December 2015 – TOF TALKS

ACA signups below expectations

Signups for ACA half of what was expected.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/us/almost-a-million-more-sign-up-for-health-coverage-in-february.html?_r=0

This article and others like it report that the signups for “Obamacare”, or the ACA are up over last year but far short, by 50% of what was expected.

Well, another expectation not met by the law that Nancy Pelosi famously said, “Let’s pass it before we read it”, and Johnathon Gruber also said afterwards, “You can’t do it political, you just literally cannot do it. Transparent financing and also transparent spending. I mean, this bill was written in a tortured way to make sure CBO did not score the mandate as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes the bill dies. Okay? So it’s written to do that.”

Rates are up, not down as “expected”. We don’t get to keep our current insurance if want to, another missed expectation. We don’t get to go to our doctors as expected. We don’t get the prescriptions we had in the past, another missed expectation………….

How about taking responsibility for messing up President Obama, Nancy and Harry! We are a rich country; all should have access to decent health care. We need to figure out a better way!

School choice, primary and secondary

School Choice, primary and secondary systems

In the late-19^th century, “public” education was established in all the states. It was not consistent throughout the country but gained strength and became an institution, and a positive one for our democracy. Our founders saw that an educated voter was the best foundation for the freedoms we hold dear.

Like any large organization, 150 years brings in lots of inefficiencies and waste that needs cleaning out. The economist, Schumpeter, introduced a term, “creative destruction” in the mid-20^th century that describes the process organizations must, I repeat, must undergo to produce the results needed to be successful. Although it was developed to talk about companies producing products or services, it certainly applies to any other organization. We see the lack of results from large, non-market organizations that are due to the lack of a regular cleaning out that the market brings. Congress, churches, non for profits, etc. are examples. Our education establishment is long overdue.

Education resists measuring outputs, it likes measuring inputs. Any attempt to evaluate teachers, provide for competitors that can tap into public funding, test students, etc. is met with furious resistance. The U.S. has continually slid down the scale when our kids are tested and measured against other “competitor” countries. http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/PISA-2012-results-US.pdf.

The article below talks about the Washington DC program to grant funds for kids to attend schools outside of the DC public system. The parents love the program, the teachers and Democrat Congresswoman, Eleanor Homes Norton, hate it. They fear competition. We will lose this republic if we don’t reform education. http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/PISA-2012-results-US.pdf.

When Ben Franklin was asked after the new constitution passed, barely by the way, what type of government did the U.S. have, he replied;
The deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were held in strict secrecy. Consequently, anxious citizens gathered outside Independence Hall when the proceedings ended in order to learn what had been produced behind closed doors. The answer was provided immediately. A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Ideas are harder to kill than terrorists

Ideas are harder to kill than terrorists

“We took the liberty to make some enquiries concerning the ground of their pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury, and observed that we considered all mankind as our friends who had done us no wrong, nor had given us any provocation.

The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the laws of their Prophet; that it was written in their Koran; all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners; that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners; and the every Muslim who was slain in battle was sure to go the paradise.

From a March 28, 1786, letter written by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who were American diplomats at the time, to U.S. Secretary of State, John Jay reporting on their conversation in London with the ambassador from Tripoli regarding piracy by the Barbary States.

“From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli,…” In this case we decided as a country that diplomacy had run its’ course, our, and the world’s, interests had to be defended. The story has not changed, the idea is the same. Certain people will not be convinced by hope and change. Do we have the will to prevent them from terrorizing all of us? The French seem to have figured it out! Good for them!

PPI supports drug companies

“The folly of targeting big pharma”

http://www.progressivepolicy.org/issues/economy/wsj-the-folly-of-targeting-big-pharma/

The article, reprinted in the WSJ on 12/10/15, above talks about Hillary Clinton attacking big pharma for high drug prices, and others of course, and states the case that drugs can reduce overall health care costs over time. The author is with the Progressive Policy Institute, and advocates for its’ namesake type of policies for the U.S. The PPI was started in 1989 as part of the Democrat Leadership Conference, a driver of Bill Clinton’s policies.

A progressive organization defending drug companies, now that is interesting! The ACA was supported by these same companies, also by large hospital and insurance organizations. And the result is….All of us are paying more, do not have the plan we had, can’t go to many of the doctors we want, many are not subject to the law because they are friends of B.O.(unions, etc.) while the rest of us suffer.

The ACA did address some necessary issues like total caps, pre-existing conditions, a path for all to obtain a plan. Its’ failure is more government control, less freedom for states to experiment, no competition across state lines, etc.

I believe drugs can reduce the cost of health care over time. I wish I knew why the PPI agrees with me, maybe I should open my mind a bit.

UN Human Rights Council

United Nations Human Rights Council, what a farce!

The UN has never elected Israel to participate on the HRC, a democratic, pluralistic, free market oriented country in the midst of most that aren’t. According to an ad in the WSJ, “..the HRC has issued more condemnations of Israel than of all other states combined. It has an agenda item dedicated solely to Israel, the only state treated this way.” North Korea? Many others?

Shouldn’t membership on the HRC depend on the fact that your country actually respects human rights?

Membership of the Human Rights Council

The Council is made of 47 Member States, which are elected by the majority of members of the General Assembly of the United Nations through direct and secret ballot. The General Assembly takes into account the candidate States’ contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as their voluntary pledges and commitments in this regard.

The Council’s Membership is based on equitable geographical distribution. Seats are distributed as follows:

African States: 13 seats
Asia-Pacific States: 13 seats
Latin American and Caribbean States: 8 seats
Western European and other States: 7 seats
Eastern European States: 6 seats http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/Membership.aspx

The 47 current members are noted in this link. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/CurrentMembers.aspx. Current members in include Cuba-certainly a respecter of human rights as long you agree with Raul and Fidel, otherwise you are in jail; China-another one, disagree and you are in jail; Saudi Arabia-my goodness, is a woman driving a car a human right?

Just this week the below happened.

China, Russia, Venezuela and Angola tried to stop the HRC from talking about human rights abuses, but failed, good. “UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – China, Russia, Venezuela and Angola failed on Thursday to stop the United Nations Security Council from holding its second meeting on human rights in North Korea, which has been accused by a U.N. inquiry of abuses comparable to Nazi-era atrocities.China called a vote to stop the meeting, but lost nine to four. Nigeria and Chad abstained. Nine votes are needed to win a procedural vote and the five permanent members – China, Russia, the United States, Britain and France – cannot use their vetoes.” http://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2015/12/11/china-russia-fail-to-stop-un-meeting-on-rights-in-north-korea/

China, Russia and its’ friends tried to block the UN talking about human rights abuses in a number one abuser.

We live in a weird world where relativism and parochial desires pushes out inalienable rights in the organization formed to:

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945. It is currently made up of 193 Member States. The mission and work of the United Nations are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter. http://www.un.org/en/charter-united-nations/index.html.