Health Care Reform

I have recieved many emails and phone calls from the Obama administration's grass roots efforts. I just got another phone call, and yesterday I recieved three emails.

I don't mind this except for the fact that it has all been promotion and no substance. I still don't know what the details of the final bill look like.

My opinion is that the bill will increase taxes, increase costs and dilute services.

It reminds me of the play "The Miracle Worker" where two thoughts were presented:

1. Obedience is the key to knowledge in the mind.

2. Obedience without knowledge is another form of blindness.

This push by the Obama administration to push health care reform through without letting me know what the details are feels like obedience without knowledge.

Health Care Reform and Taxes

Dear President Obama:

It appears to me that the new proposed health care reform will:

1. Increase taxes.

2. Dilute services.

3. Increase costs.

Please scrap the current proposal and try again.

Taxes - OUCH!!!

Has anyone noticed how many young people, especially those holding down more than one job, are being surprised with the under withholding of their income taxes over the past year. Ouch!!! Some of the bills I'm seeing are huge from under withholding.

Luckily, the government is giving away money for buying a house. Some people will get a rebate.

My health insurance costs have gone up dramatically over the past year. The only thing that changed is that I'm one year older. Forced insurance coverage will be another form of taxation.

It appears to me that HSA plans are a disincentive towards preventative care. When a person has to spend his own hard earned money on expensive care and services, there is a disincentive to spend that money on preventative alternatives.

Health care Reform

Dear President Obama:

Do not give up on Health care Reform. Just adapt to what is best for the country.

There is no doubt in my mind that I will be worse off if the current Health care Reform proposals are passed.

I am convinced that my costs will go up and that my benefits will be compromised under the new proposals.

What we need is a competitive product that will compete with a very expensive and protectionist insurance industry.

President Obama, you were given a mandate to bring costs down and to make Health care more equitable.

A good way to do that is to create a product that competes directly with current industry practices.

Let's turn this ship on it's edge and see what it's made of.

It's time to prepare more doctors, nurses and technical people. This will produce services that will drive costs down.

Let's use the Internet as an information flow to make this happen. Knowledge ought to be free to anyone that is willing to work for it.

Let's really make the best education available to anyone that is willing to learn it and run with it. Let's get away from the protectionist policies of government, education and corporate America. Let's really see some change. Let's change business as usual.

Let's do something with the TARP money that will compete head-to-head with banks, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, etc. and provide a competitive product that will create synergies, whereby we'll be more productive and competitive on the world stage.

President Obama and Education

Dear President Obama:

I applaud your effort to improve education.

It has been my great pleasure to teach math and science to High School Students over the past year.

Here are some observations: Each student is different. Some do well on their own and some don't. Those students who receive individual attention do best. Punishment is a poor motivator. Gratitude, love and devotion are great motivators. Some students give up under the pressure of unrealistic expectations. The teachers that I have met are incredible. They accomplish amazing things. Where performance is measured, performance improves. It is impossible to be completely fair and equitable to all students. And this is not the most important point. The important point is that every student has the opportunity to learn in a safe environment.

Protectionism is still a problem.

I was disappointed to read that Utah did not receive any money from the last distribution of grant money. Utah submitted a 600+ page proposal. And based upon student funding needs, Utah should have ranked number one, because Utah spends less per student than any State in the Union. Based upon performance, Utah should have received funding because of the remarkable success of the students based upon the performance per dollar spent.

Utah should have received some of these funds. Utah has more students per capita than any other State in the Union and these students are the future workforce that will support the aging world populations.

BYU now ranks higher than Harvard in students choosing to go there based on application acceptance. The University of Utah is ranked among the top 100 Universities in the world.

That tells me that Utah is doing something right.

Protectionism and Charter Schools: Charter schools funnel money away from the public school system. Charter schools could provide specializations that would make our country more competitive. But my observation is that special interest groups utilize charter schools to subvert laws and regulations. Thus, valuable funding for public education gets diluted by special interests.

A final thought for today: Government regulations cause public testing to dummy up the opportunities for students. What do I mean by that? As an example, some math tests are designed to place students in classes where they will be certain to succeed. This success is based on criteria, which guarantees funding by government agencies as a percentage of students that perform well on the designed tests. Unfortunately, the students are so under-challenged by the class material that they get bored and discouraged. They get pigeonholed in classes that don't challenge them. They quit pursuing math and science because the system is more focused on meeting testing results to keep funding than it is on challenging students.

Keep up the good work. My prayers are with you. Best wishes on your efforts.

Fruitland, Utah

Today was a beautiful day.

A blizzard blanketed the area with a layer of snow. The pinion pines were simply gorgeous.

We observed some 30 deer browsing on willows, currants and sagebrush. Three bald eagles soared above the cliffs. Two moose had a hard time trying to hide. Their black silhouettes against the new fallen snow were spectacular. Two mallard ducks searched for solace, a lone coyote maneuvered up the mountainside, several meadowlarks huddled on a barbed wire fence and a flock of chickadees fed on lingering seeds.

It was a wonderful day.

Capitalism, Socialism, Synergism and Protectionism

Dear President Obama:

California is laying off teachers. Kansas City is going to lay off teachers. The Jordan School District is proposing to lay off teachers. And these are just the ones I've seen in our local papers.

It appears to me that there has been so much time, effort and political capital spent on Health Care Reform, that another very important issue, education, has, to some extent, been ignored.

The problems with funding Education, Health Care, etc. are grounded in the same issue; protectionism. Protectionism is inherent in both capitalism and socialism.

Capitalists protect themselves with patents, insurance, estate planning laws, copyrights, and corporate structures, which have the mandate to maximize and preserve personal and shareholder wealth.

This mandate slows the movement of capital down the economic food-chain to those who would consume that which is produced.

Socialists protect themselves with legalese, laws, rules, regulations, penalties, protest marches, etc. Those in power exercise protectionism as a function of their own special interests. This power is often grounded in capitalism, rather than in the best interests of the community.

Both capitalism and socialism are based on self-interests.

Protectionism is at the heart of our economic ills.

If we are really going to resolve the Education and Health Care issues, it is incumbent upon us to synergize. Synergy means to maximize our potential by working together.

Capitalism and socialism thrive on fear, self-interests and competition.

Competition allows us to measure our performance.

Fear changes behavior.

Self-interest is a powerful human motivator.

Synergy means that we can produce more together than we can alone. Synergy is a spirit of teamwork. It means that we maximize our potential in a spirit of community.

We live in a telestial world, ruled by entropy. In other words, things wear out. It takes work and energy to make this world a better place. Abraham Lincoln understood this as well as anyone. His mandate was Education, Hard Work and Synergy.

Synergy, instead of pure capitalism and socialism, could resolve our economic problems that are now exacerbated by protectionism.

Healthcare Reform and Protectionism

Dear President Obama:

It feels to me that a document on Healthcare Reform, that is over 2000 pages long, and full of protectionism, will be ineffective, less productive and a managerial nightmare.

Granted, you will be able to say that you got something, anything, done, because healthcare as we now know it is already inefficient and a managerial nightmare, but my recommendation is to slow down, and instead of trying to eat this elephant in one bite, try eating it one bite at a time.

Since you asked for recommendations in your State of Union Address, here is a start:

1. Start with a set of Bills of Rights.
A. A customer Bill of Rights.
1. Available to everyone.
2. Affordable.
3. Encourages prevention and good habits; like your wife's program to prevent childhood obesity.
B. A Doctor's Bill of Rights.
C. An Insurance company's Bill of Rights.
2. The new Health Care Plan should be revenue neutral.

The problems with our current Health Care Program are obvious to everyone.

And yet America is still a leader in Health Care.

Let's not make the new Health Care Plan more administratively complex and costly.

It should not be a welfare plan on steroids.

It should be synergistic with all parties contributing to a better system.

Twelve Angry Men

WOW!!! We recently saw Twelve Angry Men at Pioneer Memorial Theater. It was fantastic. This is one worth seeing.

"Touched" by Bess Wohl

Last night, my wife and I attended the Pioneer Memorial Theater production of "Touched" by Bess Wohl. I was delighted that it touched (a little pun intended) on many of the important issues and paradoxes of our day. I applaud the effort. For me, however, it was disappointing in that the play chose to validate some of the unfortunate virtues and behaviors that support hopelessness.

Some of the important issues and paradoxes presented were: 1. That we just don't know enough about mental illness and how to deal with it. 1a. That the challenges in understanding and dealing with mental illnesses applies to friends, family and professionals. 2. That Health Care System weaknesses and biases exist for many reasons, including money, job security, research, traditions and just because we don't know. and 3. If we don't learn to help ourselves, the lives of others are severely impacted.

It was especially disappointing to me that the play decided to publicly validate negative influences on mental health, including the use of the "f" word, alcohol consumption, smoking and a lack of civility.

When I go to a play, I want to feel that my time and effort has been rewarded. I want to go to a play to be inspired, to learn, to have my conscience pricked, to be entertained and to be a better person for having been there.

"Touched" had the opportunity to do this for me. It presented some of the important issues of our day. Unfortunately, the experience left me disappointed and empty.