Update: I am feeling a little better, so I'll be working late and then cleaning my house this afternoon. Just in case anyone was worried about me! :)

An interesting way to "raise" taxes

Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) of Illinois was sworn into office on Monday, but the honeymoon for him is already over. Blago (as the Chicago radio station WGN is calling him) comes into office in the middle of the worst budget crisis in Illinois' history. He's facing a $5 billon shortage.

Blago said yesterday that every single part of the Illinois state budget, except education, healtcare and police protection, faces serious cuts in the next few weeks as his administration tries to close the crater. However, these cuts still aren't going to be enough dirt in the hole. That means that the new governor is going to face a dilemna that many other politicians have faced, he campaigned on the promise that he would not raise income or sales tax.

One solution that is in the media today is that Blago is suggesting that he could expand, not raise, the state sales tax. Meaning that the state would start to tax nearly 200 personal services from those offered by doctors and lawyers to plumbers, dry cleaners and hair stylists that are currently tax exempt. The Chicago Tribune reports that "Blagojevich said the service tax is only one of 100 options under review, adding that the budget team will look at borrowing on the state's tobacco settlement, spurring development of the state's 10th casino and ending sales tax exemptions on manufacturing equipment."

So, in the political world I suppose that expanding taxes, even though people will ultimately pay more in tax money, isn't the same thing as raising taxes, huh?

Being Sick

I am not good at being sick. I do not slow down well...I am one of those people who has to be doing something all the time. I can't just sit and watch TV, I have to be doing something while I watch TV. So, needless to say when I'm getting sick I'm not the best at taking care of myself. So here I am, I know I'm getting sick. I ache from head to toe, I am in a fairly crappy mood and I can't stay out of the bathroom. It sucks...yet I am at work, I can't go home because I have a vendor meeting me at 10:30 for a delivery, I am off at noon and while going home and getting some sleep before I'm full blown sick and my weekend sucks would make the most sense, I know I will struggle to do that. I just wish I could turn off the voice in my head that keeps nagging "do the laundry, clean the house, do your homework, do some consulting work..."

I'm going to try...I really am. I think if I can sleep for a few hours this afternoon maybe I can lick this thing before I'm under full blown seige.

Friday Five!

Happy Friday everybody! Here's this week's Friday Five!

1. Where do you currently work?
I currently work at a large Pediatric Clinic in Iowa City.

2. How many other jobs have you had and where?
This is my first "real" job, I've been here for seven years. Before Peds I worked summers in high school and college, my first job was as a camp counselor, after that I worked as a page at the public library and I worked as a receptionist/clerk at a medical office.

3. What do you like best about your job?
It's challenging. Healthcare is an everchanging industry and It's a real challenge to navigate eleven physicians through it, in a way that they will make money and still provide quality care to their patients.

4. What do you like least about your job?
My coworkers and some of the office politics/procedures. It's an everpresent theme on this blog that I work with some uneducated people (not all of them here are) who are interested in working here because it's a job, not because it's a career. On top of that, from an employee stand point our office is often mismanaged, rules change for each person in the office, we hire unqualified people, etc. It gets frustrating.

5. What is your dream job?
Healthcare Lobbyist.

Gender Roles

I think it's funny just how engrained in us gender roles are. Specifically what brought this to mind today is that I was exploring the White House website and on the First Lady's side of the site you can find out all about Laura, what her agenda is, and....get some of her recipes!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm always on the prowl for a new recipe, I just thought it was funny that this was included on the government site.

The "Real Beverly Hillbillies"

I've blogged at length about my disgust with reality TV. And I realize that most of you probably think that I need to loosen up and enjoy something mindless for a change. To you, I will admit, once in a while when I'm flipping channels a reality show will catch my interest, but quickly loses it again. But, all is not lost on me, I am a big fan of Trading Space (reality based...) and for some reason I really like Fear Factor...anyways...I digress, back to my disgust. I am absolutely amazed that CBS is going forth with their plans for a show called "The Real Beverly Hillbillies" where they take a hill country family and drop them in LA to see what happens. What I think amazes me most is that people who actually thing this project is a good idea (the network, advertisers, etc.)

Well, I'm not alone in thinking that maybe this is a little far fetched even for the low levels that TV has taken itself to. Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass has a great column today about the proposed TV show.

I know I won't be watching "The Real Beverly Hillbillies" I'm still holding out for "The American Candidate!!!"

As if the incresased risk of cardiac failure, diabetes and premature deathe weren't enough...

There's another reason to keep bad self slim and trim.....doctors leave surgery tools inside 1500 people every year, most of whom are fat. YIKES!

Medical Malpractice Reform

The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that President Bush will make a speech today (update: he already gave the speech, for a good review of it click here) at a hospital in Scranton outlining his proposal for medical malpractice reform. Bush's recommendations are in direct response the malpractice insurance crisis (see below for background on the crisis) that has struck the East Coast and is quickly spreading across the country. The high cost of malpractice insurance premiums is causing the crisis that has resulted in nationwide physician work stoppages, most notably earlier this month more than 18 general, orthopedic and heart surgeons in northern West Virginia began to take leaves of absence to protest the state's high malpractice insurance rates. Pennsylvania averted a devastating strike this month as well when state officials agreed to help negotiate lower premiums for their physicians. Presumably Bush's proposal will call for a reduction in medical malpractice insurance premiums for physicians by limiting the amount of damages that juries can award in malpractice cases. Last year, The White House made public comments (and I believe Bush made a speech about them as well) that they supported "strict limits" on malpractice jury awards that would save "tens of billions of dollars" and force a reduction in premiums. (Bush made these comments in response to the Greenwood Bill that limited the time someone had to file a malpractice suit and set limits for the potential award. The Bill passed the House, but was defeated in the Senate.)

The article in the Philadelphia Inquirer points out that:

"By helping to make malpractice a household word, Bush is focusing on a potent issue for Republicans, one that casts trial lawyers as the cause for physicians' and patients' anguish. The stand harmonizes well with the views of the Republicans' new Senate majority leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee, the only senator who is a physician. The issue also sets Bush apart from a major challenger in 2004, Sen. John Edwards (D., N.C.), a millionaire trial lawyer who has won malpractice cases and sees his work as standing up for the poor.

This is going to become an interesting debate between the Republican and Democratic parties as they begin to position themselves for the 2004 election. Already yesterday, several Democratic lawmakers have spoken out against Bush's proposal. Their position is that the solution to the crisis is tougher regulation of the insurance industry. John Edwards, the aforementioned Presidential candidate, has gone on record saying that malpractice insurers have raised premiums to help recoup stock market losses and they are trying to recover their losses by raising the price for the doctors they insure.

For those who don't know, here's a little synopsis of the current malpractice insurance crisis. The bottom line is that the malpractice insurance premiums for certain medical procedures have risen so high that physicians are being forced to close the doors of their clinic, and/or not provide necessary treatment to patients, because they can't pay the insurance premiums necessary to protect themselves. It has been widely publicized in the last few months that doctor's are referring their critically ill patients to other often larger hospitals (such as Johns Hopkins), that are farther away, for necessary surgeries. In fact, so many surgeries were canceled that Mercy Hospital of Scranton (where Bush is speaking) lost $1 million in December alone. Couple these losses with the falling health insurance reimbursements and the healthcare industry is facing a true crisis.

YEAH....My new glasses are in!!!

Now I'll be able to see what I'm blogging...what a unique concept!

How 'bout them Hawks???

It's hard to believe it...but in two consecutive games, the Iowa Hawkeyes basketball team (yes the same scandal riddled team that is playing with 7 players) has managed to beat Michigan State and #8 Illinois. It's unbelievable!!!

A couple very brief notes about the game...

~Jeff Horner....what a player! I can't wait to watch this guy play for the next four years. As a freshman, he was the leading scorer for the Iowa team last night. Horner had five assists, was 9-of-11 from the free throw line, scored 16 points and had 11 boards (hello double-double!)

~ The Hawks won by forcing 17 turnovers and grabbing every missed Illini shot in the final 10 minutes of the game.

~ESPN comments that this might win the Hawks some respect finally this season. Even though this team says they don't want it. I think it's good that the team says they don't need to respect because, they aren't getting it. In the same article that ESPN says we deserve respect they rip it away from us by publishing this caption under the video footage link

"Unranked Iowa upsets No. 8 Illinois in Ames."

There is not a bigger insult that can be bestowed upon an Iowa team than to suggest that we are from AMES!

Thank Goodness!!!

Kirk Ferentz is STAYING at Iowa, as the Head Football Coach! That makes a cold crazy day a little bit better!

Life in a Nutshell

Again, I've been guilty of blog neglect for the last 36 hours, but life at my job has started to spiral out of control for me, so I've had a hard time finding time to have a personal thought much less have time to blog. But...this afternoon I am going to try to post some thoughts because I have a lot to talk about, hopefully this goes smoothly.

First, on a very light note, I discovered last night why they invented the children's game OPERATION. It teaches children a real life skill....how to get things out of a drawer with wet fingernail polish! I know, guys, most of you (except Brandon) can't relate but believe me, the skills you learned in OPERATION are the exact skills needed to obtain something from a drawer and not wreck your fresh manicure.

On another light female related note, Tiffany, of Beltway Bloggers fame, has an insightful humorous post on her blog this afternoon about exactly what horror women go through every 28 days. It's a good read, check it out!

On to other definitely more important things...

Jeff and I had an interesting talk last night about the pending military conflict in Iraq. Jeff believes that Bush is really just calling Sadaam's bluff right now. He commented that he thinks Bush doesn't intend to actually fight a war with Sadaam, he just needs to look like he does in order to force Sadaam to allow the weapons inspectors access to Iraq. It's an interesting thought. It lead me to bring up my thoughts on why Americans are so against a war. I wanted to post my hypothesis here and see if anyone else had a thought about it. I think that it's possible that the Vietnam war changed the American public's outlook on war in general. Vietnam was a horrible war, it was not only the only war that America has lost but there were extraordinary numbers of human casualties. During the Vietnam war, for the first time, that I am aware of (please correct me if I'm wrong) in American history, there were widespread anti-war protests to the war (for the aforementioned justifiable reasons) and the peace movement was truly born. I think that this changed the American prospective on war. First, it proved to us that we are invincible. But, more importantly I think it really threw open the door for American's to protest future wars/government actions. Possibly, because large numbers of kids of my generation grew up with parents who still harbor a large wound from Vietnam (not a physical wound mind you) it has created some sense of doubt/fear/resentment over the prospect of war in general. I think that subconsciously the American's view of their government and the government's actions, including this impending war in Iraq, was changed forever. Mind you, this does not mean that every American has a different view now, but I believe that there was a residual effect that might be rearing it's head right now in the anti-war mantra people have taken on.

Additionally (caution...), I am amazed at how little people actually know about current events these days. Everyday, I come to work and I have to regurgitate the nightly news for my coworkers. It's not that they don't watch the news, they do, but they either don't understand it or they take the "headline" from it and begin panicking. As someone who watches news every morning and every night (and I'm not talking about the poor excuse for news that our local 10pm newscast is...sorry Willie...) and I read at least 4 magazines cover to cover every week, it amazes me that people don't yearn to understand what's going on. Understanding doesn't make the news easier to swallow, as there are some fairly scary things going on in the world today, but at least you know what it is that you are scared of or protesting. I run into so many people who can't even begin to explain to you the difference between the crisis with Iraq and the crisis with North Korea, it's amazing. In fact I had someone ask me today if because of Iraq and North Korea if the American government was just forgetting about our war in PAKISTAN!!??!! To which I said..."you mean Afghanistan?" This person has a college degree....she's no dummy, but seriously. WATCH THE NEWS! READ A NEWSPAPER....be involved in your own life people. Everything going on in the world effects each one of us in some way. It's just amazing to me.

Sorry, I didn't mean to get on such a tangent there, sometimes my blood starts to boil and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Thanks for bearing with me.

I have one more subject to bring up today and then it's back to the piles on my desk....
I promised a rant about Illinois' now former Governor George Ryan and his blanket clemency of Illinois' death row. I'm not in the mood to rant right now, but I did want to mention a couple thoughts. First, while I in no way shape or form agree with Ryan's actions, I do agree that the capital punishment system in Illinois has some flaws and that putting a freeze on executions (which he did in 2000) while the system is reviewed and each case examined is the right move. Blanket clemency is not the right move. I think this was a Clinton-esque approach at leaving a last minute legacy after a term filled with controversy. And I think that's just plan crappy.

Judge Judy?

I read a little news clip in the latest issue of Fortune last night, that Judge Judy has inked a deal with her sydication network to make $25 Million a year. That's more than any news caster on TV right now, including Katie Couric and her monster contract with NBC. It's also...15 times the COMBINED yearly salary of all the US Supreme Court Justices. Does a smart-alec TV Judge, with her tough judical decisions ("Who keyed whose car?" for example) really deserve to make this kind of dough?

An Important Day in Illinois

At 12 Noon today, Rod Blagojevich will be sworn in as the first Democratic governor for the state of Illinois since 1977. It dissapoints me that a Democrat won in my home state, but I am breathing a sigh of relief that the crooked George Ryan era is over....finally! (more rants on George Ryan, and his lovely parting gifts to the state of Illinois will be posted soon...)

Army of One?

Jeff and I were watching Alias last night, and one of the new Army commercials came on. I've seen these ads frequently as of late and I've been perplexed by their new ad slogan... "Army of One." Isn't the purpose of joining the Army to be a part of a bigger entity? I would imagine that individualism is not the first quality you need in someone who needs to work as part of the larger picture. The ads just seem a little strange to me.