September 19, 2005
One Man's Pork...
The "Porkbusters" project at Truth Laid Bear is a great idea and I excitedly clicked on over and scrolled down to find what CO-2 pork I could hassle my beloved, Democratic Congressperson about. Here it is:
Avista Adventist Hospital, Louisville, CO, gets $640,000 "for the Integrated Community Oriented Physician Initiative to develop common electronic medical record and practice management systems" from the HHS budget, despite the fact that many such systems exist off-the-shelf, and in open source form.
Silence and I discussed this over lunch once. After dealing with my wife's medical bills and now some of mine, it is clear that this could save billions of dollars.
Yes, you bet I prefer a private sector solution, but as Silence pointed out over fois gras or whatever we were eating that day, you may need a little enforcement to get everybody to play. (Language note: "enforcement" is "coercion" of which I approve.)
Sorry, N.Z., and sorry Glenn, but I will not be calling Rep Udall to demand that that (gub'mint chump change) $640K is rediverted to Katrina reconstruction.
I'm starting to feel like Tom DeLay...
Politics Posted by John Kranz at September 19, 2005 11:23 AM
Face it JK, you're an addict. "Addicted to pork."
The fact that you approve of something is no justification for coercion.
If this "common electronic medical record and practice management system(s)" will truly save implementers billions of dollars, then they will invest the $640K willingly. If it only does so when "everybody plays" then the answer is to undo all the existing government and corporate subsidies of health care and let the market slug it out.
It's a house of cards, JK. Stop trying to catch it when it sways to and fro. Give me an axe, I'll start trimming the pork. When I'm finished the resulting budget surpluses will be enough to hire Russia, China,France and Germany to fight our wars in Iran and North Korea FOR US for a change. (On second thought, no amount of money in the world could make a Frenchman fight.)
Posted by: johngalt at September 19, 2005 3:22 PMOf course you are right, jg. I think the real difference is my dreaded pragmatism
If I could make it all go away, I would opt for a government as bare as you dream of. Knowing, however, that billions are going to be wasted on million-dollar bike paths on Connecticut and Bridges to nowhere in Alaska -- I can't get real worked up over 640000 (the famed Bill Gates maximum) for a project that might yield real value.
Posted by: jk at September 19, 2005 9:06 PM"On second thought, no amount of money in the world could make a Frenchman fight."
But could you buy them enough deodorant?
(and make them wear it?)
Posted by: AlexC at September 19, 2005 11:07 PMNo amount of deodorant in the world could make a Frenchman... well, you get the picture.
Actually, I'm inclined to think we should focus this anti-French sentiment chiefly upon Parisians. It seems that there may be red counties in France too, where the Frenchmen understand cause and effect, life and death, right and wrong. Still more research is required though before a general "pro-France" pronouncement can be made.
Posted by: johngalt at September 20, 2005 2:37 PMJK, if you're so willing to add "pork" to "death" and "taxes" as the things that will never go away, then at least advocate codifying it.
Every US Representative becomes steward of a clearly accounted "Pork Account" for his district. Regular deposits are made to the account by the US Treasury as a percentage of tax receipts from that district. The Representative has carte blanche to spend the money on ANYTHING, as long as it's done transparently.
Reps in Provo, Lubbock, Abilene and Hialeah can issue tax rebate checks to constituents. Those in Detroit, Gary, Berkeley and Oakland can use it for "free" public housing. Hell, New Orleans Reps can even give it to their brothers-in-law, as long as it's on the public record.
The beauty of this is that politicians could then campaign on WHAT they would spend their pork dollars on instead of HOW MANY they would be able to muscle away from other districts.
Another important caveat would be that the "Pork Tax Rate" would be fixed (as in "frozen," as in "not adjustable by politicians") at a historically average figure, and would be temporarily suspended in time of war.
This plan would satisfy your desire to achieve results that the private sector is "not interested in" while virtually eliminating inequity, politicking and back-room dealing. Whaddaya say, let's write our congressmen!
Posted by: johngalt at September 20, 2005 2:59 PMI love it. But, sadly, don't think we can sell it.
Like the flat tax, it takes away the power of powerful legislators. Those would be the folks who have to pass it.
But it IS a great idea, man. Very good.
Posted by: jk at September 20, 2005 3:16 PMYep, great idea, only 535 reasons it won't pass... Of course I am on JK's side, just slightly to the left, on this topic. I think that government guidance and/or standardization can be a good thing, actually spurring private investment. Look at the internet, if Microsoft had developed it without open standards would it have been as successful? Look back further to 60hz AC and rural electrification. Even Westinghouse and GE would not have had the resources to provide the wiring infrastructure. Compare this to broadband internet access and the lack of "last mile" connectivity. Rural electrification was a huge pork project, so also were the internet and the interstate highway system funded out of the defense budget. Think about the ROI numbers on those projects though! In the case of health care all I am really advocating is a standardized billing system. Beyond that private companies offer fees and services in whatever packages they like but the standard forms provide huge paperwork relief to providers.
Posted by: Silence Dogood at September 20, 2005 4:29 PM | What do you think? [7]