You know what to do.
Do it early. Do it often.
And if you don’t do it, you get what you deserve. The other guy wins.
You might enjoy Didya Vote? from 2008.
Category Archives: #DearCongress
Schooled
Time for a little readin’ ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that 15-year old U.S. high-school students “made no progress on recent international achievement exams and fell further in the rankings, reviving a debate about America’s ability to compete in a global economy.” Results of the survey can be found at oecd.org.
Our teens slipped from 25th to 31st in math in just three years, from 20th to 24th in science; and from 11th to 21st in reading.
The U.S. used to turn out the best students. Then we grew complacent. Then political correctness and inertia overcame the search for knowledge and growth.
Back when I was in high school (heh), we learned readin’, ‘ritin’, ‘rithmetic, and ‘terpretation. Frank Wright (<== his real name) taught us history and social studies, and critical thinking long before “educators” made it a buzz word instead of an orderly process. Mr. Wright wasn’t an “educator”; Mr. Wright was a teacher. Oh, he did worship FDR (making him the most liberal man I had ever met) but he was bright and caring and good at his job. And the only politics that got in the way of teaching us history and life were the ones we freely argued about in the classroom.
Mr. Wright, my parents, and many of our public servants of that time were all life-members of what Tom Brokaw aptly called the “Greatest Generation.” They didn’t just grow up in the Great Depression. They didn’t just win World War II. They didn’t just teach. They learned. The 15-year old U.S. high-school students they once were could read, could write, could do arithmetic, could think critically.
Each succeeding class of 15-year old U.S. high-school students has dropped a little in what they could read, what they could write, what arithmetic they could do, how well they could think critically.
Look where that has brought us.
Today the average 15-year old U.S. high-school student can’t be bothered. That’s not because the average 15-year old U.S. high-school student doesn’t want to be bothered; that’s because our schools aren’t bothering them enough.
Today, our “public servants” (current, past, and would be) are still too busy to fix it. In fact, they are so busy telling you how much you should hate the other guy, they aren’t even telling you how they will pretend to fix it.
I see a tie-in between the failing school results and the failing electoral results.
Here in South Puffin in the vast expanse of Florida sunshine, we’ve learned from Tom Steyer that Gov. Rick Scott is “too shady for the sunshine state.” And the Brothers Koch tell us that former-Gov. Charlie Crist is a “slick politician, lousy governor.”
Up in North Puffin in the People’s Democratic Republic of Vermont, we find (pretty accurate) attack ads against incumbent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ everyday hypocrisy when he isn’t even on the ballot.
Boy, howdy, I feel better informed already.
I know so much bad stuff I don’t have time to worry about life getting better.
My friend Chris Bohjalian wrote yesterday that the dump was once a part of the stump. It’s a good read if your schooling was above average.
Vermonters are not voting for a president or either senator tomorrow, “and the race for our lone congressional representative is not exactly a nail-biter,” he wrote.
Every elective office is important. Even the Mosquito Control Board. And the High Bailiff. The Mosquito Control Board here in the Keys has a $15.51 million budget and a significant air force. The High Bailiff and perhaps only the High Bailiff can arrest the Sheriff.
My rules haven’t changed. If you’re an incumbent, find a new job. If you’re vying and trying and lying for our vote, find a new job. And if your ads even mention the other guy? Find a new job because I ain’t gonna vote for you.
Make tomorrow a nail biter. Don’t send the same Vermonter back to Congress. Don’t send your other scoundrel back to the Senate. Write in someone you know from the dump. He simply can’t do any worse.
Hit the Road, Jack
We go to the polls in just eight days. I’m on the road today, dodging politicians. They all want a piece of my wallet.
Let’s take a look at where we are now, thanks to the crowd in Washington, in Montpelier, in Sacramento, in Tallahassee, and in a capitol near you:
Fun
• I’ve been talking to people in the grocery aisles. “I hate my cow-orkers,” one woman said. “I still couldn’t refinance my mortgage.” “We wanted to go to Hilton Head this year but we couldn’t afford the gas.” People are more negative than ever.
• The Financial Times’ has this depressing air travel story: “Once upon a time, flying was fun. Most of you won’t remember.”
• From trust in airlines to trust in cable companies to trust in food producers to trust in government, doing business isn’t fun anymore. That’s not a political issue but it does contribute to the overall negative vibe. OK, trust in government is political. You know what to do.Health
• California’s doctor networks will stay limited in 2015. Health Net is dumping its PPO network there and switching to a plan with 54% fewer doctors and no out-of-network coverage. Health Net said its cutbacks were necessary to avoid even steeper rate hikes in California. Obamacare where “if we like our doc, we can keep our doc!”
• Dropped or delayed or pooch-screwed coverage for about 30,000 Californians! The LA Times reported that Californians face enrollment delays, dropped coverage and more, thanks to the Unaffordable Care Act. “If you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance!”
• In the People’s Republic of Vermont, another seriously blue state with a broken Health Exchange built by the same company the Feds used, premiums went up and coverage went down. Costs will go down, right?
• Staying in the People’s Republic of Vermont, the state’s largest employer (that would be state government) told workers that their health insurance premiums will rise 17.9% in 2015.
• News from the Veterans Administration to the CDC is of people dying, not people thriving while the agencies from Texas to Arizona “follow protocols.” Government care makes us healthier, right?Money
• 46.5 million people now live in poverty up, up from when Mr. Bush was president, despite 6 years of “doing better.” Obamapologists keep trying to show how much better we treat our poor. Or to blame Mr. Bush.
• The national debt of $17.76 trillion is up more than a trillion dollars every year this Administration has remained in office, despite 6 years of “doing better.” Obamapologists keep trying to spin that into a smaller number. Or to blame Mr. Bush.
• Median household income fell again, down from when Mr. Bush was president despite 6 years of “doing better,” despite 6 years of inflation. Obamapologists can’t spin that.
• Premium increases for Obamacare policies and Medicare Part B won’t be released until after the election. Obamapologists can’t spin that, either.Safety
• A man who posed as a congressman was allowed backstage at when Mr. Obama appeared at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation awards dinner, making us wonder, Who would fake being a congressman?
• Mr. Obama has doubled the number of Border Patrol agents and says “border security is stronger than it has ever been” making us wonder, How do so many millions of illegal aliens get in?
• D.C. Spirit killed his daughter, her six children, and then himself. They had had repeated interactions with the Florida Department of Children and Families. In Hardwick, Vermont, Isaac Robitille was 5 when he got a puppy from Make-A-Wish. The Vermont Department of Children and Families confirms that they’ve tracked Isaac’s problems at least seven years. The state removed Isaac from home in 2007 but a DCF expert sent him back in 2008. They “handled” a new complaint in May. His mom and her boyfriend are charged with his murder. Police say they put vodka in Isaac’s IV. Doesn’t that make you wonder?
Every politician in office today ran on a platform of change. Every politician running for re-election is running on a promise that they “know how to fix it.”
If they know how, why didn’t they?
Tell me again why you want to re-elect any of the liars who brought you to this?
La La Liberals
Some presidents have talked the talk and walked the walk.
Barack Obama talks the talk and walks the links.
This isn’t a comment on how many vacation days Mr. Obama (or any other President) takes. We know that all modern Presidential staffs are in constant contact with the mother ship no matter where POTUS himself happens to be.
This is a comment on how disconnected Mr. Obama is. He gives good speech. Kind of. With a teleprompter. But he sure isn’t much on follow through.
“If he walked on water,” my friend Lido Bruhl said, “you’d complain that he doesn’t get his feet wet. And that TelePrompTer canard is so 2008.”
Heh.
Here’s talking the talk. A (baker’s) dozen times.
Housing Meltdown:
Create a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners. Fail.Jobs:
• Create 1 million new manufacturing jobs by the end of 2016 and working to double American exports. Fail.
• Stand up for American workers and businesses by combating China’s trade practices. Fail.Security:
• Develop a Cyber Security Strategy that ensures that we can identify our attackers and a way to respond. Can you spell Snowden? Fail.
• Close Guantanamo Bay. Fail.Veterans:
• There were 400,000 claims pending within the Veterans Benefits Administration, and over 800,000 expected in 2008. Fail.
• Make the VA a leader of national health care reform. Fail.
• Create a veterans job corps. Fail.Healthcare:
• Close the “doughnut hole” in Medicare. I still have one.
• Expand eligibility for Medicaid. Not in Florida or 23 other states.
• Move the U.S. health care system to standard electronic health records that providers can share. Not in Vermont or most other states.
• “Help up to 40 million, no 30 million, no 15 million, no 7 million, no 7 people get health insurance.”
• “If you like your plan…” Any other questions?
To be fair to my pal Lee, no politician keeps his campaign promises. In fact today, no politician even plans to keep her campaign promises.
To be more fair to my pal Lee, my rug-chewing friend Rufus had the same love affair with Glenn Beck as lefty loons have with Mr. Obama.
“What Beck does surely is news,” Rufus told me. “He has asked the questions I have been asking for months, and he has turned up some answers. I’ve never seen Beck make a statement without sources.
“Of course, I also like a six of Becks Premium light (64 cal /12 oz),” he said in that 2008 exchange.
That’s wrong, too. A 64 calorie slightly alcoholic soda pop isn’t beer.
The only purpose of a news show is to report the answers. Mr. Beck delivered perhaps five minutes of answers leavened with 18 minutes of advertising and 37 minutes of high volume rug chewing.
That ain’t news.
In fact, all that is is rousing the rabble.
Still the usual Liberal approach to
sing Lalalalalalalalala …
say the science is settled …
or point Oh, look! A squirrel!
and to scamper away does even less for a rational discussion than quoting Mr. Beck (or Keith Olbermann). All that is is rousing the rabble. Sound familiar?
Too many Liberals use the political scientific method: Have an idea and think it’s perfect. Find data that backs up the idea. Conclude it was a great idea and never needs changing.
We can do better.
We could apply the actual scientific method in government: Observe a problem and wonder about it. Do research and gather data. Have an idea. Experiment and gather more data to test the idea. Analyze that real data and draw a conclusion.
Oddly, that could even work on Facebook.
Paying for It
When I got the bill for my July Obamacare premium, I shrugged it off.
See, I had changed from a Blue Cross Standard Gold Obamacare plan to a Blue Cross Medicare plan as of July 1 and I figured that was just a bill that got mailed the day they got the cancellation.
When I got the bill for my August Obamacare premium on July 5, I shouldn’t have shrugged it off.
When I got the bill for my September Obamacare premium dated August 5 in today’s mail, I couldn’t shrug it off.
And it turns out I wasn’t alone. The Burlington Free Press reported yesterday that billing problems plague Vermont Health Connect, the state-managed Health Exchange that issues and bills for Obamacare policies.
“Terry Libby has received incorrect bills from Vermont Health Connect since last winter when she first signed up for a Blue Cross insurance plan using the state’s new online website.
“Each month she has paid what she owed, called the state’s helpline to report she was being charged double, and received assurance the problem would be corrected.
“A month later, another incorrect bill would arrive.
“A week ago, however, she received a shock — a bill for $4,662.32.”
Four thousand, six hundred sixty-two dollars.
Jeezum. They’ve billed me only $497.06 no $994.12 no $1,491.18. So far. For.A.Policy.I.Do.Not.Have. I feel like such a piker. I’m sure I’ll catch up.
I’m more than a little nervous about screwing with my Medicare policy. Blue Cross carried over my same policy number when I changed from Obamacare to Medicare.
I called VHicks (the correct pronunciation of VHX, the Vermont Health Exchange, according to my Blue Cross rep) to question the bill they sent me. See, I had gone over this very issue in depth when I bought the Medicare policy. Blue Cross said they would cancel me out of the Obamacare plan when they opened the Medicare plan. All part of the service.
The VHicks rep said it wasn’t up to Blue Cross to cancel the policy. He said he’d try to process the cancellation retroactively but no guarantees.
Retroactively?
I called Blue Cross.
“No worries,” that rep told me. “Your Obamacare plan ended June 30 and your MediGap started July 1.” She also said no way VHX had any way whatsoever to cancel my Medigap policy.
I hate this.
“The government is so not trustable about things like this,” Liz Arden said.
“Not so trustable? Can you spell C-H-A-R-L-I-E F-O-X-T-R-O-T?” Rufus asked only somewhat rhetorically.
“There is no way on God’s green Earth we should be putting up with this level of …. well, it ain’t mediocrity, because that would be far superior to what we are getting.
“You can quote Rufus on that.”
There ya go.
“You don’t want people to get health care!” Annabelle Proctor screeched the last time I wrote. Ms. Proctor holds an undergraduate degree in dance from Bennington College and a graduate degree in Social Justice from Planet Marlboro, Vermont’s two most liberal and free-thinking schools.
My other Liberal friends all seem to echo that.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
I want my doc and yours to do better doctoring than they do today.
I want every citizen to have access to whatever doctor or other healer they want.
I want every visitor to be able to pay Fee for Service to whatever doctor or other healer they want.
I want the cost (not just my bill) to be less than a Moon shot.
Just like it was in 1976 when five days in Cabarrus County Memorial Hospital cost me $254 after a racing accident. That’s less than a hammer, a toilet seat, or a week’s worth of Starbuck$.
And I certainly don’t want the folks who brought us $436 hammers, $640 toilet seats, and $7,600 coffee makers to flush my policy when it gives me a heart attack.
Yep, we’re paying for it now.