After months of requests, meetings and planning there is finally a strategy from this administration regarding Afghanistan. The plan will probably be announced next week. So what we have is an announcement from the president that there will be a public announcement of this plan next week.
PLEASE!!! Nothing like seeing yourself on television AGAIN!
A comprehensive strategy was announced back in March that we would send more troops, but concentrate on training their military and police while throwing $1.5 billion a year for FIVE YEARS to support their infrastructure: roads, education, schools. This funding would be shared between Afghanistan and Pakistan. There would also be a new position in place, an inspector general, to make sure these funds were used appropriately and not abused. There was a second bill to support “Opportunity zones” where it would be determined if those fighting were truly Al Queda supporters or if they were coerced somehow.
Maybe I missed something, but I believe this is a strategy this administration has supported.
Now with McChrystal’s request for more troops another debate rages on of how many, if any, troops to give him. Oh wait, maybe no debate rages on, but the announcement needs to wait until next week even though the impression given is that the BIG decision has been made.
The president insinuated that more muscle would be sent and the job would be finished this time. There is talk of including other countries in this movement, as always. There is also talk that Afghanistan needs to be involved in their own security. DUH!! The president said that this region has not had the necessary funding for the war there because the money has been diverted to Iraq, another theme started at the September announcement.
President Obama joked as he said he had given the press a sufficient preview to last until after Thanksgiving. I do not believe this is a joking matter and this was not an appropriate off the cuff response.
He is to said to believe that a decision of this importance should be a full length speech that might take place next Tuesday on his regularly scheduled weekly address. He said he has a pretty good idea where he wants to go with the war. I would hope so with all of the experts and time he has spent on this matter. I guess it easier to point fingers at the previous administration than come up with a solution yourself.
General McChrystal, U.S. and Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, are expected in DC next week to rally the troops to open up Washington’s pocketbook to support this new plan.
How disappointing is this. First there was the Obama campaign which wanted to pull out from the war. Then there was give him 100 days to get something to happen. Then there was 100 days is not enough to really get anything done. Then in March there was the band aid giving more troops and billions of dollars of infrastructure funding. Now there is the “I know what I want to do, but I’m not going to tell you exactly what that is.”
Well, I really liked the campaign plan of lets get our troops out of there and bring them home, but the matter is obviously much more complicated then President Obama originally thought. I hope there is a true exit strategy announced and not just a request for more troops and more money this time, but I am not holding my breath this time.
I guess we will, make that might, know next week.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Who Needs Health Care
I reviewed the blog by Steel Talking. My fellow student points out how many people need to choose if they have money for basic necessities or for needed health care. This is a very real situation that some American’s have to face on a daily basis. Another good point they make is that preexisting conditions should not be able to be ridered out of a health care plan for a person or that the allowed health care should not be so ridiculous to exclude glaucoma treatment or needed surgery after an automobile accident.
Again a good point is made to eliminate triggers and op-out options for the bill which the House Bill summary says that those who opt-out at this point pay a penalty of 2.5% of their gross annual salary. An easy solution to this would be to offer some sort of coverage at 2.5% so opting out would be a wash for the American public.
The last point of supporting Jacob Hacker’s statements of a health care plan modeled after Medicare is valid in many areas on the surface. Yes the public is familiar with Medicare. Yes health care for those who don’t have any coverage or lack good coverage should be covered. Yes, the option of private or a new public plan sounds reasonable and should give individuals a broader choice of doctors and bring down costs over time.
I do completely agree with my colleague that it is ridiculous to live in the United States of America and be an American citizen and not have access to reasonable health care. I know there is not an easy answer in which our fairy godmothers and godfathers in DC can wave their magic wands and create equalized health care for all.
However, if a solution was that simple, the insurance companies and medical professionals did not have enough lobbyists to fill Washington D.C., and the bill SAVED US MONEY it would have been done long ago.
After having worked for insurance companies, a state medical regulatory agency and accepted jobs only after having known their benefits package I know this is a very complicated web to negotiate through.
I had an experience in which a document accepted into rule by a regulatory commission that unjustly limited reimbursement to a medical community. A lawsuit was filed by a medical association, which caused the OAG (Office of the Attorney General) to become involved resulting in “clerical changes” to the document. This was a small document with a team of researchers and developers that had limited political fingers messing with the final document and still the urge to improperly regulate those that might abuse the system crept its way into the final document. This is just one small example of what WILL happen to this bill as it is now pushed through the Senate.
With so many agencies and people wanting a piece of this insurance, medical care, and regulatory agency pie many compromises will be made. In the end hopefully a document will be passed that will be life changing for those that are underinsured or uninsured at this time will be the end result.
So in the end I completely agree that something needs to be done, however many fingers are in this pie and many compromises will be made in which those in most need will probably not be take care of as well as they should if at all.
Again a good point is made to eliminate triggers and op-out options for the bill which the House Bill summary says that those who opt-out at this point pay a penalty of 2.5% of their gross annual salary. An easy solution to this would be to offer some sort of coverage at 2.5% so opting out would be a wash for the American public.
The last point of supporting Jacob Hacker’s statements of a health care plan modeled after Medicare is valid in many areas on the surface. Yes the public is familiar with Medicare. Yes health care for those who don’t have any coverage or lack good coverage should be covered. Yes, the option of private or a new public plan sounds reasonable and should give individuals a broader choice of doctors and bring down costs over time.
I do completely agree with my colleague that it is ridiculous to live in the United States of America and be an American citizen and not have access to reasonable health care. I know there is not an easy answer in which our fairy godmothers and godfathers in DC can wave their magic wands and create equalized health care for all.
However, if a solution was that simple, the insurance companies and medical professionals did not have enough lobbyists to fill Washington D.C., and the bill SAVED US MONEY it would have been done long ago.
After having worked for insurance companies, a state medical regulatory agency and accepted jobs only after having known their benefits package I know this is a very complicated web to negotiate through.
I had an experience in which a document accepted into rule by a regulatory commission that unjustly limited reimbursement to a medical community. A lawsuit was filed by a medical association, which caused the OAG (Office of the Attorney General) to become involved resulting in “clerical changes” to the document. This was a small document with a team of researchers and developers that had limited political fingers messing with the final document and still the urge to improperly regulate those that might abuse the system crept its way into the final document. This is just one small example of what WILL happen to this bill as it is now pushed through the Senate.
With so many agencies and people wanting a piece of this insurance, medical care, and regulatory agency pie many compromises will be made. In the end hopefully a document will be passed that will be life changing for those that are underinsured or uninsured at this time will be the end result.
So in the end I completely agree that something needs to be done, however many fingers are in this pie and many compromises will be made in which those in most need will probably not be take care of as well as they should if at all.
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