It wasn't that long ago when I was just crying in my bedroom, not knowing what I could do next. Prop 8 had passed in California, and it felt like I was completely stripped of my human rights. Why did everything go so wrong when it seemed like the worst had just ended with Barack Obama's victory?

But in the next few days, hope returned. Lawsuits were filed to protect people's rights. People soon took to the streets to protest the temporary "win" for hate. And most importantly, a new civil rights movement was born as people began organizing to show the state, the nation, and the world that love conquers all.

So how has a temporary defeat resulted in a sudden push for victory?

(Cross-posted at Calitics)

Although we have had one woman running for President and one female vice-presidential candidate, the 2008 election was not a complete success for women. We elected ten new women to the House and two to the Senate, but also suffered bitter defeats in House races where incredibly qualified challengers like former Microsoft executive Darcy Burner and Huntington Beach mayor Debbie Cook lost hard fought races against lackluster Republican incumbents. Furthermore, the pipeline of women elected on the local and state level (especially here in California) has flat-lined.

Chronically ill U.S. patients have the least access, the worst coordination of care, and the worst medical safety experiences among patients in the developed world's eight most developed nations, a new study released last week in Health Affairs In Chronic Condition: Experiences Of Patients With Complex Health Care Needs, In Eight Countries, 2008
- shows. Regardless of the fact that we pay more, we get far less. In essence, this study also shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the US is rationing healthcare. Healthcare that the chronically ill in most other developed nations usually receive is unaffordable to many chronically ill adults in the US.

For the chronically ill in the US, this often results in tragic outcomes that are completely preventable.

http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/con tent/full/hlthaff.28.1.w1/DC1

In Chronic Condition:
Experiences Of Patients With
Complex Health Care Needs,
In Eight Countries, 2008

Chronically ill U.S. patients have the most negative access,
coordination, and safety experiences.

by Cathy Schoen, Robin Osborn, Sabrina K.H. How,
Michelle M. Doty, and Jordon Peugh

ABSTRACT:

This 2008 survey of chronically ill adults in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States finds major differences among countries in access, safety, and care efficiency. U.S. patients were at particularly high risk of forgoing care because of costs and of experiencing inefficient, poorly organized care, or errors. The Dutch, who have a strong primary care infrastructure, report notably positive access and coordination experiences. Still, deficits in care management during hospital discharge or when seeing multiple doctors occurred in all countries. Findings highlight the need for system innovations to improve outcomes for patients with complex chronic conditions. [Health Affairs 28, no. 1 (2009): w1-w16 (published online 13 November 2008; 10.1377/hlthaff.28.1.w1)]

Medical science advances and improved living standards have saved lives and contributed to longer life expectancy, yet industrialized nations now face the growing challenge of caring for patients with chronic diseases. Health systems initially designed to respond to acute, episodic illness increasingly care for patients with ongoing conditions, where the goals include preventing complications or deterioration rather than cure. Often coping with multiple conditions, chronically ill patients may see multiple clinicians at different care sites, increasing the risks of errors and poor care coordination. Across industrialized nations, chronically ill patients account for a disproportionate share of national health spending, placing them at the center of initiatives to improve health system performance.1

Experiences of chronically ill patients, especially those with recent hospitalizations or serious illnesses, offer unique perspectives. To learn from such patients, the 2008 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey interviewed adults with chronic conditions who had recent health care experiences in eight countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Including France for the first time, the survey builds on an annual series that informs a symposium with ministers and policy experts from surveyed countries. This study focuses on access, coordination, safety, and care management experiences.

The countries participating in the survey represent a diverse mix of insurance designs and primary care systems. Among the eight countries, the United States stands out for having the most expensive system ($7,000 per capita compared to under $3,500 in the other countries as of 2006), for its gaps in coverage, and for high cost sharing even for patients with insurance.2 The other seven countries have systems with comprehensive minimum benefits and universal coverage. Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have no cost sharing for primary care. France's insurance system protects patients with specific chronic illnesses from coinsurance. Germany limits cost sharing to 1 percent of income for the chronically ill and 2 percent for all households.3 The Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom require patients to register with a general practitioner (GP) who acts as a gateway to more specialized care. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom are noted for their strong primary care foundations.4

Secretary of State - I'm all for Hillary Clinton for this post. Main reason is that she would be very good at it. There may be a bit of conflict but I'm sure No Drama Obama can handle it. Politically, her appointment would increase his support among women. Economically, Obama should ask Doris Kearns Goodwin for a share of the royalties from increased book sales.

Treasury Secretary - Larry Summers has been the front runner but many are worried that the Harvard thing will be a big problem. I'm inclined to believe that this problem will fade away, leaving us with the complaint that Summers is too abraive. I think that Obama can convince him to tone down. And, whenever he wants abrasive, Summers can visit Raul Emanuel in the White house.

The Puppy - A major White House decision. Once selected, there will be a question of name. If
it's a girl puppy, I would name it Hillary. Then, there's a chance that a Hillary will do as Obama says. If a boy puppy, I would expect it to grow into an attack dog and name it Raul.

homer   www.altara.blogspot.com

Cross posted at www.21stdems.org/blog

This month we won a historic electoral victory. But our work didn't end on election day - it only started.

As President-elect Obama said on election night:

"This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were."

The time to make real, lasting change is upon us.

Now we must repair the damage inflicted by eight years of Republican misrule, and put our country back on track. As progressives, we must fight to ensure that the Democrats in control of our government respect the voters and enact policies that put the American people first.

It's hard to overstate the transformative moment that we're in as a nation and, particularly, as progressives. In just a few years, we've gone from the high point of conservative power to a stunning rejection of conservative federal leadership and the historic election of a progressive African-American president.

But the electoral sea change is just part of the extraordinary national moment. The financial meltdown and slide toward deep recession have crystallized Americans' anger over deteriorating economic security, stagnant mobility, growing inequality, and policies of isolation instead of connection. Americans are ready for a new social compact and a transformed relationship between the people and our government. They are calling for a new era of big ideas and different values than we've seen over most of the past three decades.

The electorate has shown an unprecedented willingness to overcome racial and ethnic barriers to take on daunting shared challenges. Young people, people of color, and low-income people turned out to register and vote in unprecedented numbers that bode well for a far more participatory and egalitarian democracy going forward.

Even before this year's remarkable events, opinion research showed a historic, progressive shift in Americans' views on issues that (not coincidentally) were barely mentioned in the election. Perhaps most striking is the shift on criminal justice and problems of addiction, where the U.S. public has moved broadly to support rehabilitation and treatment over incarceration and retribution, as well as assistance and integration for people emerging from prison.

But an unprecedented opportunity for progressive values and ideas is not the same as victory for a progressive social and policy vision. The stark challenges of rising inequality, faltering security, and broken systems of health care, immigration, and criminal justice are the same on November 5 as they were on November 4. What's changed is only the chance for transformative change.

Greetings ladies and gentlemen and welcome to a new installment of Manufacturing Monday.  Now I would like to do something a tad different this week. You see today we get two important economic indicators released. So, instead of waiting a whole week for me to reprise them here, I would go ahead and write about then today!  I will still go over last week's indicators, but figured you deserve to get something more up to date as well.  The numbers get released around 9:30 Eastern, so they will be covered first, then last week's stuff.

Beyond the Numbers section, this week we'll be covering Green Manufacturing again.  We haven't touched this in a while, what with all the GM related business.  Yet there have been some very interesting developments in the green collar world.  So before you, for your pleasure, is some stuff that may or may not put a smile on your face.  Either way, it looks as if, thankfully, we are turning a new leaf (sorry, couldn't help it) on manufacturing!

General Motors has come to Washington, begging for a $25 billion bailout to keep it and its ailing Detroit counterparts going next year. But nobody seems too thrilled about the prospect. Liberals dwell on the companies' gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles. Conservatives obsess over all the well-paid union members with gold-plated benefits. And people of all ideological backgrounds remember how they used to buy domestic cars, years ago, but stopped because the cars were so damn lousy. "The downfall of the American auto industry is indeed a tragedy," the Washington Post editorial board sermonized recently, "but the automakers and the United Auto Workers have only themselves to blame for much of it."