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The
Week Ahead
The Legislature’s ongoing feud with the U.S. Department of Education
comes to a head this week in a special session scheduled Tuesday
and Wednesday. The stakes are high, with possible loss of funding
if Utah is determined to be out of compliance with the federal No
Child Left Behind Act. Utah will also have the attention of the
national news media, which have covered the controversy extensively.
It’s a tough call and lawmakers are getting plenty of advice from
all sides in the form of newspaper editorials and communications
from all sorts of experts.
My advice: Just do it. The
intent of NCLB is just fine, but it’s too much federal intrusion
into public education, which is clearly a state prerogative.
Health
Costs Hurting Competitiveness
The April 18 issue of Newsweek has an interesting
column by Fareed Zakaria about how the high cost of health
care is becoming a serious drag on the U.S. economy. This should
be of interest to Utah legislators as they consider what to do with
Intermountain Health Care. The column points out that General Motors
pays $5.2 billion each year in medical and insurance bills for its
active and retired workers, adding $1,500 to the cost of every GM
car. For Toyota, those costs are just $186 per car, and when China
and India start making cars for sale in the U.S., their health care
costs will be less than $50 per car.
The costs of health care American companies pay for workers have
been rising at five times the rate of inflation for the last five
years, an unsustainable rate. It's a serious challenge for all U.S.
firms, not just auto makers. Part of the problem, Zakaria says,
is that there is no free market for health care, so the usual economic
forces don’t apply. Either the government or insurance companies
pay for most medical care, so neither doctors nor consumers have
much incentive to be frugal.
In countries with “single payer” health plans, the quality of care
is sometimes inferior, but the government can drive down costs as
a large buyer of services and can restrict what consumers receive.
This all has relevance as Utah’s legislative health care task force
begins deliberations about Intermountain Health Care. Lots of doctors
and consumers don’t like IHC because it is big and it holds down
fees paid to doctors and its health insurance plans are somewhat
restrictive for consumers. IHC provides managed care, and does it
very well. It operates somewhat like a “single payer” plan, but
does it a lot better than government would. Perhaps the task force
will determine that rather than break up IHC, we need more operations
like IHC to reduce the skyrocketing costs of health care in America.
Listen to the Gipper
In the face of the skyrocketing federal deficit and the inability
of the Congress to pass budgets with any semblance of fiscal responsibility,
it might be well the review some words from Ronald Reagan
spoken when he was president:
"We Republicans have not been entrusted with the White House and
the Senate to make easy decisions but because the American people
want us to wean our nation away from decades of growing dependency
and political quick fixes. Together we can make the GOP the true
majority party, the centerpiece for decades to come of a governing
coalition based on liberty, limited government, and economic growth.
To do so, however, this spring we must prove to the country that
we can produce a sound and responsible budget, one that cuts the
deficit and fosters continued economic vitality. So let us not shrink
from this task or be seen to approach it with doubts and hesitations.
Let us, instead, unite and rise to the challenge with vigor." (Source:
The Federalist Patriot)
Monday Musings
Evidence in Mirror Demands Big Decision
Shaving each morning in front of the mirror is a great time for
thinking and introspection, especially about the trials of growing
older. It’s hard to refute the onslaught of age when those wrinkles
and gray hair are staring you right in the face.
I don’t actually feel old, even though I turn 54 in a few weeks.
But thanks to my every-morning rendezvous with my mirror, I can’t
deny the evidence of the true onset of codgerhood: ear hair. That’s
right . . . hair growing out of my ears in weird places. And with
ear hair comes a hard decision.
When you get old and start growing ear hair, you have a couple
of choices. You can shave it off every morning, or you can just
let it grow naturally. The problem with shaving it off, so I’m told,
is that it will grow back thicker and faster. It’s like grass. The
more you mow it, the more it grows. On the other hand, if you don’t
shave it, then you will have a few long hairs growing out of your
ears in weird places. So you have to decide. Do you want thick,
bristly ear hair? Or do you want a relatively few soft, curly hairs
growing out of your ears and looping down to your shoulders? Unfortunately
for guys with not much hair on the top of their heads, ear hair,
even when you shave it daily, is not really thick enough to comb
up and over your head to cover up a bald spot. Don’t even go there.
You’ll look like an idiot.
So far in my tussle with ear hair, I’ve opted for shaving. I use
an electric razor and I shave my beard, my moustache, and then run
it quickly over my ears. Seems to be OK. But if it starts to thicken
and grow more quickly, I’ll be sure to let you know.
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Utah
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