Hate, and the World Hates with You

George Bush hates, and America hates with him. America hates, and hatred roils the world. Says columnist Mark Morford:

We are, right now, the biggest brute in the sandbox, taunting everyone to a fight and drawing the world more and more into our bilious screw-you, kill-'em-all attitude, even as we suffer cultural asthma and our national infrastructure crumbles and our hospitals fail and school systems collapse and our coffers are bled dry by the most corrupt and irresponsible federal administration in your lifetime.

In short, we make it more OK for the rest of the world to rage, despoil, hate. We set the tone. We're not merely tormenting unfriendly nations, we're actively messing with them, rigging their political systems and steamrolling their beliefs. We are, by way of toxic foreign policy and a mad rush to war and a leader who is about as world-wise and savvy as a trailer hitch, making the world a nastier place in which to live.

Read the rest. It's worth your time.



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Still Alive and Kicking

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. It's just that February's been one project deadline after another, so I've had a lot of 7-day workweeks. I shall return!



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Looking for Health Care Horror Stories

You've all read my health care horror stories: here, here, here, here, here, and here.

I'm sure lots of you have horror stories too. Filmmaker Michael Moore is making a new film called Sicko, about the mess that is the U.S. health care system. Write him with your story. I've sent him mine.



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Letting Africa Burn

In case you missed it, Bono spoke yesterday at the National Prayer Breakfast and took U.S. leaders to task for letting Africa burn—letting racism dictate how little America gives to combat the AIDS epidemic there:

If you’re wondering what I’m doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I’m certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It’s certainly not because I’m a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I’m here because I’ve got a messianic complex.

Yes, it’s true. And for anyone who knows me, it’s hardly a revelation.

Well, I’m the first to admit that there’s something unnatural ... something unseemly ... about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the south of France. Talk about a fish out of water. It was
weird enough when Jesse Helms showed up at a U2 concert ... but this is really weird, isn’t it?

You know, one of the things I love about this country is its separation of church and state. Although I have to say: in inviting me here, both church and state have been separated from something else completely: their mind.

Mr. President, are you sure about this?

It’s very humbling and I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned—I’m Irish.

I’d like to talk about the laws of man, here in this city where those laws are written. And I’d like to talk about higher laws. It would be great to assume that the one serves the other; that the laws of man serve these higher laws...but of course, they don’t always. And I presume that, in a sense, is why you’re here.

I presume the reason for this gathering is that all of us here—Muslims, Jews, Christians—all are searching our souls for how to better serve our family, our community, our nation, our God.

I know I am. Searching, I mean. And that, I suppose, is what led me here, too.

Yes, it’s odd, having a rock star here—but maybe it’s odder for me than for you. You see, I avoided religious people most of my life. Maybe it had something to do with having a father who was Protestant and a mother who was Catholic in a country where the line between the two was, quite literally, a battle line. Where the line between church and state was ... well, a little blurry, and hard to see.

I remember how my mother would bring us to chapel on Sundays ... and my father used to wait outside. One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.

For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land...and in this country, seeing God’s second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash ... in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment...

I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV.

Even though I was a believer.

Perhaps because I was a believer.

I was cynical ... not about God, but about God’s politics. (There you are, Jim.)

Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtick—my reproachfulness. They did it by describing the millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity to cancel the chronic debts of the world’s poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lord’s call—and were joined by Pope John Paul II, who, from an Irish half-Catholic’s point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty.

Jubilee—why Jubilee?

What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lord’s favor?

I’d always read the scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was in Leviticus (25:35) ...

"If your brother becomes poor," the scriptures say, "and cannot maintain himself ... you shall maintain him.... You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit."

It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, he’s met with the rabbis, impressed everyone, people are talking. The elders say, he’s a clever guy, this Jesus, but he hasn’t done much ... yet. He hasn’t spoken in public before ...

When he does, his first words are from Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,’ he says, ‘because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor." And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord’s favour, the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18).

What he was really talking about was an era of grace—and we’re still in it.

So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate—in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn’t a bless-me club ... it wasn’t a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions...making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people.

But then my cynicism got another helping hand.

It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest WMD of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didn’t miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behaviour. Even on children ... even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married,
faithful women.

Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself. Judgmentalism is back!

But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age.

Love was on the move.

Mercy was on the move.

God was on the move.

Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet ... conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS ... soccer moms and quarterbacks ... hiphop stars and country stars. This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!

Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!

Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!

Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.

It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.

When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened—and acted. When churches starting organising, petitioning, and even—that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying ... on AIDS and global health, governments listened—and acted.

I’m here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.

Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.

Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.

I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. “If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places.”

It’s not a coincidence that in the scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It’s not an accident. That’s a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. (You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.) "As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor.

Here’s some good news for the president. After 9/11 we were told America would have no time for the world’s poor. America would be taken up with its own problems of safety. And it’s true these are dangerous times, but America has not drawn the blinds and double-locked the doors.

In fact, you have doubled aid to Africa. You have tripled funding for global health. Mr. President, your emergency plan for AIDS relief and support for the Global Fund—you and Congress—have put 700,000 people onto life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and provided 8 million bed nets to protect children from malaria.

Outstanding human achievements. Counterintuitive. Historic. Be very, very proud.

But here’s the bad news. From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There is much more to do. There’s a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.

And finally, it’s not about charity after all, is it? It’s about justice.

Let me repeat that: It’s not about charity, it’s about justice.

And that’s too bad.

Because you’re good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can’t afford it.

But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.

Sixty-five hundred Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about justice and equality.

Because there’s no way we can look at what’s happening in Africa and, if we’re honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn’t accept it. Look at what happened in South East Asia with the tsunami. 150,000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, “Mother Nature.” In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it’s a completely avoidable catastrophe.

It’s annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren’t they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain.

You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, “Equal?” A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal? And they say, “Yeah, ‘equal,’ that’s what it says here in this book. We’re all made in the image of God.”

And eventually the Pharaoh says, “OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews—but not the blacks.”

“Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man.”

So on we go with our journey of equality.

On we go in the pursuit of justice.

We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than 2 million Americans ... Left and Right together ... united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live.

We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King—mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started. These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas.

Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market ... that’s a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents ... that’s a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents ... that’s a justice issue.

And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.

That’s why I say there’s the law of the land…. And then there is a higher standard. There’s the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it’s OK to protect our agriculture but it’s not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living?

As the laws of man are written, that’s what they say.

God will not accept that.

Mine won’t, at least. Will yours?

[pause]

I close this morning on ... very ... thin ... ice.

This is a dangerous idea I’ve put on the table: my God vs. your God, their God vs. our God ... versus no God. It is very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity.

And this is a town—Washington—that knows something of division.

But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the scriptures call the least of these.

This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due
respect, an American idea. Nor it is unique to any one faith.

"Do to others as you would have them do to you" (Luke 6:30). Jesus says that.

"Righteousness is this: that one should ... give away wealth out of love for him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives." The Koran says that (2.177).

Thus sayeth the Lord: "Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring forth, then your Lord will be your rear guard." The Jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again.

That is a powerful incentive: "The Lord will watch your back." Sounds like a good deal to me, right now.

A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord’s blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it…. I have a family, please look after them…. I have this crazy idea ...

And this wise man said: Stop.

He said, Stop asking God to bless what you’re doing.

Get involved in what God is doing—because it’s already blessed.

Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.

And that is what he’s calling us to do.

I was amazed when I first got to this country and I learned how much some churchgoers tithe. Up to 10% of the family budget. Well, how does that compare with the federal budget, the budget for the entire American family? How much of that goes to the poorest people in the world? Less than 1%.

Mr. President, Congress, people of faith, people of America:

I want to suggest to you today that you see the flow of effective foreign assistance as tithing.... Which, to be truly meaningful, will mean an additional 1% of the federal budget tithed to the poor.

What is 1%?

1% is not merely a number on a balance sheet.

1% is the girl in Africa who gets to go to school, thanks to you. 1% is the AIDS patient who gets her medicine, thanks to you. 1% is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business, thanks to you. 1% is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a rat hole. This 1% is digging waterholes to provide clean water.

1% is a new partnership with Africa, not paternalism toward Africa, where increased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives with proven track records and away from boondoggles and white elephants of every description.

America gives less than 1% now. We’re asking for an extra 1% to change the world. To transform millions of lives—but not just that, and I say this to the military men now—to transform the way that they see us.

1% is national security, enlightened economic self-interest, and a better, safer world rolled into one. Sounds to me that in this town of deals and compromises, 1% is the best bargain around.

These goals—clean water for all, school for every child, medicine for the afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty—these are not just any goals; they are the Millennium Development goals, which this country supports. And they are more than that. They are the Beatitudes for a globalised world.

Now, I’m very lucky. I don’t have to sit on any budget committees. And I certainly don’t have to sit where you do, Mr. President. I don’t have to make the tough choices.

But I can tell you this:

To give 1% more is right. It’s smart. And it’s blessed.

There is a continent—Africa—being consumed by flames.

I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did—or did not do—to put the fire out in Africa. History, like God, is watching what we do.

Thank you. Thank you, America, and God bless you all.

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State of Illusion

I'm playing Beat the Clock today, as I absolutely must ship out a rush project today, but I'm taking a short break to send you to Anna Quindlen's excellent column in the February 6 issue of Newsweek about the real state of the union:

"My fellow Americans, the state of the Union is ... "

Confident. Strong. Stronger than ever.

Dire. Disturbing. Disastrous.

Those last three are the ones the speechwriter will never use. But at the moment they're far closer to the truth. ...

The young, the poor, the outsourced, the uneducated, the overqualified: so many Americans have this sense of profound malaise. Of course, that's the ailment that dare not speak its name (and not just because the word is French); look what happened to Jimmy Carter when he dared to talk of a national "crisis of confidence." He found himself traded in for the so-much-cheerier "morning in America."

It's not morning. It's not even afternoon. There's not much union in the state, just one fissure after another. ...

[Read more.]

State of the Union Bush budget health care Iraq war minimum wage spying EditorMom

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Said my 4-year-old son, Jared, doing some playacting while a Star Wars movie played in the background: "I'll be Darth Bush. He has the worstest light saber ever—it's black."



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Mending the State of Disunion

Here's a memo to Bush from the Fellowship of Reconciliation that I wish I'd written:

Urgent memo
To: George W. Bush
From: Fellowship of Reconciliation
Subject: State of the Union

Dear Mr. President,

Thank you for asking the Fellowship of Reconciliation to prepare State of the Union talking points for you. We share your deep concern for the state of this nation and the world, and are pleased to help you shape a forward-thinking vision at this critical time.

Mr. President, now is the time to address the conditions of decay, distrust, and deception that will otherwise become the legacy of this administration and Congress. Our nation needs to be able to trust its elected leaders again. As a person of faith, you surely recognize that for the American people to move forward to a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation, the way to begin this process is to speak the truth.

This will be painful. You will have to acknowledge the lies and mismanagement that have been a hallmark of the past four years. You must take responsibility for the manipulated evidence that led to the war in Iraq and the terribly inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina; forswear the policies and practices of torture and illegal surveillance; and take concrete steps to distance yourself from the corruption and scandal that is implicating members of your administration and old business associates.

You must announce an exit strategy from Iraq and Afghanistan. This should encompass the withdrawal of our soldiers by the end of 2006, leaving the region clean of U.S. military bases. The growth of bases in the two countries is a key reason why Iran has
increased its militant rhetoric.

A moral presidency demands a firm commitment to the peoples of the world that their lives will be free of foreign aggression and occupation. Let us seize the momentum from the recent democratic elections in Iraq to show the Middle East and the world that the United States is not an occupying empire or a bullying superpower.

On the domestic front, the nation’s economic health should be a top priority. The gap between rich and poor Americans has grown to historic levels, with the richest five percent making almost 1,500% more than the poorest 20 percent, and CEOs making 431 times more than the average worker. Couple this with the skyrocketing cost of energy—the price of oil is now approaching $70 a barrel—and you will understand why many people are getting desperate.

What can you do? Start by doubling the national minimum wage from $5.15 to $10.30, which will at least approach a living wage. Then acknowledge that your tax cut policies don’t help anyone except the wealthy. Last year, two million jobs were created, but this was less than 40% of what your Council of Economic Advisors had predicted, and only half what a normal job growth figure would have been without the tax cuts. Specifically, you should call for a reinstatement of the Estate Tax, which even many rich Americans (like Bill Gates) have acknowledged was a fair tax on their wealth.

We know that health care is a major concern for you. Seize the moment! Now is the time to call for a universal health care policy for the United States. There is no good reason why we, the wealthiest nation in the world, are also the only industrialized democracy that doesn't have health coverage for all its citizens. We are very concerned by reports that you seek to further privatize the system, rather than creating more governmental support for the least of us—those who cannot afford what is currently offered.

Are you worried about the budget implications? This recommitment to health care, the reconstruction of the region around New Orleans, a strong environmental program, and a balanced education policy (like a fully funded No Child Left Behind Act) are all eminently possible. Once you steer the nation away from wars of aggression abroad, some of our bloated, $400 billion–plus military budget can be reallocated towards education, renewable energy, and economic development. Creating a strong social safety net and a healthy population must be a top priority, since we cannot afford to be "Left Behind" in the the competitive global skills market.

Mr. President, as a man of faith, you are certainly aware of the words of the prophet Micah, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?” This nation and the world could use some justice, mercy and humility right now. We look forward to your State of the Union address tomorrow as an opportunity to help our country respond to Micah’s challenge and regain our spiritual compass.

State of the Union Bush budget health care Iraq war minimum wage spying EditorMom

Rough Time

So many things to do, so little time.

The Bush administration's doing the usual outrageous things, yet I have no time to comment on them. I'm doing on a rush project and trying to finish another (nonrush) project, both for the same client, so I've been working 7 days a week lately. On top of that, I'm not so happy with my Presbyterian church because I've gradually come to see that many of its members are a lot more conservative and reluctant to take action (talk the talk, but don't walk the walk) than I'd thought. It's so hard being one of the very few progressive voices there.

Rough time.


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Big Brother George

Keep the hell out of my job and my personal life, George Bush.

As an editor, I'm on Google constantly to verify tidbits of information my clients' authors put into their manuscripts.

As a self-employed woman trying to provide financial security for her family, I'm on Google day and night in a fruitless search for affordable health care insurance (part 1 and part 2).

As a supporter of gay rights, I'm on Google every single day to keep abreast of news affecting GLBT people everywhere.

As an active Presbyterian and progressive Christian, I'm often on Google to research ways to counteract the cultural insanity perpetrated by conservative religious zealots of every stripe.

As a parent and wife, I'm frequently on Google to research education and medical issues affecting my children and husband.

As a liberal American, I'm on Google constantly to keep abreast of all the ways you seek to curtail my freedom, destroy my country, and foment hatred among nations.

I'm a very open person, George, but I won't stand for your fascist invasions of my privacy. Back the hell off, or sooner than you can rationalize invading Iran, you'll be impeached.


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Angels in the Morning

6:40 am: Time to wake Neil, 11. This takes some doing because he always has trouble getting to sleep in the first place. A gentle shake, shake. Nothing. "Neil! School day. Time to get up," said sotto voce, because he shares a bedroom with Jared, 4. Jared's allowed to sleep until he's ready to get up, which is usually between 8 and 8:30, because he's always home with me unless it's time for preschool, which runs 12 to 2:30 pm Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

6:50 am: A lot more of the shaking and whispering later, Neil stumbles into the kitchen and sits down. He stuffs his vitamin gummies into his mouth, his eyes still closed. He swallows, and his eyelids drag themselves open long enough for him to look at me with liquid-blue puppy eyes while he says, "Mommy, can I have a snuggle?" He drapes his long, bony body across my lap and tucks his face against my neck, so soft and warm and trusting. I tell him how, of my three children, he was the one at whose birth I felt the physical sensation of the world tilting on its axis, and how I now take that to mean that he will change the world, maybe by inventing something amazing, maybe by being kind and gentle.

7:20 am: Finally having finished his breakfast, Neil stumbles off to dress for school, while I read my e-mail.

7:40 am: His backpack waiting near the steps down to the front door, Neil comes over for one last snuggle, fortification for a day at school. A few minutes later, a clock seems to sound an alarm in his head, and he straightens, says, "Have a good day, Mommy," and heads for the landing to watch out the front-door window for his school bus.

8:15 am: I hear fast footfalls as Jared, after awakening, runs from the bedroom and straight to me at the computer. Neil's bus has come and gone. Jared throws his solid little body at me, tucking his head and his arms into my embrace. He nuzzles me as I kiss the soft, sweet-smelling back of his neck. A few moments later, he lifts his head to kiss my cheek and throw his arms around my neck. Then, all preschooler urgency, Jared breaks off our hug and trots to the living room, picking up the blanket Neil left behind. He throws himself into an overstuffed chair and buries himself in the blanket. "Mommy, can I see cartoons?" I agree, after rubbing his soft baby belly. Weekdays, he gets a little TV while he eats breakfast; he'll play later.

I know that several times during the day, Jared will suddenly stop what he's doing and run up to say something like "Mommy, I love you," and hug and kiss me. And I will track him down several other times to return the favor.

I know that when Neil comes home from school, he'll zoom in for a quick hug and a recital of the days' events before he heads off for the computer/Game Boy/PlayStation time he's allowed before homework.

And I know that I will happily do it all again tomorrow, especially for the chance to hold soft boy bodies and soft boy hearts. I cannot resist hugs from my children. Their skin is so smooth and warm and their enjoyment of affection is so visceral.


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The Joys of Freelancing

Geez! It's days like today that really make me glad to be a freelancer. Here on Long Island, the rain's coming down sideways and the wind's gusting up to 60 miles per hour. I didn't have to get dressed for an audience of officemates and go outside to drive to work, only to be immediately soaked. I'm sitting here at my computer in a T-shirt, casual pants, and clogs, dry and happy.


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Laugh or Cry?

If I weren't so damned depressed over this whole health insurance crap, I'd laugh hysterically at the fact that the particular Google ads that have taken up residence on this blog lately are from companies that hunt down health insurance quotes for people.

Fact is, though, I've actually followed the URLs from those ads (being careful to write them down and go to the sites without clicking on my own Google ads, which Google forbids). Lots of 'em have given me outrageous quotes or told me that some of the companies they represent don't even write policies in New York State, which is where I am. Talk about the cruelty of putting a glass of water just out of reach of a parched desert traveler ...


insurance, part 1 insurance, part 2


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Health Insurance Update

Well, folks, I think I've searched all corners of the country to dig up insurance companies offering affordable health insurance, and I can't find anything. (See earlier posts in this saga here and here.) I'm stressed and worn out from my hunt. If any miracle drops down from the sky, I'll let you know.



health care insurance self-employed sole proprietorship EditorMom

Health Care: My Financial Choices and Lessons Learned

My readers having no insights for me, I've been doing intense research for the last couple of days on ways to avoid going without health insurance. I've found that there aren't affordable insurance plans in the state of New York for sole proprietors like me (see why I'm in this fix).

Other possible financial solutions for my family would include

1. Moving to another U.S. state: Now that our oldest son's individualized education plan and medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) are as stabilized as they can be and he's blossoming academically (presidential scholar!), we won't move till he's out of high school—and he's in sixth grade now. Our school district is, unlike us, wealthy, so there are plenty of tax dollars for what our son needs. He and society deserve his getting the best academic and life foundation that we can get for him.

2. My becoming an employee of a publishing house again so that I could obtain employer-subsidized health care insurance: But with the monthly railroad commuter ticket now costing $315 and annual child care costs for only one of my two sons being in excess of $15,000, we'd be in vastly worse financial shape. For most of my 11 years of self-employment, we haven't used child care and thus have saved loads of money. I'm a multitasker; I parent and edit.

3. Creating a partnership with other freelancers so that we all qualify for group insurance: This is the hardest option for me to wrap my mind around; I went solo for freedom from bureaucracy, and I don't think I'd deal well with having to supervise others or to do mountains of nonediting paperwork.

4. Moving to Canada: Once our son with AD/HD is out of the public school system, we will look more closely into this if nothing has changed regarding health care in the United States.

5. Hiring my mother-in-law, who lives with us, as an employee, so that my company qualifies as a group with two employees, her and me: But she is 70 and retired and uses Medicare, so she wouldn't use any health insurance whose premiums my company were to pay, and the insurer would require that if I pay the premiums, all employees use the insurance.

I have learned several lessons from this hunt:

1. If you live in the United States and must carry your own health insurance, do not live in New York State. Though state law requires that insurance companies offer insurance to all comers, they can charge premiums as high as they wish, thus making insurance unaffordable to most individuals and sole proprietors.



2. Do not develop any chronic health conditions, even if their genesis has roots in your genes.



3. Do not be self-employed; owe your life to an employer so as to have health insurance.



4. Do not have children.

These lessons impoverish me and the rest of the country. George "Rich Boy" W. Bush, get your butt over here and trade places with me for six months. Bet you'd encourage Congress to revamp our health care system faster than your "let them eat cake" mama can count the pearls on her necklace.

April 1 update: We now have insurance.

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Reader Consultation on U.S. Health Care Insurance

Dear readers:

If you live in the United States, are self-employed, have children, and aren't married to someone whose employer subsidizes health care insurance premiums, do you have health care coverage? If so, please answer the following questions, in the order presented, in your comments to this post:

1. What state do you live in?



2. How many people, including you, are in your family?



3. How much are your monthly premiums?



4. What is your copay for a visit to a health care provider?



5. What is your copay for medications?



6. What is the name of your health care insurer, and what is its web site URL?



7. If you are without health care, do you put aside money toward future health care costs? If so, how much each month?

I have done quite a bit of research, over the 11 years I've been self-employed, to find the best and most affordable health care insurance. Insurers are dropping the self-employed—not overtly but covertly, by discontinuing the existing coverage and offering new, much more costly coverage—at an alarming rate. I don't want to be fiscally irresponsible, but I may have no choice but to go without insurance; it's coming down to choosing between having a home and having health care coverage. Maybe some of you have found solutions that I'm missing.


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Open Letter to My Senators and Representative: Fix U.S. Health Care!

Dear Senators Hilary Clinton and Chuck Schumer and Representative Tim Bishop:

If I didn't have sinus congestion from a cold already, I'd stand out in my front yard and scream an ear-piercing scream of frustration for about 10 minutes. Instead, I'm writing to you.

I am an editor who's been self-employed for 11 years and have, for that period, paid full premiums for health insurance coverage for my family. Today—the day before New Year's Eve—I got a notice that GHI, the health insurance provider through which I have a policy, is discontinuing the insurance plan I have for my family, as of April. Yeah, yeah, it's "nice" of them to give me more than the required 90 days' notice. The new plan that they'll be offering would cost my family $1,400/month, up from the $930/month we now pay.

Looks like Monday morning, my husband will tell his employer, a very small cabinetmaking firm, that we want to switch to the company's Blue Cross plan. But it's such a small company that the employer can't afford to shoulder any of the insurance premium costs; employees pay it all themselves. So we'll be paying about $1,000 a month.

January 5 update: We won't be signing on for insurance through my husband's employer; it's up to $1,258 a month now, which is out of our financial league. Unless we win the lottery, we'll be uninsured as of April 1.

But that's our limit. Once those premiums increase—and you know they will—we'll be among the uninsured. Maybe that's 6 months down the road; maybe it's a year. I have hypothyroidism, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, depression, and a family history of diabetes, so diabetes is likely in my future. Yes, I exercise and attempt to eat a decent diet. My husband and one of our sons have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and that son also has depression. All of these conditions require medications and some require therapy, and without health insurance, we'll be spending a huge chunk of our income—not that $930/month isn't already a huge chunk.

The cost of health insurance in New York State stinks big time. The cost of it in the U.S. stinks big time. Meanwhile, most members of Congress pay premiums that are ridiculously low [rate info provided by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the human resources department for the federal government] when compared with their salaries.

Somebody beam me and my family to Canada, please! Or better yet, please introduce legislation immediately that will set up a health care provision system similar to Canada's.

Your very unhappy constituent,
Katharine O'Moore-Klopf

P.S. Please read this piece from the San Francisco Chronicle for an idea about where to start the process of change.

My colleague Alexandra (a pseudonym, to protect her privacy), who has worked in and around health policy and insurance for 24 years, has this to say:

Read [the Chronicle piece] and decide for yourself which country has the more humane health care "system."

Research has shown that Americans and Canadians pay comparable amounts out of pocket for their health coverage. Americans pay it in premiums, out-of-pocket cost sharing, and surcharges (cost shifting) for uncompensated care; Canadians pay it in taxes. I'd rather pay more taxes and know that my family will have access to at least some level of service even if I decide to change jobs, my employer decides to drop its health coverage or raise its price beyond what I can pay, or some other employment change happens. Why on earth health insurance has to be tied to employment is beyond me. It is, and until we muster the courage or political will or good sense to change it, it always will be.

Down here, "getting some help [for health care costs]" (if you're talking about Medicaid) usually means months of waiting; demeaning, privacy-probing questions; and constant requalifying, with paperwork burdens designed to keep people from even bothering—not to mention the stigma of going onto a public assistance program. That's if you live in a state where you even qualify for anything. If you are a single nondisabled nonelderly adult with no kids, best of luck to you. If you seek care at a safety-net institution, you face hours and hours of waiting for often substandard care delivered by harried, underpaid, overworked staffers. Then you can't pay for the drugs that are prescribed (sometimes you can get samples, but not forever), unless you again spend time and energy trying to qualify for a pharmaceutical assistance program, again with endless requalifying. If you're lucky, you live in a town where someone cares enough to set up a clinic for the uninsured and doesn't charge you through the nose for care. If you're not, well, you're not. Some solution that is.

I know that each system looks different from the other side of the border, but you'll have to try very hard to convince me that the U.S. one is superior.

April 1 update: We now have insurance.

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A Child Is Born

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What School Is Like for the Student with AD/HD*

Alexis Norin^† could have been writing about my middle child, Neil, in the December 2005 issue of Attention! (the bimonthly magazine of CHADD [Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder])^‡:

Imagine sitting in a typical classroom. The teacher is talking up front, or a student is asking a question. Students fill the rows of chairs, doing student things. The heater kicks on, the lights hum, and other classroom noises get your attention.

Focus back on the teacher. She's beginning to review what's on tomorrow's test. Now imagine someone is tapping a pencil on the desk. The steady tempo fills your ears, and your head starts pounding in rhythm. Someone walks in the door. Your eyes follow the late student to his desk, taking in his torn jeans, Hawaiian shirt and dirty black backpack. Outside the mowers start, and you wonder why they're even mowing in December. The pencil beats on. The teacher is now writing on the board. The late student gets up to grab a handout off the teacher's desk while she's not looking. The light above you blinks out. The pencil continues to beat. A conversation two rows in front of you catches your ear. Two girls are making faces at each other. The pencil stops, but a foot takes up the rhythm.

Lights hum. Teacher talks. Students write. Mower mows. Heater blows. Foot taps. Class is over.

The student with AD/HD ... just missed class.

If your child sounds like the student Norin describes, please know that your child isn't stupid or lazy. Your child needs you to advocate for him or her. Don't be afraid. If I can survive the the House of AD/HD, you can too. The first step is learning everything you can about AD/HD. And then ... take each day one day at a time.


____________________________
*Here, I am following the style of the American Psychiatric Association, which uses the slash to indicate that the hyperactivity part of AD/HD does not occur in all cases. There are several subtypes of AD/HD, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision: (1) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, combined type; (2) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, predominantly inattentive type; (3) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type. Neil and my father-in-law have type 1, and my husband, Ed, has type 2.

^†Norin received the CHADD Volunteer of the Year Award at the 2005 annual CHADD conference in Dallas, Texas. She recently graduated cum laude from the University of Arkansas Fort Smith with a degree in rhetoric. She was accepted into law school with a scholarship but deferred her studies for a year and is currently working for American Airlines.

^‡The article is copyright © 2005 by CHADD and is reprinted here with the permission of CHADD and Norin. For more information, write to CHADD at 8181 Professional Place, suite 150, Landover, MD 20875, or visit the CHADD Web site.

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The Year in Review, Bush Style

Beth Quinn of the Times Herald-Record, a small paper from the Hudson Valley–Catskills area of New York State, has an eerily plausible take on what goes on in Bush's mind:

The year 2005 was bright and shiny on Earth II, where George Bush lives.

And why not? News of reality from Earth I never makes it to the president's desk.

On Earth II, Brownie did a heck of a job, and poverty was wiped out in America when all the poor people were sent to live like cattle in an arena.

No child was left behind, freedom was still on the march, and a brain-dead woman in Florida trumped a heartsick mother in Texas in getting the president's attention.

Creationism was renamed Intelligent Design in a stunning public relations move.

"Plan for Victory" won the 2005 White House Slogan of the Year, belatedly, but finally replacing "Mission Accomplished" as the definitive Earth II commentary on the Iraq war.

Bush decreed there's no such thing as global warming, thereby solving that problem once and for all.

Plus, word definitions were agreeably changed. "Deficit reduction plan" on Earth II, for example, actually means "deficit growth plan" here on Earth I.

Prisoners (called "detainees" on Earth II) can be tortured there, and so can the English language. Oddly, Bush is entirely coherent in his alternate universe.

Thus, we present highlights of 2005 on Earth II—in George Bush's own words.

• Much to the relief of God, Bush began the year with a surprise, albeit tortured, announcement that he is not God:

"We are in no way, shape or form should a human being play God." (Jan. 14)

• In February, we learned that Social Security was the top crisis on Earth II. Who knew? And Bush had a plan to save it:

"Because the—all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those—changing with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be—or closer delivered to what has been promised." (Feb. 4)

• Bush also clarified his position on Iran in February:

"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table." (Feb. 22)

• In March, the nation breathed a sigh of relief when Bush made it clear that not only does he not play God, he also doesn't talk to pictures of dead people:

"In this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis. You don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, " 'How do you think my standing will be?' " (March 16) ...

• Bush also explained his Social Security plan for those who die before they die:

"If they pre-decease or die early, there's an asset base to be able to pass on to a loved one." (March 30)

• In April, Bush announced that the coal supply was plentiful and that it was good for the environment on Earth II:

"We have enough coal to last for 250 years, yet coal also prevents an environmental challenge." (April 20)

• April was also a big month for progress in the war in Iraq, as Bush explained again and again. Among his announcements was the noble decree that terrorists should be kept safe:

"It's in our country's interests to find those who would do harm to us and get them out of harm's way." (April 28)

• In May, the Social Security crisis made a comeback as Bush appealed to young folks by either making or breaking promises to them, hard to tell which:

"I think younger workers—first of all, younger workers have been promised benefits the government—promises that have been promised, benefits that we can't keep. That's just the way it is." (May 4)

• Despite the fact that nothing he said about Social Security made any sense on Earth I, he also promised to keep saying it:

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." (May 24)

• In June, Bush explained that, happily, Earth II's coal supply had grown:

"Do you realize we've got 250 million years of coal?" (June 8)

• In July, Bush suspended all formal rules of grammar in his fight against an increasingly unruly press. Not only was freedom on the march, so was his syntax:

"The best place for the facts to be done is by somebody who's spending time investigating it." (July 18)

• During August, Bush got a peek at reality when he flew over Earth I in his flying saucer to see the hurricane damage:

"It's totally wiped out. It's devastating. It's got to be doubly devastating from the ground." (Aug. 31)

• In September, he finally responded to the hurricane crisis by rolling up his sleeves for a photo op. Also, he cautioned Earth I-lings to quit hoarding gasoline:

"Don't buy gas if you don't need it." (Sept. 1)

• Also in September, we learned that the five senses are different on Earth II:

"We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job." (Sept. 20)

• With the October nomination of Harriet Miers, Bush illustrated that, on Earth II, inexperience is the very BEST qualification for a Supreme Court judge:

"It's important to bring somebody from outside the judicial system, somebody that hasn't been on the bench and, therefore, there's not a lot of opinions for people to look at." (Oct. 4)

• In November, Bush visited the southern hemisphere on Earth I and learned a little geography about our planet:

"Wow! Brazil is big." (Nov. 6)

• Finally, in December, Bush admitted that maybe the war in Iraq didn't need to happen. Except, on Earth II, it did need to happen:

"Whether or not it needed to happen, I'm still convinced it needed to happen." (Dec. 13)

And so, Bush parties on in his Earth II White House, blissfully unaware that the jig is up on Earth I, where New Orleans is still in sorry shape; where the war in Iraq grinds on to no purpose; where the rich get richer; where the uninsured get sicker; where the former presidential nickname Bubba has been supplanted by Bubble Boy.

It's been a heck of a year, Bubble Boy. And always believe your Imagineers when they tell you:

Fairy tales can come true,
It can happen to you,
If you're on Earth II.

Only 1,127 days till Inauguration 2009!

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Draining the Lifeblood from America

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