Comments on: A Health Care Role for Hillary

By: jayackroyd

jayackroyd — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:39:19 +0000

apparently my y key isn't working so well. Please mentally insert them where appropriate.
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Did I mention that preview guy? It was great when he was around.

By: jayackroyd

jayackroyd — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:37:56 +0000

Trying to get people to agree is the problem.
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Right. First, you have to stop talking about party affiliation, entirely. Put together a presidential commission, with academics and software designers on it. Look at Canada and Mexico. Figure out a way that divides them up into pretend districts that everyone agrees is a fair method. Then give it to state governments. You can't make them use it, but they will look bad if the don't. And the minority part would make a ruckus.
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If David Broder were really worried about excess partisanship, he'd fund it himself out of his own pocket. Or one of the GIS companies might do it for free, for the publicity. It's not a difficult software problem. It's just a matter of polygons on a map based on population centroids, which is a solved problem.
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But you have to develop it with Rawls' Veil of Ignorance over the results.

By: jayackroyd

jayackroyd — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:27:07 +0000

I agree on the value of Bill's work, and his value as American ambassador without portfolio. I even like that he has his office on 125 rather than midtown or the financial district.
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The developed world has been shameful wrt to water, sanitation and malaria prevention in poor countries, and it's great to see both of the Bills (Gates) working on it.
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I just don't think it will easy to govern with an expresident's spouse as a SecState.

By: jayackroyd

jayackroyd — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:23:33 +0000

Andy-

thanks for that link. I didn't know that had happened. All my gods have feet of clay....

By: Do We Let Hillary Clinton Muck Up Foreign Policy or Health Care? - Liberal Values - Defending Liberty and Enlightened Thought

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:24:28 +0000

[...] me to now hope that Hillary Clinton is offered and accepts the position of Secretary of State. Karen Tumulty posts an announcement that Ted Kennedy has asked Clinton to head one of three task forces on health [...]

By: trifecta

trifecta — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:34:23 +0000

The state legislation races are quite critical in 2010. Census is going to be interesting. I do like Jay's idea of throwing this to computers. Trying to get people to agree is the problem. If you slice up a contiguous urban area, you have issues. But if you keep it intact, you benefit Republicans more than their percent of the population merits. If a state had 10 districts, and the state was 50/50 as a rule on voting patterns, I would be tempted to try to create 10 50/50 districts. But, there are problems. Would you carve up an urban area, and attach farm country to it, to achieve this goal?
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I would love for their to be some mechanism for creating 50/50 districts first. Then doing whatever with the rest as the population falls.

By: Now She Tells Me. « From Laurel Street

Now She Tells Me. « From Laurel Street — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:29:00 +0000

[...] | Tags: government, lieberman, senate Karen Tumulty, in the comment thread of her Swampland post “A Health Care Role for Hillary”: Also, on the Lieberman thing, it seems to me that losing a chairmanship is a rare thing in [...]

By: bitterpill8

bitterpill8 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:27:48 +0000

sevenoaks:

My father is in South Africa working out of the British Embassy and he focuses on health care issues (aids) in the region: really tough stuff in SA, Swaziland, Lesotho and Botswana. The Clinton Global Initiative with the help of Pres Mandela is very active on the aids issue which has been downgraded by the SA ggovernment under Pres Mbeki - now gone. Perhaps this is why Bill Clinton is appreciated in Africa, where they are desperate for help than in America where we have to bring down anyone with whom we disagree politically.

By: Andy from MA

Andy from MA — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:19:21 +0000

Jayackroyd -- I respectfully disagree with you about gerrymandering in Maine. Because of population shifts in the southern part of the state, the 2nd congression district was redrawn to include Lewiston-Auburn, a largely democratic population. LA as it is known to the locals was once part of the first congression district. I believe this was done within the last census.

By: sevenoaks07

sevenoaks07 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:11:21 +0000

Jayack: I want to come back to your issue with HRC and Bill. My wife works in the African circuit for the WHO and she completed an inspection tour. Bill's reputation is really high. In his most recent efforts he has organised for medications (HIV , malaria and anti-tb drugs) to be delivered by a cadre of nurse aids who go from village to village to treat locals who can't get to a hospital. It is a really innovative program and costs tons of money which Bill has raised. When I hear that he collects millions from rich Arabs I ask myself: does that go to the sick. The WHO says it does.

I think there is too much of this knee jerk rubbish that Chris Matthews/ David Gregoryy/Andrea Mitchell/Chris Hitchens spout from their comfortable and well paid chairs in Washington. Is Bill collecting fees from rich Arabs? Yes. What's new. A ton of Washington types including Ann Coulter collect that stuff from our own circuit where they spout awful rubbish.

My wife told me that if Bill gave her a 100,000 anti-malaria pills and anti-smallpox tablets or whatever she can live with Hillary as SOS.