califone's Blog

Clinton, Obama and Plagerism

2008-02-19T01:19:08Z

Well, it worked. Now, the "plagiarism story" is being repeated on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. Lou Dobbs had an extended talk on the discussion, and stated the story was relevant to Obama's credibility. Fox News is ripping it up insinuating it that Obama is a fraud, and MSNBC, limited in market reach and availability, simply dismisses the story as a non-sequitur.

Well, like I said, Clinton's campaign made it happen, and all they had to do was rely on the media Vacuum to carry the story. Too bad Obama didn't have the foresight to cite his sources before his rhetoric, or at least, he could have switched it up a bit. I won't be surprised if this carries on as a major campaign story until March 4th. (Damn it.)

Sens. Ron Wyden and Bob Bennett's Bipartisan Health Care reform.

2008-02-15T22:37:45Z

Sen.Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Sen. Bob Bennett are creating a health care package that may rival Sen. Clinton's and Sen. Obama's health care proposals.

(R-Utah) From The American Prospect:

Under the Wyden-Bennett system, health dollars would be controlled by the individual (a long-time conservative goal) and used within a restructured, heavily regulated, totally universal, insurance marketplace (a longtime liberal goal). Each state would create Health Help Agencies, who would provide easy access to insurance products, along with information, guidance, and advice on how to choose. Insurers would have to meet a minimum standard for comprehensiveness (equivalent to the standard Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan currently offered to members of Congress), and they could not discriminate based on pre-existing conditions, occupation, genetic information, gender or age. Nor could they deny insurance to those who ask for it. In return, every American would have to buy health insurance, and there would be hefty subsidies for those further down the income ladder.
The plan, to be sure, lacks some liberal priorities, notably a public insurance option. But it makes up for that by tightly integrating the system, going much further than Clinton or Obama do to bring the patchwork American health-care mess under one roof, where costs would prove more containable (the Lewin Group, a highly respected health-care consulting firm, estimates that the plan would save $1.4 trillion over 10 years) and future reforms and initiatives would be far easier. And they have done so along with 10 other senators. It's conceivable that, by the time the next president is elected, they will have created a legislative working group that can actually pass health reform—something we've never had before.
The question is whether that legislative working group will actually hang together when the eventual vote is called.

Read the whole article here.

10 Ways to Fix Health Care: Opinions from 10 Experts

2008-02-07T18:25:02Z

A compiled list from health care experts explaining how they would fix the US health care system:

Mend the medical schools
Single-payer insurance
Individual, not company, plans
Divert the dollar to the doc
Pay for the care of populations, not events
Cut costs for med students
Eliminate insurance altogether
More health centers
Stimulating positive-sum competition
Keep it low-tech

For further explanation behind the recommendations go here.

Hillary Clinton's Shady Campaign Contributions

2008-02-04T12:01:52Z

The New Republic has decided to review all of the questionable contributions to Hillary Clinton's campaign over the years.