The 117% Solution

Hey HamsterNation!

I apologize for the erratic timing of the posts, but HP has been busy culling the airways for all the latest garbage and crapola from the world of politics. Hell of it is, I didn't even need to leave the house. The health care debacle has come to the Off White House of the Hamster Party. I call it the 117% Solution, which is, oddly enough, where the title to this little screed came from. Oh, but the irony is just beginning.

See, no matter what the Republican't Party does, no matter how many wingnuts scream, shout epithets, demand their country back, carry guns to Presidential appearances, or invoke Hitler's name, no matter how many tens of millions of dollars the industry throws at it's purchased officials, no matter how many more lies are trotted forth as truth, the real truth is that health care reform is going to happen. The real truth is that the industry knows it. The real truth is that the only thing they want killed is the government option and single-payer. The only thing that frightens them is competition.

But the ABSOLUTE TRUTH is that they already know that not only is it not dead, but it will be part of the reform package that will be signed by President Obama sometime in December of this year. The Public Option is going to happen. They also know that they have 3 years before it kicks in and to make as much money as possible. And in the next 3 years, they are going to rape everyone of us who has health insurance.

It's the 117% Solution. My husband (yes, we are both husbands) works for a municipal government in Southern California. So, by extension, he has roughly the same benefits as all government employees in California. (Even broke, we're the seventh or so largest economy in the world and have more government employees than any other state). They had a pretty good union once, when unions were relevant, and as a result I am able to have the same insurance as he does. He has the monthly payments deducted from his paycheck every two weeks, and we never really miss the money. And we enjoy knowing that, should anything happen, like it did to me a couple of years ago, that we would be covered. Yes, the premiums went up a little last year, but that seemed reasonable enough at the time.

Now, when this insurance was offered, there was no choice as to provider, only to paying to have it or not. You could choose different plans offered by the provider, and whether you wanted to have an HMO or a prohibitively expensive PPO, and all of the usual choices. The only choice missing was for the provider.

This week, Scott was informed by someone in the human resources department that our premiums are going up 117% in January. One hundred and seventeen fucking percent. Scott's annual cost of living increase, if he gets it, will be 114% less than that. I haven't' had a raise in 2 years, and I'm not anticipating one, or at least much of one. Certainly not anything approaching 117%. We got a combined $900 dollars back last year, and most of that was business losses by me trying to stay in the real estate business. Scott actually had to pay. And the Insurance industry reported record profits.

This is happening to a government agency, so can you imagine what they're going to do to you? The only tactic they have left is to completely bankrupt the system before the government can get it's act together and actually start the program thereby being too late to save it. We'll end up giving them our tax money to stay in business, just like the banks and Wall Street, so that the entire behemoth doesn't implode.

Because the ABSOLUTE TRUTH is that they are in the rarefied air of "too big to fail." Like the greedy shits at the banks, investment houses, auto manufacturers, and yes, the insurance industry. Hell, they've already had us bail out one of them, and they were the largest! Think about the combined worth and impact of just the top 10 health care insurers. Add to that the 200+ smaller insurance companies then throw in the ancillary businesses that comprise our total health care system, and you can see where this scenario leads.

Even if it ends up being a delaying-the-inevitable demise of the insurance industry, it will cost us hundreds of billions of dollars. The irony of that is the Repbulican't Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the health care industry. The party that said no to the stimulus package, no to the Cash for Clunkers (which, by the way, is causing GM (r) to up production and re-hire a couple thousand workers, but hey, just because it worked doesn't mean it's a good idea), and have been blocking this reform package arguing, when they're actually trying to seem sincere, that it will cost too much, will end up costing us a helluva lot more.

Our collective nuts are firmly held in their greasy sweating hands. Even for me, that's not a comfortable thought. And along the way they have managed to let loose the morons and their contagious virus of right wingnut-ery, putting into motion the empowerment and recruitment of the lunatic fringe. You know, the ones with all the guns, ammo, and fertilizer. The Confederate Soldiers of 1865 today. Still thinking the war is going on. Eager to bring our their militias. Morons with guns, a cause, and an ill-conceived sense of right and wrong. Great.

The ABSOLUTE TRUTH is that the government can never compete with capitalism. We all know, because they want us to know, that they're behind all this rabble-rousing. They not only know whose palms to grease, both belonging to politicians and the TV "news" people, they have more resources and only one rule: Win.

The "news" people think that they are uncovering this vast conspiracy of "beltway insiders creating AstroTurf protests", when, in reality, they are being spoon-fed the conspiracy. If they didn't want you to know, they wouldn't put their names on it. They make it pretty easy to find, don't they? Rachel Maddow, whom I adore, points out just how easy it is whenever she shows us another one. "All you have to do is find the button that says 'about' and it will tell you who's involved." If they didn't want you to know, trust me, you wouldn't.

In of the best rants I've heard since Dennis Miller smoked too much dope and started backing George II, Keith Olbermann (whose bobble-head doll is the Hamster Paradigm Writing Award trophy... that's how much I love him) castigates and villifies all of the Republican't and Scaredycrat congresspeople who seem to be in the pocket of health care. It was a thing a beauty, and you can see it right here on this blog...just scroll down. It's that easy. It was at once passionate and pointless. Kind of like The Cell: A thing of visual creation mastery ensconced in a preposterous movie. Put on some Pink Floyd and skip to the dream sequences.

I watch you guys every night, and it pains me to tell you that this thing, even as big as you think it is, is bigger than you even know. In anticipation of the passing of the bill, and it's potential effects on the greed masters, there will be huge increases in premiums, less access, fewer approved procedures, less reimbursements, higher co-pays and deductibles, and more unprinted preventable deaths. They will blame the government (all of it, not just the Dems), and convince enough who can't think for themselves that they're right, and I think the rest of us might want to have a good plan B.

The possibility and plausibility of this argument is supported by our very recent past. Business moves at the speed of instant. Government like the O'Hare Starbuck's (R) at 7 am. Causing a collapse is easier and more efficient that creating a recovery. Even the threat of a collapse will cause widespread panic. And it has certainly been proven this past month that it doesn't even have to be the truth.

It's easier and more efficient to kill your enemy than to try to be his friend.

Until next time, for crissakes stay well!

HamsterPrez

Self-Imposed Segregation

Ok, one more post. In the next blog, you're going to be introduced to the idea of Self-Imposed Segregation, or SIS. I just wanted to clarify something before I got any responses. This is not a new idea, and it is prevalent already in our society. In fact, in almost every American city, there are pockets of SIS everywhere. Little Saigon, Little Italy, Chinatown, Koreatown, the Barrio, the South/North/East/West side. And this is true all over the world. Within the larger population are areas of SIS.

The concept of sharing a common space with people of like temperament, beliefs, ideals, and cultural heritage goes back to man's earliest stages. We are tribal by nature, and no amount of technology can replace that. Although I would argue that it is certainly putting up a good fight. The problem comes when one tribe thinks that it is better than a neighboring tribe and all hell breaks loose.

It is, after all, a logistical impossibility. You cannot cordon off certain areas and make them available to a certain group of people. How much is space is enough? What about growth within the community? Where does it go if there's no more room? As they are now, the lines become blurred and eventually cultures and differing perceptions collide. This phenomenon has played out countless times throughout history from neighborhood spats to world wars.

Mankind has never been able to collectively figure out that issues are never settled when the solution is not about what's right, but rather about who's right. I guarantee that there is a pretty simple answer to every convoluted issue the human race is facing.

And I have the answer.

Time to grow the fuck up and become the adults in the room. It's time to get the fuck over ourselves and realize that since we are here, we have the right to be here. No one is on this planet by mistake. We really had no other choice. So here we all are, acting like two year olds while being spoon-fed buckets of shit everyday. We have to stop should-ing on each other and just mind our own damn business.

The human race is a freakin mess and the stupidest thing about it is that it doesn't have to be this way. It could be the way I'm ranting on about. We can change it. Hell, we could do it virtually overnight if everyone would just get onboard. That's the most frustrating part for me. We don't have to live the way we do, but we won't change it. We'll keep putting the kids on drugs while telling them not to do drugs. We'll keep helping ourselves to the mood enhancers/penis en lagers/migraine pills/plastic surgeries/gym memberships/big houses/foreign cars/ or whatever other addictions you have to mask how miserable you are being a human being. We may have the thumbs, but that doesn't make us smarter. It just makes us more obnoxious.

Enough for tonight. It's nearly 4 am and my hands are done. Please feel free to add you $1.25 ideas and comments.

Calling the MotherShip,

HamsterPrez

Changing Things Up a Bit...

Look, this is no longer about who's right, it's about what's right. It cannot be about anything else.

It can't be about left or right. It can't be about liberal or conservative. It can't be about Democrat or Republican. It can't be about cutting education and not government bloat. It can't be politics versus health care versus the environment versus [insert your favorite crisis here]. It can't be about God or Allah or Sam the Butcher. It can't be about black or white or brown or whatever. It can't be about greed. It can't be about sloth. It can't be about gluttony. It can't be about suing someone else for your own stupidity. It can't be about legislating morality, because your morality is likely different from mine. It can't be about cynicism , racism, fascism, socialism, cronyism, ageism, criticism, sarcasm, or any other ism or asm. It can't be about discrimination, recrimination, retribution, exclusion, expulsion, or execution.

What it is about is fixing what's broken. It's about becoming healthier to reduce health care costs. It's about spreading the burden of health care around. The poor have health care...it comes from those of us paying our premiums and our taxes. You cannot be refused treatment in this country by any hospital for any reason. But it still has to be paid for. We just want to legitimize it, see what we're actually paying for it, find away to make someone else pay for it, and eventually realize that we are all paying for it no matter what. It's up to the health care industry to change its corporate mindset and realize that profit is not something we object to. Exorbitant profit is. Bonuses for ripping us of is. Telling us that we can't have a medication or a procedure or a test is.

We need to let businesses succeed or fail on their own. No more taxpayer money to save a corporation. There are other corporations to take their place or take them over. Not another dime to Wall Street, the auto industry, or anyone else. If I don't get a hand out, why the hell should they? If you aren't smart enough or good enough or if, gosh darn it, people just don't like you, time to fold up the tents and move on. Thanks Senator Franken for not suing me for paraphrasing one of your SNL characters. Sorry, GE, there is no little r in a circle emblem available for this blog, so please don't sue me either.

We need a financial system that is not faith-based because I for one have no more faith in it. We need something tangible and of a fixed value to base our currency on. And don't look at me for the answer, I have no idea what that might be. But we must get away from this phony economy, and that's globally, not just here. The entire thing is a house of cards, is all made up, and exists only because we say it does. Kinda like God.

But I digress. I warned you about that in the very first post.

It has to be about curtailing government spending at every level, not in cutting services and education. Along with a real monetary standard must come the end of deficit spending and made up debts. Like the rest of us, the government must operate within its budget. Whatever happened to negotiation? Used to be, if Bob had something that you wanted and he said he'd sell it to you for $10, which is what it was worth to him, but to you it only seemed worth $5, you gave him $7.50 and shook hands. We could just chuck the whole damn mess and go back to barter. A chicken for a hernia operation sounds ok to me.

The entire cultural mindset has to change. I don't know the names of a single neighbor where we live. We're more or at least as interested in what the latest celebrity gossip is as we are in what's really important. It can't be about our differences anymore, it has to be about our similarities. We are all on this planet and as such we all have a right to be here. We have a right to agree or disagree with how others live their lives, but we have no right to force them to change or even try to. Every person on this planet ultimately wants the same things: A safe place to live, some variation of a family, reasonably tasty food, at least basic creature comforts, and sex. All without the interference of others but with those of a like mind. In other words, it you don't like where you are, be somewhere else. Intolerance disappears when you like everyone around you.

Now, before you go all MLK on me, I'm suggesting self imposed and regulated segregation. Look, it makes sense. To avoid serious conflict, lives among those you choose, who choose you, and don't try to make others like you.

You can't have a war if nobody fights.

Ok, so I'm having a bit of a Rodney King moment, and it's far too Utopian to ever work. I'm saying it's what we need, but people are too stupid to realize it. I'm beginning to think that perhaps we've crossed and confused the DNA a few too many times. I'm buying a banjo next week, just in case.

Of course, we've come too far to ever go back. I'm afraid we are stuck in this headlong descent into Irish Setter territory. They are, of course, the stupidest creatures of their ilk. They are the equivalent of a pet rock emotionally and a Looney-Tunes (R) Tasmanian devil on crack simultaneously. As stupid as they are beautiful. Tragic. Of course, by then we won't really give a shit as long as there's something dead to chew on.

This may have been my last post. I'm pretty fed up with the whole fucking mess. I believe that I may have tilted at my last windmill.

Maybe.


HamsterPrez

Healthcare Reform Redux

Before you all go crazy on me and say that my last post was essentially single-payer, let me be clear. It's a modified single payer plan. It's expanding the Medicare system only to those who do not have insurance, cannot get insurance, or lose their insurance. And it provides an employer option to purchase healthcare at a rate that won't bankrupt him.

Under this proposal, once a persons situation changes and they are either able to obtain healthcare through their emplyer or are able to afford either the government's or private insurers, then they must do so. And, the same scenario would apply to employers. All of it would be sliding scale oriented up to the level charged by private insurers.

Both the government and private insurance would pay the same for tests, procedures, etc. which would bring costs, and premiums down. This proposal really answers all of the issues. It provides insurance to those who don't have it, those who can't afford it now, employers who are struggling to provide it, and would establish lower costs and fees. Isn't that what the bill is for anyway?

But having said that, what the hell is wrong with a single-payer system anyway? Can anyone provide me with a non-hysterical, cogent argument? I'll be here waiting.

HamsterPrez

Do We Need Healthcare Reform?

It's becoming clearer to me that we might be going about this the wrong way. We are talking about reforming a system (?) that is obviously broken and trying to replace it with something new. However, it occurs to me that we already have a system (!) in place that works quite well, is very popular, and would eliminate all the confusion and anger.

It's called Medicare. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, why not just expand Medicare to everyone who cannot afford insurance, and offer it on a sliding scale to those that can afford something but not what the private insurers are charging? It would still force the private insurers to reduce premiums, and would establish set fees for services...just like it does now. The industry would be forced to re-examine costs and charge accordingly.

Or is that too simple?

Can anyone offer any reasons why this wouldn't work? I'm open to suggestions.


HamsterPrez

Countdown video: Olbermann: Legislators for sale

 

Olbermann: Legislators for sale

Aug.3: In a Special Comment, Countdown's Keith Olbermann slams members of Congress for acting more in the interests of their health industry campaign donors than their constituents who so clearly favor health care reform.

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/vp/32277034#32277034

Official Name Change

The American Rights Party will from this day forward be known as the Hamster Party. No significant changes in our platform are expected. However, we are re-examining the post by faithful Hamster Follower Rod Garrett for possible alterations.

Stay tuned for further developments. Your continued support is appreciated.

HamsterPrez

By the way...there are many more readers than there are followers, so please sign up as a follower. And please contribute. Email potterblog09@gmail.com or add comments at the bottom of the page. I seriously want to know what you think. Thank you.

FW: Put this in your blog and post it

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Potter [mailto:potterblog09@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, August 02, 2009 10:09 PM
To: mark@best-trans.com
Subject: Fwd: Put this in your blog and post it

From Rod

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rod Garrett <rodgarrett@roadrunner.com>
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 17:57:38 -0700
Subject: Put this in your blog and post it
To: Mark Potter <potterblog09@gmail.com>

Hey Mark,
This is not directed at you but society in general. Although you have
contributed. I am attacking both sides of the fence politically
speaking. I came home today in a foul mood and received just one more
in a line of numerous e-mails that just piss me off. I am sending it
to you because you have a blog. I hope you add this as I tried but it
has too many characters (irony and pun intended). The following is the
result of too many people pointing fingers and not taking
responsibility.

It seems every day I receive some e-mail(s), whether original or
forwarded, complaining about our government. People blaming the
"other" party, be it democrat or republican, liberal or conservative
about our current situation. And frankly I am sick of it. No, I am
FUCKING sick of it. Shut up, do something about it or leave. While
there are other parties, i.e. Libertarians, Green, Independent, etc.
there are, in reality, only two. Democrats and Republicans. The two
party system does not work and neither does the electoral college. I
truly believe the June primaries should have as many candidates on the
ballot any party wants to endorse. I also think the primary should
whittle down each party to three candidates for the final ballot in
November. The top three candidates will receive a fixed and equal
amount of air time for television and radio. They will be given
transportation and no campaign will start before three months prior to
the primaries Why do politicians spend millions of dollars on a job
that only pays $400,000.00 per year at best (or in this case at the
highest level)? The one with the most votes wins. The candidate with
the second most votes is Vice President regardless of party. All
lobbyist should be outlawed. And all Senators should be banned from
voting on any bill which would affect their own state/district unless
it affects all states/districts the same. All bills will include only
one objective. Last year a bill regarding homeland security was passed
with a provision outlawing online gambling. Why? What does online
gambling have to do with homeland security. How could a terrorist
endanger the lives of Americans with an ace high straight? And no more
registering to vote under a certain flag (Democrat, Republican, etc.).
How about we just register to vote. And when voting time rolls around
we can vote for whomever we want. Again, most votes wins. Also, if it
is on a ballot and it gets approved it is law. PERIOD. No claiming,
after the fact, the new law is unconstitutional. We have a
responsibility to figure out constitutionality before it goes on the
ballot. Stop wasting time and money with that one. Speaking of money.
What does the government need to spend money on? Military, police,
fire, health care, courts and prisons and education. That's all. And
not necessarily in that order. I also agree with welfare but with
stipulations. It only last two years. You must attend school full time
and pass in order to receive it and you must pass a drug test during
those two years. And it is the same amount for everyone. And let us
take a look at punishments for criminals. Let's get rid of "Cruel and
Unusual". Let the punishment fit the crime. I was in Iran a very long
time ago. There, if you commit what we would consider a misdemeanor
you get your right hand chopped off. A felony results in beheading. It
sounds harsh but their crime rate is less than one tenth of one
percent. Works for me. Although we don't have to be so cruel about it.
Make the hand removal a surgical procedure. And we already have lethal
injection so that one takes care of itself. Also, each crime should
have the same punishment for everyone. A friend of mine lost his job.
Money was tight so he fed his family (wife and three kids) instead of
paying the registration on his car. He received a ticket and the
penalty was $1,000.00 and 80 hours of community service. I'm OK with
that however while he was doing his community service there was
another guy who was doing community service (50 hours only) for his
second drunk driving conviction. I only want that which is fair and
that wasn't. If a child (15 years and under) commits a crime it is the
parents responsibility. Your kid does the crime you do the time. Also,
if the government brings in X amount of dollars in taxes they get to
spend X or less. PERIOD. Not a penny more. And that money gets spent
here. If there is any left over then we can send it to any country who
needs our help but only when there is extra. While we are on the
subject of taxes...I don't mind paying my taxes. They are taken out of
my check every payday. Be happy with what you have taken Mr.
Government. Don't ask me for more come April 15th. And don't offer to
give some back either. Get it right the first time. But spend it
wisely. See above. There you have it...problems solved. With that said
I am going to spend the rest of the day wishing I still drank.

Sincerely,

Rod Garrett