Quote of the Day
Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine,
love, thou art every day my Valentine!
Thomas Hood
Earlier Post Today
I'm probably going to publish longer commentaries separately from my miscellany format. Earlier today I wrote a reluctant piece breaking with one of my political heroes, John McCain. You can read my essay here.
Gregory, McCain, and the Arizona Contraception Law
From yesterday's Meet the Press:
MR. GREGORY: In your own state of Arizona there is this contraception bill that even the governor has said would put women in an uncomfortable position where they'd have to say to their employers why they wanted contraception and how--why it should be covered. Is that a bad road?I think this whole conversation is convoluted and misleading, and I think several comments are in order.
SEN. McCAIN: I am--I am confident that that legislation will not reach the governor's desk. And if it did it would be vetoed.
MR. GREGORY: It's the wrong legislation.
SEN. McCAIN: Well, I mean, look, it certainly doesn't reflect, in my view, the majority view of the people of Arizona.
MR. GREGORY: Do you think that there is something of a war on women among Republicans?
SEN. McCAIN: I think we have to fix that. I think that there is a perception out there because of the way that this whole contraception issue played out. We need to get off of that issue in my view. I think we ought to respect the right of women to make choices in their lives and make that clear and get back on to what the American people really care about: jobs and the economy.
First, the contraception law I think being referenced was written by Representative Debbie Lesco (a non-Catholic). Currently there's a state mandate requiring contraception coverage for women in employer health insurance plans. In essence, Lesco's bill is referencing an existing kerfuffle on the national level involving a First Amendment exception to a birth control mandate; the Arizona bill provides a religious employer with a waiver from being forced to pay for birth control. There is also stripping some anti-discrimination language against religious employers involving alternate access to birth control. It's not clear to me why the language is lifted, other than shielding religious institutions from birth control-related lawsuits. (As far as I'm concerned, the fewer incidental strings on businesses, the better.)
Second, it is patently absurd for any thinking person to believe that this constitutes a 'war on women'. There is nothing in the bill that prohibits women from obtaining or using birth control. Money is fungible. Keep in mind compensation is salary plus benefits. Let's say, for the purpose of simplification, the cost of birth control adds $45 to the cost of monthly health insurance. Elimination of $45 from benefits should translate to a $45 increase in salary. The religious employer can't tell a woman what she does with the extra $45, including her personal purchase of birth control. All that is being done is shifting responsibility for birth control from the employer to the woman.
Third, Gregory is talking about an EXCEPTION to the waiver: religious employers can still be required to cover artificial birth control prescribed for alternative medical purposes. I believe that there are existing data safeguards involving an employer's need to know; the only difference would be for the physician to confirm the qualifying nature of the prescription. The employer has a vested interest in the health of his employee, and the specifics of cost-effective treatment aren't relevant.
Fourth, McCain is engaging in populist nonsense by giving a talking point over controlling women's choices. No, it's not--not even close. There is nothing going on here that keeps a woman from getting a birth control prescription filled. We are talking about a small class of employers--religious employers--and we are talking about compensation structure: does a woman pay out of her salary or out of her benefits?
I think McCain is wrong about whether the legislation will carry: the legislature is GOP-controlled, and they seem to have the votes. Whether the governor vetoes the measure is a different story. I think Jan Brewer has expressed issues, not with the religious liberty exception, but the data privacy concern. I think the bill should be flexible on this point.
I do think, yes, we need to change the conversation. I'm tired of writing about birth control. I have a general issue with insurance mandates; I have a general issue with ordinary expenses like birth control being treated as an insurance benefit
Snow White and the Huntsman: Thumbs UP!
I occasionally cover popular culture in this blog (e.g., major professional or college sports accomplishments, the passing of popular entertainers, American Idol, holiday or TV shows/movies) and there is my daily musical interlude. Why do I cover these things? In part, as a conservative, I am very conscious of fundamental values and virtues, enduring American cultural institutions. Horatio Alger, larger-than-life Hollywood movies and Broadway musicals, American jazz and early rock 'n roll, the major league All-Star Game and World Series, crisp autumn Saturday afternoon college football games, etc. From my childhood, I remember the now defunct kids' shows with Bugs Bunny, the Road Runner, Popeye and other cartoons, the late days of the Mickey Mouse Club and a seemingly endless supply of new Mickey Mouse cartoons.
And then it all stopped: the prime-time cartoons (e.g., the Flintstones, the Jetsons, etc., putting aside Fox's modern quixotic series), those wonderfully campy Batman episodes, the delightful fantasies of Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, etc. I used to look forward to watching the Wonderful World of Disney. It all went away, probably by the mid-1970's or so. What was it--collective writers' block? I had high hopes for Spielberg's Tiny Toons. But I stopped a long time ago checking out Saturday morning TV cartoons: nothing near the quality of what I saw as a kid.
Oh, occasionally there were sparks of genius: the initial episodes of The Wonder Years were brilliant, there was the marvelous Beauty and the Beast TV series in the late 1980's (not to be confused with Disney's fairy tale), there have been other fantasy series like the latter Landon series, Touched By an Angel, Joan of Arcadia, and the current series A Gifted Man and Once Upon a Time.
What's particularly interesting about the special effects grown-up live action fairy tale genre is why Disney never fleshed out the genre itself, given a captive audience of generations of American kids brought up on its cartoons and animated feature films. Even Alvin and the Chipmunks gets a live action/3D format, but where has Disney been with new movie storylines for its beloved characters and a modern, hip look. Can't they find anybody creative enough to come up with updated versions of their old cartoons?
Yeah, I know: you show this to a Disney executive and he'll probably say something like, "As little as he knows about politics, he knows even less about the entertainment business..."
I have a beautiful little redhead grand-niece Haley whom absolutely loves Snow White (the Disney version). After seeing the following clip, I think I get it. I'm going to have to tell Haley that I think I love Snow White, too.
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
The Cars, "Tonight She Comes"
