Hi Humans,

Don't be shy. If you want to comment on my blog entries, please do so. You don't have to be a dog to say what you think. or if you have a pet dog and want to have your dog speak for you, that's also OK. I would like to hear from you or your dog.

Chloe

Monday, March 26, 2012

Health Care

Hi Humans,
There is a big debate in the United States about the provision in the new Health Care law mandating that everyone buy Health Insurance. It seems that about 2/3 of American Humans oppose that idea and about 1/3 support it. Why? The reality is that at its best, American health care is probably the best in the world, but overall the U.S.A. has one of the worst records among the developed nations. Most Americans have adequate insurance (don't want to share and don't realize they are already paying for the uninsured), or are healthy and don't realize they are underinsured, or are rich enough to pay for the best care no matter what their insurance is, or don't have insurance by choice or not by choice and are willing to or  have to let people with insurance pay for them. Those probably make up the 2/3. The 1/3 who support the President's health plan must be those who are adequately insured but are conscientious enough to share and/or realize they are already paying for the uninsured anyway, plus those who are uninsured or underinsured and want to do whatever they can to keep their dignity and get adequate helath care. The reason the USA has at its best good health care and overall not such good health care is that when humans here get very sick, the most technically advanced care is avaiable if they or their insurance will pay for it. If they can't afford it, the insured people might pay for it in a haphazard way through higher hospital costs and public care costs. An organized health plan that keeps everyone as healthy as possible at home will keep overall health care costs down.
Incidentally, if it is unconstitutional to mandate health insurance, then it must be also unconstitutional to mandate automobile insurance (which is now the general rule in the USA).
Well, for whatever it's worth, that's what this dog thinks.
Chloe

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Are There Any Serious Republican Candidates Hiding Out There?

Hi Humans,
Have you been watching the Republican Primary Debates? I think the serious Republican candidates must be waiting for 2016. I can't believe that the comedians who are running in the Republican primaries are serious. Even their attempts at humor are not that good.
For example, education is a serious issue in the USA. In the zeal to cut government spending, education has suffered, and a less educated labor force decreases America's ability to compete for trade in the world. Politicians look for a cheap fix by laying the blame on teachers. If only the teachers were more dedicated. President Obama recently said he wants all children to go to college. Certainly the opportunity should be there for all, and as many as possible should avail themselves of it. But the reality is there will be people who will not go to college, and some of them would be best served by an eductional system that takes that into consideration and offers realistic cost effective alternatives (like trade schools). This could have presented an opportunity for a clever Republican to take a serious figurative shot at the president. Senator Santorum, had he been serious, could have made a point of this and offered an alternative plan in rebutting Mr. Obama's statement. But instead he called the president a "snob" which completely missed the point and dropped a political opportunity.
Well, what do I know? I'm just a dog.
Chloe