Reasons to Fix Our Democracy Podcast Series: Recent Episodes
Rick Hubbard
Walking To Fix Our Democracy is a national effort to fix the structure and financing of our political system in order to provide proper representation for the common good of all Americans. It is coupled with a very long walk sparked by Rick Hubbard that began in Los Angeles on October 1st, 2022 and will link up with activists for events in communities and states en route, and finish with an event at the steps of our Capitol in Washington D.C. about 15 months later. Reasons to Fix Our Democracy is a growing podcast series that discusses these problems and fixes.
The original Oct. 17, 2023 broadcast can be found on VTDigger, a statewide Vermont news source:
https://vtdigger.org/2023/10/18/walking-across-america-to-fix-democracy/
Episode #5, written and recorded by Rick Hubbard during his cross country Walking to Fix Our Democracy epic journey.
NOTES:
Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Link: https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/us#:~:text=%22We%20the%20People%20of%20the,for%20the%20United%20States%20of
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/24/more-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-as-inflation-outpaces-income
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-number-of-consumers-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-has-increased-year-over-year-across-all-income-levels-301596552.html
https://fortune.com/2022/06/16/41-percent-of-employees-are-living-paycheck-to-paycheck/
Congressional Budget Office, Working Paper 2020-08, December 2020, How CBO Analyzes the Costs of Proposals for Single-Payer Health Care Systems That Are Based on Medicare’s Fee-for-Service Program Link: https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-12/56811-Single-Payer.pdf
Congressional Budget Office, Working Paper 2020-08, December 2020 Exhibit 11-1, p. 121, National Health Expenditures Under Current Law and CBO’s Illustrative Single-Payer Options, 2030. Link: https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-12/56811-Single-Payer.pdf
Health Affairs Blog, 2021-2-16, Doctors Adam Gaffney, David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler, Congressional Budget Office Scores Medicare-For-All: Universal Coverage For Less Spending. Link: https://www.healtheaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210210.190243/full/
Health Affairs Blog, 2021-2-16, Doctors Adam Gaffney, David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler, Congressional Budget Office Scores Medicare-For-All: Universal Coverage For Less Spending. Effects of Design Features Underlying All of the Options, page 13. Link: https://www.healtheaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210210.190243/full/
US Census Bureau, Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2021
Written by: Katherine Keisler-Starkey and Lisa N. Bunch, Report Number P60-278, Dated: September 13, 2022 Link: https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2022/demo/p60-278.html
2021-3-11 Health Affairs Blog - Medicare Advantage For All? Not So Fast, Exhibit 1: Medicare Advantage enrollment rates over time. Link: https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210304.136304/full/
Dr. Ana Malinow, MD Past President of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) video presentation explaining Dicrect Contract Entities.
Link: https://pnhp.org/direct-contracting-entities-handing-traditional-medicare-to-wall-street
2021-9-29 Health Affairs Blog, Gilfillan and Berwick - Medicare Advantage, Direct Contracting, And The Medicare ‘Money Machine,’ Part 1: The Risk-Score Game, How the “MA Money Machine Works.” Link: https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210927.6239/full/
2021-9-30 Health Affairs Blog, Gilfillan and Berwick - Medicare Advantage, Direct Contracting, And The Medicare ‘Money Machine,’ Part 2:
2021-8-17 Kaiser Family Foundation - Higher and Faster Growing Spending Per Medicare Advantage Enrollee Adds to Medicare’s Solvency and Affordability Challenges. Findings-Spending per person. Link: https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/higher-and-faster-growing-spending-per-medicare-advantage-enrollee-adds-to-medicares-solvency-and-affordability-challenges/
2021-3-11 Health Affairs Blog - Medicare Advantage For All? Not So Fast, Exhibit 4: Medicare per beneficiary growth rate. Link: https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210304.136304/full/
2021-8-17 Kaiser Family Foundation - Higher and Faster Growing Spending Per Medicare Advantage Enrollee Adds to Medicare’s Solvency and Affordability Challenges. - Conclusion. Link: https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/higher-and-faster-growing-spending-per-medicare-advantage-enrollee-adds-to-medicares-solvency-and-affordability-challenges/
Brennan Center For Justice, 2021-11-6 - Tim Las, The Filibuster Explained, https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/filibuster-explained
Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America, by Katherine M. Gehl and Michael E. Porter
https://www.hbs.edu/competitiveness/Documents/why-competition-in-the-politics-industry-is-failing-america.pdf
Takeaways About Money in the Midterms, The Brennan Center for Justice
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/4-takeaways-about-money-midterms
Majority of Americans say they won’t donate to 2020 presidential campaigns
CNBC and Acorns Invest in Your Spending Survey.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/28/majority-of-americans-wont-donate-to-2020-presidential-campaigns.html
Rick was interviewed Sept. 11, 2023 while in Taos, NM by KCEI host Robin Collier. 29:30
NOTES:Congressional Budget Office, Working Paper 2020-08, December 2020, How CBO Analyzes the Costs of Proposals for Single-Payer Health Care Systems That Are Based on Medicare’s Fee-for-Service Program Link: https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-12/56811-Single-Payer.pdf (See pages 121 and 122.)
Congressional Budget Office, Working Paper 2020-08, December 2020 Exhibit 11-1, p. 121, National Health Expenditures Under Current Law and CBO’s Illustrative Single-Payer Options, 2030. Link: https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-12/56811-Single-Payer.pdf
Health Affairs Blog, 2021-2-16, Doctors Adam Gaffney, David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler, Congressional Budget Office Scores Medicare-For-All: Universal Coverage For Less Spending. Link:
https://pnhp.org/news/congressional-budget-office-scores-medicare-for-all-universal-coverage-for-less-spending/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 16, 2023 - U.S. Uninsured Rate Dropped 18% During Pandemic. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2023/202305.htm - :~~:text=Highlights from the report include,or 3.7 million in 2019.
The Commonwealth Fund, Surveys, September 29th, 2022. The State of US Health Insurance in 2022. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2022/sep/state-us-health-insurance-2022-biennial-survey - :~~:text=Forty-three percent of working,to health care (23%25).
US Census Bureau, Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2021
Written by: Katherine Keisler-Starkey and Lisa N. Bunch, Report Number P60-278, Dated: September 13, 2022 Link: https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2022/demo/p60-278.html
2021-3-11 Health Affairs Blog - Medicare Advantage For All? Not So Fast, Exhibit 1: Medicare Advantage enrollment rates over time. Link: https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210304.136304/full/
Dr. Ana Malinow, MD Past President of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) video presentation explaining Direct Contract Entities.
Link: https://pnhp.org/direct-contracting-entities-handing-traditional-medicare-to-wall-street
2021-9-29 Health Affairs Blog, Gilfillan and Berwick - Medicare Advantage, Direct Contracting, And The Medicare ‘Money Machine,’ Part 1: The Risk-Score Game, How the “MA Money Machine Works.” Link: https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210927.6239/full/
2021-9-30 Health Affairs Blog, Gilfillan and Berwick - Medicare Advantage, Direct Contracting, And The Medicare ‘Money Machine,’ Part 2: Link: https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/medicare-advantage-direct-contracting-and-medicare-money-machine-part-2-building-aco
2021-8-17 Kaiser Family Foundation - Higher and Faster Growing Spending Per Medicare Advantage Enrollee Adds to Medicare’s Solvency and Affordability Challenges. Findings-Spending per person. Link: https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/higher-and-faster-growing-spending-per-medicare-advantage-enrollee-adds-to-medicares-solvency-and-affordability-challenges/
2021-3-11 Health Affairs Blog - Medicare Advantage For All? Not So Fast, Exhibit 4: Medicare per beneficiary growth rate. Link: https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210304.136304/full/
2021-8-17 Kaiser Family Foundation - Higher and Faster Growing Spending Per Medicare Advantage Enrollee Adds to Medicare’s Solvency and Affordability Challenges. - Conclusion. Link: https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/higher-and-faster-growing-spending-per-medicare-advantage-enrollee-adds-to-medicares-solvency-and-affordability-challenges/
NOTES
https://www.fixourdemocracy.us
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/24/more-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-as-inflation-outpaces-income
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-number-of-consumers-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-has-increased-year-over-year-across-all-income-levels-301596552.html
https://fortune.com/2022/06/16/41-percent-of-employees-are-living-paycheck-to-paycheck/
This episode is directed directly to those we have elected to represent us - we the people - in Congress and covers the following:
- The job you took an oath to do.
- How and why a majority of you are not properly doing your job.
- How and why that is hurting our nation.
- How you have set the rules to serve your interests, and those of your political party above representing our common public interests.
- You have prioritized wining and staying in power over properly governing.
- Doing your job properly requires you to speak out about how the structure and financing of our political system is not serving the very people it is designed to serve.
- Unless you repeatedly say why the structure and financing of our political process works against the common good of we the people, the media will not amplify this.
- And amplifying these problems and discussing reforms is essential for most people to begin to hear, think about, and decide how our political system’s many broken parts might best be fixed.
- It’s time to change this behavior. Our country has been damaged enough, and it has led too many of us to question whether democracy can survive.
- So I ask each of you. Are you willing to stand up and tell those you represent and the media the following:
- A list follows of normally unmentioned, though hugely relevant, damaging aspects of the structure and financing of our political system.
- If you are an elected representative willing to do your job as discussed above, congratulations. You are doing the right thing and deserve the full support of we the people.
- But if you are unwilling to speak out about improving our political system to serve all of us, then know that public pressure is mounting to vote you out of office for not properly doing the job you agreed to do when you took your oath of office.
- I hope I have given you something to think about.
- And I hope that many, perhaps even most of you, will choose the path that best serves our people and our nation.
REFERENCES
- Brennan Center For Justice, 2021-11-6 - Tim Las, The Filibuster Explained, https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/filibuster-explained
- Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America, by Katherine M. Gehl and Michael E. Porter https://www.hbs.edu/competitiveness/Documents/why-competition-in-the-politics-industry-is-failing-america.pdf
- Takeaways About Money in the Midterms, The Brennan Center for Justice https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/4-takeaways-about-money-midterms
- Majority of Americans say they won’t donate to 2020 presidential campaigns, CNBC and Acorns Invest in You Spending Survey. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/28/majority-of-americans-wont-donate-to-2020-presidential-campaigns.html
Hello. I’m Rick Hubbard and this is the first in a series of podcasts about our need to fix America’s dysfunctional democracy. This podcast series is titled “Reasons to Fix Our Democracy,” and each podcast will highlight “another reason to fix our democracy”. I’ll post them periodically, beginning as I prepare for walking across America to advocate with others for this same issue.
Today’s “Another Reason to Fix Our Democracy” is because a majority of those we’ve elected to represent us in Congress and lead our nation, together with many of our Court system’s judges, are not, and have not for several decades, been doing their job. They have not been properly representing the common good of us all and our nation.
The Reasons to Fix Our Democracy podcast series is part of Walking To Fix Our Democracy, a national effort to fix many problems, coupled with a very long walk sparked by Rick Hubbard that will begin in Los Angeles about October 1st, 2022 and finish with an event at the steps of our Capitol in Washington D.C. about 15 months later.