Working Life

   Here is a contrast: the Congress passed a $15 billion jobs bill that could charitably be called pathetic–it *might* create a couple of hundred thousands new jobs, when we need almost 11 million jobs just to get back to pre-crisis levels. On the other hand, any health care reform bill that seems like it […]

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   In one day, you can read how the powerful economic interests have defeated the public interest. Start with the  theatrics of the health care "summit"–an event that only underscores how the insurance industry has defeated the people. Already anticipating failure, the president wants to roll back health reform even further: President Barack Obama will […]

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Among the most troubling retreats, in my view, in the public discourse has been the adoption of the false idea that deep government involvement in the economy is a bad thing. It’s a retreat that too many Democrats have taken part in. The problem is the FACTS say otherwise. And the known left-wing organ, The […]

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While I do not agree with the way in which the president took on health care and the mess we ended up with, he was absolutely right to understand that health care reform was essential to ensure a strong (and, need I say, moral) economy AND job growth. I think it is unfortunate that too […]

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There are lots of reasons to oppose the Senate bill in its current form, and hope that, if the Senate does pass a bill, that the final form of the bill is closer to the House version (I am leaving aside for the moment the argument, pro or con, that anything short of "Medicare For […]

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   The drumbeat about the long-term debt is continuing. But, we are not having a serious debate about the origins of the debt or its solutions. If you want to address the long-term debt, the only solution is a "Medicare For All" system that kills the private health insurance industry.   The newest alarm is […]

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The Health Care vote in the house was close. And it still needs to pass the Senate. Poor branding, such as the term Public Option, didn’t help the cause.  But it’s not too late to win the support of  Republican enemies and the Teabaggers who control them.  I submit  a list of re-branding alternatives that […]

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   It is a tough reality that the chances are fairly slim that single-payer, "Medicare For All" will pass into law in the next few months–it is just not part of the debate on health care, despite being the best economic and moral option. It is obviously possible that the whole legislative process comes to […]

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   So, we went from hoping that we would have the only health care plan that makes sense morally and economically–"Medicare For All", or single-payer–to hoping for a strong public option to…well, something not "robust" (however you define that). And the horse-trading is not over–it seems likely that the public option now being discussed (the […]

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   So, now, there is a public option in the Senate health care bill that is apparently taking shape–of course, states can opt out of the provision which makes it, in my view, weak if we are trying to establish a national standard. I suppose that the opting-out could also mean states could enact a […]

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