David Schrag examines his navel and the world around it
I thought things were complicated last year when I had to renew my small business’s health insurance plan. Back then, I was choosing between 25 different plans offered by the same insurer: Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare. (I could have gone with other insurers as well, but I’d been happy to that point with Harvard and had [...]
Continuing my observations from the previous post …
Someone needs to take a poll of the American public: “Do you support the idea of having the Federal government create minimum standards for private health insurance policies?” I’m betting at least 60% say yes, and probably a lot more if you point out that the Federal government [...]
The discussion is flawed from the get-go. You can’t simultaneously rail against the private health care insurance industry and insist that everyone should buy into it. (See comment below regarding pre-existing conditions.)
To tamp down on partisanship, they should have mixed up the seating arrangements so that Democrats and Republicans were intermingled. I’m sure the legislators [...]
I cannot for the life of me understand why people are fighting so hard to make sure everyone has health insurance when what we need is basic health care. If we’re successful in getting 30 million more people covered by insurance, what we’re going to end up with is 30 million more stories like this. [...]
I had a brilliant idea last night as the gloom of the Martha Coakley debacle set in. I was trying to imagine how President Obama must have been feeling as the returns were announced, and I thought of that scene from Downfall that has been endlessly parodied on YouTube. (Quick side note: I had to [...]
“Carrying condoms in DC could get you arrested.”
That warning was posted on Facebook by a magazine targeted to teenage girls. (No, I don’t read the magazine myself. It’s published by a client of mine.) I read that post a couple times and said to myself, “that can’t be right.” And in fact, it’s not. It [...]
Did you know this? I didn’t until Mike Capuano mentioned it during a debate for the US Senate seat in Massachusetts. The number of Al Qaeda members in Afghanistan reportedly hovers around 100. I’m not sure where Capuano is getting his estimate of Al Qaeda within the US borders, but it’s easy to believe that [...]
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009
Subject: Mayoral term limits
To: Mark.Ciommo@cityofboston.gov, John.R.Connolly@cityofboston.gov, Michael.F.Flaherty@cityofboston.gov, Stephen.Murphy@cityofboston.gov, Sam.Yoon@cityofboston.gov
Cc: Maureen.Feeney@cityofboston.gov
Today I received an e-mail from the Committee to Elect Sam Yoon suggesting that I contact you regarding term limits for the Mayor of Boston.
While I am a fan and supporter of Mr. Yoon, I believe he is wrong on this issue. [...]
Rep. Mike Capuano (D-MA) is running for the Senate seat previously held by Ted Kennedy. One of his campaign strategies – a very cool one, if you ask me – is to hold teleconferences with potential voters. They’re like town hall meetings but without the signs and screaming. I’ve been in on two calls and [...]
There is a viral Facebook status update going around today:
No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.
Let’s ignore the grammatical problems with this position and examine it on [...]