26 February 2010

Jacob S. Hacker is a bad-ass.

Jacob S. Hacker has a not-for-the-layperson book about the public/private nature of the American welfare state. His main issues are illustrating the path-dependent nature of the evolution of these programs, and he highlights the importance of applying the same type of government/institutional analytical framework to non-governmental actors in the game. He shows how organized labor played a vital role in securing pension benefits for all Americans but acquiescent on the health front; he shows the ruthless AMA lobby fighting against national health care in the 1930’s – and perhaps most importantly, how private insurance flourished in the absence of a governmental program between 1935 and 1950. After this point, every subsequent debate about national health care has really been a debate about expanding “private” (heavily subsidized) health insurance.

Hacker more recently authored the public option that was left out of the Senate bill.

This quote is from that turning point - where the future of the American health system had been decided by means of subterranean politics and the tax code. Not all at once, of course, but this is the point at which we know where the path is leading...

There was, in short, every sign that private health insurance had won out for employed Americans, just as there was every sign that Social Security would remain the core provider of retirement income.

No votes on this outcome had been taken. No grand alternatives had been put to citizens for a test. Indeed, judging by the debates that did transpire after 1950, there were no real choices to be made. Private insurance received ever more costly subsidies. Yet defenders of the voluntary way denied that government was implicated at all. Some Americans were well served and others were left out, but discussion of winners and losers was lost in the celebration of private progress and the complexities of tax tables. Americans had found themselves caught up in a fierce battle over national health insurance, but the increasingly privileged place of private insurance in the American social welfare regime prompted little debate at all.



And I love this quote, which perfectly sums up the role of the American government in health care in the 20th century:

The federal government had first built up the technological prowess of the medical complex, then become a generous subsidizer of private health insurance, and then finally stepped in as a largely passive financier of private medical care itself.


Cheery thoughts for a cold Friday afternoon.

13 February 2010

Carnaval

Beyonce is in Rio, and apparently pulled off some nice moves at a samba school. My dad complains: "Why is our misery chic?"

But carnaval is underway, people, as evidenced by what a friend of mine reports hearing someone shouting on the street in the wee small hours of the morning yesterday:

"She can be fat! Or she can be ugly! But what she cannot be is BOTH fat AND ugly."

Ah, carnaval...

10 February 2010

The problem with snow days...



...is that they're a string of Sundays, but what we really want is a Saturday. So, we've been in a state of suspended Sundayness for the past 4 days (including the real Sunday) and we may have another Sunday or two ahead of us. Hmmm.

01 February 2010

Beer o'clock

In addition to the Jerome story, here are two more beer tales to warm your malty, hoppy hearts:

Tupper's is back! My wedding beer is back!

And JJF sends this tale from the rockier parts of the country, though it takes place in the city of broad shoulders. Enjoy the background story, if you don't know it, and the appropriately floral description of the beer itself, knowing you will probably never try it yourself:

I got a fantastic surprise that you’d appreciate for Xmas: my brother-in-law handed me one of two bottles of Westvleteren 12 he brought back from Brussels earlier in the year. Not sure if you’re familiar, but it’s been rated as the best beer in the world by numerous publications over the past couple decades. Supply is the issue – they only sell it at the abbey, and even then only in small batches to folks who have local driver’s licenses. Apparently one of John’s classmates (he was there for his MBA program) ended up driving to the abbey and bribing a local to purchase a couple of six-packs. I’m not sure how much he spent, but it was well-worth it for sure. The brew is technically a Quad, which I’d describe as a supercharged Dubbel. Dark, very little carbonation, doughy yeast on the nose, lots of brown sugar / dark fruits on the tongue, and a surprisingly smooth, almost creamy finish considering the ABV (10+%). Highly recommended if you ever have the opportunity to try it.