Summary of Senator Clinton Speech regarding Health Care

I will post the Political Summary later. I have to walk away from it for a bit and cool down. She implies multiple times in her speech that people can't make there own decisions. You can see more at my website PoliticalBear.com.

August 23, 2007
HEALTH CARE QUALITY:
Speech at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

• I was also here to talk about reform in 1993
  • We need Consensus
  • 3 part plan reducing costs, increase quality, provide universal coverage
  • How my plan will ensure quality
  o I will invest in strengthening the maintenance of certification program
  o Public-private trusts, money, and higher reimbursements for participants
  • I will create a Best Practices Institute
  o Public-private partnership to fund comparative effectiveness research and disseminate it across the country
  • I will also implement medical malpractice reforms
  o Would improve liability protections for physicians who disclose medical errors to patients and offer to enter into negotiations for fair compensation
  • I will address nursing shortages and education shortages
  o More funding to schools, recruit more nurses, work to retain nurses
  • I will empower patients
  o Give them the information they need for good decisions
  o “Consumer Driven” health care doesn’t work
  • Patients must also be able to understand the information
  o We need electronic medical records
  o The VA is a good example they already have Med IT
  • I want to give incentives to patients to make good decisions
  • Still health inequities among racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and genders
  • Health Care payers also have a responsibility in providing quality health care
  o Hospitals are paid for each visit
  o Doctors are not rewarded for working together
  o I will support federal reimbursements for a team approach to medicine
  o Must reward care on how effective it is
   Bush Administration’s has been ok on this
   I will mandate that any insurance company that covers patients through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program must also refuse to cover these costs
  o I’ll also encourage private plans to follow suit
  o To ensure that our reimbursement system rewards quality care also means ending discrimination against people with pre- existing conditions
  • Will all of this be easy?
  • No
  

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Grammar and politics and rants

Please accept my apology for all errors on the page. I actually do have the ability to write a coherent sentence, I just have not proved it yet.

I promise.......on my blogs name............ to edit all future posts!

Again, thanks for your patience.

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Political Bear Summary of Barack Obama Education Speech

Political Bear on youtube re: Obama education speech

Summary of Sen. Obama's NEA speech

This is the first Political Bear Speech Summary I have posted. This is what I am going to do for any speeches that people request............and any that I can possibly find time to go through. I will also be posting them on my website Political Bear

National Education Association Annual Meeting
Philadelphia, PA July 05, 2007

• Education is good

• Race is an important fight regarding education
o The recent Supreme Court case was bad

• Education is more important than ever and we are getting worse

• Teachers are most important
o Politicians must back you

• Idea of NCLB is good
o Not supported by current administration

• I don’t support blaming teachers

• We need more teachers
o They need more power/stuff

• I will invest billions

• I believe in collective bargaining

• Parents must take a role

• I will stand by you in the fight to educate our children

Summary: Really the first and last talking point should be removed from this summary since they will appear in every candidates speech, but it is kind of funny to include them to see how ridiculous it looks. The only thing that Sen. Obama really says here is that the current administration is bad and he will spend billions for education. The rest is more like a student council election. He wants to give the teachers more money, power of the subject material they teach, more say in their schools, less accountability.....generally he want to make recess longer. Ah. Presidential politics.

Barack and Education!!!!!

Barack, Barack, Barack..... While you are still my favorite Democrat in the election (I challenge someone to show me a better democrat), your speeches talk about breaking out of the status quo.......but your speeches say otherwise.

You are well versed, semi-poetic, and you can even make little tears well up as you tell us stories of little kids that are in trouble, but, you still tell us nothing different, nothing new.

Like you I support education, education should be important to everyone. but why would you lie? In your speech that I have outlined (poorly) below and on my website in full, Political Bear, you make it sound like the current administration has not funded NCLB.

If I were you (or your speech writer----I am sure a smelly liberal :) )I might actually take the time to get the new funding numbers, but the last time that I used the numbers This administration had increased education funding faster than any previous Administration. Now while I don't support even that increase (no proof that more funding=better education......if there was proof, you got my vote).......it should get your respect. Or......wait......are you going to put more money into education? As someone who is not your "yes man," let me tell you that would not work. Throwing money at problems will not solve them! Although it might buy their vote. Oh I get it. never mind....do what you want.

You Tube Introduction! Wahoo

Well the video is up and running on you tube. I will be doing at least five more videos this week, so everyone should keep their eyes open for them. It doesn't take too many views or ratings to get onto the first five pages which is where Political Bear can start making a difference.
Check out Political Bears You Tube Introduction here. a be sure to leave a comment and rate the video!

Barack Obama Speech in Outline (kind of)

The link to full speech is below. I have taken this 4-5 page speech and broken in down to two pages. In time I will figure out how to put back in the formatting that I added, but this outline is a great starting point to break down what he is actually saying and how he trying to sell a group.

For this blog- Talking points=outline=sales pitch wo/fluffy words!

National Education Association Annual MeetingPhiladelphia, PA July 05, 2007

I have been to a lot of schools
Dodge Elementary- heard about being fed up with excuses for why kids can’t learn

We believe they can learn
Every child should have a chance
Every child should be taught

Education should be first

Education is part of our History
Thomas Jefferson Quote “…Talen and virtue, needed in a free society, should be educated regardless of wealth, birth or other accidental condition.”
This led us to first free public schools
Expanded by sending veterans to college after WWII on GI Bills
*America has fallen short of this sometimes
Racial inequality
Attack recent Supreme Court Ruling

Ideal of Public education is heart of American Promise
Equal Public Education is what has helped America

In today’s world knowledge is the most valuable skill
World Competition
Countries who out educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow
We are already losing (uses statistics as examples)

In the past people who had trouble in school could survive-pay bills and support a family
Now-they can’t
We must change this-economically untenable for the nation
So teachers are more important than ever

New evidence
Achievement level not determined by race or background
Achievement decided by the teacher

You can’t do it alone
Politicians must stand behind you

As an example of neglect- No Child Left Behind
The goals were right- accountability, closing the achievement gap, equitable distribution of resources, distribution of qualified teachers
We didn’t need laws to tell us what we already knew
We are still willing to make these goals a reality
However,
Don’t under fund it
Talk about high quality teachers and then leave pay and support behind
Don’t label a school as failing and then walk away
Teaching to standardized doesn’t work
You devoted your lives to teaching and that is what you should be allowed to do

When I am President NCLB will no longer be an empty slogan

However, fixing NCLB is just a starting point
Status quo is unacceptable
We don’t need blame, inaction, or half measures
We need an historic commitment to America’s teachers- I intend to do this as President

A million teachers are going to retire
We need to recruit
Raise salaries
Create a program for professionals to become teacher (pro-teacher program)
Give incentives to teachers in school

Moving forward
I will unveil to invest billions in education
Recruit and train willing teachers
Support current teachers
I believe in collective bargaining
We will pay teachers more and even more where they are more in need
We will pay more if you mentor, if your students succeed
We will find new ways to increase your pay that teachers help decide not imposed upon them by arbitrary test scores
We will treat teachers like the professionals you are
Also,
We need more mentors
Develop assessments that work not just tests that test testing ability

I commend the pay system in Minnesota that values your performance and the kids.

One last point. Accountability
I have supported
But Politicians must be accountable as well
Teachers should not be blamed for collective failures
Teachers accept the right kind of accountability
Allow them to teach to their strengths
More pay
More support
Then teachers don’t mind
Parents must also take a roll

Big challenges ahead
Continue to allow children to transcend the barriers of race, class, and background
Teachers and support professionals have made this possible

I know you’ll be leading the way, and I look forward to standing with you in the fight. Thank you.

Partisianship

While I do have very strong beliefs...........I am forever grateful that we live a society where people are allowed to write whatever they want, to say whatever they want, and to believe what they want.

If any readers feel that what I am saying is wrong in any of my post............please comment. I will not hide any comments. I might edit vulgarity, but other than that anything goes.

New York Times Op-ed response

Arrrgh.

Premise, premise, premise!

One again in "Stacking the Electoral Deck" the writer's overall point is correct. Just changing California's electoral votes does not solve the problem. But that is where the writer's rightness ends.............yes right, because it is painfully obvious that he/she/it is a lefty. While op-eds do have a side.......shouldn't they at least have research behind them, or if no research is actually done they should at least have a bland enough article that it is hard to argue against.

However, this is article is merely a conspiracy theory penned by a left-wing nut. For clarification not all left wingers are nuts.........and yes there are right-wing nuts. Conspiracy theorists, however, always get to go by the term "nut" and since the writer is writing for the left why not qualify them as so.....Moving on.....The writer misses the point that California's voting block is huge (which they do get) and represents a diverse group of people.......which the writer does not understand. Breaking CA's voting electoral votes up is a step in the right direction to letting the people's vote actually matter. Every group left, right , center, and nutty should be lobbying for this change.

They should also be lobbying other states to do the same thing.

So, if California would be the first state (oh no, heaven forbid a large state takes a leadership role), they would be setting an interesting example for the rest of the country.

In the end I am not an electoral college scholar, and therefore I am not throwing my support behind the CA plan, but if the writer of the op-eds downsides are true.......and they are the only downsides.......then I would probably support the idea.

Premise of the writer-The California is a Republican Conspiracy to win the Presidential race. What the writers premise for the article should have been (if they wanted a strong article)- The only way a democrat can win is by quieting the impact of Republican votes in CA.

Wall Street Journal- Letter to the Editor Proposal

Premise.....Premise....premise....

Today in the Wall Street Journal's op-ed section there is an article about a potential housing bailout.

First. In agreement with the writer, a bailout is an awful idea. It just rewards, or stops the punishment of businesses that made bad ideas, and (in my idea) furthers the presence of the nanny state.

In the old days (not an exact time.....lets say pre-asphalt), if you picked land that had too many bears on it (pun semi-intended) you died, or you killed them but that would ruin the example. Now, while I feel sorry for the individuals that are losing houses, I didn't support their decisions in the first place.........and additionally their bad decisions have hurt me. Because of their bad decisions, houses prices continued to rise.......pricing me out of the market.

I don't want to now pay for their bad decisions----however, I already will pay for the bad decisions when I buy a house (ok, condo), because of the financial adjustments that businesses are now making.

Ok, so back to the article..........sorry for the delay.............the writer faults politicians for attempting to turn people into home owners. Wow. I haven't read words like that since the Communist Manifesto. The writer states that these people would be better off without having owned a home.................ok.............that is a cheap shot, but he is right. The point that he misses is that the people he is referring to should never have owned the homes that they were in and lost. They should have been in smaller homes..............ones that.........stay with me now.........fit their budget. Affording a mortgage on any given house is important, but factoring in the other costs is as important if not more important for the new homeowner since they are accustomed to only paying rent and maybe utilities.

Owning a home is wealth creation. This is a great thing for society as a whole, and one of the biggest gaps in the lives of rich people and poor people. Of course the rich are getting richer faster they own their homes. They get to keep their rent every month.

So this is my pet peave- False Premise. The writer does not believe in the power of homeownership. The writer of the article is smart enough to know that a bailout is a bad idea, but misses the whole point that home ownership is good.

No new video tonight.

I wanted to post a video to youtube tonight, but I guess that is going to wait until tomorrow! That just gives me a chance to let everyone know that I will be on, making my debut......ok not me.....the political bear spokesperson--or bear.

It should be at least somewhat memorable, it will also be the beginning of my political bear videos. I will be posting replies to as many campaign videos as I can keep up with on youtube. As usual, if you have any suggestions............feel free.

Also, I have the Obama speech. I will take it down to talking points tomorrow. Maybe it will say something besides education is good, but I doubt it.

The Art of Communication: Part 2

Good morning, well since it is still August.......I have still have plenty of time to get this blog up and running. Please leave comments, link to my blog, and tell friends about this. I want this to be a forum to discuss the intent or premise in political speeches, debates, and the like.

With that in mind my new website Political Bear is now up and running. Please visit and send comments about how to make it better. It still won't pass the smell test, which means that I don't like it yet. Results of discussions on this blog will make their way to the website, so please.....agree with me, disagree with me......whatever lets get a conversation started.

So, that is Part 2. Open lines of communication.

Part 3, which I will post later today will disect a short speech (if you have one, send it) into talking points. This is a simple exercise, but practice can make this skill very useful.

The Art of Conversation: Part 1

This is posting that I would like to start, in order show how a better understanding of political rhetoric and a better understanding of how to listen to political rhetoric can help out everyday communication.



Sitting around the dining table. Talking over the cublicle. Stopping for a conversation with the local bum. Every time we communicate in any situation their is a framework that is used. In order to not only understand but to control this we must be able to listen in several ways.



1. Actual words (I know--duh, but without this everything else is pointless)

2. The talking points- this is usually only a few points and paying attention to these will let us spend more time thinking.



What not to listen to:

1. The tone- In some situation it is better not to listen to tone. If the person cares deeply and gets mad, if the person gets sad, if they are indifferent to something important it can drag you away from the actual point of what is being said.

What to figure out:

1. The premise-Wahoo. this is the fun part! If we can figure out why someone is saying something (and most of the time they haven't figured it out) we have them!



So, that is the point of this blog. By talking about politics, and practicing premise seeking listening, this blog is intended to change the way we listen.

My new Picture.

Feel free to leave comments!!!

The Market---Up of Down?

Q. The market, is it good? Is it bad?

A.Who knows.

If you are not paying attention to all of the numbers, there is no way to tell. The Republicans are saying the economy is doing better than ever (which is at least the closest to correct), the democrats say that the economy might be worse that during the great depression. To further the mis-information the media plays on the hype and not the numbers.


What does this mean? Are the Republicans the only truthful ones.......no, most only point to the numbers that help them. Are the Democrats lying, no they choose the numbers that make GW Bush look bad. Is the media not reporting......once again the answer is no. The media is in it to sell themselves. Isn't free speech great. That might sound pessimistic, but it really is great. How else can we every side of a fact, without actually hearing the fact?

So, what is there to do? Before you fly on the handle in any direction- source yourself. find as many sources as possible that explain the same issue.

New Items to the new Blog.

Like going to the first day of school I am trying to dress my blog up so that everyone likes me! So please......the more comments the better!

If anyone has any suggestions feel free to help.

Thanks and I hope everyone likes reading about politics in a new way.

Today's Phrase: Universal Health Care!

Of course everyone wants health care for all. I do.

So, what does a politician mean when they are saying they are for Universal Health Care? The answer is not much.

Universal Health Care, ~10 years ago, primarily meant a single payer system (the government funds all). However, in modern symantics it means- Single payer, third party payer (insurance companies), Consumer driven health care (the actual patient), and any other health care ideas that are worth a sniff.

What type works. Consumer driven. However, don't tell anyone else this......it will cause a riot.

Of course that is my personal thought on the matter, but those of you who are interested you should check out http://www.NCPA.org. They have tons of information on it.

Why?

Many politicians use words to misdirect. Republicans and Democrats are kings at propaganda, rhetoric, or talking point glossiness. Many of these politicians use well developed keywords and marketing strategies instead of genuine communication.

In a lot of way everyone does this. This will be a blog to discuss political talking point, and also how listening with the right filters can help in everyday life!

First of Many!!!

This is my first post. I will keep it short DONE!