Between Hell and High Water

By Mike Koetting     March 19, 2018

If it accomplished nothing else, last year’s attempt by Republicans to “repeal and replace” the ACA dramatically increased support for a single payer system. Last June, a Pew Survey found 33% of all Americans in favor of single-payer. By the end of 2017, several different polls were showing a small majority of all Americans supporting single-payer. Support among Democrats is particularly strong. A majority of House Democrats have signed on to the Medicare for All bill, as have a number of high profile senators who might be 2020 presidential candidates. There has even been discussion of making support for “Medicare for All” a litmus test for Democratic candidates.

I think there is great danger in over-investing in Medicare for All at this time. Continue reading “What to Do About Healthcare”

By Mike Koetting        March 8, 2018

Six months ago, healthcare was the issue of the land. Now, the issue pops up in disjointed fragments of policy and rhetoric. I read two or so healthcare blogs most days and I still find it hard to follow.  So I figured it might be useful to offer my own recap of what I think is the current state of healthcare policy in America.  It is, after all, on its way to eating up a full 20% of the GDP. (https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20180214.597384/full/ ).

The short version is that for all the sound and fury, the basic ACA structure is much less damaged than we feared a year ago, but the Trump administration has given individual states more latitude to mau-mau the ACA. Of course, even in the absence of broad-scale collapse, some individuals have been hurt. Continue reading “So, What Happened to Healthcare?”

By Mike Koetting           February 27, 2018

I wasn’t planning on another post on immigration, but a question from a friend made me realize I really didn’t understand how immigration to the US works, or at any rate, is supposed to work.  Once I looked it into it, I realized that this post should have preceded—or perhaps replaced—my previous post.

On the other hand, I also realized that some of the details here are relevant to the current political discussions and I might not be alone in not understanding how the system is supposed to work.  Continue reading “More Immigration”

By Mike Koetting           February 15, 2018

In the last post I allowed that countries have good reasons to put some bounds on the amount of immigration.  It’s not obvious how to do that and this post can’t answer that question.  But it does address some of the considerations that bear on this problem, which is currently very much under discussion. Continue reading “A Scattering of Immigration Issues”

By Mike Koetting

February 5, 2018

The last two posts have raised questions about the American vision.  Then government was shut down because the Republicans were so opposed to letting the Dreamers stay in America.  (Or, if you prefer, because Democrats were so committed to insuring the Dreamers get to stay.)  All of which got me wondering:  how should a country think about immigration?  Obviously, this is a more complicated topic than a single post.  This post will explore just one facet of the issue—assimilation., which I think is at the ideological core of the discussion. Continue reading “Immigration and Assimilation”

By Mike Koetting

January 25, 2018

My last post raised the issue of achieving the proper balance between individual and collective welfare.  I do think that’s the fundamental problem for any democracy.  But, before that question becomes relevant, there has to be a functioning democracy.  We in America tend to take that for granted.  But right now, I am a bit concerned about how our country is faring. Continue reading “The Threat to Our Democracy”

By Mike Koetting

January 16, 2018

In my first blog after the fall hiatus, I want to address the Tax Bill and some related issues.  Then I’ll take a quick pass at health care before I return to-my series on what I think are the most fundamental issues facing society.  Unsurprisingly, they didn’t resolve themselves while I was busy with other things.

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Chicago Tribune

I don’t intend to use this post to analyze how the Tax Bill passed by Republicans was so awful.  There are plenty of analyses of that, and most of them better than I could do.  What has fascinated me is why Republicans made the choices they did. Continue reading “The Republican Tax Bill: How Do They Think About This”