Point by Point Rebutttal to John Mackey

My original post was going to be a review of District 9. I've been forced to delay that for a more pressing issue. I was recently given the link to a letter about Health Care Reform by John Mackey, Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market Inc. It makes, by my count, nine points against having a public option. I intend to highlight and dispute each.

1.Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs)

At first glance, High Deductible Insurance plans seem like a fair way to bring down health care costs. The insurance company only pays for large medical needs, if you were to be in a devastating accident of some sort. Also, in most plans, your contribution does not exceed $3000 per year. However, here lies the rub. You are left paying for your prescriptions the entire year, as well as any minor doctor visit. The only incentive this offers is for patients not to see their doctors nor take their medication when they are sick. Otherwise they're left holding the large bill. A high deductible health plan is beneficial to those who are young and healthy (with a dash of luck that you won't develop some "rare" chronic disorder, such as asthma) and those who are wealthy enough that they can pay for their own medications and don't want high premiums (or taxes). Most people spend much more money on an HDI than on a more traditional plan and suggesting that health care's answer lies in a blind cost cutting maneuver by insurance companies is irresponsible and unwise.

2. Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.

Mr. Mackey's sole reasoning for this is that it is unfair for people who buy their own health insurance rather than get it through their employers have to pay a higher tax on their insurance. I disagree.

People who buy their own health insurance are often in a much higher tax bracket, for those are the people who can afford their own medication in exchange for low premiums. This country is not, nor has not been in nearly 90 years, a capitalist economy. It is a social capitalist economy. That means societal safety nets, such as medicaid, which are funded largely by tax money of the top 1%. It makes sense to not tax people who get their health insurance through their employer. These are the people who need expendable cash if the economy is going to recover. But to the top 1% who feel they are being unfairly taken advantage of because of their hard work: Cry me a river.

Do you really, honestly believe that a CEO of a multi billion dollar corporation has worked any harder in his life than a janitor? Or had any more of an impact on society than a teacher? Wealth does not measure your importance, superiority, or penis. It measures how well you played the game combined with how lucky you got combined with how lucky you were to begin with. It's more or less a craps shoot. So if you win that lottery of priviledge and opportunity and hard work, you should really be more gracious with your good fortune, rather than clutching it to your heart with a miser's grasp.

3. Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.

A recent study has shown that the concept of freeing up trade between states for health insurance would result in millions losing coverage due to skyrocketed premiums. In essence, what would occur is the health insurance companies in the states with the least regulations would steamroll all competition in states that have stricter regulations. With no real competition, the strongest remaining insurance companies would have the power to insure only the healthy and have the ability to drop you as soon as you get sick.

When will we wake up and remember that Enron, Bernie Madoff, and every other financial clusterfuck was due to the loosening of financial regulations over the past decade and a half? The same people who accuse the government of instituting "death panels" will blow a shit gasket if we asked to look into all of their numbers. I'm sorry to Adam Smith, Ron Paul, and even Ayn Rand, but the answer to health care reform is NOT less government. Someone needs to watch out for the rest of us.

4.Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover

Seriously?

5.Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

From what I understand, the malpractice issue is a talking point that is overblown and oversimplified when the insurance landscape is on the verge of being forced to change. Either way, here is a piece by William M. Sage (who possesses both an M.D and a J.D.) that may shed more light on it than Mr. Mackey's opinion that "these costs are passed back to us through much higher prices for health care."

6. Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost

I'm tired of the concept of treating health care like any other good or service. It's not. You can't treat your body like your car and say one day, "hell, time to scrap it." Just like you can't say, "I'll get the liver done now, but I have to wait on the cholesterol medication." Health care is intrinsically more urgent than the market can dictate. Additionally, what do you cut out when you itemize your doctor's bill? I don't know about Mr. Mackey, but if the doctor says I need a test, I take undergo the test. If the doctor says I need a medication to get better, I take that medication. I do this because I hardly feel I have the medical experience required to determine whether or not I need anti biotics. For those out their who look at the price once the bill is sent, the shock is not over what tests they underwent or what medicines they took. They were there, they know what they did. It is over the COST of each individual treatment that they thought they were covered for.

7.Enact Medicare reform."We need to face up to the actuarial fact that Medicare is heading towards bankruptcy"

I completely agee with Mr. Mackey on this point. However, arguing against higher taxes on the rich and then saying that Medicare is going bankrupt is somewhat like standing next to a big pile of money, looking me right in the eye, and saying, "this pile of money keeps going down, we better just get rid of it," as your hands shove fistfulls of dollars in your pockets as quickly as they can.

8. Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

This is Mr. Mackey's solution. "Lift taxes so that the top 1% can have more money and they will.... give it to charity." I would like to take this moment to address those who give hundreds of thousands to charities to help themselves sleep at night: you can not purchase any pardons for your sins and the only thing that can truly save you is to be honest with yourself. I'd also like to point out that people's health insurance should not depend on what the rich feel like they'll throw in for posterity's sake.

9. "Health Care is not a Right in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution"

Once again, Mr. Mackey is absolutely correct. What he leaves out is that the Declaration of Independence refers only to white landowning men and the Constitution originally counted blacks as three fifths of a person. The Constitution can be changed. In fact it has been 27 times. Maybe it IS time for a 28th and it does not look like it will be an amendment against gay marriage any more. Why not do something wacky and add the right to health care or the right from poverty?

I would like to at this point address any remaining arguments pre-emptively:

1. How are insurance companies supposed to compete with a government program?

Two examples come to mind: The Post Office and public schools. Both have run for a long time and both have significant private competitors. People, especially those at state universities, should realize this.

2. How can we cover 55 million people while we face staggering national deficit?

Forget that the current health care scenario in this country is more expensive than any other industrialized nation. The government's wasteful spending is not in health care initiatives. It's in things like the WAR ON DRUGS and WAR ON TERROR.

3. What about "ADOLF" Obama's DEATH PANELS and NAZI AGENDA???

Grow Up.

For the record, I don't actually believe we need an amendment that ensures a right to health care. It's far too broad a statement, and to make it an amendment would undoubtedly result in more confusion. However, I think we need to agree as a nation that health care needs to be more fair than it has been. And more fair than Mr. Mackey's suggestions.

The America I Grew Up In

There seems to be a lot of debate going on at these town hall meetings for a new health care system. Among many others, one of the common complaints is that the country is changing into an "America I did not grow up in." Not fully comprehending what this meant, I thought I'd share the America I've grown up in.

1. The America I grew up in had television shows. Anyone's opinion of Rosanne or the Cosby Show aside, these shows actually are a much more honest depiction of life than "I'm a Washed Up Hack! Please Look At Me!" While this may seem like a painfully obvious statement to some, a lot still seem to believe that today's generation is much more "culturally savvy." Having 4 shows simultaneously that do nothing but make stupid jokes about 15 year old fads does not make you more aware of anything other than how much of a dickhead you are for watching them.

2. The America I Grew Up In had movies based on plot lines rather than continued franchises. The top grossing movie in 1988, the year I was born, was The Rain Man, a story about a yuppie (Tom Cruise) learning that his father has left his fortune to an unknown, autistic brother (Dustin Hoffman). It's an idea that is both relatable and relevant to the times, with Cruise learning the value of something other than money. 1995's top grossing movie was Toy Story, a well made family movie about an old cowboy toy and a new spaceman toy learning how to reconcile their differences to become best friends. As of this blog post, the highest grossing film of 2009 is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Enough said.

3. The America I Grew Up In went batshit crazy over a blowjob.

4. The America I Grew Up In witnessed 9/11. I'm not referring to the aftermath in which 9/11 was used as a scare tactic for war, or a political talking point, or a means with which to sell CDs. I mean the actual day and those that came immediately after. The entire world stopped. People in New York were nice to each other for a whole two months. Professional Sports actually acknowledged reality, suspending itself for an entire week. For a brief time, all the bulshit was knocked on its ass, and the country acknowledged it's true heroes and greatness. That which lies in bravery of our fire departments and police departments. Those who make up the rest of our country, not just the top 1%. For all of the pain and sorrow that that day caused, I took out of it that in times of dire need, people have the capacity and courage to help each other. People WANT to help each other. And for a few months, the country was not allowed to ignore those who were in need. Just 8 years afterward, I feel the "wake-up call" has lost all meaningful effect, and will forever become a battle cry, rather than a call for humanity.

5. The America I Grew Up In had Glenn Beck spinning Top 40 hits, something he is much more qualified for than his current vocation.

6. The America I Grew Up In elected George W. Bush... Twice.

7. The America I Grew Up In saw the post WWII Baby Boom generation take the social safety nets implemented during the Great Depression, and flushed them down the toilet. Social Security, Medicaid, and Financial Regulations have all been whittled down over the decades, all the while the Baby Boom kept putting in politicians who were happy to reduce regulation for a quick buck. For this I'd like to thank the generation of my parents for leaving me on my own for retirement as well as for our current economic situation. My generation will have more difficulty finding a job than CNN will finding actual journalistic integrity.

But perhaps none of this matters. Because I live in America today. I am 21 years old and I have to. I plan on living here for too long not to think in terms of the America I live in today. The America I live in today sees 50 million people without health insurance. The America I live in today daily watches the socio-economic gap between the highest and lowest members of our society grow exponentially. The America I live in today is NOT the world's lone superpower any more. The America I live in today's most trusted newsman is a comedian, although a more intelligent man than most, a comedian nonetheless. The America I live in today has people who are planning a revolt because they actually believe our President plans to have "Death Panels." The America I live in today's outcry is, "What?! Do you want to live in France?"

If the America I live in today remains the way it is, maybe I will.

Livin' Weezy

It recently occurred to me that Li’l Wayne attended college. I had known this but never really thought about it before. It raised what seemed to me as an obvious question: What was Weezy like during his college career? He’s said to have been a political science major, which makes sense due to his outspoken natures on such issues as poverty in America in addition to his public criticism of Al Sharpton. Could Young Money have been just “Dwayne Carter” at some point? Sitting eagerly in a lecture hall, he engages in heated debate over the values of a Parliamentary Democracy. Could Young Dwayne have had a steady girlfriend, perhaps a chemistry student named Susan Choi? Could Mr. Carter stay up night after night studying the history of the struggle between the American Judicial and Executive Branches?

…..

Or could he just be Weezy? Instead of learning about the Heads of States he got head in the back of class. Instead of a meaningful relationship with an intelligent woman, his only concern was that his professor’s red lipstick didn’t smear as she gave him an A. Could he have bought all the weed on campus and then disguised it as the parsley the dining hall put on the pizzas? This lead me to the next logical question: What were his SAT scores?

As a result of months of research, phone calls, and restraining orders I met a man who wrote a series of letters from his freshman year of college. His name is John Smith he was Dwayne Carter’s roommate. His family had just moved to the Houston area and this made him eligible for more financial assistance. The letters are all written to his parents, even though they lived twenty minutes away, due to their inability to afford anything. This incredibly fortunate position made John eligible for more or less free tuition and housing thanks to state grants and loans. In his letters he describes his t months of living in a dorm with Young Carter. Smith had been planning on releasing the letters on the internet as a mixed tape entitled, “ Li’l Wayne’s World.” When I convinced him that such a plan would result in numerous copyright infringement allegations, he agreed to let me post them on my blog. I got the sense he was really just anxious to sell the letters to some loser moronic enough to pay money for them. I showed him though. $500 for some guy’s letters home is easily 20% under the going rate.

Over the next few weeks I plan to release these letters on the blog. I entitle it “Wednesdays with Weezy” as Wednesday will be the day I post each new letter. I hope you find them as amusing as I do.

21st Century Feminism: An Oxymoron?

Perhaps it is simply due to the coincidental fact that my two courses have me reading Virginia Woolf and Emily Dickinson simultaneously, but lately I have been forced to ask, "What has happened to feminism?" The movement that pushed for equality among the sexes seems to have stalled as we march into Post-Obama election America.

I will not use the primary loss of Hilary Clinton as it is an example both too narrow as well as unrepresentative of the nation's attitude as a whole. However, as I look at the nature of art, society, literature and pop culture, I find myself much more impressed with accomplishments for equality in the past than the prospect of furthering such ideals in the future.

I may not be in touch enough with the opposite sex to make statements with any sort of authority, but it seems to me that the peak of women in American culture was the late 1960's into the 1970's. The popularity of actresses and socialites the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Gloria Vanderbilt paved the way for pioneers of the feminist movement. They proved that women can be just as intelligent, witty, and business savvy as men, all while maintaining their undeniable feminine beauty. Jane Goodall's prominent scientific research proved that women could devote their lives to the pursuit of science, encouraging young girls to drop their dolls and to pick up books. Business, Academia, and the Arts all were being heavily influenced by the ideas and actions of women and it seemed that the "fairer sex" was finally going to be included in the events that shape our lives.

Then something happened. At the end of the 70's, people forgot about the values injected by the actions of women in the late 60's and early 70's. America got bored with striving towards a future that had become too far fetched to actually work, and decided it was time for a new ideal: $. This new generation needed a new figure to symbolize itself, someone who embodied the greedy and shallow nature of the 1980's. It may upset a lot of people when I say this, but feminism was brought to a screeching halt with the arrival of America's favorite "Material Girl".

To call Madonna the death of feminist progression may give her too much credit, however the new image of women changed. Instead of the quirkiness of characters such as Annie Hall or the perpetuation of the singer/songwriter artist, i.e. Carole King, America was headed down a near 30 year span of women portrayed on the public level in perhaps the most shallow sense. The freedom of sexuality that was attained in the 60's was kept while all the ideals of intellectualism, honesty, and equality were abandoned. Where women were once second class citizens in the first half of the 20th century, the last 20 years has seen women kept in the background, however paid to keep their mouths shut. Oppression caused the eventual rise of woman's rights in the 60's, so a new strategy was formed. Instead of telling women they were inferior, they were told they were equal, and still treated as inferiors.

America's representative of entrepreneurial women?

Advertisement, art, and culture have all led us to a shell of the former ideals once thought of. Is Paris Hilton really our generation's Gloria Vanderbilt? Is Hannah Montanna or Miley Cyrus or any other Disney promoted pop star really the examples we want our daughters to have of musicians? Even the film industry, which loves putting itself on a pedestal for equal rights, made it's most talented actress wait five nominations before scoring a best actress in a leading roll when Kate Winslet won for "The Reader" a story about a young boy's relationship with an illiterate former S.S. soldier. I would venture to say that the most feminist film made in the past 30 years might be 1995's Clueless. While the satirically powered comedy does a great job of poking fun at America's pop culture induced teenage girl power struggle over lipstick and handbags, it's worth noting that Alicia Silverstone's career was effectively over about 5 years later when her youthful looks began to diminish. In this America, it doesn't matter what you've accomplished, once the face starts to wrinkle and the breasts start to sag, any other quality you once possessed goes along with it as long as you're a woman.

I do not deny that times today are certainly better than before in that today's girl does have many opportunities to succeed. If you are inherently talented, you will have an opportunity to show it. However, this leaves us with a large middle area that can go either way and are almost subject to the will of society. When society promotes women who are strong and intelligent, it makes a difference. Just the same, when society bombards you with bombshells who don't know how to do anything aside from sit and look pretty, and then are given book deals and millions upon millions of dollars, it sends a negative message to the rest of the country and to the world about what it means to be an American woman.

Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps I have NO IDEA what it means to be an American woman. But before you call me any kind of names between a pompous, arrogant asshole and a liberal-tree hugger, I ask you one question: How progressive can a society be that still pays women 33% less than it will pay a man for the same job?

Professional Sports True Enemy: Hipocrisy

There has been a lot of indignance over the recent release of evidence that shows the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in professional baseball. The overwhelming proof overshadows any denials presented by such late 90's players as Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and the ageless wonder that was Roger Clemens. However, is the way these athletes are being mercilessly demoralized by a society hell bent on maintaining an image of fairness in competition, really justified?

After the strike of '94, which resulted in a year without a World Series for the first time since 1907, baseball was reeling. Fans had grown tired of a game that was seen largely sedentary next to the growing popularity of the NBA, thanks to Air Jordan's reign of supremacy at the time. Pressure was on owners and players to get more fans to the ballparks. Something needed to be changed. Then, POW! Home runs started being hit faster than internet companies were going global. The home run race of 1998 brought the nation's attention back to baseball, where Roger Maris' 37 year old record of 61 homers in a season was on pace to be demolished. 1961's historic home run race was attributed to a lengthened season as well as expansion teams creating a temporary competetive inbalance. 1998 did have two new teams introduced, however the Arizona Diamondbacks were the only new kids on the block in the National League, where the home run race was taking place. And they were one year away from a division title.

So where else could these home runs be coming from? Several people suggested smaller stadiums combined with intense muscle building programs by the players. But the nation, including its' sports media, completely ignored the fact that these men were three times their former size! No investigation was conducted, no questions were raised, and if the possibility of steroids was ever mentioned, everyone was quick to cite the hard working programs these players were on. The country closed its eyes and lived in a fantasy for a few years. And everyone made absurd amounts of money.

Now those same pundits, business owners, and "journalists" are feigning shock and outrage over the source of all this wealth. And the players are left helding the syringe. Sports columnists who spent the late '90's shamelessly blowing the homerun race for saving baseball (and their careers) now want to revoke awards given, records attained, and more or less send these individuals into exile. And the comissioner Bud Selig is discussing suspending players 6 years after they tested positive for steroids. Even those who admit to using Performance Enhancing Drugs are being roasted over the fire. Alex Rodriguez, all negative personal feelings aside, is not what's wrong with baseball or professional sports or society for that matter. What's wrong is Holier Than Thou loudmouths who jump on whatever bandwagon has the biggest piggy bank on it.

The question is asked, and forever will be asked, "What do we tell our children?" Well, for starters you impart in them that there is more to life than sports. As an avid baseball fan, my interests were not limited to the game by the time I reached high school. In fact, they were often outweighed by a fear of being drafted in four years for a war I saw as pointless at 14 and the entanglement I was about to enter with the opposite sex. Its not today's athlete's fault that kids are tempted to use steroids. It's a society who puts the athlete unjustly on a pedestal simply so they can knock him down whenever it feels like it. I don't support the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs, but is it worse than being a leech on the talents of others for the sake of money?

As for the purists who are actually concerned with such trivial things as statistics and records, consider this. Baseball always has been and will be compared through history based on eras. Babe Ruth was great because he hit more home runs than any other team, even though those teams had no black players. Joe DiMaggio isn't compared to Sammy Sosa, he's compared to Ted Williams. So, in the steroid era, Barry Bonds was the most prolific slugger, even if he is a jerk. Roger Clemens did win over 300 games, even if he is a glory whore. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa did save baseball, even if it weren't the way we would have liked it to be done, and even if they do look like sniveling liars now.

President Obama acknowledged within a week of appointing Tom Daschle to a cabinet post that he made a mistake and apologized. However, it has taken the sports entertainment world nearly ten years to recognize it's mistake, and instead of an apology, we get pompous fatheads. When was the last time you had more respect for a politician than for a journalist, however loosely that term may be applied? Performance Enhancing Drugs have been used. They will be used again, as well as any other way athletes can get an advantage. Just as how any era would have acted, had it the opportunity. Now let's please everyone dismount from their 17 foot steroid-injected horses and come back down to earth.

Me Times Three

The first is so logical
Often methodical
coming up with answers it can solve
to problems
Like 2+2
And what do you do
When you come to a fork?
I have a short retort

Persistence It knows, comprehends
what lies beyond bends
of existence
in the river of life
It causes worry and strife

The next lies slightly south
Affecting what comes from my mouth
Pumping blood that's my flow
Some say it's for show
But it makes me go
Like a lion
And when it starts racing
I feel like I'm flying

The grandest shame can be
Streamlined through my veins
But love it contains
Is that so?
I think that I know
It's a force to be reckoned
on debates that are beckoned
between the feelings below.

Trekking south still,
You find my power of will
He gets hard at my weakest
Cards close to my chest
I play the reels of shame
It's presence threatens my brain
If he wins his game
He has the power for pain

Leading me in opposite directions
He runs through me like an infection
And ignores the heart
Who won't let him start
For fear of losing her affection

Which one came first?
Which one is worst?
Which will quench my most powerful thirst
or lead me astray?
Won't let one guide the way
But who gives a damn if my actions become restricted?
I'm always a man fucking conflicted.

So I started this blog just to get to talking with different people and sharing ideas. It can be anything from sports to academia, literature, bulshit, art, etc. I don't know as anyone will really see this, but if there is anything you would like to discuss, share, say, please feel free. Please do so with the knowledge that whatever is posted is fair game for anyone and everyone to rebutt. Thank you.