Issue #2 - Ensuring Quality Care for Medicare Patients

Currently, more that 42 million Americans age 65 or older who have disabilities receive Medicare benefits.  The problem with this is that for the past years health care expenses have soared.  This in tern has caused the federal spending dedicated to Medicare to rise dramatically.  Many policymakers agree that Medicare must be reformed if it is to remain solvent.  With the "baby boom" generation reaching retirement the program is expected to run out of money early in the century unless reforms are implemented.  The goal is to do this and still regulate and ensure the quality of care that Medicare patients are receiving.  The way things are now doctors get paid based on their quantity of services not the quality of those services.  In 2006 legislators approved a new "pay-for-performance" system that would allow Medicare to pay doctors a 1.5 percent bonus for providing good quality services.  Supporters of this want Medicare to reward doctors and hospitals for doing a good job.  Opponents of this policy say that the policy undermines doctors' autonomy and judgment in treating their patients.

I would have to agree with those that object to this piece of legislation.  Why should doctors be rewarded for doing a good job when it is exactly that, their job.  It their responsibility to treat patients to the best of their capability.  They take an oath that they will do this in their practice.  I believe that doctors shouldn't need a financial incentive to provide quality care to their patients.  If any other person wasn't preforming adequately at their job, would their boss wouldn't come up to them and say if you do a better job ill give you a bonus?  No way!  They would be fired.  So why should we do that for doctors.  After all we entrust them with the most precious thing we possess, our own lives.  And honestly how would government officials know what good health care really is?  I agree with Representative Pete Stark when he said federal officials "do not have the capability, the understanding, the knowledge, or the training" to set standards for the quality of medical care.  He is absolutely right.  The only way they would be qualified is if they were medical professionals.  Politicians aren't going to know the first thing about what proper medical care really is.  I mean, you don't go see your local Representative when you want a cure for your seasonal cold do you?

Issue #1 - Comprehensive vs. Incremental Health Care Reform

Issue #3 - Safe to Eat?

Mass grave found near Mexican resort

Poliece have recovered 18 bodies from a mass grave found in Tres Palos near Acapulco, Mexico.  The grave was announced in a Youtube video where two men say the bodies were men who were kidnapped from a tourist group in Acapulco a month ago.  Their identities have not yet been proven.  Police officers began digging at the site early Wednesday after receiving a phone call alerting them to two bodies dumped on an empty lot.  The men found there were the same men shown in the Youtube video.  Their hands were tied behind their backs and they were being interigated by an unknown male.  In the video they claimed responsibility for the 18 murders and for dumping the bodies.

This to me just is another example of the drug problem in Mexico.  They rely on tourism as a source of income for their country but yet you don't see anything about how they are taking great strides to get their violence under control.  The Mexican government need to really consider how this could affect their economy and find a solution in the little budget that they have.  I know that I would not want to go on vacation in Mexico again if things like this continue to happen and it is not under control.  I feel bad because we all know that Mexico doesn't have a lot of extra money to help crack down on this drug war.  However, when I go on vacation I want to know that I am going to be safe wherever I am.  I don't want to have to worry about being kidnapped by some drug lord or blamed for murder.  Vacation is supposed to be about relaxing and I don't think I would get much of that done if I had to worry about my safety.

Confusion, fear as Haiti camps evacuate for storm

Haitian earthquake survivors were advised to leave the refuge camps and seek out shelters in preperation for Tropical Storm Tomas.  Panic and unease spread over the whole group who had already lost valuables and loved ones in the earthquake a few months ago.  Not many people have a place to go.  Most of them lost everything in the earthquake.  They are now wondering what will happen to them because they have been displaced before.  They government says it has roughly 1,000 shelters.  However, they are considering anything that will withstand high winds a shelter.  They plan on moving people to jails, old schools, etc. 

I sincerely feel for these people.  They have been through so much in the past year and now they are facing another crisis.  I don't blame them for getting upset.  I would be too.  I can't imagine loosing everything and living out of a tent for 10 months.  Now they are being told to evacuate when most of them don't have anywhere to go.  In the governments defense however, at least they are making an effort to find shelters for all of these people.  Rebuilding is taking a long time due to the government involvement in the recent cholera epidemic, among other things.  Trying to help their people is all they can really do at this point.  I think they could find a few more supstancial shelters for these refugees though.  They need to make sure that they all have someplace safe to go during the storm. 

Votors say they cast their ballots against Obama, Pelosi

Election day was also judgement day for many Democrats.  Republicans now have control of the House and have picked up at least six seats in the Senate.  Many voters that were interviewed said that they found many candidates guilty by association.  They were reluctant to vote Democrat because they do not like the direction of the Obama administration.  Four in ten voters said they backed Republican House candidates as a way to thumb their nose at Obama.  When asked about the election, Obama recognized that his party had taken a "shellacking."  Voters said it was simply because they were in general, not happy with the direction in which the Obama administration is leading our country.

If I were Obama, this election would probably make me start second guessing my goals for our country.  If voters were choosing Republican candidates just to stick it to me, I think that shows we have a pretty serious problem.  The American people are now starting to realize that Obama isn't all he is cracked up to be.  The democrats might actually end up hurting our economy rather than helping it.  In my opinion the last presidential election was strictly racial.  People put the real issues on the back burner and focused more on the superficial appearances.  Now Americans are starting to realize that maybe that wasn't such a good idea.  I am glad that the Republicans are gaining power again and I hope that they can start making changes and get our nation back on the right track. 

Boehner rips health care law

After winning the election, speaker in waiting John Boehner stated that one of his main goals is getting the health care bill repealed.  He believes that the bill "will kill jobs in America, ruin the best health care system in the world, and bankrupt our country."  Boehner said that he intended on laying some ground work before trying to repeal the bill.  He also said that the GOP's cooperation was conditional.  As long as Obama is willing to respect the wishes of the American people and work towards goals that they are demanding, then they will be willing to work with him.  Boehner also made a pitch for smaller government in our nation. 

I completely agree with the goals that John Boehner had set out for our country.  I think that the health care bill is ridiculous and that it will end up hurting our economy instead of helping it.  I also think that we need less government in our country.  Government control has been rapidly expanding and I think we need to rein it in before it gets out of hand.  The health care law being such an example, or the law stating you can't get a tattoo until you are eighteen even with parental consent.  I personally think that the government is way overstepping their boundaries on that one.  However, I truly hope that the republicans will be able to work with Obama to reach some common ground and get the peoples wants and demands accomplished. 

Canadian Admits He Was Teen al-Qaida Militant

Omar Khdar, twenty four, pleaded guilty to charges including the murder of a US soldier during a raid on an al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan in 2002.  Khdar was only 15 at the time of his imprisonment.  He was being held at Guantanamo Bay.  Some say Khdar should not be put on trial because he was only 15 at the time and was subject to harsh treatment in custody.  Khdar's father apparently sent him and his brother to training camps to become a child soldier.  Opponents say that he didn't have a choice.   They also say that killing a soldier in a firefight does not amount to war crimes.  He is also the only person charged with killing a US soldier in Afghanistan.

I can see both sides of Khdar's story.  He was put in a bad position by his father, however his father didn't make him pull the trigger or throw the grenade that killed the US soldier.  He knew what he was doing and that it was wrong.  He was 15, not 5, so he knew very well what the consequences of his actions would be.  As far as the allegations regarding his treatment at Guantanamo go, all of his statements and confessions were received prior to him being there.  They were not forced out through torture or other harsh means.  They are legitimate statements and should be considered by the courts in my opinion.  He should not be treated any different that any other murder suspect.  He should receive the same punishments, no more severe, no more lenient.

Man Stabbs Little Boy at Area Restaurant

Friday night in Garden City, NY, 23 year old Evan Sachs reportedly stabbed 8 year old boy five times in the back.  Sachs had been under physiological treatment according to his parents.  Police found a note in his pocket upon his arrest describing his plan to stab the boy.  They believe he had been planning this for several weeks.  He had been scoping out the perfect spot and victim according to Nassau police Lt. Ray Cote.  The young boy was playing a video game at the restaurant when he was stabbed.  Sachs reportedly waited until the boys parents, only a few feet from him, became distracted before he took out the hunting knife and stabbed the child in the back.  The boy suffered a punctured lung but is expected to recover.  Sachs is currently in jail awaiting his next court date.
The thing that amazes me about this whole incident is how nobody noticed Sachs before he stabbed the boy.  He must have been watching the boy and when he approached him and took out a knife nobody saw?  I guess the good side is that there were plenty of witnesses.  That was stupid on Sachs part but good for everyone else.  I mean seriously, of all the places to commit a crime he chose a restaurant full of people to witness it.  How stupid is that.  If you ask me it is pretty sick that he chose an eight year old boy as his victim.  If he was supposedly mentally unstable shouldn't his family members have been watching him closer.  I guess nobody really expects their child to commit such a crime but wouldn't you want to keep a close eye on them to make sure they didn't endanger them selves or anyone else.  The up side is that he was caught and he will have to suffer the consequences of his actions and go through out justice system.  He will get what he deserves. 

Social Insecurity

The national debt is a number all Americans fear.  It keeps growing with no foreseeable end in sight.  Every year when the president and legislators set out to make the Federal Budget they seem to under estimate out spending and we wind up with a deficit.  Part of the yearly budget goes towards entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.  Social security is the largest and most expensive federal program.  It was established in 1935 to fight poverty and has morphed into a type of retirement fund.  The main problem with Social Security is that the number of Americans approaching retirement is growing faster than the number of Americans  replacing them in the workforce.  At the rate it is going the government is going to be spending more on Social Security than it is bringing in from income taxes.  In order for the program to stay on its feet the government would have to repay the money it borrowed form the Social Security program.  President Bush suggested allowing Americans to put their Social Security contributions into their own private investment accounts but the idea was widely rejected by legislators and citizens. 

I think that the government needs to pay back the money it borrowed form the Social Security program to ensure that it doesn't run out.  I don't think it is right that we spend our lives paying into a program that we won't get anything out of when it would come time for us to retire and start drawing Social Security.  If I am going to contribute I want to know for sure that when I get to be retirement age there will be a younger generation below me helping me out, just like I am doing with the elder generation now.  Rush Limbaugh also shares this point of view.  He is for privatising social security.  He also wants the reassurance that when we can no longer work we will have a fund set aside to help us out. 
War Dollars
Spending What We Can Afford

Natalee Holloway's mother sneaks into jail, confronts suspect

On Wednesday, Beth Holloway-Twitty, mother of Natalee Holloway snuck into Peruvian prison and confronted the man who admittedly took part in her daughters disappearance, Jordan Van der Sloot.  Reports say that she spoke to Van der Sloot for several minutes before she was removed from the jail.  Van der Sloot is being held on charges that he killed Stephany Flores on May 30 of this year.  With Holloway-Twitty was a Dutch journalist.  When they were told that she couldn't speak to Van der Sloot with out a lawyer present the Dutch journalist handed her Van der Sloot's lawyers card.  Holloway-Twitty managed to talk to Van der Sloot for a few minutes before she was discovered and escorted out of the jail.

In my opinion, Beth was a little out of line.  I understand where she was coming from and why she wanted answers.  However, I feel that there were better ways for her to get them than invading the Peruvian prison where Van der Sloot was being held.  She could have gotten in a lot more trouble for her actions than she did.  It also makes me question the security of the prison when all she had to do was hand the guard a business card and she was able to talk to Van der Sloot without any questions being asked.  It also amazes me what lengths journalists, like the Dutch reporter, will go to just to get a story.  He had no idea what was going to happen if they got in the prison but he didn't seem to care.  They are willing to deceive people in some astonishing ways just for that headline.  Personally, I think Beth could have handled the situation better but I do praise her for her courage.  Confronting Van der Sloot must have been incredibly difficult.  I am amazed at her bravery.  It just shows how strong the love is between a mother and her child.  She did an incredible thing to try and get some answers so her daughter could rest in peace. 

Florida pastor planning to burn Quran

Revrand Terry Jones intended to burn a copy of the Muslim holy book the Quran on Saturday.  After thousands of Muslims protested Jones desided he wouldn't go through with the plan if he could meet with organizers behind a mosque planned near ground zero in NYC.  However, there was some confusion about the meeting.  Jones said he would not burn the Quran if the location of the mosque planned near ground zero was changed.   Musri, the muslim leader who organized the meeting however only could set up a meeting with the organizers building the mosque.  This made Jones angry and felt that he had been tricked.  He finally desided to not go through with his plan to burn the Quran after President Obama asked him not to in fear that it could endanger our forces over seas. 

In my opinion, Revrand Jones was a little out of line in trying to burn the Quran.  I think that there are better ways that he could have made his point and expressed his frustrations.  If the situation was reversed I'm sure that the Revrand would be very offended at the Muslims trying to burn the book he considered sacred and holy.  I understand why he would be angry about such a thing, I am not a fan of it myself, but I don't think he needed to jump to such extreme measures right away.  I don't think he completely thought through the consequences of his act.  I wonder if he considered how this would affect our troops overseas.  By burning the book he would have enraged the Muslims in Iraq and Afganistan and they could have rebeled and taken their anger out on our military forces and caused them harm.  It just goes to show that rash actions are not always the best answer and that there are sometimes better ways of making your point that don't have such negative results.