A Drop in the Bucket...

I head back to base in the morning after my all too brief stint of Recruiters Assistance.. believe me, it was a great vacation and just the thought of going back to the desert makes my heart drop.  I'm not sure when I'll be able to update this blog again but I'll try to make it a bit more regular, once or twice a month at the very least.  There shouldn't be a problem in accomplishing at least that much.  I know I haven't really kept up with my usual standards of thoroughness, and for that I sincerely apologize.  For now you'll just have to make do with my thoughts in a more raw form as opposed to my old posts which literally took me all day to do.  In any event lets get on with it, somehow it's already managed to get to be 1AM and I have quite a drive to get to in a few hours!

Deficits, Deficits and more Deficits..
It's becoming more and more clear that the Obama Presidency is not concerned with even entertaining the idea of fiscal responsibility.  The post WWII average of federal spending in relation to GDP is 18%, in the past five years we've bumped that up to 25%.  Is that all President Obama's fault? Of course not, the problem is that he seems intent on doubling down on the ill advised bailout mentality adopted at the end of the Bush era.  There's so much that I want to explain and expand on but since my mind is currently shutting down I'll just let Mr. Samuelson from the Washington Post do the grunt work for me.   Here is an excerpt from a piece he did on Monday, click here for the link.

"Two weeks before the House vote, the Congressional Budget Office released its estimate of Obama's budget, including its health-care program. From 2011 to 2020, the cumulative deficit is almost $10 trillion. Adding 2009 and 2010, the total rises to $12.7 trillion. In 2020, the projected annual deficit is $1.25 trillion, equal to 5.6 percent of the economy (gross domestic product). That assumes economic recovery, with unemployment at 5 percent. Spending is almost 30 percent higher than taxes. Total debt held by the public rises from 40 percent of GDP in 2008 to 90 percent in 2020, close to its post-World War II peak.

To criticisms, Obama supporters make two arguments. First, the CBO says the plan reduces the deficit by $143 billion over a decade. Second, the legislation contains measures (an expert panel to curb Medicare spending, emphasis on "comparative effectiveness research") to control health spending. These rejoinders are self-serving and unconvincing."

"Suppose the CBO estimate is correct. So? The $143 billion saving is about 1 percent of the projected $12.7 trillion deficit from 2009 to 2020. If the administration has $1 trillion or so of spending cuts and tax increases over a decade, all these monies should first cover existing deficits -- not finance new spending. Obama's behavior resembles a highly indebted family's taking an expensive round-the-world trip because it claims to have found ways to pay for it. It's self-indulgent and reckless."

Reckless is right.   The amount of debt that this administration is willing to put on the backs of the American public is almost as appalling as the audacity and temerity with which it was enacted. We already have hundreds of billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities in the form of Medicare, Medicaid and the godfather of them all, Social Security.  It's a very poorly kept secret that all these programs are already broke or will be broke within the next few years and yet this administration chooses to add to the mess instead of realistically addressing the issue in terms of affordability and accountability.  Worse yet, they plan to fund this vast expansion of government into your life by yet another tax on investment of 3.8%.  So not only do you pay income taxes on the original principal, but also capital gains, dividends, more income tax on the back end and now a new medicare tax.. Come to America! We're business friendly!  Not quite.  The decisions being made in Washington have real implications in the real world, even if the ones in control don't seem to be aware of them.  Moody's Investors Service has been warning for awhile now that the US could lose it's AAA rating which would further confirm what the world already knows, the US can barely afford its current load of debt, adding yet another gargantuan entitlement program to the federal ledger might very well tip the scales.  Foreign investment is already down and interest rates on Treasury bonds are slowly creeping up to encourage investment.  But who would invest in a hostile business climate especially when it seems that at every turn taxes on business and the investment that funds it look skyward. 

In related news, the US government is not only interested in owning car companies, and banks, but they are now the only game in town as far as the college student loan market goes.  For the first time all student loans will originate, be guaranteed and serviced by the US government.  As we learned in the last post, government subsidies end up being the path to hell paved in good intentions.  In economic terms, it creates a malinvestment in the market by artificially lowering the price of something (housing anyone?) resulting in increased demand for something that eventually ends up in a bust when the reality of the situation sets in.  All the schemes set forth by Washington these past few years have been essentially propagating the concept of third party payer systems in multiple aspects of our daily lives.  In this case, it's education, but it's easy to draw a corollary to yet another untenable financial crisis somewhere along the path.  IF the government is willing, through Fanny and Freddy, to underwrite and renegotiate upside down mortgages to people who do not currently nor will they in a year have the money to afford their house; and the government is also willing to provide everyone with health insurance; why then, since they are now in charge of writing and servicing all student loans,  can't they provide everyone with money for a college education?  The answer quite simply is inflation.  Currently the way the politicians deal with this problem is raising taxes and monetizing the debt, not quite in the way a third world country does, yet; but it's along those same lines.  For everything there is a tipping point, and right now we have reached ours.  I don't think that even this President would be so bold as to take us that far, but clearly the concept is in horizon.

The interesting thing about it all is that the politicians in Washington, Republican and Democrat, seem to think the American public too dumb to know how to take care of our own houses, health care, vehicles or education but also think us responsible enough to decide on something as important as the definition of life: fetus or embryo.  I vote for forced sterilization of all national politicians, it might be pressing my luck but I wouldn't mind throwing in some of the douche bags from Sacramento as well..  Again, sorry for the delirious rambling, Goodnight.

Video/Audio Clip(s) of the Entry:

Like I said last entry, I'm totally into acoustic covers right now.. It doesn't hurt that there are some great Asian artists on YouTube that are sick with the guitar.. AND the ukulele!  I always thought this song should have been a duet.. 

I can't tell if you've noticed but besides the whole acoustic feel of the music so far there is a bit of a theme.  I sent this to my girl awhile back and it still rings true.  God I wish I was talented like this, I guess I'll just have to settle for sending my lady a link to a great Colby Caillat cover or something else similarly awesome.

Random Thoughts:

You run your fingers across my lips,
No I've never felt like this before, no, no..

I know I'm young but I know love,
And I'd know I know an angel if I saw one..

But I know very well,
Gentlemen don't kiss and tell,

And I promise I won't tell the world,
If you say you want to be my girl,
In your words..

I'm just a simple man, simple plans,
Good work, take care of my fam,
I'm sure you understand..

Because you're heaven sent, independent,
Do you think you need me?
I think I need you girl, baby cant you see?

But I know very well,
Gentlemen don't kiss and tell,
And I promise I wont tell the world,
If you say you want to be my girl,
In your own words..

Cards on the table,
Willing and able,
Stable, capable,
Of holding you down..
I'm just saying,
I'm not complaining your love is worth waiting for..

But I know very well,
Gentlemen don't kiss and tell,
And I promise I won't tell the world,
If you say you want to be my girl,
In your own words..
I'm not complaining,
Your love is worth waiting for...

Quote of the Entry:  "There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government. And that’s close to 40% of our national income."

-Milton Friedman, American Economist, Novelist and Nobel Prize Recipient (1919-2006) 

Hiatuses and Lacunae..

It's been awhile since I've had the time or inclination to write in this blog, let alone even look at it. For the few people that read it or were interested in its contents for whatever reason, I apologize for the long break but for the most part it was unavoidable. I originally created this blog as a kind of anchor for my thoughts as I was undergoing rather large changes in my day to day life, and I suppose in a lot of ways I needed something to provide an outlet to the very people I had deliberately chosen to distance myself from. This made all the more necessary because they did not and still don't know that I felt and still do feel the need to extend even this small measure of an explanation of my thoughts and actions despite the fact that the apparent silence on my end must be deafening. In any event, here's a quick update on my current situation and then I'll go into a few current events topics that have sparked my interest and then I'll finish off the post with the usual accoutrements, so lets begin shall we?

Current Status as of 20100320, or 03/20/2010:
Occupation: PFC in the US Marine Corps
Location: 29 Palms MAGTFTC/MCAGCC
MOS: 2847 Telephone Systems/Personal Computer Intermediate Repairer

That about does it for the info on what I've been doing as of late. If you'd like to know more just ask. Now on to the more boring aspects of this entry.

Health Care.. The Elephant in the Boudoir..
It's the eve of the "historic" vote on health care. That term has been thrown around a lot since President Obama's viability and indeed his road to the presidency became almost a foregone conclusion; but truly the vote tomorrow is a historic one and it will determine which road we choose to go down as a country. We can embrace European socialism, and weaken ourselves into something like a third world banana republic following the example of Greece, and believe me many others in the EU are not at all far behind, or we can continue to lead the rest of the industrialized world in both health and prosperity into the new millennium. The choice would seem obvious, but perhaps not.

Where did it all go wrong? Almost all the problems with health care can be traced to one source, the Roosevelt administration of the 40's and the idea of third party payers for health insurance. In the post New Deal era of wage and price controls, employers were not able to give raises so instead gave free health care as part of employment and as an added bonus was you wouldn't have to report it as taxable income. Ever since the 40's you've been getting health insurance through your employer and it's free to you, except for co-pays, deductibles and other incidentals. This may come as a surprise to most, but fundamentally we don't have an insurance market in the United States, what we have is prepaid medicine. If you look at who actually pays the bills, the government is on the hook for over 50% of all medical spending in the US, private employers make up most of whats left. I know this comes as a shock when you think about the rising insurance premiums, but think about it this way, if someone else picks up the tab, what incentive is there to economize or price shop? When was the last time that you checked what the price of a physical, a battery of tests, or anything else was for that matter? All you need to know is how much your co-pay and your deductible is and you go on about your way. Once prices became that detached from the people purportedly paying for the services it was the beginning of the end of controlling health care efficiency in America. It is for that reason that cosmetic surgery, Lasik and other elective procedures have steadily gotten cheaper over the past 10 years. The consumer pays more, if not all of the cost and competition drives prices down. On the other side, general care has never gone anywhere but up.

Since I am staunchly opposed to the health care bill and the opposition is accused of not having alternatives, I suppose I should offer my proposals for "fixing health care," they are a bit lengthy so bear with me here. First remove the tax deduction from employers providing health insurance and remove as non-taxable income the health insurance benefits you receive from work. Immediately employers would stop providing health insurance, and instead pay you cash. So for example if you made $50,000 a year and received $10,000 dollars in benefits then you would get $60,000 dollars a year. Now where would you go to get health insurance? You would buy it on the open market the way you buy life insurance, home owners insurance and automobile insurance. Crazy idea huh? Since the coverage would be independent of your job, you can take it with you with no lapse in coverage should you change jobs or get fired. Next I'd borrow an idea from George W, and John McCain in their previous proposals to allow people to buy the cheapest policy that gets the consumer the best value for their dollar and then let them deduct the cost of that policy. I think they even proposed to give an automatic deduction of about $8,000 even if the policy was $5,000 or in some cases there would be tax credits instead of deductions, which are even better because tax credits are dollar for dollar. So if you owed $10,000 dollars in taxes that year you would only owe $5,000, in essence saving $5,000 for buying an insurance policy. In addition to that they proposed a health savings account (I admit I'm not to familiar with this part) so that the co-pays and deductibles you buy could be payed out of a tax free account that grows and accumulates every year to save even more money. Going even one step further than that, I'd take off the requirements in all the states that traditional indemnity insurers have that requires a customer to pay for a "Cadillac" plan as opposed to a more inexpensive "Cafeteria" style plan that is more tailored to the customers age, lifestyle and other needs. By forcing young, responsible, healthy people to pay for conditions that they neither have nor will likely contract, forces those people to subsidize people with those conditions. That's pricing young people out of the market. Most importantly of all allowing people to purchase health insurance across state lines, health care prices will begin a steady march downward and people will look at health insurance as just another hallmark of a responsible adult rather than something to be coddled with by a fickle employer or to be mollified with by meddling government. Basically my plan breaks down to these simple points.

1. Change the tax code where the customer gets the deduction rather than the employer.
2. Remove all the mandates on traditional indemnity insurers (i.e. purchasing insurance across state lines, Cafeteria insurance as opposed to a Cadillac plan).
3. Adopt some form of a Health Care Savings Account policy.

There it is, ladies and gentlemen with those changes, insurance is now more affordable and the government spends a fraction of the 1 trillion dollar plus bill that's going through the House right now. How would this work? Basically if you were young, healthy, and low risk, you would buy a high deductible HSA policy from an insurer. People are angry about the high premiums of say $500 dollars for insurance, and rightly so. Remember, what you're buying is not insurance, it's prepaid medicine so that when you get pregnant, you can get covered, except your name is Bob, and then you realize that you're paying for things that as an individual you'd never use. What I would buy is an insurance policy with say a $6,000 deductible, that's high to be sure, but in the case of some catastrophic event I'd be covered past $6,000 to around 2 million or whatever the usual cap is. Some would say, how would you get the $6,000 dollars to cover the deductible? Well that's where the HSA's would come in and where the lower premiums would help to subsidize the deductible. If you allow an insurance company to write me a $6,000 dollar deductible policy just for catastrophic events, my premium which was $500 a month goes down to maybe $150. I could then take all or a portion of that savings and put it into that HSA and use it to pay for my routine visits which aren't covered and shouldn't be covered. Here's an interesting corollary, are oil changes covered under your automobile insurance? Obviously not, it's routine maintenance and it's relatively cheap. The same can be said for a physical which you should really only need once a year. Assuming you change your oil regularly and live in the state of California, regular oil changes will run you way more than your incidental medical bills once you see them at price. This is real health insurance reform, this is how to make health care affordable for 99% of Americans, without bankrupting the United States and without putting everyone into a socialist system, and strangely enough I'm taking these ideas from the man largely considered to be the dimmest of our recent Presidents, George W. Bush. The goal of the Democrats and the current bill in the House is not reform, the goal is to get everyone addicted to yet another government program/subsidy and that's really the truth of the matter.

An Ending not of my Choosing..
I had originally intended to write about a number of issues to include Global Warming, (a lot of I told you so's there) the teabagger movement, the Afghanistan War and a number of other topics but that will have to wait till next time. I pretty much went and spent hours just reading/writing about health care and trying to decide which songs I wanted to post. Hopefully it doesn't take me another year to get around to writing in this blog again so I can provide some of my trademark clarity on the issues of the day. In the meantime I'll leave you with a couple of other stories that go along with the health care theme of the entry and a few choice quotes from them as well.

Thomas Sowell: Alice In a Health Care Wonderland
"Nothing would lower costs more than having each patient pay those costs. And nothing is less likely to happen."

Peggy Noonan: Now for the Slaughter

Mayo Clinic to stop treating some Medicare Patients
“Many physicians have said, ‘I simply cannot afford to keep taking care of Medicare patients,’” said Heim, a family doctor who practices in Laurinburg, North Carolina. “If you truly know your business costs and you are losing money, it doesn’t make sense to do more of it.”

Walgreens: No new Medicare patients as of April 16th

Caterpillar: Health Bill would cost it $100M

For the few that might happen upon this page, I apologize for not putting anything interesting into my blog and only writing about things that would make most grown folk want to pop a Valium or two or three. In any event I hope that the bill dies in the house tomorrow so that Americans can get on with their lives and we can work toward real health care reform in this greatest nation on God's green Earth.

Video/Audio Clip(s) of the Entry:

This song has been in high rotation in my car these past few weeks, I've been digging the acoustic sound lately and this girl is certainly worth a listen. Kina Grannis is a half Japanese (so you know I love her) half European mutt that is definitely going to blow up in the next few years.. So if you don't know, now you know. Won't you be my honey bee..?


Again with that acoustic sound and believe me it was hard to choose which song to feature here. Legaci and Cathy Nguyen are some of my favorite Youtube acoustic stars and this is one of their more recent videos. I'm digging the sound, the clarity and just the vibe. Also, vote Andrew Garcia for American Idol!! Legaci has a great tribute to his "Straight Up" cover on their page.. Check that out too.. Enjoy!

Random Thoughts:

Do you hear me?
I'm talking to you,
Across the water,
Across the deep blue, ocean..
Under the open sky,
Oh my, baby I'm trying..

Boy I hear you, in my dreams..
I feel your whisper, across the sea..
I keep you with me in my heart..
You make it easier, when life gets hard..

I'm Lucky I'm in love with my best friend,
Lucky to have been where I have been,
Lucky to be coming home again..

Quote of the Entry:
Greatness is more than potential. It is the execution of that potential. Beyond the raw talent. You need the appropriate training. You need the discipline. You need the inspiration. You need the drive.
- Eric A. Burns, Gossamer Commons, 08-12-05