Get Out And Vote!

It doesn't matter which party you support, or what your views are on the issues. If you are eligible to vote on November 2 it is important that you exercise that most fundamental right. The people elected to office this year will play a major role in shaping the future of this nation, and those elected to state offices will shape the Congressional districts for the country.

Here's where my votes are going:

SC Governor - Vincent Sheheen (D)
I don't know that he will be any more successful at getting things done through the state Legislature than Mark Sanford was, but unlike his opponent Nikki Haley, I don't question his ethics or his integrity.


SC Lt. Governor - Ken Ard (R)
Admittedly I don't know a lot about either candidate, but unlike many I do think it is important that candidates for this office have some political experience. Ard has it, Ashley Cooper does not.

Secretary of State - Mark Hammond (R)
He's been doing the job for about 8 years and you hear virtually nothing about him. Surely that's a sign he's doing a fantastic job.

Treasurer - Curtis Loftis (R)
No Democrats filed to run. A shame, because one with a financial background might have had a good showing.

Attorney General - Alan Wilson (R)
I may change my mind on this one before I get in the voting booth. I think the fact he's been a prosecutor is important and sways me in his direction. The fact he's related to Joe Wilson pulls me toward Matthew Richardson.

Comptroller General - Robert Barber (D)
Richard Eckstrom has had a lengthy career in public service but he's made some very questionable decisions of late (read the FITSNews site for the sordid details). I'm not that enthused about Barber but if half of what is being said about Eckstrom is true he could do for the next governor what Thomas Ravenel did for Mark Sanford.

Superintendent of Education - Frank Holleman (D)
I am so sorely tempted to vote for Mick Zais because I like the idea of someone who has actually worked in education, but his stance on vouchers turns me off. Personally I think of all the state-wide offices this race has the best slate of candidates.

Adjutant General - Bob Livingston (R)
Only candidate for an office that has no business being an elected one.

Commissioner of Agriculture - Hugh Weathers (R)
What I really like about him is he is very willing to use ideas from "across the aisle" if he thinks its a good one. "Certified SC Grown" came out of his opponent's "Put Your State On Your Plate" idea 4 years ago. Like Adjutant General, this has no business being an elected office.

US Senate - Tom Clements (Green)
Jim DeMint is the worst kind of politician. He plays on emotion and red herrings to rile people up and support patently idiotic ideas. Unfortunately Alvin Greene makes Forrest Gump look like Marilyn Vos Savant. Clements gets my vote by default.

US House District 2 - Rob Miller (D)
Everything I've seen and read about Miller tells me he will be a very good Congressman. Joe Wilson has not been a bad Congressman (the "You Lie" incident excluded), but he's not been a good one either. He doesn't ever seem to have an original thought that isn't asinine. From where I sit he's done nothing to make things better in DC. It's time for someone else to give it a shot.

State House District 71 - Nathan Ballentine (R)
He's a bit too conservative for my liking, but he's a man of his word and he's an independent thinker. I will always prefer the latter two qualities in a politician.

Solicitor Circuit 5 - Dan Johnson (D)
Only candidate running. Not the one I'd voted for in the primaries.


School Board District 5
The only thing I know for sure is I'm not voting for Kim Murphy or Bruce Reeves. I need to look more into the other candidates.

Constitutional Amendments
Amendment 1 - No. I don't believe a measure like that belongs in the Constitution.

Amendment 2 - Yes. A secret ballot is a fundamental right.

Amendment 3 - Yes. I think a larger "rainy day" fund is a good idea for any entity.

Amendment 4 - No. I don't think the state should be restricted in this way. We can't predict what its financial needs will be down the road.

Band-Aid Solutions

One of the concepts touted as a cure for South Carolina's lousy educational system is "universal parental choice", meaning parents can pick which school to send their kids and - if there is a charge for tuition - get tax breaks to pay for it.

The thought process in this is with fewer students and less funding, public schools will have to reinvent themselves in order to attract the best and the brightest. In a nutshell, they will be forced to "compete" with each other and with private schools for dollars.

There are a few problems with this thought process, which unfortunately doesn't come close to getting at the root causes of why South Carolina schools are collectively abysmal:

• Public schools must accept any student within their "zone". Private schools do not.
• Public schools must make accommodations for students with learning disabilities. Private schools do not unless they take public funds.
• Private schools can set their tuition rates at whatever levels they deem appropriate, whether affordable for the average family or not. Public schools are free for all.

My fiancee is a teacher as are many of our friends. They teach in good schools, great schools, and awful schools. They teach in schools that are diverse and schools that are predominantly white or black. They teach foreign languages, social studies, English, mathematics, and music. They teach 8th-graders who read at a college level and high school juniors who read at a 6th grade level. They teach 19-year-olds who went to school because it was good for their drug business, 13-year-old gang-bangers, 14-year-old mothers, 16-year-old fathers, and 17-year-olds whose parents bought them BMW’s for getting their driver’s licenses. Ask them what makes for a successful student, and their answers will invariably be the same:

• The kids who do best in school are the ones whose parents are directly involved in their children’s education, regardless of the school’s reputation or overall performance. They make frequent contact with the teachers and stay current on the assignments their children are working on.
• The kids who thirst for knowledge are the ones whose parents are open-minded about the world and its multiplicity of religions, ethnicities, and cultures and convey that perspective to their children.
• The schools whose kids do best are the ones where the administration gives its teachers the flexibility to adapt their lessons to the students’ needs, supports the teachers when they report disciplinary problems to the parents, and take active steps to get poor-performing teachers out of the schools entirely.

Unfortunately what it takes to fix the schools is a lot more complicated and difficult than simply throwing money at parents who can already afford private school tuition. It requires effort on the part of parents, teachers, administrators, and politicians that collectively does not exist today. Even worse, what is required is so unpalatable to one or more of these constituencies that we are unlikely to ever see them all come to fruition.

• Schools need to be adequately funded so teachers do not have to spend out of their own pockets for basic supplies for students to use.
• Schools need to be adequately funded so there are enough textbooks for every student, and so they can be replaced when the content is out of date.
• School districts need to be consolidated - no more than one district per county - to eliminate duplication of services.
• School districts need to ensure the textbooks they purchase are in alignment with subject matter standards. It would shock you to see how often this doesn't happen.
• School principals need the flexibility to select their teachers and administrators, and discipline or terminate those who fail to get results.
• School districts need to pay teachers like the professionals they are.
• Politicians need to ensure public funds for schools are used solely for the classroom, for supplementary activities directly related to the classroom, and administration. Athletic programs should be funded privately.

I will guarantee those who read this will find some, not all, of these concepts appealing, and therein lies the problem. Partial solutions will not work, and no one will stick their neck out for the complete solution. So our children who want to learn will try, and they will not achieve all they can because we, the adults, are more interested in our wallets and our job security than their future.

Does that bother you yet?

We The Stupid

A pastor with a flock of 40 in the middle of rural Florida makes headlines for planning to have a day of Koran-burning.

A well-known satirical documentary film-maker makes headlines for writing in his blog that the Islamic religious center should be built at - not near - Ground Zero, while dozens of politicians and wannabe politicians claim the Islamic center will be a terrorist-breeding-center mosque at Ground Zero.


Meanwhile, there's a mosque already near Ground Zero - has been for years - and no one notices.

A poll of the nation's citizenry reveals one in five doubt the President's religion is what he says it is.
 
More people vote for the annual tv karaoke champion (aka "American Idol") than for President.

A governor no one ever heard of two years ago can now make or break political careers, because she thought that would be a better career move than finishing her term in office.

A President no one ever heard of six years ago is giving the people who elected him the same feeling of buyer's remorse that one of his predecessors did, under similar circumstances.

But the opposition doesn't seem to have anyone in a position to take his place successfully two years from now.

Is it any wonder the greatest nation on Earth stumbles around like a newly-castrated bull in a china shop?

A Few Things I've Learned Along The Way

Punctuation is important. It means the difference between "Let's eat, Grandma!" and "Let's eat Grandma!"

Capitalization is important. It means the difference between "Help your Uncle Jack off the horse" and "Help your uncle jack off the horse."

The fewer functions a cell phone has, the longer it lasts.

The only people with more unrealistic expectations than job seekers in the current economy are college football fans.

Cable television is defined as 500+ channels of programs you won't watch and pay over $1,000 a year for the privilege of doing so.

If Facebook were to disappear tomorrow, America would devolve into chaos. Especially the 16-25 age bracket.

There are too many people who think the world exists to serve them, and not the other way around.

There are not enough people who are willing to listen to - or tolerate - a perspective that is different from their own.

I am encouraged by the fact I know a lot of people who do not fit into either of the previous two categories.

The Perils of Saying Nothing

Has it really been almost 3 months since I typed anything here?

I suppose this is what happens when life interrupts. Work has been insane enough that the last thing I want to do is spend time typing on a computer at night or on the weekend. That's assuming I'm home and sitting long enough to come up with a coherent thought or two. In the blogosphere, the phrase "publish or perish" has teeth. If you don't keep up to date, those who read you look elsewhere.

So since I have a few moments, let me share these morsels...

• Weight loss is in somewhat of a holding pattern. We had to buy a new scale that seems to be more accurate, but is about 3.5 pounds higher than the old one. I'm still down about 16 pounds for the year, and with summer upon us hopefully I'll be able to get back on track.
• El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico is amazing. The views, the waterfalls, the hiking. I could spend a lot of time there.
• And the rum on the island is pretty good too. You can't beat Don Q.
• Part of the reason I have a little time here is I'm on day 2 of 21 days of bachelorhood while my girlfriend and her mom traipse around France and England.
• I get to take care of the pets, including a litter box. Yay for that.
• I thoroughly enjoyed the post-season run of the Boston Celtics, though I hate how it ended.
• I thoroughly enjoyed the post-season run of the South Carolina Gamecocks, and loved how it ended.
• Columbia has a new mayor and an athletic champion. Which do you think had more people at the celebration?

One Percent Solution - 6th Update

Objective: Lose 1% of total weight every 2-week period.

January 3 weight: 263.8 pounds
January 17 weigh-in: 260.6 pounds (-1.2%)
January 31 weigh-in: 258.8 pounds (-0.7%)
February 14 weigh-in: 254.0 pounds (-1.9%)
February 28 weigh-in: 250.4 pounds (-1.4%)
March 14 weigh-in: 248.2 pounds (-0.9%)

Target weight for March 28: 245.7 pounds

Actual weight for March 28: 245.6 pounds
           Actual weight loss: 2.6 pounds (-1.0%)

Total weight loss to date: 18.2 pounds (-6.9%)

Target weight for April 11: 243.2 pounds


The challenge over the next two weeks is Passover, a time of year when Jews commemorate the Exodus from Egypt into Israel. There are three main themes to every Jewish holiday: They tried to kill us, they failed, let's eat! We then proceed to eat a diet that would cause Jillian Michaels to cry. Lots of carbs, eggs, meats, and other stuff that's not good for you.

The Health Care Problem - Part 1

At some point during the day today, a vote will be taken that may or may not result in some of the most sweeping changes to US domestic and fiscal policy since the Great Depression. If the vote succeeds, as many people will see the change as being long overdue and necessary for the good of the people as there are who will see it as an unconstitutional action that deprives individuals and states of rights and sovereignty.

If the vote fails, as many people will see it as the preservation of our democratic principles as there are who will see it as a future snubbing of basic human rights.

In many respects everyone is right. And wrong.


Let's start with the premise that you do not have health insurance today. You suffer an injury to your arm that requires medical attention. It is not a traumatic injury, but one that is preventing you from performing simple tasks like picking up a box or shifting gears in your car.

You could leave it untreated and hope the problem resolves itself, which is certainly the cheapest course but carries the most risk. You could go to a private practice, where you will get very good care in a week when your appointment is made, and depending on the treatment could pay anywhere from $75 - $350+ for the service. You could go to a "doc-in-the-box" like Doctor's Care, get similar treatment the same day, and pay slightly more. You could go to the emergency room, where you'd be seen the same day but may have to wait a few hours, get good care, and be responsible for a $400+ bill.

If the injury was a traumatic one, rest assured the bill will double. Or triple.

If you don't have insurance and haven't paid the health care provider when you leave the office, there's about a 60% chance you won't pay the entire bill.

If you have private insurance you'll only be responsible for a co-payment and your deductible. It's less likely you'll go to the emergency room, especially because there will be a payment of anywhere from $250 - $500 that is not subject to your deductible. Because you have insurance your health care provider has an agreement to provide a small discount in exchange for a guarantee of payment. You just might not know what that is until your claim has been processed.

If you have Medicare the same rules apply except your insurance coverage is based on government rules. The doctor who treats you will get reimbursed at a lower rate than they would if you had private insurance, and that rate is less than their cost to treat you.

For every dollar of cost, Medicare reimburses at a rate of about eighty-five cents.

So with a stable source of payment through insurance that is less than the cost of treatment, plus an uncertain source of payment through those without insurance, what else can a health care provider do except charge higher rates for those with private insurance? Eventually private insurance becomes too expensive and more and more people either go without insurance or end up on a public plan like Medicare or Medicaid. The cycle repeats.

Now let's assume the bill passes. What changes? Most of the people without insurance today are those who cannot afford coverage or cannot get private coverage under today's rules due to health conditions. It's assumed that those who can't afford coverage are less healthy than those who have it or who can afford it but choose not to carry it, which creates the possibility of increasing rates for private insurance coverage. If they can't afford private insurance, they'll go to a public plan that reimburses at less than cost. What happens to the system then?

You'll have private practice physicians who will refuse to take new patients unless they have private insurance. They couldn't afford to stay in practice otherwise. Those who have public insurance will continue to need to seek treatment at hospital emergency rooms, and the hospitals, who need to make up for the lost revenue somehow, will have to raise rates for private insurance. Eventually private insurance becomes too expensive and more and more people either go without insurance or end up on a public plan like Medicare or Medicaid. The cycle repeats.

Underpinning all of it is a system that rewards health care providers for providing as much treatment as possible, even if the benefits are marginal. At the same time, the system practically mandates providers do exactly that for fear they might miss something rare and end up losing multi-million dollar lawsuits.

What to do, what to do.


Oh, and we haven't yet mentioned the fact the system provides virtually no incentive for people to take care of themselves. Cholesterol too high? Take a pill. Overweight? Have surgery. Blood pressure too high? Take another pill. Why should we work hard to take care of ourselves when medical science has provided the necessary short-cut?