The latest from The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com
- Ian Welsh: Finding Common Ground Between Public Option Advocates and Single Payer Advocates
- Michael Likosky: Finally, A Craigslist for Government Assets
- Youth Radio -- Youth Media International: God, Guns, and American Pick-Up Trucks
| Ian Welsh: Finding Common Ground Between Public Option Advocates and Single Payer Advocates | Top |
| A heated argument is going on about the right health insurance model between those those who believe in a public option and those who believe in single payer. Or perhaps I should say between those who are willing to take what they can get: public option; vs. those who want to hold out for what they consider the best option: single payer. By way of reconciling what differences can be reconciled, let me ask a question of each side. A Question for Public Option Advocates Do you want to eventually have a single payer or a comprehensive system like the French have? If not, why not? A Question for Single Payer Advocates Are you willing to fight for a public option which could eventually lead to single payer or a comprehensive system like the French one? If not, why not? At this point what I'm seeing is both sides retreating into moralistic screaming. The public option folks are saying: "It is better to save some lives than none, and if you single payer purists don't support a public option which will save even a few lives, you're responsible for those deaths." The single payer people are saying: "The public option is so watered down that all it will do is discredit real public reform, aka single payer. You public option folks are settling for so little that the few lives you might save are outweighed by all the lives you won't save and the damage to the chance at real comprehensive health care reform." Both sides are assuming the other side is operating in bad faith. The public option folks assume the single payer folks just want to be pure rather than saving lives, the single payer that the public option folks are just sell-outs shilling for a bad bill. But what I'm seeing, as someone with a foot in each camp, is that both sides are (mostly) sincere. Now there is one group that can't be reconciled. People who want a public option so weak it either won't survive, or can't be used as the basis for a comprehensive system. The usual suspects like Insurance company executives, for example. But also some people in the Obama administration, such as Health Secretary Katherine Sibelius, the health secretary, who said that the plan would be drafted specifically so that it could never become single payer . But for everyone else, for those acting in good faith, there should be some common ground from which we can work together. Let's start by recognizing that the battle over public option vs single payer is a distraction away from what we could accomplish if we worked together. United we stand a chance. Divided, we will lose our chance at health care reform. (Originally posted at Open Left) | |
| Michael Likosky: Finally, A Craigslist for Government Assets | Top |
| If you're looking for a good deal on public assets, Allen & Overy LLP, a leading international law firm, has a product for you. It's called the "PPPs & Municipal Home Rule" tool. Don't be turned-off by the long-winded name. Allen & Overy is saving investors a lot of time and money by honing in on what really matters. The two most important things for public asset gobblers are: (1) good prices and (2) elected officials ready to deal But you might ask: Who has the time to drive around the country looking for good government garage sales? And, Craigslist doesn't have a listing for bridges, emergency response systems and dog shelters. This is where Allen & Overy provides such a valuable service. It turns out that there are twenty-seven states in America that make it easy for their cities to deal directly with investors. So far so good. But, that information only takes us so far. That is, the real deal on public assets is to be had from cities in financial distress. A road is not just a road. The same road will command different prices in different cities. In other words, a cash-strapped city will sell its public park at a better price than a cash flush one. Financial crisis, it turns out, depresses asset price, but not necessarily value. Even crisis-ridden Californians have to drink water and drive to work. And, when the financial crisis does end for more Americans, there'll be more water drunk and more miles driven. Now that's value for the money. What Allen & Overy does is to find all those cities in states that have had credit rating downgrades during the last quarter of 2008. Ones with, as the law firm puts it, "heightened interest" in selling off public assets. Allen & Overy's right: when looking for "jurisdictions of opportunity", it is easy to become "overwhelmed by the scale of the U.S. infrastructure market." The beauty of the Allen & Overy tool is that they reduce the so-called "pursuit costs" of investors looking for this type of opportunity. Does this investment tool offer a way out of financial crisis? Or is it an invitation to fleece already struggling cities? | |
| Youth Radio -- Youth Media International: God, Guns, and American Pick-Up Trucks | Top |
| Originally published on Youthradio.org , the premier source for youth generated news throughout the globe. By: Orlando Campbell When I read that a car salesman in Butler, MO was giving out free AK-47's to customers who purchase one of his pick-up trucks, a bulb illuminated in my head, and I knew that the world was coming to an end. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but hypothetically, if there were a handbook titled "101 Ways to Destroy Humanity and Ultimately the World," I'm sure giving out AK-47 machine guns with the purchase of some huge gas guzzling truck would make the cut. There is no reason that Osama Bin Laden's favorite gun should be passed around in America anymore than it already is. Does anybody honestly think that when our founding fathers created the Second Amendment they envisioned American citizens walking around with Soviet Union created machine guns? They never could have imagined the psychotic horror that people would create in the future, some of it based on their law. Quit using the second amendment as a defense for modern stupidity. Aside from being one of the funniest interviews I have ever seen, CNN's interview with car dealer Mark Muller is also one of the scariest. I live in Oakland, California, which in most people's eyes, is considered the definition of an "inner city" city, and this old rural hillbilly makes the town (Oakland) seem way safer, and not to mention sane, then his multi-acre farmland. I mean their actual slogan is "God, Guns, Guts, and American Pick-Up Trucks." Now if that isn't the most offensive, hypercritical, and out right demented slogan I have ever seen, then I am blind. **Pay attention to Mark Muller's comments on Jesus around the 4:40 mark. Also On Youth Radio: 900 Guns In Frisco TMM: Road Rage Claims Father and Two Sons Killing Is The New Fighting Youth Radio/Youth Media International (YMI) is youth-driven converged media production company that delivers the best youth news, culture and undiscovered talent to a cross section of audiences. To read more youth news from around the globe and explore high quality audio and video features, visit Youthradio.org More on CNN | |
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