Paying for Medicare For All

Bernie has proposed a bill in the Senate, and damn near every Democrat who hopes to run for president next time around has jumped on to support it. The ones with anything to lose have been a little more cautious, but they all agree this proposal is a great way to start a conversation. And that is certainly true.

Among Democrats, support for the idea is very strong until the idea of increased taxes to pay for it is mentioned. Because let’s face it, taxes would have to go up to pay for it.

But consider this: My health plan is already taxpayer-subsidized. If you have a company health plan, you are taxpayer-subsidized as well. Your employer doesn’t pay taxes on your benefit. That’s money out of the government coffers to make your health care cheaper. The ones who need support the least benefit the most.

That’s bogus, even though I benefit. It’s backwards from the ethic I embrace, that those doing well look out for those who need a leg up. I am embarrassed that my health care is subsidized while others go without any care at all. You should be, too.

So when people ask, “how do we pay for it?” — a legitimate question — point out that the government is already subsidizing health care for everyone with a job. The ones who need it least.

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Goodbye, Cassini

In about twenty hours, the spacecraft Cassini will plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn and destroy itself, to protect any potential life on Saturn’s moons. Can’t have Earth-life-tainted space junk floating around out there.

Cassini’s mission has been an astonishing success — with an emphasis on astonishing. It found things that turned some of our notions on their heads, and revealed a small moon with a liquid water geyser(!). It’s going to take a while to figure that one out.

I’ll not go into all the details; there’s actually a pretty nice write-up at fivethirtyeight, and you can get real-time updates straight from NASA.

The scientific instrument I most appreciate is the plain ol’ camera – Cassini sent home some beautiful images. Here’s a low-res markup of one of my favorites: A shot of Earth taken through the rings of Saturn.

The universe is still filled with mystery; we’re barely out of our own back yard and everywhere we turn we find things that astonish us. As we struggle with the trials of having a lot of sentient creatures packed onto the rocky parts of the surface of one small planet, we would do well to take a breath and look up, and be awestricken by what we see.

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