Only A Start

What a shame that “I beleive that children are our future” has become little more than a cliche. 

This week, the House of Representatives debated and passed a massive expansion of the SCHIP program with bipartisan support, and the Senate is expected to pass it shortly.  That’s the one that helps people who can’t afford health insurance for their kids.

Now, I have said this a bunch of times already, but it’s still true.  Our employer-based system of health insurance is stacked against kids because none of them have full time employment. And it would be a sad world if they needed full time employment.  

From what I have read, this bill doesn’t go nearly far enough.  It doesn’t ensure that no parent has to go with the “hope they don’t get sick or hurt” health plan. However, in the absence of a “MediKids” plan — similar to the Dr Dynasaur program Dr. Chmn. Howard Dean managed to get through while he was Governor of Vermont — it’s a start. 

The next thing the incoming administration wants to do to help kids is to fix our crumbling schools and make sure they have [relatively] up-to-date technology. As a bonus, actual people will be put to work to make those improvements happen.

In Closing: with unemployment where it is, expect to hear more about “work at home” scams (hint, if it were profitable they could afford an office, second hint, jobs shouldn’t cost you money); electricity from coal tempura; population vs job growth, one president at a time; FDIC says “Um,  hey, guys, do you think maybe you could, you know, keep track of how you are spending that money you got from the Feds?” The Virtues of Stop Loss Orders; VW’s cute new roadster due to hit the States in 2011, runs on clean diesel and gets 42 MPG, unless it actually gets 54 MPG and has 180 horsepower!; sometimes a teacher’s job is to guide, and sometimes it’s to get out of the way; putting current interest rates in historical perspective; colleges decide to cut back on their core mission, education; sometimes conservation isn’t as easy as it looks; 20 worst foods in America; and for those of you whose New Years Resolution involved weight loss, take it easy.