Monthly Archives: April 2012

Where’s The War On Human Trafficking?

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This week, Yuri Fedetov, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, told the UN General Assembly that 2.4 million people around the globe are victims of human trafficking.  Although some are exploited for manual labor, most are sex slaves. 

Let me repeat.  2.4 million women, men and children are being held as slaves at any one time!  And only 1 in 100 is ever rescued!

So what is the world doing to stop this $32 billion/year industry?  Not much.  We sometimes revictimize the women by arresting them as prostitutes.  We sometimes arrest the “Johns” who use the victims and are largely unaware of their circumstances.  But comparitively little effort is expended toward disrupting the flow of traffickers.  And virtually no effort is made to arrest the heads of this international crime industry.

We take the same approach to drugs.  We have imprisoned tens of thousands for drug use and as small time dealers.  But we have had little success in bringing the large dealers and industry leaders to justice.  And when we arrest one leader, another quickly takes his place.

Could the fact that these industries control billions of dollars have something to do with the fact that we seem unable to stop the illegal trafficking?  We’ve seen the Mexican drug cartels use their money to buy politicians, police and the courts, and to intimidate the populace.  And these tactics are not unique to Mexico.  There’s little doubt that traffickers of humans and arms in other countries (including the US) do the same things.

Likely, the people at the very top of these industries do not appear to be criminals.  They are people of great wealth and influence.   They have built a network of powerful friends which makes them seem invincible.

So what can we do to stop them?  For one thing, we can make sure that our family and friends are aware of the problem.  We can tell our state and federal representatives that these industries need to be stopped.  We can demand that our governments change their approach to these crimes and, instead of attacking the victims and the lowest levels of these enterprises, use our resources to track down and attack the very highest levels.

We have the capability to end human trafficking.  The question is:  Do we have the will?

GAO Report Shows Why “Obamacare” Is Necessary.

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There were many reasons why health care reform was necessary when President Obama and the Democratic Congress were overwhelmingly elected to office in 2008.  Not only were health care costs climbing at a rate more than 3 times that of inflation.  Medicare and Medicaid were being overwhelmed by increased costs and unregulated fraud.  More than 30 million people were without access to affordable health care.  Insurance companies were denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.  Insurers were also placing lifetime limits on health care for customers.

In addition, corporations were exporting jobs to places like China, Vietnam and Indonesia in order to avoid paying employee benefits.

Faced with these overwhelming problems, along with an economy that had fallen off a cliff and massive unemployment, President Obama and the Democratic majority had little choice but to find ways to bring the health care industry under control.

Of course, Republicans did not want to help.  To enlist their support, Democrats chose to abandon their preference for single-payer universal care.  Instead, they embraced the Republican idea of insurance mandates through private companies.  After all, the idea had worked in Massachussetts under “Romneycare.”  Indeed, the program had proven to be popular.

Not surprisingly, in their anti-Obama fervor, Republicans immediately labeled the plan as “socialist.”  And despite lengthy negotiations in which they offered dozens of amendments and killed the public option, Congressional Republicans voted against their own concept.

Let’s fast forward to 2012:  Several provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) have already been proven to work.  Children up to age 26 may now be covered under their parents’ insurance plans.  Insurance companies may no longer refuse coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.  A number of wellness programs have been implemented.  And Medicare fraud has been curtailed.

However, the majority of the provisions of the PPACA, including those which will have the greatest impact on costs, will not take effect until 2014.  But there’s a chance that we may not be allowed to see those benefits.

If the conservative-laden Supreme Court rules that “Obamacare” is unconstitutional, the ever-increasing number of people (now roughly 60 million) who will be unable to afford health care will grow.  And health care costs will continue to rise, dragging down our economy and jeopardizing Medicare.

And what of the federal deficits and debt that Teapublicans claim to be so worried about?

According to a report by the Government Accountabiity Office, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would have “a major effect on the structural gap between revenues and spending driven by rising health care costs and demographics gap.” In other words, “Obamacare” would go a long way toward reducing our deficits and debt.

Without the PPACA, we can expect the cost of health care, along with our deficits and debt, to grow dramatically.