December 2

December already. Another year almost gone. We have a sheen of snow on roofs and grass but the pavement seems to be too warm for any to stick. At least, for now anyway, we missed the heavy snows other areas have been getting. The very high winds of a week ago hardly even inconvenienced us. We could, and did, choose not go out and decided not to put out trash tote for pick up. Only one small bag in it and I didn't want to risk having to chase it down as the wind rolled it down the street. Last year we caught the amusing, for us, sight of three or four in a line wheeling down the street propelled by the wind. We didn't put ours out that day either.

In the blogs this morning--David Kaiser had this very cogent and accurate assessment of the comparisons of #45 and Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson. The current occupant of the White House doesn't compare very well in either case. Unfortunately, #45's election also doesn't say much good about where our country is today. A worse indicator, however, was a poll I saw today which indicates that Republicans rated #45 above Lincoln. The only saving grace was that among Americans generally Lincoln is still favored.

William Astore also has a good blog at TomDispatch on our endless wars. Another dismal reflection on where we are today.

Ronni Bennett's post today conjures up some unpleasant memories. A couple of years ago CVS took over Aetna (my mother's insurance company) and the price of her medication more than tripled soon after open enrollment ended. She tried to cancel that insurance which came because of her deceased husband's job but the company insisted that she stay with them until the next enrollment period until she noticed that they could drop her if she didn't pay the premium. Note the company got paid by Medicare to provide the insurance and collected a premium from her as well. She refused to pay and after stringing the matter out for about three months (to continue collecting from Medicare I guess) they finally cancelled the insurance. Her doctor helped her find a low cost provider for that medication. Mom keeps a tab of the insurance premiums she isn't paying, and the co-pay (which she also doesn't have to pay) and has found that those savings more than pays for the doctors' visits (both her medical and her eye doctor) and her lower drug costs. Both her doctors were very happy to accept cash. The biggest criticism of the "Medicare for all" plans has been what would happen to those who are happy with their insurance and want to keep it. The critics pit that group against those who can't get insurance at all. But few are talking about those who pay through the nose for inferior service and have a hard time getting out of it.