Might As Well Jump

I am not a foreign policy expert, and I could not even pretend to be.  I do pretend to know a few things about politics in this country, however, and over the past 48 hours, Mitt Romney has failed the political moment test in historic fashion.  As one pundit opined, this might have been his Lehman Brothers moment.  Time will tell.

Here is the background:

An anti-Muslim filmmaker posts a trailer for the film that depicts the prophet Muhammad in an insulting manner.

The trailer is mentioned in an Arabic-language blog post and English-language e-mail newsletter, which also publicizes the latest stunt by Terry Jones — the Florida pastor who was chastised worldwide in 2011 for burning a Koran.

On September 9^th, Egyptian television airs a scene from the film.

On September 11^th, 6 hours before the attack begins, our embassy in Egypt releases the following statement: 

“The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims - as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.”

Attacks occur in Libya and Egypt against our embassies.  In Libya, 4 are killed including our ambassador, but this is not immediately known. 

10:09 p.m. ET on the 11^th:  The Romney campaign issues a statement signed by Mitt Romney condemning the Obama administration for the Cairo embassy’s repudiation of religiously insensitive speech. It falsely suggests that the Cairo embassy’s condemnation came in response to the attacks in both Egypt and Libya.  The attacks had not yet occurred when the statement was released.

His signed statement reads: 

“I’m outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi. It’s disgraceful that the Obama Administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”

The statement is embargoed — meaning the press cannot report on it — until midnight, Sept. 12^th — the moment the Obama and Romney campaigns’ Sept. 11 truce is scheduled to end.

10:25 p.m. ET: Without explanation, the Romney campaign lifts its embargo on Romney’s statement and it becomes public.  The date is still September 11^th.

At 12:01 a.m. ET, as soon as the September 11^th date has passed, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus tweets the following: “Obama sympathizes with attackers in Egypt. Sad and pathetic.”

At this point, I will pause and comment on how sad and pathetic this tweet is.  First of all, Obama did nothing of the sort.  Secondly, to accuse the President of terrorist sympathies while the attacks are in process is wrong, insensitive, tone-deaf, embarrassing, insert your own pejorative here.

Obama did not release the statement in question; the statement was released by the embassy before any attacks had taken place; Romney responded without all the facts; the RNC Chair piled on and looks even worse given the circumstances; and the embassy statement differs little from previous administration statements on the same topic:

·         Bush/Cheney administration condemned European caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in 2006, saying, ''We find them offensive, and we certainly understand why Muslims would find these images offensive.''

·         In 2008 President Bush apologized to Iraq's prime minister for an American sniper's shooting of a Quran.

·         In 2011, when that fringe Florida pastor caused riots abroad by announcing plans to burn Qurans, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo condemned the stunt, saying in a statement that "Since the founding of our nation, the United States has upheld the principles of tolerance and respect for religious freedom."

I am not sure why these GOP administration statements are viewed by Romney as diplomacy while an officially disavowed statement by the embassy under Obama’s administration is viewed as “apologizing for American values.”  Actually, I do know why.  Cheap political points.

Obama, unfortunately for Romney, played the role of a statesman in charge.  Referring to the statement released by our embassy in Egypt, he said:

“In an effort to cool the situation down, it didn’t come from me, it didn’t come from Secretary Clinton, it came from people on the ground who are potentially in danger, and my tendency is to cut folks a little bit of slack when they’re in that circumstance, rather than try to question their judgment from the comfort of a campaign office.”

That is not only the correct answer, but it included a nice zinger.  Ouch.

During another interview (CBS News), Obama went too far (could have stayed above the fray), but he was responding to a direct question so he went for it:  "There's a broader lesson to be learned here: Gov. Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later and as president one of the things I've learned is you can't do that.  It's important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts and that you've thought through the ramifications before you make them."

Another zinger and another ouch.  Like how he mentioned ‘facts’.

Obama was not alone in his view that Romney’s knee-jerk statement was off the mark.  Conservatives, theoretically his people, have piled on.

The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan, a former Reagan speechwriter, told Fox News she doesn’t feel that the Republican presidential nominee “has been doing himself any favors” in the past few hours.

“I was thinking as he spoke, I think I belong to the old school of thinking that in times of great drama and heightened crisis, and in times when something violent has happened to your people, I always think discretion is the better way to go. When you step forward in the midst of a political environment and start giving statements on something dramatic and violent that has happened, you're always leaving yourself open to accusations that you are trying to exploit things politically.”

“Sometimes when really bad things happen, when hot things happen, cool words or no words is the way to go.”

Mark Halperin, of Newsweek called this the "most craven" and "ill-advised move" of the 2012 campaign.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said “I don’t think the president sympathizes with those who perpetrated these attacks.”

Former Sen. John Sununu, a Romney surrogate, told MSNBC that “You look at the way things unfolded, you look at the timing of it — they probably should have waited.”  He was being kind.

The GOP political class did not throw Romney a lifeline either.  John Boehner and Mitch McConnell issued statements, but neither repeated nor commented on Romney’s attack line.

Top foreign-policy surrogates like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made no mention of Romney in their statements condemning the attacks, with McCain even tweeting support for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

And Romney running mate Paul Ryan, asked explicitly how a Romney-Ryan administration would have handled the situation differently during a town hall meeting in Wisconsin, simply said it was “very important that a president speak with a singular voice.”  Even his own guy will not join Romney in his attack line.  It must be lonely at the top.

Of course, Romney did have one supporter.  Sen. Jon Kyl (AZ), the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, told reporters that the embassy statement condemning the anti-Muslim movie was akin to blaming a victim for rape.  Is it me, or does every issue for the Far Right come back to an analogy that includes violence against women?  With friends like Kyl, who needs enemies?

Mitt’s campaign tried to come to his defense.  Here’s the clumsy quote from Richard Williamson, former envoy to the Sudan and current Romney foreign policy advisor, responding to questions about Romney’s attack against Obama:

“Ty Cobb was the greatest hitter of all time and he batted about .355. And he is still the greatest hitter. There isn’t something in my 63 years I couldn’t have done better except con my wife into marrying me.”

So Romney’s foreign policy advisor, tacitly admitting that this Romney move was a swing and a miss, suggests that striking out 6 ½ times out of ten is Hall of Fame caliber in politics, governance, and baseball.  Really?  If Romney is wrong significantly more often than he is right, his presidency will be judged as Hall of Fame caliber?  I don’t think so.  These are his friends who will help him govern.  Oh my.

I understand why Romney decided he had to toss this ill-advised attack.  The Far Right is nervous and they are goading him into doing dumb things.  A few days before, Sarah Palin said Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign should be “severely aggressive” in attacking President Barack Obama as “incompetent” and a “socialist.”  Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly agreed.  Conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham suggested this week the GOP should disband if they aren’t able to defeat Obama.  Joe Scarborough agreed and wrote an op-ed that says just that.  So we should forgive Mitt if he sounds desperate.  He is because his party is scared. 

There can be legitimate questions regarding Obama’s handling of the Arab Spring and relations with these Muslim nations with new leadership, but these questions can be raised without accusing the President of sympathy for terrorism during a time of military crisis.

Mourn the loss of life, condemn the violence, mention that there will be a time to debate the President’s Middle East policies, particularly with regards to the Arab Spring uprisings once our embassies and our citizens are secure…something like that, and let the media ask Obama the questions.

Four years ago almost to the day, Lehman Brothers collapsed and the global economy was on the brink.  John McCain reacted rashly, and called for a suspension of his campaign and the upcoming debates so he could save the world from fiscal darkness.  The contrast to a calm and cool Obama in that moment is seen by many as the turning point in the 2008 election.  When the history books of the period are written, this may be called Romney’s Cairo Moment, the moment when he lost the election.  

UPDATE:  Romney must be listening to the backlash.  At his event in Fairfax, VA today, he did not mention his criticism at all.  I am sure he hopes we forget...

The Shut Down

The Washington Nationals today announced that they are shutting down the team for the season now that they have reached their pre-determined 87 win limit for 2012.  The team had planned to shut down in mid-September, just like every other year since moving to DC in 2005, but the surprising success of the team had national baseball observers questioning that decision. 

The shut down of the team was planned as a way to protect the franchise and its fans from the disappointment of being upstaged by the local football team, the Washington Redskins, just like every other year.  After Robert Griffin III singlehandedly defeated the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon 40-32, the team saw fan interest weakening, and they did not want to risk further injury by continuing the season. 

 

Dozens of loyal seamheads in the Washington market shrugged their shoulders at the news, delivered by Nats General Manager Mike Rizzo at a hastily arranged news conference.  The fans, most wearing Chris Cooley jerseys, shook their heads and stared at the ground.

Rizzo said during his remarks that the shutdown was in the plans since spring training, and that the team was sticking to its win limit of 87 this year.

“No one expected the Nats to be in a pennant race this season, so when we planned for the shut down in April, no one cared.  Now that we are playing well, leading the major leagues with the best record in the game, everyone wants us to reconsider.  We knew once the Redskins started playing well, our fan interest and revenue would suffer irreparable harm.  For the good of the team and our fans, we are shutting it down.”

Every season since the franchise moved to Washington in 2005, the team shut down in early September once football started.  The only difference in 2012 is that this ball club has a chance to go to the playoffs, and go deep into the playoffs.  Rizzo was adamant that these conditions will not alter the team’s plans.  

“We’ve consulted with the experts and we’re studied the history of baseball in Washington, DC.  The longer we play, the more likely that we’ll do damage to ourselves.  I am looking out for the long term,” Rizzo said.

The GM went on to recap the rationale behind the decision to shut down the season despite the recent performance on the field.  

“The Washington Nationals have a young and inexperienced fan base.  They are not used to the increased workload that October baseball can bring.  Look, for years, they’ve strained themselves through season after season of 100 losses.  Once the fan base’s was stretched to the snapping point, its confidence had to be rebuilt.  We followed the advice of the doctors and transplanted strong, healthy players, like Jason Werth, from another city into our city.  The history of these types of procedures meant that we had to hope that new players, like Bryce Harper and Ian Desmond, would develop and grow around the transplants, and in turn, strengthen them.  So far, that is what has happened.”

By all indications, the plan is working.  The players are stronger, the fans are more confident, but Rizzo reminded the assembled crowd that the team was still in a rehab mode.  The repetitive injuries from losing over and over caused major damage to the fans, so Rizzo insisted that they stick to the plan.

Manager Davey Johnson, who himself looked awfully tired, fully supported the decision to shut down the season. 

 

“If we were still losing, no one would care if we shut down the season.  We did it last year.  This year, our progress is ahead of schedule, but it does not change our minds.  For the good of the franchise and for the good of the fragile psyche of our fans, we are shutting down now.”

The players were disappointed, but understood management’s reasoning behind the season shut down.

Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was defiant in support of his GM and manager, “What if we kept playing baseball, and RGIII kept chipping away at our fan base during these final weeks of the season?  We’d never forgive ourselves.”

While RGIII’s stellar rookie debut makes the shutdown decision a little easier, since all print, radio, Internet and television coverage in the market has moved to covering his every bodily function, it still stings for some fans who were ready to accept the consequences, even if they got hurt.

Other fans, used to losing seasons and ignoring the team in late September, were more circumspect.

“Look, they could keep playing but let’s face it – no one cares anymore.  RGIII had a QB rating of 139.5 against the Saints, and that New Orleans defense makes money hurting people.  Strasburg could strike out Babe Ruth tomorrow, and all the fans would talk about was Pierre Garcon’s sore foot and its impact on ‘Skins passing game.”

“It’s football season now, dude.”

Dodgeball

“Well, the specifics are these which is those principles I described are the heart of my policy.”

-  Mitt Romney, September 9, 2012 on Meet the Press in response to questioning asking for one specific example of a loophole in the tax code that he would close in order to meet his proposed budgetary targets.

In terms of a non-sequitur, this Romney quote should join the pantheon of famously ridiculous political statements.  This statement rivals Sarah Palin’s “I can see Russia from my house” and John Kerry’s “I voted for it before I voted against it.”  Entire episodes of Saturday Night Live can be devoted to his verbal gift of talking without speaking.  

Reading Romney’s words, I am again reminded of one of my favorite lines from Animal House.  Robert Hoover, President of Delta House defends his fraternity’s actions at the infamous toga party by saying, “The Delta House has a long history of existence to its members and to the community at large.”  The difference is that Robert Hoover’s deflection was funny.  Romney’s deflection is no joke.  It’s pathetic.

And it might work.

Dean Smith, the legendary basketball coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels, perfected the four corner stall tactic in the days before the shot clock.  His team would get a lead and then play keep away for long stretches of the second half.  Mitt appears to be trying the same approach for his campaign.  Hold the ball, make no mistakes and you might win.  Dean Smith won a lot of games this way.  Of course, Coach Smith was in the lead when he instructed his team to stop playing, and Romney is behind in the Electoral College right now.  He’d better start dribbling, and soon.  He needs points.  We need specifics. 

In these final weeks of the Presidential campaign, Mitt has calculated that saying anything specific about his post-election plans would be “political suicide” (Paul Ryan’s words).  I must insist that the national press intercept the ball and force Romney to play instead of stall.  Where have you gone, Tim Russert?  Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you... woo, woo, woo.

(Side bar:  I know that David Gregory had a near impossible task following the legendary Russert who was taken from us far too soon, but his facile questioning of guests is embarrassing.  The Fourth Estate should deport him.)

Politicians have been giving evasive answers to direct questions for centuries.  I get that.  Mitt Romney seems to have taken the enterprise to a whole new level by claiming that his lack of specificity is required, otherwise his opponents will attack his positions.  Huh?  Sounds to me like the positions must be indefensible if that is how he feels.

So far, we know that is budget and tax plan cannot be scored by the CBO because it lacks specifics.  We know that he plans to work out any details with Congress so we’ll have to vote for him and hope his relationship with a divided Congress will be magically better than Obama’s.  We know that his Afghanistan plan is to ask the generals what to do.  He supports equal pay for woman, but won’t say if he supports the Equal Pay Act.  He is against violence towards women, but won’t say if he would sign the Violence Against Women Act.  We know that he’ll repeal Obamacare, but keep all the good parts without explaining how that will be affordable.  In today’s GOP, I guess this is what is known as telling the public the “hard truths”, like they promised at their convention.

In the year 2012, a platform that consists of the two words “Trust Me” should not be enough to earn anyone’s vote.  If you think Romney deserves a chance, then demand he tell you what he’ll do once in office.  I think the public deserves that courtesy.  We the voters need to insist on answers.  

Please watch the debates beginning in 23 days and demand answers, not platitudes. 

Kick Off Time

This week featured the nationally televised kickoff events for two major fall sports – NFL football and the Presidential campaign.  The similarity between the two sports is striking.

Both require a successful mix of a punishing ground game with a targeted aerial assault to win.  Both demand creative offensive attacks and coordinated defensive strategies.  Misdirection works on the gridiron and it works during debates.  If you want to be on the last team standing at the end of the season, you’d better have some star players who perform at their best under the bright lights.  Finally, both activities are thought to cause massive head injuries if you play them too long.  If you want to play professionally, prepare to get hurt. 

The NFL is using replacement referees; politics today uses Facebook friends to adjudicate policy differences and serve as amateur fact checkers.  Big plays often determine the outcome.  Both sports are dominated by men, and both sports have been slow to add blacks in key leadership positions.

There is one key difference between politics and football.  In football, talent and execution decide winners and losers.  You can’t buy a championship in football.  I cannot say the same for politics. 

 

This particular campaign season and this particular election season run parallel for me in more specific ways.  The two major party tickets have much in common with two NFL teams hoping for a big season in 2012.  Who will win this season?:

Romney/Ryan = New York Jets

The on the field leadership teams for the GOP and the Jets are made up of 2 good looking white guys, either of whom could run the team.  In fact, many fans of both the Republicans and the Jets think that the back-up player should be the starter this year.  The most obvious similarity is that both organizations are filled with overrated camera hungry clowns.  Waiting on “Hard Knocks: GOP Primaries” to be released on DVD. 

 

If the top player for either team fumbles once or twice, team boosters will be quick to call for Paul Ryan and Tim Tebow to get more playing time.  Neither second stringer should be the “face of the franchise”, but this is a rare year when the understudy could be more exciting than the star.  I expect the calls for Tebow and Ryan off the bench will be loud by late October.

Sanchez, like Romney, has been tagged as someone who plays not to lose, but in order to go all the way in both pursuits, it will require more risk-taking.  Is either one up to that challenge?  The rabid fan bases better hope that Sanchez and Romney don’t freeze like statues in the pocket when the heat comes.

In Tampa this week and in New York this summer, the Number 2 was a darling of the religious Right.    

By the way, in this comparison, Jets owner Woodie Johnson is Sheldon Adelson, and Rex Ryan is Karl Rove, calling the plays from the sidelines.

Obama/Biden = Denver Broncos

The cool tactician on the playing field, Obama has taken some major hits over the last few years, and like Payton Manning, there are questions as to how many more he can absorb before he is forced into retirement.  The Broncos and the Democrats have media-friendly faces at the top of the franchise to promote, Elway and Clinton.  Both players have won the Big One.  They know what it takes. 

 Both teams have been associated with Mile High in the past, that’s for sure.  Both teams have at their core identity a man that has played the role before – Elway in Denver and Clinton in Washington.

Conventional wisdom says that Manning and Obama do not have a chance without the team playing smothering defense, picking up some fumbles by their opponents (winning the turnover battle), and featuring a ground game that takes the pressure off the QB to do it all by himself.

Can they surround themselves with enough capable players to win it all?  The Democratic team and the Denver Broncos team had better all bring their A games this fall.  If the plan is to stand around while the guy with the football does all the work, the season will end badly.

Both Bronco fans and Democratic voters hope that the back-up never has to play a down the entire season.  Neither Caleb Hanie in Denver or Joe Biden in Washington, DC appears ready to take the reins at a moment’s notice.  Actually, Biden as back up is more like signing Vinne Testaverde out of retirement to hold Manning’s clipboard, but I digress.

I am looking forward to an entire fall watching what George Will once described as the worst of America – endless committee meetings punctuated by violence.  Not sure if he was talking about football or politics at the time.

Campaign Couplets

Back in January this year, I was trying to explain the political history of the prior 8 months of campaigning to my youngest child.  I felt it best to couch things in a language and cadence that she could relate to, so I wrote a rhyme.  At the time of publication, there were 4 candidates remaining in the GOP primary, and I vowed to eventually finish the poem once the field was settled.  With Obama’s nomination last night, here we are.  Time to finish what I started.

Here it is from start to (almost) finish:

The historic opportunity to unseat the Obama

Took a grave hit when he took out the Osama.

Still it looked worth the long days and the hard work

Since he was unquestionably a Socialist jerk.

How many crazies would jump into the fray?

Only time would tell how many and who may.

Trump, Daniels, Barbour and Huck

Decline to enter the primary muck.

Palin hovered on a One Nation bus nearby

But she leaves it to others to saddle up and try.

Ten egomaniacs visit Iowa towns

Romney is the preference when choosing among the clowns.

But voters prefer someone who could have more clout

Too bad – Chris Christie confirms he is out.

Nine pols tight on money, chasing frontrunning Mitt

Fighting one another to be the next Big Hit.

Tim Pawlenty had a chance, but attacks Mitt too late,

A bungled opportunity, and we’re now left with eight.

Eight folks debating every single day

None making sense with anything they say.

More Cain accusers (I think you get the gist)

Consults with his wife, then seven on the list.

Seven desperately vying for the nation’s top job

Newt steals some votes with a well-timed diner sob.

Iowa caucuses and Bachmann takes her licks

Goes home to her district – and then there were six.

Six GOP contenders slogging through the snow,

“After New Hampshire votes, then we’ll really know.”

Huntsman hopes the final votes will keep his candidacy alive,

New Hampshirites feel differently – and then there were five.

Five remaining candidates fighting on the stump

Rick Perry running last, looking like a chump;

While in Carolina, he sees an exit door,

Decides to endorse Newt, and then there were four.

Four lonely Republicans leaning too far to the right

Bashing the incumbent President with all of their verbal might.

All that’s left are Mitt, Paul, Newt and Rick,

So now the competition is who’s the biggest….

Could someone save us from political despair?

Someone with humor and perfectly coiffed hair?

Someone who would run on a whim and a dare?

I give you President Stephen Colbert!

Four tired candidates running after the Prez

Twisting the meaning of everything he says

Newt proclaims “To the moon with me!”

Mitt launches attack ads and then there were three.

Santorum now elevates to the top of the heap

Prays that evangelicals his candidacy to keep

Rick bets the farm he’ll win in Kalamazoo

But Mitt wins his home state and then there were two.

Romney and Paul are the two left standing

Only two left to continue glad-handing

Ron Paul vows to take his cause to the ends

His supporters won’t quit but the campaign suspends.

Mitt’s delegate count gets higher and higher

The more he calls out “Obama’s a liar!”

Paul can’t expand his Libertarian base

He fades to obscurity and that closes his case.

Romney’s the nominee of the GOP

He hopes to keep us the Land of the Free

He wasn’t their first choice but he is their last

Determined to bring us back to the past.

Ten likely candidates gave it a shot

It was an extreme and crazy lot.

All the time we knew it was Mitt’s turn

Although his positions you could hardly discern.

Now it’s general election time

Time to wade in political slime.

Each candidate will take their verbal whacks

And play it fast and loose with the facts.

The ads will fly

And the candidate will lie

(sigh)

Mitt or Barack? Barack or Mitt?

Regardless the winner, we’re in a world of…..

Exceptionalism!

In Sickness and In Health

On Saturday morning, everyone slept in.  It was the final weekend before school began anew, and the extra rest was welcomed.  It was close to 9:15 AM and Lucy had yet to wander into my room to wake me with her favorite question, “Are you awake?”  Cherie was out of town representing the family at her great aunt’s funeral so I had the bed to myself.  I had expanded my territory comfortably without risking an elbow, a knee or an involuntarily rap across the head (at least I have been told that those are involuntarily).

Rested and relaxed, I headed downstairs for some coffee and some light Internet surfing.  My first order of business was a quick review of personal emails.  Most of these emails are hockey equipment sales announcements for “Today Only”, political panhandling based on yesterday’s perceived affront inside the Beltway, and various headlines questioning my manhood and my mortgage rate.  I like to start my weekend mornings cleaning house, and my Outlook in box seemed as good a place to start as any.

As I pounded the delete key and sipped my inaugural coffee, one email caught my eye.  It was from my mother-in-law who was in Pennsylvania with Cherie at the funeral.  Her email must have been hacked, I thought.  The message made no sense on this Saturday morning.  The header read, Cherie:

we are in ER..severe pain in side of back, urgency and pain at urination, vomiting.  Getting seen quickly in ER, IV fluid and pain med, then test urine and get pictures.  This happened to be about 5 yrs ago..expect she will be fine..

I read and reread the email several times.  I must not be as rested as I thought.  If this were a legitimate email, someone would have called me by now.  I am a sound sleeper, but we have dozens of phones in the house.  Someone would have heard it.  This has to be a mistake or a trick to get me to send money to a Nigerian prince who needs my help.  This cannot be real.  I was in denial and opted for a second cup of coffee to sharpen my thinking.

In my relaxed state, I could not understand the message, so I called Cherie’s cell phone.  It was not an Internet scam.  Cherie was in fact in the ER somewhere in the mountains of Pennsylvania slowly recovering from a rogue kidney stone.  Her pain medication was clearly working, so our conversation was brief.  She was going to be fine, and she was with her brother and her mother, arguably in better hands than if she had been at home for this emergency.

After the call, I must confess to having some uncomfortable thoughts about her entire experience, and I am somewhat ashamed.  Like the raps across my head while I sleep, these too were involuntarily. 

I wondered if the ER in Pennsylvania was considered in-network by our insurance company.  I wondered what the co-pay was and what treatments would be considered covered expenses.  I wondered whether the 2 hours of hospital care would mean a $50 ER co-pay or a $3,648 out-of-pocket cost.  I didn’t want to think about it, but it crossed my mind, and I wish it hadn’t. 

Why couldn’t she have shopped around central Pennsylvania for the best available pricing first?  The marketplace of emergency care providers can only be cleansed of inefficiency and high costs when an educated consumer makes health care decisions based on price and value.  Competition must be encouraged because without competition and a profit motive in health care, we all lose...or so I am told.   

Alas, she went to the closest hospital, and that was her “choice”.  My insurer may not like her decision and my insurer may fleece me because of her choice of hospitals, but she made not only the right decision, but the only possible decision available given her level of pain. 

The health care marketplace is not the same as other consumer marketplaces.  Our life doesn’t usually depend on what brand of vacuum we purchase or on what grocery store we frequent.  Pain and fear tend to drive our health care purchases more than most other market purchases.  We can’t afford to wait for a “20% off your next angioplasty” coupon to arrive in the mail before seeking treatment.

I hear cries that with Obamacare or any national health care program, freedom would be lost in this country.  I am not so sure.  Today, if I were to consider a job change, the first consideration would be the transition of my family health care coverage.  My mobility is currently restricted because of today’s employer based health care system.  I hear the cries that with Obamacare, we are all victims of a complex set of regulations that reduce health care choices.  Today, I am a victim of a complex set of insurance company rules designed to reduce my discretionary dollars.  The idea that today’s system provides me choice is silly when you consider the reasons we most often visit doctors or hospitals – unplanned emergencies.  Closest provider wins. 

Thankfully in America, we no longer have to worry about denial of coverage because of pre-existing conditions.  Kids starting their careers or trying to be entrepreneurial job creators can remain on their parents’ health care plans until age 26.  Lifetime maximum benefits are eliminated and emergency health consumers (free loaders) are being forced into the risk pool.  It is not a perfect solution, but it’s a start.

Cherie’s emergency has passed, so to speak, and that’s the good news.  In the back of my mind, however, I wonder if her choice of emergency rooms will cost me.  It’s a worry I could do without.

First Monday in September

The platform for the Republican Party this election year declares that “the greatest asset of the American economy is the hard-working American.”  In an effort to demonstrate that hard work is exclusively a Republican value, all Republican voters were urged to go to work on Labor Day and forgo the national celebration of beer and barbecue. 

“It’s called Labor Day, not Lazy Day,” shouted Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan at a campaign stop in Las Vegas.  “Labor Day is another liberal invention designed to give workers something for nothing, just like Obama’s welfare plan.  We Republicans are different.  We built it!”

Republican leaning voters across the nation were urged by their job creating employers to show up voluntarily Monday, September 3^rd to catch up on emails, make some sales calls, or clean the public areas at their office.  The work would be uncompensated, but a spokesperson for the RNC assured workers that their efforts would not go unnoticed.

“The Founding Fathers worked on Labor Day, and their only reward was building a great nation in God’s image,” said John Galt, Romney field leader.  “That should be compensation enough for those people.”

“How can we credibly say “We Built That” at our convention if on the following Monday we stay home and eat hot dogs and drink beer?  If we didn’t go to work without compensation, it would be un-American.  We’d be Democrats.”

The Romney campaign pointed to studies that show GOP voters to be more generous than Democratic voters, and they are counting on this spirit of philanthropy to discourage any Department of Labor claims against employers stemming from the unpaid work. 

 

 Some Republican voters who were interviewed seemed supportive of the concept.  Junior insurance claims analyst Ben Dover was going to work Monday with no expectation of being paid for his efforts.  When reached at the office on Friday afternoon, he said, “My boss is a job creator, and he said he might show up during the day to check on us.  If he does, I’d better be there.  I’ll never reach the American Dream of owning my own business if I don’t show up on holidays, like he says he used to before he hired us to do it for him.”

“I have to hang up.  I think someone else is listening on this line.”

Organizers of the Take Your Lazy Ass to Work Day saw this campaign as a natural extension of the We Built It campaign, highlighted during the GOP convention last week held at a taxpayer financed arena in downtown Tampa.  The hope was to demonstrate a true contrast to Democratic voters who were content to take the whole day off, watch football, get drunk, beat their spouses and expect a full day’s pay.

Mitt Romney sold his support to the TYLATW Day campaign by releasing this statement:  “You people should all be at work on Monday, helping fix the Obama economy with your sacrificial labor.  This is exactly the kind of hard truth I’ve been talking about the entire campaign.  We built it!”

 

Sheldon Adelson, a prospective Attorney General in a Romney administration, also loved the idea.  “Everyone should show up and work on Labor Day.  Of course, it is voluntary so there’ll be no pay or bathroom breaks.  It’s all for a greater cause.  We built this!”

Not all groups were behind the Take Your Lazy Ass to Work Day.  Hard working illegal immigrants, who Romney referred to as “Obama’s base”, stayed home in protest.

Multi-national banks, Wall Street firms, and swing state manufacturing companies were exempted from the call for unpaid work.