Category: health

  • 16,500 : a “mistake” so egregious as to be a lie

    Where did the rabid right get the figure of 16,500 new “IRS agents” that (they claim) will be required to enforce the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act? They made it up. Really.  It came from nowhere.  In fact, the IRS will add few or no agents, and perhaps hardly any staff at all. …

  • Health care reform passes

    So, against all expectation, the Democratic Party managed to hang together and finally pass the comprehensive health care bill. As a lifelong Democrat, I am flabbergasted. I was certain they’d find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and fumble on the proverbial one-yard line. I’m glad to be disappointed, but this…

  • We Are All Californians Now

    This is the day. This is the moment that some clever historian — not the first to consider this sweep of time, but rather someone turning over the leaves looking for a more subtle causation — will draw a slash on the timeline of history and write: Here began the fall of the American republic.

  • The Democratic playbook

    in convenient cartoon form. I got this via Ezra Klein’s fantastic blog, but apparently it’s by Tom Toles.

  • My congressional lobbying

    I haven’t really gotten involved in haranguing my elected representatives before, but the possibility of health care reform is so tantalizingly close — and the apparent drift of the Democratic so-called “leadership” is so grindingly predictable and frustrating — that I’ve felt compelled to contact my representative several times.  Below the fold is the email…

  • What the Democrats Should Do Now

    Pass health care reform. Pass the frakking Senate bill as is and have the President sign it before the State of the Union. Heck, have him sign it at the State of the Union. Yes, it will enrage the Republicans but in case you haven’t noticed, the Republicans are already the party of incohate rage.…

  • Health Care basics

    With the health care bill finally moving forward in both houses of Congress, it’s a good time to take stock, take a breath, and take a look at what’s inside.  Below are some links to useful summaries and commentaries. Ezra Klein’s excellent list-of-articles called “Health Reform For Beginners“ Alec McGillis’ “Your Handy Health Care Cheat…

  • Me-tooing a clever description

    One of the unsung heros of the health care debate is the Congressional Budget Office, an agency that few really understand and fewer appreciate.  Ezra Klein has a tidbit on them, including a description so pithy I can’t help but steal it: If the role of the Federal Reserve is to take away the punchbowl…

  • Week 51 in the Program

    Well, I’m closing in on one year in the HMR program and, looking back, I feel pretty satisfied.  I hit my nominal target (weight loss of 150 lbs) a couple of weeks back and have managed to keep going a bit, so it wasn’t a fluke.  My blood pressure today was 110 over 80, which…

  • Week 48 in the Program

    Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve written an update, for absolutely no good reason. Things continue to go really well and I’m very happy with my progress. I weigh at 225.6 lbs. now, which is not only 147.4 lbs below my start weight — it’s lower than I’ve been since, most likely, high…