Dave Braun's Weblog

Health Care Reform

dbraun — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:02:57 +0000

What bothered me during the democratic primaries and general election was the fear that Obama, a well educated and very smart person would assume that decisions could be made based upon good reasons addressed to reasonable listeners. That was his experience at Harvard and presumably Columbia. His rhetorical skills ant intelligence insured that he advanced good reasons for his goals. That half of the equation was satisfied in the Health Care Reform (HCR) debates. It was and is the second half of his assumption that has proven faulty. Many of his listeners do not respond to reason but to fear and some of his opposition is highly skilled in playing to those fears. I cite “death panels” and “kill grandma” as two examples. It should have been anticipated that the people who referred to the estate tax as a “death tax” would find equally effective language to disparage HCR and that the quick agreement by the drug companies and health care insurers to cooperate with the President was merely a ploy to lure him into a trap that was beautifully set. The surprise is that Axelrod and Emmanuel were not smart enough to see what was happening and develop a plan to counter the strategy of the insurance companies, health care companies, and conservatives in the Senate. I suggest they knew what was happening but could not convince the President to scuttle his plan for bipartisan support, a support he could not get and would never get with the finest legislators money can buy. The only way Obama is going to get an HCR bill to his liking is to jettison the bipartisan approach and come out swinging, as Harry Truman would have done. If he truly believes that HCR as he wants it is good for the country then he has to bet his political capital on its passage, which will include a public insurance option. What we need is an angry Obama charging opponents of HCR with lies and distortions. That one act would restore confidence in his huge following and for those of us who looked to him for the change he promised in the campaigns.

Twitter, yeah or neah?

dbraun — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:33:00 +0000

The world seems to have adopted Twitter as the prime social network. It’s reach is enormous. It is basically used for posting information, or obtaining information. It has limited capacity which forces the user to be succinct and direct. The trick is to develop followers to whom you can twitter, or TWEET as they say, and who will hopefully tweet others, there by increasing the number of your followers. Who knows, but someday , everyone in the world will be a follower and a tweeter, each forces to express their desires in under 140 characters. To those of fortunate to have access to this blog, I would appreciate your feedback, as well as your Twitter Username, so that henceforth, you would be known as one of the original followers, much the way the apostles were…. ha.

Facebook Parody Song

dbraun — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:25:21 +0000

Enjoy, David

Dropping gas prices

dbraun — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 18:22:06 +0000

I am so suspicious of this administration I believe that somehow they convinced the oil companies to relieve the pressure on Bush by reducing gasoline prices in this period before the midterm elections. I also believe it is no coincidence that the lowest prices are in Ohio one of the swing states in the next election. It would also not surprise me if Bin Laden were found in the next few weeks.

Hezbollah

dbraun — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 23:53:52 +0000

I think our homeland security agency should hire Hezbollah to repair all of the damage caused by Katrina. They seem to have enough American Dollars to do the job properly and their organizational ability seems far superior to those of the Bush Administration. What brings this to mind is the tendency of our government to outsource or contract normally governmental funcitions to third party contractors who now collect our taxes, run our prisons, and protect our people in Iraq. Why not go all the way and ask the people we have supported for years with our oil purchases to help us repair the damage caused by natural disasters.

Isreal and Hezbollah

dbraun — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 03:45:20 +0000

I have been troubled about the Isreali attack on Lebanon ever since it began. I only wish I had bloged about it before columnists started supporting the same position. As a jew I was very proud that Isreal took immediate action and not only flexed its muscles but exercised them. That was the emotional side of me. The thinking side was not so supportive. The first indication that all was not well was the Isreali prime minister’s speech to the Knesset where he used the phrase “axis of evil” to justify his country’s actions, It smelled too much of the neocon jargon that got us into so much trouble in Iraq and elsewhere. The second indication was the obvious support of the United States and its intentional stalling to give the Isrealis time to root out the terrorists. The third was the claim that the entire operation would be successfully completed within a couple of weeks or some other limited time period.

Where have we heard this one before. And how many times does it have to be proven false before we understand that military means alone do not solve any long term problems. Do we really expect the Isreali armed forces to clean out Hezbollah and to prevent replacements from arising? Of course not. And meanwhile hundreds if not thousands of civilians are being killed and rendered homeless. This is pure and simple an act of punishment to a country incapable of controlling its own terrorists ( some of whom sit at the council table). Either we find a way to strenghten the government of Lebanon and its security forces or we turn to an international coalition to do so. If Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are troubled by the existence of Hezbollah in the region why not use that political weapon, And what has been the impact of the Bush administration’s failure to pursue a settlement of the Isreali/Palestinian problem, the key to stability in the region.Their motto seems to be do nothing and then attack.

I am truly sorry the Isrealis did not pursue a more international approach. I do recognize that the Bush Administration has denigrated the UN to the point that many feel it is powerless. But it still can be effective particularly in this area of the world where self-interest of the neighboring countries would encourage cooperation,

I hope I am wrong but that is the was I feel at this moment.

MY VIEW

dbraun — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 17:41:23 +0000

Welcome to my first weblog the view of an american regarding my thoughts on life, politics, relationships and events.