"A tax cut means higher family income and higher business profits and a balanced federal budget. Every taxpayer and his family will have more money left over after taxes for a new car, a a new home, new conveniences, education and investment. Every businessman can keep a higher percentage of his profits in his cash register or put it to work expanding or improving his business, and as the national income grows, the federal government will ultimately end up with more revenues."
– John F. Kennedy (D), Sept. 18, 1963, radio and television address to the nation on tax-reduction bill
Last week, the White House said they believe the recession has ended. With the latest report, the unemployment rate rose to 9.8%. This doesn’t count 571,000 people that stopped looking for jobs because of frustration with being out of work for months which would make the rate closer to 17%. The number of people that found part time jobs because they couldn’t find full time jobs has risen to approximately 103,000 which is also omitted from the 9.8%. EVERY sector of the US economy had massive job loss in September except for one, healthcare. In September, the healthcare sector added 16,000 jobs alone. 83% of American’s have jobs but not for long if Obama can help it. The Bush tax cuts end in January and Obama doesn’t plan on extending them. There will be tax increases across the board for individuals, businesses, and investments. History has shown us that this will lead to less investment and fewer jobs. Obama also intends to push forward with Cap and Trade so businesses will be forced to lower their emission standards to be “greener” consequently pushing costs up for the entire energy sector.
The leaders of this great country have failed us. They continue to approve massive amounts of spending and income redistribution that is making a bad situation worse. Since money is power, the more money our leaders confiscate under the flag of “societal protection” the larger, more powerful and more intrusive our government becomes in our lives. We being relieved of our personal liberties without a shot being fired because we have migrated from our constitutionally forged beliefs in the individual and the opportunity to pursue happiness. We instead are being led down the road to the promoted benefits of the Nanny state and expecting Uncle Sam to provide for everybody’s happiness. Private property and liberty are inseparable. People in the majority have, over time, become more enamored by their piece of the hand-out, than preserving their hard earned money and freedoms so many have paid so dearly for. No matter how much the government spends, nothing gets solved. So they push for more power, more money, and more debt. Some of the wealthiest people in this country are left wing. They say “I can live off 50% of my income.” What they don’t realize is it’s much more than that. It’s our freedom and liberty that’s at stake.
The latest Nanny gambit is the nationalization of our health care system. For the promise of care for all, we will hand over egregious amounts of additional money and power to the few. The Health Care Sector was the only growing sector in the US economy last month and Obama wants to choke the life out of it. At the same time Obama’s administration pulls the wool over our eyes about the economy, they lie to us about his own healthcare plan. Government run healthcare will compete with private healthcare he says. For the same job, the public sector gets paid on average 40% more than the private sector. How can any private sector company compete with the government? He preaches cutting costs, while he increases expenses. The government trashes us, demeans us, lies to us, tax us, and regulate us. The problems with healthcare today stem from the governments preexisting involvement the system. Here in California, I can pick from 6 healthcare companies. 6 out of 300+ in the country! Why does this matter you ask? Some states require insurance companies to include things like acupuncture, breast implants, chiropractor visits in all plans, even if you don’t need them. In Wisconsin, the average person pays $2,400 per YEAR on healthcare coverage while states like Massachusetts and California pay close to $8,500 per year. All of this and we haven’t accounted for the real issue at hand…LIVES. Look no further than the disastrous Canadian healthcare system. There is their cancer death rate which is 16% higher than in the US. Their colon cancer rate is 25% higher due to waits for colonoscopies and their death rate (once afflicted) is 41% as opposed to 32% in the US. Contributing to all of these numbers is an eight week wait for cancer radiation therapy. People in Great Britain and Canada have been denied care, denied more expensive medication that would be available elsewhere, and have been subjected to long wait times. They have death panels in Britain that forecast death. If through their diagnoses they determine you don’t have long to live, they can withhold food and medicines. Instead they put you on permanent sedation until you pass away. Experts have argued that this sedation could mask improvements in a patient’s status. Doctors in Great Britain have admitted there have been instances when patients have wrongly been put on this “pathway.” Why do this? What’s the hurry? Money. In 2007-2008, 65% of deaths in Great Britain came about after continuous deep sedation. Obama wants this…here? Someone should wake him from his sedation! Once the government can decide who lives and who dies, who lives well and who lives poorly, we’ve lost everything.
Obama resents our history and our customs. He looks at it as if America hasn’t done good to the world, rather America has wronged the world. We no longer have weight in decisions on events around the world. In little more than a half of year we’ve found out who Obama is and what he’s capable of. He’s capable of destroying our economy. He’s capable of destroying job creation. He’s capable of destroying the auto industry and the energy industry.
Obama believes in a centralized government and an expanded government. He rejects the state and more importantly the individual which is a blatant rejection of the Constitution. Obama wants to enslave people to the Federal Government. When’s the last time this man supported a policy that would bring more liberty? More competition? More private property? More National Security? Politicians should always refer back to the Constitution when making decisions. We’re talking about principles, our founding principles. Conservative principles ARE founding principles. This is who we are.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Will Obamacare work?
Guest post by: Jeff Belokin
Sit back and relax. Below I attack the Universal Health Care (UHC) idea like a pack of ravage dogs in the Siberian tundra on a fresh carcass. There is a lot of information and opinion below but it doesn’t address all the flaws of UHC.
Most of the information I have gathered comes from a combined 100 pages of notes, memos, and random cluelessness in The Economic Case for Health Care Reform, the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) Long Term Budget Outlook, notes made by the Congressional Budget Office’s director Douglas W. Elmendorf, and pick through the various political comments made about Universal Health Care. These well respected organizations (or so they say) will have you believe the following:
• HC costs are spiraling out of control and will continue to do so.
• Our HC system rewards “inputs” instead of “outcomes.”
• HC is savable with Universal HC reform.
• Medicare & Medicaid are massively failing government programs, but this should not influence your opinion on granting them universal control.
• Other economic developed countries have successful versions of socialized HC.
• Universal HC will not increase health costs to people earning < $250,000.
• The proposed reform policy is not nationalized, or socialized HC.
• Every American must be insured.
Before I break this down, my personal belief is our current HC system is riddled with problems but it is far from being broken. Comparatively, American HC has fewer problems and is more affordable than in other developed countries. Since my opinions matter as much as arguing balls and strikes in baseball, let’s get to breaking this down.
1st bullet:
The talking heads claim there is outrageous price increases in HC. The CEA (Council of Economic Advisors) says “Real per person spending on health care has been increasing rapidly, rising 40% in the past decade alone.” Former Pres. Clinton needed a definition on the word “is,” I suppose I need a definition on the word “rapidly.’ Price increase of 40% over a decade can be quite concerning. However, if you do the math, that is only 3.8% per year. This is a far cry from price gouging. Unsustainable increases in price can be found in the real estate, equities, and crude markets among others. The housing, stock, and gas markets all popped in the past 2 years. When you have unsustainable growth in a FREE MARKET system you get resistance levels and new settling points. Eventually new lower prices are established. If HC starts experiencing 2005 housing appreciation levels rest assured the price for HC will fall just as fast. But the fact of the matter is it isn’t experiencing this type of inflation.
2nd bullet:
The Economic Case for Health Care Reform, a White House production written by the Council of Economic Advisors, declares, “The source of inefficiencies in the U.S. health care system include payment systems that reward medical inputs rather than outcomes, high administrative costs, and inadequate focus on disease prevention.”
In part, the CEA is pointing out that some people, when realizing they are near or over their annual deductible (typically $500), will schedule unnecessary procedures to maximize their coverage for little personal cost. This does happen; however, the government’s proposal doesn’t deter people from this practice. In fact it enables more people to take advantage of it.
The CEA memo continues on to trash HDHPs (high deductible health plans, deductibles ranging from $2000-$5500) for putting the insured in a difficult situation if they have to bear the cost of the deductible. Significantly reduced monthly premiums, freeing up savable dollars and eligibility to HSA accounts (tax-sheltered savings accounts) are some of the biggest advantages to HDHPs. In fact HDHPs prevent people from getting excessive and unnecessary care. Think about it, if you had a high deductible plan it would cost you a minimum of $2000/yr (deductible) to get to the situation above where you can start taking advantage of making the insurance company pay for a high percentage of or all of your care. Insurance companies all over America are pushing this type of insurance for several reasons, most of which relate to HDHPs helping bring the cost of health insurance back down.
My second issue with the statement is high admin costs. It is interesting not one US Gov agency has come up with a number for UHC admin costs, especially if the Gov is so troubled with high admin costs. The CBO estimates that UHC will cost $676b for the next 10yrs. This number DOES NOT include admin costs! Is it…
1) They simply can’t be estimated, or does
2) Everyone pedaling UHC know adding admin costs to current cost models makes the program a trillion dollar bill to be left to the American public.
It is an old Washington habit to pass a bill then to worry about it later. Its time this stops.
Lastly, the statement says we inadequately fund disease prevention. We spend more on prevention and research than any other country on the sphere. Without doubt UHC would call for more prevention dollars. As recently as April Pres Obama said in reference to investing in disease prevention, “will save huge amounts of money in the long run.” However the CBO in June issued a statement on health care overhaul that dismissed the notion that funding prevention saves money. On June 24 in an article from TheLedger, writer Carla Johnson finds the CBO is correct and Barry Obama is wrong. If we spend more than any other country on prevention, which isn’t adequate for our Pres, and we know that a dollar in doesn’t equal dollar out, then why would we consider dedicating more assets to it? Is being a world leader in wasteful spending not enough?
How do you tell when a politician is lying? If his mouth is moving.
3rd bullet:
Quite frankly I’m not sure how UHC saves our system. It is estimated by the CBO, despite the amount of money spent for the program, will leave anywhere from 20m – 35m Americans uninsured. Current estimates say as many as 48m people are uninsured. What a waste of program if it only insures an additional 13m people.
$676b / 13m people = $52,000 cost per person getting UHC, or
$676b / 26m people = $24,140 conservative cost per person getting UHC
Consider the fact that most of the people getting UHC are people who don’t currently pay into the Gov’s tax pool because of their low income status. So not only are they not contributing like the rest of us are but they are also receiving $24,000+ in medical service to be paid for by us. How the Gov intends to make this program affordable and enduring is incomprehensible. The current literature on UHC doesn’t adequately address the HC provided to illegal immigrants nor does it adequately address reducing Medicare/Medicaid fraud. Until we get on top of unnecessary dollars spent in HC today we shouldn’t consider revamping it for something even more faulted.
4th bullet:
I can’t believe the Gov has the moxy to ask the American people to support another entitlement program. So we all understand, UHC is an entitlement program. The Gov will make everyone eligible (just like Medicare). They will negotiate the prices for medicine, in-care, out-care, check-ups, surgery, child birth, preventative care, etc (just like Medicare). They will also tell you what services will be covered at standard rates and what services will cost you more (this allows them to dictate what health services people use. By doing so they can dictate what general direction HC goes).
As for Medicare and Medicaid, what a joke. The Washington Post on June 13, 2008 mapped out Medicare’s financial problems. The report estimated that Medicare fraud (JUST FRAUD) COSTS THE AMERICAN TAX PAYER $60B/YR. As for Medicaid, if you really want to experience the pain of knowing these problems, it would be quicker if you jumped onto a live IED.
Today hospitals are required to provide emergency HC to anyone who needs it regardless if they can pay for it (Ins or otherwise). However, for routine care like check-ups and fevers hospitals do not have to treat (Ins or otherwise). UHC will flood America’s hospitals with people that have problems which need no medical attention. Many don’t think this will happen. I ask you, if you could watch your favorite sport team live for free any day you want, would you go? Of course you would. It’s the same with UHC. If you provided UHC (potentially free), what prevents that person from going to the hospital if they have a stomach ache, a bruise, seasonal allergies, or other non-medical necessities? The answer is nothing. They are getting care either for free or nearly free. I say free in that this care is paid for by us, not the users of UHC.
5th bullet:
UHC will not increase costs on Americans earning < $250,000.
I only want to attack this from a dollars standpoint but it is relevant to know the ‘cost’ in this equation relates to many things. The quality will suffer, the availability will suffer, and some care will be disproportionate to what a normal supply and demand market would dictate. Also, until we find reason to believe otherwise, user fraud, unauthorized claims paid, and more excuses and taxes by your elected government will continue.
Back to cost. The current plan calls for additional taxes placed on $250k+ earners. The estimated revenues from this potential new tax are estimated by the CBO to account for roughly 1/3 of the total cost of UHC (total cost being the $676b currently estimated, not the $1t it is expected to actually cost). The master brewers of this Kool-Aid will have you believe the rest of the money will come from a variety of sources. For example, creating greater efficiencies in the HC market (universal linkage between all hospital and hospital like facilities) will recoup some $50b/per. They expect to cut down entitlement HC fraud by 50%, recovering anywhere form $20-$35b/yr. Another potential source of revenues will be the discount rates the government plans to negotiate through an Insurance Czar. Another source of potential revenue is to tax your currently non-taxable HC expenses. What does this mean? It means every dollar you spend for your health insurance (premiums, deductibles, meds…) through work or through a privately purchased HC provider, are now taxable. The average single person PPO (90/10 co-pay, $500 deductable) will run about $300/month. The real problem here is the portion your company pays also would become taxable. If every dollar a fortune 500 company spends for its employees medical benefits become taxable they could stand to loose tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in deductible employee pay. Ultimately this lost tax shelter will end up hitting your company’s customer in the shorts as the price of your company’s goods will have increase to meet the rising cost of production.
While I’m at it, why can’t we create a universal link between all care providing facilities without redoing the entire HC system? Why can’t Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid departments crack down on fraud and misuse without redoing the entire HC system? These actions should be independent. We shouldn’t need to pass a massive spending bill to accomplish these things.
Ladies and gentlemen, unless the government really plans to stick it to the wealthier Americans more than they already plan to you will be taxed for UHC. Let’s assume the Gov does only plan to tax the wealthy. First, does that even seem fair? Despite the fact that the wealthiest 25% of Americans in this country pay for 90% of the taxes collected already, does it seem fair to make them pay for the people who don’t currently contribute in taxes who will receive these benefits? Second, people making 250k+ are already taxed 33% to 35%, the Gov took away their ability to save in tax free accounts, they took away their ability to write off donations made to charities, the list goes on. The Gov has stripped away the freedoms and liberties of the wealthy more than any other demographic in this country. Do they really plan to burden them with more? Lastly, how much longer do you think the 250k+ earners will sit there and accept this Gov’s moves?
Rest assured the wealthy wont stand for it. They will either stick it back to the Gov or they will take their operations over seas. So if this Gov wants to approve UHC, the cost will come back to bite the middle classes.
6th bullet:
I’m very uninterested in this “Everyone Must Have Insurance” pitch that Obama is spinning. Why must everyone have insurance? Why don’t we start there. Why must we insure illegal aliens? The majority of the truly uninsured are in the 18 – 30 year age group. This group statistically needs much less health insurance than older groups. Despite the fact that this group has fewer health needs, they still get charged the same amount for group health insurance as every other demographic. Is it possible this group knows it and prefers to self-insure? Is it possible they think they can better spend health care dollars somewhere else? Why then would we move to insure people that may not even want insurance?
Here is another angle. The proposal literature so far says you must purchase health insurance subject to your income level. So even if you chose not to purchase health insurance the Gov would be able to tax you when you file you income taxes for not having it. How peachy.
Try this one on. Employers with more than 25 employees must enroll their employees in group health insurance AND must pay 60%+ of it. It would be interesting if this bill passes and the Gov forces small business to pay for health insurance then turns around only to tax the very thing they made small business purchase. What a great scam. Let’s say you own a small business. You employ 30 people. As is, it doesn’t make business sense for you to get a group health insurance policy for your employees. This bill passes. You now have a tough decision to make. Do you go shop for group health insurance and pay for 60% of the expense? Or do you fire 5 people so you are not required to get group health insurance? It is easy to see how many small businesses would be afraid of growth, expansion, mergers, etc. The Gov can essentially force small business to stay small all the while forcing slightly bigger businesses (30-50 employee companies) to downsize.
I am not a Democrat, nor am I a Republican. I can’t be either because, well, I’m an American. So long as we sail down this path of no responsibility or accountability then I associate with no one. Until this country gets back to its roots, and goes back to governing by the good words of the Constitution I’m afraid we will always have the relentless attacks across the isle, and the relentless news coverage of this counterproductive system. I will leave you with a line from one of my favorite comedians, Lewis Black. He said it best with, “The Republicans are a party of bad ideas, and the Democrats are a party of no ideas…Here’s how it works. A Republican stands up and says ‘I HAVE A SHITTY IDEA,’ and then Democrat stands up and says ‘I CAN MAKE IT SHITTIER.’”
Sit back and relax. Below I attack the Universal Health Care (UHC) idea like a pack of ravage dogs in the Siberian tundra on a fresh carcass. There is a lot of information and opinion below but it doesn’t address all the flaws of UHC.
Most of the information I have gathered comes from a combined 100 pages of notes, memos, and random cluelessness in The Economic Case for Health Care Reform, the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) Long Term Budget Outlook, notes made by the Congressional Budget Office’s director Douglas W. Elmendorf, and pick through the various political comments made about Universal Health Care. These well respected organizations (or so they say) will have you believe the following:
• HC costs are spiraling out of control and will continue to do so.
• Our HC system rewards “inputs” instead of “outcomes.”
• HC is savable with Universal HC reform.
• Medicare & Medicaid are massively failing government programs, but this should not influence your opinion on granting them universal control.
• Other economic developed countries have successful versions of socialized HC.
• Universal HC will not increase health costs to people earning < $250,000.
• The proposed reform policy is not nationalized, or socialized HC.
• Every American must be insured.
Before I break this down, my personal belief is our current HC system is riddled with problems but it is far from being broken. Comparatively, American HC has fewer problems and is more affordable than in other developed countries. Since my opinions matter as much as arguing balls and strikes in baseball, let’s get to breaking this down.
1st bullet:
The talking heads claim there is outrageous price increases in HC. The CEA (Council of Economic Advisors) says “Real per person spending on health care has been increasing rapidly, rising 40% in the past decade alone.” Former Pres. Clinton needed a definition on the word “is,” I suppose I need a definition on the word “rapidly.’ Price increase of 40% over a decade can be quite concerning. However, if you do the math, that is only 3.8% per year. This is a far cry from price gouging. Unsustainable increases in price can be found in the real estate, equities, and crude markets among others. The housing, stock, and gas markets all popped in the past 2 years. When you have unsustainable growth in a FREE MARKET system you get resistance levels and new settling points. Eventually new lower prices are established. If HC starts experiencing 2005 housing appreciation levels rest assured the price for HC will fall just as fast. But the fact of the matter is it isn’t experiencing this type of inflation.
2nd bullet:
The Economic Case for Health Care Reform, a White House production written by the Council of Economic Advisors, declares, “The source of inefficiencies in the U.S. health care system include payment systems that reward medical inputs rather than outcomes, high administrative costs, and inadequate focus on disease prevention.”
In part, the CEA is pointing out that some people, when realizing they are near or over their annual deductible (typically $500), will schedule unnecessary procedures to maximize their coverage for little personal cost. This does happen; however, the government’s proposal doesn’t deter people from this practice. In fact it enables more people to take advantage of it.
The CEA memo continues on to trash HDHPs (high deductible health plans, deductibles ranging from $2000-$5500) for putting the insured in a difficult situation if they have to bear the cost of the deductible. Significantly reduced monthly premiums, freeing up savable dollars and eligibility to HSA accounts (tax-sheltered savings accounts) are some of the biggest advantages to HDHPs. In fact HDHPs prevent people from getting excessive and unnecessary care. Think about it, if you had a high deductible plan it would cost you a minimum of $2000/yr (deductible) to get to the situation above where you can start taking advantage of making the insurance company pay for a high percentage of or all of your care. Insurance companies all over America are pushing this type of insurance for several reasons, most of which relate to HDHPs helping bring the cost of health insurance back down.
My second issue with the statement is high admin costs. It is interesting not one US Gov agency has come up with a number for UHC admin costs, especially if the Gov is so troubled with high admin costs. The CBO estimates that UHC will cost $676b for the next 10yrs. This number DOES NOT include admin costs! Is it…
1) They simply can’t be estimated, or does
2) Everyone pedaling UHC know adding admin costs to current cost models makes the program a trillion dollar bill to be left to the American public.
It is an old Washington habit to pass a bill then to worry about it later. Its time this stops.
Lastly, the statement says we inadequately fund disease prevention. We spend more on prevention and research than any other country on the sphere. Without doubt UHC would call for more prevention dollars. As recently as April Pres Obama said in reference to investing in disease prevention, “will save huge amounts of money in the long run.” However the CBO in June issued a statement on health care overhaul that dismissed the notion that funding prevention saves money. On June 24 in an article from TheLedger, writer Carla Johnson finds the CBO is correct and Barry Obama is wrong. If we spend more than any other country on prevention, which isn’t adequate for our Pres, and we know that a dollar in doesn’t equal dollar out, then why would we consider dedicating more assets to it? Is being a world leader in wasteful spending not enough?
How do you tell when a politician is lying? If his mouth is moving.
3rd bullet:
Quite frankly I’m not sure how UHC saves our system. It is estimated by the CBO, despite the amount of money spent for the program, will leave anywhere from 20m – 35m Americans uninsured. Current estimates say as many as 48m people are uninsured. What a waste of program if it only insures an additional 13m people.
$676b / 13m people = $52,000 cost per person getting UHC, or
$676b / 26m people = $24,140 conservative cost per person getting UHC
Consider the fact that most of the people getting UHC are people who don’t currently pay into the Gov’s tax pool because of their low income status. So not only are they not contributing like the rest of us are but they are also receiving $24,000+ in medical service to be paid for by us. How the Gov intends to make this program affordable and enduring is incomprehensible. The current literature on UHC doesn’t adequately address the HC provided to illegal immigrants nor does it adequately address reducing Medicare/Medicaid fraud. Until we get on top of unnecessary dollars spent in HC today we shouldn’t consider revamping it for something even more faulted.
4th bullet:
I can’t believe the Gov has the moxy to ask the American people to support another entitlement program. So we all understand, UHC is an entitlement program. The Gov will make everyone eligible (just like Medicare). They will negotiate the prices for medicine, in-care, out-care, check-ups, surgery, child birth, preventative care, etc (just like Medicare). They will also tell you what services will be covered at standard rates and what services will cost you more (this allows them to dictate what health services people use. By doing so they can dictate what general direction HC goes).
As for Medicare and Medicaid, what a joke. The Washington Post on June 13, 2008 mapped out Medicare’s financial problems. The report estimated that Medicare fraud (JUST FRAUD) COSTS THE AMERICAN TAX PAYER $60B/YR. As for Medicaid, if you really want to experience the pain of knowing these problems, it would be quicker if you jumped onto a live IED.
Today hospitals are required to provide emergency HC to anyone who needs it regardless if they can pay for it (Ins or otherwise). However, for routine care like check-ups and fevers hospitals do not have to treat (Ins or otherwise). UHC will flood America’s hospitals with people that have problems which need no medical attention. Many don’t think this will happen. I ask you, if you could watch your favorite sport team live for free any day you want, would you go? Of course you would. It’s the same with UHC. If you provided UHC (potentially free), what prevents that person from going to the hospital if they have a stomach ache, a bruise, seasonal allergies, or other non-medical necessities? The answer is nothing. They are getting care either for free or nearly free. I say free in that this care is paid for by us, not the users of UHC.
5th bullet:
UHC will not increase costs on Americans earning < $250,000.
I only want to attack this from a dollars standpoint but it is relevant to know the ‘cost’ in this equation relates to many things. The quality will suffer, the availability will suffer, and some care will be disproportionate to what a normal supply and demand market would dictate. Also, until we find reason to believe otherwise, user fraud, unauthorized claims paid, and more excuses and taxes by your elected government will continue.
Back to cost. The current plan calls for additional taxes placed on $250k+ earners. The estimated revenues from this potential new tax are estimated by the CBO to account for roughly 1/3 of the total cost of UHC (total cost being the $676b currently estimated, not the $1t it is expected to actually cost). The master brewers of this Kool-Aid will have you believe the rest of the money will come from a variety of sources. For example, creating greater efficiencies in the HC market (universal linkage between all hospital and hospital like facilities) will recoup some $50b/per. They expect to cut down entitlement HC fraud by 50%, recovering anywhere form $20-$35b/yr. Another potential source of revenues will be the discount rates the government plans to negotiate through an Insurance Czar. Another source of potential revenue is to tax your currently non-taxable HC expenses. What does this mean? It means every dollar you spend for your health insurance (premiums, deductibles, meds…) through work or through a privately purchased HC provider, are now taxable. The average single person PPO (90/10 co-pay, $500 deductable) will run about $300/month. The real problem here is the portion your company pays also would become taxable. If every dollar a fortune 500 company spends for its employees medical benefits become taxable they could stand to loose tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in deductible employee pay. Ultimately this lost tax shelter will end up hitting your company’s customer in the shorts as the price of your company’s goods will have increase to meet the rising cost of production.
While I’m at it, why can’t we create a universal link between all care providing facilities without redoing the entire HC system? Why can’t Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid departments crack down on fraud and misuse without redoing the entire HC system? These actions should be independent. We shouldn’t need to pass a massive spending bill to accomplish these things.
Ladies and gentlemen, unless the government really plans to stick it to the wealthier Americans more than they already plan to you will be taxed for UHC. Let’s assume the Gov does only plan to tax the wealthy. First, does that even seem fair? Despite the fact that the wealthiest 25% of Americans in this country pay for 90% of the taxes collected already, does it seem fair to make them pay for the people who don’t currently contribute in taxes who will receive these benefits? Second, people making 250k+ are already taxed 33% to 35%, the Gov took away their ability to save in tax free accounts, they took away their ability to write off donations made to charities, the list goes on. The Gov has stripped away the freedoms and liberties of the wealthy more than any other demographic in this country. Do they really plan to burden them with more? Lastly, how much longer do you think the 250k+ earners will sit there and accept this Gov’s moves?
Rest assured the wealthy wont stand for it. They will either stick it back to the Gov or they will take their operations over seas. So if this Gov wants to approve UHC, the cost will come back to bite the middle classes.
6th bullet:
I’m very uninterested in this “Everyone Must Have Insurance” pitch that Obama is spinning. Why must everyone have insurance? Why don’t we start there. Why must we insure illegal aliens? The majority of the truly uninsured are in the 18 – 30 year age group. This group statistically needs much less health insurance than older groups. Despite the fact that this group has fewer health needs, they still get charged the same amount for group health insurance as every other demographic. Is it possible this group knows it and prefers to self-insure? Is it possible they think they can better spend health care dollars somewhere else? Why then would we move to insure people that may not even want insurance?
Here is another angle. The proposal literature so far says you must purchase health insurance subject to your income level. So even if you chose not to purchase health insurance the Gov would be able to tax you when you file you income taxes for not having it. How peachy.
Try this one on. Employers with more than 25 employees must enroll their employees in group health insurance AND must pay 60%+ of it. It would be interesting if this bill passes and the Gov forces small business to pay for health insurance then turns around only to tax the very thing they made small business purchase. What a great scam. Let’s say you own a small business. You employ 30 people. As is, it doesn’t make business sense for you to get a group health insurance policy for your employees. This bill passes. You now have a tough decision to make. Do you go shop for group health insurance and pay for 60% of the expense? Or do you fire 5 people so you are not required to get group health insurance? It is easy to see how many small businesses would be afraid of growth, expansion, mergers, etc. The Gov can essentially force small business to stay small all the while forcing slightly bigger businesses (30-50 employee companies) to downsize.
I am not a Democrat, nor am I a Republican. I can’t be either because, well, I’m an American. So long as we sail down this path of no responsibility or accountability then I associate with no one. Until this country gets back to its roots, and goes back to governing by the good words of the Constitution I’m afraid we will always have the relentless attacks across the isle, and the relentless news coverage of this counterproductive system. I will leave you with a line from one of my favorite comedians, Lewis Black. He said it best with, “The Republicans are a party of bad ideas, and the Democrats are a party of no ideas…Here’s how it works. A Republican stands up and says ‘I HAVE A SHITTY IDEA,’ and then Democrat stands up and says ‘I CAN MAKE IT SHITTIER.’”
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Economy is Improving!!!
The seas have parted the end is in sight! Our government has spent over $3 trillion and according to sources, it's working. CNN has reported we only lost 345,000 jobs in the month of May which is a dramatic slowdown. Obama does know what he's doing!
Believing it yet? Every channel, every newspaper, our government has said everyday things are improving! Is this factual or just more propaganda? Have you noticed when the government wants to reach into our collective pockets, the economy is the worst they’ve ever seen? Yet when they have the money and it's being spent, the economy is improving! When Owe-bama needs more money or to raise taxes which song will he sing then?
Don't we as Americans deserve the truth? It was a lie when he said this is the worst crisis since the Great Depression and he lies when he says the economy is improving. Is Obama learning as he goes or does he have a plan? It's obvious what he's trying to do. He’s trying to destroy our monetary system and I'll prove it.
Remember back in January, Obama was using every channel he could to say we need to pass this stimulus bill IMMEDIATELY to avoid catastrophe ? Obama and his economic team said if we don't pass this stimulus bill we will see unemployment rise to 8% by the end of the year and would be close to 9% in 2010. We’ve just hit a 9.4% unemployment rate and we’re not even half way through the year. Below is a graph from April that came straight from the White House on employment in January. As you can see, in April we were at 8.9% unemployment rate.
What does this mean? This means, by the White House's own admission, we would have lost fewer jobs if they would have done nothing. It vertainly didn’t save any jobs. Also, if you look at his deficit projections, we’re only 4 months into his presidency and he's already over $100 billion off of his own numbers! For the devout followers of Owe-Bama parroting the phrase “he inherited this deficit” look at this next graph. In light red is the White House's estimate and in dark red is the Congressional Budget Office's estimate.
We're only four months into Obama's presidency and his deficit estimations have already been wrong by more than $100 billion! Keep in mind, these numbers are saying that unemployment would not have exceeded 8% this year and the economy would start to see the upswing at the end of the year. Both won't happen. The White House obviously wrote their budget out in pencil if not crayon. (FYI- graph includes spending for the Iraq and Afghanistan war)
Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman, said last week one of two things will need to happen now- the government will need to cut spending or taxes will need to be raised. I am in no means a financial guru but if you read my past posts I said this would happen! From the very beginning Obama wanted complete control over everything. Nationalize healthcare, nationalize the banking system, nationalize the auto industry, etc. Once again, it doesn’t take a genius to know when the government spends and borrower the amount of money at historically unprecedented rates, we will be hit with the huge wave of inflation that will send this crisis to an all new high. Why would Obama do this? He’s a smart man. When the dollar is worth nothing and our monetary system has been destroyed he will be in control.
We'll assume Obama will not decrease federal spending. Why is a budget deficit a big deal anyway? As I look at my 3 week old son and 18 month old daughter I can t help but think what all of this means to them. Our kids will be paying this deficit back for years to come through higher taxes and significantly lowered standards of living. Honestly, I think taxes will be the least of their problems. The government take-over that promises to ensue will rob my kids of all freedoms we take for granted today. The chart below reflects what our deficit will be as compared to GDP without Owe-bama's budget and what it would be with his budget in place. The Congressional Budget Office predicts the deficit will reach 82.4% of GDP with Obama's budget plan in place.
American's aren’t blind to what’s happening. A majority of Americans see the government takeover of GM as a scary predicament. The government has no authority to take over a company. The government has dumped over $100 billion into the auto industry just to see it go into bankruptcy (see a previous post predicting this event). Americans are seeing their tax money being wasted away. According to the Rasmussen Polls, Obama started off with 44% of Americans that strongly approved of him and 14% of Americans that strongly disapproved of him. Thus, he had an Approval Index on January 22nd of 30%. Today, Obama has 36% of Americans that strongly approve compared to 29% of American s that strongly disapprove. His Approval Index has shrunk to 7%.
Be prepared. There is only so much money the government can print. Only so much money the Chinese will give us to buy up our bad debt to keep their biggest customer in line at their cash registers. The unemployment rate will pass 10% by the end of the year. Inflation will start to rise towards the end of the year in which we’ll see the Fed react by increasing interest rates. I predict mortgage interest rates will be over 7% by the end of this year. There will be another push for a stimulus program because this time Obama will be right and we will be in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and he will have put us there.
Believing it yet? Every channel, every newspaper, our government has said everyday things are improving! Is this factual or just more propaganda? Have you noticed when the government wants to reach into our collective pockets, the economy is the worst they’ve ever seen? Yet when they have the money and it's being spent, the economy is improving! When Owe-bama needs more money or to raise taxes which song will he sing then?
Don't we as Americans deserve the truth? It was a lie when he said this is the worst crisis since the Great Depression and he lies when he says the economy is improving. Is Obama learning as he goes or does he have a plan? It's obvious what he's trying to do. He’s trying to destroy our monetary system and I'll prove it.
Remember back in January, Obama was using every channel he could to say we need to pass this stimulus bill IMMEDIATELY to avoid catastrophe ? Obama and his economic team said if we don't pass this stimulus bill we will see unemployment rise to 8% by the end of the year and would be close to 9% in 2010. We’ve just hit a 9.4% unemployment rate and we’re not even half way through the year. Below is a graph from April that came straight from the White House on employment in January. As you can see, in April we were at 8.9% unemployment rate.
What does this mean? This means, by the White House's own admission, we would have lost fewer jobs if they would have done nothing. It vertainly didn’t save any jobs. Also, if you look at his deficit projections, we’re only 4 months into his presidency and he's already over $100 billion off of his own numbers! For the devout followers of Owe-Bama parroting the phrase “he inherited this deficit” look at this next graph. In light red is the White House's estimate and in dark red is the Congressional Budget Office's estimate.
We're only four months into Obama's presidency and his deficit estimations have already been wrong by more than $100 billion! Keep in mind, these numbers are saying that unemployment would not have exceeded 8% this year and the economy would start to see the upswing at the end of the year. Both won't happen. The White House obviously wrote their budget out in pencil if not crayon. (FYI- graph includes spending for the Iraq and Afghanistan war)
Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman, said last week one of two things will need to happen now- the government will need to cut spending or taxes will need to be raised. I am in no means a financial guru but if you read my past posts I said this would happen! From the very beginning Obama wanted complete control over everything. Nationalize healthcare, nationalize the banking system, nationalize the auto industry, etc. Once again, it doesn’t take a genius to know when the government spends and borrower the amount of money at historically unprecedented rates, we will be hit with the huge wave of inflation that will send this crisis to an all new high. Why would Obama do this? He’s a smart man. When the dollar is worth nothing and our monetary system has been destroyed he will be in control.
We'll assume Obama will not decrease federal spending. Why is a budget deficit a big deal anyway? As I look at my 3 week old son and 18 month old daughter I can t help but think what all of this means to them. Our kids will be paying this deficit back for years to come through higher taxes and significantly lowered standards of living. Honestly, I think taxes will be the least of their problems. The government take-over that promises to ensue will rob my kids of all freedoms we take for granted today. The chart below reflects what our deficit will be as compared to GDP without Owe-bama's budget and what it would be with his budget in place. The Congressional Budget Office predicts the deficit will reach 82.4% of GDP with Obama's budget plan in place.
American's aren’t blind to what’s happening. A majority of Americans see the government takeover of GM as a scary predicament. The government has no authority to take over a company. The government has dumped over $100 billion into the auto industry just to see it go into bankruptcy (see a previous post predicting this event). Americans are seeing their tax money being wasted away. According to the Rasmussen Polls, Obama started off with 44% of Americans that strongly approved of him and 14% of Americans that strongly disapproved of him. Thus, he had an Approval Index on January 22nd of 30%. Today, Obama has 36% of Americans that strongly approve compared to 29% of American s that strongly disapprove. His Approval Index has shrunk to 7%.
Be prepared. There is only so much money the government can print. Only so much money the Chinese will give us to buy up our bad debt to keep their biggest customer in line at their cash registers. The unemployment rate will pass 10% by the end of the year. Inflation will start to rise towards the end of the year in which we’ll see the Fed react by increasing interest rates. I predict mortgage interest rates will be over 7% by the end of this year. There will be another push for a stimulus program because this time Obama will be right and we will be in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and he will have put us there.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Now That's A Fact!
- According to the Federal Reserve Board, the money supply in the U.S. has increased 271% over the past 5 months. Have prices for goods increased such as cars, homes, investments? No. All this money will hit the streets at one time someday and we'll see double-digit inflation. Example- Diamonds have a high value because of scarcity. If we tripled the amount of diamonds we have in the world, this would drive the price for diamonds down. Same goes for the dollar. Triple, as we have, the amount of dollars, it drives the value of the dollar down.
- January 6, 2009 Obama says "there will be no more earmarks."
- Obama himself is listed in $7.7 million for earmarks (for spending by/on the president?).
- 9,287 earmarks in the omnibus bill (bill to keep the government running) come to $12.8 billion. Earmarks include-
- $713,625 for woody biomass at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
- $951,500 for “Sustainable Las Vegas”
- $24,000 for the “A+ for Abstinence” program
- $300,000 for the Montana World Trade Center
- $950,000 for the Myrtle Beach International Trade and Convention Center
- $200,000 for the Oil Region Alliance
- $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, for digitizing and editing the Cody collection
- Omnibus increases discretionary spending by 8% ($31 billion more) over last fiscal year's levels, dwarfing the rate of inflation.
- We the tax payers (government) paid $25 billion for Citigroup stocks at $3.25 per share. As of Friday, March 6th this stock is now worth $1.02.
- So far the government has dumped $50 billion into Citigroup. Meanwhile, Citi's market capitalization is less than $6.5 billion. In other words, taxpayers could have bought Citi eight times over.
- The government has also dumped $180 BILLION into AIG. Roughly half the amount of last years defense budget.
- The private sector has no incentive to create new jobs because of a $1.3 TRILLION tax hike that's looming over the next decade.
- We will all see a $646 billion tax hike for energy because of Obama's carbon capping plan. To promote wind energy, solar energy, etc. he will raise the prices on current energy sources to drive down the price of wind and solar.
- The top 2 to 3 percent of wage earners in the U.S. will see a 20% tax hike.
- The capital gains tax rate will be raised to 20%, discouraging investing.
- Those who earn $200,000 or more account for a third of disposable income but will pay for 60% of America's income tax bill.. These spenders and investors are likely to spend less and invest less.
- The last stimulus bill was 1,079 pages long. Senators voted to pass this without reading it.
- Obama's "tax cuts" amount to $13 per week for 2009 and will be $7.70 per week in 2010.
- Obama's budget, by his own admission, redefines the role of government in our economy and society.
- Obama's budget calls for $4 TRILLION for spending, a $1.75 TRILLION deficit, and allows for another $750 BILLION bank bailout. Today we’re talking about adding another $500 BILLION to the pot to prop the FDIC.
What do you see in the media? Obama is cutting spending. Obama could only find a measly $1.164 billion in annual saving in the entire Federal budget (not including his defense cuts).
- The budget more than doubles the national debt held by the public, adding more to the debt than all previous presidents -- from George Washington to George W. Bush -- combined.
- Obama's budget reduces defense spending to a level not sustained since the dangerous days before World War II, while increasing nondefense spending (relative to GDP) to the highest level in U.S. history. And it would raise taxes to historically high levels (again, relative to GDP).
- New and expanded refundable tax credits would raise the fraction of taxpayers paying no income taxes to almost 50% from 38%.
- In the Ukraine, the government has nationalized the banking system. Last week, Ukrainian's stood in massive lines in an attempt to withdraw some of their money to pay expenses. They were told at the window, "Sorry, we simply don’t have the money now and can’t help you."
- Obama's budget will call for $634 BILLION over 10 years as a down payment. Independent experts say the cost will easily exceed $1 TRILLION for the DOWN PAYMENT.
- Canadian's are losing faith in their healthcare system. There is a shortage of doctors in Canada.
- Obama reversed the Abortion Funding Policy. Meaning the U.S. will send $100's of millions overseas to other countries for abortions.
- The DOW has dropped 3,000 points since Obama was elected President. It seems investors don't approve of his stimulus package or budget.
- $7.8 TRILLION in total bailout money has been committed, more to come.
- Since 2000, China has invested over $1.5 TRILLION eating up the US trade deficit. If China, (who has economic problems of their own) stops investing in the U.S., what happens? Interest rates will skyrocket and the dollar will slide. In other words, big trouble.
Support the launch of my Dad's new book!
http://www.performancecapital.com/fromyou.html
- January 6, 2009 Obama says "there will be no more earmarks."
- Obama himself is listed in $7.7 million for earmarks (for spending by/on the president?).
- 9,287 earmarks in the omnibus bill (bill to keep the government running) come to $12.8 billion. Earmarks include-
- $713,625 for woody biomass at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
- $951,500 for “Sustainable Las Vegas”
- $24,000 for the “A+ for Abstinence” program
- $300,000 for the Montana World Trade Center
- $950,000 for the Myrtle Beach International Trade and Convention Center
- $200,000 for the Oil Region Alliance
- $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, for digitizing and editing the Cody collection
- Omnibus increases discretionary spending by 8% ($31 billion more) over last fiscal year's levels, dwarfing the rate of inflation.
- We the tax payers (government) paid $25 billion for Citigroup stocks at $3.25 per share. As of Friday, March 6th this stock is now worth $1.02.
- So far the government has dumped $50 billion into Citigroup. Meanwhile, Citi's market capitalization is less than $6.5 billion. In other words, taxpayers could have bought Citi eight times over.
- The government has also dumped $180 BILLION into AIG. Roughly half the amount of last years defense budget.
- The private sector has no incentive to create new jobs because of a $1.3 TRILLION tax hike that's looming over the next decade.
- We will all see a $646 billion tax hike for energy because of Obama's carbon capping plan. To promote wind energy, solar energy, etc. he will raise the prices on current energy sources to drive down the price of wind and solar.
- The top 2 to 3 percent of wage earners in the U.S. will see a 20% tax hike.
- The capital gains tax rate will be raised to 20%, discouraging investing.
- Those who earn $200,000 or more account for a third of disposable income but will pay for 60% of America's income tax bill.. These spenders and investors are likely to spend less and invest less.
- The last stimulus bill was 1,079 pages long. Senators voted to pass this without reading it.
- Obama's "tax cuts" amount to $13 per week for 2009 and will be $7.70 per week in 2010.
- Obama's budget, by his own admission, redefines the role of government in our economy and society.
- Obama's budget calls for $4 TRILLION for spending, a $1.75 TRILLION deficit, and allows for another $750 BILLION bank bailout. Today we’re talking about adding another $500 BILLION to the pot to prop the FDIC.
What do you see in the media? Obama is cutting spending. Obama could only find a measly $1.164 billion in annual saving in the entire Federal budget (not including his defense cuts).
- The budget more than doubles the national debt held by the public, adding more to the debt than all previous presidents -- from George Washington to George W. Bush -- combined.
- Obama's budget reduces defense spending to a level not sustained since the dangerous days before World War II, while increasing nondefense spending (relative to GDP) to the highest level in U.S. history. And it would raise taxes to historically high levels (again, relative to GDP).
- New and expanded refundable tax credits would raise the fraction of taxpayers paying no income taxes to almost 50% from 38%.
- In the Ukraine, the government has nationalized the banking system. Last week, Ukrainian's stood in massive lines in an attempt to withdraw some of their money to pay expenses. They were told at the window, "Sorry, we simply don’t have the money now and can’t help you."
- Obama's budget will call for $634 BILLION over 10 years as a down payment. Independent experts say the cost will easily exceed $1 TRILLION for the DOWN PAYMENT.
- Canadian's are losing faith in their healthcare system. There is a shortage of doctors in Canada.
- Obama reversed the Abortion Funding Policy. Meaning the U.S. will send $100's of millions overseas to other countries for abortions.
- The DOW has dropped 3,000 points since Obama was elected President. It seems investors don't approve of his stimulus package or budget.
- $7.8 TRILLION in total bailout money has been committed, more to come.
- Since 2000, China has invested over $1.5 TRILLION eating up the US trade deficit. If China, (who has economic problems of their own) stops investing in the U.S., what happens? Interest rates will skyrocket and the dollar will slide. In other words, big trouble.
Support the launch of my Dad's new book!
http://www.performancecapital.com/fromyou.html
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Reagan vs. Obama
“The worst crisis since the Great Depression.” – Barack Obama
How did we come out of the Great Depression during the 1930’s? Some argue it was the New Deal implemented by FDR. I’ll tell you that wasn’t the case and that the actions taken, actually made the economy worse. Seven years into the New Deal, unemployment sky-rocketed over 20%. Henry Morganthau, Roosevelt’s Treasury Secretary, stated the following-
“We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong . . . somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. . . I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started. . . And an enormous debt to boot.”
We made it out of the Great Depression despite the New Deal. In the late 1930’s, before we entered World War II, we were selling mounds of weapons to other countries; guns, planes, tanks, etc. . American people went to work and were paid for creating these goods because of the wars in other theatres. These were not “New Deal” jobs, they were private sector jobs. When the government tries to create jobs, as the New Deal did, it hinders the private sectors ability to generate and sustain jobs.
How did we come out of the Great Depression during the 1930’s? Some argue it was the New Deal implemented by FDR. I’ll tell you that wasn’t the case and that the actions taken, actually made the economy worse. Seven years into the New Deal, unemployment sky-rocketed over 20%. Henry Morganthau, Roosevelt’s Treasury Secretary, stated the following-
“We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong . . . somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. . . I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started. . . And an enormous debt to boot.”
We made it out of the Great Depression despite the New Deal. In the late 1930’s, before we entered World War II, we were selling mounds of weapons to other countries; guns, planes, tanks, etc. . American people went to work and were paid for creating these goods because of the wars in other theatres. These were not “New Deal” jobs, they were private sector jobs. When the government tries to create jobs, as the New Deal did, it hinders the private sectors ability to generate and sustain jobs.
As suffocating as the credit crisis is today, it’s not the worst since the Great Depression (another scare tactic from our President). Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980 when this country was economically worse off than it is today. Unemployment was 10.7%, as opposed to 7.2%,. inflation was 14.76%, as opposed to .03% and interest rates were over 20%, as opposed to 5%.
FDR and Barack Obama (Obama on a MUCH LARGER scale) did the opposite of what Ronald Reagan did. Reagan cut the income tax for the top bracket from 70% to 28%. He passed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, which provided the largest tax cuts ever enacted. Many economists call this “Trickle-down economics.” The more money a restaurant owner has, the more willing he’ll be to open a new restaurant…creating more jobs. He also decreased non-defense government spending during his two terms. The net job increase was 16 million jobs while inflation and interest rates dramatically decreased. With the decrease in taxes and government spending, revenue to the government increased! Reaganomics.
So far we’ve established the New Deal (increased government spending and increased government intervention) failed and Reaganomics (decrease government spending and decreased government intervention) succeeded. Unfortunately we haven’t learned from past successes and past failures. Our government has decided to spend more money than it ever has in the history of our country, without proof it will work, and has taken direct ownership in private companies. Obama disagrees with “Trickle-down economics”. If he disagrees with “Trickle down” please explain what giving billions of dollars to banks to have them provide credit to people represents. That’s trickling down through corrupt companies on Wall Street after being siphoned off by government bureaucracy! If fifty cents out of every dollar would have made it from the top of the private sector to the bottom, you can bet we’ll be lucky to get a nickel down through the money grabbing filter of the federal government.
Two different philosophies. The American way…or the government way. What would Ronald Reagan do if he were President today? You decide.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
King Porkulus
The invisible hand of government has been replaced by the iron fist of control. The free market has been replaced by wealth distribution and socialist democracy in which the government dominates the economy because that is apparently what the American people want. Private sector priorities are now dictated by the government and now pay to private sector employees is controlled by the government.
Where do we draw the line? Where is the end of the line? What is the end-game in the now prevalent question in the greater public thinking that asks; what can the government do for me? Soon, your kids won’t be deciding where to school, instead they’ll be waiting for the government to tell them. When you have a President saying “there will be a time for profits and a time to make bonuses, now is not that time.” Can you believe this? I can’t believe the President of the United States of America would say such a thing. When the government acts it’s never greed, it’s compassion. When private enterprise act, it’s greed. Greed is good in private enterprise! Greed is what produces profit and jobs.
This country has a $53 trillion obligation in unfunded Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, VA, the Shift program, etc. $53 trillion we’re passing to people that haven’t been born! This number is going up every year. If you nationalize every dime in this country it won’t pay for this…the economy today is $14 trillion! Did the private sector drive up this $53 trillion debt?
"So then you get the argument, 'well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill.' What do you think a stimulus is? That's the whole point," Obama said.
When has this way of thinking ever worked for the government? Democrats are trying to capitalize on fearful Americans, made more fearful by our leaders. Obama said it would be a “catastrophe” for American’s if this stimulus plan doesn’t pass immediately. He also said the situation today is worse than the depression. Joe Biden compared this economic crisis to 9/11.
Why?
So they can jam through a $1 trillion stimulus package…that won’t stimulate a thing! Fearful American’s will do anything for a “better tomorrow” but have lost sight of the expense since it is difficult to realistically comprehend the amount of money that “billions” and “trillions” represents.
Currently on the table for Obama’s stimulus plan-
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
$380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program
$300 million for grants to combat violence against women
$2 billion for federal child-care block grants
$6 billion for university building projects
$15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships
$4 billion for job-training programs, including
$1.2 billion for “youths” up to the age of 24
$1 billion for community-development block grants
$4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities”
$650 million for digital-TV coupons;
$90 million to educate “vulnerable populations”
$15 billion for business-loss carry-backs
$145 billion for “Making Work Pay” tax credits
$83 billion for the earned income credit
$150 million for the Smithsonian
$34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters
$500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities
$44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters
$350 million for Agriculture Department computers
$88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building
$448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters
$600 million to convert the federal auto fleet to hybrids
$450 million for NASA (carve-out for “climate-research missions”)
$600 million for NOAA (carve-out for “climate modeling”)
$1 billion for the Census Bureau
$89 billion for Medicaid
$30 billion for COBRA insurance extension
$36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
$20 billion for food stamps
$4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
$850 million for Amtrak
$87 million for a polar ice breaking ship
$1.7 billion for the National Park System
$55 million for Historic Preservation Fund
$7.6 billion for “rural community advancement programs”
$150 million for agricultural-commodity purchases
$150 million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish”
For all you liberals out there, explain to me how this is a “stimulus package”. By spending $87 million for a polar ice breaking ship we’re creating jobs right? There’s a crew on the boat, there’s the captain. (What happened to global warming?) The examples above don’t scratch the surface. Billions of dollars will be given to states to dole out as they see fit. States like California, where the Jerkinator and his posse have made so many poor decisions that they have driven the state into budgetary black hole. States like South Dakota and Wisconsin will be paying for irresponsible choices made by states like California.
But hey, let’s redistribute wealth! How much is $1 trillion? Senator McConnel (R) said it right, “if you spent $1 million PER DAY since the day Jesus was born you wouldn’t have spent a trillion dollars!”
While we’re redistributing wealth and deciding salaries for pirvate sector employees- actors make way too much money, we should cap their pay too…uhhh…let’s say $120,000 (George Clooney will be limited to $80,000 since I can’t stand him). Sounds reasonable. Also, there are too many American’s that drive a nicer car than I do. Obviously not fair, so let’s put a cap on how much someone can spend for a car. $15,000 sound reasonable to you? A lot of employees for the federal government only have a 4 day work week, completely not fair, I’m doing it too! Don’t get me started with professional athletes or lawyers.
Where in the United States Constitution does it allow the President to be King? Where in the United States Constitution does it empower the government to bail out private enterprise?
What do the liberals think? Do agree with the increasing power of the government?
Call and tell your senator no to the stimulus bill- (202) 224-3121.
Where do we draw the line? Where is the end of the line? What is the end-game in the now prevalent question in the greater public thinking that asks; what can the government do for me? Soon, your kids won’t be deciding where to school, instead they’ll be waiting for the government to tell them. When you have a President saying “there will be a time for profits and a time to make bonuses, now is not that time.” Can you believe this? I can’t believe the President of the United States of America would say such a thing. When the government acts it’s never greed, it’s compassion. When private enterprise act, it’s greed. Greed is good in private enterprise! Greed is what produces profit and jobs.
This country has a $53 trillion obligation in unfunded Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, VA, the Shift program, etc. $53 trillion we’re passing to people that haven’t been born! This number is going up every year. If you nationalize every dime in this country it won’t pay for this…the economy today is $14 trillion! Did the private sector drive up this $53 trillion debt?
"So then you get the argument, 'well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill.' What do you think a stimulus is? That's the whole point," Obama said.
When has this way of thinking ever worked for the government? Democrats are trying to capitalize on fearful Americans, made more fearful by our leaders. Obama said it would be a “catastrophe” for American’s if this stimulus plan doesn’t pass immediately. He also said the situation today is worse than the depression. Joe Biden compared this economic crisis to 9/11.
Why?
So they can jam through a $1 trillion stimulus package…that won’t stimulate a thing! Fearful American’s will do anything for a “better tomorrow” but have lost sight of the expense since it is difficult to realistically comprehend the amount of money that “billions” and “trillions” represents.
Currently on the table for Obama’s stimulus plan-
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
$380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program
$300 million for grants to combat violence against women
$2 billion for federal child-care block grants
$6 billion for university building projects
$15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships
$4 billion for job-training programs, including
$1.2 billion for “youths” up to the age of 24
$1 billion for community-development block grants
$4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities”
$650 million for digital-TV coupons;
$90 million to educate “vulnerable populations”
$15 billion for business-loss carry-backs
$145 billion for “Making Work Pay” tax credits
$83 billion for the earned income credit
$150 million for the Smithsonian
$34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters
$500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities
$44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters
$350 million for Agriculture Department computers
$88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building
$448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters
$600 million to convert the federal auto fleet to hybrids
$450 million for NASA (carve-out for “climate-research missions”)
$600 million for NOAA (carve-out for “climate modeling”)
$1 billion for the Census Bureau
$89 billion for Medicaid
$30 billion for COBRA insurance extension
$36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
$20 billion for food stamps
$4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
$850 million for Amtrak
$87 million for a polar ice breaking ship
$1.7 billion for the National Park System
$55 million for Historic Preservation Fund
$7.6 billion for “rural community advancement programs”
$150 million for agricultural-commodity purchases
$150 million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish”
For all you liberals out there, explain to me how this is a “stimulus package”. By spending $87 million for a polar ice breaking ship we’re creating jobs right? There’s a crew on the boat, there’s the captain. (What happened to global warming?) The examples above don’t scratch the surface. Billions of dollars will be given to states to dole out as they see fit. States like California, where the Jerkinator and his posse have made so many poor decisions that they have driven the state into budgetary black hole. States like South Dakota and Wisconsin will be paying for irresponsible choices made by states like California.
But hey, let’s redistribute wealth! How much is $1 trillion? Senator McConnel (R) said it right, “if you spent $1 million PER DAY since the day Jesus was born you wouldn’t have spent a trillion dollars!”
While we’re redistributing wealth and deciding salaries for pirvate sector employees- actors make way too much money, we should cap their pay too…uhhh…let’s say $120,000 (George Clooney will be limited to $80,000 since I can’t stand him). Sounds reasonable. Also, there are too many American’s that drive a nicer car than I do. Obviously not fair, so let’s put a cap on how much someone can spend for a car. $15,000 sound reasonable to you? A lot of employees for the federal government only have a 4 day work week, completely not fair, I’m doing it too! Don’t get me started with professional athletes or lawyers.
Where in the United States Constitution does it allow the President to be King? Where in the United States Constitution does it empower the government to bail out private enterprise?
What do the liberals think? Do agree with the increasing power of the government?
Call and tell your senator no to the stimulus bill- (202) 224-3121.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
A Matter of Principle
An overwhelming majority of American’s are showing their support for our new President, Barack Obama. I am also in support of our new Commander in Chief as any American should be however the question is; what it is exactly that we are supporting?
I think it’s fair to say American’s would like to see this financial crisis end. It’s also fair to say that American’s would like to see an end to military conflicts around the world. Ultimately, American’s feel the need to come together as one people and with this President address our looming issues over the next 4 years so we can reach a positive economic environment and improve our situation in matters of foreign policy and our nations security. The country is fractured into so many constituent interest that people want to feel unified in a common direction.
The problem with the desire for unification in ideology is that the people with the power define the playing field and everyone else becomes fearful (a very real fear also experienced by the people in opposition to the Bush administration policies) of being branded as traitors to the cause or unpatriotic.
Now conservatives are not only fearful of this branding, but have to go against the emotional fervor whipped by the new Presidents rock star status. Conservatives who purport to support limited government, free market capitalism and keeping money in the hands of the people that earned it,now lack the courage to stand up for their principles.
Blindly supporting anyone, let alone the President with a Democratic Congress as his cane, is rife with historical land mines. I believe American’s support Obama blindly with the “hope” that our daily lives will “change”. This support will prove to be costly. In no way do I believe you or I should support many of our new Presidents policies. President Obama will take us further down the dark path away from our all important and seemingly forgotten American principles. We can’t forget how we’ve reached this point in our short history as a country. Our Founding Father’s said it right in the Constitution-
“WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, Insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to Ourselves and our Prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Our country has been racing down this dark path since FDR pulled us blindly so far down the road years ago. We need to get back to the basics. The government needs to limit itself to our constitutional restrictions.. Do you believe in individual liberty or big government? Those are the principles we’re talking about here. I won’t give up my principles and neither should you.
Without stepping foot in the Oval Office, Obama has already pushed a new $1 trillion bail out package. Do you support the biggest rip off in American history? Obama said himself “Even with spending this money, the economy is likely to get worst and then better.” What happened to all the money we’ve been spending for the past year? The truth of the matter is if success is defined as nationalized health care, the biggest redistribution of wealth in our history, continued government ownership in private companies, the biggest government this world has ever seen, the ongoing stripping of personal liberties then I don’t want success. Obama and his thugs (see Rahm Emanuel) want to continue this massive push towards socialism. Obama won't raise taxes initially because Congress has given him a credit card with an unlimited line to charge up. Our kids and our children's kids will have to pay this credit card! Obama WILL raise taxes. If you destroy profit and wealth, you destroy jobs. Wait…Obama said he would create jobs…600,000 new government jobs!!!
All of this is harmful for our nation. We NEED to voice our concern. Obama’s message is clear, “Only the government can.” Stand up for your principles and this country’s principles. America will turn things around in spite of Obama. Liberty will prevail.
I think it’s fair to say American’s would like to see this financial crisis end. It’s also fair to say that American’s would like to see an end to military conflicts around the world. Ultimately, American’s feel the need to come together as one people and with this President address our looming issues over the next 4 years so we can reach a positive economic environment and improve our situation in matters of foreign policy and our nations security. The country is fractured into so many constituent interest that people want to feel unified in a common direction.
The problem with the desire for unification in ideology is that the people with the power define the playing field and everyone else becomes fearful (a very real fear also experienced by the people in opposition to the Bush administration policies) of being branded as traitors to the cause or unpatriotic.
Now conservatives are not only fearful of this branding, but have to go against the emotional fervor whipped by the new Presidents rock star status. Conservatives who purport to support limited government, free market capitalism and keeping money in the hands of the people that earned it,now lack the courage to stand up for their principles.
Blindly supporting anyone, let alone the President with a Democratic Congress as his cane, is rife with historical land mines. I believe American’s support Obama blindly with the “hope” that our daily lives will “change”. This support will prove to be costly. In no way do I believe you or I should support many of our new Presidents policies. President Obama will take us further down the dark path away from our all important and seemingly forgotten American principles. We can’t forget how we’ve reached this point in our short history as a country. Our Founding Father’s said it right in the Constitution-
“WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, Insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to Ourselves and our Prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Our country has been racing down this dark path since FDR pulled us blindly so far down the road years ago. We need to get back to the basics. The government needs to limit itself to our constitutional restrictions.. Do you believe in individual liberty or big government? Those are the principles we’re talking about here. I won’t give up my principles and neither should you.
Without stepping foot in the Oval Office, Obama has already pushed a new $1 trillion bail out package. Do you support the biggest rip off in American history? Obama said himself “Even with spending this money, the economy is likely to get worst and then better.” What happened to all the money we’ve been spending for the past year? The truth of the matter is if success is defined as nationalized health care, the biggest redistribution of wealth in our history, continued government ownership in private companies, the biggest government this world has ever seen, the ongoing stripping of personal liberties then I don’t want success. Obama and his thugs (see Rahm Emanuel) want to continue this massive push towards socialism. Obama won't raise taxes initially because Congress has given him a credit card with an unlimited line to charge up. Our kids and our children's kids will have to pay this credit card! Obama WILL raise taxes. If you destroy profit and wealth, you destroy jobs. Wait…Obama said he would create jobs…600,000 new government jobs!!!
All of this is harmful for our nation. We NEED to voice our concern. Obama’s message is clear, “Only the government can.” Stand up for your principles and this country’s principles. America will turn things around in spite of Obama. Liberty will prevail.
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