Were it not for continued Republican control of the House of Representatives, the G.O.P. would have very little power in Washington. Right now, it looks like the 113th Congress will have 234 Republicans, 197 Democrats, with 4 Seats still undecided. But that G.O.P. majority there is an artificial one, as the following article points out. Clearly, if they are smart, the Democratic Party will be working to gain control of governorships and state legislatures over the next few years to weaken the Republican hold on the House of Representatives. Interesting article! Take a moment to read and see why, even though they have a majority in the House, the Republcans are not really a party representative of the country.
Jack Lippman
* * * *
Republicans Kept the House
by Drawing GOP-friendly Districts
Harold Meyerson
(The writer is editor-at-large of
The American Prospect. This article
appeared on the Op-Ed page of the Palm Beach Post on November 16.)
When Republicans claim that this was a status quo election,
they point to their continued hold on the House. The 2012 congressional vote,
some have said, didn’t undo the party’s 2010 successes.
True enough, but that’s not because Americans didn’t vote to
undo them. It’s because Republicans have so gerrymandered congressional
districts in states where they controlled redistricting the past two years that
they were able to elude a popular vote that went the Democrats’ way.
As The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake reported, Democrats
narrowly outpolled Republicans in number of votes cast for congressional
candidates. The margin varies, but any way you count it, the Democrats came out
ahead — in everything but the number of House seats they won.
Consider Pennsylvania. President Barack Obama won 52 percent
of the votes cast, and Democratic Sen. Bob Casey defeated his Republican rival,
53 percent to 45 percent. Yet Democrats won just five of that state’s 18 U.S.
House seats. They carried both districts in the Philadelphia area — by 85
percent and 89 percent, respectively — and three other districts, by 77, 69 and
61 percent. Of the 13 districts where Republicans prevailed, GOP candidates won
seven with less than 60 percent; in only one district did the Republican
candidate’s total exceed 65 percent.
Why such lopsided numbers? Because Republican-controlled
redistricting after the 2010 Census packed Democratic voters into a handful of
imaginatively shaped districts around Pennsylvania’s urban centers and created
a slew of GOP districts in the rest of the state.
So it went in other swing states. Mr. Obama won Ohio by two
points, and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown won by five, but Democrats emerged
with just four of Ohio’s 16 House seats. In Wisconsin, Mr. Obama prevailed by
seven points, and Democratic Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin by five, but their
party finished with just three of eight House seats.
In Virginia, Mr. Obama and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate
Tim Kaine were clear victors, but Democrats won just three of the commonwealth’s
11 House seats. In Florida, Mr. Obama eked out a victory and Democratic Sen.
Bill Nelson won by 13 points, but Democrats will hold only 10 of 27 House
seats.
In these five states, Democrats will hold 25 House seats to
the Republicans’ 55. If control of these House seats reflected the Democrats’
statewide margins in presidential and Senate contests, the Democrats would
likely be at parity or in the majority in the new House.
This isn’t to say Democrats don’t play similar games. On
Election Day, they picked up five House seats in Illinois after a
Democratic-controlled redistricting in 2011, so they will hold 12 of the 18
House seats. But Mr. Obama carried his home state by a 16-point margin, and the
Democratic pick-ups help create a delegation that fairly reflects the state’s
partisan balance.
A model for a fairer way to carve congressional districts
exists in California. Years ago, voters entrusted redistricting to a
nonpartisan commission. Last week’s election was the first conducted using the
new boundaries. Some longtime incumbents (among them Democrat Howard Berman and
Republican David Dreier) were displaced, and some rising constituencies were
empowered; California’s new congressional delegation will include five
Asian-Americans, nine Latinos and 18 women — all Democrats. But Mr. Obama
carried California by 21 points; Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein won by 23;
and Democrats are likely to hold 38 of the state’s 53 House seats.
Republicans love to proclaim their affinity for the
marketplace and the genius of competition. But it’s by suppressing competition,
and crafting uncompetitive districts, that they maintained their hold on the
House. Their grasp on the House derives not from voter sentiment but almost
entirely from the line-drawers’ art.
Gaza – It is Very
Simple
The
Arab world complains about the bombing of Gaza that Israel is carrying
out primarily to destroy missile launching sites there and reach those who direct those attacks on Israel. They ignore the fact that the bombings are a
reaction to the increasing number of missiles being launched into Israel from
Gaza. They don’t seem to understand that
all they have to do to stop the bombing is to stop launching missiles aimed at
Israel. It is all very simple.
Of
course, they cannot do this because while Hamas believes it is perfectly acceptable
to launch missiles at a country the existence of which they deny, they believe
Israel’s reaction to their doing so is not similarly acceptable. What the Arabs fail to realize is
that persisting in launching missiles is to the detriment of the ultimate
establishment of a Palestinian state alongside of Israel. Keep launching
missiles, keep denying Israel’s right to exist, and there never, ever, will be
a Palestinian state. That too is very
simple.
Launching
missiles strengthens the position of that minority of Israelis who feel that there
should never be a Palestinian state, that all of those who claim to be
Palestinians should be expelled from Israel, and that a good place to
start would be Gaza. I am sure there are
Palestinians and Arabs elsewhere who recognize this but their voices are not being
heard.
An agreement will be difficult to reach since in the past, Israel evacuated all Israelis from Gaza and turned it over to the Palestinians, who let radical Islamists turn it into a missile launching pad rather than part of the embryo of a Palestinian state which would live in peace with Israel. That's where any forthcoming negotiations have to start, not with Israeli concessions in exchange for the cessation of missile launches.
An agreement will be difficult to reach since in the past, Israel evacuated all Israelis from Gaza and turned it over to the Palestinians, who let radical Islamists turn it into a missile launching pad rather than part of the embryo of a Palestinian state which would live in peace with Israel. That's where any forthcoming negotiations have to start, not with Israeli concessions in exchange for the cessation of missile launches.
JL
With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, I dug this story out of my archives. It may have appeared on the blog before, but it is timely in view of the season. It was originally written in 2003 for a writers' group. Enjoy it, and have a Happy Thanksgiving holiday.
Something
to Believe In
Wang
looked up in amazement at the gigantic balloons which floated down the avenue
above the paraders. Some were in the
shapes of elephants and clowns and characters he recognized from the TV shows
he had been watching. And the
music! There were blaring bands from all
over the country interspersed among the floats.
“But,
Mom, what is this parade all about? Who
are we paying homage to?” the thirteen year old asked the middle-aged woman who
held his hand tightly. “I remember
parades like this in China,
but they were always in honor of the Party or the working man. I know you have tried to explain Thanksgiving
to me, but who are we thanking? Where
are the leaders we should be cheering, like we did in Tiananmen
Square on May Day?
“Wang,”
she answered, “We are giving thanks for having the things which make our life
so happy. You know, the food on our
table, our clothes, the nice apartment we live in. Americans give thanks in many ways, some even
thank God for what they have, but Wang, God personally won’t be part of the
parade.”
Max,
on the boy’s other side, gave Louise a jaundiced look.
“Oh,”
the boy replied. But it was clear that
he was still confused. “You mean I won’t
be seeing Jesus in the parade? He’s the
one I usually thank for that kind of stuff. That’s what Reverend Lee taught us
to do.”
“No,
but if you want to be thankful to him, you can, Wang.”
When
Louise and Max had gotten Wang from the Mission Adoption Society less than a
month before, they had been told that the Mission people who had taught him
English also converted him to Christianity, once they had gotten him out of
China where proselyting was illegal. One
of the things they had agreed to was to raise the boy as a Christian. Neither Louise nor Max really practiced any
religion. They decorated a tree at
Christmastime, but had never set foot in a church in their entire lives. Max was born Jewish, but he lacked a
religious background and was totally non-observant. Louise came from a family of atheists. So, when they paid the $25,000 adoption fee
to the Mission Society, they didn’t object to agreeing to raise the boy as a
Christian. And the Mission
people didn’t really care. So far as Louise
and Max were concerned, decorating a Christmas tree and hanging up a stocking
Christmas Eve would suffice for his religious upbringing. But Wang’s constant questioning was getting
to be a bother.
The
parade was drawing to a close, and the level of tension was increasing. Wang felt it and didn’t know why, but
suddenly, the final float of the parade came into view. Mounted on a sleigh pulled by eight animated
reindeer, and waving to all, was Santa Claus, resplendent in his white-trimmed
bright red outfit, his snow-covered beard cascading down over his chest. A loudspeaker boomed out his cries of “Ho,
Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas to All! Ho, Ho,
Ho,”
Wang’s
eyes opened as wide as they could, as Santa rolled by their curbside position. The cheers were deafening.
“That’s
Santa Claus. I saw him on the TV
yesterday. Is he the one we thank for
everything on Thanksgiving?”
This
time Max answered him. “No, Wang. Santa may bring the gifts, but he isn’t the
one who gets them for you in the first place.”
The
boy looked puzzled. “If I shouldn’t be
thanking Jesus or Santa for the gifts, should I be thanking you, Mom and Pop?”
“Well,
sort of,” Louise replied, but obviously, she wasn’t happy with that answer and
the thirteen year old wasn’t either.
“Look,”
he said. “I know you two aren’t
Christians, and until last year, I hadn’t even heard of Jesus. So whether or not I believe in him really
doesn’t matter. I can take him or leave him.
But now you’re telling me that I shouldn’t be thanking Santa
either. This is sort of like what things
were like in China. Everyone used to thank Mao for
everything. Now, that was before my
time, but then they told everybody to thank someone else, and finally, just
thank the Communist Party, and that’s what I did in the orphanage, but that was
okay since they ran the place. But who
do I thank here in America? I certainly have a lot to be thankful for,
what with you adopting me and all. I
just don’t feel it’s enough to thank just you two for all you’ve done for me.
My
God, Louise thought. Perhaps we should
have waited for an infant, not this boy with his inquiring mind. Maybe he’ll end up being a scientist or
something, she mused.
Later
that night, in bed, she turned to Max.
“Max, do you believe in some force that controls the universe, some
original cause or something?”
“Like
God, you mean? No … let’s leave it at
some kind of power that started it all, and forget the divinity part of it.”
“You’re
more of an atheist than my Dad was, Dear,” Louise replied. “I’m beginning to think, if only for the boy,
we have to believe in something.”
Max
answered, “Well, Miss Atheist, you’re not going to get me involved with Jesus
or back to the smelly old shuls I remember from Brooklyn. Let’s find something nice and non-religious
to credit everything to, and give that to the kid.”
“At
least then,” Louise continued, “He’ll have someone … or something … to thank on
Thanksgiving.”
And
so it was that Louise and Max joined an introspective philosophical group,
which met in a professor’s apartment on the Upper West
Side on Tuesday evenings, in the hope of learning some answers to
the questions the boy was raising. Wang
eventually started accompanying them to the meetings, and perhaps because of
his Chinese background, quickly took to what was going on, and understood the
discussions in perhaps greater depth than the adults there. And he never again had to ask about whom to
thank for the blessings which he received, but he did give great thought to
whether the bounty he shared was indeed a blessing, or perhaps it should be
looked at in another light. He loved to
talk about these things with Louise and Max for hours on end after the meetings.
JL
More on Elections
The prior posting included an article which had recommendations for the Supervisor of Elections in Palm Beach County. In view of what is occurring in St. Lucie County in regard to the Patrick Murphy - Alan West congressional election, that county should also heed that advice. If Florida were not a State in the Union, it would be a "banana republic."
JL
The AARP on Medicare and Health Care Reform
The prior posting included an article which had recommendations for the Supervisor of Elections in Palm Beach County. In view of what is occurring in St. Lucie County in regard to the Patrick Murphy - Alan West congressional election, that county should also heed that advice. If Florida were not a State in the Union, it would be a "banana republic."
JL
The AARP on Medicare and Health Care Reform
The
October/November 2012 issue of the AARP magazine included an article entitled
“Big Myths About Medicare and Health Care Reform,” which is identical with the
internet article on the same subject by Beth Howard posted on the AARP web site
in September. This is not a "political" article; it is based on non-partisan research. It tells the truth about
eleven significant misconceptions people have about health care reform. The internet version is reproduced below in
case you may still be confused due to the often inaccurate rhetoric voiced
during the recent election campaign.
11 Myths About Health Care Reform
“The amount of
misinformation about the Affordable Care Act [ACA] — including outright lies —
is astonishing,” says Shana Alex Lavarreda, Ph.D., director of health insurance
studies at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. “The point of the law is
to make the health system better for each person, for less cost to society
overall.” But myths about the ACA
abound. Some of the most persistent:
MYTH 1: The new law cuts Medicare
drastically, so I won't be able to get quality health care.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) in fact prohibits cuts
to guaranteed Medicare benefits. There are provisions in the law to help curb
the soaring costs of Medicare, but savings will come from reining in
unreasonable payments to providers, taxing high-premium plans (beginning in the
year 2018), cracking down on fraud and waste, and encouraging patient-centered,
coordinated care, says Sara R. Collins, Ph.D., vice president of the
Commonwealth Fund, a private research foundation focused on health care.
The ACA also covers preventive care designed to avert
chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes, which currently cost
billions. Medicare beneficiaries get an annual wellness exam as well as numerous
screenings and vaccines free of charge. The new system also improves
coordination of care between doctors, nurses and other providers to prevent
harmful and costly hospital readmissions.
Finally, the law closes the infamous Medicare Part D
prescription drug "doughnut hole," in which Medicare beneficiaries
paid full price for prescription drugs after exceeding a certain
dollar limit each
year. Now enrollees who reach the doughnut hole get large
discounts, and by 2020, the hole will close.
Myth 2: I've heard that Medicare Advantage plans will be cut or taken away.
The ACA does not eliminate Medicare Advantage plans, which
are privately administered plans that provide benefits to about a quarter of
Americans with Medicare. These plans were created to bring market efficiencies
to Medicare, but they actually cost taxpayers 14 percent more per enrollee than
the traditional Medicare program does. The ACA aims to bring costs back into
line.
"The plans are still required to provide at least the
same benefits as those available through traditional Medicare plans," says
Stuart Guterman, vice president of the Commonwealth Fund. "And for the
first time, the law ensures that plans that perform better will be paid better,
so the care they provide should improve."
MYTH 3: I'll have to wait longer to see my doctor — or I
won't be able to see my doctor at all.
"If your current plan allows you to see any physician
in the plan, nothing will change," says UCLA's Lavarreda. Health plans are
already building bigger networks in anticipation of new patients, so choices
could be even greater.
Although the law doesn't specifically address wait times,
many of its provisions are aimed at improving quality of care, including some
that encourage more physicians to become primary care doctors.
MYTH 4: If I have Medicare, I will need to get more or
different insurance.
Some people have confused the ACA's "individual
mandate" with a requirement to obtain additional insurance on top of
Medicare. "That's just not accurate," says Guterman. "Medicare
beneficiaries will continue to have Medicare, and there's no requirement that
they get additional coverage beyond what they already have."
MYTH 5: The new law
"raids Medicare of $716 billion."
It's simply not true.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Congress' independent and nonpartisan
budget scorekeeper, recently estimated that the changes to Medicare in the ACA
will reduce spending by a total of $716 billion between 2013 and 2022.
"That's where
the number comes from," says Guterman. The largest portion of these
savings would come from changes to provider payments and correcting
overpayments to insurance companies that offer private Medicare plans.
"And that projected savings will be used to close the prescription drug
'doughnut hole'; to pay for free, preventive care for consumers; and to
increase coverage for the uninsured," Lavarreda says.
All guaranteed
benefits in Medicare were protected. These measures actually strengthen
Medicare's fiscal viability: Before the ACA was passed, Medicare's Hospital
Insurance Trust Fund, which is used to pay hospital bills for Medicare
beneficiaries, was projected to run out of money by 2017; after the law was
passed, that date was pushed back to 2024.
MYTH 6: The law is
going to bankrupt America.
Not according to the
CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation, nonpartisan entities that estimated
health reform will actually reduce
the nation's deficit by $210 billion between 2012 and 2021, by reducing
subsidies to private insurance companies, cracking down on waste and fraud, and
reining in profits.
"If we don't get
health care spending under control, that's
going to bankrupt America," says Shannon Brownlee, acting policy director
at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank.
MYTH 7: The new law
will drive up premiums astronomically.
That's an unlikely
scenario. "A significant number of the uninsured people who will be
brought into the system with the ACA are the 'young invincibles,' " says
Brownlee, describing the 18-to-29 age group. "Their relative good health
helps to subsidize care for less healthy people."
The law also strengthens
states' power to question unreasonable rate increases, whether because of age,
preexisting conditions or any other reason. And the law's "medical loss
ratio requirement" dictates that 80 to 85 percent of premiums be spent on
medical costs. As of Aug. 1, approximately 12.8 million Americans received an
estimated $1.1 billion in rebates from insurance companies in cases where
overhead expenses exceeded 15 to 20 percent of premiums charged in 2011.
As for Medicare Part
B premiums (which cover doctors' services and outpatient care), those are
determined by a formula designed decades ago by Congress, based on the previous
year's Medicare health care costs. In essence, the government pays 75 percent
of Part B costs, and Medicare beneficiaries pay the remaining 25 percent. The
law did not change this formula. (There is no truth to a rumor that Part B
premiums will rise from $99.90 a month in 2012 to $247 a month by 2014,
Lavarreda says.)
MYTH 8: If I can't
afford to buy health insurance, I'll be taxed — or worse.
If you can't afford
health insurance because of financial hardship (if the cheapest plan exceeds 8
percent of your income), you will be exempt from the tax penalty. Special taxes
(from $95 the first year to $695 a year by 2017) will be phased in over the
next seven years for those who choose to forgo coverage. Even then, the
government will not criminally prosecute or place property liens on people who
ignore the tax. At worst, the IRS will withhold the tax amount from
individuals' tax refunds.
MYTH 9: I'm a small-business owner and I'll pay big fines if
I don't provide health insurance to my employees.
Small businesses that already provide health insurance will
not be affected. "Penalties for not providing health coverage apply only
to companies with 50 or more workers," says the Commonwealth Fund's
Collins.
In fact, many small companies will be eligible for tax
credits to offset the burden of providing insurance. From now through 2013,
eligible employers will receive a business credit for up to 35 percent of their
contribution toward employees' premiums. For 2014 and beyond, the tax credit
rises to as much as 50 percent of the contribution. These credits apply to companies
with fewer than 25 full-time employees whose average annual salaries are less
than $50,000. Companies with more than 50 workers that don't provide coverage
will be subject to a fine of $2,000 to $3,000 per employee per year.
MYTH 10: The ACA basically turns our health care system into
universal health care. So now some government bureaucrat will decide how and
when I get treated.
Health care under the ACA will not be government run.
"The law builds on and strengthens the existing private insurance system,"
says Collins. "Fifty to 60 percent of people will continue to get
insurance through an employer, and people who are buying their own insurance
will still buy private health plans. The choice of plan is not dictated, and
you'll be able to choose the provider you want — no government bureaucrat
involved."
The health care system envisioned by the law aims to be
universal in one way: by making health insurance accessible to the vast
majority of Americans. "That's a good thing," says Brownlee.
"We'll have more people covered."
MYTH 11: If my state doesn't set up an insurance exchange, I
can't get health coverage.
The ACA calls for each state to create an exchange, a
marketplace of private health insurance companies. This will give individuals
and small businesses a place to shop for affordable coverage, with subsidies
provided, starting in 2014. But some states have declined to set up an exchange
or have moved slowly.
"If a state hasn't done it, then the Department of
Health and Human Services will set up an exchange in that state," says
Collins. "Each state will have an exchange operated by either the state or
the federal government. And tax credits will be available in your state,
regardless of who is running it."
Most
readers of this blog are alerted by Email every time a new posting
appears. If you wish to be added to that Email list, just let me know by
contacting me at Riart1@aol.com.
Also,
be aware that www.Jackspotpourri.com is now
available on your mobile devices in a modified, easy-to-read, format.
Jack Lippman
* *
* * * * * * *
To
view older postings on this blog, just click on the appropriate date in the
“Blog Archive” off to the right, or scroll down until you see the “Older
Postings” notation at the very bottom of this posting. The “Search” box can also be used to find
older postings.
To send this posting to a friend, or enemy for that matter, whom you
think might be interested in it, just click on the envelope with the arrow on the
"Comments" line directly below.
No comments:
Post a Comment