Today’s New York Times has more on the potential for avian flu to cause a global pandemic.
Social security, and the proposed changes
I understand some of the pros and cons on privatization of social security. The way we organize it now, it is a very safe way of providing that our older folks not end up impoverished, but it’s very inefficient in rate of return. That’s pretty much how investments go: low risk investments offer less return on your capital but are safer, while higher risk investment offer more potential return but also a great chance of loss. Another advantage of the current system is that it has very low overhead costs, which a privatized system won’t be able to match, but the higher costs are presumed to be offset by higher returns.
I personally don’t think the current system needs much more than a few tweaks (extending the income levels that pay into the system could immediately solve any potential insolvency problems, for example). That’s because my primary concern is seeing that the most vulnerable members of our country don’t suffer in poverty through their sunset years.
But my more libertarian friends believe that people should have a chance to do better than the system allows, by taking on more risk. That’s part of what drives the Republicans, I guess, or at least some of them. The other part is that their friends in the financial industry stand to make out big on those investment fees and overhead costs which will be generated by the new privatized accounts. That’s my impression, anyway.
Whichever side of the libertarian argument you fall on, it’s hard to credit this administration with the competence or integrity to implement a privatized system in any sort of useful way. They’re already planning to count the cost of the changeover off the books so that the deficit will not show another big jump. That’s their lack of integrity showing. They know it’s not politically feasible to borrow yet more money, so they’re going to wave their hands and pretend they haven’t. An honest response, if they really believe this change will earn more money in the long run, would be to explain to the country why they believe that, and convince us they are right. But that would require a respect for the citizens of this nation which this administration doesn’t have.
Lack of competence shows in pretty much everything they’ve done, from their tax cuts and the accompanying iceberg of deficits, to the unfunded federal mandate of “No Child Left Behind” which is their entire education policy, to the invasion and continuing occupation of Iraq. Frankly, Bush has never run a successful business in his life, and I believe his administration is going to leave this country in terrible shape by the time he’s done. In particular I suspect if his changes to Social Security are implemented, we’re not only going to face further deficits and a weaker country, but that our elderly will end up in more perilous circumstances because of it.
To learn more about the Social Security issue and the proposed changes, read this page from the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Heartbreaking
Ever since George Bush was re-elected, conservatives have been telling liberals to “get over it.” Excuse me? “Get over it?” This wasn’t a baseball game. This wasn’t the Super Bowl. We’re not sobbing in our beers because the Steelers whipped the Packers.
We’re at war. People’s lives are at stake. Every day, families are being destroyed, both here and in Iraq. To treat this election so dismissively is an insult to them and to the soldiers who gave life and limb in this war.
Supreme Court declines to rule
The Supreme Court has declined to hear challenges to the Massachusetts gay marriage ruling. The Massachusetts Supreme Court had ruled last year that gays should have an equal right to marry under state law, and this is the second time the high court has refused to intervene.
Opponents of same sex marriage had asked the court to intervene against what they call “judicial activism”, or the practice of courts ruling on which laws are constitutional. Of course, the Supreme Court considers judicial review a basic right of the courts, so you can imagine they’d be unwilling to rule otherwise. But it seems they’re not willing to go out on a limb and rule in favor of the Mass. court either.
Marbury vs. Madison: “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each.” 5 U.S. 137 (1803)
Whooping cough returns
I actually had whooping cough as a kid. I was pretty sick, too, though not as sick as when I had rubella. And scarlet fever wasn’t fun either. We think of those diseases as something out of the dark ages, but they were not that uncommon within my lifetime. Now it seems that whooping cough cases are on the rise, and adults who get it may not even realize they have.
Flu pandemic “inevitable”
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, the World Health Organization issued a report which said a global flu pandemic is inevitable, probably in the form of a mutated bird flu virus. The WHO fears that as many as seven million people could die in a widespread flu outbreak, and urged all countries to prepare, especially those in Asia where bird flus spread most easily.
As for the U.S., this administration has shown itself to be incompetent even in preparing for ordinary flu, so if a deadly virus reaches us, we could be in big trouble.
Another vet must serve
And this one is a Vietnam vet who’s 53.
Paul Dunlap, a sergeant in the Army National Guard, will join an armored division next month as a telecommunications specialist in Kuwait, and expects to be there for at least a year, the newspaper reported.
Dunlap, who has not been in combat since serving as a 19-year-old Marine in Vietnam, could not be reached for comment. He will leave behind his wife Mary, four children and three grandchildren.
“I don’t think any of them want me to go,” Dunlap told the paper. “I’m thinking it’s a long time since I’ve been in war.”
Again, not surprising when you realize that we’ve actually lost 9% of our forces to death or injury. This is a much higher figure than has previously been reported.
Forcing AID workers to Iraq
This article in Salon says that the Agency for International Development is having trouble getting enough people to work in Iraq, which is no surprise after what happened to Margaret Hassan. So if they don’t have enough workers, current workers “will be required to volunteer” to stay in Iraq. There are more details in the Washington Post article Salon references.
How can they possibly do that? It sounds like slavery to me. I hope these people have the option to quit their jobs and walk away, but neither article clarifies that.
The Ukraine
So, there are massive demonstrations because of possible vote fraud in the Ukraine. Are we better or worse because we don’t take to the streets when we distrust our masters? Who can say. It seems clear that the U.S. and Russia are using the Ukraine as a pull-toy, but I have no idea what is best for the people there.
I was watching the PBS News Hour last night and they had an interesting piece which included an interview with Michael McFaul, who has a lot of credentials and seemed to know a lot about the situation, and who stated very clearly that international observers felt sure the vote would be fraudulent, and that this was well known. The transcript is at the link.
Today I was doing errands and heard a radio interview with a U.S. woman who happens to be a Ukranian native (I think; she used to live there and runs a U.S. paper for Ukranian exiles), and she gave a lot of interesting information about the Ukranian history with Russia. She seemed to believe that this revolution was inevitable. To hear her at that link, look for the “Ukranian-American Interview”. I didn’t hear the other segments, because I had to run into Home Depot to get tarps to cover my firewood from the snow. I feel very lucky to have both a furnace and firewood under the circumstances. I do wish I also had faith in our voting systems.
Fistful of Euros is blogging about the Ukraine these days, and they know much more than I do. And here’s a blogger who is in the Ukraine now; that’s a link I snagged from Andrew Sullivan.