Officially Sick & Tired

I have stayed out of this Health care debate pretty successfully until now.  I’m not a doctor, insurance agent, or a politician.  I have no special interest in this at all…except that I am again uninsured (unemployed again…geez, that sounds horrible, but a 5-hour commute to work every day would not have been possible)…but this is a debate that is completely full of ugliness and b.s. being slung from both sides. I don’t completely agree with any side vs. the other in any way, but I do have a few ideas that might be of interest. 

Here’s what my primitive, 28-year-old brain came up with. A major part of this is raising taxes. YES…simply plan to raise taxes in the area of Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security. Tell the truth about it!! They are payroll taxes anyway, and at my basic calculations we will need approximately $420 billion to get this thing started.

1. Employ parts of the Whole Foods method. If you haven’t heard about this, read here, but understand that I do deviate quite a bit:
   • Create health savings accounts (HSAs) for each individual American. I think a good number here would be $1500 (hence, the $420 billion for the 280 million of us that are currently here).
     • Every American with a Social Security Number will be assigned this account on January 1 of their first year of life.  Parents can opt-out at birth for religious or other objections.
     • Annual contributions to the HSA will make it at least equal to, but no more than the prescribed minimum, here $1500. So, if someone only uses $150 of their HSA, the Fed will only add back $150 on the following Jan 1st.
     • The amount of the HSA will increase over time, because it will accrue interest.  Safe investing should cover this.  If an individual opts not to use any of the funds, the government will not need to add anything to it, nor will it hurt the economy if the money sits and accrues interest (ok, except that it won’t be in the process of being spent at Best Buy).
   • Turn the much talked about “public option” into a High Deductible Insurance plan that is federally funded.
     • The federal government, businesses and individuals should put funds in reserve that people could use without private insurance or demonstrate need. For my purposes, we’ll call it Federal High Deductible Insurance (FHDI).
     • Set the deductible before insurance pays at a reasonable, but attention-getting level above the HSA level.  So, if there is $1500 in an individual’s HSA  and the deductible is set at $2000, once an individual has exhausted their savings acct they must pay $500 out-of-pocket before any public option kicks in.
     • If individuals opt to not purchase any form of insurance, they will pay into the FDHI fund as part of their federal taxes. They won’t have to pay any extra if their income level causes their HSA to be dormant, unless they have no private insurance and have to use the FDHI.
     • If businesses don’t directly insure their employees, they will have to pay into this fund annually based on their number of employees.
2. Costs could possibly be contained in the existing insurance companies if we do this first step in setting up HSAs for U.S. citizens. Reasons why:
   • Citizens can choose to either spend all HSA funds first before allowing insurance or other coverage to kick in OR can use the HSA to cover costs private insurance does not cover (i.e. if insurance pays 70% of a procedure the HSA funds can cover the other 30%).
   • Only once the HSA is exhausted might a person go to their private insurance or a publicly-funded option, and may even elect to choose less expensive insurance.
   • If individuals have private insurance they must use this instead of the FDHI, but could use the public option if their insurance company refused to pay for a procedure.
   • I too think it is a.)ridiculous to forceinsurance companies to cover random people with pre-existing conditions that have never had insurance and b.) ridiculous to define pre-existing conditions as being pregnant while switching from one insurance provider with similar coverage to another. I can understand reluctance to cover persons with pre-existing conditions who have not previously had any coverage…for this reason I believe the FHDI would be the best and only option.  For those who are switching between companies with similar coverage and benefits, we absolutely should force insurance companies to treat them as lifelong customers.
   • One other enhancement that might help the above situation would be to standardize the benefits among all insurance companies and at least have similar levels of coverage for approximate costs…not carbon copies, but this would not only give companies a space to compete but a way to judge similar coverage from another company. Also there may be a place for a mandatory, basic plan that exists with the same benefits and at the same price point with all companies.
   • Insurance companies should be allowed to compete across state lines, since the FDHI ideally would operate on a national level.
3. Some other important points about the HSA that might make it work
   • Anyone can refuse to use their HSA, but just like the payroll taxes we pay for medicare/social security, it would still be funded by every American. This is a necessary evil, because the public option is “insurance for when insurance fails”.
   • Any citizen’s HSA will become dormant or inactive when they begin to make over $250,000 per year.  It can become active again if their income falls below this amount.
   • It might still be okay to allow the individuals described above to use the high deductible public option if they choose not to purchase private insurance.  They would simply have to pay the $2000 out-of-pocket first.
   • When an individual either reaches the age or otherwise becomes eligible for medicare or medicaid, their HSA will rollover into this general fund. This, of course, means we have to fix these programs.
   • End-of-life counseling is a great idea.  Providing the funds for it is also a great idea, so when the funds rollover, there might be a portion set aside for this purpose. 
4. All employers must either offer some form of coverage or pay into the national HSA fund and the FHDI fund.
   • This has been a talking point that has angered many Americans–to force the small business owners to offer insurance at much higher rates than large businesses.  A Health Cooperative might be the best plan here.
     • Small businesses can band together in what is recently being referred to as a marketplace or exchange, since the difference between them and large companies is numbers.
     • The more small businesses (and individuals who for whatever reason need to buy their own) that band together in a state, a region, a profession, etc., can get more competitive rates.
     • These co-ops may need to operate across state lines, to take advantage of the greatest numbers possible
     • These co-ops might be of interest to fragmented organizations, where they might find the most competitive rates if they band together in larger numbers.
   • In order to get into the co-op, a small businesses might pay a one-time fee (per corporate entity) to the FDHI, a reasonable amount that would not only bolster the FDHI, but allow the business access to the cooperative network, then set this up as a deducted benefit to their employees.
     • For the sake of being fair, large businesses (with whatever criteria will classify them as large) will not be allowed to put employees into the co-op systems.
   • If they opt not to insure employees directly, they can either:
     • Pay a fee anually to the FDHI through their business taxes, or
     • Set up their access on the network, but set it up so individual employees can choose their own coverage, but still work within the discounted co-op structure with whatever network fees that might entail being covered by the employer.
5. The other cost-cutting measures would be to fix the issues in the medical profession itself.  Currently, medicine is advancing quickly, but malpractice issues–that drive up cost–are in need of overhaul. I don’t know enough to wax poetic, but I’m willing to pay for the innovation, not so much the litigation. There is the problem within the insurance and government way of thinking that they will bargain for the average cost of a service and pay only what they deem is the “fair” price. Let’s investigate if this is really fair to the physicians that take care of us

I feel that this might be an idea–a rough draft–of a direction we could go.  We’re slated to spend $900 billion on this anyway…These ideas give choice; they allow for competition; they cover those who are not otherwise covered; these ideas give an idea of the source of funding, and how they go back to medicare in the long run; they should appeal on some level to all Americans. 

In conjunction with whatever health plan that is chosen, there will need to also be a huge effort and focus on better health choices and prevention through lifestyle changes.

Surely we can agree on some comprehensive reform where everyone on every side wins something. There is no place for any more ugliness in a civilized, adult problem-solving process.

Left, Middle [East], Right…

I honestly cannot believe those of us on the left that are frothing and chomping at the bit for radical change to the makeup and practices of the United States still do not realize the value in moderacy. We cannot run willy-nilly, pushing our agenda like we’ve only got 4 years to make up for all the lost freedoms, injustices, and societal ills from the past three decades or so.  It looks panicked.  The U.S. has enough going on that just needs to be fixed, or at the very least, stabilized.  An economy in shambles, with nearly every single major  American industry affected, job losses like we haven’t seen in a while, and a war on a distant front (three of them) that is all but forgotten and our medicaland social support systems can’t do much for the wounded and broken young men and women when they get back…the American dream  is weaker than ever. Let’s test out the minds of a younger, more team-solution oriented American workforce to solve some problems in the financial sector.  Let’s see what deadlines do for the car manufacturers, and apply those deadlines (in a more creative way ) to TARP and stimulus funded states on those shovel-ready programs we promised before we were sidetracked.  Let’s take dead US manufacturing jobs and create an in-house green supply industry; working to build the parts that will make green energy attainable, get our best scientific minds finding the best methods,  or fund building the systems that make our wind, solar and geothermal energy sources work for us. If we do well enough at this, we fix the job problem (by creating some), we fix the global warming/dirty energy issue  and save the earth, and we fix the trade issue by creating a product that other countries would invest in or purchase. Let’s also stay away from as many special interest groups as possible.

If our party wants to do the greatest good, we need to first strengthen what we know is broken, win the support of the very people our party is founded upon–even if they are not Democrats–and once the danger of utter collapse is past, then take our newfound support and make America great again by proving that if our ideas are great when we’re working with the “big ticket” items, wait and see what we can do with the emerging ideas, job markets, and concerns.  If we focus on this “strategy”, we may have at least four more years of time. Instead of splitting our energy into a million + one things that liberals have wanted to accomplish for a long time (and feel like Obama’sadministration is the perfect time to do so), we probably need to focus on restoring our image as a party of the people and do the most beneficial work for as many Americans as is possible.  Sure that may sound socialist, but given the alternative…an America in despair…I’d rather sound socialist.

Speaking of that distant war, remember the war in Afghanistan that turned into the war in  Iraq that turned into the war in Pakistan (which, save the border areas, we are largely uninvolved in)?  See if we can name all the countries in the middle east that haven’t made the news for conflict lately.  Let’s see–there’s Oman, which from the lack of fiery reports, sounds like a wonderful country to take a holiday in. I haven’t heard much about Lebanon lately,  or Jordan, or Yemen or oddly enough, Saudi Arabia.  The last one concerns me, since the entire region is suffering through no small amount of instability and they are second only to Iran in size, smack in the middle, but why do we not hear the Saudi voices of concern about the state of their region?  Now, I am not a Saudi Arabia hater–no!–I was just as enthralled by all the cool stuff that Air Force Dad brought back from Saudi as the next military kid, but I just find it so odd that they are so silent. Maybe they’re not talking to us since we crashed the stock market–that was full of their money.  If anyone has any insight or any news from al Jazeera that I may be missing, please don’t hesitate.

Poor Pakistan. Is this the price a country that appearsto be an ally of the US must pay? Pakistan went from a normal country, fairly progressive even, in the Middle East to a warzone in a relatively short amont of time. They were warned, though.  Even the Bush administration had enough sense to warn Pakistan to get their border region in check, but they only half listened.  Our drone attacks haven’t helped any.  I worry about my Pakistani friends’ families and if they’re in an affeccted region, because as bad as it already is, it could get worse relatively quickly.  I feel like the U.S. as “visitors” in the region are at a distinct disadvantage simply because we are in the middle of some really fierce “family feuds” right now and do not adequately understand the culture after all this time, becuase through all the years of the random acts of west-hating terrorist attacts, Iran-Contra and even prior transgressions (such as creating Israel and the ensuing fallout) we never tried to understand who they were, we just assumed they would conform to the ways of the western world and simmer down.  To make matters worse, Iran is poking at the exposed wounds of several countries in the area to provoke…well…I don’t know, but they are certainly provoking some kind of response.  There is no action great enough and no words wise enough to help even a single person in the most embattled parts of the Middle East, and I feel so sad and powerless to make this any better in my lifetime.

Heading back to the Right, I have to say I have had this incredible craving for news radio, and so during my lunch breaks, there is only a 2 minute blurb of the day’s events so far on NPR, and I indulge in the Rushbag’s show.  I have to say, some of his rantings are coherent and well thought out.  but lately he’s been on this “blah, blah…this only shows who Obamais…blah, blah” kick.  Sotomayor proves who Obama is. The auto bailout proves who Obama is. So on, and so on.  I’m not sure what that’s all about, but I do agree with him on the fact that Republican party does not need to “cow down” to every popular opinion.  It makes even the real, good, and conservative politicians seem less real.  I still have a soft spot in my heart for John McCain who is real (he just picked a dumb running mate) and out of every politician in D.C., I’d like to hear more of what he  has to say about the torture memos.  Speaking of those, does Dick Cheney know that he is not in charge of destroying the United States anymore? I don’t want to be scared to death–I want a solution to make the world insurgents live in more stable so that they want to function as a part of the normal  society in their home country, which makes ours more stable as a desireable by-product.

Honestly our country is in a make or break position.  We have some real challenges that cannot be tackled when our pols on the left or right cannot refrain from sensationalizing their displeasure in anything that wasn’t their idea.  This is destructive, and we need to drop the partisanship now.  Especially now that millions of Americans are suffering through the temper tantrums without jobs and homes.

And now, something completely different!

On the phone with one of my friends who is teaching in the state, I heard something disturbing.  He told me that, this month, in Alabama, the state department of education DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY 100% OF OCTOBER PAYCHECKS.  What??!!??  If nothing else in the business is, I thought, “Surely, the meager paycheck a teacher earns for empowering a generation of students every day for 180 days out of a year is SECURE.” 

Apparently, not so much.  On Tuesday, state Superintendent, Joseph Morton, sent a memo to all school boards in Alabama stating:

To date, the Education Trust Fund has enough tax receipts to pay 75% of the October allocation for the FY 2009 education budget.  Since it appears certain that 100% cannot be paid by Thursday evening in order to get you the state allocation in time to meet October payroll obligations on Friday, October 31, please prepare a 75% payment for October.

Morton said that the remaining 25% should be expected by November 7.  But in the same breath, he said if local school boards needed to take money out of their local “Rainy Day Funds”, to do so immediately.  If they needed to borrow money from their designated banking institutions, they should begin that process immediately, as well.

So, the culprit here is the Alabama Education Trust Fund, which earns money off of oil and gas revenue in Alabama? The assumption can only be that disruptions in oil production this summer (hurricanes, etc.) has hurt us.  But that assumption comes WAAAY too close to advocating “drill, baby, drill,” since the trust fund is only a “rainy day” account.  Or…as was stated on the Mobile NBC station’s website, perhaps it is the fact that in this weak economy and tough times for homeowners, people have elected not to pay their property taxes early–which has created an education budget shortfall.  But more likely is the fact that, back in early summer, when the Alabama education budget didn’t originally pass, the state department of education scrambled to pass something.  the version that did eventually pass came through with projected shortfalls. 

Maybe I’m overreacting, and this is not a big deal.  So far, it seems that all Alabama school systems have been able to come up with the remaining 25% for teacher, administration, and support staff paychecks without much issue–but how have we allowed this to happen in the first place? The original sin, of course, is due to the inability of past and present governors and legislators to find real, substantial, and stable ways to fund education in the state.  But, since they have not yet been able to–or won’t–we’ve come to depend upon the Education Trust Fund, to borrow our shortfall for the year.

Ironically (or not, depending on your ability to concoct conspiracy theories), the major amendment on the Alabama ballot this year is “Amendment One”, concerning the above mentioned Education Trust Fund. Not exactly the hot-button Proposition 8 of California, but no less important to Alabama’s youth.  According to the UAH Government Relations Department:

Alabama currently has a constitutionally established ‘rainy day fund’ for education that was designed in 2002 to address budget shortfalls. The language in the 2002 constitutional amendment was “flawed” in that it placed a fixed cap on the rainy day fund based on 2002 appropriation levels. Amendment 1 basically changes the wording in the constitution to allow the rainy day fund cap to increase as the education budget grows over the years.

Think about it this way. Suppose in 2002 you had set aside enough money to purchase a full tank of gasoline for your automobile in case of an emergency. But an emergency did not occur until 2009. And when you pulled up to the pump in 2009 you discovered the amount of money you set aside in 2002 was not enough to purchase a full tank of gasoline now. That situation is analogous to what has happened to the education budget. We are faced with addressing a 2009 funding shortfall with a rainy day fund capped at a 2002 level.

This rainy day fund is built upon a larger Alabama Trust Fund (from the same oil/gas taxes) that, last summer, was quite healthy, with about $3.3 billion. Currently the cap on the education trust fund is set at 6% of the 2002 education budget, which in no way relfects the rising costs in Alabama and across the United States. From what I understand, this is due to the poor wording of the original measure.  If the amendment passes, it will not cost us, the taxpayers, one red cent–it will just allow education to tap into more of the larger trust fund. 

And now, my official statement.

TODAY, IN ALABAMA, TEACHERS CAME CLOSE TO LOSING 25% OF THEIR PAY.  WE SHOULD NEVER BE THAT CLOSE, FOR THE SAKE OF THOSE WHO DEDICATE THEIR LIVES TO EDUCATING OUR FUTURE. NEVER.

Please vote wisely.  Vote yes on Amendment One, Tuesday, November 4.

At last, a diversion.

No, not some new incredible fact about either candidate.  This is a game, but a neat one (and no, not PalinAsPresident either).

This game is called Budget Hero, and I’d run across it before, but forgot to post the link.  From the site’s FAQ, I learned that:

Budget Hero seeks to provide a values- and fiscal-based lens for citizens to examine policy debates during this election year. Partisan messages tend to cloud the real issues at play during campaigns, and most candidates are loath to attach detailed financial impacts to solutions which make up their platform. Budget Hero provides an interactive experience involving policy options that have been extensively researched and vetted with non-partisan government and think tank experts to enable players to objectively evaluate candidates. 

What exactly prompted Marketplace (you might recognize the radio program’s name from NPR/American Public Media newscasts) to feel a need to create this little game as a vehicle for information?  Hopefully we’re not so simple nowadays that a game is the only way we’ll understand it all!  As someone who has used and seen such devices being used in the classroom, I can tell you that playing around with Budget Hero is well worth the time for students and the rest of us adults. I learned that I am a fiscal conservative–tell that to my checking account–but still, I learned something!  As a plus, it outlines the rules and gives information for any choices you might make on spending and taxing fairly well.

Excellent game!!

Play it here.

What exactly is going on???

I worked Laaaate for the past few nights, and so have been either comatose or in a zombie-like state in my waking hours before I returned to work the next day.  I (gasp) haven’t been able to focus on what’s happening with the campaigns.  With the election so close, I have to admit that I’m a little dazed and confused about the current events.  The best I can surmise is that:

Obama’s Grandmother is sick, and he’s gone/going to Hawaii to be with her.
…no, wait…Actually, Obama has returned to Hawaii to cover up/fabricate his paper birth certificate, according to some guy who vaguely reminds me of Kenneth Starr.

Colin Powell, a respected Republican (except for that NATO/Iraq invasion thing), has endorsed Obama.
…well this could be translated as…moderate, those who have fallen out of favor or who have been shamed, and public-opinion-governed Republicans (nearly 50 prominent ones, in total) are jumping ship, like the rats they are. Most of this action is due to the backlash that the party is receiving for attacks by the McCain camp on Obama’s personal character, etc., and seats in state and national legislative bodies are in jeopardy.

Joe Biden has said that (in a paraphrased form), “Change is Comin’…and it won’t be quick and easy.” Biden has appealed to supporters for continued support if Obama is elected, and stated that the first few months will be part of the messiest administration transition, ever. He even referenced JFK.
…but in “attack-mode”…Biden can campaign for McCain anytime! Naturally, American citizens should be on the lookout for an “ORCHESTRATED CRISIS,” because that’s what the Democrats are planning if Obama is elected–in order to OVERTHROW THE CAPITALIST REGIME!!!! This is so textbook–Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals”–we should arm ourselves with shotguns, brooms, the Holy Bible, whatever might protect us from the Communist danger! (oops, I got ahead of myself)

Senator Obama is still a force to be reckoned with, and will help bring about the “Change We Need”. This change isn’t Protectionism or Socialism; rather, it’s a real concern for all Americans, and we should spread the national wealth (read: tax dollars) more effectively so that the rich don’t get richer and so the poor don’t get poorer.
…applying spin…Terrorist! Socialist!! Communist!!!! Businesses will run screaming to other countries.  Joe the Plumber and Dave the General Contractor won’t stand a chance.  The end is nigh. (I wrote a post on McCarthyism about a week ago, but I had no idea it would come to this)

High RWA followers will grasp at straws to keep this man out of office, even if the change he proposes directly benefits them.
…just the facts…From a Canadian who is just as entrenched in our national behavior as we are, The Authoritarians, is a worthwhile read. (I have to admit it might be offensive even to sensible Christians, but read all the chapter footnotes and he clarifies his research findings about moderate vs. fundamentalist Christians–and there is a difference)

And the Best News Of The Week:
McCain is OK with being the “underdog”.
…under a microscope…McCain is OK with being behind in the polls.  Outclassed, out-maneuvered, out-policied and perhaps a little bitter, I think maybe he rues his hallmark “maverick” judgement now, just a little bit.

Apologies are in order.

Dear Joe the Plumber,

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, we owe you a huge apology. As a mater of fact, I apologize to you on behalf of my fellow Obama supporters and those of our opponent. We have, in two days thrust you into a national spotlight you never wanted or expected, all because of a simple question to Obama. I’m very sorry that we in the blog-o-sphere felt the need to clamor for and write tirelessly about what those in the MSM factchecked on you.  I’m very sorry that McCain bringing you up triggered all of this.

Beyond this letter, I promise not to mention your name again.  I just want to wish you well, since I know that you are struggling just like the rest of us.  I hope you can get all the money paid off and keep your house.  I hope you can get under an apprenticeship and someday own that business.  I hope that you can somehow make a pun on “Joe the Plumber” when you’re naming it, and at least get some name recognition from this fiasco.

I’m a Democrat, but I’m only mean and nasty when it concerns Governor Palin. <g> Again, very sorry about our over-eagerness, and I hope this letter finds and encourages you.  Anyone in the Toledo and Holland area, please pass this on, so that maybe he’ll see it.

Sincerely,
Sigmapromise

The Economy Strikes Again!!

Breathe a tentative sigh of relief, fellow Democrats.  We actually have the economy to thank for something right now, and that something could also speak volumes about John McCain’s character. 

In all fairness, Obama did renig on a promise to accept only public funds if McCain did.  Obama currently outspends McCain on advertising, with a ratio of about 4:1.  McCain is limited to $84.1 mil for the entire campaign. Obama’s popularity has helped him to raise $100 mil in September alone, an unfair advantage, although you should take note that this happened in a bad economy.  If that is any indicator at all of Obama’s popularity, I would say he’s well liked.  If that is any indicator of Obama’s fundriasing capability, the economic crisis had better watch its “six” if we elect him.  But how much would McCain have raised if he’d chosen to stay away from the Federal Election Commision’s public funding?

Tyrannosaurus McRex...the advertising he's stuck with.

McCain, however, did choose public funding, which might not have been so bad if he was a popular enough candidate to coast on the “sound bytes” and catchy slogans (remember “Country First”) that come from the campaign trail…usually passed on for free by word of mouth.  If we were in a better economy, maybe McCain’s friends in big business would be willing to donate, not money, but services that are allowable.  Or, consider who pays for independent advertising, on behalf of the campaigns? How exactly does that money get donated to congressional politicians during the election cycle–so that the Republican National Committee can split costs with him (and they don’t earn as much in this anti-Republican atmosphere).

Geez, I’m starting to sound like a Republican, characterizing McCain as the underdog. 

Underdog or not, McCain has not chosen to take the “high road” in a majority of his ads, even with the limited funds he has to work with.  If we Obama supporters (growing daily!) have been unimpressed with McCain, it is because a) Obama can counter any negative ad McCain puts on the air, and b) Obama’s positive messages far outnumber McCain’s often within moments of the negative spots. Perhaps if the economy were better for the richest among us, they would be coming out of their pockets in support.  Perhaps if McCain’s message were more clear, they would know their independent efforts would help him in the eyes of the American voter.

Maybe his most influential supporters are such die-hard capitalists that they would rather let this market–John McCain, himself–fail.

What would McCarthy think?

Lately, I’ve been hearing an interesting word in the wake of our credit and financial crisis.  Traded among journalists, politicians and those “common folks” on Main Street, the endearment, comrade, has been rearing its ugly head.  One has to wonder what the implications are.  Obama has been criticized as having socialist views–but the American people are responding to his policy ideas.  Even McCain has hopped on the bandwagon with several of them.

UPDATE!!! I originally left this out, but realized that not everyone knows the “textbook definition” of Socialism. From American Heritage Dictionary:

 1. Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
2. The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.

In light of the recent remarks about certain individuals being socialists, let me remind everyone that the FEDERAL BAILOUT is, according to a strict interpretation, THE FIRST STEP TOWARD COMMUNISM, and it was perpetrated by the CURRENT administration as well as a majority of truly concerned parties. Thanks for letting me clear that up, now let us continue…

During the Second Red Scare in the 1940′s and 1950′s, many thousands of Americans (especially government employees) were accused of being Communist or Communist sympathizers. With investigations on Un-American Activities headed by Senator Joseph McCarthy, the decade was rough for government employees, educators, entertainers, and union activists.  The term that these actions spawned, McCarthyism, defined as “aggressively questioning a person’s patriotism, making poorly supported accusations, using accusations of disloyalty to pressure a person to adhere to conformist politics or to discredit an opponent, subverting civil rights in the name of national security and the use of demagoguery” (sounds like the post-9/11 fervor and the current presidential campaigns, right?), is now a derogatory term.  But at the time, any left-leaning ideas were suspect. From Wikipedia:

It had long been a practice of more conservative politicians to refer to liberal reforms such as child labor laws and women’s suffrage as “Communist” or “Red plots.” This tendency increased in reaction to the New Deal policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Many conservatives equated the New Deal with socialism or Communism, and saw its policies as evidence that the government had been heavily influenced by Communist policy-makers in the Roosevelt administration.  

Some of these perceived threats were fairly socially acceptable, and not until the 1980′s did neoliberals attempt to tear apart the social welfare system. Theirs was an argument that government welfare and similar agencies were impediments to private entrepreneurship at public expense. This remains a battleground today in the BIG vs. small government debate in our major political parties. Wikipedia also mentioned:

Though McCarthyism might seem to be of interest only as a historical subject, the political divisions it created in the United States continue to make themselves manifest, and the politics and history of anti-Communism in the United States are still contentious. One source of controversy is the comparison that a number of observers have made between the oppression of liberals and leftists during the McCarthy period and recent actions against Muslims and suspected terrorists. In The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism, author Haynes Johnson compares the “abuses suffered by aliens thrown into high security U.S. prisons in the wake of 9/11″ to the excesses of the McCarthy era. Similarly, David D. Cole has written that the Patriot Act in effect resurrects the philosophy of McCarthyism, simply substituting ‘terrorist’ for ‘communist.’”[

Luckily, since many of us benefitted from these social reforms along the way, we can view these actions as preposterous now–or can we? This is a two-sided issue for today; we are in the throes of a financial disaster that has governments across the entire globe stepping in to save banks…and situations that necessitate social programs for the families that were affected by its damage or in need of government assistance in the first place. Sadly, this only proves that we are so dependent on a capitalist society that we would take formerly abhorrent socialist practices and apply them…so that we can return our capitalist economy to its former glory.

The humor in all of this is that, if McCarthy’s practices still existed today, more than likely, we would be investigating all of Washington and Wall Street for recent activities. McCarthy is probably still rolling in his grave after the Fed Bailout, but it makes for good politics.

Woe.

Our entire economy is in danger.

Those were the words of President Bush in an address last night. I couldn’t help but feel oddly reminiscent…he went on to say:

We’re in the midst of a serious financial crisis, and the federal government is responding with decisive actions…I’m a strong believer in free enterprise, so my natural instinct is to oppose government intervention…these are not normal circumstances. The market is not functioning properly. There has been a widespread loss of confidence…Without immediate action by Congress, America can slip into a major panic.

I know I’ve heard this rhetoric before. Change a few of the 5 W’s–who, what, where, when, why–and this is another call to war. Not saying that he doesn’t have every right to be concerned about the state of our economy, since I and many other Americans are too. But we have also been urged in this manner before…rushed, appealed to, given the “something bad is gonna happen” speech. Right now everyone needs to be considering whether the newest economic bailout is the wisest option, the only option.  If economists have their doubts–usually, well-versed in their field–then why shouldn’t the rest of America?

President Bush addresses the nation on the financial crisis. (Getty Images)

I do have to say this about President Bush:  Although I’ve despised him almost from the moment he stepped into office, I have been feeling a little bad for him lately.  The stress and disappointment has to be really hurting him on some level.  Just look at the recent pictures from the past few weeks, and you can almost see on his face, that he doesn’t want it to end this way.  I’m sure everyone’s ambition is to leave something good for the future, a legacy, that we can be satisfied with.  From Presidents to mayors to teachers to butchers, I’m sure no one has this sick desire to leave things in ruin, and I think perhaps that Bush is beginning to realize he will be remembered less than favorably in history. Right now, I really want to give him a hug.

No, we don’t need another “fuzzy” war.  We haven’t yet achieved victory the first one.  Or the second one.  Ha…I can hear it now…”We’ll wage this ‘War on Economy’,” which will quickly receive one of those catchy acronyms–W.O.E.

Let’s just hope that we’re not woefully misguided.

Bad News Bear [Market]

As far as days in the stock market go, today was nearly as bad as it gets. The Associated Press said:

Bernanke thinks.

In a vote that shook the government, Wall Street and markets around the world, the House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue for the nation’s financial system, leaving both parties and the Bush administration struggling to pick up the pieces. The Dow Jones industrials plunged nearly 800 points, the most ever for a single day.

This news blurb certainly caught my attention.  After analysis, it looks like $1.2 trillion in market value is gone because of the plan’s rejection. Those most concerned are left scratching their heads, mainly becuase another solution is without precedent (even though, I suppose the $700 billion bailout was too).

Apparently investors are not simply walking away from unknowns–they are moving at break-neck speeds. Although it probably was best for the U.S. to move away from this gigantic risk, you have to wonder what else is coming in this wildly growing financial crisis. 

My mind comes back to some new information I’ve been given access to…economist Chris Martensen’s “Three Beliefs“. Watch all of the little mini-lessons, and you’ll start to see that most of world’s economic woes come from need, not so much greed.  There are too many of us, and we all need the same resources.  It makes me wonder what event or events will ease the pressure.  World-wide tragedy? Perhaps, breakthough technology or a spiritual enlightenment?  Bernanke has a lot to think about, but so do the rest of us.