July 3, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

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Thus,authority has become a function of belief,while individual expertise is self-determined –and neither is based any longer on the extentof schooling or training.Although the ongoing mortgage crisis issuch a mess as to seem relatively incomprehensibleto the uneducated outsider, therehas proven to be a large swath of expertsamong the general population who readilyunderstand it. Evidently finding complexfinancial transactions as simple to understandas any basic first-grade reader, they will assureyou that the blame lies almost solely withRep. Barney Frank.The 9/11 conspiracy theorists evidentlyfound it relatively easy to learn rapidlythe properties of steel, the effects of heat,and the full range of structural engineering.Understanding building design, knowing thescience of structural support, and graspingthe dynamics of the high-rise required littlemore than basic study and reading a numberof supportive texts – forget advanced degreesor actual experience.Those Americans who hate their own governmentabove all else find it relatively simple toidentify the duplicity, manipulative irresponsibility,illegal methods, and immoral abuses ofpower committed by the government. Despitethe inherently clandestine nature of such operations,discerning them is as easy as readinga comic book for these critics. Many startfrom the sophisticated premise that the UnitedStates is always wrong and any nation or groupin opposition to the U.S. is either right or elsesimply a U.S. front. One need not travel to theMiddle East to know that al Qaeda is a CIAinvention nor go to Iran to know that it is ourgovernment behind the current massive antigovernmentprotests.Sophisticated Expertise andUnenlightened Self-InterestCurrently, many Americans seem to be frettingabout this country turning socialist, asthough it has long had a purely capitalist,free-market economy – no one really wantsthat, and it certainly isn’t what has existed fordecades, if not centuries. A legislatively influencedmarket and regulated businesses cameabout not through some conspiratorial coupbut through legitimate concerns for the healthand well-being of the economy, work force, andpopulation. Evidently, however, according tosome, paying for unneeded weapon systems inorder to keep workers employed isn’t socialismbut worrying about the social safety net is.Overall, the game at hand is partisan politics.On the right, talking points seemingly materializeand are faithfully repeated on a daily basis.The left has just as many mindless mantras, butthe difference is timeliness. The Republicansthe Democrats can’t change direction, given avast expanse carpeted in $100 bills totaling thenational debt. In the case of the former, justnote how those who once accused Americanswho disputed national elections and criticizedgovernment actions of being traitors now laudthose doing the same in Iran.The debate over health care has so manyvoices coming from such a variety of differentdirections that figuring it all out isn’t easy.Those in Congress, whether they supporthealth-care reform or oppose it, all have federallyfunded, extensive, and comprehensivehealth care. Yet the United States is the onlynation in the Western Hemisphere lackingany kind of national health care.Significant numbers of those who supporthealth-care reform have no idea what kindsof plans are viable and actually being considered.Many of those who most vehementlyoppose it feel that the issue is simply a Trojanhorse designed to sneak further governmentcontrol past alert sentries.Many with superior health insurance orwho are young enough to feel invulnerablefeel this is much ado about nothing. Othersfocus solely on those currently uninsured, asthough the problem is that limited.As a member of the management team oftwo businesses that both pay 100% of full-timeemployees’ health insurance, I am aware of andinvolved with this issue. Unlike many of thesavants on all the differing sides, on a monthlybasis I’m reminded of the increasing expensesand shrinking benefits. Consequently, I’m flummoxedby the argument that a free-market solutionwill see competition driving down costswhile improving the quality of care.The current state of health-care plans ismore than troubling. In my experience, onerarely settles into a long-term relationship withan insurer. Instead, something like the followingscenario occurs: In year one, a contract issigned for a new plan to serve the staff. Thesecond year, the rates go up significantly but notoutrageously. The third year, the company oftenoffers two different rate plans, with the rates ofboth increasing by absurd percentages. The lessexpensive plan often eliminates an area wherecoverage has traditionally been provided. Therate for the cheaper, less comprehensive optionusually ends up increasing by a medium/highsingle-digit percentage, while keeping the samecoverage incurs a double-digit increase, thehigher rate indicating that the company is tryingto steer you away from continuing your currentcoverage. Currently, we are seeing this in termsof the amount of aftercare that is covered byinsurance. It used to be generous, if not unlimited.Now it is being substantially cut back.Each year, we not only pay more, but theplan offers our employees less coverage andhigher co-payments. Major businesses are sufferingnot from substantial worker salaries butfrom health-care costs that are both unexpectedlyhigher and much longer-lasting thananticipated. Something should be done not toadvance socialism or benefit employers, but forthe good of the overall population. ■6 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E JULY 3, 2009 a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m