and other employers will find it cheaper and easier to insure their workers.so

how does Edwards propose we pay for all this?the Edwards Plan achieves universal coverage by:

• requiring businesses and other employers to either cover their employees or help finance their health insurance. (this basically shifts the burden to businesses...could be an issue for small businesses/companies)
• making insurance affordable by creating new tax credits, expanding Medicaid and SCHIP, reforming insurance laws, and taking innovative steps to contain health care costs. (Medicaid is already a budget challenge for many States, expanding Medicaid can possibly create more issues as States try to balance budgets. this could lead to state & local taxes being raised to generate revenues to support the increase in Medicaid recipients)
• Creating regional "Health Care Markets" to let every American share the bargaining power to purchase an affordable, high-quality health plan, increase choices among insurance plans, and cut costs for businesses offering insurance.Once these steps have been taken, requiring all American residents to get insurance.

ok so the underline message to this plan is everyone will have to share in the cost in providing universal health care. Edwards is proposing raising taxes, eliminating President Bush's tax cuts for households earning more than $200,000 and by increasing Internal Revenue Service efforts to collect unpaid capital gains taxes to pay for universal health cate.