The PCTC Blog

Toward Smarter Airport Security

When I worked in Washington, DC, every once in a while I would have to go to New York on business. I was encouraged by my firm to fly “because it was easier,” but I always drove, especially after the September 11 terrorist attacks. I can’t tell you how many times I had to explain why to bosses and co-workers, but it actually made perfect sense.

It was quicker to drive.

I kid you not. I lived in the Baltimore suburbs at the time – actually, about five minutes from the airport, strangely enough, and since we the country went batshit after 9/11, it actually takes less time to drive as to fly. From my front door to Manhattan took about 3 hours, usually, and that included the inevitable traffic jams in the Lincoln or Holland Tunnel.

If I flew, I would have to get to the airport at least an hour and a half before my flight in order to make sure I got through security, then the flight would take about 45 minutes from gate to gate. It would take 5-10 minutes to get to the cab stand, and then I’d have to endure a 30-45 minute cab ride into Manhattan from either airport.  It’s not like I could just jump on a plane and be there, right?

How to Have a Truly Happy Holiday Season

You know, I don’t write this blog for the money. I wish I could afford to do so; I could be one hell of a journalist if I had the financial resources. And don’t get me wrong; I appreciate every dollar I receive from the people who donate, or the scant few dollars I receive from advertisers. Without it, I'm not sure how long I could continue doing this. I would like to receive more, but I refuse to become a blog whore. You know, the ones whose e-mails you subscribe to, and who then proceed to send 10-12 e-mails a day, most of them selling stuff. But the bottom line is, I choose to  write on my own blog because I believe in what I write, and that we all need to see different perspectives on things.  

By the way, I give 10-20% of everything I receive in donations to charities or causes that I believe in.  As cash-poor as I am at the moment (go ahead; dare to start your own business and you’ll see what I mean), I cannot pass a Salvation Army kettle without throwing some money into it. I can’t go to McDonald’s (usually for the coffee) without putting some money into the Ronald McDonald House tin, and so on. For years, when I worked in Washington, DC, every time I saw a homeless person begging on the street – and they are plentiful there – I would make a note of it, and give 50 cents to a local shelter for each one I saw.  I would literally throw cash into an envelope and send it to them.

We all live together in this world, folks. None of us is any better than anyone else; we all need each other to get by. And almost every single one of us is within a few disastrous decisions or a single tragedy away from being that homeless person we step over or around as we make our way down the street, or that family who has to hold a fundraiser just to keep their home.

What Did You Expect?

What did we expect, people? I really need to know.

The second biggest problem with health insurance reform – excuse me, health care reform – no, wait, it is health insurance reform – is the incessant play-by-play by thousands of people with opinions, but seemingly having no concept of how the process works. Every single goddamn thing a Senator does with regard to the health care bill is being put under a microscope and analyzed as if it was the single factor that will determine whether or not millions of people get to live or die. The “new media” is proving something; make no mistake about that. They’re proving that bloggers are, by and large, not journalists, and only see those facts that make their preconceived notions true.

Basically, it seems that everyone’s position on health insurance reform is based on the opinion of whomever he or she has chosen to believe at any given moment. We have the Republican side, who plainly doesn’t give a shit about health care one way or another. Oh, sure, one could say they’re just trying to stop Democrats from doing anything good, but that’s just silly. The fact of the matter is, they had twelve years to fix health care and didn’t lift a finger, except to figure out a way to funnel tax money to Big Pharma. The reality is, they just don’t care.

Nate Silver: Why Progressives Are Batshit Crazy to Oppose the Senate Bill

This is an amazing analysis of the situation, and supports my contention, that throwing out the baby with the bathwater is NOT an option. I love Howard Dean, but he's flat wrong; we can't afford to throw out ALL health insurance reform because of a lack of a public option.

Why Progressives Are Batshit Crazy to Oppose the Senate Bill

Read and learn, folks...

Reconciliation: What it is, and Why Reid Is Avoiding It.

There is a lot of talk about reconciliation when it comes to the health insurance reform bill in the Senate, but I get a sense that many who use the term don’t really understand the process. There’s actually a good reason why Harry Reid is saving it as a last resort. Hopefully, I can clear up some of the confusion. The process is a bit complicated, so bear with me. 

Reconciliation is a fast-track process for passing a bill in the Senate. This is useful, because most Senate bills are subject to several rules that can keep them bogged down and even stop them in their tracks, and it would simply be too easy to essentially shut the government down.

Be Progressive, Dammit!

I really hate to write stuff like this, but progressives have been standing on the other side of the fence for the better part of 40 years and shouting at the people inside the fence, trying to get them to listen.  We hold marches and we parade up and down and we make as much noise as we can, and seem frustrated by the fact that no one listens. Have you noticed that?

Well, here’s a clue, guys; the gate is open, and has been for a very long time. Go on in and have a seat at the table. Stop your screaming and join the party.  

I know, I know; we like to blame our bad fortune on the right; that’s convenient, isn’t it? I mean, they’re so incredibly stupid, they’re an easy target.  But they’re not the reason we’re ineffective as a movement. This country has moved to the right over the last 40 years not because the right sells itself so well, but because we don’t sell ourselves at all. Of course, we’re not supposed to sell ourselves, because that would mean “selling out,” or something equally silly, wouldn’t it?

Case Studies: Why We Need Health Insurance Reform

In Kansas City, a 14 year old boy has been told he needs a heart transplant and that someone will have to come up with $500,000 to pay for it because they don’t have insurance. One of the reasons he’s not insured is because he’s an “illegal immigrant.” Five months ago, no one knew there was anything wrong, and he was normal in all ways.

Read the article here.

How can we consider ourselves a proud people when we put dollar values on the lives of our people;  especially our kids? Look over at your kids and ask yourself how much they’re worth. And why should the people who are actually in charge (that's us, folks – WE are in charge, not the government!) of what we like to call the greatest country in the world have to resort to fundraisers and begging to keep their kids alive?

But there’s something else to think about here. The wingnuts constantly whine about the very concept of mandatory health care coverage. But doesn’t this demonstrate that such a requirement is necessary? Think about it; this kid was considered healthy this past summer; now he needs a heart transplant worth $500,000. It’s not possible to know when you’ll need health care; that’s why it’s essential that everyone carry a policy, if we’re to reform the health insurance system properly.

And for those people who think negatively of him because he’s an undocumented immigrant, should the penalty for being brought here illegally by your parents be death?

 

In Richmond, youth fitness organization Improve Your Game will hold their first annual Kid’s Fitness Challenge to raise money to pay the Holben family's medical bills, because Brian Holben, the husband and father of three sons, aged 14, 9 and 6, was diagnosed with a brain tumor this past summer. He’s responded to treatment thus far, but the bills are mounting and his insurance won’t cover the bills for continued treatment.   

Read the article here:

Again, the first question that comes to mind is, how much is a family member worth, exactly? How about your spouse? If we actually aspire to acknowledge a right to life in this country, then why should a family’s fortunes be tied to their wealth.

I don’t know the details of the family’s insurance policy, but the article does mention one. If they are paying the average cost for a family policy (and again, it’s just an assumption), it’s not unthinkable that the family has paid upwards of $60,000 for insurance over the last five years. What good is paying so much for an insurance policy, if it doesn’t cover treatment when you become ill?

And if there wasn’t someone around to help raise money for the family, what’s to happen to them? Do they stop treatments because no one is paying? Does the family go into bankruptcy? Do they liquidate everything they own? And when it comes to government spending, which the far right seems to be so concerned about, what if they lose Brian? The kids will get Social Security and quite possibly welfare. Plus, the bills they can’t pay will end up being absorbed by people with insurance, anyway. In other words, someone always pays the bills whether or not we have universal health insurance, so it just makes sense to have absolutely universal insurance, have everyone pay into it, and cover every medical necessity.

There are so many reasons the current state of our system is unacceptable, and this story points up quite a few of them. Universal health insurance is not just a moral imperative; it’s an investment that will save us loads of money in the long run.

 

 

In Concord, California, Piney Hollow Middle School students raised $8000 for the family of fellow classmate, Jessica Bucher, who was diagnosed with Juvenile Onset Sandhoff Disease, which is extremely rare and has no known cure.

Read the article here.

I admit it. I’m a bleeding heart. I read these stories and I just think it’s insane that kids in middle school should be raising money to pay a family’s medical bills. I think it’s wonderful that these kids were able to raise $8000; that’s absolutely awesome. But they should be raising money to send her to Disneyland or Hawaii or buy her a PS3 or a big TV or something else designed to take her mind off her illness. But paying her MEDICAL BILLS? Why is this okay?

Oh, by the way, make sure you read the article and check out her treatment. They’re treating her with umbilical stem cells, and she’s responding positively. You can almost imagine the right wingers’ heads exploding.

 

 

There are so many of these stories out there, and they all bring up one major question; what kind of society do we want to be?

No other industrialized nation on earth denies anyone health care based on the size of their bank account. Every other industrialized nation in the world has decided to value life more than money. Most nations would feel as if their society failed if someone had to hold a bake sale in order to stay alive. Most nations would be ashamed to find out that a family ended up on the street because one of its breadwinners became ill.

What’s wrong with us?

 

(By the way, if you would like to help any of these folks out, each article contains donation information.)

Ignorance of the Constitution is no Excuse!

Before they are allowed to take the floor of the United States House of Representatives, every member of Congress is required to take an oath.  This is that oath:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

In other words, every member of Congress, before they can be seated, must promise God and the people of this country to protect and defend the Constitution, and to pledge "true faith and allegiance" to the Constitution. 

No More Gloom and Doom: We're Getting Health Insurance Reform.

Health insurance was never going to happen in one bill, and it’s really starting to bother me that many progressives thought it could happen. Relax, and stop the doom and gloom nonsense. 

You should be rejoicing.

The political naiveté of a large portion of the progressive side of the political debate is troubling, and it's time for Uncle Miltie to smack you in the head with a dose of reality.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we were inundated with right wing politics from January 1981 to this past January. That’s 28 years of the right wing having far too much influence in the country. That’s nearly three decades of living in a country run by people who see the price of everything and the value of nothing. Three decades of leaders with a mindset that favors the snake oil salesman concept of economy and which stifles innovation. The United States used to be a can-do country, but we became a “can’t do” country under the Republican leadership. And that culminated in the appointment of George W Bush, twice, and the most corrupt six years of government in US history.

That’s three decades of having their ideology pounded into voters’ psyches. A lot of the basic ideas these phony “conservatives” pushed are now part of the mainstream, whether we like it or not.

Suffice it to say, you don’t change the collective behavior of 300 million people in one election.  If you expected the entire political landscape to change because we elected a moderate black president and 60 Democrats, then I hope Santa really does bring you that Ferrari in a couple of weeks.

Be Back Tomorrow...

Okay, I apologize.

I thought I would be back, but sometimes life gets to you. 

I can't tell you everything, but my son was hurt over in Afghanistan. Don't worry too much, he'll be okay, but let me tell you; when you're a parent in this situation, it's not easy to hear and work through. 

I'm also working on expanding my business a little bit. Between working with contractors, and planning delays and stuff, and also trying to eke out a living while everything is being worked out, it was difficult to concentrate on this blog, which really doesn't make me all that much money. (That said, thank you to those who have donated in the past; it's more than a little appreciated. You people are stars in my book.)

Which is the other reason (excuse?), As many of you know, I am an author, and I'm trying to get my latest book published through traditional channels, which is like having a second full time job. Anyone who bitches about the bureaucracy in the government has never dealt with the literary establishment.

And I'm also dealing with an issue involving Medicare, which I am not at liberty to talk about, but suffice it to say, even after 40 years of tweaking, Medicare is not perfect. This should serve as a lesson to those of you who think we're going to get complete and total health insurance reform in one bill. It was never going to happen, and the fact that we're about to get so much reform in one bill is actually quite a coup. (More on that later...)

Things are starting to fall into place, so I'm ready to get back on the blog bandwagon. Expect more diversity in topics, too; I'm not all about politics.

See you tomorrow... finally... and this time I promise...