tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post6151506942950567197..comments2024-03-28T21:09:56.223-05:00Comments on Althouse: George W. Bush is blandly noncommittal, asked about Trump and the press.Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger310125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-89541780335040089552017-03-01T06:48:36.608-06:002017-03-01T06:48:36.608-06:00Bush is giving Trump the back of his hand. I voted...Bush is giving Trump the back of his hand. I voted for W twice, but am sorely disappointed with him and his father. Their animus towards Trump reflects their anger at how Trump manhandled Jeb, the GOP's Hillary... the heir apparent to the White House. That W would attack Trump after eight years of being attacked by Obama and the Dems and not responding... that the Bushes would befriend Clinton, the man who called Bush 41 an adulterer and 'stupid,' is just an astounding display of weakness.<br /><br />W was a better president than he's given credit for, but he ultimately had a failed presidency, as the country rejected his leadership and his direction in the 2006 midterms and never looked back. This is all his own doing. He didn't fight the slander around Katrina, or the Iraq War, or the War on Terror... so he let his political enemies define him. This is exactly what led to Trump; the GOP voters wanted someone who would actually fight. McCain suspended his campaign and Obama stomped him; Romney refused to stand up to Candy Crowley, and Obama stomped him. No one stomps on Trump and gets away with it. Instead, Trump stomps, often preemptively, and as a result his opponents are afraid of him because he hits back and sometimes hits first. Good for him.John Cliffordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14847795333613154546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-63284480579797135962017-02-28T13:06:55.466-06:002017-02-28T13:06:55.466-06:00"Nobody knew that healthcare could be so comp..."Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated.” <br /><br />Oh, it's complicated but those 10,000 heads won't be missed and it is a wonderful opportunity.Michael Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18127450762129879267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-9274824167792534532017-02-28T12:57:14.699-06:002017-02-28T12:57:14.699-06:00Michael K said...
The solution to the health acre ...<i>Michael K said...<br />The solution to the health acre cost problem might be a bit like Trump's plans for EPA.<br /><br />Chop off about 10,000 heads, so to speak.<br /></i><br /><br />But Michael, even Trump now understands that it isn't that simple. <br /><br />“It’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated.” ~ President Trump, yesterday.<br /><br />Pretty much everybody who was serious about the subject knew from the moment that they got serious about the subject, that it was "unbelievably complex." <br /> <br />Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07676108366725199186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-58562266121444132992017-02-28T12:17:18.368-06:002017-02-28T12:17:18.368-06:00The solution to the health acre cost problem might...The solution to the health acre cost problem might be a bit like Trump's plans for EPA.<br /><br />Chop off about 10,000 heads, so to speak.Michael Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18127450762129879267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-79615794458818935302017-02-28T10:06:03.421-06:002017-02-28T10:06:03.421-06:00Michael K said...
I was on the local planning comm...<i>Michael K said...<br />I was on the local planning commission a few years ago when the hospital wanted to expand. They wanted a special meeting with the planning commission and I agreed to attend. When I was in practice it had one administrator with a couple of heads of services like food and plant maintenance. The meeting with the planning commission was surreal. There were 30 young men and women with formal presentations that went on for hours. A monster bureaucracy had grown up since I retired. Of course, the hospital was now "nonprofit" and owned by an order of nuns. They had hired a CEO from Pepsi-Cola.<br /></i><br /><br />If I had to choose The Winning Comment of the Thread, this might be it.<br />Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07676108366725199186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-11737184307658682572017-02-28T07:56:36.289-06:002017-02-28T07:56:36.289-06:00I was on the local planning commission a few years...I was on the local planning commission a few years ago when the hospital wanted to expand. They wanted a special meeting with the planning commission and I agreed to attend. When I was in practice it had one administrator with a couple of heads of services like food and plant maintenance. The meeting with the planning commission was surreal. There were 30 young men and women with formal presentations that went on for hours. A monster bureaucracy had grown up since I retired. Of course, the hospital was now "nonprofit" and owned by an order of nuns. They had hired a CEO from Pepsi-Cola.Michael Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18127450762129879267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-32169687702309669692017-02-28T07:33:48.702-06:002017-02-28T07:33:48.702-06:00Michael is right about medicine being practiced on...Michael is right about medicine being practiced on the corporate model. When health care became an 'industry' the costs skyrocketed. A hospital used to have an administrator. Now it has a CEO, CFO, COO, etc. and countless VPs. In 2002 a certain hospital CEO in a medium-sized city made 1.4M/year. It's not the physicians, nurses or cleaning staff who are getting rich. mockturtlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10507310332014103437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-43633255374018227692017-02-28T07:17:20.935-06:002017-02-28T07:17:20.935-06:00Have you unwound all of the major and minor proxim...<i>Have you unwound all of the major and minor proximate and ancillary causes that contribute to unaffordable and unavailable health care?</i><br /><br />No, but I have a stab at it in the "Economics of Medicine" chapter in my book.<br /><br />What is going on since corporate practice of medicine is the standard is that insurance companies and Medicare negotiate reimbursement rates with other corporate entities, like hospital chains and large groups of doctors, which since Obamacare, have been largely owned by the hospitals. Hospitals were enthusiastic about Obamacare. The hospital where I practiced for 30 years bought up all the doctors' practices. The doctors are all employees and under the control of the hospital. A doctor friend of mine who has been in practice 30 years cannot admit a sick patient to the hospital without the approval of a salaried ER doc who is probably three years out of training.<br /><br />Doctors are mostly acting like bureaucrats now. I talk to young docs and they hate their practice. Medicine used to be fun. YOu know what happens when medicine, or any other profession, becomes a drudge? Productivity goes down.<br /><br />Young doctors don't work as hard as we did, for the most part. In some academic centers, it is still fun because they are still well paid and are superstars. The chief of surgery at USC is paid $7 million a year.<br /><br />It's a long story but older docs are dropping out or going the cash route, which is still fun if your kids are educated and your house paid for.Michael Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18127450762129879267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-10676731803817989852017-02-28T03:58:06.051-06:002017-02-28T03:58:06.051-06:00I thought Dubya was elected by people fearful of b...I thought Dubya was elected by people fearful of being forced to listen to Al Gore.<br /><br />Not for his insights....Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15231807078662696892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-35695949210133066992017-02-28T03:57:23.740-06:002017-02-28T03:57:23.740-06:00> Look at General Smedley Butler, who, in the 1...> Look at General Smedley Butler, who, in the 1930s, delared "war is a racket" (by which the US military is used a muscle for the corporate interests).<br /><br />I get confused when people say the US fought in Iraq for oil interests<br /><br />Which of these are "American Corporate Interests" as the Iraq war initiated for? <br /><br />http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/list-of-international-oil-companies-in-iraq/<br /><br />China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)<br />China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)<br />Dragon Oil<br />Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC)<br />Eni<br />ExxonMobil<br />Gazprom<br />Inpex<br />Japan Petroleum Exploration Company (Japex)<br />Kogas (Korea Gas Corporation)<br />Kuwait Energy (KEC)<br />Lukoil<br />Occidental Petroleum<br />Pakistan Petroleum<br />Pertamina<br />PetroChina<br />Petronas<br />Premier Oil<br />Shell<br />Total<br />Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO)<br /><br />ExxonMobil, you say? is that the "US company"?<br /><br />http://csimarket.com/stocks/segments_geo.php?code=XOM<br /><br />Non-US - $245 G<br />US - $148G<br /><br />Since Exxon partners with state run oil companies who hold the reserves, is Exxon a US company or a foreign company with holding in the US?<br /><br />Maybe you meant Royal Dutch Shell was the US interest?<br /><br />At least we know the Civil War was fought to free the slaves: that is why Union soldiers volunteered.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15231807078662696892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-46627007842609190132017-02-27T20:21:18.438-06:002017-02-27T20:21:18.438-06:00Quaestor:
Good points.
Japan did make a reasona...Quaestor:<br /><br />Good points. <br /><br />Japan did make a reasonably meaningful stab at democracy, but the "government by assassination" phenomenon put the kibosh on their efforts. The military simply had too much power and would not be gainsaid in its will and drive to achieve and maintain power. Many Japanese did not like where the military was taking the nation but they efforts to change course proved fruitless. <br /><br />What both Germany and Japan (and, by extension, the victorious Allies) had going for them were highly literate populations and cultural traditions that placed a premium on personal and corporate/collective industriousness and productivity. This are the real criteria for establishing and maintaining consensual government (and an open economy, rule of law, etc.). Case in point: the German side of my Irish-German family. They were a small part of the enormous German diaspora that flooded America in the 18th and 19th centuries. My German great-grandparents came in part from Saxony which was ruled by a king and dominated by aristocrats. They were petit-bourgeois and literate. The German people back then were collectively the most literate and best-educated population in the world, even at the lower levels. My Saxon great-grandparents had been inculcated with Enlightenment ideals and when the revolutions of 1848 failed they packed up and left the Fatherland. They hated aristocracy and kings and Prussians and, like most Germans who came to America, they took to democracy like ducks to water, even though they had never experienced it the Fatherland. <br /><br />The other side of my German family came from the Swiss canton of St. Gallen, where the populace had practiced direct democracy since time immemorial, probably going back to the Heldenzeit, before the Volkswanderungen, when the Germanic peoples were still roaming around the Pontic Steppe with their Indo-European cousins.Roughcoathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12669030540648967376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-11991606808329572452017-02-27T20:17:12.022-06:002017-02-27T20:17:12.022-06:00That's not the point. I'm not trying to co...<i>That's not the point. I'm not trying to convince anybody. I'm not trying to help. I don't want to build anything; at least not with the Trump Administration. I want separation from Trump. So that Republicans have plausible deniability when it all comes apart.<br /><br />Trump hasn't even seen the hard part(s) yet. A budget. A healthcare reform bill. An all-consuming international crisis. <br /><br />I must say that I did like Governor Kasich's analogy last weekend; Trump is the pilot of a plane in which Kasich is a passenger. So, he's rooting for the pilot.</i><br /><br />So Trump's the pilot but you'd prefer to jump out of the plane. Ok, good luck.<br />You want to make sure everyone knows you don't support Trump, don't want to be associated with him, want some separation from him? WE GET THAT. That's what I'm telling you, Chuck, we all get it. <br />What would you call it when someone keeps repeating the same point, ad nauseum, long after everyone understands? Are there complimentary terms for that, Chuck, or are they mostly insulting or abusive words?<br />It was bad when there was some possibility you didn't realize you were doing that...it's kinda worse knowing it's on purpose.<br /><br />Oh well, everyone needs a hobby I guess.HoodlumDoodlumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17591221162603652473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-54426210055689504702017-02-27T20:05:21.599-06:002017-02-27T20:05:21.599-06:00Michael K:
The insurance industry is regulated by...Michael K:<br /><br />The insurance industry is regulated by the government, right?<br /><br />Their profits, or specifically their margins, are capped by law.<br /><br />Doctors and practices are licensed by the State. The availability of services is also regulated by the State.<br /><br />It seems that the insurance industry is in a situation analogous to the mortgage industry, as the health care product is analogous to real estate, with some important caveats. In the latter case, financialization spiked assets prices, which spiked credit issuance, which resulted in a runaway condition that became progressively unmanageable. This was forced in part or in whole (at least from its inception) with ostensibly good intentions.<br /><br />Would you say that the health care product is overpriced?<br /><br />The insurance industry's practices may not be the cause, but rather the effect of government regulation and a dysfunctional domestic and global market, and progressively unhealthy practices, poor education, excessive (and unmeasured) immigration), and increased longevity of the population (e.g. American) that they serve.<br /><br />Have you unwound all of the major and minor proximate and ancillary causes that contribute to unaffordable and unavailable health care?n.nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252447117532342957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-34001369560109184692017-02-27T20:03:46.206-06:002017-02-27T20:03:46.206-06:00Government take-over of health care will not satis...Government take-over of health care will not satisfy coverage - it will force the tax payer to pay for another bottomless pit.Joe Biden, America's Putinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05802605309593881825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-38897480926302016442017-02-27T20:00:15.321-06:002017-02-27T20:00:15.321-06:00Patton competed in the 1912 Olympic pentathlon.Patton competed in the 1912 Olympic pentathlon.Fabihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17991749875348408368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-34489127189156901432017-02-27T19:57:09.351-06:002017-02-27T19:57:09.351-06:00St. George wrote: The idea that we were going to c...St. George wrote: <i>The idea that we were going to create "free societies" in those nations as we did in Japan and Germany which both had democratic traditions, shows an absence of understanding of Muslim nations.</i><br /><br />Poorly reasoned. Sorry...<br /><br />A close study of both Germany and Japan before the end of WWII yields little to support a claim of "democratic traditions". While it is true that Imperial Germany had a parliamentary body known as the Reichstag, the actual government, the chancellery and the various ministries, were not responsible to Reichstag or the people. They were appointed by and served at the pleasure of the German Emperor. The Reichstag did have a small degree of control through the power of the purse, however the Crown could and did impose it own tariffs and taxes. This is why Germany was able to build the second largest navy in the world between 1889 and the outbreak of WWI in spite of opposition from the socialist-dominated Reichstag.<br /><br />The Emperor Meiji based his government closely on the the Prussian/Imperial model, and like their model Japan had its equivalent to the German Reichstag called the Imperial Diet. Just as in Germany the Diet had virtually no control of the government. In point of fact the Japanese Cabinet was even less democratic than the German Chancellery. Accord to the Constitution of 1889 the Army and Navy Ministries were under the direct control of the armed forces — the Army minister was a serving general officer and the Navy minister was a serving admiral. Both the Japanese Army and the IJN could at any time collapse a disagreeable government by having it minister resign and then refusing to appoint an replacement.<br /><br />Germany did have a brief experience of representative democracy between 1919 and 1933. However during that span of fourteen years only about seven could be considered successful. From 1919 to 1922 the Weimar Republic hardly functioned at all. Democracy was paralyzed once again in 1929 an remained virtually powerless to influence social and economic conditions in Germany until the Enabling Acts of 1933 killed German democracy completely. <br /><br />Seven years is hardly a tradition.Quaestorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13688608372863540573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-53775780045876893352017-02-27T19:52:52.740-06:002017-02-27T19:52:52.740-06:00I do agree that Ike was one of our best presidents...I do agree that Ike was one of our best presidents. His "hidden hand presidency" was a tremendous success, in both the domestic and foreign policy spheres. His chief opponent, Adlai Stevenson, was an elitist poseur and dilettante. As one might expect the East Coast Ivy League Democratic establishment types loved him, because they loved his patrician airs and attitude of superiority and entitlement. He was an empty suit and Khruschev, a wily and ruthless killer, would have run roughshod over him.Roughcoathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12669030540648967376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-20221229357407023282017-02-27T19:49:35.689-06:002017-02-27T19:49:35.689-06:00Dear God, people see what they want to see, and br...Dear God, people see what they want to see, and bring their own prejudices to their interpretation of what W. had to say.<br /><br />W did not compliment the press on the job it's doing or vouch for its integrity, and Trump has never said there should not be an independent media. <br /><br />Bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02156866142764210868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-15669467370447960142017-02-27T19:39:31.352-06:002017-02-27T19:39:31.352-06:00You're wrong about the broad-front strategy be...You're wrong about the broad-front strategy being ineffective. The Market-Garden fiasco was proof that a broad-front approach was the only practicable strategy for defeating the Wehrmacht in the West. In the late summer and autumn of 1944 the Germans transferred the bulk of their best and best-equipped panzer divisions to the West because they knew that they lacked strategic depth in that theater and for that reason had to stop the Western Allies or lose the war before Christmas. They understood that they could trade time for space in the east and elected to do so. Had the Allies tried a narrow-front advance in the West and the Germans would have done what they did best, counterattacking at the shoulders and/or neck of a narrow Allied thrust and then enveloping the Allied forces Cannae-style in the pocket thus formed to fight (and likely win) a battle of annihilation against the trapped Allied forces. And don't tell me that Allied airpower, however formidable, would have prevented the Germans from performing the operational maneuvering and execution of a double pincers movement against the Allies. It wouldn't have because: the concentration of Allied airpower over the narrow front would have worked against them, allowing a still powerful (in fact, recovering and growing) Luftwaffe fighter force to concentrate in turn and disrupt Allied attempts to provide meaningful and consistent air support for their ground forces. <br /><br />In Market-Garden the Germans carried out a battle of annihilation on a small scale. They tried the same thing on a large scale in the Ardennes in December 1944 and nearly pulled it off. If bad weather had continued, neutralizing Allied air power, they probably would have gotten across the Meuse -- and then there would have been hell to pay in the form of a severe check to the Western Allies' operations, and the opportunity for a counterattack in the East. At the very least the Allied advance would have stalled on the German frontier and the Red Army, when it took Berlin, would have kept going into the West.Roughcoathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12669030540648967376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-52905354154784883722017-02-27T19:27:46.794-06:002017-02-27T19:27:46.794-06:00If Eisenhower had been chief of staff of USAFFE in...<i>If Eisenhower had been chief of staff of USAFFE in 1940-41 that outfit wouldn't have been as screwed up as it actually was. </i><br /><br />Yes, Eisenhower was a superb staff officer.<br /><br />The combination is rare. Sherman was probably the only one I know of in American history. He had been a banker as a civilian.Michael Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18127450762129879267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-41396247241877743422017-02-27T19:25:18.217-06:002017-02-27T19:25:18.217-06:00Patton's schooner is famous.
In 1939 then Co...<a href="http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2010/10/pattons-schooner-when-and-if-to-be-sold/" rel="nofollow"> Patton's schooner is famous. </a><br /><br /><i>In 1939 then Colonel General George S. Patton had a 63’5″ John Alden designed schooner built for himself and his wife. Another world war was looming on the horizon and Patton said that he planned to sail the schooner, “When the war is over, and if I survive.” He named the schooner “When and If.“ Ironically, Patton survived the fighting but died in a traffic accident just as the war ended.</i>Michael Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18127450762129879267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-58327232456406334932017-02-27T19:24:50.466-06:002017-02-27T19:24:50.466-06:00Patton was really a fascinating fellow. I've ...Patton was really a fascinating fellow. I've probably read more about him than about anyone else. What little I've read about Omar Bradley was uninspiring, though he may have been a good enough general. Patton, Montgomery and Rommel, while quite different in their styles and strategies, had ego and flamboyance in common. As with Napoleon, these traits can be assets in leadership roles. mockturtlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10507310332014103437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-77270933520300005852017-02-27T19:23:31.371-06:002017-02-27T19:23:31.371-06:00If Eisenhower had been chief of staff of USAFFE in...If Eisenhower had been chief of staff of USAFFE in 1940-41 that outfit wouldn't have been as screwed up as it actually was. Its tactical commanders were competent enough, but its HQ and logistics operations were Keystone Kops. buwayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02388691837737324814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-13953423499525679432017-02-27T19:23:22.109-06:002017-02-27T19:23:22.109-06:00Michael K:
I wouldn't categorize Eisenhower a...Michael K:<br /><br />I wouldn't categorize Eisenhower as a martinet. He was the commander in chief of all the Allied forces in Northwest Europe, a combined force of unprecedented and unimaginable power, size, and complexity. He was under equally unprecedented and unimaginable pressure to oversee the organization of those armies, manage them (and their difficult commanders), formulate and execute a war-winning strategy, destroy Wehrmacht forces in the West without losing too many of his own soldiers in the process, and contain the Red Army and prevent it from advancing into Western Europe. He had to be a diplomat, statesman, and military strategist and tactician. It was Eisenhower who insisted upon the "broad front" strategy that was necessary for defeating German forces in the West; when he gave Montgomery permission for a narrow-thrust (Operation Market-Garden) and it failed, for reasons Eisenhower foresaw, the wisdom of his broad-front strategy became manifest. Eisenhower's armies absolutely had to succeed in driving into Germany and Czechoslovakia in the spring of 1945, otherwise the Red Army would have driven into Western Europe. The Western Allies did indeed achieve this objective, due to Eisenhower's management of the war in the West, and in doing so prevented Western Europe from becoming a Soviet satrapy. Eisenhower's forces probably could have driven to Berlin and taken the city before the Red Army's arrival but political decisions were made above his pay-grade to let the Soviets capture the German capital.<br /><br />All of which is to say: sure, Ike was probably something of dictator, although not a martinet, a term which implies that the individual to whom it is applied is a poseur. I like to think of Ike as pro-consul in the best sense of the world, e.g. in the tradition of a Publius Scipio. Roughcoathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12669030540648967376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-41713322028510570082017-02-27T19:22:21.529-06:002017-02-27T19:22:21.529-06:00Ike was a better president. His stroke as presiden...Ike was a better president. His stroke as president was precipitated by an episode of rage when he was called off the golf course for something he considered minor.<br /><br />He genial "I Like Ike" manner was a pose.<br /><br />The "Broad Front Strategy" was not very effective and Patton believed it added a half million casualties and 6 months to the war.<br /><br />I'm not sure he is right but the Falaise Gap was a fiasco by Bradley and Monty.<br /><br />I was once staying in a hotel in Palm Springs (the Arawan Gardens) at a medical meeting when Bradley decided he wanted the whole hotel for his entourage and we all had to move.Michael Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18127450762129879267noreply@blogger.com