Views from Eagle Peak » Politics

What President is this? Shut down medical marijuana dispensaries?

Jack — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:10:34 +0000

Who is this man in the White House who has replaced the guy I voted for?! Was Obama secretly replaced by a right-wing fundamentalist? Shut down medical marijuana dispensaries? Adverse IRS rulings on deductibility of expenses. ATF prohibitions on gun purchases by medical marijuana recipients. I have sent a letter to the White House today urging the President to come to his senses. If, like me, you smoked marijuana years ago, you KNOW it poses a minute percentage of detrimental effects compared to the very legal drugs of alcohol and tobacco. Not only that, but it also provides well-documented beneficial effects for those suffering from a variety of medical conditions. I hope you too will contact the White House to reverse these outrageous actions more remiscent of the socalled war on drugs by Republican administrations.

Clueless Cain; Brainless Bank of America

Jack — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:48:39 +0000

Cain thinks the Wall Street protestors are jealous or envious of the successful bankers, et al of Wall Street. He says the latter create the jobs and those protestors should go out and get one. Hahahaha! No, the protestors are not envious, they are angry–just like the Tea Partiers on the other side of the political spectrum. The Street, the bankers and big business have created jobs, just not many lately. The banks are loath to lend money to consumers or to business to get the economy humming, because they are “uncertain” about the future. When the wacky wizards of Wall Street were busy creating and selling derivatives, they weren’t creating jobs, they were just skimming money on transaction costs. When the bankers were giving large loans to home buyers who could walk or be rolled into a bank, sign their names or an X on an application with little or no credit worthiness, those uncertain bankers had no doubts about the rosy future (at least in the short run). Meanwhile, they were all bailed out by the government. We don’t have a purely capitalist economy as Cain should well know, we have a mixed economy with the Federal (and state/local) governments involved in pumping dollars into it. Those protestors are angry at Wall Street and the bankers for continuing to profit (not the plebian lower-level employees but the high level analysts and the executives) handsomely regardless of which direction the economy or the value of shares in their companies goes–while failing to either share the wealth or create jobs.

Bank of America will impose a five dollar charge per month for using your own money, that customers have deposited with them. Of course, BoA is making much less interest on the funds people deposit, so they feel justified in charging customers to make up for it. Well, I for one have voted with my pocket book, closing my account with them three days ago. Banks pushed debit cards so hard for the last ten years that they have now grown to be the preferred means of payment over credit cards. To be sure, it forces those consumers who otherwise might incur overly large credit card debt to live within their means. But why should you or I be responsible for the profitability of BoA? We can choose to pay cash, switch to another bank, or use credit. For years, I have chose credit. I pay the balance off every month and get cash back. Of course now that will be more difficult now that Chase, my MasterCard company has converted my card to this very complex reward system–but that is a topic for another post.

Class Warfare?

Jack — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:36:44 +0000

The GOP says Obama’s plan to impose a minimum tax on those earning more than a $million each year constitutes “class warfare.” To which I respond, “and your point?” Or in other words, if so, so what? Let’s get real here, the reason this is so abhorrent a position to those of the Republican persuasion in Congress is that it is those very same million plus earners on whom those elected officials rely for the very large campaign donations required to get elected. Those contributors expect something in return. Not to mention that those elected officials themselves, with possibly a few exceptions, belong to that same “class” they object to Obama “warring” against. Is it really only personal wealth that creates jobs? I doubt it. That was another claim; that Obama’s proposal will stagnate job creation. Oh sure, the GOP wants everyone to believe it is the small (unincorporated) business that creates all the jobs. Oh really? Prove it! Meanwhile, I am with Warren Buffet–make those million and billionaires pay their fair share. It’s not class warfare, it’s class fairness!

Remembering 9/11

Jack — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 20:04:39 +0000

I was in my cubicle, in the Fairfax County Government Center, 30 miles from the Pentagon. I was hard at work on the FY 2003 budget for my agency, the Division of Solid Waste, Collection and Recycling. Then came news of the first attack. Only nobody knew it was an attack when the first plane hit. Only after the second came, did that become clear. The director was out of the office so somebody turned on the TV in his office (there for viewing Board of Supervisor meetings, etc., not for soaps). I wandered in and out, while others spent much time in there. Then came news of the other hijacked plane, heading for a destination unknown, but in the DC area. I went back to work; the budget had a deadline and it was my job. Then came the blast at the Pentagon. Right where my wife of nearly 21 years would have been working had she got the promotion she bitterly resented not getting a few years before. She worked with many of the people in the section that took the brunt of the damage. The man who got the job she missed, died in the attack. Karma is unfathomable. It seemed at the time, when she lost out on the job, that she got screwed. In the end, it turns out she had other tasks to accomplish–a mission still to unfold. We credit our Buddhist practice for the result.

For a brief time the events of 9/11 forged a more compassionate, a more cooperative spirit among Americans. The honeymoon lasted only a short while. Given a broad mandate to retaliate and to impose draconian security measures in an attempt to protect the nation, George W. Bush made the lasting impressions on our country. We endure ever more intrusive inspections in order to be permitted to fly. Thousands of patriotic young men and women quickly volunteered for military service. Many of them have died and others continue to die in a ten-year old war in Afghanistan–initiated to locate and kill Osama Bin Laden, which wound up taking almost all of those years. It didn’t help that resources were diverted to also fight in Iraq, a handy way to take attention away from the fact that Bin Laden could not be found. If enemy number 1 could not be dealt with, at least we could rid the world of another evil man. Then there was the pretext of weapons of mass destruction, which did not exist. All of which also cost many American lives and many American dollars–which, along with across the board tax cuts (especially for the ultra-wealthy), have major responsibility for our present financial straits. So, while Bin Laden succeeded in killing several thousand people in those attacks 10 years ago, his and George W’s legacy has had a much more serious, long-lasting and continuing legacy than either could have imagined at the time.

More than ever, we all need to remember the sacrifices of those who died on 9/11 and as a result of the aftermath. More than that, we need to rekindle the compassion and cooperation that briefly enveloped America. While I may (rightly, I believe) point fingers at Bush, that won’t make life in America any better for me or anyone else. What is needed is tolerance and understanding. Tolerance of those whose religion, whose culture, whose values differ from our own. Understanding that the security of the nation lies not in more onerous invasions of privacy but in more openness to alternatives in religion and politics. For myself, praying every day for the peace and security of the land, as Nichiren Daishonin admonished 750 years ago, in a letter to the regent of Japan.

Norway’s Massacre

Jack — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 21:01:13 +0000

It’s been a month now, and a memorial service held. Too late to comment much, except to echo the comments of the Prime Minister from a month ago–and I paraphrase, keep Norway open. In other words, no draconian security measures to be imposed. No restrictions on the borders to keep out Muslims, as the right-wing killer wished in his opposition to multiculturalsim. It is uncomfortable, disconcerting and difficult to deal with those who are “different.” Different in the way they dress, speak, worship, etc. But keeping them out–out of sight and out of mind won’t make any country, any locale, a safer or better place. I had intended to contrast the Scandinavian approach to the American approach, but will save that for another time.

Waiting for Westmoreland now on iTunes

Jack — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 15:35:20 +0000

Shameless self-promotion: you can download Waiting for Westmoreland as an epub now for $8.99. Go here if you have an iPad, etc. with which to view it and are so inclined. If you don’t know about WFW, hit the last item in the links to your right.

Also, belatedly, if you had a comment that was trashed erroneously (i.e., you are not a spammer) try submitting it again and I will review what comes in for integrity. I had to do a lot of bulk deletions to clean up this blog.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Jack — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:18:02 +0000

A break from health care reform. The Obama administration has apparently finally embarked on the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy implemented during the first Clinton administration. Reinforcing the conclusion that he was just as much a politician that will say whatever needs saying to be elected (except he didn’t succeed), John McCain has done a 180 degree turn from his previous position and now is “disappointed” in Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mullen’s opinion that gays in the military pose no problem. It’s difficult to fathom why McCain needs to curry conservative favor at this point in his political career–at his age and his showing in the last election he has no future in politics. Anyway, assuming the gossip is correct, if Alexander the Great was in fact gay, then why should being gay in the 21st century U.S. military pose a problem? With an all-volunteer service having at least some difficulty getting people to enlist when the real likelihood of posting to a combat zone is high, why discourage gays from joining? It is time to end the charade. Let them in and leave them alone.

More on Health Care Reform

Jack — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:06:14 +0000

In most cases, insurance is something you buy to cover yourself in case the unexpected financial setback occurs–damage to your house or car for example. Or in the case of health, an acute illness or event such as a stroke or heart attack. On the other hand, you can and should expect to have some routine preventive care like physicals, vaccinations, periodic blood tests or various scans depending on your age and gender. While the high cost of treating acute illnesses is something few people can absorb absent insurance, the routine tests could be afforded by some to many people. Still, insurers are generally happy to cover payment for the preventive care because, at least in theory, that may lower the risk of the much more expensive acute care. How likely it is for an individual to need the pricier care is what makes the risk pool definitionand the pre-existing condition issue a driving concern in the health care debate.

The theory of insurance is that among a large group of people, only a relatively small percentage will suffer very severe ailments necessitating very costly medical treatments. Accordingly, the risk-based premium set for the members of the group of insureds can be set low enough for the premiums to be affordable (much more affordable than risking one’s own bank account). Of course, this means that if you are very healthy, you are subsidizing sicker people’s medical care. On the other hand, if you are the sickly one, you have other people paying for you. Still, I for one would rather help someone else pay their medical bills than be sick myself and make out better financially. In any case, a major component of the health care reform debate focuses on preexisting conditions.

Health Care Reform, continued

Jack — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:36:59 +0000

Because health care (chiefly what hospitals, doctors, laboratories, pharmaceutical companies and drug stores provide us with) is so expensive, most people find it difficult if not impossible to pay for out of pocket. Well duh! Yes, I know, it is so obvious–but I mention this only as a preface to serve as a distinguishing feature to the the health insurance issue. Insurance, in the general sense, is a pooling of risk by individuals who contract with an insurer who promises to reimburse them if stipulated risks or events occur. One can buy insurance against almost any form of risk. You buy whole life insurance and “win” the bet with the insurer if you die earlier than the time by which your premiums exceed the policy payout. You buy term life insurance and pay a lot less during your 40s or 50s because the insurance is for a fixed period during which it is not so likely you will die. Property and casualty insurance covers your house, your car, your boat, or you as an individual against loss due to covered perils or liability to others for harms caused on your property or by your negligence. There are many other forms of insurance, including health insurance. But health insurance has some peculiarties, which partially explains the difficulties of making sense of health care reform.

Like other forms of insurance, the insurance companies ostensibly base their premiums on the risk that they will have to pay out on the health insurance policies. But they earn their income not simply on the difference between the payout and the premiums but on the revenue earned on the investment of the capital in the form of premiums. So when the stock market goes south, they, like other institutional investors take heavy hits. Then again, in the case of health insurance, many major companies are not-for-profit rather than stock holder owned. Accordingly, they don’t have to win on the investments–except they do if they want to price their products correctly. Also, unlike the case of homeowner insurance–payouts for which may ebb and flow with hurricanes, earthquakes and other disasters, but otherwise is relatively less risky for the insurer–medical insurance can reliably expect to pay out substantial sums every year for many people. More on this in the next post.

Oh no, Health Care Reform

Jack — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:22:17 +0000

I didn’t really want to do it, but I need a topic that lends itself both to some amount of continuity and also fits the notion that this blog is about expressing what really is happening–reaching beyond ignorance and illusion. So as arrogant of me as it may be, I will latch onto this topic and like Clarissa, try to explain it all. First, some bold statements without citations of authority (because it’s my blog and besides, if you don’t believe me you probably won’t check the references anyway): The United States does not have the best health care system in the world. (If you doubt that, check infant mortality, life span, incidence of diseases and disabilities with other industrialized or “first world” nations). There are more (on a percentage basis and an actual number) uninsured and underinsured people here in the U.S. than in several other nations. We get less “bang for the buck” here than many other countries–in other words, we pay more for inferior care. Oh yes, there are countless high tech tools and innovative processes available to American patients, but they are also available elsewhere and they may not be most effectively utilized. OK, that is it for starters, we will do more on this every few days.