Lately i think people have burned out on reading and responding. Spring is in the air and thoughts turn to tending the garden, playing sports, fishing, whatever..maybe they are all on twitter?
I remain focused on national politics to the point it is consuming my time, and without the benefit of discuss with you my readers, i doubt I am having any impact on creating discussion, causing deliberative thought, or in engaging in serious debate...all parts of critical thinking.
Problem analysis has been a key focus of my employment for more than the past quarter of century, particularly looking at legislation and statues for fiscal impact. So i think when I write how something may play out in the political arena, I have a better than average record on getting it correct.
Yet every blog I write pointing out the potential impact of things, I get minimal response, usually negative, usually discussing side issues unrelated to the fiscal impact.
So here it is Saturday March 20, my analysis of things in general in the news.
1 - When Obama care passes, will immediately change how health insurance manages care, and will minimally impact health care because it does not address health care costs directly associated with care- hospitals, doctors and medications.
2 - Associated fees and taxes will have a ripple effect in the economy, with large industries likely to further outsource what few American jobs they have to factories in Mexico and elsewhere. Smaller enterprises will likely freeze hiring and not replace workers that have retired or been laid off.
3 - Business will further constrain new orders for equipment, seeking to conserve cash to pay increased costs for mandated health insurance coverage.
Points 2 and 3 have already been implemented by many, including my employer. We have lost a lot of employees and have a hiring freeze, and replacement of equipment or adding new technologies has been essentially halted unless its to replace a critical system. Example: our enterprise email exchange servers are failing, and instead of replacement, we are buying additional service plans, and considering migration from Microsoft Outlook to a internet based email, like Yahoo or Gmail. (Outlook in via our company intranet, a closed system)
Hope you all have a nice weekend!
:)))
ReplyDeleteConsidering points 1, 2, and 3; I certainly agree with your viewpoints. I made a final effort last night to get my representative to vote against the healthcare bill; I mention to him that I had a vote too, at the polling booth. Since the bill had a good chance of failing, they added on the student education funding bill; a tactic that has often irritated me to no end.
ReplyDeleteCanice, on the aspects of comments to your blog, what does that matter? I don't think you are writing to just receive comments. If it is more along the lines of not having readers, then you need to seek out other venues for your writing than Multiply. Multiply has been, and still is, changing. Most people are here to do of the Facesuck and tooter thing. I still provide links to my real blog here on Multiply, but I don't worry if anyone here ventures out to read it. I have readers of my real blog outside of Multiply, my little tale on "Vole Wars" has seen 331 views. Perhaps you should seek other venues for your writing, and then simply link to them here on Multiply as I do.
Not many people read my entries either, but I don't have all that many to read anyway.
ReplyDeleteI do see that you have a good analytical approach to the issues, and this short message proves it again. It would appear that you have more skill in this area than the entire administration, those who are writing the policy on what they are calling health care reform.
Secretcorners makes an excellent point. If you want more readers, then there is a better venue to spread your thoughts on these issues. I think it would be worth the effort, because people would benefit from your consideration of what we call the "unintended consequences."
I'm sure that I repeat some of your ideas elsewhere.
I agree with Kimberly. Multiply, like FaceFool and NitTwit, is becoming soooo junior high! I've all along made the assertion that it hardly amounts to anything deeper than "Does this computer make my butt look big?" type posts. I think people plow through seeing how many cutsie-pie repartes they can make. Perhaps a key would be a political/current events blog whereon the more serious types can read and comment. They can still be linked to from here, where likewise, peeps can return and comment.
ReplyDeleteRegarding health care, I believe your assessment is correct. It irks me to no end how the insurance companies have all run to the trough squealing about their individual programs, as if this is all a done-deal!
I'm glad to see that you've accepted the Bill as inevitable.
ReplyDeleteI've seen points 2 and 3 on my job too, but it's hard to say how much is the effect of Obama's policy and how much is carried over from Bush. We got hit with layoffs last week, but we've had a hiring freeze for almost two years now. We did get a minor bump in profit shares this year, but only after two years of radical losses.
About a more active and larger audience, have you checked out Google's Buzz ( http://www.google.com/buzz ) ? It's a great place to show-case your work, connect with other like minds and is integrated with the entire Google Package. Check it out, and while you're at it check out Gmail as a solution to your company's email problems.
Also Zoho is integrating with Google in a major effort to bring cloud computing to the business world. ( http://www.zoho.com/google-apps/ )
p.s. although some of your posts do carry the scent of napalm in the morning, I think your heart is in the right place.
Beware of Buzz, you may want to read the buzz concerning Buzz's privacy problems. If you want to stay with the blog format, may I suggest you build a blog outside of a social networking site; you can still post a link here on Multiply, that will ping the blog aggregate services. You will be able to reach a much wider audience outside of Multiply.
ReplyDeleteConcerning your company's email problems, it will be a big mistake to go with Yahoo! or Gmail. Unless Gmail offers non gmail domains for handling mail. There are many outsource mail handlers available that act in the same way as outsource web hosting. They will handle the mail servers and you keep the same domain name so the switch is seamless..
Thanks for the feedback from everyone! I am not sure how to take the comment about napalm in the morning, although I think the key point of the film it comes from is the utter futility of the scene it was uttered in... " like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500"
ReplyDeleteThank you. I read something the other night you posted and decided you and I are not that far off in thinking about these issues ...
ReplyDeleteIn politics, nothing is inevitable. Or irreversible.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of wiggle room in the Bill that the GOP will be able to debate/modify in due time.
ReplyDeleteI don't quite understand the napalm in the morning reference either. I know Col. Kilgore says "I love the smell of napalm in the morning... smells like victory."
ReplyDelete