Yearly Archives: 2009

Dollar a Day to Make Norm Go Away

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Al Franken won the Minnesota Senate race, but DC Republicans keep bankrolling Norm Coleman’s endless court challenges. For them, it’s worth spending money to block the seating of Senator Franken.

So Howard Dean’s Democracy for America teamed up with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (which helps elect progressives to Congress) to ask people to give a “Dollar a Day to Make Norm Go Away.”

If thousands of us donate $1 to help progressives defeat Republicans in 2010 for each day Norm Coleman refuses to concede, we’ll reverse the incentives for DC Republicans. They’ll tell Norm, “Go away!” It’s a smart strategy. I just did it. Can you join me? Check out http://www.NormDollar.com

Taxes

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Two items on taxes caught my eye today.

1.  Economix at the New York Times asks on 13 April 2009 Just How Progressive is the Tax System?

When you add in all taxes (federal, state, local), the tax system is not as progressive as one might have thought. Look at the graphs.

2.  On 15 April 2009, Berkeley public policy professor Robert Reich posts on his blog, A Short Citizen’s Guide to Kooks, Demagogues, and Right-Wingers on Tax Day, which addresses common myths promulgated by people on the Right. [By the way, I think the double entendre in the post’s title is intentional.] Reich ends with the following:

True patriotism isn’t cheap. It’s about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going.

Obama Economy Speech at Georgetown University 1

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Follow this link to the 49 minute video of President Obama explaining the big picture on his approach to solving the current economic crisis.  There is about 5 minutes of introduction at the beginning.  You can either be patient and watch that, or you can skip ahead until you see Obama appear.

I have heard all the naysayers taking pot shots at the President’s plans.  I have been waiting to hear his answer.  This speech is it. It was worth waiting for.

Follow this link to the Huffington Post speech transcript and comments about the speech.

This link points to my specific comment on HuffPo.  It expands on what I have written here.

Regulation nurtured the Internet (Obsidian Wings)

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On 13 April 2009, Obsidian Wings in The Regulatory Origins of the Internet reminds us that the birth and continuing success of the Internet is due to regulatory oversight and initial R&D funding by the government. Importantly, the government did not allow the phone companies to dictate the terms of access.

‘Wisely, in the Computer Inquiries proceedings, the FCC opted for open, nondiscriminatory access.  The Twitters of yesteryear didn’t need permission from AT&T to start their business.  The nondiscriminatory access that made the Internet successful didn’t happen because AT&T was full of benevolent, far-seeing souls.  It was because of government regulation.  (On an aside, that’s why the fight over net neutrality is actually a battle to maintain a ridiculously successful status quo).

‘Given that the Internet is probably the single greatest advance of mankind since the printing press, you could plausibly argue that the Internet is regulation’s crown jewel.’

Let’s hope that environment continues to prevail.

Very Worried About Teabags 1

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Follow this link to a story and video of a recent get together of American people who are angry about how the world situation is unfolding.

I posted a comment about this story.

You can laugh this off as much as you like, but the parallels to the world history of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s are getting to be too much to ignore.

I’ll start you off with a few. I am sure you can fill in the rest.

Stock market excess and bubble economy with lax regulation.

Bubble bursts, market tanks, unemployment rises, home foreclosures skyrocket.

People get angry and look for scapegoats.

Now take it from there and fill in the rest of the story from whatever history of the 20s, 30s, and 40s that you have heard about..

Let’s just say that people who were raised in the 50s with a certain ethnic background were always warned to be on the look out for a repeat of this history.  Of course we knew our parents and grandparents were just worrying about nothing.  It’s amazing how much more well founded their worries look today than they did back then.

Obviously there are some people who are very frightened. Frightened people are apt to act irrationally.  I would love to hear some thoughtful, serious ideas on what we can do to head off this problem before it gets out of hand.

Can you channel people’s fears into productive action?

I’d be wary of any efforts to channel their actions in any way  that would add to their fear of scapegoats.

Doctors are Opting out of Medicare (NYT)

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‘If it’s not one thing, it’s another.’  By why so many all at once?

On 2 April 2009, Julie Connelly of the NY Times reports Doctors are Opting out of Medicare.  Finding a doctor who accepts Medicare isn’t easy.

‘Many people, just as they become eligible for Medicare, discover that the insurance rug has been pulled out from under them. Some doctors — often internists but also gastroenterologists, gynecologists, psychiatrists and other specialists — are no longer accepting Medicare, either because they have opted out of the insurance system or they are not accepting new patients with Medicare coverage. The doctors’ reasons: reimbursement rates are too low and paperwork too much of a hassle.’

More in the article.