Family Forum / Parenting / Parenting / July 2008

I am less interested in war then I am in the economy and the environment,
because those more directly affect us.

I am undecided.

In article
<dd706d23-535f-4584-8b60-dad1c07ef316@v1g2000pra.googlegroups.com>,

President?  What President?

No we all don't.

Hopefully not.  I think the environment, education, healthcare and the
economy will affect our grandchildren more.

I like Obama for many reasons.  

First he has a decent education plan.  From his website:

Barack Obama's Plan
Early Childhood Education

   * Zero to Five Plan: Obama's comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan
will provide critical support to young children and their parents.
Unlike other early childhood education plans, Obama's plan places key
emphasis at early care and education for infants, which is essential
for children to be ready to enter kindergarten. Obama will create
Early Learning Challenge Grants to promote state "zero to five"
efforts and help states move toward voluntary, universal pre-school.
   * Expand Early Head Start and Head Start: Obama will quadruple
Early Head Start, increase Head Start funding and improve quality for
both.
   * Affordable, High-Quality Child Care: Obama will also provide
affordable and high-quality child care to ease the burden on working
families.
     K-12
         o Reform No Child Left Behind: Obama will reform NCLB, which
starts by funding the law. Obama believes teachers should not be
forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in
bubbles on standardized tests. He will improve the assessments used to
track student progress to measure readiness for college and the
workplace and improve student learning in a timely, individualized
manner. Obama will also improve NCLB's accountability system so that
we are supporting schools that need improvement, rather than punishing
them.
         o Make Math and Science Education a National Priority: Obama
will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching
profession and will support efforts to help these teachers learn from
professionals in the field. He will also work to ensure that all
children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade
levels.
         o Address the Dropout Crisis: Obama will address the dropout
crisis by passing his legislation to provide funding to school
districts to invest in intervention strategies in middle school -
strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent
involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and
extended learning time.
         o Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities: Obama will
double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs,
the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more
children.
         o Expand Summer Learning Opportunities: Obama's "STEP UP"
plan addresses the achievement gap by supporting summer learning
opportunities for disadvantaged children through partnerships between
local schools and community organizations.
         o Support College Outreach Programs: Obama supports outreach
programs like GEAR UP, TRIO and Upward Bound to encourage more young
people from low-income families to consider and prepare for college.
         o Support English Language Learners: Obama supports
transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English
Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for
making sure these students complete school.
     Recruit, Prepare, Retain, and Reward America's Teachers
         o Recruit Teachers: Obama will create new Teacher Service
Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years
of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative
programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least
four years in a high-need field or location.
         o Prepare Teachers: Obama will require all schools of
education to be accredited. He will also create a voluntary national
performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is
trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching
effectively. Obama will also create Teacher Residency Programs that
will supply 30,000 exceptionally well-prepared recruits to high-need
schools.
         o Retain Teachers: To support our teachers, Obama's plan
will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced teachers with new
recruits. He will also provide incentives to give teachers paid common
planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices.
         o Reward Teachers: Obama will promote new and innovative
ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not
imposed on them. Districts will be able to design programs that reward
accomplished educators who serve as a mentor to new teachers with a
salary increase. Districts can reward teachers who work in underserved
places like rural areas and inner cities. And if teachers consistently
excel in the classroom, that work can be valued and rewarded as well.
     Higher Education
         o Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama will
make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American
Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit
will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely
free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition
at the average public college or university and make community college
tuition completely free for most students. Obama will also ensure that
the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by
using prior year's tax data to deliver the credit when tuition is due.
         o Simplify the Application Process for Financial Aid: Obama
will streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the current
federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply
simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax
information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate
application.

******************************

His stand on the war seems well-reasoned and well-thought out.
Despite the claims that he is weak on foreign affairs, I really like
the fact that he is willing to talk to both our enemies and our
allies.  Iraq should never have been attacked, but his plan for a
gradual drawing down of our troops is a good one at this time.  That
will allow us to place more troops in Afghanistan where they are
needed.  

****************************

His key environmental points are good though not perfect

Key Points

   * Calls for cutting U.S. carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent below
1990 levels by 2050. Would accomplish this through a cap-and-trade
system that would auction off 100 percent of emissions permits, making
polluters pay for the CO2 they emit.

   * Would channel revenue raised from auctioning emissions permits
-- between $30 billion and $50 billion a year -- toward developing and
deploying clean energy technology, creating "green jobs," and helping
low-income Americans afford higher energy bills.

   * Calls for 25 percent of U.S. electricity to come from renewable
sources by 2025, and for 30 percent of the federal government's
electricity to come from renewables by 2020.

   * Proposes investing $150 billion over 10 years in R&D for
renewables, biofuels, efficiency, "clean coal," and other clean tech.

(Hopefully solar and wind power would be among the things that could
be useful)

   * Calls for improving energy efficiency in the U.S. 50 percent by
2030.

   * Calls for 36 billion gallons of biofuels to be used in the U.S.
each year by 2022 and 60 billion gallons of biofuels to be used in the
U.S. each year by 2030.

   * Calls for all new buildings in the U.S. to be carbon neutral by
2030.

   * Calls for reducing U.S. oil consumption by at least 35 percent,
or 10 million barrels a day, by 2030.

   * Introduced the Health Care for Hybrids Act, which would have the
federal government help cover health-care costs for retired U.S.
autoworkers in exchange for domestic auto companies investing at least
50 percent of the savings into production of more fuel-efficient
vehicles.

   * Supports raising fuel-economy standards for automobiles to 40
miles per gallon and light trucks to 32 mpg by 2020.

   * Supports a phaseout of incandescent light bulbs by 2014.

(I'm not a fan of this since my grandson is autistic and flourescent
lights often cause problems with autistic people - they can hear the
whine and it drives them crazy).

*******************************************
On Health Care:

Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All

   * Obama's Plan to Cover Uninsured Americans: Obama will make
available a new national health plan to all Americans, including the
self-employed and small businesses, to buy affordable health coverage
that is similar to the plan available to members of Congress. The
Obama plan will have the following features:
        1. Guaranteed eligibility. No American will be turned away
from any insurance plan because of illness or pre-existing conditions.
        2. Comprehensive benefits. The benefit package will be
similar to that offered through Federal Employees Health Benefits
Program (FEHBP), the plan members of Congress have. The plan will
cover all essential medical services, including preventive, maternity
and mental health care.
        3. Affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
        4. Subsidies. Individuals and families who do not qualify for
Medicaid or SCHIP but still need financial assistance will receive an
income-related federal subsidy to buy into the new public plan or
purchase a private health care plan.
        5. Simplified paperwork and reined in health costs.
        6. Easy enrollment. The new public plan will be simple to
enroll in and provide ready access to coverage.
        7. Portability and choice. Participants in the new public
plan and the National Health Insurance Exchange (see below) will be
able to move from job to job without changing or jeopardizing their
health care coverage.
        8. Quality and efficiency. Participating insurance companies
in the new public program will be required to report data to ensure
that standards for quality, health information technology and
administration are being met.
   * National Health Insurance Exchange: The Obama plan will create a
National Health Insurance Exchange to help individuals who wish to
purchase a private insurance plan. The Exchange will act as a watchdog
group and help reform the private insurance market by creating rules
and standards for participating insurance plans to ensure fairness and
to make individual coverage more affordable and accessible. Insurers
would have to issue every applicant a policy, and charge fair and
stable premiums that will not depend upon health status. The Exchange
will require that all the plans offered are at least as generous as
the new public plan and have the same standards for quality and
efficiency. The Exchange would evaluate plans and make the differences
among the plans, including cost of services, public.
   * Employer Contribution: Employers that do not offer or make a
meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for
their employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll
toward the costs of the national plan. Small businesses will be exempt
from this requirement, and will receive a new Small Business Health
Tax Credit that helps reduce health care costs for small businesses.
   * Support for Small Businesses: Barack Obama will create a Small
Business Health Tax Credit to provide small businesses with a
refundable tax credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small
businesses on behalf of their employees. This new credit will provide
a strong incentive to small businesses to offer high quality health
care to their workers and help improve the competitiveness of
America’s small businesses.
   * Mandatory Coverage of Children: Obama will require that all
children have health care coverage. Obama will expand the number of
options for young adults to get coverage, including allowing young
people up to age 25 to continue coverage through their parents' plans.
   * Expansion Of Medicaid and SCHIP: Obama will expand eligibility
for the Medicaid and SCHIP programs and ensure that these programs
continue to serve their critical safety net function.
   * Flexibility for State Plans: Due to federal inaction, some
states have taken the lead in health care reform. The Obama plan
builds on these efforts and does not replace what states are doing.
States can continue to experiment, provided they meet the minimum
standards of the national plan.

Lower Costs by Modernizing The U.S. Health Care System

   * Reducing Costs of Catastrophic Illnesses for Employers and Their
Employees: Catastrophic health expenditures account for a high
percentage of medical expenses for private insurers. The Obama plan
would reimburse employer health plans for a portion of the
catastrophic costs they incur above a threshold if they guarantee such
savings are used to reduce the cost of workers' premiums.
   * Helping Patients:
        1. Support disease management programs. Seventy five percent
of total health care dollars are spent on patients with one or more
chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood
pressure. Obama will require that providers that participate in the
new public plan, Medicare or the Federal Employee Health Benefits
Program (FEHBP) utilize proven disease management programs. This will
improve quality of care, give doctors better information and lower
costs.
        2. Coordinate and integrate care. Over 133 million Americans
have at least one chronic disease and these chronic conditions cost a
staggering $1.7 trillion yearly. Obama will support implementation of
programs and encourage team care that will improve coordination and
integration of care of those with chronic conditions.
        3. Require full transparency about quality and costs. Obama
will require hospitals and providers to collect and publicly report
measures of health care costs and quality, including data on
preventable medical errors, nurse staffing ratios, hospital-acquired
infections, and disparities in care. Health plans will also be
required to disclose the percentage of premiums that go to patient
care as opposed to administrative costs.
   * Ensuring Providers Deliver Quality Care:
        1. Promote patient safety. Obama will require providers to
report preventable medical errors and support hospital and physician
practice improvement to prevent future occurrences.
        2. Align incentives for excellence. Both public and private
insurers tend to pay providers based on the volume of services
provided, rather than the quality or effectiveness of care. Providers
who see patients enrolled in the new public plan, the National Health
Insurance Exchange, Medicare and FEHBP will be rewarded for achieving
performance thresholds on outcome measures.
        3. Comparative effectiveness research. Obama will establish
an independent institute to guide reviews and research on comparative
effectiveness, so that Americans and their doctors will have the
accurate and objective information they need to make the best
decisions for their health and well-being.
        4. Tackle disparities in health care. Obama will tackle the
root causes of health disparities by addressing differences in access
to health coverage and promoting prevention and public health, both of
which play a major role in addressing disparities. He will also
challenge the medical system to eliminate inequities in health care
through quality measurement and reporting, implementation of effective
interventions such as patient navigation programs, and diversification
of the health workforce.
        5. Insurance reform. Obama will strengthen antitrust laws to
prevent insurers from overcharging physicians for their malpractice
insurance and will promote new models for addressing errors that
improve patient safety, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship and
reduce the need for malpractice suits.
   * Lowering Costs Through Investment in Electronic Health
Information Technology Systems: Most medical records are still stored
on paper, which makes it hard to coordinate care, measure quality or
reduce medical errors and which costs twice as much as electronic
claims. Obama will invest $10 billion a year over the next five years
to move the U.S. health care system to broad adoption of
standards-based electronic health information systems, including
electronic health records, and will phase in requirements for full
implementation of health IT. Obama will ensure that patients' privacy
is protected.
   * Lowering Costs by Increasing Competition in the Insurance and
Drug Markets: The insurance business today is dominated by a small
group of large companies that has been gobbling up their rivals. There
have been over 400 health care mergers in the last 10 years, and just
two companies dominate a full third of the national market. These
changes were supposed to make the industry more efficient, but instead
premiums have skyrocketed by over 87 percent.
        1. Barack Obama will prevent companies from abusing their
monopoly power through unjustified price increases. His plan will
force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for
patient care instead of keeping exorbitant amounts for profits and
administration. His new National Health Exchange will help increase
competition by insurers.
        2. Lower prescription drug costs. The second-fastest growing
type of health expenses is prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical
companies are selling the exact same drugs in Europe and Canada but
charging Americans more than double the price. Obama will allow
Americans to buy their medicines from other developed countries if the
drugs are safe and prices are lower outside the U.S. Obama will also
repeal the ban that prevents the government from negotiating with drug
companies, which could result in savings as high as $30 billion.
Finally, Obama will work to increase the use of generic drugs in
Medicare, Medicaid, and FEHBP and prohibit big name drug companies
from keeping generics out of markets.

Fight for New Initiatives

   * Advance the Biomedical Research Field: As a result of biomedical
research the prevention, early detection and treatment of diseases
such as cancer and heart disease is better today than any other time
in history. Barack Obama has consistently supported funding for the
national institutes of health and the national science foundation.
Obama strongly supports investments in biomedical research, as well as
medical education and training in health-related fields, because it
provides the foundation for new therapies and diagnostics. Obama has
been a champion of research in cancer, mental health, health
disparities, global health, women and children's health, and veterans'
health. As president, Obama will strengthen funding for biomedical
research, and better improve the efficiency of that research by
improving coordination both within government and across
government/private/non-profit partnerships. An Obama administration
will ensure that we translate scientific progress into improved
approaches to disease prevention, early detection and therapy that is
available for all Americans.
   * Fight AIDS Worldwide. There are 40 million people across the
planet infected with HIV/AIDS. As president, Obama will continue to be
a global leader in the fight against AIDS. Obama believes in working
across party lines to combat this epidemic and recently joined Senator
Sam Brownback (R-KS) at a large California evangelical church to
promote greater investment in the global AIDS battle.
   * Support Americans with Disabilities: As a former civil rights
lawyer, Barack Obama knows firsthand the importance of strong
protections for minority communities in our society. Obama is
committed to strengthening and better enforcing the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) so that future generations of Americans with
disabilities have equal rights and opportunities. Obama believes we
must restore the original legislative intent of the ADA in the wake of
court decisions that have restricted the interpretation of this
landmark legislation.

     Barack Obama is also committed to ensuring that disabled
Americans receive Medicaid and Medicare benefits in a low-cost,
effective and timely manner. Recognizing that many individuals with
disabilities rely on Medicare, Obama worked with Senator Ken Salazar
(D-CO) to urge the department of health and human services to provide
clear and reliable information on the Medicare prescription drug
benefit and to ensure that the Medicare recipients were protected from
fraudulent claims by marketers and drug plan agents.
   * Improve Mental Health Care. Mental illness affects approximately
one in five American families. The National Alliance on Mental Illness
estimates that untreated mental illnesses cost the U.S. more than $100
billion per year. As president, Obama will support mental health
parity so that coverage for serious mental illnesses are provided on
the same terms and conditions as other illnesses and diseases.
   * Protect Our Children from Lead Poisoning. More than 430,000
American children have dangerously high levels of lead in their blood.
Lead can cause irreversible brain damage, learning disabilities,
behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma and
death. As president, Obama will protect children from lead poisoning
by requiring that child care facilities be lead-safe within five
years.
   * Reduce Risks of Mercury Pollution. More than five million women
of childbearing age have high levels of toxic mercury in their blood,
and approximately 630,000 newborns are born at risk every year. Barack
Obama has a plan to significantly reduce the amount of mercury that is
deposited in oceans, lakes, and rivers, which in turn would reduce the
amount of mercury in fish.

   * Support Americans with Autism. More than one million Americans
have autism, a complex neurobiological condition that has a range of
impacts on thinking, feeling, language, and the ability to relate to
others. As diagnostic criteria broaden and awareness increases, more
cases of autism have been recognized across the country. Barack Obama
believes that we can do more to help autistic Americans and their
families understand and live with autism. He has been a strong
supporter of more than $1 billion in federal funding for autism
research on the root causes and treatments, and he believes that we
should increase funding for the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act to truly ensure that no child is left behind.

     More than anything, autism remains a profound mystery with a
broad spectrum of effects on autistic individuals, their families,
loved ones, the community, and education and health care systems.

(Not sure he can actually achieve this, but I agree with most of his
plan and the provisions for autism should help.  He should, however,
consider providing help to adults with autism rather than thinking of
autism as a *childhood* disease and leaving out the adults.)

Obama believes that the government and our communities should work
together to provide a helping hand to autistic individuals and their
families.

(For those US readers):

I believe that all of the seemingly minor elections prior to this --
whether for mayor, selectman, alderman, city council, school
committee, whatnot -- will have a larger impact on the lives of our
children and grandchildren than the November election... Let alone the
elections for State Representative, State  senate, or Representatives
and Senators....

It's all cumulative -- many folks only show up to vote in the
presidential elections, yet the day-to-day municipal things which
directly impact one's life are more immediately within one's own
control. Who did you vote for for school committee? State
representative?

I'm not going to put forth my Presidential choice: I'm still
scratching my head over why profit is seemingly accrued by individual
investors, yet any losses (mortgage bail-out, for starters) are borne
by the collective populace.

Caledonia