Wish List for 2007

I hopped over to Knit Blue for a moment and discovered that one of the contributors had posted her Wish List for 2007, which I have taken #2 and quoted here:

2. Progress towards universal single-payer health coverage. My SO has a seasonal job, with no health care from January through April. I recently was looking up short-term catastrophic health insurance policies, and guess what? They don’t exist! The two reasonably priced ones I found were from really sketchy looking companies. At a respectable company, the cheapest monthly premium was around $150 but that had a $15,000 (!) deductible! A more reasonable deductible of $2,500 had $300+ monthly premiums. Again, this is just for catastrophic insurance in the event of a major health crisis, with no other benefits. And if we don’t purchase it, I shudder to think of the years and years of debt payments we would incur if he does have an accident or something. Here is one of the best articles I’ve read outlining the advantages of a single-payer health care system. Such a system could actually benefit the economy by taking a huge financial burden off employers, who might actually raise wages using the saved money and even expand their total hiring and capital expenditures. Plus, it would give people more of an ability to take other financial risks in their lives, increasing entrepreneurial endeavors and technological breakthroughs.

In the comments someone linked to Arianna Huffington's Wish List and it consists of what she would like to hear "certain public figures" say at some point during the year and actually mean it. Below are a few of my favorites:

"I will not run for president of the United States. But if I do, I will speak from my heart and not triangulate every issue within an inch of its life." -- Sen. Hillary Clinton
"We will admit that guns, in fact, really do kill people, and lots of them." -- the NRA

"When we hear bullshit, we will call it bullshit" -- The Mainstream Media

"I will pick a hair color that occurs naturally in nature before I pick up Rosie's girlfriend." -- Donald Trump

"When people ask me why I'm gay I will have them watch The Apprentice." -- Rosie O'Donnell

Of course I would like to add the following 3 to the Wish List posted on Knit Blue and I'm sure I'll think of a few others later. I do, after all, have 12 months to figure this out.

1) Men who beat their significant others within an inch of their life (especially with their children watching and/or forced to participate) should be charged with a felony, not a misdemeanor assault charge. Seriously, why does the woman have to almost die to have her boyfriend/husband held accountable for his shitty actions and/or behaviors?

2) That society stops holding a woman accountable/responsible for her own rape since we can't rape ourselves. I've said it many times here: only men can stop rape.

3) I wish we'd stop using the phrase, "But it's just a dog/cat/squirrel/rat/mole...." and peeps are held accountable for the abuse, harm and/or neglect they do to animals. I would also prefer the world to wake up and realize any kind of animal fighting is abhorrent and disgusting, then pass laws reflecting such new insightful genius. Oh, and that banning a specific breed will not fix the reason the need exists to begin with.

That is all.