one application process closer to high speed rail in ca

Fresno Bee reports:

California's bullet train planners are going after $4.6 billion in federal stimulus money, including nearly $1.3 billion to begin work on the route from Merced to Bakersfield through Fresno.

The state High Speed Rail Authority unanimously approved the application at a hearing Wednesday, along with plans to match the funding with state and local money.

[...]

California's application seeks more than half of the $8 billion in federal stimulus money dedicated to high-speed rail construction.
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Regions expected to compete for the money include Florida, the Northeast and the Midwest. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger must formally submit California's bid by Oct. 2.

The rail line, estimated to cost about $40 billion, is planned to eventually run from Sacramento and San Francisco to San Diego, with trains hitting top speeds of 220 mph.

We'll see how this turns out; California will be competing with a lot of other folks for these funds. Notably, California's HSR proposal seems to be the only one that envisions 220mph trains, though it is unlikely these speeds would be reached outside of the Central Valley stretch of the line. I imagine the remainder would resemble Amtrak's current Northeast Corridor Acela service, traveling at about a third of that speed.

The Northeast should have a strong application, given the existing high rail ridership and experience from medium-speed Amtrak Acela service (79 mph). None of these funds could go to pushing Acela up to its supposed max speed of 150, but additional branches to Pittsburgh, Albany and Buffalo, and even possibly Montreal would see trains traveling up to 125mph.

The Midwest proposal involves eight states (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri) centering around Chicago as the hub city; their proposal is tied into the effort to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago. A couple of downsides of the Midwest proposal: 1) the trains wouldn't be true high speed, with maximum speeds of 110mph, the minimum required for ARRA high-speed rail funds, and; 2) one of the most useful routes, St. Louis to Chicago, may not happen anytime soon, given that it would require an additional $1.9 billion or so just to build new track for that already busy corridor.

Florida is seeking $2.5 billion to link Tampa and Orlando, a rail network that would eventually also link Orlando and Miami.

medicare is populare; compare public health option to medicare

DUH:

"Would you favor or oppose the government offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan -- something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get -- that would compete with private health insurance plans?"

Favor 65%
Oppose 26%

is getting your seasonal (regular) flu shot more important than getting h1n1 vaccinated?

Allow David McCandless at InformationisBeautiful.net to illustrate:


The light blue circle is seasonal flu (9.4%), and the tiny pink one (second from the bottom) is H1N1 (0.5%), a.k.a. "swine flu." The numbers listed are

Note: The latest figures for swine flu put the fatality rate at more like 1.1%. There is no question that swine flu is going to hit much harder this winter than it did last, and these numbers may change completely by the end of the flu season. The CDC is already reporting that most cases of flu this year are the H1N1 strain.

Additional Caveat: I believe that the seasonal flu number is from those who were hospitalized for the disease, though the same holds true for H1N1 (swine flu), so the relative comparison should still be accurate. So there isn't a 9% fatality rate for everyone who gets the seasonal flu, just those hospitalized. Still, there are, worldwide, annually 250,000 to 500,000 deaths from seasonal flu, as opposed to currently under 3,500 H1N1 fatalities. Again, those numbers are subject to dramatic change as flu season continues.

Regardless of which is worse, get your seasonal flu shot. H1N1 vaccinations are likely to be limited to high-risk populations.

friendly reminders

...that Pres. Obama is one of us:



This follow's "PC Guy's" (John Hodgman of The Daily Show) roast of the President at the Radio & TV Correspondents' Dinner early this year, calling Pres. Obama "the first Nerd President of the modern era":

health inequality costs $310 billion a year

Since D.C. can't seem to break out of the "cost" framework and seize this moment for a broader dialogue about real health system reform, let's discuss this "cost" tidbit from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies: The economic toll of health inequality for the nation from 2003-2006 was $1.24 trillion, or about $310 billion each year. That includes about $230 billion in direct medical care costs and the rest from indirect costs to the economy in lost work days due to illness, disability costs, and lost productivity due to premature death.

These calculations may be new, but many health advocates have long recognized that failure to address racial and ethnic health inequities, both in terms of health status and access to quality care, is a failure to truly reform our system. There is pending legislation that would begin to address many of these inequities: H.R. 3090, co-sponsored by the TriCaucus (Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus). It was introduced in late-June and is sitting in 10 different committees.

Somme clever Congressperson might offer the key pieces of it as an amendment as the three House Committee bills get consolidated.

happy constitution day!

I love the Constitution!



h/t dKos for the reminder & Schoolhouse Rock link!

doctors support the public option

A New England Journal of Medicine poll shows that 73% of physicians support a Medicare-like public insurance plan (10% support a single-payer public option only, and 63% support a mix of public and private options) (h/t dKos).

The American Medical Association currently opposes a public insurance option, meaning that they are out of touch with a majority of their own members:

[T]here was also majority support for a public option among AMA members (62.2%).

back to 46

The Census Bureau reported today that the number of uninsured Americans increased to 46.3 million in 2008, 600,000 more than in 2007, when the number dropped to 45.7 million after the 2006 peak of 47 million. Undoubtedly, when the Census Bureau releases new numbers next year for 2009, they will be even higher, due to the fact that the only drop in uninsurance rates has been coming from children, and S-CHIP programs were slashed in states across the country this year. If uninsurance increases among the young, the overall rate of uninsurance will increase even more rapidly.

This is why, as fantastic as President Obama's speech was on Wednesday, I am quibbling over his statement targeting progressives in Congress that implies that a public insurance option is only one possible means to the end of reforming the health care system. It is, in fact, THE means, the only means on the table that has any chance of reigning in insurance companies, making health care affordable both to families and the nation as a whole, and providing a real choice in the health care insurance market. It is currently THE BEST means we have at improving the health care system, given that a single-payer Medicare-like proposal is off the table.

Had he instead phrased his statement as, "let's not forget that, despite the centrality of the public option, we need to push through additional reforms that will better the system as well," I wouldn't be quibbling. But alas, he didn't, and despite the overall greatness and beauty of his speech, he left open room to sell-out on the public option in the final bill, a move that would strip health care reform of its meaningfulness.

Not surprised, but not 100% sold yet. 89% sold; that's why he gets a B+.

Transcript and video clips at HuffPo.

good news for food eaters

That is, for everyone: FDA announced today a new electronic database that will require food processors to notify the agency of food contamination within 24 hours. From USA Today:

Food makers must alert government officials of potentially contaminated products within 24 hours under a new rule designed to help federal regulators spot food safety issues sooner.

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday unveiled a new electronic database where manufacturers must notify the government if they believe one of their products is likely to cause sickness or death in people or animals.

Regulators said the database will help the FDA prevent widespread illness from contaminated products and direct inspectors to plants that pose a high safety concern.

[...]

The law creating the database was passed in 2007, after Congress criticized the FDA for its handling of safety problems with a range of foods and drugs.

The FDA has struggled since then to manage a spate of food-safety recalls, including national outbreaks of salmonella linked to peppers and peanut butter. President Obama earlier this year pledged to improve the safety of the nation's food supply, after tainted peanut butter from a Georgia plant sickened hundreds of Americans, causing one of the largest food recalls in recent history.

The last two paragraphs are telling; although the law was passed in 2007, it has not been implemented until now. Although such a database undoubtedly takes time to create, test, and implement, this is nonetheless a reflection of the new Administration's priorities. Despite the initial excitement over the First 100 Days, it really is just getting to the point now that President Obama is really filling up his high-level appointments, and as we see more dedicated civil servants taking over the reigns, we'll likely see more small victories like this one.

In related news, Attorney General Eric Holder announced early this month efforts to restore the role of the Civil Rights Division, with an increase of $22 million to their budget and the hiring of up to 50 new attorneys.