don’t panic

A week ago, I started seeing “No Parking” signs set up around my parents house, indicating that the city was going to be doing some construction in a few days.  Given the horrid state of the residential streets around their house, we figured that they might finally be resurfacing the area, something that has been long overdue. Turns out we were very wrong.  What they were doing was putting in handicapped access curbs for the disabled.

Now, I have nothing against the disabled.  My daughter is disabled, as is my wife.  I also don’t have a problem with those in wheelchairs demanding access, especially around their homes.  But here’s the thing –   Most of these street corners already had access ramps. They just weren’t the fancy new kind with the yellow bumped pad at the bottom.

I understand that this is a Federally mandated law that requires that certain guidelines be followed to insure that handicapped individuals have adequate access.  But something is seriously wrong when our economy is in the toilet, our State unemployment is over 10%, the State has a budget shortfall of over 50 billion dollars, we’re sending IOU’s home with state employees in lieu of a paycheck, cutting teachers and every conceivable program from our schools, BUT we’re ripping out perfectly good access ramps in deep rural areas and spending $3000-$7000 per corner to replace them with an update?? What the hell?

There were several dozen of these curbs being done just in this batch!  The road is literally falling apart, but the sidewalk is great.  And the only guy I have EVER seen in a wheelchair around my parents house doesn’t even use the sidewalks.  He has a little motorized chair that he zips around in on the street!

Why not save the country billions of dollars by setting up a program that allows people to request a curb ramp based on need?  Sure, make it a requirement around major roads, businesses and schools, but come on!  Why are we wasting money we don’t have to replace perfectly good ramps in areas that are purely residential with tract-home angled sidewalks for each house’s driveway about every fifty feet or less?

Read an interesting, if not pointless bit of journalism on CNN today.  Basically, Jack Cafferty is questioning the Obama administration’s choice to use higher taxes to the rich to help pay for health care reform.  While questioning the government’s decisions is something we should always do, the tone that political journalists take in regard to that questioning is just as important.  Sensational news stories that are nothing short of flame bait have become the norm these days, and frankly, it’s sickening.  There is so little actual information or “news” in Cafferty’s piece, that one needs to consider whether it belongs on a news site at all.  In any case, it riled me enough to make me think about the issue again.

Should the wealthy help pay for healthcare?  Notice that I used the word “help”.  Cafferty did not.  The rich can not, will not pay for the entire changes called for by the Obama administration, so it is completely disingenuous to imply that they will.  My money will go toward the new system, as will anyone with income in the U.S.

Cafferty suggests that under the new plan, someone making $450,000 a year, will pay $7,100 more in taxes.  $7,100 sounds like a lot… if you’re making less than $50,000 a year.  But he should have used percentages.  In percentages, that’s about 1.57% more taxes.  Not really that exciting, is it.  To really put it in perspective, do it the other way.  If I made $45,000 a year (what most of us do), that would be an extra $710 more a year in taxes.  While it would certainly hurt a little, it still sounds like a deal.  And that’s the higher rate for the rich, the ones for whom an extra $7100 is peanuts.

Is it fair?  Simply put, no.  But I do think it’s just.  Putting a slightly higher burden on a slim few who are doing well is not much to make such a huge difference in the lives of so many.  I don’t buy the crap that the wealthy have worked harder to get where they are and shouldn’t be penalized for that by paying for those that simply “sit around and expect the government to take care of them”.  First of all, that attitude is insulting to anyone with a disability, and second, the rich, for the most part, are rich because they stand on the backs of the shuffling hordes who DO work harder, literally, and for wages that pretty much ensure that they will never have that “American Dream.”  If the middle class fails, we ALL fail.

HOWEVER, I am amazed that no one is really asking the right question here, which is not, should the rich pay, but rather what is really wrong with healthcare.   Why is it that Americans are going bankrupt over health issues that weren’t a problem 50 years ago?  Or even 10 years ago.  Are we suddenly less healthy?  To a certain degree, I think we are, but not proportionally to the amounts we’re paying in health cost today. Not even close.  So what’s really up?  Where is that money going?

The ones getting fat off of unhealthy Americans are the ones who provide the care.  Hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, high-tech medical research.  More than any other time in our history, our doctors are prescribing procedures that cost hundreds of times more than anything our parents ever paid. The medical industry would say that these new, expensive procedures are there to save lives.  Unfortunately, they are fixing the body, and leaving the soul in the gutter.  It’s not uncommon for a doctor to ask for a $6,000 MRI head scan whenever a patient complains of even minor neck pain after a car accident.  Sure, it can really confirm if there’s something wrong, and so can waiting a week to see if the pain goes away. Doctors are getting kickbacks from big pharma to push the latest and greatest medications, which incidentally aren’t covered by any health care, let alone government issue, all when there are perfectly acceptable and proven alternatives already on the market.  Is it really worth that $400 a month for 30 pills for slightly fewer side effects?  We have stopped treating causes and only treat symptoms.  Who cares why I have acid reflux, so long as I can take a pill (for the rest of my life) and feel better.  It’s actually hard to find someone over fifty who ISN’T taking at least one long term medication.  What does that say about us?

We treat our personal physicians the same way we treat our auto mechanic.  We go in when something breaks, and we don’t care how it works (or even what’s wrong for the most part).  We just want them to fix the problem so we can get back out on the road and continue doing whatever it was that broke the car in the first place.  The only time we actually want to know the details is when the mechanic tells us that the bill is going to exceed the Bluebook value of the car.  Ah, and that’s where the analogy parts ways, because we have been taught that your simply can’t put a price on life.

And yet we do.  Our doctor certainly does, likewise our insurance company.  Our life insurance is literally putting a price tag on our life.  So what is our health really worth?  Should the poor be left to die because they cant afford an expensive CT scan or the medications that could save their life?

Who is regulating the medical industry?  Who sets the prices that doctors and surgeons charge for services, or is it simply “what the market will bear”?  I heard on the radio that the government wants to work with the medical industry to get them to lower costs by streamlining things.  They were asking them to agree to cut costs by 10 and 20% over several decades…  And they would do this because…?  Why should they agree to less profit?  Why should they agree to do 20% worse financially in the coming years?  It looks nice in front of the media, that’s for sure, but it’s all just vapor.  A little creative accounting will make the shareholders smile again, and THAT is what really matters to the medical industry.  You can’t put a price on happy shareholders.  Screw life.  Screw the American public.  If it wasn’t profitable, it wouldn’t be the American Way.  At least that’s how the pharmaceutical industry sees it.

So, Jack, instead of flaming the Obama administration for making the “rich” pay more for new healthcare, why don’t you turn that ire on the ones who have their hands out to collect?

General Motors, recently out of bankruptcy, is announcing it’s new line of cars today.  Remembering for a moment that the cars they are putting out today have been in development for a while now, lets take a look at the new pickings.

Performance car No. 1: Chevrolet Camaro
Price: $22,245 – $33,430
Fuel economy: 18 city, 29 hwy with V6

Performance car No. 2: Pontiac Solstice Coupe
Price: $26,895
Fuel economy: 19 city, 29 hwy

Small crossover No. 1: Chevrolet Equinox
Price: $23,185
Fuel economy: 22 city, 32 hwy with 4-cyl.

Mid-sized car: Buick LaCrosse
Price: $27,835
Fuel economy: Not yet announced

Small crossover No. 2: GMC Terrain
Price: Not announced
Fuel economy: 22 city, 32 hwy with 4-cyl.

Small crossover No. 3: Cadillac SRX
Price: $34,155
Fuel economy: Not yet announced

Wagon: Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon
Price: Not yet announced
Fuel economy: 18 city, 26 hwy

The very first thing that strikes me about GM’s new lineup is the glaring absence of an economy compact car (and no, the performance coupe doesn’t count).  This is a company that is even now coming out of bankruptcy because they failed to provide people with the kinds of cars people wanted.  Blame the economy if you like, but Toyota is doing fine, thank you very much.  Their MPG ratings are better than previous models, but WAY behind what people are asking for, and frankly, what other manufacturers are producing.

It’s also fishy that three of the seven models still have no fuel economy ratings.  Mind you, these are cars that will be available for purchase at the dealer in less than thirty days!  Don’t they know this by now??  Or is it that they are too afraid of the public backlash and so are waiting as long as possible?  Me thinks the later.

I have always hated how manufacturers try to redefine the “class” of vehicle their product falls into so they can claim that their vehicle is the “best in it’s class.”  Yeah, a class of one…  What the hell is a “small crossover”?  First we had cars and trucks, then “sports cars”, then “sports utility vehicles”, then “compacts”, “vans”,  “mid-sized”, “sedan”, “performance”, “luxury”, “luxury SUV” (now there’s an oxymoron if there ever was one), “wagon”, “mini-van”, “mini-bus”, “full-size” (what the?… as opposed to the scale model?), “mini”, “super-mini”, “hatchback”, “hot-hatch”, “sports sedan”, “grand tourer” (?), “muscle car”, “MPV”… GAAAAAAH!!

IT’S.  A.  CAR!

Why, oh why, is it so hard for American auto makers to get it through their heads that the days of big, overpowered, gas-guzzling vehicles are OVER?!  Call it whatever class you want and rave about how great your mileage is, but the pickings still SUCK, and a 30 year-old Civic STILL blows doors off your best model for fuel efficiency.  And SEVEN new models?!  WHY?!  Why not put some mental effort into maybe just one or two?  They have THREE vehicles which are basically SUV’s, another two that are borderline, a luxury car, and a sports car.  WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!

If it’s MY money bailing these idiots out, can I please put in my vote to immediately fire anyone in the company who has had any input on new models in the last decade?  Please?

Every Christmas, my family gets together with relatives and friends on Christmas Eve for a large family dinner celebration.  There are a lot of us, more than could conceivably fit at a single dining room table, even with the flaps out, so several smaller tables are usually set up for the kids.  In most cases, there’s a table for the real youngsters, with highchairs and sippy-cups, and then a second table for those kids who don’t consider themselves babies, but are yet unproven at the “adult” table.

Inevitably, there’s always that one kid who thinks they are “grown up” enough to sit at the adult table, and after enough whining they are finally given a chance.  You can almost always tell right away if it’s going to work out, because if they are serious they will be nearly invisible.  They’ll rarely utter a word beyond please and thank you, and take the utmost care not to make a mistake in etiquette, because they KNOW that a tipped glass of milk, or a temper tantrum over their broccoli will land them back at the kiddy-table for at least another year.

Sarah Palin is that child.  She had her chance at the adult table… and blew it big time.

I can’t believe what a whining baby this woman is turning out to be.  She’s a state governor for goodness sake, yet she just doesn’t know when to shut up!  There have always been those politicians that couldn’t verbally articulate themselves in front of the media.  It makes their job a lot more difficult, but not impossible.  If they blow it enough, the media will take notice and it may take a lot of being real quiet to get them to forget and move on.  But Sarah Palin seems hell bent on keeping the media focussed directly on her, and like the unruly kid at the adult table, she keeps showing them how much of a mistake it was.

So, Sarah, here are some basic rules of political campaigning:

- If you talk to the press at all, have something concrete and well prepared to say. NEVER call a press conference just to tell them that great things are coming… but that you won’t say what they are.

- Don’t take questions unless you can give well prepared and complete answers.  No, rambling on and on does NOT make your answers more complete.  If your words are going to be heard by more than yourself, then hire a decent script writer.  No, you are not good enough to do it yourself.

- NEVER state that the media is being unfair or (hells bells) doesn’t understand. It’s your JOB to be certain they understand exactly what you mean, every time.  If you can’t do that, you’re in the wrong profession.

- “The media” is in it for the money.  They want juicy headlines. In the absence of actual details provided by you, they will naturally infer that you are either hiding something (very juicy), or simply don’t have a clue (making you the fodder of every late night host on the telle).  Blaming them for that or saying they are slanted against you is like throwing gasoline on a fire.

- If you say you’re going to bail on your elected position, don’t immediately take a vacation.  It may become permanent.

- If you DO take a vacation, then for goodness sake, take a damn vacation! And whatever else you do, DON’T talk to the media while you stand there in your waders pretending to be enjoying yourself with your family.

- Never expect the media to leave you alone. This is especially true if you were just running for Vice President of the United States of America, a position that would virtually insure that the media eye will be watching your every single move for the rest of your unnatural life, and digging into every single tiny embarrassing fact that you have ever had recorded anywhere.

And lastly – When invited to the adult table, try a little harder to shut up and not spill your milk.

After announcing to the public that she won’t be completing her term as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin is experiencing what is known as “media backlash”.  This is what happens when a currently “hot” media persona does something fantastical, or strange… or just plain stupid.

You can think of the modern news media like the great Eye of Sauron.  So long as that eye is focussed somewhere else, you’re fine.  But if you happen to make too much noise, that awful gaze will swing and fix on you, calling all the minions in the land to come and beat you to a pulp.

And this is just what has happened to Governor Palin.  It’s certainly not helping her that she isn’t giving any concrete reasons for ditching her fiercely loyal followers.  All we really know is that she’s doing so for a “higher calling”…  So, what, is she going to become a pastor or something? “The Media” hears these kinds of statements and starts salivating.  It’s code for “coverup”.  Either she is bailing on her office to escape a coming firestorm of ethics violations, or she simply can’t emotionally DO her job, or God really is calling her somewhere else, in which case she is just too chicken to actually say that to the media because she knows they would eat her alive.  Whatever the real reason, the news media just loves it. It’s exactly the kind of juicy, “stay tuned” kind of suspense that drives big bucks in print or online.

And what is Sarah’s response to all this attention?

“The response in the main stream media has been most predictable, ironic, and as always, detached from the lives of ordinary Americans who are sick of the “politics of personal destruction”. How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it’s about country.”

Well… Governor, you got the first part right.  The response by the media IS predictable.  That’s what happens when you forcibly leave them in the dark after calling a hurried press conference.  Ironic?  Perhaps, but certainly not for the reasons that you think.  And then she invokes the “ordinary  Americans” clause.  This is the same BS that lost the election for Republicans.  News flash - There’s no such thing as an ordinary American, and the only thing people are sick of is having someone like you trying to come across as “one of them”.  Does it really surprise you that the public majority has seen through the starry haze and remembered that it might not be such a good idea to put an “average” soccer-mom in charge of the free world… or even the forth smallest state in the Union?

And what you don’t get about “the media”, Sarah, is that they are us. We, as a people dictate what we want to see on the news.  Sure, there’s slant and spin, and dog-wagging everywhere, but ultimately, the news outlets go where the money is, and the money is wherever WE say it is.  Is Michael Jackson’s death going to collapse the economy?  Probably not (though he did manage to take down a good slice of the internet). But it’s front page news because WE say it’s front page news.  Us “ordinary Americans” feel that the death of a pop-star icon is currently more important than YOU, or practically anything else for that matter.  Does it make sense?  Hell no.  But it is what it is.  To state that the media “will never understand” is akin to calling US, the people who put YOU in office, idiots.  How “predictable” of you to clump us morons together with “Washington” and then spout your patriotism by telling us ”it’s about country.”  Yeah, what country would that be?  Certainly not my country.

She goes on, claiming how unfair it is that “countless others” have left their office early without such backlash, and that there has always been a double standard for her from the media.  THIS JUST IN – How many of these “countless others” just ran for the vice presidency?  Excuse me, Governor, but did no one in the Republican party explain to you that by signing on for that commitment, as a woman no less, you would basically have the Eye of Sauron fixed on you for the rest of your life?  Or did they just assume you understood the rules because it’s part of the freaking job.

It is somewhat frightful to me that a person so close to being in charge of our country -literally a small percentage of votes and a heartbeat- is that clueless as to the actual magnitude of the office that they seek to embody.  This is not the PTA.  This is not your kid’s soccer league.  This is not even the governorship of a state.  This is the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the leader of the free world, and the economic stronghold of the entire planet for which all others are dependent. We can’t afford someone who is going to step down when things don’t go the way they want, because they aren’t going to… ever.  They never have, and they never will because that’s how it’s supposed to be.

It’s an insult to site how grand a job you have done compared to other governors when your population is a fraction of that of most states. California has fifty-three times your population.  Still want to talk about how much you have done?  Frankly, Alaska is EASY compared almost any other state in the Union, and you couldn’t handle even that.  And you have a “higher calling?”

Let’s just hope it has nothing at all to do with politics.