Healthcare reform

This isn't really a post about the healthcare debate. Rather, it's about the lack of debate going on in Washington about it and other important issues in our country these last few months.

The financial bailouts, the cap and trade legislation and now healthcare reform are all being labeled as extremely, ridiculously urgent matters, and should be dealt with now now now. I feel this is dangerous.

While the current administration is Democratic, this is not a Right vs. Left issue, as President Bush was one of the hurriers last fall. A major piece of legislative work, the Patriot Act, was introduced to the House of Representatives on October 23, 2001 and then voted on in the House on October 24 and the Senate on October 25.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act (America's current version of cap and trade) had 300 pages of amendments added to it the night before it was passed by the House last month.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke pleaded with Congress to quickly pass the $700 billion financial bailout last September. He argued that action was "urgently required to stabilize the situation and avert what otherwise could be very serious consequences for our financial markets and for our economy."

Well, it passed, and here we are, with 9.5% unemployment and no one knows where we're headed.

And just in the last few days, President Obama is taking to the airwaves, urging Congress to move quickly on healthcare reform.

Obama has accused his opponents of playing the politics of "delay and defeat" as he urges Congress to pass legislation before it goes into recess next month out of concern that if the process drags on late into the year public and congressional support will further erode.

Well, that sums it up pretty well, doesn't it? If the American people are given more time to learn about this reform and hear opposing arguments, they might change their mind about the movement. Best strike now while the iron is hot and the people don't know any better.

Financial magazines and newspapers are pleading with us to take a closer look at what is being proposed. To be sure, these writers have a conservative bias, but they know what they are talking about. From the Investor's Business Daily:

On Friday, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a bill that would radically change our current system and expand coverage for the uninsured. The action came a day after the head of the Congressional Budget Office said none of the plans under review would slow health care spending. None of them.

Still, lawmakers and the White House press on, relying on GOP weakness in the House and a new veto-proof majority in the Senate. They're also relying on a lack of awareness that claims made on behalf of national health care may be mostly false. Among them:

• America has a health care crisis.

No, we don't. Forty-seven million people lack insurance. Of the remaining 85% of the population, or 258 million people, polls show high satisfaction with the current coverage. Indeed, a 2006 poll by ABC News, the Kaiser Family Foundation and USA Today found 89% of Americans were happy with their own health care.

As for the estimated 47 million not covered by health insurance, 20 million can afford to buy it, according to a study by former CBO Director June O'Neill. Most of the other 27 million are single and under 35, with as many as a third illegal aliens.

When it's all whittled down, as few as 12 million are unable to buy insurance — less than 4% of a population of 305 million. For this we need to nationalize 17% of our nation's $14 trillion economy and change the current care that 89% like?

I'm not here to debate the veracity of the claims from either side. My point is that there is plenty of reasoned, intelligent opposition to what is happening, yet President Obama and others are hell-bent on ramming this thing through as soon as possible, and the consequences, both intended and not, be damned.

I generally despise Washington for its inability to get anything done quickly or efficiently, but I've discovered that it's even more frightening dealing with a federal government that is moving at a breakneck pace. There is a happy medium between nothing getting done and where we are now.

Can we find it, please?

Calvin and Hobbes

I love Calvin and Hobbes. A lot. I learned to read when I was four years old, and the very first thing I remember actually reading was Calvin and Hobbes, on our living room floor, in the Sunday comics. The strip had just come out around that time, and I spent a lot of time reading and re-reading compilation books, as well as the daily strip in the newspaper.

I learned a lot of new words from Calvin. I picked up on new ideas from Hobbes. I gained understanding about social mores from seeing how Calvin's contemporaries reacted to him and saw a lot of my dad in Calvin's own father.

I was 13 when Bill Watterson hung it up for good, and I put his last strip ever on my bedroom wall, where it hung until I went to college. I own several of the strip collections, though I do not own The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. As I've read every single strip multiple times, I find different wise phrases pop into my head at appropriate moments (see this week's thought). Calvin and Hobbes are as much a formative part of my life as anything else.

So when I heard that some guy was writing a book on Bill Watterson and his fairly popular strip titled "Looking for Calving and Hobbes", I was very interested and very concerned all at the same time. The reason why is articulated in the first chapter of the book, which you can get in .pdf format by e-mailing lookingforcalvinandhobbes@gmail.com. The book can be pre-ordered from Amazon here.

Initially, I told my friends about the project with equal amounts of boastfulness and fear. I was happy, because this was the gig of a lifetime, but I was afraid of what my peers would make of my work.

Because while they said, “Of course I know who Bill Watterson is! Calvin and Hobbes was the best comic strip ever!” I could read between the lines. What they were really saying was, “If you screw this book up, you will be pissing on some of the fondest memories of my youth. Don’t *&@I#? with my inner child . . . I will not be amused!”

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

What made Calvin and Hobbes so great? I maintain that the comic strip is so univerally loved because Watterson is a rare breed of genius... extraordinarily talented in both writing and art, he was able to combine both of those abilities into something that worked very, very well.

And as I've discovered, maintaining a high level of excellent work for a long time is very, very hard. Watterson took two sabbaticals and eventually hung it up after only ten years. Bill Amend of Fox Trot moved to Sunday-only strips. Gary Larson of The Far Side stopped after 15 years. Meanwhile, inane comics like Garfield and The Family Circus extend on forever and ever, mainly, I believe, because it's easy to churn out mediocrity for decades on end.

So I thank Bill Watterson for the gift he gave us and do not begrudge him his retirement or his much-valued privacy.

I neglected to mention Peter Schiff

In Tuesday's brief rant about how the ones in charge of the United States economy are apparently clueless, I forgot to bring up Peter Schiff. I'd never heard of Schiff until a few months ago, when suddenly Youtube videos of his doomsaying prophecies began popping up.





What strikes me most is that he laughed at by virtually everyone, yet calmly stuck to his guns. This guy has the financial world figured out at a level I don't think anyone else has reached.

Can we give him at least an advisory position in our government, or does he make too much sense?

These are the people we trust

This it the guy we trust when it comes to the U.S. economy. Newsweek listed him as the fourth most powerful person in the world.

College football in June

Disclaimer: I normally don't get involved at all with recruiting at the college level. I don't believe that ranking 16- and 17-year old kids accurately is possible. For every Ty Detmer (Texas Player of the Year) there seem to be three Ben Olsons (highly recruited, bust once they hit the field).

But today is arguably the biggest offseason day in BYU football history, as quarterback Jake Heaps, wide receiver Ross Apo and linebacker Zac Stout all committed to play for BYU in 2010.

Here's a quick rundown on all three:

Heaps, who will be a Senior at Skyline High School in Washington next year, is a five-star recruit and wanted by every college in the country. He's 6'2" and has a great arm. Here's a Youtube highlight reel:

Good pocket presence, can run, throw the deep ball and find guys over the middle. His high school team went 28-0 over the last two years and won two state championships. Can't ask for much more from a 17-year old kid. 

Apo was recruited by several big-time school and had originally committed to Texas before changing his mind and choosing BYU today. Apparently Heaps approached him and recruited him for the Cougars. He's a 6'4" and plays for The Oakridge School in Texas. Unfortunately there aren't many highlight videos to choose from, but here's a video of him at the 2009 Stanford Nike Camp:

Quickness, decent speed, and okay hands. We'll see how he pans out, but this is a good get.

And finally, last but not least, Stout is a 6'2", 220-pound linebacker from Oaks Christian High School in California. He got a four-star ranking from Scout.com. No video on him that I can find, but he was offered scholarships from Nebraska, UCLA, Arizona and other schools. After whiffing on Manti T'eo a few months ago, Stout is a fine pick-me-up for the defense. 

All three players announced their intentions this afternoon in Salt Lake. I watched the press conference live, and was struck by how each of them realize that they may be good, but they can't win on their own. Heaps said he knows there are 22 players on offense and defense, and it takes more than just one guy to win a football game. 

They each expressed a desire to win a national championship in Provo. While I think this kind of talk is really, really premature, I like the optimism and the fact that these kids believe you don't have to go to a BCS school to win it all. 

BYU is now ranked eighth in Scout.com's recruiting rankings, the only non-BCS school in the Top 25.

Great day for June football. Now let's see how things pan out in the future.

Ambition

This is very, very ambitious. 

If Microsoft can pull this off as advertised, at a price that is affordable to American consumers, I will be highly impressed. 

It just seems too far ahead of the current technological curve to work right now. 

Remember the Virtual Boy?

Yeah, that didn't go so well. Turns out playing it for longer than 10 minutes at a time gave you killer headaches. 

We'll see how Project Natal does. 

My Finals thoughts

I've spent the last few days reading blog posts and ESPN articles and message board thoughts about the 2009 NBA Finals between the Lakers and Magic, and I generally agree with the analysis that the Lakers should win in six or seven games.

Orlando is where they are because of streaky insane shooting from deep. From Bill Simmons:

Orlando enjoyed one of the most remarkable shooting stretches in NBA history: From Game 7 of the Boston series through Game 4 of the Cleveland series, the Magic drained 55 of 119 3-pointers (47 percent).

Good gravy, that's hot. But unfortunately for them, conventional wisdom is that teams who live by the three and die by the three die by the three in the playoffs. The Suns made a couple good runs, but in the end, superior post play and good defense wins over a 3-point shooting team.

And right now, Pau Gasol is the best post player in the Finals. He's not as big or strong or athletically gifted as Dwight, but he has good footwork and great passing ability as well as a nice touch from midrange.

While most people acknowledge Pau's skills, I haven't seen anyone mention the fact that Howard has zero game in the post.

And to me, Howard's lack of footwork is the difference maker in this series. He's been in the league for four seasons now. That he has no ability to destroy people on the low block is a travesty and offends my basketball sensibilities.

Sure, dominating your opponents through catch and dunk works fine for high school and regular season stuff. It may even allow you to get through the East if you have good enough teammates.

But it's not good enough to win a Finals. I think people overlook this glaring deficit in Howard's game because he puts up lines like 40 points and 14 rebounds and 30 points and 13 rebounds with some regularity.

This is impressive, make no mistake. But this is merely Howard using his physical gifts to get easy shots thanks to good passing from his teammates. Give him the ball within a two-foot radius of the hoop, and he will dunk over you or get a layup.

But force him to catch the ball outside of that radius and he's helpless. He can't back his defender down. He has no spin move. He can't hit a jumper. He doesn't know how to use a drop step. I've seen him make a couple hook shots, but they are far from second nature to him.

The Magic hired Patrick Ewing, a big man with a low post game, to coach Howard in July of 2007. It has been almost two years since that decision was made, and apparently, Orlando would have been just as well served to throw that money down a well, because I see no appreciable difference between Dwight of 2007 and Dwight in 2009.

I think this bothers me more than most because I am just under six feet tall and have a good post game. Height and athletic ability mean nothing when it comes to understanding how to work on the low block. For Howard to be so supremely gifted and then waste it because he's too lazy or stupid to learn this one facet of the game is a tragedy in today's NBA.

Can you imagine Howard's body with Hakeem Olajuwan's game? I don't think I exaggerate when I say an individual with that pairing would average 40 points and 15 boards a game over and entire season. Easily.

That individual with those skills and ability working with shooters like Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu beats this Laker team. But today, Howard is not that individual. As it is, Dwight is too easily marginalized and LA will win. Bynum hasn't been great this series, but he is a big, strong body that can stay in front of Howard, much like a smaller Kendrick Perkins did in the Orlando/Boston series this year.

I hope this experience will give Howard the motivation he needs to spend every day this offseason working his tail off to develop the footwork he needs to be a superstar. If not, I don't know what will.

Lakers in 6, and every L.A. fan sends a thank-you card to the Grizzlies and Patrick Ewing.