The Way I See ItBy cj pollickOne Great Place To Live - Had a chance to visit north Clearwater Beach last weekend... along with many other people. Went by boat and anchored off an area that was once referred to as Big Clearwater Pass. Of course, a passing tropical storm years ago helped to shoal that old waterway (pass) and now the area is merely a narrow sliver of sand connecting north Clearwater Beach with Caladesi Island. Yep, many of us boaters remember using that pass to enter Gulf of Mexico waters from the Carlouel area of north Clearwater Beach. The area is simply beautiful and the Gulf beach waters are shallow and clear. Last weekend there were schools of small bait fish collecting near the shoreline so that as you walked in the shallow water thousands of small "greenbacks" darted around every step. (Made you wonder what could have been chasing them!) We live in a wonderful place with many "free" activities to enjoy. Healthcare Reform - Due to lack of public support, it is likely that any healthcare reform in Congress will not include a national health provider/insurer. Instead, discussion in Washington by leading Democrats appears to support healthcare "cooperatives" instead of one national healthcare provider. How these cooperatives would be instituted and managed across America is unclear. Nevertheless, Congressional leaders are also supporting healthcare reforms such as a "phasing in" of insurance coverage requirements for individuals, small groups and larger group health insurance plans. Insurance companies are expected to implement, over a five-year period pre-existing conditions, geographic rate-making ability, premium rating for age, family structure, and whether one smokes or not, are suggested items for federal law rules to be applied to all state health insurance laws. Further, pharmaceutical companies are expected to cooperate by cutting costs of certain drugs by as much as 50%. How will these proposed federal requirements alter the healthcare system? Time will tell, however, insurance portability, elimination of pre-existing condition questions, broad geographic insurance carrier rate-making abilities and elimination of suspect health questions will impact healthcare coverage as we know it today. Can "cooperative buying power" lower medical premiums and healthcare expenditures? Suffice that most people agree with common-sense healthcare changes, such as those mentioned above. The way I see it, the so-called "cooperatives" should be allowed to pool rate their insurance group of people in order to help level (lower) premium rates for various age groups. Furthermore, permit that any insurer who participates in a federally chartered "cooperative" could insure people or companies in any state. Thus, increasing the size and geography of the cooperative risk pool of insureds to help smooth/blend high health cost areas with low health cost areas (generating less volatile premium rates for everyone.) Healthcare reform? Yes. Citizens support certain forms of healthcare reform. One federal healthcare provider? No. Citizens do not trust another large government agency regulating healthcare. Gov. Crist Concerned About Fellow GOP Candidate Marco Rubio - According to folks supporting GOP Senate candidate Rep. Marco Rubio, Gov. Crist considers the GOP race against Rubio a tougher challenge than the Democrat opponent in the general election. Rubio's campaign team say they need about 600,000 GOP voters to beat Gov. Crist. A number they believe is obtainable through grass-root citizen groups generally known as "tea-party" organizations. Voter frustration with Gov. Crist has grown over the past months due to his suspect appointment of a "personal friend" to replace Sen. Mel Martinez as a US Senator (until the senate election in 2010) as well as other important economic issues that have been delayed by Crist, such as the alleged lack of allocating and spending the $10 million of targeted state funds to help Florida job creation (to which people like State Sen. Mike Fasano stated was "disappointing.") Crist vs. Rubio? Crist is favored to ultimately win the US Senate seat, but the GOP primary could be tougher than Charlie had once expected. Rubio finding 600,000 Republican supporters? A difficult task for someone with a rather small campaign war-chest. Blue Dog Democrats Worried -There are reportedly 52 Blue Dog Democrats worried about re-election. Those Democrat officials won election in what is recognized as Republican voting districts. Interestingly those Democrats won by stating they were fiscal conservatives while denigrating the spending habits of previous Republican officials. GOP voters in those districts grew frustrated with GOP officials (and their spending habits) and voted for change. However, the same conservative voters are now saying they are now just as frustrated with the Democrats they elected and their spending habits. Democrats were no better than Republicans, they proclaim. One Blue Dog Democrat from Indiana, Rep. Joe Donnelly, is fearful of supporting President Obama's healthcare plan due to his voter district's unhappiness with President Obama. With voter confidence in Congress dropping another 13% since April, public opinion of Congress is the lowest in twenty years. In a recent poll, voters said they "do not favor Democrats over Republicans in the next election." One disgruntled Indiana supporter of Rep. Donnelly stated he would not vote for Donnelly for re-election, "Obama is absolutely off the map," said the voter. Fear of not being re-elected in 2010? Blue Dog Democrats are clearly worried about President Obama's declining support and his unpopular healthcare plan. US Drops As Top World Economic Nation - The recent World Economic Forum Survey reflected how leading economists felt about world economic stability. Switzerland replaced the US as the most respected economic nation followed by Singapore as number three followed by Sweden, Finland, Germany, Japan and Canada. Issues the economists considered important? Nations with high budget deficits. High public debt. Low savings rate. Senior economist Margareta Hanouz summarized the survey by adding, "All of those issues ultimately result in weakened economic stability" (of the nation examined.) College Football Did Not Disappoint - NCAA college football fans were not lacking for excitement during week one of college football. Number one ranked Florida had no problem beating a non-ranked opponent while number two ranked Texas did much of the same to a weaker opponent. However, number three Oklahoma lost to BYU and also lost Heisman QB Sam Bradford for at least two to four weeks due to a severe shoulder injury. The loss by Oklahoma will surely shake-up other top ranked teams during the next few weeks since Sam Bradford will return to the line-up and lead Oklahoma to many victories. USF did not look impressive in a win over Woffard while both FSU and Miami looked impressive in perhaps one of the best college games of the year. Yes, both the Noles and Hurricanes made a good impression while battling to a narrow win by the Hurricanes (who stopped the Noles from scoring from the two-yard line at the end of the game.) Miami and FSU play USF later this year... and, unless USF shows substantial improvement this week, look out BULLS. Ohio State eked out a win over Navy while Notre Dame was impressive by shutting-out a Nevada squad. Next up for the Irish is Michigan (who beat Western Michigan.) Look out for Cincinnati who dominated a rather weak Rutgers team. And yes, our USF BULLS play Cincinnati in a later BIG EAST conference game. Penn State? They beat Akron. Oklahoma State beat a good Georgia team showing why many people thought they had a chance to beat Oklahoma even with Sam Bradford at QB. Alabama was impressive defeating Virginia Tech while Virginia looked like a Division I-AA team losing to... William & Mary. College football never disappoints. Laughter - Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. - Victor Hugo |