December 30-31, 2008
Dec 30 17:31 Identifying the 'Common Good' Dec 30 18:27 Defiant Blagojevich Names Obama's Replacement Dec 31 12:52 What Health Care Reform DOESN'T Look Like
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
Identifying the 'Common Good'
The St. Cloud Times' Editorial Board wrote an editorial bemoaning the lack of politicians working for the common good. While such generalities sound nice, something that's left unresolved is defining what the common good is. I'll attempt to do that in this post. First, let's look at the editorial:
StatewideThe Times Editorial Board talks about the common good but it won't define what things contribute to the common good. Perhaps that's because they don't want to be specific.
At the legislative level, we hold little hope for common sense. Why? In recent sessions, it usually gets lost in the ideological chasm between Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the DFL-led House and Senate.
True, the 2008 session was fairly successful in that a bonding bill did pass. However, we attribute that more to it having been an election year, especially one with Pawlenty in the national spotlight.
The 2009 session features a $4.8 billion projected state shortfall along with several overarching structural budget challenges (think education funding, human service costs, etc.) and no pressing electoral incentives for legislators or the governor. When such a scenario last arose, it spurred a bicker-fest that some might say just won't go away.
To define the common good, we must ask whether each line item helps people be more safe, more prosperous or more free. If those line items can't be justified that way, then it isn't likely that it's contributing to the common good.
Here's a great example of defining what the common good isn't: The original set of omnibus spending bills passed by the DFL in 2007 would've increased spending by 17+ percent during this biennium. Fortunately, Gov. Pawlenty's veto was sustained by the House GOP. When the session ended, spending increased by 9 percent. The difference in spending between 9 percent and 17 percent is approximately $2.5 billion.
Adding an additional $2.5 billion to the existing $5.2 billion deficit is a 50 percent increase. That isn't helping anyone except the special interests. It isn't making Minnesota more prosperous. Adding $2.5 billion to the existing deficit isn't making market-based health care reform possible. It isn't helping fund additional police officers or additional firemen. Therefore it isn't making Minnesotans safer.
The only thing that additional $2.5 billion deficit is doing is placing a higher burden on Minnesota's families. That's the opposite of making people more free.
Posted Tuesday, December 30, 2008 5:31 PM
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Defiant Blagojevich Names Obama's Replacement
A defiant Gov. Rod Blagojevich ignored calls for him to step aside, instead naming Former State Attorney General Roland Burris to replace President-Elect Barack Obama in the United States Senate:
Blagojevich, arrested Dec. 9 on charges of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder, appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the seat. He praised the 71-year-old Burris' integrity and asked that the corruption allegations don't "taint this good and honest man."From a political standpoint, this is a brilliant move. If the Senate votes to not accept Burris, they'll be turning down an accomplished minority politician:
"The people of Illinois are entitled to have two United States senators represent them in Washington D.C.," Blagojevich said at a news conference in Chicago. "As governor I am required to make this appointment."
Burris was the first African-American elected to major statewide office. He's served as Illinois' comptroller and ran for governor three times, the last time losing to Blagojevich.Based on their official statement, it's obvious that Senate Democrats aren't happy getting painted into this corner:
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush came out of the crowd at the news conference to urge U.S. senators to seat Burris, noting Obama's departure leaves the chamber without a black member. Earlier in the day, Senate leaders released a statement saying they would not seat anyone Blagojevich appointed. "This is a good decision," Rush said. "Roland Burris is worthy. He has not in 40 years of public service had one iota of taint on his record as a public servant. "
"It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety," the statement said.I suspect that Harry Reid and Co. are upset with Gov. Blagojevich but that they'll seat Burris because they can't afford the political hit they'd take if they didn't seat a qualified black politician. In this context, it's irrelevant that Gov. Blagojevich is embroiled in a scandal.
"Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus."
Posted Tuesday, December 30, 2008 6:28 PM
Comment 1 by Donna Foster at 31-Dec-08 09:15 AM
Does anyone else see the irony in the fact that 50 Democrat Senators and a bunch of politicians from Illinois are suddenly concerned about someone who would "serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety"? They weren't concerned about these things when they ran Clinton in the 90s, or when they ran Obama this year. In fact, they have spent decades re-defining the meaning of the word "improper" to the point where it only applies to Republicans and Conservatives, and the news media has earned an assist in this process! Modifying that line from Fost/Nixon: "If the Democrats do it, it isn't improper!" We all knew about Illinois politics, and the media intentionally disregarded the dirty aspects of the political machine Obama emerged from. The Blago situation is a scandal that even people who aren't paying attention can understand. In light of that fact, the Democrats are now trying to appear to have the same morals as the people. Ha! Everytime this subject comes up in my daily life, I remind everyone that these Democrats are the people who won in 2006 based on the mantra "culture of corruption", while behind the scenes they are the real dirty ones. How different they behave when the people are watching.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 31-Dec-08 10:20 AM
Donna, That irony isn't lost on anyone.
Comment 3 by Donna Foster at 31-Dec-08 10:39 AM
Gary,
I realize that irony isn't lost on the people who read this blog, but the fact that we now have President-Elect Barack Obama, and the fact that the Democrats are stealing our Senate race right out in the open, means that that irony was, indeed, lost on a majority of the voting public.
What Health Care Reform DOESN'T Look Like
The Lady Logician has tracked down an article that paints a pathetic picture of the Canadian health care system. She's posted her thoughts about the Canadian health care system here . Here's the appalling truth about the Canadian health care system:
Emergency room waiting times at some Ontario hospitals are prompting seriously ill people to walk away, sometimes with fatal results, health officials say. Dr. Sean Gartner says 11 per cent of the people who came to the emergency room at his hospital in Guelph last month ended up leaving without receiving treatment.A little less than a year ago, Tarryl Clark held a health care forum at the Whitney Senior Center. After the panelists gave their brief presentations, a woman stood up to defend the Canadian health care system . Here's what she said:
A few months earlier, Gartner said an elderly man who left after he became tired of waiting was later found dead.
In February, Patricia Vepari, a 21-year-old engineering student, arrived at a Kitchener hospital emergency room with a fever, sore throat and nausea. Facing an eight-hour wait, she decided to go home, where she died of an infection.
"The doctors are wonderful. You get good care. And it just makes me mad when they talk about how they have to come over here to get good care & that's not true."The article above tells me that the story this woman told is a bunch of BS. People walking out of ER's and dying isn't anybody's idea of getting "good care" nor does it prove that "The doctors are wonderful."
" Now they say that Canadians have to come over here for good treatment. Well don't you believe it. Don't you believe it one bit. That government is so good to all its people. I don't care if you're rich or poor. They take care of you. And so many of the people come & they talk crap about how awful their system is. Well, don't you believe it. Single payer is wonderful if it's run right."
After Ms. Linus' statement, Sen. John Marty made this comment:
We need to think of health care like a community need, just like the police department or fire department.My question for Sen. Marty is simple: When a person calls the fire department to report a fire at their home, isn't it typical that the fire department immediately dispatches a truck to extinguish the blaze? Based on that article, it can't be said that Canadian physicians don't alway operate with an appropriate level of urgency.
Based on that article about Canada's health care system, shouldn't we avoid Canada's health care system like the plague? Perhaps it's better said that Canada's health care system is something we should avoid like we'd avoid their ER's.
The disturbing part about the Ontario ER story is that it isn't an isolated incident :
Health officials say a man who died in the waiting area of a major Winnipeg hospital's emergency department may have been dead "for some time" before medical staff was alerted, 34 hours after he arrived.Based on these deaths, it isn't a stretch to say that reports that Canadian "doctors are wonderful" and that "you get good care" in Canada are more myth than fact.
The 45-year-old arrived by taxi at the Health Sciences Centre around 3 p.m. Friday from the Health Action Centre, a community health centre in central Winnipeg, where he had an earlier appointment, officials said.
Posted Wednesday, December 31, 2008 12:53 PM
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