January 31, 2011
Another Skirmish On The Road To Reform
Another conservative judge ruled today that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. All of it. The mandate. The exchanges. The expansion of Medicaid. The protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The whole shebang. The judge's order doesn't explicitly stay the law, which means that implementation will will continue as this case and others like it wind their way up to Justice Kenn--er, the Supreme Court. As Politico points out, several states that are parties to the litigation against the ACA are busy implementing the law and requesting federal grants to assist their implementation efforts. As I've said before, these implementation efforts are likely to be near completion in most states by the time the high court decides on the merits of the challenges against the law. I have a hard time imagining the Court nullifying the law and leaving the policy landscape in chaos, but smarter people than me have tried to second-guess the Court and made to look like fools.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2011
Running Silent
I'm usually not one to peruse car reviews, but Gene Weingarten's review of the Chevy Volt in the Washington Post is too clever and engaging to be read only by gearheads. In short, he really likes the Volt and its peppy electric motor. I'm hopeful that this technology will eventually be implemented in some sort of minivan shell. It would perfectly suit my commuting needs since I rarely venture beyond the confines of Minneapolis and St. Paul. I figure I can squeeze another five years out of my currant vehicle, which might be enough time for the electric auto market to mature enough to cater to gimps like me.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)
January 27, 2011
Unsolicited Advice
A group of Minnesota health plans and hospitals has unveiled a proposal to trim Medicaid costs through service cuts and tax hikes. They recommend scaling back certain optional services that Minnesota currently offers under its Medicaid program, such as dental care. Waivered services for the elderly and people with disabilities would also be reduced (waivers pay for things like home modifications and attendant care). The proposal suggests that people with disabilities should be moved into managed care as a further cost-saving measure. "Sin taxes" on alcohol and tobacco would generate additional revenue.
The health plans already serve tens of thousands of Medicaid enrollees, so their ideas will carry substantial weight at the Legislature. But there are a lot of bitter pills in this proposal. Republicans are bound to reject anything resembling a tax increase and disability advocates will vehemently oppose any effort to move people with disabilities into managed care. Already, health plans are being accused of plotting ways to add more publicly funded customers to their rolls. I don't like most of the ideas contained in the proposal, but the document does serve an important function. It articulates the severity of the cuts that will be necessary to reduce health care spending, even with some additional revenue tools. Perhaps it will prompt our elected leaders to start a frank and specific debate on our health care priorities.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2011
Wheels
Tomorrow I'm scheduled to pick up my van after another expensive round of repairs. I'm hoping it will be sufficient to squeeze a few more years of use out of it before I have to pay an obscene amount for even a new-ish accessible vehicle. The amount of money I'm spending would buy me a whole lot of fun with beautiful women in fishnets, but nobody ever said the universe was fair. I'm just glad I won't have to freeze anymore while waiting at the bus stop (at least for the foreseeable future).
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2011
Talk Talk Talk
I'm preparing to watch the State of the Union speech, although I probably won't remember most of it a month from now. These speeches rarely change the national political narrative and most of the policy proposals set forth tonight will never amount to anything. It's mostly spectacle and ritual and not nearly as interesting as any given day in the British Parliament. Nobody will interrupt Obama to ask a question and Democrats won't jeer the House Republican majority. It will all be very stiff and civil and ultimately forgettable. But I'll still watch; I'm curious to see whether Michelle Bachmann and Keith Ellison will sit next to each while exchanging awkward glances throughout the whole speech.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:58 PM | Comments (1)
January 24, 2011
Brett Who?
So.
PACKERS!
In case you don't know, I grew up in Green Bay and loyalty to the Packers was instilled in me at an early age. And the last time the team made it to the Super Bowl, I was still a starry-eyed law student. They lost to the Broncos 31-24 and a little piece of me died that day. The Pittsburgh Steelers will be a tough opponent and I'm expecting a close game, but the Packers' offensive arsenal should be enough to earn a victory. The fact that they've come this far after a flurry of injuries early in the season and a rocky midseason is indicative of just how much depth and chemistry they possess as a team. Even though I'm a fan, I certainly didn't think a Super Bowl appearance was likely back in October. I'm happy to be proven wrong.
Anyway, PACKERS!
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2011
Secret Weapon
The Man is always trying to keep us gimps down. Case in point: a British man can't use his all-terrain wheelchair on public roads because government officials have classified it as a tank. Little do they know that they will be seeing many more of these "tanks" once the revolution is in full swing. One can only imagine what those dull bureaucrats will think of the giant robots we're currently constructing at an undisclosed location in the British countryside. They are most certainly not street legal. Admittedly, we should have been more discrete about showing off our military hardware, but we didn't think anyone would actually figure out their true purpose.
I must speak to my minions. It may be time to accelerate our plans.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:41 PM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2011
Loyal User
I've been experimenting with the latest beta of Firefox 4 for the last few days. So far, I like. It rivals Chrome in terms of speediness, but I can still use my favorite extensions like Sage. Chrome could still win me over if it keeps evolving at such a rapid pace. Its minimalist interface is clearly influencing the latest Firefox build and Google doesn't show any signs of slowing down Chrome development. Firefox just feels more familiar to me. I have fond memories of using the first version way back in 2004 when most people were still using the monstrosity that was Internet Explorer 6. It gave me the first inkling that a browser could do more than just display web pages. Nowadays, most of my computer time is spent inside a browser. In fact, I'm writing this within a browser.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2011
Empty Gesture
While I was working on matters related to health care reform, House Republicans made good on their campaign promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act. As expected, Republicans didn't offer any alternative bill to replace the current law and made only vague assurances that they would study the issue further in committee. I'd be stunned if the House even bothers to pass any sort of substantive health care bill in the next couple years. As I've said many times before, most conservatives have no interest in addressing issues related to health care access (other than to tinker around the edges of the problem by offering false solutions such as letting people buy insurance across state lines).
Today's vote is little more than an exercise in symbolism as the repeal bill won't get past the Senate, much less the President. The real battle will come over the regulations and funding related to the ACA's implementation. It will require both sides to pore over spreadsheets and pages of the Federal Register, activities which are far less sexy than mugging for the cameras on the House floor. Republicans are going to have to become nerds if they hope to slow or stop implementation of the law. And that doesn't seem consistent with the dumbed-down philosophy of governance they so regularly espouse.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2011
Calling It Quits
Senator Joe Lieberman has apparently decided that he has irritated Democrats long enough and will announce tomorrow that he won't seek reelection in 2012. While he did help accomplish some progressive goals, such as the recent repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, it's difficult to forgive him for the shenanigans he pulled during the Senate debate of the health care bill. The final version of the law probably would have included a strong public option if he hadn't threatened to take his ball and go home. Then again, he wasn't the only Democratic senator to extract a pound of flesh in exchange for their vote on the bill. Lieberman just seemed to be motivated by spite more than anything.
Of course, this means that Jon Stewart has only a couple years to refine his Droopy Dog impersonation of the distinguished senator from Connecticut.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:00 PM | Comments (1)
January 17, 2011
Still Life
Someone decided that it would be a good idea to take pictures of bloggers in the process of, well, blogging. The photos are actually pretty good, but that probably has much to do with the dramatic lighting and the general attractiveness of the subjects. I'm pretty sure I don't look nearly as sexy in the glow of my computer screen. My desk also isn't terribly photogenic, what with all the tchotchkes and piles of old mail cluttering it up. You'll also never catch me blogging without a shirt on. Ever.
Since it's unlikely I'll ever be featured in a photo spread of sexy bloggers, you'll just have to imagine me looking intently thoughtful as i compose these posts.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:50 PM | Comments (2)
January 14, 2011
Great Shot, Kid!
Here in Minnesota, we're hitting that time of year when winter is beginning to lose its charm. But I have something to show you that might improve outlook while we endure the next couple months of cold and snow. I give you. . . Minnesota Death Star.
Five bucks says whoever made this video gets a cease and desist letter from Lucasfilm by the end of next week.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:15 PM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2011
The Humans Receiving Human Services
Cuts in health care and human services are likely to be part of any solution to the state budget crisis. But as the Star Tribune points out, Minnesotans with disabilities are already coping with previous cuts to personal care services. Those cuts were enacted a couple years ago after after a legislative audit revealed some instances of fraudulent billing in the personal care attendant program. The actual incidence of PCA fraud was relatively low, but it was enough to get the attention of both the media and legislators. Now, the Republican-controlled Legislature is promising to closely examine the budget allocation of every state-funded service.
The PCA program is one of the bigger pieces of the human services budget pie, which makes it a ripe target for budget hawks. It's not clear, however, that PCA services can be cut further without seriously jeopardizing the health and independence of people with disabilities. The disability community in Minnesota is more politically active than in most states, but I'm not sure how receptive legislators will be to their advocacy efforts. Stories like the one in the Strib undoubtedly help put a human face on the abstract talk of public finances and I expect to see more of this in the coming months. Still, I will be quite surprised if PCA services (and the private duty nursing services I use) emerge untouched in the coming budget battle.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:26 PM | Comments (1)
January 12, 2011
More J.D. Blues
Last Sunday's Times featured an extensive article questioning whether law school is still a worthwhile investment. It primarily focuses on the debt woes of graduates from lower-tier schools who can't find jobs or are forced to do soul-crushing legal temp work. It's not the kind of thing that gets mention in the glossy brochures from law school admissions offices.
If someone asked me whether they should go to law school, I would try to probe their motivations. Only a select elite will land the six-figure associate positions that so many covet. And those jobs aren't necessarily going to result in rich lives of contentment. A good legal education will teach you to think and write with articulate precision; skills that are in high demand by all kinds of employers. But most of those jobs won't make you rich. In the final analysis, they must decide whether this particular sort of skill acquisition is worth the price of a mortgage.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2011
Corporate Servitude
All the fuss surrounding the iPhone coming to Verizon strikes me as overblown. I've used AT&T for a couple years and only a handful of calls have dropped on me, but I'm also not a heavy phone user. The tech industry is by nature prone to hyperbole, but does this news really warrant so much free press for both Verizon and Apple? As much as I like reading tech news, I can do without some of the "news" that is little more than disguised press releases.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2011
Aftermath
I don't have much to add to the conversation regarding Saturday's shooting of Representative Giffords and several bystanders, other than to point to Jonathan Cohn's post on the role mental illness probably played in this tragedy. Cohn describes the inadequacies of the public mental health system and how many people cannot access the treatment needed to lead stable lives. Of course, that doesn't excuse this terrible crime, but it's probably a safe bet that the gunman and his family didn't have the means to pay for ongoing psychiatric care. Whether such treatment would have made a difference in the course of events is impossible to say. Sadly, it's question that most in the media probably won't even bother to ask.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2011
Car Trouble
My workweek ended with the Annual Malfunction of The Van's Automatic Door. Of course, this is a really inconvenient time to miss work for a trip to the repair shop. I really need an executive assistant to take care of these things for me. I'm going to spend the weekend trying not to be crabby and probably not entirely succeeding.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)
January 06, 2011
Selective Reading
House Republicans wasted no time in making good on their first campaign promise: to read aloud the Constitution on the chamber floor. But when it came time to actually read the thing, they decided to skip some of the more problematic sections that equated slaves and Native Americans to three-fifths of a person for purposes of calculating population. Apparently, even the Constitution can't live up to Republicans' expectations for a constitution. The fact that the original text of this hallowed document contains explicitly racist sentiments is inconvenient for GOP propaganda efforts, but even I'm a little surprised at the casualness with which they conducted their blatant censorship.
If this is a sign of what's to come in the next two years, I'm going to start memorizing the works of selected authors so I can recite them around the campfire to the other malcontents who are living off the grid.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:47 PM | Comments (1)
January 05, 2011
Minnesota Nice
When last year's legislature passed a law giving the next governor power to expand Medicaid, they probably didn't anticipate that the signing ceremony for that executive order would be one of the first big political stories of the new year. Several protesters showed up to express their displeasure at the governor and "Obamacare", but Dayton defused the tension by allowing some of the protesters to express their opinions. The opponents recited the standard Tea Party propaganda that government has no role in providing health care and that churches and the community are quite capable of providing health care to those in need. Oddly enough, no church leaders were present to offer a detailed plan on how they would fund and administer a Medicaid substitute.
The Tea Party's enthusiasm for some undefined form of charity care seems suspect. I don't think they're truly interested in such a thing, but telling the poor that they have to fend for themselves doesn't earn one good PR. Better to utter some vacuous platitudes about faith and Christian can-doism. All that's well and good until somebody has to pay the $75,000 hospital bill.
Elections matter, even if they're decided by a few thousand votes. And this is simply good policy. Tens of thousands of vulnerable Minnesotans will get access to better health care and the rickety GAMC program can finally be consigned to the graveyard of poorly conceived ideas.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)
January 04, 2011
Take Me To Your Director
Science fiction as a genre has staked out territory in most pop culture mediums--books, movies, TV, even music. But it hasn't been featured much in stage productions. That may be changing as several theater companies are staging plays that are unabashedly science fiction. Most of these productions probably won't make it to places like the Guthrie, but it's great to see that there might be some crossover potential between science fiction and drama club geeks.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)
January 03, 2011
Day One
The last time Minnesota had a DFL governor, the Soviet Union still stood, the word "Internet" had not yet entered our lexicon, and a certain blogger was still enduring high school in a bordering state. Governor Dayton put an end to that dry spell when he was sworn into office today. With the GOP in control of the Legislature, Dayton will have difficulty ushering in a new era of Minnesota progressivism, but I'm hopeful he can steer the state to a more sustainable future where public finances don't wildly careen from feast to famine and back again. And it should be refreshing to have a governor who isn't preoccupied with the business of preening himself for a run at higher office. Best of luck to the new governor and the new legislature as they begin to grapple with the budget and its dismal math. I expect them both to keep me busy for the next several months.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:52 PM | Comments (0)