Politics 1, New York 0

I was an ambitious plan, worthy of the greatest city in the world. Reduce traffic, increase mass transit, increase the use of solar power in city buildings, plant more trees, the list goes on. It was the most ambitious undertaking in decades, but PlaNYC has been beaten by short-sighted politicians who can't put the good of their city before their own egos.

(Read the stories in the NY Times and NY Sun)

The Assembly's failure to even vote means the city loses the federal funding, the MTA does not have the money to improve the mass transit system, and the plan as a whole loses a major source of income.

So the next time you're stuck in Manhattan traffic and choking on the exhaust fumes of those around you, thank the New York Democrats.

The problem with universal healthcare

As the Democratic presidential candidates push their agendas for universal healthcare, the New York Times examines the one place in the United States that already has it: Massachusetts (read article).

The problem that Massachusetts is facing is that they can't find enough doctors to handle the load. Want a physical? You'll have to wait until May 2009. Another consequence is that doctors find themselves overloaded with patients, having to limit the time spent on each patient.

Long waits for minimal care. Is this really better than what we have now? Massachusetts and New York are trying to set up systems where medical school debt is forgiven, in exchange for practicing primary care in underserved areas. Of course the costs for these programs weren't factored in when the initial estimates for the programs were considered. How do we handle it? More debt gets passed on to the next generation. More taxes get raised to pay for a system that doesn't work.

The problem with universal health care is that it does nothing to reduce costs. Instead, it just swaps who pays for it in a shell game. Forget these plans. Find ways to lower the cost (like tort reform to lower malpractice costs, like allowing insurance companies to sell nationwide) and health care will become universal.