| Andy Ogles |
Yesterday came and went with almost no mention that that day was the 28th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is a shame. November 9th should be a National holiday. Or better yet, it should
be a worldwide holiday. It should rival a combination of New Years’ Eve
and the 4th of July. There should be concerts, dancing in the street,
Champagne toast, ringing of church bells, and fire works.
On
November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall fell and the world changed forever. As
the world watched, we did not know if Russia would send in troops to
put down the rebellion or not. We did not know if East German guards
would fire on their fellow citizens. In 1958 an uprising in Hungary was
crushed. In 1968 the Czech rebellion was likewise suppressed. As we
watched in 1989 it was hard to believe that the East German rebellion
would end differently, but there was reason to hope.
There
was reason to believe that there were few true believers in Communism
left behind the Iron curtain. Gorbachev, to save Communism, had launched
Perestroika and Glasnost, which had not saved Communism but sealed its
fate. The Soviets had been forced to realize that they could not
outspend the west in the arms race. The Solidarity union movement had
sprung up in Poland and not been crushed and Catholicism had a Polish
pope who was encouraging the Catholics behind the Iron Curtain to keep
the faith, and America had a president who said his goal was not to
co-exist with Communism but to defeat it. The West was more confident
and the East seemed exhausted.
With modern
communications and contact between the captive peoples of the East and
the free people of the West, Communist governments could no longer
convince their people that Communism was a superior way to organize
society. And, for the first time, attempts to spread Communism had
failed. From the tiny island of Granada, to Nicaragua, to Afghanistan,
attempts at expansion had met with failure. When the demonstrators in
East Germany began chipping away at the wall, the guards did not fire,
the Soviets did not send in tanks and the walls came tumbling down.
It
would still be a couple more years before the other Communist dominoes
fell, but one by one they did, except for the two dysfunctional
teetering states of North Korea and Cuba. China did not fall, but
morphed into a state that Marx or Mao would not recognize. It is only nominally communist. China became a mixed economy with an repressive authoritarian
one-party government that daily continues to change.
From
the time of the establishment of the first Communist state in Russia in
1917, Communism had steadily grown taking country by county until by
the time of the fall of the Berlin wall 34% of the worlds populations
lived under Communist domination. And by peaceful means, Communism was
gaining ground in much of the west with “Euro-communism” gaining
acceptance and becoming parties in coalition governments. For more than
seventy years, freedom had been on the defensive and Communism had been
ascending.
During that time, approximately 100 million people were killed with a brutal efficiency. Approximately
65 million were killed in China under Mao Zedong, 25 million in
Leninist and Stalinist Russia, 2 million in Cambodia, and millions more
in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America. This was accomplished by
mass murders, planned famines, working people to death in labor camps,
and other ruthless methods. From the thousands of Cossacks slaughtered
on the orders of Lenin to the victims of Mao’s “land reform” the totals
mounted. In addition to the millions of deaths, many more millions spend
part of their lives in prison in the Gulag of Russia and the
reeducation camps of Vietnam and China. Those who never spend part of
their life in real prisons, lived in societies with secret police,
enforced conformity, thought control, fear, scarcity, and everyone
spying on everyone else.
While the world looked with
horror on the approximate 11 million victims of Hitler’s Europe, for
some reason less attentions was paid to the 100 million victims of
Communist tyranny. While the Nazi era lasted for only 11 years, the
Communist terror began in 1917 and continues to this day. The story
would be complete if the last Communist regime fell, but the fall of the
Berlin Wall is a landmark event. By the fall of the wall, it was clear
that Communism was not the wave of the future and that freedom would
survive in the world.
Not only would freedom survive in
the world, but the world itself would survive. It is easy to forget
what a dangerous place the world was on the eve of the fall of the
Berlin Wall. The world's nuclear stockpiles had grown to 70,000
warheads, with an average destructive power about 20 times that of the
weapons that were dropped on Japan. One deranged colonel, one failure of
a radar system, or one misreading of intentions could have led to
events that destroyed the world. We were one blink away from destruction
of life on earth. If there is any event in the history of world worthy
of celebrating, it should be the fall of the Berlin Wall.
| Dan Rather |
 |
| Gene Wisdom |
Last Thursday, Mayor Barry announced plans to phase out General Hospital as a hospital and instead turn it into an ambulatory surgical care center,
which would provide only outpatient services. She has been criticized for not giving the Metro Hospital Authority nor the Health and Hospitals Committee of the Council advance notice. I can understand those in the Council or on the Hospital Authority for feeling blindsided, yet I applaud her for taking bold action. Advance notice would have only given those who oppose this action time to rally, demonstrate and organize. There will still be plenty of time for that as this move will not take effect until sometime next fiscal year.
For a very long time, Metro General has been a money pit, that cannot fill its beds and there is no charter requirement or state law requirement requiring the city to maintain a charity hospital. This should been done a long time ago.
Below is a copy of the letter Mayor Barry sent to the Council explaning her actions. The highlighting in the letter is mine.
November 9, 2017
Dear Vice Mayor Briley and Council Members:
I want to let you know about an important change in the relationship between Nashville General Hospital and Meharry Medical College and plans for reconfiguring the hospital’s operating model to make it more financially stable.
Meharry, a historically black medical college, has trained doctors to provide care throughout our nation, including in many underserved areas, for more than 140 years. Nashville General has served as the index teaching hospital for Meharry since 1992, giving medical students invaluable experience working with patients from across our community. However, Nashville General’s current daily census is about one-third of its licensed capacity. Only about 40 of its 120 beds are being used on an average day, and 20 percent of those are part of an inmate care contract. Meharry currently has to pay to send students to other states in order to get the experience necessary to enter the medical profession.
As a result, Meharry, which owns the building in which Nashville General operates, needs access to a local hospital serving a greater number of patients in order to make its educational program the best it can be. Today Meharry announced that it will partner with Nashville-based HCA’s TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center, giving the nation’s premier hospital company access to some of the best and brightest young minds the medical community has to offer.
This is also an opportune time to revisit Nashville General’s operating model, which has proven fiscally unsustainable, and restructure it in a way that will promote better health care outcomes for residents in North Nashville and across our city. Since 2005, Metro has provided more than half a billion dollars to support the operations of Nashville General, while the number of patients being served has decreased. I believe we can invest our resources more strategically to provide for the health care needs of our city’s indigent population, while maintaining operations at Nashville General Hospital.
With the help of restructuring specialist Kevin Crumbo, who has donated hundreds of hours of his time, the Metro Hospital Authority and my administration have been exploring ways to improve Nashville General’s long-term outlook. It’s time for a new model, one that will be focused on preventing people from needing in-patient services while ensuring that the patients currently using Nashville General for their outpatient health care needs, which amounts to more than 90% of the total patient visits, will still receive the same – or better – care at this facility.
Later this year, my administration will submit to the Council a substantial request for supplemental funds to stabilize Nashville General’s fiscal situation so the hospital can continue to provide services and meet its financial obligations for the rest of this budget year. Meanwhile, we will work with stakeholders throughout the upcoming budget cycle toward a goal of refocusing Nashville General Hospital’s operations to an ambulatory care model that provides high-quality clinic and other outpatient care services.
We also will create an indigent care fund to ensure that all patients who are currently using Nashville General will still have their health care needs met either at Nashville General or at other area hospitals. This will result in better health care outcomes for the patient population being served.
As a city, we are financially committed to promoting better health results and health care operations. We can restructure that commitment in a way that results in the best health care outcomes for residents while providing a more stable funding model that won’t require Metro to sacrifice services in other areas of government, or possibly raise taxes, in order to provide that quality care.
As I’ve said many times, I am committed to safety-net care in our community. This will take all of us, working in good faith and with good intentions, to create a successful new model for Nashville General Hospital. My administration and Meharry Medical College are absolutely committed to working with community stakeholders to do just that. I know we’re up to the task, and I appreciate your partnership as we take on this important work.
Kind regards,
Megan Barry
Mayor
Writing in today's Tennessean, reporter Mike Reicher reports that the economic impact report paid for by the team owners greatly overestimated the economic impact of the proposed MLS soccer stadium and overestimated the sales tax revenue the project will generate. The report treated all anticipated sales tax revenue generated by the development as new revenue. It completely ignored what is called the “substitution effect.”
The substitution effect takes into account the simple commonsense fact that if money is spend for something it is not spend for something else. People who spend money going to a soccer game would have spend that money on another sporting event, or going to a movie or a concert, or would have purchased more consumer goods. The substitution effect would only not apply to money spend by visitors who come to Nashville for a soccer game who would have not otherwise have came to Nashville, to economic activity or growth that occurs due to the soccer stadium that would not have otherwise occurred, or to money people would have otherwise saved had they not spend it on attending a soccer game. While one can't place an exact percentage on what portion of the sales tax revenue generated by the project would be due to the substitution effect and what portion would not, most would simply be substitution effect revenue.
According to the soccer deal, if Nashville is awarded a franchise, the team will pay
$9 million each year toward the $13 million annual debt payment. Those attending soccer games at the stadium will
contribute through ticket tax and sales tax revenue. The deal limits
public investment to $25 million for stadium
infrastructure, plus any annual shortfall.
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