White House Forum on Health Care Reform

Hey all!

You might have noticed I wasn't anchoring last night. I spent the day in Greensboro covering President Obama's White House forum on health care reform. North Carolina was one of five locations nationwide to host it. The president wants America's feedback and hopes to sign a reform bill by the end of the year. Ambitious right?

Anyway, I was there to do some interviews we aired last night and I taped my entire show for this weekend on location. It was really interesting and you should check it out on Political Connections this Friday at 6pm and Sunday 11am on News 14 Carolina. Okay with the shameless plug out of the way here's a brief rundown of what was said by those I interviewed.

The event was hosted by Gov. Perdue and White House Office of Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle. I had a chance to interview Ms. DeParle afterward.

She said the goal of these forums is to hear problems that exist and suggested solutions from real Americans, how to lower cost, and insure more people. She said she's heard some of the best and some of the worst stories here in North Carolina. This was the fourth of five forums. DeParle says she heard from more uninsured people in North Carolina than other states (a recent study shows we have the fastest growth in the country in the last two years). She also heard more from small businesses than other states.

On the cost front, she said it's a priority to help small businesses get affordable coverage and help people with pre-existing conditions get affordable coverage through insurance pools. She said some of the other popular proposals include creating incentives in payment systems and subsidies for those who can't afford insurance.

She also believes this time reform will happen. I know, I know. You've heard it before, right? She says both sides of the political aisle are on board with change. That's true, but the path to that change and what that change entails will likely look very different depending on the preference of elephants or donkeys.

I also had the chance to talk with Dr. Bill Roper. He's currently the Dean of the UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine and headed up the CDC at one point. He said something that I know will catch the ears of many people. He believes there's plenty of money in the health care system already. He thinks it just needs to be spent more wisely. He is also confident something will get done because he's hearing, for the first time, that people are willing to concede some on certain aspects from both sides.

Dr. Roper believes it's up to the politicians to get everyone on board and past finger pointing that often accompanies big time issues. He thinks "wasted" money should be used to help the uninsured and underinsured get insured.

What he said next is staggering. He said there is a tidal wave of people going to UNC Health Care because they have no other option without insurance. He thinks uncompensated care costs will run $100 million more this year than last year!

I also talked to Rhonda Holliday from a small textile company in Asheboro. The company was on the verge of having to cut health benefits but decided to take a different route. They put employees on a wellness program. Each employee who participates agrees to take a health risk assessment, a yearly physical, and work with nurses if there's a chronic health problem found. Each employee who does that has a much smaller premium. In the seven years since it started the program, premiums have gone up only 6% for employees. What does it do for the company? It has stayed well below double digit increases many companies seen during renewals with the insurance company.

This is just a sample of what you will hear and see if you check out the show this weekend!

Dana Cope on PC

Hey everyone!

I know the focus is on UNC and it's big game tonight. Go Heels!

But if you're looking for some pre-game viewing check out Political Connections on News 14 Carolina tonight at 6 and again on Sunday at 11am.

My guests are Dana Cope from the State Employee Association and Mary Gowan from Elon's Business School. We talk about furloughs and layoffs.

Notice how we hardly ever heard of the word furloughs before this year? What's the story behind it and what do you need to know. Plus are furloughs the right answer for state government?

Mr. Cope has some strong feelings on the issue. The interview was taped before layoffs were announced by UNC but he talks candidly about the issue.

Check it out! Next week we take the show on the road to President Obama's health care forum in our state!

1/3rd life crisis

Weird title huh? 1/3rd life crisis. We've heard about the mid-life crisis. It typically involves the mid 40's to mid 50's person who is freaking out because their life is seamingly flashing before their eyes. They sell the Camry and buy a cherry red Miata. They even end up at bars, at times, in "hip" clothing looking to "hang".

We've even heard about the quarter life crisis. It's the 25 year old who has left college and the glow of the neon sign from The Bar is behind you and 40 years in the workforce slaps you in the face. The carefree days of little sleep and big fun are gone and the reality of responsibility arrive.

But these days, I'm feeling the 1/3rd life crisis. You see, I'm 32 years old. I'm not talking about the crisis in terms of my personal life (honey, don't worry I'm not about to buy a shiny red convertible). It's about my professional life. In my thirties, I'm sort of in between. Don't get me wrong, I understand I'm younger than older but that line is blurring.

About two months ago, I began reading about all these new social websites people were using. I had heard about it for some time but just started reading more about it. I sat down with one of our web producers and demanded to learn about it. Not because I was so interested but I felt it was necessary to survive. My life was just fine without twitter and facebook, so I thought. Well, apparently I was wrong and needed to say why in 140 characters or less. Today, I proudly tweet and have my own facebook "fan" page.

While I'm using it, I still feel like your friend's dad whose trying to use words like "cool" and "awesome" with you. Want to know why I feel out of touch with the teens and 20's? I just used cool and awesome as examples!

I'm not in with the older crowd either. They have enough experience that they are running the businesses and don't need to know this new technology (even though they should).

I'm in a technological sandwich trying find my purpose. I feel like I don't have a place and am trying to find that place. The good news is, I hope, that even the 1/4 lifers and mid lifers feel the same way.

This technology is moving so fast we are all trying to find our way. The internet is so vast and so clogged, at the same time, it's hard to feel relevant. Heck, I never heard of 1/3rd life crisis before I started writing about it, but lord knows if I google it, it will come up on some other blog or book. (I just googled it and sure enough it shows up on several web pages!). I may read it but who knows if it's worth the time.

And that is the biggest point. How do we do enough to provide value to be relevant in this new technological world confronting us everywhere we turn, type, or click. That's why media companies are literally dying. Adapting quickly is probably the biggest necessity. Which is why I forced myself to sit down with a near quarter lifer to help out this 1/3rd lifer. He wanted to help and work with me but will other "youngsters".

I feel like I'm starting to babble now so I'm going to stop, but I wanted to more or less get the conversation going. Let me know what you think and where you think you fit.

I need to go for now, I need to catch up with some tweeple.

NC next Zimbabwe?

Hey all...

I was reading a CNN article and it struck me funny just a day after Gov. Perdue's proposal. Here's the article.

If you don't have time or don't care to read it, it basically says that Zimbabwe is way too reliant on taxes from beer and cigarettes. Just yesterday, Gov. Perdue proposed a $1.00 per pack tax hike on cigarettes and a 5% hike on the alcohol tax.

According to the report, the new finance director for Zimbabwe criticized the president of the country for having customs and excise taxes make up 88% of government revenue. The finance director expects that reliance to lead to a huge budget shortfall due to an economic crisis.

I just point this out for humor reasons that it came out just one day after our governor's announcement. The truth is the tax increases here would only gather roughly $500 million a year (I know "only" is a bad word choice but in a $21 billion plan that's not much).

Now, one could argue a reliance on taxes like these are not good policy and I'm sure you'll hear that from our conservative friends on my show this week. What will our left leaning friends say?

I'm so glad you asked (shameless plug)! Watch Political Connections Friday at 6 and Sunday morning at 11am only on News 14 Carolina to find out!

Enjoy that sun out there today. It seems like it's been days since I've seen it. Wait it has been days!

Budget fatigue

As I keep reading, line by line, the governor's budget proposal it tends to make my eyes, mind, and soul hurt! Not because it's a good or bad proposal, but it's simply hard work for someone not trained in accounting, business, budgets, etc.

My mind is already fried trying to figure out how in the world I'm going to fill out my NCAA bracket! I'm a college basketball fanatic you see.

Anyway, I want to focus tonight on Gov. Perdue's program eliminations she proposed today. We've heard plenty about job cuts, tax increases (cigarettes and alcohol), and spending cuts. I encourage you to read several sources because it's complicated and not every story focuses on the same thing or as well as others.

With Gov. Perdue's budget (which is actually about 6 huge packets in binders that is daunting just to look at) she included a three page hand-out detailing program eliminations. It didn't make too many headlines. The closure of several coreectional facilities probably got the most attention from this section. You see it only cuts a total of $37.4 million dollars. It does equal 842 positions (not all "real people" but positions).

Anyway, it provides a unique look at how detailed spending is in the budget and things that cost money you might never imagine.


Take the elimination of the internship program at the State Controller's office. How much do you think that would cost? Try $119,000 per year. I'm not sure how well these interns are paid but I had to beg for a free internship in my business!

Be careful next time you're on the Neuse River because the River Rapid Response Team was eliminated as well. (a cool $202,877 and 4.5 jobs gone).

And if you're interested in how insects can benefit our state? You better rely on old research because the Beneficial Insect Lab at the Department of Agriculture has been eliminated by the budget fly swatter ($91,148 per year).

An apprenticeship program at the Dept. of Labor costs $1.8 million with 26 positions. Gone.

At least two camps in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquincy Prevention are gone (2.5 mill and 21 jobs).

How about this one...we are in a considerable economic crisis and what got cut from Public Instruction (schools)? You guessed it a Personal Financial Literacy program ($500,000).

Those are just a few examples of 39 eliminations. Don't get me wrong, I am by no means criticizing or cheerleading these cuts. Cuts needed to be made somewhere. I was just pointing out for your benefit the detail of the budget and some of the programs your tax dollars fund you might never ever imagine.

Think of it this way that $37.5 million in cuts is just a tiny fraction of a $21 billion dollar budget. Imagine how hard it is to figure out the rest and understand it all!

Let me know what you think of the Governor's proposal.

Governor Perdue's budget

And so the day comes that Governor Perdue is probably dreading. Tuesday morning (11:30am to be exact), Gov. Perdue will hold a news conference announcing her budget proposal.

She has said all along it's not going to be pretty, and I have to imagine she's not kidding. By all accounts, the state is facing a huge budget shortfall.

In the past week, Gov. Perdue has unveiled bits of her budget. Today she promised to increase funding for education by 2.5%. Last week she talked about new programs to help bring jobs and stimulate the economy. Those programs also cost money. So, we've got a good preview of how she plans to spend money but no inkling of how she will cut it.

This new spending means some very bad news for other areas. It will likely lead to agency heads, department heads, and state employees having a very restless night of sleep tonight.

Rumors have spread to a 10-15% cut in many departments and layoffs as well. The big question is how much and which programs might get cut altogether.

Governor Perdue has said several times in the past week that she's enjoying these moments because many people will not be happy with her after tomorrow. The fact is the budget issues are so deep, no matter what decisions she made she would face criticism.

That's where you come in. For better or for worse, I want to hear your thoughts on the governor's budget tomorrow. Either comment on this page or find me on twitter @boyumnews14 or email me at tim.boyum@news14.com.

We will use the comments here, on twitter, and on the air as well.

And can we get some warm sunny weather in here!!!!!!!!!!

Got a question?

Do you have a question about News 14 Carolina or about tv news in general?

How about a question about news stories going on?

I'm looking for your questions to start a conversation here on the blog with all of you! I will answer them to the best of my ability or try to find the answer for you.

In the meantime, take advantage of the dreary weather and cuddle up to a great weekend of ACC basketball!!!