There Shouldn't Be Drug Shortages in a Good Health Care System

We may hear people bitch and moan about health care, and also bitch and moan about any changes to our current system, especially what we commonly call “socialized medicine.” One of our complaints is that in some countries there may be a wait for certain procedures or tests or for access to equipment like MRIs or CAT scans.

But here, where health care costs continue to rise without so much as a pause, we now have drug shortages and price gauging of drugs that raise some of those costs 50 times above the usual cost to patients. How is that better than those places we complain have socialized medicine? We continue to argue that our system is the best in the world (although survey after survey debunks that myth). Hundreds of hospitals have reported shortages, patients have died because drugs were unavailable and some analysts believe the drug shortages will cost more than $400 million a year in increased costs in buying drugs from third-party companies.

Without federal oversight, and no federal price gauging regulations, what’s to keep this from happening again and again? Here’s a place where regulation and oversight is money well spent. Pass legislation that prevents (with heavy fines and penalties) price gauging, that mandates continued production of drugs and broad notification if production is interrupted so other companies can pick up the slack. And what about legislation that helps these companies produced drugs here instead of overseas?

Setting up manufacture and production facilities is expensive, and some of those drugs, while life-saving, don’t sell normally at huge profit margins, so let’s make sure we can continue to produce them here without fear of shortages, and price gauging by third parties. That would add some stability to a health care issue that shouldn’t be an issue in a good health care system.

You Booed a Gay Soldier? Screw You and Shame on Your Cowardice

You booed. Really? You hateful little people. Booing a gay soldier during last night’s GOP debate was not only “unfortunate,” as a couple of candidates said afterwards, but a hateful example of lynching mentality that drives us deeper into our self-centered me-first little lives. The candidates, no matter whether or not they agree with the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell, should have condemned the booing.

They didn’t. And that’s too bad, because whether or not you agree with a position (don’t ask, don’t tell was ruled unconstitutional after all), you should have condemned the blood-in-the-water reaction from the idiots. Rise above the reaction and at least pretend to be shocked. Because, goodness knows, you’re pretending and posturing on everything else.

And Rick Santorum, the out of touch, I kinda hate everyone former Senator from Pennsylvania weighed in with his feeling that the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell is “social engineering” in the military . . . I’ve never been in the military, so I’m not going to pretend there aren’t issues with this that I may not understand, but, frankly, if the person next to me in the foxhole can shoot, I wouldn’t give a crap whether they were gay or not.

Some of our political policies seem based on the “if we don’t talk about it, it doesn’t exist” theory of ignorance. Some of these topics may make us uncomfortable. Some of them may difficult to talk about.

But booing a soldier because he’s gay? Screw you. Get out of your comfy debate-watching seat and ship your sorry ass over to Afghanistan and get shot at, then maybe you won’t be so quick to condemn some kid who puts his life on the line so you can sit there in your comfy chair.

Palestinians Need to Earn Their Statehood

How about this . . . Palestinian leaders declare that they recognize Israel and its right to exist, drop their endorsement of terrorist groups like Hamas' own military wing, condemn terrorist attacks on Israelis and such cowardly acts in general. No, the United Nations absolutely should not create a Palestinian state.

Surrounded by enemies, Israel had certainly stepped over the line many times in dealing with the Palestinians and others, but it remains our only ally in the region and we must continue to be steadfast in out support of Israel. Wavering worsens and makes more difficult any possibility of a peaceful resolution between Israel, Palestinians and other Arab nations.

Hamas needs to reel in its military wing and start to take a negotiated peace with Israel as the only option. What waste of people, money, energy and future these conflicts consume. We have to make it clear that our support of Israel is solid, but that we want to see the region stable. These conflicts, of one type or another, are largely beyond our direct influence (as has been proved in Afghanistan) and have continued for thousands of years in some cases.

The future? Who knows. But the simple truth is that without fundamental changes, the region will continue to suck money and futures, children will have no real hope and extremists will continue to stifle any economic development and growth.

The future is now. Rent a conference room, fill it with all the players and work to solve the problems. Everyone will have to move a bit, but that’s what negotiations are all about. Find common ground that keeps Israel safe, enables the Palestinians to live in a “home land,” rids the region of terrorists living among the general population and grows some type of economy. But I’m only renting the room if everyone agrees to stop blowing up women and children. Time to start earning your place in the world instead of expecting someone just to give it to you.

Time to Get Out

It’s time to get out. Just leave Afghanistan and Iraq. Pack up our bags, take the ball and leave.

Ask yourself if you think these two places will be better in five or 10 years than they are now. Ask yourself if, after 10 years Afghanistan will have a government free of corruption, overseeing a people building their country and their economy, able to move into the 21^st century without the support of the U.S and other countries. Ask yourself if, after 10 years, either country can withstand the old pressures of the Taliban and extremists intent on dragging them back into the abyss of poverty, violence and hopelessness?

It’s time to leave. Time to bring our men and women home. Time to end our illusion that we can change what these countries are and have been, and turn them into democracies where men and women embrace a variety of beliefs, can vote without fear of getting blown up, and can envision a future where their children can travel the world. Time to use our money and people here. Time to rebuild America, educate our children, put out-of-work Americans back to work in new factories and industries, get corporations to bring their money back here for those factories and workers, and stop our decline from great to good but crumbling.

Iraq and Afghanistan will not be better if we continue to throw money and people into them. Rather, our commitment to them has hurt us beyond all reason. Hundreds of billions of dollars spent, thousands of our people killed, thousands of civilians killed, tens of billions of dollars wasted through lack of oversight and corruption. And it continues. And it will continue.

So at what point do we decide our “mission” is complete and we’ve accomplished what we set out to accomplish? This isn’t World War II, and the Japanese and Germans aren’t surrendering. There’s no cheering crowd as we take Paris or Berlin. We live in a different world. A world with lots of gray and blurred lines of black and white. And yet, throughout the Middle East, people are rising up against their leaders and calling out for changes. Ironically, we’ve had nothing to do with it. No invasions, no bombings (bar Libya) and really no clue that this wave would sweep the region.

Grass root revolutions. Unfortunately not in the vacuums of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bring our people home and let’s start building our country again instead of trying to build those nations that won’t rise up and help themselves.

There's No 'Get it Done' Button in Washington

Remember a few weeks ago, when New Jersey and much of the northeast was washed away by Irene? Well, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got it right.

“Our people are suffering now, and they need support now. And they [Congress] can all go down there and get back to work and figure out budget cuts later,” he said then.

Christie, a Republican, was ticked that Congress appeared to be gearing up for a fight over whether disaster aid needs to be offset by spending cuts. If that fight develops over the next few days and weeks, it will be another example of an out-of-touch government and one unable to deal with the realities the country faces now . . . right now. There’s water in the basement . . . roads and houses were washed away . . . lives ruined . . .What are you going to do now? Play politics?

So now it’s weeks later, people around here are still cleaning up, roads are still washed out and people are wondering if disaster funding will remain stalled in the muskeg that is Washington. Don’t look now, but apparently all those that might lead are squabbling over the jobs act. From one looking-at-the-election issue to another. Since Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell framed the debate some time ago by saying the only thing important to him was to defeat Barack Obama in the upcoming election, one has to take everything tossed into the public political spit bucket is, well, so much spit.

On a good day, Washington moves at glacier-like speed. There seems to be less thought about what people actually need and want than there is about scoring political points on some invisible political points scoreboard. (Hey wait . . . could we get a sponsor for that scoreboard and raise some money . . . maybe for hungry kids . . . how about JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs or some other company not doing much public good?)

Gov. Christie wasn’t, in a rare moment for a politician, speaking as a politician. Good for him. People want to believe in their elected officials. They, believe it or not, want to know politicians care about those folks who got them elected in the first place. So Christie, no jacket or tie, standing wondering what the heck Washington was doing was a bit refreshing.

Meanwhile, in Washington, we waited for someone to lead . . . and waited . . . and waited . . .

Fall of NASA the End of American Greatness?

I know the “end of American greatness” thing bothers some people, and I’m certainly hoping I am wrong about thinking that way when I read through the news of the day and the political paralysis in Washington.

So while we struggle to fix those things like roads and bridges and overcrowded airports and our aging rail system, it strikes me that a fine example of our great decline, if you will, is that fact that if out astronauts are to head into space, they have to do so aboard a Russian rocket.

Wow . .  we have no space program, and the $35 billion NASA is looking to spend on its new rocket program will probably never get through Congress. (One wonders if anything will get through Congress.) It certainly is an end to an era. Can we, in this divisive political environment, develop and complete major national-interest projects that benefit and rebuild the U.S. and put Americans to work?

Bridges and highways across the nation are deteriorating and will fail, our power grid is largely inadequate and fragile, our rail system is fragmented and aging, and our power plants are old and inefficient. Can we not develop a plan of maintenance and construction that keeps our infrastructure new and safe?

Certainly not the entire answer by any means. We need to end incentives and subsidies for corporations moving operations overseas. We need to stop subsidies for bad programs like ethanol production (which add 85 cents to each gallon of ethanol, spike feed costs for cattle), and create enterprise zones in cities that can grow and foster a wide cross-section of businesses.

We need to do all this without trashing fair and reasonable environmental restraint. This seems to be an ongoing theme for Republicans, even though I doubt these regulations actually cost jobs. I like clean water and don’t like toxins scattered across the amber waves of grain. Weakening even current regulations is a major long-term mistake. It sounds good in the 30-second sound bite, but politicians are politicians and what they say isn’t supposed to make sense . . . it’s designed to play to their political base and get them votes. Trashing the environment under the guise that those regulations cost jobs sounds good. But it’s wrong and wrong-headed.

So let’s put it all on the table and figure out how we can start to climb out of this hole. Make it clean and clear, oversee it so we don’t waste the amounts we’ve wasted every time the government spends money on projects. (Corporations seem to be able to do this with their projects, after all.)

It’s time to start thinking about what’s best for the country, not what’s best for Washington and the often brain-dead politicians who fill those majestic buildings.

Bud and Baseball Make Another Bad Call

Did you see that Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig was ticked the Mets went public about the MLB ban on wearing first-responder hats during their Sunday night prime-time game against the Cubs?

Awww  . . . poor Bud.

Hey, the league told the Mets they had to wear their regular caps instead of caps honoring first responders (NY fire and police and others), so either you stand by that decision or not. Bud, who has all kinds of issues with replay that might actually get close calls right, should have been thrown under the PR bus on this one.

Oh, and Joe Torre, now executive vice president of baseball operations should have known better as well. Hey, Joe, forget the normal MLB form . . . here was a chance to do what was right. Baseball has more trouble doing that than any other pro sport.

Torre, who managed the Mets as well as the Yankees (for 12 years and during 9/11 no less), could have sauntered into Bud’s office and let him know a PR nightmare was about to explode. They got it wrong. The Mets should have been able to wear the caps during the game . . . as they did during warm up. And, frankly, in the end, the Mets should have said screw you, we’re wearing them.

Bud reportedly makes over $18 million a year. You’d think someone making that kind of coin could make better decisions.

Basketball Season? Do You Care?

With the basketball lockout, the question is whether or not there will be a season. Frankly, I don't really care too much since the season itself is so endless. I’d be good with a few games and then not go into the playoffs.

I’m a bit of a pain on this. Yep, the season is too long and too many teams make the playoffs . . . hockey suffers the same illness. The baseball season is long, but redeemed by the fact that just a few teams make the playoffs. Football has the best season (we get hyped for a week for each upcoming game and the playoffs are pretty limited team-wise and, hey, fun to watch since they don't drag on. (Hello NBA . . . three and four days and more between playoff games? I get the TV thing, but let's speed up the process.)

Ok . . . so I got sidetracked a bit. (That sometimes happens to old people like me.)

I'm guessing there will be a season of some sort next year. Despite the fact that owners want to break the union and its players, as the year grinds on, expect the owners to split and start fighting among themselves. There has never been anything approaching parody in basketball and there never will be.

New owners paid too much for teams and older owners have paid off the loans . . . players are fabulously overpaid (from a business standpoint) and have guaranteed contracts that saddle teams with declining talent and growing bills . . . additionally, there is no salary cap, so teams can overpay for ok talent. So while I'm guessing not too many fans will back the players on this one, keep in mind that players, like you and me (or any number of employees), are happy to make whatever someone is willing to offer them. That someone (or "someones") is (are) the owners. They made the bed . . . and they’ve been having to sleep in it.

So as the year drags on, are owners willing to eat the full season and watch their talent play elsewhere? Dirk, Kobe etc. etc. are aging . . . Are their owners willing to let a season go by and have them return in 2012 a year older and a potential playoff run or championship missed? We'll see.

Me? Eh, there's football, so I'll be happy through February.

Cut Smart and Plan Long Term

So I read that some firefighters in Texas are having to pay for equipment and even fuel for their trucks because of budget cuts. Yet another example of politicians taking a short view when they cut, and unable, apparently, to see a bigger picture in their fervor now to bring bloated budgets (budgets they bloated) under control.

Now far be it for me to say that no first-responder budgets should be trimmed or that those budgets contain no waste. All budgets need to be carefully analyzed and evaluated and cut where needed. Departments may need to be cut . . . and the bureaucracy that builds and builds at all levels of governments needs to be cut and not allowed to build again. These are leaner times . . . we are, simply, broke and cannot afford to just throw money at every program, idea, pet project, perceived need or even every golden calf nurtured since its inception.

But let’s take extra time before we slash budgets of first responders or front line health and safety personnel.

Remember, these guys in Texas are fighting huge wildfires now. Their lives are risk, unlike some legislator cooling his heels, sipping sarsaparilla and watching his derricks poke through the earth in search of oil.

We may need to budget smarter and think leaner, but let’s remember that at some point old, out-dated equipment and faulty gear will cost someone his or her life. Long-term thinking, not knee-jerk reaction will make budgets that make sense. We need to cut, but let’s cut smart.

Football, Oh Football, We Missed You So

Even with satellite TV, it’s impossible to watch more than a few of the 8 billion college football games each week, and the first weekend of the season seemed even more littered with games than usual.

One thing’s for sure, Notre Dame mega fan Regis Philbin (along with millions of others across the country) must have been screaming at his TV as the Irish showed once again their play doesn’t match the silly-high expectations of their fans as they got spanked by Southern Florida at home. Turnovers and overall sloppy play killed any chance they had, and they’ll fall out of the top 25 . . . Wow, lest we hoped the Oregon Ducks would rebound from losing key starters from last year, LSU smacked that idea. Ducks are down and LSU, despite all its off-field player issues (can’t these kids stay away from bars at least during and leading up to the season?) looked big and tough . . . Boise State will be a pain in everyone’s butt all season. With the best college quarterback not named Andrew Luck (from Stanford), and starting the season ranked fifth, the Broncos may well stir thing up at the end when it comes bowl time . . . While we’re at it, what’s with all these new-age uniforms? Some of them are kinda cool and flashy, I’ll admit, but I just don’t get a few of them. Take Georgia, for instance. I kinda dig the bright red, but the silver helmets with the wide red stripe reminds me of a motorcycle gas tank. And why put “Georgia” on the back of the jerseys? Don’t they know who they are? . . . And Maryland’s new uniforms? Wow . . . players looked sort of like knights in search of a jousting tournament to me.

And since we actually have to watch and listen to these games, I’m sticking with Brent Mussburger and Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews as my top broadcasting team, though I’m finding overall better watchability across the full range of games compared to NFL broadcasts . . .

Now that what many refer to as the “fake” season, the NFL moves from pre-season to real season this week, and we’ll get a real good idea of where the Packers and Saints are when they meet Thursday (yeah, you’ll be able to watch Obama’s speech and then tune into the game . . . if you care). It’ll be interesting to see if the Redskins can get off the ground. Apparently not interested in making any moves for another quarterback in the off-season, coach Mike Shanahan’s tenure in Washington may be in jeopardy if he can’t turn around the Redskins . . . I’ll stick with NBC’s Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth as the NFL’s best booth team (Monday Night Football probably second) . . . Let the games begin.

Dumb and Dumber

I’m not sure which is which, but the latest pissing match between President Barack Obama and House Speaker Boehner about a date for the President’s jobs speech looks even more idiotic given the current state of the nation, and particularly the northeast post-Irene.

Hundreds of thousands of people are without power, posing potential health issues for them and their communities, people are stranded because of destroyed roads, and FEMA is running out of money. And these two bozos are fighting about a date for a speech.

Obama’s people knew there was a Republican debate tonight, but set the speech for that night anyway. Boehner objected . . .and the speech was moved to tomorrow night (the opening night of the NFL season, by the way, with the Packers squaring off with the Saints).

So we sit here watching these guys piss on each other.

Frankly, Obama has to grow a set and schedule his speech whenever the heck he wants. He’s the freaking President for goodness sake. It may have been a political move to schedule it initially for Wednesday, but can you imagine the House speaker telling FDR, L.B. Johnson or Reagan their request for a speech before a joint session of Congress is no good because there’s a political debate planned for the same night? Those presidents would tell the speaker to f-off . . . the speech is on and if they aren’t there, too bad.

By changing the date, Obama caved again. This guy has to get off the ropes and start piling up some points instead of backing down at every opportunity and letting the Republicans continue take the offense. He’s had plenty of chances to take charge of the issues, counter punch and take charge . . . he has yet to do it. Let’s see what he says tonight, and let’s see what the Republicans do in their first debate. Might be fun (I doubt it) . . . and it might show us who is starting to move away from the pack of GOP hopefuls.)