http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-healthcare-talks22-2009jul22,0,1752248.story
Continuing on the theme of government-industrial complexes, consider that we have absoutely no idea who or what is behind this health care plan. This is how Obama does business; its why every bill is thousands of pages long, and Congress couldn't be bothered to read or debate the entire bill even if they were given the time.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Resistance to Obama Care Just "Politics"
The latest Obamacast to America, a political TV ad features a couple discussing public health care. They present, in order, the stock arguments from the liberal side of the debate in Congress (team Obama). The script of the commercial is even worded like a series of Obama sound bytes. But the center of the "debate" is not an argument or a fact - it's a blanket characterization that is not helping to move the debate forward. It scares me to think that this is just the discussion happening in Congress. Debate regarding the merits and moral hazards of public health care is the next step.
This makes the House's failure to meet the August deadline somewhat of a victory. The delay means we just have to live with the system a while longer; inevitably the debate will happen, and by then conservative voters will be able to mount a better defense. The right needs a market solution - scary to think about what the current Republican party might create for corporate health care industry. However, by then Republican voters will have had an opportunity to thin their ranks of such pseudoconservatives.
How can this be considered "just politics?" Did anyone really expect the most radical progressive reorganization of American institutions to succeed instantly with no opposition? Sometimes a compromise will satisfy both sides, but there is very little chance here. Obama has tried very hard to attract conservatives by using markets and economic incentives - de-socializing his plan. I think conservative resistance to this plan is legitimate. Claiming that "it's just politics" is a complete cop out argument that marginalizes perfectly legitimate concerns.
Just like most legislation these days, you cannot focus on projections of its effects. The pro-con talking points become irrelevant when the true problem with most legislation is the unintended consequences, including special provisions hidden within thousands of pages of fine print that are known only to the lobbyist who wrote them.
This makes the House's failure to meet the August deadline somewhat of a victory. The delay means we just have to live with the system a while longer; inevitably the debate will happen, and by then conservative voters will be able to mount a better defense. The right needs a market solution - scary to think about what the current Republican party might create for corporate health care industry. However, by then Republican voters will have had an opportunity to thin their ranks of such pseudoconservatives.
How can this be considered "just politics?" Did anyone really expect the most radical progressive reorganization of American institutions to succeed instantly with no opposition? Sometimes a compromise will satisfy both sides, but there is very little chance here. Obama has tried very hard to attract conservatives by using markets and economic incentives - de-socializing his plan. I think conservative resistance to this plan is legitimate. Claiming that "it's just politics" is a complete cop out argument that marginalizes perfectly legitimate concerns.
Just like most legislation these days, you cannot focus on projections of its effects. The pro-con talking points become irrelevant when the true problem with most legislation is the unintended consequences, including special provisions hidden within thousands of pages of fine print that are known only to the lobbyist who wrote them.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
When Banks = Government
I recently came across Matt Taibbi's feature "The Great American Bubble Machine." In this article he examines the existentially corrupt relationship between banks and government:
This is a phenomenal piece because Taibbi begins with the right questions in mind. The default assumption for most media analysis is that the old policies were flawed and the question is how to better control the economy. This article suggests that the real problem is the government-banking complex, in which rent-seeking banks and corporations can exploit our system - if they have power.
The relevance of this observation is downplayed as the majority* of the country, towing the Obama party line, demands more regulation on banks. In banking fashion, this will of course come down to a mere 10,000 page bill in Congress; complete with plenty of garbage to hide the "riders" and amendments attached to create more loopholes. Just wait until there is a carbon bubble, where every credit is being traded 20 times before it reaches a consumer. You'll wish you hadn't gone along.
The formula is relatively simple: Goldman positions itself in the middle of a speculative bubble, selling investments they know are crap. Then they hoover up vast sums from the middle and lower floors of society with the aid of a crippled and corrupt state that allows it to rewrite the rules in exchange for the relative pennies the bank throws at political patronage.
This is a phenomenal piece because Taibbi begins with the right questions in mind. The default assumption for most media analysis is that the old policies were flawed and the question is how to better control the economy. This article suggests that the real problem is the government-banking complex, in which rent-seeking banks and corporations can exploit our system - if they have power.
The relevance of this observation is downplayed as the majority* of the country, towing the Obama party line, demands more regulation on banks. In banking fashion, this will of course come down to a mere 10,000 page bill in Congress; complete with plenty of garbage to hide the "riders" and amendments attached to create more loopholes. Just wait until there is a carbon bubble, where every credit is being traded 20 times before it reaches a consumer. You'll wish you hadn't gone along.
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