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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bearcatbob who wrote (115935)	7/20/2009 4:56:07 PM
From: Murrey Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541922

Regarding the Mid-Year budget review. I've been away for a while and seen nary a word of it here. Perhaps it was discussed, and we didn't hear about it? Because of the unique circumstances of a transition year, we are, like President George W. Bush in 2001, releasing the mid-session review a few weeks later than as is usual in non- transition years,” Kenneth Baer, communications director for the Office of Management and Budget, said. bloomberg.com Interesting. The current administration has blamed the previous for everything wrong. It would appear they're using it as a "Kings X" now. I'm confused. Surely politics are not in play here, are they?

To: Bearcatbob who wrote (115935)	7/20/2009 5:08:54 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541922

'You don't believe poop like that do you?" Why not? I spent 35 years working in the system. I don't suppose my retirement improved the situation all that much. It ain't 1960 anymore. Only jingoists still say "We are #1". Released in October 2008, a new data brief from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics ranks the United States 29th globally in infant mortality in 2004, the latest year such data were available for all countries. The U.S. ranking, which has risen from 12th in 1960 to 23rd in 1990, currently ties the United States with Poland and Slovakia. apha.org Healthcare costs in U.S. vs. rest of world Mon Jun 1, 2009 2:54pm EDT (Reuters) - The United States spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world but has higher rates of infant mortality, diabetes and other ills than many other developed countries. Here is a comparison of the United States' healthcare costs versus those of selected other countries in 2006: UNITED STATES: 15.9 pct of GDP, $6,657 per capita BRAZIL: 7.9 pct of GDP, $371 per capita CANADA: 9.7 pct of GDP, $3,430 per capita CHINA: 4.7 pct of GDP, $81 per capita FRANCE: 11.1 pct of GDP, $3,807 per capita GERMANY: 10.7 pct of GDP, $3,628 per capita INDIA: 5.0 pct of GDP, $36 per capita ISRAEL: 7.9 pct of GDP, $1,533 per capita JAPAN: 8.2 pct of GDP, $2,936 per capita MEXICO: 6.4 pct of GDP, $474 per capita SOUTH AFRICA: 8.7 pct of GDP, $437 per capita SWEDEN: 8.9 pct of GDP, $3,598 per capita RUSSIAN FEDERATION: 5.2 pct of GDP, $277 per capita UNITED KINGDOM: 8.2 pct of GDP, $3,064 per capita Continued... reuters.com Healthcare Costs Put U.S. Workers at Disadvantage: The costs and performance of America's healthcare system are putting workers and companies at a "significant disadvantage" in the global marketplace, according to a new study by the Business Roundtable. The association of CEOs, whose member companies provide healthcare plans for more than 35 million Americans, finds that compared with people in Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, Americans receive 23 percent less value from their healthcare system. When compared with emerging competitors like Brazil, India, and China, the United States receives 46 percent less value. The Business Roundtable Health Care Value Comparability Study also finds that for every dollar the United States spends on healthcare, its five leading competitors spend 63 cents, and the emerging competitors just 15 cents. The study also notes that "on the whole, our workforce is not as healthy" as that of either group of competitors usnews.com