Choosing Sides on a Divided Health Care Issue

Saturday night's 220-215 decision by the House of Representatives marks the furthest legislative reach U.S. Health Care Reform has ever gone. But the real test for the bill lies in the hands of the Senate, where it is likely to see the same back-and-forth debate that has been going on for months now.

That is: Whether the U.S. should spend money now to remedy the financial hole we're in or pay later.

And by "spend money now," I mean risk dishing out more unprecedented government funding that is prone to waste, corruption and mismanagement.

And by "pay," I mean risk watching idly as unemployment skyrockets passed even what it is now (10.2%, highest in 26 years), health care costs go berserk, the dollar weakens, and failing banks and businesses crumble.

Each option undoubtedly comes with a healthy dose of risk. Deciding which option to choose is a matter of risk management.

Let's break that question down to the personal level: If you owned a business that could no longer sustain itself or the debt you were in, would you cut costs and hold tight for the plunge or would you spend money aggressively to get your business back on track?

Now let's add some known circumstances. If the situation was dire (say, only the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression), that would probably raise the stakes—meaning, the chances of your business riding it out could be slim to none. And just like the word circumstance implies, there is nothing in your control to change that. Hence, the alternative is to reform your business to better "weather the storm" through bold yet concentrated spending.

Notorious advertising agent Morris Hite once said:

There is more money wasted in advertising by underspending than by overspending. Years ago someone said that underspending in advertising is like buying a ticket halfway to Europe. You've spent your money but you never get there."

It turns out that skimping on costs in marketing a brand doesn't effectively win you the best return on an investment. Likewise, plans to save your business must be plentiful in dollars and bold.

This road scares a lot of people; and admittedly, it is a scary road to take. Our national debt has been growing since George W. Bush took office, and more unprecedented spending certainly doesn't make it easier for the next generations of America. But avoiding action now and holding tight may lead to bigger consequences later, and this is really the best defense for spending early as a means to curb the financial crisis' immediate effect.

The problem is that future risks, even dangerous ones, are hard to concretely put together (think Global Warming). There are too many unknowns that would otherwise simplify the decision-making process.

What we do know about our current health care system is this: Despite rising costs in the past and projections to jump by 4% in the next 10 years (increasing our total spending from 16.2% to 20.5% of GDP), America is ranked a mere 34th in life expectancy rates around the globe at 78 years.

And so it's now up to the Senate to decide which threat is more dangerous and should receive the most priority. Our growing debt which could hinder our growth later? Or is it our hindering growth that could lead to even more debt later?

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The New York Times has a timeline detailing the History of Health Care Reform, which emphasizes the importance on the House's recent bill passage.

Back to work and glad about it

After about a month of calling up places and sending out resumes, I just recently landed a job at Image Marketing Group, an advertising and marketing firm in need of a Copywriter / Web Consultant.

It's not too big a change from my previous web content position at a local magazine in CT, except this style of writing is more marketing-focused as opposed to journalistic (e.g. print ad headlines, website 'about us' pages).

But after finishing my first week, I'm actually enjoying that transition. My core calling is writing, whatever form it may be. There's still plenty of creativity involved, and I've always enjoyed the art of persuasion.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have gotten a job in my field so fast in this kind of economy.

I still haven't lost that drive to keep writing outside of work, so regular blog posts on The Cultivator will start in about two weeks.

The Move to North Carolina

There's been a very legitimate reason for the lack of updates lately: I've relocated to North Carolina with my girlfriend of 2 1/2 years!

She recently landed a job as a news reporter at a local station about 45 minutes from Charlotte at Cleveland Headline News (Cleveland is the name of the County). This is after looking for a job mainly in the northeast for more than two years! We're absolutely ecstatic.

My job search is now just beginning. I'm hoping to find something in the field of new media journalism soon. If North Carolina is what people say it is, then there will be a good amount of opportunity here.

To all the friends and family in Connecticut: Thanks for the good times and support. It's been quite an adventure.

Sometime soon we will post a video tour of our new apartment. Look for it in my next post.

Looking East for a Post-Recession Mindset

Kurt Andersen wrote an excellent piece in Time this week, entitled "The Avenging Amateur." He argues that it's America's supposed amateurs that are "our best hope for thriving after the crisis."

He quotes Shunryu Suzuki, a Japanese Zen master as famously saying, "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few."

"Beginner's mind" (Sho-shin) is essentially a paradox, Andersen explains. By starting anew, by going back to basics, reinvention and discovery become possible, without the limiting preconceptions that the expert mind develops. Zen Buddhists spend years of devoted practice to achieve states of beginner's mind.

There will always be a need for experts. But historically, amateurs of their respected fields are known to shake the very foundation of what was thought to be an unyielding reality; namely, as Andersen points out, the founding of this country.

That same passionate spirit just might propel the next big thing, whether its sustainable energy or Web 3.0. The capacity for breakthrough already exists within us, according to Buddhist philosophy.

Says world-renowned teacher Yongey Rinpoche: "The essence of Buddhist practice is not so much an effort at changing your thoughts or your behavior so that you can become a better person, but in realizing that no matter what you might think about the circumstances that define your life, you're already good, whole, and complete. It's about recognizing the inherent potential of your mind."

Here we find another paradox: discovering the best of us requires only to look within and believe in ourselves. And yet, sadly, Western Civilization in particular is bent on searching within the realm of the external to solve its problems, even to a dark extreme (greed, excess).

Buddhist teachings describe attempts to control our own fate as an illusion of control, which paradoxically leads to instability. It's when we let go of attachments that we are actually in better command of our lives.

Perhaps there is a valuable lesson here that we can take from Eastern thought as the dust settles from the global recession—that there is much to be gained by going back to living simply, as un-opportunist as it may seem. By spending and controlling more than our share, we've found that it only leads to more gimmicks, rock bottoms and reality checks. It's high time that America continues to look East for help with the complexities of Western life.

I Recommend: Full Screen Text Editors

Technology is not without its flaws—one of the necessary evils of the internet is that there is too much to search and explore. It's not uncommon to feel overwhelmed by the massive amount of information at your fingertips. In this age of excess choice and complexity, sometimes it's just better to keep things simple. That's why I highly recommend a full screen text editor for those who wish to use their computer to write without getting easily sidetracked.

DarkRoom is a free, full screen writing environment for Windows. It's small, simple and easy to install. In a nutshell, DarkRoom is simply what it calls itself—a blank screen for you to pour all those constipated words onto.

While the editor's preferences are limited, DarkRoom does allow you to alter basic options such as background and text color, auto saving, transparency levels, and more. One outstanding feature is that it automatically opens the latest file you were working on.

DarkRoom also makes it easy for you to open existing documents by right clicking them and selecting "Open this file using DarkRoom." Some files, however, cannot be translated into purely text and print out a ton of code instead (Word documents). Not to worry though, you can easily copy and paste existing text from anywhere and start working in DarkRoom.

The developers of DarkRoom are currently brewing an upgraded version, so be on the lookout for that.

Q10 is another full screen text editor similar to DarkRoom. It's a bit lighter on its feat, booting up in a blink of an eye. And although Q10 is no longer supported by its maker, it does boast a few nifty features worth mentioning.

Q10 has a small info bar on the bottom keeping track of your running word count, pages, lines, paragraphs and characters, along with a clock at the right-hand corner. Here's where it gets good: you can set alarms for yourself, either by the clock or word limit—great for writers who want to hone their time efficiency skills. A timed alarm will even tell you within that same bottom bar how many words were written in whatever time amount you set it to. And setting a goal for a certain word limit, for example, will display the current progress on the bottom info bar in percentage and ratio.

The program comes with a spellchecker, but unlike Microsoft Word's default preferences, it doesn't automatically underline words as you type. This could be seen as both a blessing and curse—it's less distracting, but less convenient to spell check. But for what the program is designed to do, it works and is a nice escape from Word's red/green squigglies.

Losing your work is never fun, so Q10 can auto save periodically by the clock or with each new goal, such as a new paragraph or page. It also has a neat typewriter sound effect whenever a keystroke is entered. For those who wish to type in silence, there is an option to turn this off or lower its volume.

Whether you're looking to write a letter, that great American novel in your head or just brain storm without having to use pen and paper, a full screen text editor could be exactly what you need to get rolling without all the bells and whistles of other programs.

This post, along with past Cultivations, was written in both of the aforementioned text editors.

The Truth About Income-Based Repayment

I recently took a few days from posting to apply for student loan consolidation. One of the the more interesting repayment options I came across was IBR, or Income-Based Repayment.

Since July 1 of this year, IBR makes repaying staggering college loans more manageable by scaling monthly payments to yearly income, while factoring in martial status, dependents, and state of residence. According to the their website, those with a total debt greater than a year's earnings probably qualify for IBR.

This is different from its 1994 sister plan, Income Contingent Repayment (ICR), in that the formula for monthly payments is capped at 15% of income. Under IBR, some people may not even have to make monthly payments if they're not earning enough money (see video below).

There are a few problems with this. While forgoing payments might seem like a godsend to those who are struggling with bills, I wonder just how much interest will be accruing after a few months of nonpayment?

This may not be an issue if there wasn't a problem with another aspect of both IBR and ICR. Both repayment plans advertise "Loan Forgiveness" after 25 years of regular payments. Sounds great, right? Sure, if you overlook the fact that any remaining debt is filed on your tax return as taxable income.

If the point of this government program is really to subdue the financial burden of pinched graduates, why make them pay taxes on what could be a huge sum of money after giving them the possibility to pay nothing each month, effectively extending the life and total amount of their loan?

And what if that taxable income boosts someone to the next tax bracket, suddenly requiring a higher tax percentage on that year's income? So much for making life easier for college grads.

My issue is not so much with the tax itself as it is with false advertisement. If taxing the remaining total makes the program work, fine. But don't call it "Loan Forgiveness" if graduates are slapped with yet another financial burden at the end of 25 years. Don't advertise that IBR is out to save people money when it's just out to make money. That's not the way to get people to believe in government again.

In short, just like any business, IBR has the potential to screw you over if you're not careful. Ignorance of loans, in general; and the repayment plan, in particular, can be disastrous. Granted, someone opting into a plan they know nothing about has only their self to blame. But this is not the best example of an honest, upfront government alternative to "business as usual."

To its credit, IBR's info site does include the fact that remaining amounts are taxed in its FAQ (so technically, they're not completely hiding it), and just recently announced on its main page that legislation is being put forth to ensure that any "forgiven" debt is not taxed. Also, as it currently stands, working a public service job will relieve all debt after 10 years without it counting as taxable income.

You be the judge. Watch the video for yourself:

For the Record: President Obama is Not a Socialist

There are few things that hinder the progress of society more than the spreading of misinformation and downright lies. Take this one, for example:

"President Obama is a Socialist."

Republicans, along with the right-wing media, have been upchucking this phrase throughout his campaign and presidency.

Which is funny, because the last time I checked, Obama didn't run for the Socialist Party USA. He ran for Democrat.

If Obama was a "Socialist," why doesn't America's Socialist Party even recognize him as one? Quite to the contrary, they regard him as huge a supporter for capitalistic ideals as any other non-Socialist president.

Why else would he go to great lengths to save failing American businesses like banks, insurance companies and auto makers—with the public's money, no less? Would it be because he's a Socialist, the likes of which do not believe in a private sector? I think not.

So he wants to tax the rich more and the poor less. One might think that a Socialist would surely do this. But taxing the rich an additional 3% isn't going to shut down the private sector. At the end of the day, Americans are still living in a capitalist society, perhaps one that provides greater economic opportunity for more people—not just 5% of the population.

President Obama is a lot of things: the words progressive, liberal, reformer come to mind. But he's certainty not a Socialist disguised as a Democrat. Any attempt to convince people otherwise is the sort of desperate attack that tries to win points by spreading lies—akin to accusations that he was a terrorist during the '08 campaign.

It's easy to throw the word Socialist around. The hard thing to do would be to look up what Socialism actually meant and really see (as opposed to getting spoon-fed by desperate republicans) what's going on here.