Why I support universal healthcare

I have a good job. I have quality health insurance for myself and my dependents, funded in part by my employer. I pay taxes, and might even see my taxes go up to help fund universal healthcare.

So why do I support universal healthcare?

Let's start with another question. Why do I have health insurance?

1. By chance, I was born into a family that could afford to send me to college. Therefore I was able to obtain an education that enabled me to get a good job - the type of job that typically includes subsidized health insurance.
2. My employer offers it. This is in part my choice: I might not choose to accept employment with a company that doesn't offer health coverage. But in a pinch, I imagine I'd accept a job just about anywhere if it meant the difference between home-ownership and foreclosure.
3. By chance or luck, I'm relatively healthy. This means no expensive treatments or pre-existing conditions for which an insurance company could decide to cancel my coverage.
4. Because my parents had health insurance. That's one reason that I'm alive today. After delivery by emergency c-section, I was transfused with blood to replace what had been lost. And one week later, I had surgery to repair an intestinal blockage that prevented me from digesting anything. Without those interventions, I wouldn't have survived my first month. If I had died, I probably wouldn't have health insurance today. My parents' health coverage was, again, not something within my control.

To recap, I have health insurance today for four reasons: birth into a family that could afford to give me a good education; an employer that provides benefits; my own health history; and my parents' health coverage. At least three of those reasons, and arguably all four, are not within my control.

So why do I support universal health insurance?

Because I suspect that the fate of the uninsured is no more within their control than my own.

An iconic bird

Growing up in Atlanta, Delta Air Lines was my ticket anywhere I wanted to go. They owned about 80% of the gates at the sprawling Hartsfield International Airport, and there were direct flights to anywhere.

When I was in college, there was a time that I could price flights home to Atlanta from any of four cities (Boston, Providence, Worcester, Manchester) - all of which had daily nonstop Delta flights to ATL.

But I digress. As an aviation enthusiast and a fan of Delta's brand, there was always one thing that made me feel ever-so-slightly cheated. Since the 1970's, Delta has not flown the beautiful, iconic Boeing 747. Something about watching those enormous, graceful aircraft landing at JFK, BOS, IAD, just made all of those seem like more "real" International airports than ATL, despite Atlanta's secure spot atop the list of the world's busiest airports.

Well, consider this injustice remedied. With the Delta-NWA merger, Delta acquired a fleet of 747's in both Passenger and Cargo configurations. As the two airlines combine their operations, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution points out a remarkable milestone. The first NWA 747 to be repainted in Delta livery will begin scheduled service this week.

Check out the time-lapse video of the paint job:

And for those keeping score at home, keep this in mind: Each new full coat of paint adds about 1,200 lb. to the weight of a 747.

It pays to insulate

Back in November, I hired a handyman contractor to do two things: Fix the rotten wood on the roof, through which I suspected that mice were entering the house, and insulate our attic. The latter was something of a large job, as it involved removing the 50-year-old blown-in insulation, laying batts of modern fiberglass insulation, and laying a wood floor (for storage) over the new insulation.

After inspiration from a WSJ article sent to my by a friend - you know who you are - I decided to calculate whether my investment had paid off. I looked up government data on "Heating Degree Days" for Washington DC over the past three months, and compared it to my gas bills for the same time period.

Now, there are a number of reasons that this is unscientific:

• The insulation was added in mid-November, so the full month of November isn't really a fair "baseline".
• The weather data is based on the calendar month, while the gas bill is based on my billing cycle month. While they overlap for the most part, they aren't perfectly aligned.
• I based the home heating expense on dollars, not BTUs purchased from the utility - so any variation in natural gas prices during this timeframe would skew the results.
• This was an unusual time period for our house, since we had houseguests frequently staying during the week (when the thermostat is usually very low). If anything, this caused us to use MORE heat than would be typical for December and January.

Nonetheless, one thing is pretty clear: It got much colder outside, and our heating bill went down!

The data bears out my experience. Previously, the furnace was working very hard to heat a poorly insulated house. As a result, the temperature difference from downstairs to upstairs was routinely 5-10 degrees. Now, upstairs and downstairs are typically within two degrees of each other. And the furnace gets a lot more time to rest.

One more benefit: No more rodents since the roof was fixed!

Major hat-tip to Sam and Sons Services, who did the work. (Yes, their website is a little weak total disaster, but they do good work!)

The Democratic process at work

Most of the country voted in November. Some people got to vote again in January or February.

Some lucky residents of Fairfax County, Virginia may get to vote four times before all is said and done.

In November, the chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Gerry Connolly, was elected to congress. This left his Chair vacant, so Fairfax held a special election in early February to fill it. The winner, Sharon Bulova, must vacate her position as Braddock District representative on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors when she takes over the Board Chair.

So what to do about her seat? Another special election, of course. On March 10, Braddock District representatives will vote on a new representative to the county board.

The favorite in that election is currently on the Fairfax School Board. Guess what happens if he gets elected to the Board of Supervisors? That's right. ANOTHER special election to fill his seat on the school board.

And don't forget, there's a June primary for the Virginia gubernatorial election.

I wonder if voter turnout gets diluted when there's an election every month.

HT: WashPo

I would drink a great deal more wine...

...if I had one of these.

via BoingBoing