Letter to AJC 7-24-2012
Voter fraud and citizen disenfranchisement.
A letter writer complains that Leonard Pitts is playing the race card by decrying the spate of laws requiring photo ID for all who wish to vote. An example was made of cashing a check at a bank and being required to show photo ID. Perhaps the writer forgot that owning a bank account is a privilege provided by a business that sets its own rules, but voting is a right for all citizens provided by our constitution.
The laws directed at those without voter ID are aimed at a symptom of our poor voting system. These laws are attempting to correct issues that are inherently built into a poorly designed voting process, but they also negatively impact many of our rightful voters. With the technological capability we have today there is no excuse for lack of electronic systems that detect attempted voter fraud before it occurs.
All the situations claimed by those who would disenfranchise some of our citizens can be identified in a properly designed system and database before voting takes place. Issues such as people who are not registered, people who have passed away, people who are trying to vote more than once, people who are not citizens, can all be determined electronically if we put the effort into designing our strategic national information properly.
Stop gap measures never work in the end. They only add more confusion and frustration. We need to work on our real problems and put aside these ideologically driven schemes that hurt the country and our democracy.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
War on Medicaid
Letter to AJC 7-14-2012
A letter writer decries the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act and claims that the USA has the world's premium health care system. According to the World Health Organization, the USA ranks 3 7th out of 191 countries examined, behind France, Italy, the UK and many others. To put our ranking in perspective, Slovenia ranks 38th, and Cuba 39th.
The WHO reports also states that the U.S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country. The USA, according to a report from Reuters, spends 16% of GDP on healthcare. In contrast the United Kingdom spends just six percent of GDP on health services but ranks 18th in the WHO survey
One key recommendation from the WHO report is for countries to extend health insurance to as large a percentage of the population as possible. WHO says that it is better to make "pre-payments" on health care as much as possible, whether in the form of insurance, taxes or social security.
It's clear that many of our citizens are misinformed. The media bears a large part of that responsibility and needs to provide accurate and concise information to help people understand and separate politically driven hyperbole from reality.
A letter writer decries the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act and claims that the USA has the world's premium health care system. According to the World Health Organization, the USA ranks 3 7th out of 191 countries examined, behind France, Italy, the UK and many others. To put our ranking in perspective, Slovenia ranks 38th, and Cuba 39th.
The WHO reports also states that the U.S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country. The USA, according to a report from Reuters, spends 16% of GDP on healthcare. In contrast the United Kingdom spends just six percent of GDP on health services but ranks 18th in the WHO survey
One key recommendation from the WHO report is for countries to extend health insurance to as large a percentage of the population as possible. WHO says that it is better to make "pre-payments" on health care as much as possible, whether in the form of insurance, taxes or social security.
It's clear that many of our citizens are misinformed. The media bears a large part of that responsibility and needs to provide accurate and concise information to help people understand and separate politically driven hyperbole from reality.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
AJC Sponsored T-SPLOST Debate
Letter to AJC 7-14-2012
The AJC sponsored debate between the supporters and opponents of the proposed T-SPLOST brought to light several very important facts for all Atlantans to be aware of.
First: Growth, employment, and prosperity of a metro area are directly linked to the quality of transportation and ease of access. Atlanta, as we all know, falls far short on these attributes.
Second: House prices and real estate values are related to the perceived quality of transportation and ease of access. Atlanta's house prices have declined faster than all other metro areas in the USA and have failed to rise like other cities due to our lack of transportation and ease of access.
Third: Over the last three decades, Atlanta has dropped from being amongst the leaders to being number one eighty nine out of two hundred metro areas in the world as rated on an economic desirability scale. This is mainly due to our poor transportation and lack of planning for the future. This rating deters new business and will hinder growth of our local economy.
As an observation on the positions taken, it is clear to me that both sides in the debate agree that we need to do something. The disagreements on the T-SPLOST seem to be partly ideology and partly the choice of the projects to be funded. If we could put aside our differences and work towards a common solution for the good of the entire region we could once again see Atlanta surging ahead and prospering.
To that end its clear to me that we should proceed to implement the one percent additional tax and establish a board of overseers to ensure the funds are properly utilized. I also think that the lower priorities on the list of projects could be revisited to ensure that all of them are directed to improving our economy and not just short term traffic fixes.
The long term view needs to be the guiding principle in this decision and short sighted attitudes to developing the region will only make our city decline further and reduce the value of our real estate even more.
The AJC sponsored debate between the supporters and opponents of the proposed T-SPLOST brought to light several very important facts for all Atlantans to be aware of.
First: Growth, employment, and prosperity of a metro area are directly linked to the quality of transportation and ease of access. Atlanta, as we all know, falls far short on these attributes.
Second: House prices and real estate values are related to the perceived quality of transportation and ease of access. Atlanta's house prices have declined faster than all other metro areas in the USA and have failed to rise like other cities due to our lack of transportation and ease of access.
Third: Over the last three decades, Atlanta has dropped from being amongst the leaders to being number one eighty nine out of two hundred metro areas in the world as rated on an economic desirability scale. This is mainly due to our poor transportation and lack of planning for the future. This rating deters new business and will hinder growth of our local economy.
As an observation on the positions taken, it is clear to me that both sides in the debate agree that we need to do something. The disagreements on the T-SPLOST seem to be partly ideology and partly the choice of the projects to be funded. If we could put aside our differences and work towards a common solution for the good of the entire region we could once again see Atlanta surging ahead and prospering.
To that end its clear to me that we should proceed to implement the one percent additional tax and establish a board of overseers to ensure the funds are properly utilized. I also think that the lower priorities on the list of projects could be revisited to ensure that all of them are directed to improving our economy and not just short term traffic fixes.
The long term view needs to be the guiding principle in this decision and short sighted attitudes to developing the region will only make our city decline further and reduce the value of our real estate even more.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Republican war on Medicaid
Letter to AJC 7-12-2012
Kyle Wingfield's article on Medicaid clearly defines the financial bubble in which the well-off Republicans live. From Romney on down, their God is money. All their decisions revolve around the cost and how much it will affect their well stuffed wallets.
Kyle missed the point that truly civilized nations care for the health of all their citizens. When the founding fathers declared that this nation has the right to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness", they implicitly created the right to good health. No one can pursue happiness if they are ill and unable to afford medical care.
I suggest Kyle and the Republicans search their moral centers and support additional Medicaid funding for Georgia to help those who need it most. Stop playing these silly games with people's lives.
Tom
Kyle Wingfield's article on Medicaid clearly defines the financial bubble in which the well-off Republicans live. From Romney on down, their God is money. All their decisions revolve around the cost and how much it will affect their well stuffed wallets.
Kyle missed the point that truly civilized nations care for the health of all their citizens. When the founding fathers declared that this nation has the right to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness", they implicitly created the right to good health. No one can pursue happiness if they are ill and unable to afford medical care.
I suggest Kyle and the Republicans search their moral centers and support additional Medicaid funding for Georgia to help those who need it most. Stop playing these silly games with people's lives.
Tom
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Female Pay Inequity
Letter to AJC 6-27-2012
Mona Charen in her opinion piece wrote "Despite endless repetition by democrats and feminists, the idea that women earn less than men for the same work is fiction". its clear to me that Mona hasn't researched her topic very well. A simple review of many studies reaffirms the gap.
For example a comprehensive study on the gender wage gap was released in 2003 by the staff of the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The researchers controlled for "work patterns," including years of work experience, education, and hours of work per year, as well as differences in industry, occupation, race, marital status, and job tenure. With controls for these variables in place, the data showed that women earned, on average, 20% less than men during the entire period 1983 to 2000.
More recently, women’s earnings were found to be lower than men's earnings in all states according to the Income, Earnings, and Poverty Data from the 2007 American Community Survey by the Census Bureau. The national female-to-male earnings ratio was 77.5 %
The Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzed the gap in 2010 by level of education and found that across the board women earn less than men with the same educational accomplishment. The median weekly earnings ratio for women as compared to men is 80% for PHDs, 76% for Masters, 77% for Bachelors, 76% for Associates, and 76% for High School graduates.
This shameful practice must stop. The first step in solving an issue is to admit and accept the problem exists. We need politicians and media who know the facts and are willing to change processes for the good of the people, not for the flawed ideology of the party.
Mona Charen in her opinion piece wrote "Despite endless repetition by democrats and feminists, the idea that women earn less than men for the same work is fiction". its clear to me that Mona hasn't researched her topic very well. A simple review of many studies reaffirms the gap.
For example a comprehensive study on the gender wage gap was released in 2003 by the staff of the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The researchers controlled for "work patterns," including years of work experience, education, and hours of work per year, as well as differences in industry, occupation, race, marital status, and job tenure. With controls for these variables in place, the data showed that women earned, on average, 20% less than men during the entire period 1983 to 2000.
More recently, women’s earnings were found to be lower than men's earnings in all states according to the Income, Earnings, and Poverty Data from the 2007 American Community Survey by the Census Bureau. The national female-to-male earnings ratio was 77.5 %
The Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzed the gap in 2010 by level of education and found that across the board women earn less than men with the same educational accomplishment. The median weekly earnings ratio for women as compared to men is 80% for PHDs, 76% for Masters, 77% for Bachelors, 76% for Associates, and 76% for High School graduates.
This shameful practice must stop. The first step in solving an issue is to admit and accept the problem exists. We need politicians and media who know the facts and are willing to change processes for the good of the people, not for the flawed ideology of the party.
Politifact gets it wrong again
Letter to AJC 6-26-2012
The people writing the AJC Politifact are either showing their heavy anti-Obama bias with the latest 6-26-2012 rating, or they need a remedial reading comprehension class, or they support the republican war on women. Maybe all three. They rated Obama's latest ad as mostly false, but it's obvious that they took the words and modified the intent of the statement to meet their own biased thinking.
The ad said "President Obama knows that women being paid 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men isn't just unfair, it hurts families."
What's untrue about that statement? If you were a woman and were doing the same work as a man and he was being paid 30% more than you, (23/77*100 for the math challenged), wouldn't you consider it unfair?
He didn't say all women are being paid 77 cents as compared to men for the same work, he referenced those women who are being paid at that discriminatory rate. Don't tell me you think women aren't worth the same pay as men for the same work.
Please try to keep your bias out of ratings. It's clear to me that the AJC has moved far to the right. The AJC Politifact is supposed to be seeking the truth. There is no room for bias in there.
The people writing the AJC Politifact are either showing their heavy anti-Obama bias with the latest 6-26-2012 rating, or they need a remedial reading comprehension class, or they support the republican war on women. Maybe all three. They rated Obama's latest ad as mostly false, but it's obvious that they took the words and modified the intent of the statement to meet their own biased thinking.
The ad said "President Obama knows that women being paid 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men isn't just unfair, it hurts families."
What's untrue about that statement? If you were a woman and were doing the same work as a man and he was being paid 30% more than you, (23/77*100 for the math challenged), wouldn't you consider it unfair?
He didn't say all women are being paid 77 cents as compared to men for the same work, he referenced those women who are being paid at that discriminatory rate. Don't tell me you think women aren't worth the same pay as men for the same work.
Please try to keep your bias out of ratings. It's clear to me that the AJC has moved far to the right. The AJC Politifact is supposed to be seeking the truth. There is no room for bias in there.
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