President Obama was in Columbus Ohio recently to celebrate the creation of 25 jobs at the police academy that he says is directly related to the 787 billion dollar stimulus package.
Well I am in favor of any jobs that can be created. However, the President's remarks at the academy that the lost jobs in February were "Astounding," describes an economy that is in need of profound changes. The stimulus package may be able to offset some of the 651,000 job losses that occurred last month. But it if 25 jobs is all the President has to show for it so far, then it is likely going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
Still, I am not one to complain unless I can point to something that can make things better.
All of this according to a study done by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association1. Create 2,613,495 million new permanent good-paying jobs (slightly exceeding the number of jobs lost in 2008) -- and jobs that are not easily shipped overseas
2. Boost the economy with $317 billion in increased business and public revenues
3. Add $100 billion in employee compensation
4. Infuse public budgets with $44 billion in new tax revenues
But the plan gets even better, if you can believe it. The plan would help all Americans live longer and healthier lives. The plan would mean that millions of Americans wouldn't have to go bankrupt because of no health coverage or inadequate health insurance.
This plan is so beautiful in its simplicity that English logician and Franciscan friar, William of Ockham would certainly be touting it as the best plan. Now I know Occom's razor should be applied to competing theories but I think it can also be useful when we examine plans. A plan that calls for single payer universal health care that would simply apply the medicare program to all Americans is sound, reasonable, and parsimonious. Competing programs are too complicated and generally involve large corporations sucking the resources away from the patients.
Applying the Medicare program to all Americans would help Obama create millions of good paying jobs, boost the economy, and contribute to all Americans living healthier and longer lives.
Now there is one word of warning. This simple plan would mean that the managed health care bandits and the insurance fraudsters would not be able to make any money off it. That would mean cries of socialism from those that only want socialism for themselves in the form of government bailouts.
But if the public were to apply some reasoning to the economy and to their own health then I think William of Ockham would be proud to see that the simplest, job creating, budget building health care plan was the one that was chosen.
1
