The Joy is in the Details

Amidst the recent tumult over national health care some interesting details were overlooked. According to an article in this mornings Dallas Morning News, only 41 percent of the health goals set by the government in 1990 have been achieved. The results for the goals set in 2000 were even worse, 24 percent. The results forecast for 2010 look to be little, if at all better. The statistics in other areas were equally disappointing. While there were some positive statistics such as a rise in vaccination rates and a reduction in the numbers of strokes and heart attacks, the overall numbers were at best disappointing, especially considering how much money was spent. The poor statistics must certainly have played a role in the government's decision to take things in hand.

It is of no surprise that things did not work out according to plans. They rarely do. It is difficult to make plans and preparations for a nation of over 200 million people. Some eat well, others don't. Some exercise, others don't. Some get their vaccinations, others don't. Some engage in healthy lifestyles, others don't. The list goes on. In order to make a prediction concerning the rate of heart disease 10 years into the future one must have some idea how people are going to conduct their lives over those ten years. Some are content to make observations and extrapolate. Others are less patient and less scientific. They know the results they want and they are determined to do what they can to achieve those results. They are also the ones that make every body's business their business because they sincerely believe that every body's business is their business. The best way to achieve the results you want is to control the variables. Government believes it can control the variables. Indeed, for many, controlling the variables is where the true pleasure of legislation lay. For them, the joy is in the details.

The CDC expects only 20 percent of the health care goals set for 2010 will be achieved. Among other things, people are still not exercising enough, and are still eating too much and too poorly. They are not getting their vaccinations as they should. Tooth decay and blood pressure are up. There was some good news as well. Deaths from stroke, cancer and heart disease all dropped. Health care in the U.S. is not a complete disaster. Perhaps instead of remaking the health care system, we should have first seen what we could have done to fix the one we had. But where is the glory in that?

I suppose we can hope that we do better than achieve 24 percent of the health care goals we have set out to achieve. Perhaps we can even match the 41 percent of the goals that were set in 1990. 41 percent is better than nothing, even if it will be 59 percent less than what we paid for. Perhaps once the government takes over they will be more effective in getting people to eat right and take better care of themselves. You can bet that now that they are paying for it, they will get around to trying. That voice you hear in the morning telling you you need to get out of bed and exercise might one day be the government's.

Where is the Help?

The food bank in Plano, Texas was rescued by the donations of many in the community who came to its aid after a water pipe broke and ruined much of the groceries it had stored to help families in need. It was reported that dozens came to the food bank's aid. People gave what they could to help. The food pantry was owned by The Giving Charities Movement, a group that helps families in need. They help about 100 families a month who are having trouble feeding themselves. They expect to reopen soon. The Giving Charities Movement is just one of many charities facing difficulties across the nation.

Even with the wellspring of compassion in Washington, and the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent, money is in short supply at the Giving Movement. "It's hard to get donations but it's not hard to get people who need the food" said Cheryl Jackson of The Giving Movement. Judging by the support the Health Care Reform bill received, there is no lack of compassionate people in this country concerned with social justice and willing to help those who are in need. So why are so many charities struggling?

Perhaps Jackson and others like her are looking on the wrong place. Perhaps instead of looking to the community for help, they should be looking to Washington. There is no shortage of charity in Washington. There is no shortage of money either if the cause is deemed noble enough. If nothing else there should be a few crumbs left lying about for groups like The Giving Charities Movement. No doubt for many individuals across the nation who might feel obliged to help groups like The Giving Movement, the explosion of federal spending provides a whole new meaning to "giving at the office."

There are three small charities just down the street from my apartment. They rent small offices in an abandoned elementary school. Some mornings there is a short line in front of the doors. One charity is for the elderly, another is for the hungry. The third is for teens who are pregnant. They are neglected and ignored by most of the community. They are unknown in Washington. With a few thousand dollars those charities could do more for the town I live in than $1 million spent in Washington. I am sure there are many in my town who support the efforts of Obama and liberals in congress to help those in need. Unfortunately, I doubt that many know those three little charities exist. Less do I believe that if they did, many would write them a check. Less still do I believe that they would visit them to see if they could be of assistance.

There are many noble and saintly souls laboring in Washington on behalf of the poor, the suffering, and the neglected. Most of them insist on being paid for their efforts. Some insist on being paid well. I imagine few would ever seriously consider inconveniencing themselves beyond earning a check to help those they are employed to labor on behalf of. A hard week working at the office is charity enough.

After victory is achieved for health care reform, many who supported and fought for will celebrate. Some of them no doubt will feel that they have earned a vacation. The poor and the hungry will keep. In the mean time, people will line up at the school down the street every morning, and those three little charities will try to scrape by. The community, like the nation, will just go on about its business comfortable in the idea that the government is taking care of those in need.

Welcome to the Future.

The health-care reform bill has not yet become law and trouble is already brewing. The proponents of sexual abstinence programs are fretting that when national health care becomes law they will lose funding necessary to continue running their programs. In many states and schools abstinence programs are unpopular and poorly funded. Sexual abstinence advocates are working to obtain some of the $50 million that is being earmarked for programs to reduce pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease to help fund their operation. Even though there is little question as to the efficacy of abstinence in preventing pregnancy (virgin births are almost unheard of) and sexually transmitted disease, it is not a popular program.

Under the budget signed by President Obama, abstinence programs will no longer be funded. Many groups are hostile to continued funding for abstinence advocacy arguing that there is "clear evidence the approach is unsuccessful." James Wagoner, president of the Washington based Advocates of Youth, decried the effort to obtain funding by abstinence advocates as "a last-ditch attempt by conservatives to resuscitate a program that has proven to be ineffective."

There are many programs in existence to deter teen pregnancy. All of them have been ineffective. So why single out abstinence from among those programs and attempt to cut its funding? There many failed programs to choose from. To pick one failure from among many and single it out for abandonment makes little sense, especially when that method is the only one, when practiced, guaranteed to prevent pregnancy. Clearly there is something about programs that advocate abstinence that irritates James Wagoner.

The politicization of health care has just begun. It will only get worse. The future promises many battles like the one begun over sex ed. Many will be much more contentious and involve much larger issues. Welcome to the future.