The Right Wing Has Lost Any Sense of Patriotism

Patriotism means sometimes doing something you don't want to do for the good of the Country. Suposedly we all agree that it is important for the United States to become energy independant. Than why did the Right Wing ridicule the President for suggesting that we Americans check our tire pressure? If we just kept our tires inflated and drove more carefully to save gas, we could cut up to 37% of our gasoline usage without spending a dime. Edmunds proved it.(1)

But I don't see any right wing pundit calling for such things.

And when you seek to deny the properly elected President of the United States the opportunity to speak with our youth with cries of "indoctrination", you have lost any sense of what Patriotism means and have forfeited any claim on the word.

(1) http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/106842/article.html

Whose Rights are Wrong?

Americans like a good fight. If there ain't one there, sometimes we just make one up. That's the story of today's healthcare reform.
Some people want private insurance. Others want a public plan. Now everybody's screaming about their rights.
Are some rights right and others wrong? People seem to jump on the idea that if one group gets what they want, the other group MUST be getting screwed. Why is that?

Our healthcare system is a disaster and just about everybody knows it. We pay twice what the next industrialized country pays for a system that produces health outcomes worse than 71 other counties.1 That's right, 71! We have 50 MILLION citizens without access to primary care, so they just wait until it's a crisis and hit the overburdened hospitals. Every day 10,000 people lose their health insurance and costs for those of us that pay for our insurance go up WAY faster than inflation. My small business plan was raised 26% this year! Medicare and Medicaid are going to bankrupt our government and leave millions with nothing, and hell, about 50% of personal bankruptcies are caused by healthcare costs right now, right here in the U.S.A.

I don't know how a public plan can fairly compete with the private insurance market, and it sure as hell can't work like Medicare with reimbursements being set arbitrarily at less than providers' costs. But the private market screws people every day; dropping sick people, refusing people affordable coverage, and forcing people into making choices that are bad or worse.

We are all Americans. According to the Preamble to the Constitution, our people have a GENERAL WELFARE that is worth working towards and fighting for. So how about we put down the gloves and figure out how to let our neighbors have the freedom we are so fond of screaming about, fix a broken system, and make our great country a better place for all?

1 The World Health Report 2000, World Health Organization

A Note About the "Death Board"

My brother-in-law, a staunch conservative and fan of Glenn Beck recently told me that former Governor Palin "speaks her mind" when we talked about her comments obout "Obama's Death Board".

Engineering work is done according to standards of practice set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

Concrete is placed based on standards set by the American Concrete Institute (ACI).

Electrical work is standardized by the Unified Electrical Code.

All of these codes are based on research on best practices, and in each case you can do things differently than the code says, but you have to be able to justify it.

Actually, you can't compare these codes to the "comparative effectiveness research" funded under the House of Representatives healthcare reform bill H.R. 3200 because HR3200 DOES NOT require physicians or insurance companies to follow the guidance of the Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research. In fact, it does the opposite: H.R.3200.Subtitle A.Section 1401.Part D.Sec. 1181.(h) Construction- Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the Commission or the Center to mandate coverage, reimbursement, or other policies for any public or private payer.' That is straight out of the actual text of the bill that I read online at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/c111query.html

In almost all cases, business executives want evidence based procedures that use actual metrics, not just baseless claims, to make decisions on. But to a demagogue like Palin, since the healthcare initiative is led by Democrats, the non-binding "comparative effectiveness research" is a "death board" that decides life and death based on an individual's "level of productivity in society". This is straight up nonsense and unethical scare tactics.

As recently as 2004, Merck sold $2.5 billion worth of Vioxx. It was pulled from the market because people taking it had four times the risk of heart attack as people taking generic anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen and naproxen. It also turned out the industry studies showcasing its effectiveness were fraudulent, and despite its huge cost (as much as $3/pill) it actually worked less well than good old ibuprofen. It sure would have been nice if patients that were being prescribed Vioxx could have been advised that cheap available ibuprofen worked better.

The drug industry is absolutely huge and plies its products with attractive people that basically bribe doctors into prescribing new drugs and techniques that are sometimes less effective than cheaper generic drugs and older techniques. I've been reading about this for years. I remember in 1990 when Raiders lineman John Matuszak died from a Darvocet overdose, I found out that Darvocet had been found not to work very well on pain but was known to be habit forming and an overdose danger.

We really need the Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research. What we don't need is a bunch of crazy talk that paints good people like me as Orwellian Stalinists.

Who's in Peacetime?

Senator John McCain is making the rounds these days. I saw him on Meet the Pres this weekend, and in a Fox News story. I was struck by his repeated reference to the "largest [deficit] in peacetime history".

Aren't we in two wars? Did Senator McCain forget that we have about 131,000 soldiers in Iraq and 68,000 in Afghanistan.

Our budget deficit is alarming, and needs to be addressed with a long-term strategy. We undoubtedly have a list of challenges (our current economic situation, long-term entitlements, crumbling infrastructure, a transitional energy economy) but without an honest conversation we won't be able to make considered decisions when we develop a strategy out of our current morass.

Misleading the public with inaccurate comparisons doesn't help find real solutions. Looks like the Straight Talk Express has taken another wrong turn.

Global Warming, Cap and Trade and the EPA

Global warming, also referred to as "global climate change", is getting a lot of attention in the news and on Capital Hill these days. It should be.

On March 12, 2009 the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change concluded that "the worst-case IPCC scenario trajectories (or even worse) are being realized". [Note: the IPCC is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]

Now, Congress is considering passing the Waxman-Markey climate bill. Many environmental advocates have come out against the bill citing a so called "poison pill" or "Trojan horse" provision that prohibits the EPA from using the Clean Air Act to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

I'm an environmental engineer and graduate of the Presidio School of Management Executive Program for Sustainable Management. I compost, drive a Prius, ride my bike to the bank, and try to substitute tofu for red meat when I can. You would think I would parrot this complaint, right?

I don't.

I believe that the only way to solve the climate change problem is to enroll private industry in the solution. That is the philosophical basis for Cap & Trade. This isn't just my opinion, it is why we were able to successfully reduce acid rain in the 1990's with a NOx Cap & Trade. Now, we need a similar solution for a much bigger problem; climate change.

The one thing that all successful markets need to function well is clarity. If you were a business, would you wholeheartedly participate in a Cap & Trade program if you thought a regulatory agency might step in a rewrite the rules at any time? You wouldn't would you?

For us to pivot our economy to a post-industrial, low-carbon future, we need the private sector to buy-in. That buy-in will generate engagement and entrepreneurialism, and solutions we can't even imagine today. We cannot be dragged kicking and screaming into a low-carbon future. But we can get there if we harness the same forces that gave us the industrial revolution in the first place.

I'Il never cease to be amazed when those who wouldn't trust the government with their tax dollars so easily trust it with someone else's human rights

I will never cease to be amazed when those who wouldn't trust the government with their tax dollars so easily trust it with someone else's human rights.