Politics: Onward from New Hampshire

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
No. My point was that you guys (I don't remember whether you've said this specifically, and I don't want to put words in your mouth) defend the President by saying there's really nothing he reasonably could have done before 9/11 to prevent the attacks, and then you turn around and boast about the fact that there haven't been any attacks since then.

Given the intelligence pre-9/11, what would you have had him do? Do you honestly think pre-9/11 there would have been support for invading Afghanistan?

The only thing I can think of that could have been done is to not stop investigating Arabs/muslims in the US attending flying schools. But that was not politically correct to do so it wasn't done.

As for the fact that we have not suffered terrorism in the US since 9/11, that is not relevant to what could have been done to prevent 9/11. The reason we have not suffered terrorism in the US is that we learned some lessons from 9/11 and we have better cooperation between federal agencies and between federal and state agencies and that we now aren't afraid to racially profile muslims since this is where the threat of islamic terrorism can be found.

And because the terrorists now focus their terrorism on Iraq, Israel, and Europe.

[bilmore]

Christian Science Monitor thinks Hizbullah will be our next big anti-terrorism target.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0425/p02s01-usgn.html

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
Not Me, you were being a troll, but you stopped when I called you on it, and for that we are all glad.

My polygamy fixation was not trollish.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Fringe, it pains me to have to say this, but I'm afraid your tastes would be too expensive for my household. Surely, you are the type of woman who has come to expect the quality things in life, and dare i say, deserve them.

But I can't afford to upgrade my household budget so that all my spouses can drink Old Style.

Dearest, you are delusional. I have moved out. And while it does not at all surprise me, it pains me to have to point out that I don't drink beer at all. If it must be carbonated and alcoholic, at a minimum there will be Veuve Cliquot. This kind of inattention to quite important issues is at the heart of the dissolution of our union. Perhaps if I put it into a terrorism metaphor: You say "Saddam or Clinton/Gore? [Falstaff or Buckhorn?]" I say: "Actual terrorist threat, like al Quaeda [Not beer at all, but champagne, like Veuve Cliquot]."

See? Like that.

And perhaps if you paid more attention to your wives, you would have some of sufficient intelligence and moral integrity to contribute to the household budget. I really had no problem paying for the yummy bubbly. But I do see how not having total control over the budget might be threatening to you.

Happily for me, I am in a community property state so no alimony for you (all)! I am leaving behind a few cases for the other wives. I got kind of fond of them. Despite learning bad habits from you, a couple of them were damn good kissers.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by bilmore
This is, implicitly at least, the heart of any campaign against Kerry.

I meant it ironically, but perhaps the irony is lost. More what? More policies? Woo hoo! The question is what policies, not how many of them.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Not Me
My polygamy fixation was not trollish.

That wasn't when I most recently called you a troll.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
I meant it ironically, but perhaps the irony is lost.

As did I, to just such a result.

(Sigh. I always need to clarify. Think "John Kerry - International Man of Action!")

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Not Me
Given the intelligence pre-9/11, what would you have had him do? Do you honestly think pre-9/11 there would have been support for invading Afghanistan?

Read the Time article, or just what I quoted from it. They could have done all the other things Clarke was proposing that they eventually did after 9/11.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by bilmore
As did I, to just such a result.

(Sigh. I always need to clarify. Think "John Kerry - International Man of Action!")

Alas. Another case where we would have been better off using the irony tags, [IRONY] and [/IRONY].

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by bilmore
Christian Science Monitor thinks Hizbullah will be our next big anti-terrorism target.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0425/p02s01-usgn.html

Good piece -- but 11 months old. We have been busy in the interim, though. Principle still applies.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
That wasn't when I most recently called you a troll.

Well, I cannot remember what you called me a troll for so I doubt it even had any effect on me.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Not Me
Apparently you haven't read the laws, then. They allow de minimis gifts like a $5 hospital cafeteria lunch.

Really? There's a $300 limit per year under Stark for de-minimus gifts at 42 C.F.R. section 411.357 (k), but I'll be damned if I can find a de-minimus exception in the anti-kickback law.

As for whether or not I read health care economic literature, it's up to you. It's not clear by your posts whether you read public health literature, so I guess we're even.

I've been watching medical savings accounts since they were introduced (in a very limited way) in HIPAA. I know a few people who've taken advantage of them, and they get mixed reviews. One couple I know ended up swapping out the MSA for a high-deductible insurance policy through a professional organization. The problem was that ultimately, the consumer ended up paying astronomically high premiums for individual insurance, probably because the insurance pool was so small. I agree that they're promising, but the law needs to be expanded beyond self-employed individuals to see how well they will end up working.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
Good piece -- but 11 months old.

Damn. Didn't even notice that.

So, I probably shouldn't link next to the analysis of our next move towards Khe Sanh . . .

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
Read the Time article, or just what I quoted from it. They could have done all the other things Clarke was proposing that they eventually did after 9/11.

Here is what I got from the Time article:

Clarke's proposals called for the "breakup" of al-Qaeda cells and the arrest of their personnel. The financial support for its terrorist activities would be systematically attacked, its assets frozen, its funding from fake charities stopped. Nations where al-Qaeda was causing trouble-Uzbekistan, the Philippines, Yemen-would be given aid to fight the terrorists. Most important, Clarke wanted to see a dramatic increase in covert action in Afghanistan to "eliminate the sanctuary" where al-Qaeda had its terrorist training camps and bin Laden was being protected by the radical Islamic Taliban regime. The Taliban had come to power in 1996, bringing a sort of order to a nation that had been riven by bloody feuds between ethnic warlords since the Soviets had pulled out. Clarke supported a substantial increase in American support for the Northern Alliance, the last remaining resistance to the Taliban. That way, terrorists graduating from the training camps would have been forced to stay in Afghanistan, fighting (and dying) for the Taliban on the front lines. At the same time, the U.S. military would start planning for air strikes on the camps and for the introduction of special-operations forces into Afghanistan. The plan was estimated to cost "several hundreds of millions of dollars." In the words of a senior Bush Administration official, the proposals amounted to "everything we've done since 9/11."

All of that is to be done overseas. How could that have prevented the terrorists, who were already in the US, from acting? I guess if it would have meant the capture of some high level AQ leaders and then they talked and gave information about the terrorists that were already here, that might have prevented 9/11. But that is pretty darn speculative.

I think if the terrorists who were already here saw stepped up activities by the US, that could very well have caused them to accelerate their plans.

Remind me why Clarke's plans weren't put into effect during the Clinton admin? Paula Jones' lawsuit?

I still maintain that the thing that would have helped prevent 9/11 is better domestic intelligence about terrorists already in the US. But that was stifled by PC nonsense.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Really? There's a $300 limit per year under Stark for de-minimus gifts at 42 C.F.R. section 411.357 (k), but I'll be damned if I can find a de-minimus exception in the anti-kickback law.

As for whether or not I read health care economic literature, it's up to you. It's not clear by your posts whether you read public health literature, so I guess we're even.

I've been watching medical savings accounts since they were introduced (in a very limited way) in HIPAA. I know a few people who've taken advantage of them, and they get mixed reviews. One couple I know ended up swapping out the MSA for a high-deductible insurance policy through a professional organization. The problem was that ultimately, the consumer ended up paying astronomically high premiums for individual insurance, probably because the insurance pool was so small. I agree that they're promising, but the law needs to be expanded beyond self-employed individuals to see how well they will end up working.

Not Me may be confused and be thinking that physicians are employees of hospitals (or, who knows, maybe they are where s/he lives?) and it falls under the rules about providing meals when someone is required to be on-site etc. This may be true for interns and residents. I am totally unfamilar with Stark and how it might apply to employees.

It seems to me that physicians (who have completed their formal training programs) are generally not employees of hospitals except maybe as administrators, but my perception may be based on geographic locale/experience. I am pretty sure this is the case in TX and CA.