A Death Cab kind of day

I find myself really introspective and nostalgic today, thinking about life and death and love and hate and good and evil. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's hormones. Maybe my subtle consciousness knows something I don't. Whatever the reason, my introspection comes with a soundtrack, and today it's Death Cab for Cutie.

So because I find myself so wrapped up in my own navel-gazing that I can't summon the requisite energy or intellect to write a REAL blog post (maybe I'm just not REAL American enough?), I thought I'd post the videos to a few of my psyche's favorite DCFC tracks today. (Also, they remind me of the beginning of James's and my relationship, and our time in Nosara...we listened to a lot of DCFC and The Postal Service).

"What Sarah Said"

"I Will Follow You Into the Dark"

"A Lack of Color"

"Brothers on a Hotel Bed"

Now, rub your tummy and pat your head, too...

In last night's debate, Brokaw asked each candidate to prioritize the order in which they'd deal with health care reform, energy reform, and educational reform.

Obama answered 1) health care, 2) energy, 3) education.

McCain said he didn't see any reason why we couldn't address all three at once.

This coming from the man who felt it necessary to actually suspend his presidential campaign so he could go back to Washington during the bailout proposal process (and do nothing).

And I'm supposed to trust that he'd be able to effectively multi-task three of the nation's most pressing issues at the same time, while we're also in the midst of a ginormous economic crisis and two wars?

I'm just sayin'.

SEE HOW I LOVE YOU?

I hope you all know how dedicated I am to informing you during this election.

I say this because I just spent FIVE of my precious Sunday hours recreating and formatting and battling with the following fucking tables in order to present you with what amounts to the most easy-to-understand breakdown of McCain and Obama's health care plans that I've seen so far in this election.

Note: If you are on a Mac, or using a browser other than Firefox 2, I have no idea how this will appear to you, and at this point, I simply don't care. I can always send you the PowerPoint. Just ask.

HUGE thanks to my good friend Sean Kolmer (aka The Pean) for passing this valuable information along. These figures come to us from the Commonwealth Fund's (non-profit, non-partisan) analysis of the health care reform plans of the two candidates. The Pean works for the great state of Oregon, essentially researching health care reform philosophies and studies, distilling them into basic English, and giving state lawmakers beautiful, enlightened reports that they sometimes reference in creating law, but probably more often use as beverage coasters because they are lawmakers, and most lawmakers are in the business of getting re-elected, not in in the business of being enlightened public servants.

But I digress. I'll let the information speak for itself, and perhaps The Pean will grace us with any additional insight and/or answer any questions we might have (like "What the hell does 'Standard Benefit Floor' mean?").

UPDATE: The Pean explains Standard Benefit Floor! "No health plan can offer benefits BELOW a certain standard. Most concepts make sure that preventative services are before deductible and non-copays, etc. Benefit floors basically protect people from getting sold ER plans and other shitty plans that only really protect them from catastrophe. Think of it as car shopping; there is the base model, and then if you have more cash you can buy up."

Key Differences Between the Presidential Candidates' Health Reform Plans

	McCain	Obama
Aims to cover everyone	Not a goal	Goal
Rules for individual insurance market	Minimum state rules	Uniform national rules
Employer role in providing health benefits	Reduce	Expand
Medicaid/SCHIP	Reduce	Expand
Families' exposure to health care costs	More	Less
Requirements to have coverage	None	Children only
Leverage to stimulate improvement in quality and efficiency	No change from current system	More
Uninsured covered after 10 years *	2 million	34 million

* Estimates of uninsured covered from L. Burman, S. Khitatrakun, G. Leiserson et al., An Updated Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans, Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, Updated September 12, 2008.

Tax Policy Center Estimates of Coverage and Costs of Candidates' Plans

	McCain		Obama
	Change in uninsured (millions)	Federal costs ($ billions)	Change in uninsured (millions)	Federal costs ($ billions)
2009	1.3 m	$185 b	18.4 m	$86 b
2013	4.6 m	$141 b	29.6 m	$160 b
2018	2.0 m	$64 b	33.9 m	$237 b
Total cost (2009-2018)	--	$1,311 b	--	$1,630 b
Total uninsured not covered by 2018 (out of an est. 66.8m)	64.8 m	--	32.9 m	--

* Estimates based on assumptions made by the Tax Policy Center about key details of the proposals that have not yet been made clear. Source: L. Burman, S. Khitatrakun, G. Leiserson et al., An Updated Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans, Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, Updated September 12, 2008.

How Well Do the Strategies Meet Principles for Health Insurance Reform?

Principles for reform	Tax credits and min. state rules for individual insurance market	Mixed private-public group insurance w/ premium subsidies and consumer protections
Covers everyone	0	+
Standard benefit floor	–	+
Premium, deductible, and/or out-of-pocket costs affordable relative to income	–	+
Easy, seamless enrollment	0	+
Choice	+	+
Pool health care risks broadly	–	+
Minimize dislocation, ability to keep current coverage	+	++
Administratively simple	–	+
Improve health care quality and efficiency	0	+

0 = Minimal or no change from current system
– = Worse than current system
+ = Better than current system
++ = Much better than current system
Source: L. Burman, S. Khitatrakun, G. Leiserson et al., An Updated Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans, Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, Updated September 12, 2008.

Estimated Number of Uninsured People Under Current Policy, McCain Health Plan, and Obama Health Plan

Source: L. Burman, S. Khitatrakun, G. Leiserson et al., An Updated Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans, Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, Updated September 12, 2008.

The beer test = FAIL

Seriously, winking? What is this, Sesame Street?You know, I remember in 2000 and 2004, a lot of people supported Bush for many of the same reasons a lot of people today seem to be supporting Sarah Palin: "He's folksy. He sounds like me. He's just like the rest of us. I'd love to sit and talk with him over a cold beer. He looks nice. He seems real."

And my question is this: how did any of these characteristics influence his ability to effectively lead the nation? Where did all that folksiness and geniality get us? Nowhere. He has run arguably the worst presidency this nation has ever seen, and yet here we are again, eight years later, with everyone falling all over themselves over another spunky, dangerously know-nothing candidate.

I am so unbelievably sick and tired of hearing people swoon over how cute and feisty and confident Sarah Palin is. Why? Because the election of president and vice president is a serious decision with very real repercussions for VERY real people the nation and world over, and I don't give a SHIT how folksy or plain spoken or cute or nice someone seems. 

How are they going to repair our failing economy? How are they going to carefully extricate us from the war in Iraq without leaving the people there in a political vacuum? How are they going to be proactive in making sure we don't end up at war with Iran, or North Korea, or Pakistan? How are they going to make sure we can afford gas and groceries? How are they going to rebuild our global reputation? How are they going to create new jobs for Americans? How are they going to combat global warming? How are they going to provide health coverage to those not lucky enough to get it through their employers? How are they going to ensure we won't have to bail Wall Street out again? HOW? WHEN? WHY? Goddammit, THESE are the issues, not how fucking warm and fuzzy a candidate makes you feel, or how much you identify with them. 

Now, if you happen to be well-informed and support McCain/Palin for their positions on the issues above and have actually given thought to how a McCain/Palin administration would affect your daily life, your finances, your family's well-being, then so be it -- we simply disagree politically. But not ONE M/P supporter has given me any other reason for supporting them other than the likes of "he has more experience than Obama" or "She's so energetic!" or "Aren't YOU ready to see a woman in the White House???"

That's it. No mention of plans, policies, platforms or specific actions by either candidate that swayed them to their support. 

Let's not forget what happened last time the country voted in a candidate they thought might make a great drinking buddy. How about this time we elect someone who can run the country worth a shit? 

An apologia

You know the difference between a good blogger and a blogger who only posts once a week? (No, not lipstick...)

TIME.

Something I've not had much of lately. Mea culpa.

I guess I could take a page out of Sarah Palin’s book. I don't know how she does it! Managing her family, her job, her campaign, monitoring the Alaskan border for Russians, reading every newspaper out there, and being programmed for interviews like Neo learning kung fu in The Matrix…except that Neo was actually successful in learning kung fu, and was able to call on his newfound proficiency later. If only Palin’s programming were as successful…

Anyway, I’ll definitely find the time to watch her performance tonight at the debate. OH YES. That I can find time for. Especially knowing how hard Biden has been practicing.

Enjoy the debate!

In his dreams

We have a word for this: hubris.So, I HAD planned on watching the debate tonight, but apparently there's no need! McCain has preemptively declared himself the winner, as evidenced by the ad to the right, which has been present all over the Internets today.

I wasn't sure what to make of this, until Devilstower over at Daily Kos cleared it all up for me this morning:

"And now we know how McCain intends to deal with the nation's economic crisis -- they've invented time travel."

This is an amazing development, you guys. Both politically and technologically. THINK OF ALL THE GOOD MCCAIN CAN DO WITH THIS NEWFOUND POWER. Like go back and remember how many houses he has. Or pick a slightly more qualified trophy VP. Or, I don't know, not tell so many lies and stuff.

Anyway, I'm off to watch the REAL debate now, where McCain can't remember which McCain he is this week, who Henry Paulson is or where his daggone pants are!, and Obama wins, and the world is good and right.

The debate airs at 6pm PDT on just about any major network you'd like to watch (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and BBC America).

Happy watching!

UPDATE: Multiple network polls have Obama winning by a margin of about 13-14%. So what'd y'all think?

WWJL?

While sitting this morning at the Broadway Bridge for nine years as a ship passed beneath it moving approximately an inch an hour, I listened to OPB. And do you know what OPB told me this morning? That some gentle, loving Christian students at George Fox University, committed to walking in Jesus' footsteps in all that they do, and living morally and gently and with so much love in their hearts for all humanity...LYNCHED A CARDBOARD CUTOUT OF BARACK OBAMA.

Lynched. In 2008.

A note accompanied the effigy that said "Act Six reject," with Act Six being the name of a campus minority scholarship program.

Isn't it nice to know that we can always rely on those in the fanatical, fundamentalist moral majority to lead us down the path of righteousness? I mean, what would we do without people like these students? How would we know at whom to direct our racial ire, to oppress and denigrate, or how to get across our points in the most insensitive, backwards and cowardly ways possible? From whom else would we learn to be so deliciously hypocritical and close-minded? Who better to teach us how to be the very antithesis of Christ? 

The best part came when the poor spokesperson for the college actually tried to spin the story into something positive...by sharing that they actually spend a great deal of time training these scholarship kids before coming to George Fox on how to be ready for some of the "problems associated with ... a suburban campus." Oh, you mean blatant and hostile racism? He also said that they teach the minority students to prepare for confrontations by looking to the Bible for talking points, since that is the foundation for the George Fox community's every interaction. Yeah, CLEARLY.

So, here's a thought -- and I'm just thinking out loud here -- but instead of training the scholarship kids on how to handle the inevitable racism of the GF community, WHY NOT TRAIN THE GEORGE FOX STUDENTS NOT TO BE FRAUDULENT, SELF-RIGHTEOUS, RACIST ASSHOLES.

I'm just sayin'.

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mahatmas Gandhi