If I’m reading this article correctly, it sounds like Social Security benefits are certain to be reduced, and these personal accounts are intended to provide an opportunity to make up the difference. It seems like a bad idea if the original purpose of Social Security was to keep the elderly out of poverty.
Author: Scott
Feasibility of Missile Defense
This study from a trio of physicists does an excellent job of highlighting the incredible difficulties of developing a system that can credibly defend the entire US from ICBMs. It’s a great argument for spending our tax dollars elsewhere.
I found the link at Tim Bray’s blog, posted under the far less charitable title of “Missile Defense is a Cult”.
DC Baseball in Doubt
Whoever reads this should take my comments with a grain of salt. I’ve worked in DC on multiple occasions, but I’ve never been a resident.
Local sportstalk radio yesterday was full of opinions on the last-minute requirement of the DC Council (more specifically, its chairwoman Linda Cropp) that at least half of the new stadium be privately financed. The calls I heard were surprising balanced between for and against her actions. The comment I found most interesting was one by a caller who compared the DC Council to the Palestinians because they “never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity”.
Based on what some of people on the council are saying, it seems as if some of them have forgotten who they’re negotiating with. This is the same group of owners that helped to kill the MLB playoffs in 1994. They have the right to unilaterally contract two franchises in 2006. The owners claim to have lost $50 million running the Expos collectively–and chose to do this rather than sell the team earlier. So to any of those councilmen who think baseball “doesn’t have a choice”, just look at the evidence. MLB owners have already demonstrated an ability and a willingness to cut off their nose to spite their own face. So trying to get a better deal at the last minute had to mean you were telling baseball to take a hike.
If this article is any indication, a team might not even play here in 2005 and then find another home. They might just go somewhere else entirely. There were five other suitors for this team besides Washington, and I’m certain they’re just waiting for another chance.
Unconventional Wisdom on Staying Put Instead of Off-Shoring
This article from McKinsey Quarterly takes a look into why some companies continue to manufacture in California–one of the world’s most expensive places to do manufacturing.
It doesn’t appeal to “patriotism” (like a recently failed presidential candidate), but to the bottom line. The authors make a convincing case that for industries where speed to the customer is important, companies with a geographically compact supply chain have a big advantage over producers with low-wage overseas labor.
A Fight for Shiites
You can read Charles Krauthammer’s whole commentary to get the context, but he essential begins his column by using the elections that happened during the US Civil War and its immediate aftermath to defend elections in Iraq that may leave out parts of the country.
To call this an “apples and oranges” comparison would be putting it mildly. If England or France had over 100,000 troops in this country and was fighting on the side of the North or the South, Krauthammer might have an argument. But since that isn’t what happened, it’s merely a bad excuse for the disenfranchisement of “barely 20 percent” of Iraqi citizens.
The one point he makes in his column that I agree with is that a civil war is already happening in Iraq. Which is why it seems senseless to me for him to say this:
If Iraq’s Sunni Arabs–barely 20 percent of the population–decide they cannot abide giving up their 80 years of minority rule, ending with 30 years of Saddam Hussein’s atrocious tyranny, then tough luck. They forfeit their chance to shape and participate in the new Iraq.
This idea that Iraq will go on without the Sunnis if they don’t lay down their arms and vote completely ignores the nature of the violence that has been taking place. In the same section of the newspaper is an article about candidates for this election in Iraq being murdered. We shouldn’t forget how quickly the violence spread to other parts of Iraq after the Fallujah offensive either.
What seems to be shaping up is another Beirut situation–US troops in the middle of a civil war. It won’t turn out any better now than it did then.
Situational Ethics Defined
According to this article in The Hill newspaper, the House GOP will change a rule they enacted in 1993 requiring leaders to step down from their posts if indicted for criminal conduct. The reason: majority leader Tom DeLay may be indicted in a case currently proceeding in Texas. Two of his aides have already been indicted for their conduct.
This move, so soon after an election allegedly decided on things like moral values is just one more thing that says to me that Republicans are better at talking the talk than they are at walking the walk when it comes to ethics and morality. The GOP spent a lot of years using the corruption of Democrats for political gain. It’s quite hypocritical to change a rule they themselves instituted because they feel the charges are politically motivated. It’s a textbook case of situational ethics if I ever saw one.
Gonzales’ Secrecy Thing
Eric Umansky, sometime author of Slate’s “Today’s Papers”, gives another reason for concern about the prospect of Alberto Gonzales as attorney general: reduced protections for whistleblowers. Given how difficult it already is to find out about the kinds of fraud that happens inside corporations, an attorney general in favor of a narrow reading of laws that protect whistleblowers is a bad sign.
Dispelling Malpractice Myths
For anyone concerned about the state of healthcare in this country (which is probably just about anyone), this column by the president of Johns Hopkins University is a must-read.
This is one passage that stood out for me:
A 1991 New England Journal of Medicine study found that nine out of 10 victims of disability-causing malpractice go uncompensated. That’s right — overwhelmingly, people harmed through medical mishaps are not compensated.
If the rate is anywhere near that high today, it’s no wonder the system is in trouble today. But he also provides more current information that’s even more troubling:
And a recent study by Harvard University researchers found that 80 percent of malpractice claims were filed against doctors who had made no error whatever.
Doctors simply can’t stay in business if 8 times out of 10 that a claim is filed, they haven’t done anything wrong.
Brody’s final paragraph is key:
A few new caps on liability costs aren’t going to solve the problem. It’s time we begin a comprehensive reform of the medical justice system.
So for anyone who thinks “tort reform” just means caps on liability, I hope they think instead about a broader solution.
Loyal to a Fault?
This excellent piece by Phillip Carter, author of the Intel Dump weblog, is a very worthwhile read for anyone interested in the man President Bush has nominated to be John Ashcroft’s replacement.
He writes not only on Gonzales’ role in the crafting of administration policy in the war on terror, but on his work advising then Governor Bush whether or not to grant clemency to death-row prisoners. Carter raises a number of excellent questions on Gonzales’ suitability for the position, and what his appointment signals about the qualities President Bush values.
While Gonzales is not the lightning rod Ashcroft was when it comes to attracting criticism, I suspect his effect on civil liberties in the U.S. (if he’s confirmed) could be similarly damaging.
Yet Another Technology Plug–Bloglines
Bloglines is a wonderful service that allows you to keep up with all your RSS feeds without having to install anything on a particular computer. Once you create an account with the site (http://www.bloglines.com) and subscribe to some feeds, you’ll be able to read them from anywhere you can get web access. It’s a great way to get started with RSS feeds.