Gary Crooks

The following sentence from the Washington State Republican Party Platform explains why climate change doesn’t begat policy change: “Climate change occurs naturally and warming from human generated greenhouse gases has yet to be proven.” So it doesn’t matter what the mainstream climate scientists who wrote the National Climate Assessment say. Just as it doesn’t matter what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said. Republican politicians aren’t going to act, because they took a vote and “What, me worry?” won.

Art Moore of World Net Daily was on the line Tuesday with a question that had been reverberating through the right-wing echo chamber. Did she really say it? Did U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers really suggest that Obamacare would probably survive? Moore was one of several reporters from conservative media outlets who called. Reporter Kip Hill fielded several other inquiries after his April 25 article was published with the headline “McMorris Rodgers says ACA likely here to stay.”

Election season is rapidly approaching in Washington state, and I’m bracing for the inevitable line that punctuates so many political pitches: “We don’t have a revenue problem.” If not, we must have meth-addled money managers, because both parties acknowledge gargantuan financial shortfalls for elementary education, higher education, transportation and parks – just to name a few.

It’s become the received wisdom of the Supreme Court that whipping out a checkbook is a form of speech that mustn’t be infringed. One imagines a political debate, where financiers swap paper rather than ideas. First one to be overdrawn loses. In recent years, the court’s majority has redrawn First Amendment boundaries to make room for chatty check writers. It’s accomplished this by treating anti-corruption laws as infringements to free speech.

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank has made the perceptive observation that President Barack Obama owns all of health care now. Before the Affordable Care Act passed, people routinely complained about changing doctors, rising costs, bureaucracy, etc., but they didn’t have a particular politician to blame. Now they do, whether the Affordable Care Act is relevant or not. My view is that this will only apply to blame. If there is cause for cheers, you can count on political and analytical skills to suddenly kick in. For instance, health care inflation has dropped to its lowest point in nearly 50 years. Thanks, Obama? Not so fast, say Republicans and analysts.

“The sharing economy” is a seductive concept, causing those in love with technology to think they’ve redefined the rules. You’re not renting a room; you’re sharing your space. You’re not providing a taxi service; you’re sharing your car. I don’t know about you, but when we shared in kindergarten no money changed hands.

Idaho legislators are proposing pay increases for top elected officials but are ignoring who really needs a raise: them. Oh, there might’ve been a time when $16,438 a year made sense for part-time work, but lawmakers have greatly expanded the scope of the job this legislative session. They’ve acted as college presidents and campus cops, passing a bill to allow people to carry concealed weapons on campuses.

Our country has the highest medical costs in the world, so the last thing we ought to encourage is treating healthy people. But our system does just that, and the results can be sickening. That’s the diagnosis of Dr. Gilbert Welch, author of “Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health.” He also wrote “Should I Be Tested for Cancer? Maybe Not and Here’s Why.” He delivered a jaw-dropping speech at the Riverpoint campus Feb. 21 that – and this is most encouraging – did not provoke a flogging by an audience of health care providers. In fact, he was invited, which indicates a willingness to improve the system.

Lord, have mercy! Did you see what almost happened in Arizona? Gov. Jan Brewer pulled the state’s fanny out of the fire by vetoing a bill that would’ve given special legal protections to those who discriminate for religious reasons. Crisis averted. Cancel the boycotts. It’s safe to plan that spring training visit, and don’t forget the golf clubs.

Gov. Jay Inslee’s moratorium on executions has sparked a strong reaction from legislative proponents of capital punishment. The key word is “reaction,” because that’s the only action ever seen on this issue. The political contretemps remind me of a child with a long neglected toy. All is quiet until a sibling is seen playing with it. Then, suddenly, it’s the most fiercely defended possession in the house.

College costs a lot of money. So does skipping it. So what’s a person to do? Lately, the answer is: Take out enormous loans and hope to heck somebody will hire you. Just don’t wait for a bailout, because college debt is the most merciless kind. Whether through bankruptcy law or direct government intervention, the roll call of forgiveness is quite revealing: Wall Street, automakers, banks, farms, gamblers, shopaholics – here’s a reprieve. Students? Not so fast.

(USA Today – “Facebook feeds across the U.S. and beyond were taken over Wednesday by a festival of one-minute films of user snapshots and highlights.”) Oddly, my Facebook movie included coming attractions. Here’s a glimpse into the future:

Have you heard? President Barack Obama wants to “bail out” the insurance companies participating in the Affordable Care Act. It’s so positively scandalous that U.S. Sen. Mario Rubio, who just happens to covet the presidency, is riding to the rescue with a bill. Some background is in order. Because the Affordable Care Act creates a new market for individual policies, insurers had to do some guesswork in establishing premium prices for health care coverage sold in the exchanges. The law establishes three programs – risk adjustment, risk corridors and reinsurance – to make sure companies don’t get creamed if they end up with an inordinate number of customers who run up big bills, as a recent Wall Street Journal article explains. Remember, they can no longer turn people away.

Ever since Idaho adopted kindergarten 39 years ago, it’s been voluntary. But somehow the specter of a measly five preschool classes being partially publicly funded for three years has some politicians worried about the state confiscating toddlers during the day. Rep. Hy Kloc, D-Boise, wants to start a pre-kindergarten pilot program, but his plan is being met with old-school thinking.

In 2008, radioman Rush Limbaugh signed an eight-year contract for $400 million. Last year, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post for $250 million. Limbaugh can’t dunk, pass or hit a curveball. Can’t sing, dance or run a hedge fund. So it must be some other prodigious talent that explains the stratospheric paycheck. The Washington Post has hundreds of reporters tapping thousands of experts to produce articles on a variety of subjects. Limbaugh has a single entry in his Rolodex, filed under “L.” He has no academic or scientific credentials, but his secret is taking any subject and making it simple and political, even if it isn’t.

On Dec. 10, a picture was posted on U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ Facebook page, along with text that reads, in part: “This is 53-year-old Debbie Brown from Garfield, Wa. She is the grandmother of two, works at the local gas station, and has lost her health insurance because of Obamacare.” The Brown saga actually began in November, when the congresswoman referenced to her in a floor speech, saying she is “uninsured now.” You can also find the congresswoman on YouTube making the same claim.

You’d think Republicans would have observed the health care landscape since the rollout of Obamacare and seen an opportunity. Instead, they’re rolling back their own ideas after reading the polls, according to a Wall Street Journal article. The reaction to about 5 million Americans having to change plans has congressional conservatives spooked, because their idea, which they’ve kept on the down-low, is to detonate employer-sponsored coverage, which could affect 160 million Americans. Some, like U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., would also like to turn Medicare into a voucher program in about a decade and send seniors out shopping for their own plans.

The news that the Idaho Innocence Project has lost federal funding represents an injustice. The government will spend bundles of money to conduct prosecutions and lock people up, but if they’re wrongfully convicted, it often takes volunteers to set them free. The Idaho Innocence Project was awarded a total of $450,000 via two U.S. Justice Department grants in 2009 and 2011. But 38 groups vied for funding this year, and the Idaho project was not among the eight who were chosen, so it may not be able to take on new cases. That’s bad news for the wrongfully convicted, and good news for the actual culprits.

Last week, I wrote that Medicare beneficiaries pay roughly $1 dollar in tax for every $3 in benefits. This is a generalized ratio based on a report by the Urban Institute. Results vary per person, depending on the amount of payroll tax paid and the level of health care services used. Some readers wondered how this was calculated. As I wrote on May 29, 2011: “To counter the point that taxes paid could’ve been saved and earned interest, the think tank added 2 percent to the total above inflation. On the benefits side, average life spans and payouts were used. All amounts are in 2010 dollars.”

“Bush lied, people died!” “Obama lied, health plans died!” The extent to which you accept one proposition and reject the other probably says more about you than the two presidents. But let’s say there is a groundswell of support for unapologetic honesty from our national leaders, and let’s imagine the president giving a baloney-free speech about the budget and everyday welfare. My guess is that at various points people would turn the channel, and only a handful of viewers would be left at the end.

My response to the Machinists union at Boeing turning down the latest contract offer is a mixture of empathy, frustration and fear. The critical component of the deal was the union surrendering its defined benefit pension plan. That’s the rapidly disappearing benefit where workers can count on a monthly check upon retirement. Boeing would still have defined contribution plans, such as 401(k)s, which are cheaper for employers.

The confusion and fear caused by people receiving notices of rate increases on their health care policies is exacerbated by insurers failing to inform customers of their options. The insurers’ viewpoint is this: Why tell current customers they can get a better deal? But when insurers blame government for the change while staying mum about the solution, it illustrates how the profit motive is an impediment to reform. It also demonstrates why so many people wanted a public health insurance option. Unfortunately, intense lobbying from the insurance industry killed that.

If you were to collect the threads of Obamacare criticism and try to suture the American health care system, the patient would bleed out. I’ve tried to make sense of the cacophony, but much of it is outrage for the sake of political gain, which merely returns us to the mess that triggered change in the first place. But let’s say there are conservative critics who genuinely want to replace the Affordable Care Act – rather than just repeal it – with a coherent plan that broadens access and controls costs. First, they better temper their criticism of the current law because some of it could be turned on their plans. Some examples:

If you haven’t seen the “Jimmy Kimmel Show” video in which people are asked whether they prefer Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act, search for it, and watch. I’ll wait. OK, now wasn’t that instructive? When asked which plan they preferred, people denounced Obamacare and supported the Affordable Care Act. Sure sheds a light on how the clueless form opinions. Pure tribalism.