It is the 40th anniversary of the first walk on the moon this week, and Fred thought it worth a post. I do too. This was a staggering achievement, and it is even more staggering when you think of President Kennedy’s call to go to the moon in 1962, with the landing achieved in 1969. It was a phenomenal achievement that shows man can do great things. I was only a young teen, but I felt real pride that our country had managed such a feat. Fred had posted a link to a great website we choose the moon.
Is there any utility to going back to the moon, and is it worth the cost?
Goodbye WBCN. The station I spent so much time listening to as a younger person is gone, swept up by changing times and corporate ownership. I have not tuned in to BCN for many years now, but they really did change the face of FM radio. And love him or hate him you cannot talk WBCN without tipping your hat to Charles Laquidara, who made morning radio into something that was really unique and entertaining. His alter ego Duane Ingalls Glasscock terrorized the airwaves. His campaign for Mayor certainly offered a budding candidate plenty of good campaign tips. (not) Great station in its day, with some of the best radio talent in the country working there. Ch Ch Ch Changes!
As the President pushes for health care legislation by August it is becoming increasingly clear that his timetable likely will not be met. And the Democrats continue to struggle with finding ways to pay for the bills that are winding their way through Congress. The House is looking to assess an income tax surcharge on individuals making $280,000 per year and on couples making over $350,000. That could raise about $544 billion over 10 years, but the House plan would require substantial additional savings through our existing health care system to cover the $1 trillion dollar plus pricetag of their bill. The Senate is stuck on financing, with the House surtax not being in favor. The idea of taxing existing health benefits also has foundered, with conservative Democrats and Republicans tending to support that concept, but the White House and labor opposing. That finance snag in the Senate will likely push back the Presidents timetable.
Nobody said this was going to be easy, but the Democrats have to be mindful that a simple expansion of coverage without real cost containment is doomed to failure. And yesterday’s testimony by Douglas Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office, cast the existing health care efforts as just that. From the Washington Post:
Under questioning by members of the Senate Budget Committee, Douglas Elmendorf, director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, said bills crafted by House leaders and the Senate health committee do not propose “the sort of fundamental changes” necessary to rein in the skyrocketing cost of government health programs, particularly Medicare. On the contrary, Elmendorf said, the measures would pile on an expensive new program to cover the uninsured.
Though President Obama and Democratic leaders have repeatedly pledged to alter the soaring trajectory — or cost curve — of federal health spending, the proposals so far would not meet that goal, Elmendorf said, noting, “The curve is being raised.” His remarks suggested that rather than averting a looming fiscal crisis, the measures could make the nation’s bleak budget outlook even worse.
Real cost containment would require a lot of political risk and courage. On that basis it is always the most difficult of tasks. And right now simply expanding the existing system to cover a wider swarth of the uninsured is simply going to crater our nations finances. The existing system is broken, and is going to destroy us in the years to come unless it is fundamentally altered. Simply adding expense to the system will not do.
Speaking of bending the long term cost curve a special commission in Massachusetts has recommended that the state move away from the fee for service model and towards some sort of lump sum payments for health care delivery to patients. I have attached their report at the bottom of this post.
Ezra Klein over at the Washington Post has written a piece today talking about health care reform that centers on Senator Ron Wyden’s Free Choice Act that is worth a read.
President Obama’s speech to the AMA is also attached.
Governor Patrick has found himself in the middle of a zoo controversy after issuing a veto of funding for the Franklin Park Zoo and the Stone Zoo. Patrick’s vetoes cut the zoo budgets, but did not eliminate funding. The PR offensive launched by Zoo New England included claims that the Zoos would have to be shut, and animals euthanized. That claim had the desired effect. The public outcry has led both the House and Senate to public statements of support for restoring the funding.
“With the amount of calls that I’ve gotten from the membership, I dare say that this is one of those items that I think will be overridden,” House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said during a day that included several State House press conferences, political jockeying, and no public explanations from zoo officials.
Senate President Therese Murray, also citing a large volume of calls and e-mails, said in a statement that “it is likely the Senate will take similar action.’’
But the Governor has shown that the Zoo claims were in fact false, and that there was never any plan to euthanize Zoo animals. And he expressed some major anger at the misdirection coming from the folks at New England Zoo.
“I do think that the public needs to know that the claim that animals in the zoo are going to be euthanized was false,” Patrick said in what were his first comments after leaving criticism over the weekend to his aides. “And I think, frankly, the zoo is going to have to take some responsibility for that.”
Well when he is right, he is right. The Zoo veto should not be overridden, and New England Zoo ought to have to live with the same type of austerity that everyone else in the State is living with. How much are they paying that Public Relations firm again?
The opening dance in the Judge Sotomayor confirmation hearing was held yesterday, with Republicans critiquing her fairness and impartiality, and the Democrats offering warm words of praise. The prospective Justice offered an opening statement. From the Washington Post:
“The task of a judge is not to make law. It is to apply the law,” Sotomayor said. “And it is clear, I believe, that my record in two courts reflects my rigorous commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its terms, interpreting statutes according to their terms and Congress’s intent, and hewing faithfully to precedents established by the Supreme Court and by my circuit court.”
Sotomayor said that in 17 years as a district judge and then on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York, she has sought to “strengthen both the rule of law and faith in the impartiality of our justice system.”
Senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican, offered some criticism.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the committee’s ranking Republican, praised Sotomayor’s statement as “from the heart and direct,” but earlier he had made clear that Republicans will challenge her speeches about how life experiences can form a judge’s view of the law, and Obama’s statement that understanding the real-life consequences of a decision is a necessary tool for a judge.
“I will not vote for, and no senator should vote for, anyone who will not render justice impartially,” Sessions said. “Call it empathy, call it prejudice or call it sympathy, but whatever it is, it’s not law,” he said. “In truth, it’s more akin to politics, and politics has no place in the courtroom.”
And Republican Lindsay Graham said the obvious, when he predicted an easy confirmation for Judge Sotomayor absent a “meltdown”.
One of my favorite political blogs is Chris Cillizza’s “The Fix” over at the Washington Post. Cillizza picked some first day winners and losers, and one of the Cillizza losers was New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand, who was cut off mid-sentence by Chairman Pat Leahy as she was making her home state introduction of Sotomayor. I have included that great clip below! Were there winners and losers here, or was it just political theatre?
WZLX radio had Mayor Michael Sullivan and myself on their morning show last week in what they billed as “My town is better than your town”, giving us both a chance to tout our cities and some of the attractions we both have. Mayor Sullivan did a great job, and of course the event was in fun and not competitive. That is why I am not announcing that Methuen won that competition. I have posted the podcast of that event below.
The announcement of the pending relocation of the Haverhill Jackson Lumber operation to New Hampshire may be the first tangible sign of the type of impact that the sales tax increase will have on the Merrimack Valley. Jackson Lumber owner Al Torrisi is looking for a smaller parcel, and still has his Headquarters in Lawrence, but there is no question that the sales tax hike is playing a role in his thought process here. We have seen the results of the existing sales tax disparity along the border for years now, with retailing on the Massachusetts side of the border vaporized by Massachusetts tax policy. Today’s Tribune editorial jumped on this, and you can believe that this tax policy will have these types of negative consequences for years to come.
President Obama talks again about the economy. With the job situation remaining bleak the stimulus package has been subjected to renewed criticism from Republicans, as job losses continue to mount. And the President is no doubt hearing the foot steps on the deficit, which he speaks to as well. As the stimulus winds its way through the economy some observations.
1) The pace of spending is not what was envisioned when the bill was passed. The money is going out too slowly.
2) The job creation portion of the stimulus needed to be a larger portion of the overall bill. And that should have contained greater sums for rebuilding existing infrastructure as well as building new infrastructure, especially in the energy and mass transit areas.
3) There needed to be greater balance in giving cities aid to offset the downturn between the education sector and standard city side operations. The education piece was great, but there was nothing for job retention for police and fire. I know that there is some grant funding still coming down the pipeline, but it should have been in place already.
Those are some thoughts on the stimulus bill as it stands today. What do you think?
The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles has announced 11 office closings as part of the recently passed budget, which will bring longer wait times across the state for customers. The registry has advocated more customer utilization of its website to perform routine tasks, and that should be encouraged in any case. But it is ludicrous for the State to think that they have a right to force people to wait longer for tasks that cannot be completed online. And additional wait time seems to be in the cards. From the Globe:
The registry currently has 34 branch offices; the 11 offices that are closing serve 1.2 million people, or 24 percent of the agency’s customers.
We will have to wait and see what the result is, but it does not look promising. I am struck by some of the commentary out there that seems to think that making folks wait longer during registry visits or leaving them hung up in traffic for hours at state run toll booths during holiday weekends is a winning strategy for a Governor. I guess the thought is that the Governor can point to failure, but say that if only we had increased your taxes more than we already have these things would not have happened. Hmmmm. I am not sure about the rest of the Commonwealth but that is not likely a winning strategy in the Merrimack Valley. The campaign slogan “The customer is always wrong” is not likely to resonate. A link to Jon Keller’s piece on the Registry closings is below.
Harvard Pilgrim CEO Charlie Baker announced today that he is a candidate for Governor on the Republican side, creating a stir amongst Republicans hopeful that he can bring the Governor’s job back to the G.O.P. Baker sent an email to his employees at Harvard Pilgrim, excerpted below.
For the past ten years, I have had the privilege of serving as the CEO of this very special organization. And trust me on this one – it’s been an honor to serve with each and every one of you. Harvard Pilgrim, more than any organization I’ve ever worked for, tries to live up to its mission every single day. It really is all about solving problems and getting stuff done. And most of the time, it works – because you make it work. Yes – we went through some pretty tough times “back in the day,” but for the past six or seven years, we’ve made adjustments, re-worked our business model, changed with the times (mostly), and, as a result, have been selected as the #1 Health Plan in America for five years in a row.
That kind of excellence over time is sort of about leadership, management and luck – but it’s mostly about you. You make it happen, and for that, I want to say “thanks.” You made the boss look good(!). But I also want to express my appreciation on behalf of our leadership team, our managers, our customers, our provider partners, our friends in the broker community, our members, and our partners in community service. When you perform, they (and we) all benefit.
Therefore, it’s a bit difficult for me to tell you all that my time here is almost over. I’ll be leaving at the end of next week (July 17th) to put together a statewide campaign for Governor. I know you know I’ve given this issue a lot of thought, and in the end, I love working here. But I also recognize the terrible financial and operational strain that will face state and local government in the years ahead. I know both sectors pretty well – better than most, I would say – and I believe I can bring ideas, energy and leadership to the tasks that face state government in the years ahead.
Charles Baker has served in the administrations of Governors Weld and Cellucci, first as Secretary of Health and Human Services and then as Secretary of Administration and Finance. He is a Harvard graduate with a Masters in Public Administration.
Baker’s entrance now casts some real doubt on the Cahill strategy, as I see Baker as a real and credible threat who will be able to raise more than enough money to be competitive. It is not possible to marginalize Charlie Baker, which gives us a three way race that I believe gives Governor Patrick an edge. Now would be an interesting time to do a statewide survey of that three way race. As you might have surmised I do not give Christy Mihos much of a chance to beat Baker in a Republican primary.
