Promoting fair elections for all parties and
independents
eNewsletter #7
(Mar 9, 2006)
2) Gladwell
vs Gladwell (Continued)
3) Upcoming Events
4) Let's throw the Rascals out!
5) Interesting Stories
6)
Legislative Action Item
7) Book recommendations
8) Contact Information
9) Removal
instructions
Please do not respond to this email address. It is used for cleanup purposes only. Please use jelohman@gmail.com
Gladwell vs Gladwell
(on single-payer)
By DAN MITCHELL
SIX years ago in the Washington Monthly, Malcolm Gladwell
faced off against Adam Gopnik, his fellow New Yorker
writer, in a debate over
On the blog he started last week (gladwell.typepad.com),
Mr. Gladwell noted that the blogosphere
has, for some mysterious reason, picked up on the debate. "But wait!"
he wrote. "That was six years ago! I've now changed my mind. I now agree
with virtually everything Adam said and disagree with virtually everything I
said. In fact, I shudder when I read what I said back then."
In 2000, Mr. Gladwell recalled a bicycle accident he
had at 16 in
In the
And now? By 2005, in a New Yorker article, Mr. Gladwell
was arguing for health care reform with a vehemence he did not exhibit when he
was on the other side of the question. One of the "great mysteries of
political life in the
Why the change? "I woke up one day," he wrote in his blog, "and
realized what much smarter people than me (Adam Gopnik)
realized a long time ago, which is that the idea of employer-based health care
is just plain stupid. And only our familiarity with it and sheer inertia
prevent us from rising up in rebellion."
I [Gladwell] realize I forgot to provide a link to the
long-ago debate between me and Adam Gopnik on the
Canadian health care system. Here it is.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2000/0003.gladwellgopnik.html
Why have I
changed my mind? Some of my reasons are in the piece on moral hazard I wrote
for the New Yorker last summer.
http://www.gladwell.com/2005/2005_08_29_a_hazard.html
The bigger
reason is simply that I woke up one day and realized what much smarter people
than me (Adam Gopnik) realized a long time ago, which
is that the idea of employer-based health care is just plain stupid--and
only our familiarity with it and sheer inertia prevent us from rising up in
rebellion. I always try to think of a suitable analogy and fail. The closest I
can come is to imagine if we had employer-based subways in
Jim Hightower, Saturday March 18th at
7:00pm at the Phister (sponsored by the ACLU. Not my
favorite group but most certainly my favorite speaker). $100 per person, order
tickets at http://www.aclu-wi.org/get_involved/bill_of_rights_dinner/index.shtml
Grassroots
Citizens of
Join Jim Hopson, the plain-talking publisher
of the Wisconsin State Journal, kicks off Cinnamon Rolls and Citizen Roles at
8:30am March 18 (to noon) at the Stonefield
Apartments, 407 E. Madison, Dodgeville. Please RSVP to 608-623-2109
4
Let's throw the Rascals out!
Okay, so I cleaned it up a bit, but it is still a dream
worth considering. And I'm talking about dislocating our state senators and
assembly members, in case you are wondering.
No, I don't really think we can throw them all out, or even a major part of them. But we can indeed
start giving them something to think seriously about. Right now there is no major movement to dislodge them, and they know
it. They know full well that local promises and rhetoric on the right side of
the issues will keep them in office, and their
Where do we start?
Let's not leave even one uncontested seat! Only a public
movement to throw them all out will get their attention.
Jack Lohman
In a democracy, elected officials serve the public best when they serve in fear of what might happen in the next election. That healthy fear of the electorate is lost when voters have little or no choice on the ballot. (from Power to the Voter http://www.wisdc.org/powertothevoter.php)
5
Interesting stories/Links
Political Use of Corporate Travel by
PoliticalMoneyLine: In the last
five years (2001-2005), Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and their
leadership PACs, the leadership PACs of U.S. Senators, national party
committees, and presidential candidate George Bush reported reimbursing
corporations for air travel 2,154 times and valuing the cost of travel at
$3,670,245.
See the story at: http://www.tray.com/cgi-win/indexhtml.exe?MBF=privateair
Porker of the Month: by Citizens Against Goverment Waste. Washington, D.C. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Passport Services Frank Moss Porker of the
Month. Mr. Moss and the rest of the
State Department decided to ignore the overwhelming public opposition to the
use of passports containing radio frequency identification (RFID) chips. The first e-passports are being distributed
and the nationwide rollout will occur at the end of the year.
[For those who are unfamiliar with RFID, it is like Wi-Fi. It broadcasts all personal information so that those
standing nearby can read it with special devices. Having been a victim of identy theft, I oppose this technology (but support
magnetic stripes).]
See
story at: http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=news_porkerofthemonth
Don't miss this newdatabase on Congressional
votes at: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/
For
The $80 million Medicare Sellout!
Read it and weep at http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/03/01/the_80_billion_medicare_sellout.php
The Lobbying Game: Why
the Revolving Door Won't Close: One
Congressional staffer's moves back and forth from jobs on K Street to Capitol
Hill show why it is so hard to change the lobbying culture in Washington
Scott
Jenson testimony: http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/top/index.php?ntid=75442&ntpid=1
Book Recommendations
Read the reviews on www.amazon.com
The Good Fight: Declare YourIndependence and Close the Democracy Gap
by Ralph Nader
(ISBN: 0060756047)
Heavily Liberal with thorough analysis, Nader likes neither party's actions or
solutions and has excellent arguments and ideas.
by Patrick J. Buchanan ( ISBN: 0312341156)
Conservative and mostly on target (though Buchanan fails to connect the dots to
the moneyed interests, and doesn't seem to want to).
Contact information
Lohman is a
retired business owner in
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