Obama Health Care

As healthcare costs increase at a faster rate than other products or services, healthcare providers, in particular hospitals, are under continuous pressure to dramatically improve service, reduce costs, improve patient safety, reduce waiting times, and reduce errors and associated litigation.

However, hospitals are not making the necessary improvements in cost, quality, and safety. A report by the U.S. HHS Office of the Inspector General finds that 20% of consecutive inpatient stay sequences were associated with poor quality care, unnecessary fragmentation of care, or both. The current organization and management of hospitals is an imperfect system that cannot effectively address these issues. Major projects to restructure hospitals, dramatically reduce cost, and improve customer care have had little impact on quality or cost.

In simplistic terms, current healthcare systems are not designed to make the process or ‘value stream’ of care flow smoothly. Healthcare services are often ‘batch and queue’, with patients spending most of their time waiting until the Healthcare Professional is ready i.e. push versus pull. As the population matures, patient cycle times in the hospitals, post-care facilities, and laboratories become key measurements that need to improve.

Our belief is that Lean Healthcare can provide a solution to successfully address some of these concerns with minimal cost but maximum benefit.

Lean in Healthcare

The essence of Lean Thinking is to eliminate waste through understanding how the patient defines value and how to deliver that value. Lean Thinking focuses on creating an efficient, waste-free continuous flow built on a pull vs. ‘batch and queue’ approach aligned with the continual pursuit of a perfect system.

Examples of Healthcare Waste:

o Redundant capture of information on admission

o Multiple recording of patient information

o Excess supplies stored in multiple locations

o Excess time spent looking for charts

o Patient waiting rooms

o Excess time spent waiting for equipment, lab results, x-rays etc.

o Excess time spent dealing with service complaints

Hospitals are made up of a series of processes with diverse lines of business. As a consequence, they need to build their delivery systems with these lines of business in mind. Hospitals need to know the businesses that drive 80% of their value proposition. They need to streamline their organization systems and processes to fully support the process required to deliver high quality care.

Commitment and support for any lean initiative needs to not only come from top healthcare management but, even more critically, from the ‘bottom up’ for implementation. Decision making and system development need to be pushed down to the lowest levels of any healthcare organization.

Management consultants are normally engaged as Lean change agents rather than as Lean facilitators. Healthcare staff should lead any Lean implementation program. These people are best equipped to understand the work environment, issues, challenges, what will work and what won’t. An empowered and knowledgeable team is therefore essential to achieve sustainable improvements and long-term success in any Lean initiative. Put simply, Lean will not work without an educated workforce.

Examples of Lean Healthcare Performance Metrics

o Improved patient satisfaction

o Increased operating room utilization

o Reduced time between procedures

o Lower tools and supplies inventory

o Reduced laboratory space

o Improved cost effectiveness

Lean Healthcare Accreditation

A new Lean Healthcare Green Belt Certification program (www.leanhealthcareservices.com) was recently developed to enable effective staff empowerment.

The on-line program represents the first International Healthcare Certification of its kind, and provides an essential ‘first step’ to not only understanding the theory but also the application of Lean tools and practices through detailed work assignments, in-line assessments, and final examination.

The program has been designed in association with the Irish Institute of Industrial Engineers, the Canadian Professional Logistics Institute, Lean Experts, and Healthcare Consultants in conjunction with the Leading Edge Group. It is open to personnel involved in any organization within the healthcare field, particularly those associated with hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, blood banks, laboratories, and pharmacies. Once these people have the ‘appropriate’ knowledge, they will be able to envisage and achieve results and, most importantly, meet the needs of patients now and in the future.

Please contact Joe Aherne CPA, Chief Executive Officer, Leading Edge Group, jaherne@leadingedge.ie; www.leanscm.com; www.leanhealthcareservices.com

Joe Aherne
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/power-of-lean-healthcare-88764.html

After home and living expenses such as rent or a mortgage, for a good number of American families healthcare can be the next greatest expenditure, and for many a big part of that overall healthcare cost can be their health insurance premium. However, according to financial experts, when it comes to preparing your family’s budget, there are ways to reduce both your health insurance cost, and what you pay for healthcare in general. Whether you are shopping for the first time for health insurance, or are looking for a new plan to reduce your monthly payments, here are 10 suggestions that can lead to a lower health insurance quote, and more affordable healthcare:

1. Stop Smoking – Depending on where you live you can save over $200.00 a month on the costs of cigarettes alone. As far as a health insurance quotes goes, non-smokers always pay significantly less than smokers for any policy. According to a recent study, even though smokers generally have a shorter lifespan than non-smokers, they pay a third more in overall healthcare than non-smokers throughout their lifetime.

2. Reduce Weight – Again weight plays a significant factor when getting a health insurance quote, it’s a fact that if you are overweight you will pay more. Obesity is becoming one of the greatest drains on our healthcare system. According to a recent study by the Rand Corporation, being obese adds $395 each year to your average per-year health care costs, more than smoking (an addition of $230), aging 20 years ($225), and problem drinking ($150).

3. Get More Exercise – While it may be hard to put a quantitative amount on how much you can save on a health insurance quote by exercising and getting in shape – regular exercise will not only reduce weight (see above) but can also improve cardio-vascular health and reduce other risk factors that lead to higher costs for health insurance and medical care.

4. Select a Higher Deductible – A higher deductible and higher co-pay will surely result in a lower health insurance quote, and may qualify you for a Health Savings Account (HSA) which can help defray the costs of the higher deductible.

5. Read and be Sure you Understand your Health Plan – you would be surprised at how many consumers pay more for healthcare simply because the do not know the details of their own heath insurance plan.

6. “Cheaper” isn’t always more “Affordable” – When it comes to a health insurance quote you must pick a plan that is right for you and your lifestyle. Cheaper doesn’t always mean more affordable in the long run. If you go for a health insurance quote with a smaller monthly premium, but if you have health problems and must make many doctors visits the high deductible or higher co-pay may cost you more in the long run. Choose a plan that is right for you.

7. Consolidate Your Health Plans –if you and your spouse both have separate health plans you may save money by consolidating under a single plan.

8. Be Proactive – and you can save money. For example know before you need them what if any ambulance services in your area are covered by your insurance, and when and if your regular physician is available after hours.

9. Be willing to Negotiate with Your Doctor – most physicians will offer reduced or discounted rates to patients with no or limited insurance.

10. Reduce the costs of Prescription Drugs – if you have heath insurance with prescription drug coverage, take advantage of the “lower tier” by asking your doctor to prescribe generic drugs, even if you do not have prescription drug coverage look into the discount programs offered by many drug companies and retail pharmacies.

Didier Moujaes
http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/health-insurance-quote-10-ways-to-reduce-your-cost-for-healthcare-111566.html

Who are the Yoruba?

The first obvious answer to this question is the Yoruba are a nationality, numbering about 40 million, the majority of whom live in the South Western part of the state of Nigeria in West Africa. Obvious as this answer is, it is not wholly explanatory, and certainly, it is not without its own controversy. First, regarding its explanatory status. One has to add, that the Yoruba are people, that speak a common language, Yoruba, which belongs to the Kwa group of the Niger-Congo linguistic family, and it has about 12 dialects; that they are a well urbanized group with genius in arts as symbolized in the famous “Ife Bronzes”; that Yoruba people are also found in Togo, Benin Republic and in other parts of the world, including Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, and the United States. Second, regarding its controversial status, one has to confront the question what makes the Yoruba a nationality, or a nation, not a tribe or clan, and how does one then mark a distinction between Yorubaland and Nigeria. To this last question, there is no better answer than the one provided by Obafemi Awolowo in 1947, to which a later section of this presentation will return. For now, it is necessary to answer the question: “Who are the Yoruba?” by focusing on some critical moments in Yoruba history and thought.

Address these and other issues by focusing on some critical moments in Yoruba
History.

1. The Oduduwa Dynasty and the Founding of the Nation.
Oduduwa is the legendary progenitor of the Yoruba. There are two variants of the story of how he achieved this feat. The first is cosmogonic, the second, political. The cosmogonic version also has two variants. According to the first variant of the cosmogonic myth, Orisanla (Obatala) was the arch-divinity who was chosen by Olodumare, the supreme deity to create a solid land out of the primordial water that constituted the earth and of populating the land with human beings. He descended from heaven on a chain, carrying a small snail shell full of earth, palm kernels and a five-toed chicken. He was to empty the content of the snail shell on the water after placing some pieces of iron on it, and then to place the chicken on the earth to spread it over the primordial water. According to the first version of the story, Obatala completed this task to the satisfaction of Olodumare. He was then given the task of making the physical body of human beings after which Olodumare would give them the breath of life. He also completed this task and this is why he has the title of “obarisa” the king of orisas. The other variant of the cosmogonic myth does not credit Obatala with the completion of the task. While it concedes that Obatala was given the task, it avers that Obatala got drunk even before he got to the earth and he was unable to do the job. Olodumare got worried when he did not return on time, and he had to send Oduduwa to find out what was going on. When Oduduwa found Obatala drunk, he simply took over the task and completed it. He created land. The spot on which he landed from heaven and which he redeemed from water to become land is called Ile-Ife and is now considered the sacred and spiritual home of the Yoruba. Obatala was embarrassed when he woke up and, due to this experience, he made it a taboo for any of his devotees to drink palm wine. Olodumare forgave him and gave him the responsibility of molding the physical bodies of human beings. The making of land is a symbolic reference to the founding of the Yoruba kingdoms, and this is why Oduduwa is credited with that achievement (Idowu, 1962).

According to the second version of the myth, there was a pre-existing civilization at Ile-Ife prior to its invasion by a group led by Oduduwa. This group came from the east, where Oduduwa and his group had been persecuted on the basis of religious differences. They came to Ile-Ife and fought and conquered the pre-existing Igbo (unrelated to the present Igbo) inhabitants led by Oreluere (Obatala). Obviously, there is a connection between the two versions of the story. The political one may be the authentic story of the founding of Ife kingdom through conquest. However, the myth of creation lends it a legitimacy that is denied by the conquest story; just as it appears that it is lent some credence by the fact that, as a result of the embarrassment it caused their deity, the followers of Obatala are forbidden from taking palm wine. Indeed the second version of the cosmogonic myth also appears to foreshadow the political variant. The claim that Obatala got drunk and the task of creation had to be performed by Oduduwa already has some political coloration which is now explicit in the political version of the tradition. What is crucial in both variants of the story is the role of Oduduwa as the founder of the Yoruba nation which is why the name cannot be forgotten. Oduduwa is the symbol of the nation, the rallying point for al those who subscribe to the Yoruba identity. The name Yoruba itself, according to historians Smith, Atanda and others, was fixed on us by our northern neighbors and later popularized by colonial publications. Before then, the “Anago” to which some Yoruba in the present Benin Republic and others in the new world still use to refer to themselves, was used to refer to most of the people called Yoruba today. A common origin and language, as well as common political and religious cultures made the Yoruba a nation long before any contact with Europeans and the advent of colonialism.

2. Moremi ‘s Patriotism and the Survival of the Nation Upon the death of Oduduwa, there was a dispersal of his children from Ife to found other kingdoms. These original founders of the Yoruba nation included Olowu of Owu (son of Oduduwa’s daughter), Alaketu of Ketu (son of a princess), Oba of Benin, Oragun of Ila, Onisabe of Sabe, Olupopo of Popo, and Oranyan of Oyo. Each of them made a mark in the subsequent urbanization and consolidation of Yoruba confederacy of kingdoms, with each kingdom tracing its origin to Ile-Ife.

After the dispersal, the aborigines, the Igbo, became difficult, and constituted a serious threat to the survival of Ife. Thought to be survivors of the old occupants of the land before the arrival of Oduduwa, these people now turned themselves into marauders. They would come to town in costumes made of raffia with terrible and fearsome appearances, and the Ife people would flee. Then the Igbo would burn down houses and loot the markets. Then came Moremi on the scene-like Deborah of the Old Testament. When no man could dare the Igbos, Moremi asked the Esinminrin river for help and promised to give offerings if she could save her people. The orisa told her to allow herself to be captured and to understudy the Igbo people. She did, and discovered that these were not spirits; only people with raffia for dress. She escaped, and taught her people the trick. The next time that Igbo people came, they were roundly defeated. Moremi then had to go back to Esinminrin to thank the gods. Every offering she offered was refused. On divination, she was told she had to give Oluorogbo, her only son. She did. The lesson of Moremi is the lesson of patriotism and selflessness. The reward may not be reaped in one’s life time. Moremi passed on and became a member of the Yoruba pantheon . The Edi festival celebrates the defeat of the Igbo and the sacrifice of Oluorogbo till today.

3. The Oranmiyan Adventures, Afonja Treachery, Internal Division, Enslavement and the Fall of the Nation. Oranmiyan was the last of the Oduduwa offsprings. But he was the most adventurous and the founder of Oyo Kingdom. On some accounts, he was the third ruler of Ife as successor to Oduduwa. But he later decided to avenge the expulsion of his father from the East, and so, he led an expedition. After many years on the road, and as a result of disagreement between him and his people, he could not go further. Feeling too ashamed to go back, he appealed to the King of Nupe for a land to found his kingdom. He was obliged, and that land became the nucleus of Old Oyo Kingdom. Oranmiyan, taking the title of Alafin, succeeded in raising a very strong military and effectively expanded his kingdom. His successors, including Sango, the mythical god of thunder, Aganju and Oluasho were also as strong. Peace and tranquility prevailed during the reign of Abiodun, though it also experienced the decline of the army. (SONG). Awole Arogangan was Abiodun’ s successor and it was during his reign that trouble started for the kingdom. He was forced to commit suicide; but before his death he was said to have pronounced a curse on all Yoruba, that they will not unite and that they will be taken captives.

Afonja was the Kakanfo, the generalsimo of the Army, in the northern Yoruba town of Ilorin, during the reign of Awole and his successor. Afonja refused to recognize the new king, and invited the Fulani who were then leading a jihad to the south, to assist him against the king. They did, but he did not survive himself, because the Fulani, after helping him defeat the Alafin also turned against him. They fired numerous arrows at him and his dead body was stood erect on those arrows as they stuck into his body. The treachery of Afonja marked the beginning of the end of the Oyo empire and with it the decline of the Yoruba nation. Civil war erupted among the various Yoruba kingdoms: Oyo, Ijesa, Ekiti, Ijaiye, Abeokuta and Ibadan. As this was going on, Dahomey on the west and the Borgu on the north were also posing trouble for the Yoruba kingdoms until the intervention of the British and the imposition of colonial rule.

Those who argue that there was no consciousness of a common Yoruba identity until the 19th century may be referring to these civil war episodes in the life of the nation. But they forget that these people, in spite of the civil war, share a sense of common origin and common language. And it is to be noted that the so-called peace that was imposed by the British could not have lasted had there not been a sense of consciousness of coming from a common origin.

THE GROUP OF YORUBA INDIGENE CALLS FOR TRULY INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION

EGBÉ OMO YORÙBÁ

“Never underestimate the power of a small group of dedicated people to change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

This is an unprecedented year for transformational health system change. It is not only important for nurses to be involved ~ it is Critical!

The illness care system is in crisis. People seek basic health care in hospital emergency rooms, 51% of the American population takes medication, and our greatest killers, obesity and lifestyle diseases are escalating.

As treatment costs rise exponentially, the number of people covered by health insurance is decreasing. Often modern illness care results in financial bankruptcy. These trends are disastrous.

Additionally, the current economic down turn requires that solutions be radical, cost-effective and immediate in order to turn the tide.

The system cannot survive if we continue to focus exclusively on a medical model of symptom diagnosis and treatment. The trends demand a radical shift toward helping people learn how to become and stay well.

What profession focuses on helping people become and stay well? Nursing!

With the overwhelming mandate for change demanded by our recent election, a window of opportunity is open for health system evolution. Not a revolution that throws out the medical model, rather an evolution that expands the system to include a continuum of care supporting and promoting health from birth through the life-span and transition into death.

There will never be a more critical time for Nurses to Show-up, Speak-up and Step-up to Make a Difference for the Health of America. If you are ready to seize this unprecedented opportunity to influence how the health system evolves, now is the time.

Now is the Time to Show-Up as a Leader.
Nurses led every major health reform in history. Nightingale reformed hospital and battlefield health. Lillian Wald began reforming public health as a nursing student, later establishing the Henry Street Settlement to provide care to the poor and immigrant population. Mary Breckinridge, a nurse-midwife, reformed maternal-child and family health by founding the Frontier Nursing Service, educating and employing nurse-midwives, and establishing family care centers in the Appalachia Mountains. Margaret Sanger reformed reproductive health and Dame Cicely Saunders, known for her role in birthing the hospice movement, emphasized the importance of palliative care.

Today, nurses are showing up to lead by creating innovative health care delivery models and shaping public policy.

Now is the Time to Speak-Up as a Nurse.
Nurses once again rank #1 as the most trusted professionals in the annual Gallup Poll. Talk with your public. They want to know what you think. What nurse has not received a call at all hours from family and neighbors asking for advice or counsel before seeking medical care?

Nurses comprise the largest number of health care providers. The mandate of our license is to serve the public and advocate for safe, effective and accessible health care. Let the public hear your views.

Speak up with other nurses. Share your concerns and ideas as colleagues and team members. Form a nursing mastermind group to refocus your practice on health and create innovation together in whatever nursing arena you practice.

Speak up with your legislators, the people who decide the scope and limits of your nursing practice.

Now is the Time to Step-Up as a Professional.
If the purpose of nursing is helping people become and stay well then nursing is about not only attending patients in hospitals and other tertiary care settings. Only 3% of the population is in an institution. The other 97% needs nursing in the form of primary care, health education, health coaching and wellness.

Who will decide the future of Nursing and Health Care? Your Legislators will!

When I was President of the WV Nurses Association, I learned that the only thing more important than big money in influencing legislators is big numbers.

We sent out the Call and Nurses Showed-Up in record numbers to Unite at the Legislature. These nurses filled the galleries of the House and Senate to overflowing. As a result, we were able to support the passage of three bills including landmark needle stick and mandatory overtime protection, and block a fourth, which allowed unlicensed personnel to dangerously perform nursing functions. The legislators heard the nurses’ message loud and clear!

The nurses, who Showed-Up, Spoke-Up and Stepped-Up for that challenge protected the public and the ability for all nurses to practice safely and effectively.

Will You Show Up as a Leader to meet today’s challenge of health system reform, Speak Up as a Nurse to advocate for the health of all Americans and Step-Up as a Professional to articulate the cost-effectiveness and need for expanding access to professional nursing care?

Borrowing from our President-Elect ~ “Together, We Can”!

© 2008 Aila Accad

Aila Accad
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/nurses-leaders-in-health-reform-698555.html

The mere mention of 9/11 brings back vivid memories for most Americans. Many can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when terrorists slammed airplanes into three American landmarks, killing thousands of innocent and unsuspecting people. With that act of terrorism, America’s innocence was lost forever and U.S. homeland security became an issue that will remain relevant for generations to come.

Barack Obama and John McCain will both agree that the safety of Americans is an issue that has to be solved, but how would each candidate address U.S. homeland security and make this country the safe harbor it was before September 11, 2001.

John McCain co-wrote legislation that created the 9/11 Commission and helped implement many of is recommendations. However, the 9/11 Commission gave the country five F’s and 12 D’s for its lack of effort in implementing the commissions recommendations, according to Barack Obama’s official website.

Obama is a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee and co-authored legislation that would increase security and safety for chemical plants and the nation’s water supply. According to his website, “This bill requires chemical facilities to enhance security-including improving barriers, containment, mitigation, and safety training, and, where possible, using safer technology, such as less toxic chemicals.”

The Illinois senator acknowledges that improvements have been made at chemical plants, but he wants to establish permanent security regulations that all plants would have to adhere to in order to strengthen U.S. homeland security. Senator McCain would implement Security Vulnerability Assessments and Site Security Plans that would address security concerns at the plants.

According to McCain’s website, “(He) will work to ensure that all States and municipalities that are responsible for water supply or storage function adequately secure those systems in a manner that eliminates any risk of devastating contamination.”

Obama introduced a bill that will give $37.5 million over a five year period “for drinking water systems to upgrade their monitoring and security efforts,” because he believes that if water is contaminated it would disrupt society and produce a health catastrophe and compromise emergency services such as fire protection.

Nevertheless, McCain believes the key to improve U.S. homeland security is to prevent terrorism before a catastrophe occurs. He plans to accomplish this by working with United States allies and breaking up terrorist organizations and interrupting their financing to ensure that they do not obtain weapons of mass destruction. The Arizona senator wants to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to improve intelligence and “to provide in statute clear guidance for future actions that may need to be taken.”

The Republican nominee also sees securing American borders as a key to improving U.S. homeland security. He plans to accomplish this by establishing operational control over the entire U.S. border, providing funding to construct 700 miles of fencing and hiring and training more border patrol agents to prevent terrorists from entering into the country illegally.

The senior senator also sees disaster recovery as a key to U.S. homeland security. He wants to establish a uniform standard of dealing with natural disasters that would better assist state and local governments with relief efforts. Obama also sees disaster recovery as highly important, introducing and passing legislation that requires a mandatory plan for evacuating special needs Americans. He also introduced and passed legislation that creates a national database for family members to locate each other after disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

Todd A. Smith
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/where-do-the-candidates-stand-on-us-homeland-security-623833.html

O Believers!

The new Messiah. His divinity is all about change, hoping for change and changing for the hope – not to mention coolness and hype. So what is the second coming of Jesus doing ? In the name of progressive change the divine one has reappointed 28 former Clinton advisers to his ‘shadow government’, named Tim Geithner an insider from the New York Central Bank and someone who is partially responsible for the current economic mess as Treasury Secretary [bad choice]; and now his holiness has announced that HE and HIS government [not markets you understand], will create 2.5 million jobs. Right out of thin air! Or maybe just by adding holy water ? Note to the Messianic genius – governments cannot create anything. Maybe his divinity can read the history of the 1930s and the failure of the New Deal to re-educate his Harvard trained mind before he wipes out the US economy ‘creating’ 2.5 million eco-jobs with welfare money.

O Believers!

The great one, the new prophet and savior of mankind, truly believes that HE [with divine approval?] will save the US economy and ‘manufacture’ jobs. Listen to what his Harvard trained eminence, with the ancient prophets smiling from above no doubt, had to say about HE and HIS team’s plan to solving the government created economic crisis: “..this plan is big enough to meet the challenges we face. … We’ll be working out the details in the weeks ahead, but it will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jump-start job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy.”

O Believers!

Blessed be the prophet Obama. The new messiah’s plan in his own words [are they divine?], “will mean 2.5 million more jobs by January of 2011.” Saving, creating, – a national effort ! personal and communal meaning ! Maybe we can call this the new ‘Volksgemeinschaft’ or the O’Messiah’s state-individual community agreement ? His divine being has proclaimed that the US will be engaged in a 2 year national socialist effort at inventing jobs – how communal, patriotic and heart warming. Tears well up in sundry eyes, as hearts throb to the messianic beat. But there is a slight problem for the holy messiah and the true believers – governments don’t create jobs.

O Believers!

But the kool-aid drinking media and the frenzied and brainwashed [but they hate Christians remember] O’Messiah cult, too busy to read, to get educated, and too disdainful of human skill and ingenuity, will wildly applaud and believe the Black Jesus and his commandments that ‘we shall create and save 2.5 million jobs!’ That would be the 11th commandment along with the other 10 that no one in today’s highly educated world can name. Markets will no doubt rise, female media correspondents faint, and Oprah and friends, along with the racist Trinity Church in Chicago will scream and dance.

O Believers!

The only problem is that government does not create anything. Government does not have independent revenue sources. Government does not have private capital. Government does not create private markets, private contracts, supply and demand and price points. Government does not expand anything other than state power which crowds out and destroys private capital. By destroying private markets in ‘creating’ welfare programs all a government will do is increase debt and actually increase real unemployment over a longer period of time.

Apparently basic economic knowledge is not a requirement to be President or a messiah.

O Believers!

The O’Messiah is simply imitating the failed policies of FDR in the 1930s – one of the great statists and socialists of all time and much beloved by students, professors, and the media. FDR’s statist deal apparently ‘created’ 5 million jobs in the US during the 1930s. Roads, bridges, stadia, public gardens and parks were all ‘created’ by FDR’s autocratic government. However in 1939 25-35 million men were still unemployed – the same number as in 1932. So over a 7 year period nothing changed. FDR did not create jobs, he did not stimulate the economy. In fact he raised taxes, increased government spending by 3 times, increased the Federal debt by 10 times, and after 7 years of hyper-active government interventionism the result was the same – mass unemployment.

Henry Morgenthau was Treasury Secretary during this period and was the man responsible for writing the cheques. In 1939 he admitted the entire New Deal program was a colossal failure: “We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and now if I am wrong somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosper. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. I say after eight years of this administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started. And enormous debt to boot.”

You will never see such quotes or facts in history books, classrooms or in the media. FDR like the O’Messiah is a saint like figure. FDR ‘saved’ America during the Great Depression. Actually no, he and his policies and that of the preceding Hoover administration caused the Great Depression. The dirty thirties were a government creation not a market failure. High taxes, protectionism, reduced credit, massive regulation and an orgy of spending and governmental interference created and deepened the Depression. Far from saving anything, FDR actually destroyed not only millions of jobs, but millions of ordinary lives.

O Believers!

And for that FDR is a hero.

Now fast forward the new O’Messiah. HE and HIS government, like FDR’s, will create or save 2.5 million jobs. This is rather disappointing since the great socialist FDR created or saved at least 5 million. One would expect more from a divine being. But no matter. Like FDR the Black Jesus will create public works programs targeted at ‘infrastructure’ since according to his holiness only public money can ‘save’ the US’ decrepit infrastructural system. However we have the added bonus of hundreds if not thousands of Greenie programs which will be added. Apparently since the state is the only actor which can build a road, it must de facto be the only actor who can love and nurture Mother Earth. So not only will the adoring and publicly paid legions of O’Messiah supporters be busy repairing roads, bridges and sewers, they will also be engaged in trimming bushes, planting flowers, hugging trees, and tenderly cleaning up rivers and streams. We should expect that the welfare created armies of the new Messiah, during the GlobaloneyWarmed summer months of massive climate change will be dancing naked and gaily in the pristine forests and meadows that they have ‘saved’.

Not only will his holiness ‘save and create 2.5 million jobs’, he will also save Mother Earth!

O Believers!

It is enough to make one drop to his knees, crying and driveling snot and thanking the divine presence for his prescience and massive intelligence in saving us from ourselves! Blessed be the new Jesus !

So let’s see. The Black Jesus will hire 2.5 million good little statists. He will pay them by either raising taxes on others, or by incurring more debt by selling debt instruments to largely foreign buyers [if any remain]; or he will simply print the money. So the 2.5 million ‘created’ jobs are not actually jobs per se but a massive welfare program paid by taxes, future obligations with interest, or through a devalued currency and hence a living standard reduction for all taxpayers. Nice.

Would it be any different if his holiness asked every American to go outside and dig holes for 6 months ? He could then claim to have created 300 million jobs overnight and saved the US economy. He could repay the labor of digging holes, by granting every American a welfare cheque for this ‘work’. This payment would come from sur taxation or debt. Is increasing taxes and debt creating jobs? Does an economy flourish when incentives to produce product and make a profit are diminished? Does real GDP actually grow when you print money or sell debt and hand over the proceeds in welfare payments?

O Believers!

The O’Messiah’s plan is plainly stupid. It is FDR statism. New Deals have always failed. Nazi Germany contrary to popular myth was a bankrupt state in 1939 thanks to nationalist socialist engineering. War in 1939 was inevitable. The Russian empire imploded as ‘New Deals’ destroyed capital, jobs and even morality. Now we have the Black Jesus, whom the media chants is ‘gonna save us’ [so eloquent] proffering the same nonsense. HE will create or save 2.5 million jobs? No he won’t. Like FDR he will destroy millions of jobs and with it millions of lives. And like FDR being an elitist Ivy league snot he won’t care a whit and will use deception and lies to justify big government and the expansion of state power.

C. Read
http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/the-black-jesus-and-the-old-new-deal-to-create-25-million-jobs-675184.html

Since the election of Barack Obama, Viscape – the world’s first Web site to combine vacation home search, real estate, travel planning, and social networking – has announced the availability of more than 300 Washington, D.C.-area affordable rental homes and housing swaps for the upcoming presidential inauguration. Viscape has seen a 1,000 percent increase in D.C. rental property listings and DC destination page views. Community members for the site continue to add short-term and vacation rental properties daily and travelers continue to discover reliable and affordable deals for their inauguration stay.

“Many Obama supporters and political enthusiasts want to travel to D.C. for the inauguration, but haven’t found a way to fit the trip into their budget. Viscape wants people to know that ‘yes you can’ make the trip, you just have to be creative,” said Caroline Allison, president of Viscape. “Viscape provides travelers with non-traditional, affordable housing options throughout the Washington, D.C. area and offers a place to connect with other people looking to travel to the inauguration.”

Obama’s inauguration is expected to draw a crowd of more than one million to Washington D.C. and the surrounding areas.  There are approximately 90,000 hotel rooms in the Washington, D.C. area, with the majority of those rooms booked months ago. With more than 300 available rental properties listed on www.viscape.com , Viscape is confident that anyone wishing to travel to DC can find suitable options on the site. Currently, rental properties hold anywhere from two to 20 people and rent from as low as $41 to more than $3,000 per night.

Viscape realizes that people may have never rented their home to travelers, and many travelers have never stayed in a rental home or participated in a swap. To assist renters, swappers and travelers through the process, the Viscape blog (http://blog.viscape.com) is offering relevant information and tips leading up to the inauguration. For travelers, the blog provides suggestions on how to plan an affordable inauguration trip and an attractions map with markers designating inauguration events.  For private Washington home owners, the Viscape blog will provide rental tips and suggestions to ensure a smooth and intelligent transaction.  Lastly, Viscape will offer tips for locals hoping to swap homes or travelers on a budget and will provide home-swapping and home-sharing advice while connecting people from all over the world. 

For more information or to find affordable Washington D.C. rental properties, please visit www.Viscape.com or Viscape’s blog at http://blog.viscape.com.

About Viscape:

Based in Arlington, Virginia, Viscape.com is a next generation social marketplace for vacation properties and second homes, where travelers can connect with other passionate travelers. Use Viscape to list properties free for sale, rent, or swap. 

Bradley Jackson
http://www.articlesbase.com/vacation-rentals-articles/are-you-one-of-the-million-people-traveling-to-washington-dc-for-the-obama-inauguration-you-need-to-read-this-717288.html

We are all relieved the unlamented year 2008 is past. It was a brutally rough year, seismic even.

The US stock market went through its worst year since the Great Depression. The Dow fell 33.8 percent, the worst annual decline second only to the 52.7 percent drop in 1931. The S&P500 lost 38.5 percent, just a shade better than its 38.6 percent decline back in 1937. The scope and extent of wealth destruction is just incomprehensible.

The government finally acknowledged in December 2008 that the economy had been in recession since December 2007. The question is: How long will this recession last? Some say 10 months; others say longer.

The Great Depression began August 1929 and did not end until 43 months later. How will things be in 2009? Perhaps, there is some comfort to be taken in the fact that the 11 recessions after the Second World War lasted only about 10 months on the average.

Only one thing is certain: each new day will mean one day closer to recovery. Prosperity will always come again, once said John D. Rockefeller.

For those who have some money left to invest, a conservative approach and a diversified portfolio may help reduce the anxiety of uncertainty. Some possibilities:

1. Corporate bonds
There is expert consensus that investment-grade corporate bonds may be a good bet for the year. Corporate debt is currently priced at a huge discount. Once institutional investors open up to more risk, the prices for bonds issued by the top-rated companies are likely to rise. These days, corporate bond yields are several notches higher than Treasury bonds.

2. US stocks
When you`re brave enough to venture again into stocks, consider that US stocks may be in a better position to rebound than international stocks. The federal government has been bolder in its response to the crisis. Industries primarily targeted by the bailouts and the incoming administration`s promise of massive spending will be the best bets. This means companies in construction, alternative energy, and technology for productivity.  Larger cap companies or small cap banks that derive their revenues mostly from within the US are recommended.

3. TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Security)
TIPS may be in if (or when) inflation comes. During these days of recession, deflation is the main worry. But with government set to spend a lot of money on its proposed $800 billion stimulus package, inflation may strike sooner than you think. When it does, the perfect inflation fighter is TIPS.

4. Companies with necessities
In a period where people buy only what they need, the companies that serve these needs are likely to perform better. Companies like Wal-Mart, the master of low-price goods, Procter & Gamble, or pharmaceuticals like Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Merck are good defensive stocks. Consumer staples like food and beverages will continue to be bought, benefiting companies like General Mills.

5. Municipal bonds
Like corporate bonds, muni-bonds have seen heavily discounted prices — making their yields more attractive. The added incentive is that these bonds are tax exempt. Pick very carefully and look for the more reliable bond issuers.

6. Cash-rich market leaders
Financially sound companies who are market leaders in their industries may be poised to take advantage as economic recovery gets underway. Companies with ample cash flow are most attractive, as this will help them hold out better during this downturn.

7. Dependable dividends
In hard times, it is best to invest in something that provides predictable dividend income. The more dependable sources of dividends are stocks from telecoms companies and utilities.

8. Healthcare firms
Over the years, healthcare stocks have delivered the best values and robust earnings growth. Healthcare reform is not about to impair the industry, even as it seeks to lower healthcare costs and widen access. Old reliables are the giants Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Pfizer, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb.

9. Oil recovers
Oil prices have soared high to a peak of $147 and plunged low to around $40 on fears that demand will drop as the world economy shrinks. But emerging economies like India and China will continue to fuel demand, especially as they recover. Prices may go back up and stabilize around $80 or so — benefiting stock prices of oil companies like Exxon and Chevron.

10.  Gold shines
Like oil, gold prices surged to $1000 per ounce and fell back to $720. But gold and precious metals have always been considered safe havens and 2009 is likely to see price trends going up.

Bilitz
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-ideas-articles/mattress-money-the-wave-of-the-future–735169.html

Facing extreme pressure to reduce costs and improve service quality and breadth, healthcare organizations, especially those in the United States, are increasingly looking at alternative service delivery models like information technology and business process outsourcing, to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of their back-office and support operations. A just-released EquaTerra Perspective paper, “Emerging Outsourcing Trends in the Healthcare Industry,” examines market challenges the healthcare industry – primarily in the payer, e.g. insurer, segment – is facing, and the demand level for outsourced processes that will help them alleviate some of the pressures.

EquaTerra estimates that, globally, 75 IT outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO) deals with total contract value of greater than $50 million were signed from 2004 through 2007. This represents a very small percentage of the total number of outsourcing deals, highlighting the relative immaturity of the healthcare outsourcing market compared to other industries such as banking, financial services and manufacturing. However, the healthcare outsourcing market is expected to grow at close to 10 percent over the next five to seven years, faster than the overall market growth of seven to eight percent.

Said Mark Voytek, EquaTerra’s Healthcare Industry Lead and co-author of this paper, “Healthcare organizations that have not recently done so should update and reassess their strategy and action plan for use of alternative service delivery models for both back-office and core operating functions and processes. If successfully executed, outsourcing can play a positive and growing role in helping them address the serious challenges they are facing today. And while they should use caution when exploring and assessing emerging BPO areas, the market is expanding and rapidly maturing, and what was premature in the past could be ready for prime time today.”

Challenges Facing Healthcare Payer Industry

Current challenges the healthcare payer segment is facing include:

* Merger, acquisition and divestiture activity has increased demands on technical and support infrastructures, further driving the need for change

* Many of the larger payers have remained with legacy hardware and proprietary or internally developed applications which no longer meets their needs

* The growing complexity of offerings, as well as government and regulatory changes, have increased delivery and support requirements

* Confidentiality and privacy issues around personal health data has caused an increase in expenses associated with the delivery of services

Healthcare Payer Demand for Outsourced Functions and Processes

Based on a poll EquaTerra conducted with outsourcing service providers in the U.S. healthcare payer space, the process areas that exhibited the greatest level of outsourcing demand included claims adjudication, and claims and enrollment data entry. There was also growing demand in emerging knowledge services, such as reporting, planning and analytics.

EquaTerra sees that buyer demand is outpacing supplier maturity, which is characteristic of an outsourcing market in more of a demand pull than a supplier push mode. This is due to the recent increase in buyer demand levels, coupled with a supplier lag in developing and expanding service offerings as a result of historically weak demand for outsourcing services in this market sector. However, as outsourcing service providers targeting the healthcare space – both legacy multi-national and India-based firms moving beyond IT into business services – are starting to develop more targeted and compelling outsourcing offerings, which should help achieve better demand and supply balance.

Fleming Parker
http://www.articlesbase.com/outsourcing-articles/can-outsourcing-inject-health-into-healthcare-industry-379194.html

After central and breathing expenses double as crack or a mortgage, for a congruous contain of American families healthcare can be the looked toward greatest expenditure, and for many a big part of that overall healthcare cost can be their health insurance premium. However, according to financial experts, when it comes to preparing your family’s budget, there are ways to reduce both your health insurance cost, and what you pay for healthcare in general. Whether you are shopping for the first time for health insurance, or are looking for a new plan to reduce your monthly payments, here are 10 suggestions that can lead to a lower health insurance quote, and more affordable healthcare:

1. Stop Smoking – Depending on where you effectual you can hold back seeing $200.00 a continuance on the costs of cigarettes alone. As beneath as a health insurance quotes goes, non-smokers always bucks significantly less than smokers for slice policy. According to a recent study, even though smokers generally have a shorter lifespan than non-smokers, they pay a third more in overall healthcare than non-smokers throughout their lifetime.

2. Reduce Weight – Again sense plays a contributive agency when recipient a health insurance quote, it’s a advent that if you are rotund you will pay more. Obesity is becoming one of the greatest drains on our healthcare system. According to a recent study by the Rand Corporation, being obese adds $395 each year to your average per-year health care costs, more than smoking (an addition of $230), aging 20 years ($225), and problem drinking ($150).

3. Get More Exercise – While it may be bothersome to form a quantitative amount on how inimitably you can grip on a health insurance adduce by exercising and receipt in shape – regular exercise will not only reduce weight (see above) but can also improve cardio-vascular health and reduce other risk factors that lead to higher costs for health insurance and medical care.

4. Select a Higher Deductible – A another deductible and other co-pay will even so adjudicature in a lower health insurance quote, and may qualify you for a Health Savings Account (HSA) which can succour defray the costs of the higher deductible.

5. Read and be Sure you Understand your Health Plan – you would be surprised at how uncounted consumers coin supplementary for healthcare simply whereas
the get not see the details of their own heath insurance plan.

6. “Cheaper” isn’t always further “Affordable” – When it comes to a health insurance offer you demand heap a response that is right for you and your lifestyle. Cheaper doesn’t always nasty supplementary affordable in the long run. If you go for a health insurance quote with a smaller monthly premium, but if you have health problems and must make many doctors visits the high deductible or higher co-pay may cost you more in the long run. Choose a plan that is right for you.

7. Consolidate Your Health Plans -if you and your spouse both have contradictory health plans you may put up power by consolidating below a weird
plan.

8. Be Proactive – and you can withhold money. For example discern before you fascination them what if fraction ambulance services in your longitude are occult by your insurance, and when and if your regular physician is available after hours.

9. Be especial to Negotiate with Your Doctor – indeed physicians will offer destitute or discounted rates to patients with no or elfin insurance.

10. Reduce the costs of Prescription Drugs – if you have heath insurance with prescription drug coverage, gravy advantage of the “lower tier” by invitation your imbue to prescribe generic drugs, plane if you seal not have prescription drug coverage squint into the discount programs offered by many drug companies and retail pharmacies.

Neo Dome
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/10-ways-to-diminish-your-charge-for-healthcare-118633.html