Health Insurance….

As a native of England, I grew up in a system of free health care and free education. Whenever I cut myself, broke a bone, or just needed a check-up, I could go down to the local hospital and be treated. After I was patched up, I would thank the doctors and nurses and just walk out. There was no excessive paperwork to fill out and certainly no bill to pay.

Coming to America, I was quickly introduced to the health care system here. The first piece of official paperwork was for my health insurance with Blue Cross Blue Shield. It was an eye opening experience to have to pay for coverage, and certainly more surprising when all my expenses would not be covered by the insurance company. This is an area of huge debate right now. President Obama is introducing a bill that sets forth a government health care option that would potentially reduce costs for the public. I see positives and negatives on this -

Positives:
Reduced costs
Another option
Children have more chance to be covered
Drastically reduce the number of uninsured
People will not be turned away from a hospital

Negatives:
Government involvement in a private industry
A significant change in American Capitalism
Huge cost – $1 trillion
Increased taxes
Forced change
Small businesses are forced to provide coverage and greatly increase costs

Questions to ask….
How to sustain the model over the coming decades?
Will the costs increase over the years?
Will the health care industry be negatively affected?
Will quality and standards be maintained?

Health care is a highly contested issue. The American public need some help after seeing premiums rise as much as 20% in the past year alone, but is such a drastic change realistic? Britain provided the social health care system after World War II, and there are many positives and negatives associated with it. If injured you can be treated relatively easily and quickly with no cost, but if you need surgery, you may be waiting months and sometimes years. Private health care is available and is often purchased to offset the delay in a future surgery.

I am not sure what the solution is, but to have 50 million American’s unable to gain health care is quite shocking. To have this problem on this scale in the richest nation in the world is baffling. We all wait with baited breath……

Craziness in London

The news has been awash recently with the events in London surrounding the G2O summit. The anarchists, environmentalists, radicals, and those who merely want to voice an opinion, stormed the financial sector in the City of London, wreaking havoc. Windows have been smashed, banks vandalized, police officers assaulted, and a protester has died during this chaotic period. These scenes are reminiscent of other protests gone astray, namely in Seattle during the WTO summit in 1999. A movie was even made of those events.

I completely understand the right to voice an opinion, and a right to free speech, but when does all of this cross the line? We often view environmentalists as trying to do the right thing in order to protect our planet. But there are those radicals who use the platform of democracy as a means to act violently. What good do these people do? I would imagine these scenes that are viewed across the world damage the cause for which they are fighting for. Violence, whether in the form of protests gone wrong or acts of terrorism, do carry a message of some sort. Often this message has legitimacy, but the fabric of violence on which the message is carried tarnishes the very reason why they are doing it. The actions of a few infect the objective of many.

Even with these protests going on, the leaders of the countries in attendance at this summit persevere with their discussions. President Obama is in attendance, and experiences his first appearance on the international scene. By all accounts he is handling himself very well. We all hope that progress can be made on both security matters and the global economy. We plead that we have seen the worst pass us by. More jobs will be lost, but hopefully these losses will be for reasons of restructuring rather than panic. The stock market is bouncing back, and the housing market is strengthening on the back of low interest rates, stabilization in the banking sector, and increased confidence amongst buyers. Long may it continue…..

Worth a read….

Just going through my usual ritual of checking in on the world of soccer, catching up on the news, and seeing what people have been up to on Facebook. I ran across two articles which were interesting and worth a read.

The first one is on TechFlash, and speaks of the lessons learned when starting a new business and useful marketing practices. Here it is.

The second is from the New York Times, and the most recent Op-ed from Thomas Friedman, focusing on America’s position in the world today, and the continuing influence it has, even during such troubled times. A good read.

President Obama’s forum for change…..

I have just been watching President Obama’s public discussion on what the country needs to do in order to initiate the change that we so desperately need. It was exciting to see so many politicians, from both parties, sitting in one room with a common goal. Of course, you never quite know what you are getting in the world of politics. Was it just a show? Was it just a ploy to gain some notoriety or votes? I think we all hope that our representatives are doing what is best for the country, and not what is best for themselves.

President Obama has initiated some daring new plans in the past few weeks, notably the economic stimulus package. There has been much debate in political circles, in the press, and on the streets. It is exciting that Obama has passed one of the biggest economic packages in history, but whether it will work or not, we will have to see. We need something to jump start the economy. The Dow Jones was down another 250 points today !!!!!

Super Tuesday

Tomorrow will be a defining day in the presidential race and who could be nominated from each party. I use my words carefully. Whatever happens tomorrow, both parties will still be without a prominent nominee. The Democrats will be fighting over Obama and Clinton, and the Republican’s will be fighting over Romney and McCain, with Huckabee still in for the battle. It is great news for the voter, because we still have power, especially the later states who vote in March. I sincerely think that their messages will adapt more to what the people want, especially when they are frantically searching for the vote.

GOP Debate…

In between work today, I was listening to the final GOP debate before the Iowa caucus in a little over 3 weeks. As a Politics major, I am fascinated in the presidential campaigns for 2008. It will be incredibly interesting to see how the entire process works out. A few months ago, I often complained that no candidate stood out, and how amazing it was that American politics always found it hard to uncover a leader with great charisma, intelligence, and leadership. We see people in all walks of life that appeal to us in all manner of ways, but in politics, we are often forced to choose between 2 uninspiring candidates. The 2004 election is a prime example of an election that created great disappointment. Who was better, Bush or Kerry?

Bill Clinton fits into the mold of an educated man with a personality that attracts people from all areas and all means. My opinion has now changed for 2008. We have many candidates who are reforming who they are, and how they represent themselves. No single candidate is number 1, but there are many who are number 2. Who is going to claw themselves to the top in each campaign?

For the Democrats, it has to be a fight between Clinton and Obama. They have great backing, both financially and politically. They appeal to very specific demographics, ethnicity and gender. Both candidates don’t play this card though, because it could isolate them and turn away other voters. Obama has a warmer demeanor but lacks experience. Clinton boasts the exact opposite. I like John Edwards, a fellow Tar Heel. My only fear is that he fits into the mold of a vice-presidential candidate. Any person with Edwards or Bill Richardson on their ticket would be a force to be reckoned with.

For the Republicans, Romney has a very strong presence. He speaks well, has a strong record in MA, and has an incredible support system. Giuliani is another strong leader from the North East, but his personal history and flip-flopping on issues such as immigration could hurt him. My pick is Mike Huckabee. I have always thought his ethics and morals are of the highest order, he speaks eloquently and with compassion. I don’t agree with him on some issues, but with he is someone we can trust. It will be very interesting to see how ardent Clinton supporters will turn if Obama wins the Democratic candidacy, and Huckabee wins the Republican candidacy. Remember Bill Clinton is from Arkansas, and a former Governor of his home state, as is Huckabee.

I certainly haven’t decided upon which candidate I agree with, and with whom I would lay my support. Since I am a permanent resident, i cannot vote. This therefore allows me to look at all the candidates from a somewhat neutral perspective, and engage a discussion on the issues and on the candidates without restricting my viewpoint…….