Yep, they changed the laws about health insurance. I can expect a fine if I don't buy health insurance in 2014, assuming I live that long without health insurance. From an insurer viewpoint, profits from the 30 or so million new customers ought to offset the new rules. Please note that the new laws do nothing for prices and do not require very many specific coverages. Of course, the long lag time before the laws take effect gives insurers time to escape unwelcome new provisions by using the same scare tactics and heavy applications of cash that sabotaged the current bills.
Congress failed at two very important things. First and worst, they did not remove the antitrust exemption that health insurers enjoy. All of these politicians going on and on about the value of competition are either lying or grossly ignorant. Health insurers are exempt by law from competition.
More people are aware of the failure to include a public option in the changes. This also relates to competition. A publicly funded health care plan would (a) probably reduce costs a bit due to government entities not needing to make profits and (b) give the private companies a real incentive to compete that is lacking today. Such a large operation would also (c) provide leverage in negotiating with pharmaceutical companies, hospital chains and other large providers of care.
All in all, as an uninsured American, I don't see this as helpful. It's just a political gesture, "sound and fury signifying nothing."
This started out to be a communication blog, but I have had life adventures and regular posting was not in the cards. I am going to take a shot at reviving it as a general-life blog for friends who want to keep up with my story. I will also post my thoughts and ideas here, which will probably involve politics, religion, and other controversies.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Bernanke: A new used car
Bernanke: Too big to fail
Posted using ShareThis
This link goes to a CNN Money article pointing out that Wall Street will "punish" the country by dropping market values should Ben Bernanke not be appointed to a second term. It goes on to give a coherent history explaining exactly why he must not be re-appointed.
Bernanke captained the ship that sailed full speed ahead onto the rocks where it remains. He then played a leading part in rewarding the bankers who steered it there. The fact that Wall Street now has the power to punish the US government ought to be a message: these banks are too big not to fail. This country, or any other, cannot afford business interests big enough to overpower the government. Bernanke has ably represented the bankers against the interests of the United States. This must stop.
Specifically, Bernanke's central offense, as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, has been to keep interest rates inappropriately low, leading to the credit bubble that collapsed and brought the entire economy down with it. Bernanke still insists that Federal policy did not cause the crash, thus clearly demonstrating that he has yet to learn from his mistake.
Bernanke's more current offense is the bailout. He did his best to pour over $700 billion into Wall Street, resulting primarily in obscene bonus payments to the bankers who are the agents of the disaster. Meanwhile, lending to small businesses, the best chance of reviving the economy, has dropped dramatically. Those specific decisions have been made by the people who are receiving bonuses for no reason that I can imagine.
Obviously, I disagree with the article's conclusion that Bernanke should be retained because he "has been at the helm for so long." The ship is on the rocks; the captain insists upon keeping it there. Get rid of him. Let's find somebody to patch up the holes and get afloat again.
Posted using ShareThis
This link goes to a CNN Money article pointing out that Wall Street will "punish" the country by dropping market values should Ben Bernanke not be appointed to a second term. It goes on to give a coherent history explaining exactly why he must not be re-appointed.
Bernanke captained the ship that sailed full speed ahead onto the rocks where it remains. He then played a leading part in rewarding the bankers who steered it there. The fact that Wall Street now has the power to punish the US government ought to be a message: these banks are too big not to fail. This country, or any other, cannot afford business interests big enough to overpower the government. Bernanke has ably represented the bankers against the interests of the United States. This must stop.
Specifically, Bernanke's central offense, as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, has been to keep interest rates inappropriately low, leading to the credit bubble that collapsed and brought the entire economy down with it. Bernanke still insists that Federal policy did not cause the crash, thus clearly demonstrating that he has yet to learn from his mistake.
Bernanke's more current offense is the bailout. He did his best to pour over $700 billion into Wall Street, resulting primarily in obscene bonus payments to the bankers who are the agents of the disaster. Meanwhile, lending to small businesses, the best chance of reviving the economy, has dropped dramatically. Those specific decisions have been made by the people who are receiving bonuses for no reason that I can imagine.
Obviously, I disagree with the article's conclusion that Bernanke should be retained because he "has been at the helm for so long." The ship is on the rocks; the captain insists upon keeping it there. Get rid of him. Let's find somebody to patch up the holes and get afloat again.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Supreme Court Enables Corporate Corruption
The Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS), in its alleged wisdom, has decided that corporations may use essentially unlimited money to influence candidates' elections under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
The legal issue here is that US law treats corporations as if they were individual people. This is ludicrous. People create corporations as devices to make money. For-profit corporations, by law, serve the sole purpose of increasing the wealth of shareholders. They cannot have any sort of moral values above greed. None. Thus, treating a corporate entity as if it should have concern for its customers, neighbors or environment, as most individual people do, makes no sense. Such concern, carried out in action, could bring about shareholder lawsuits.
Corporations differ from persons in another important way. Most corporations have money, and thus power, that only an elite few individuals can even imagine. They can invest in politicians freely, and the return on those investments far exceeds any honest way of making a living. It is the sole duty of corporations to make money, and using politicians is the easiest way of doing so in many cases. A wealthy individual might invest in politicians in order to benefit the town where he lives, to forward a personal cause he favors or for the feeling of power. Corporations do it strictly for the money.
Two appropriate responses to this decision come to mind. The first and the more obvious, lies in making the status of corporations better fitted to their function. We need to recognize that companies cannot be responsible for their own ethical behavior; too many conficting factors inhibit that. Regulation obviously fits the bill here, but with additions such as a "death penalty" (dissolution) for those corporate entities that repeatedly violate the laws affecting them. Another good idea is to hold directors and/or executives criminally responsible for the behavior of the corporate entities they control.
The more important response to the Supreme Court decision is to change our election financing system. In this, we already lag behind most of the developed world. Put simply, the politicians will respond to the people only to the degree that the people hold the power over their election. So long as elections are financed by corporations and wealthy donors, the odds of that remain as slim under the Democrats as they were under the Republicans. The chances of third parties gaining power under the current system and being able to change it are even smaller. Implementing one form or another of public financing will result in major government budget savings as contributors lose the power to buy pork barrel projects worth orders of magnitude more than the contributions, to block reforms aimed at making them pay taxes and to commit various other acts of greed. Other special interests would also find themselves less favored by the politicians they currently elect. For one example, a variety of conservative Christian organizations recieved $206 for providing "abstinence-only" sex education in 2006. They would probably would have to recognize the abundant evidence that their product does not serve any of its stated purposes. They would lose that money unless they can produce believable progress. Results would begin to count. All in all, public election financing is both cheaper and a far better investment than bridges to nowhere, oil industry subsidies or "abstinence only" sex education ever have been.
The legal issue here is that US law treats corporations as if they were individual people. This is ludicrous. People create corporations as devices to make money. For-profit corporations, by law, serve the sole purpose of increasing the wealth of shareholders. They cannot have any sort of moral values above greed. None. Thus, treating a corporate entity as if it should have concern for its customers, neighbors or environment, as most individual people do, makes no sense. Such concern, carried out in action, could bring about shareholder lawsuits.
Corporations differ from persons in another important way. Most corporations have money, and thus power, that only an elite few individuals can even imagine. They can invest in politicians freely, and the return on those investments far exceeds any honest way of making a living. It is the sole duty of corporations to make money, and using politicians is the easiest way of doing so in many cases. A wealthy individual might invest in politicians in order to benefit the town where he lives, to forward a personal cause he favors or for the feeling of power. Corporations do it strictly for the money.
Two appropriate responses to this decision come to mind. The first and the more obvious, lies in making the status of corporations better fitted to their function. We need to recognize that companies cannot be responsible for their own ethical behavior; too many conficting factors inhibit that. Regulation obviously fits the bill here, but with additions such as a "death penalty" (dissolution) for those corporate entities that repeatedly violate the laws affecting them. Another good idea is to hold directors and/or executives criminally responsible for the behavior of the corporate entities they control.
The more important response to the Supreme Court decision is to change our election financing system. In this, we already lag behind most of the developed world. Put simply, the politicians will respond to the people only to the degree that the people hold the power over their election. So long as elections are financed by corporations and wealthy donors, the odds of that remain as slim under the Democrats as they were under the Republicans. The chances of third parties gaining power under the current system and being able to change it are even smaller. Implementing one form or another of public financing will result in major government budget savings as contributors lose the power to buy pork barrel projects worth orders of magnitude more than the contributions, to block reforms aimed at making them pay taxes and to commit various other acts of greed. Other special interests would also find themselves less favored by the politicians they currently elect. For one example, a variety of conservative Christian organizations recieved $206 for providing "abstinence-only" sex education in 2006. They would probably would have to recognize the abundant evidence that their product does not serve any of its stated purposes. They would lose that money unless they can produce believable progress. Results would begin to count. All in all, public election financing is both cheaper and a far better investment than bridges to nowhere, oil industry subsidies or "abstinence only" sex education ever have been.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Airline Passengers versusTerrorist Weapons
I noticed something on 9/11 that came back into my mind with news reports about the failed Christmas Day terrorist attempt.
What I noticed on 9/11 was that the terrorists' "weapons" were box cutters. I have used box cutters on jobs, and they're not very impressive. About 1/2" of razor blade protrudes from a handle, and that's it. I could not and cannot understand how the hijackers, 4 or 5 to a plane, cowed all the passengers and crew memebers with those things. Perhaps because of my background in poverty I know rougher people than airline passengers, but I could name a dozen or more people who would have taken those away from the hijackers and proceeded to remove any threat.
So now we come to 12/25/2009. The Christmas terrorist, inept though he apparently was, had a much more fearsome weapon than any box cutter. He sat there with a burning object in his hands, easily recognized as explosive, and was disarmed by a Dutch video director and producer. Giving credit where credit is due, this particular filmmaker displayed great courage and skill. What I wonder about, still, is all those people on 9/11 who did nothing constructive and died as a result of that. Were they really that afraid of box cutters??
What I noticed on 9/11 was that the terrorists' "weapons" were box cutters. I have used box cutters on jobs, and they're not very impressive. About 1/2" of razor blade protrudes from a handle, and that's it. I could not and cannot understand how the hijackers, 4 or 5 to a plane, cowed all the passengers and crew memebers with those things. Perhaps because of my background in poverty I know rougher people than airline passengers, but I could name a dozen or more people who would have taken those away from the hijackers and proceeded to remove any threat.
So now we come to 12/25/2009. The Christmas terrorist, inept though he apparently was, had a much more fearsome weapon than any box cutter. He sat there with a burning object in his hands, easily recognized as explosive, and was disarmed by a Dutch video director and producer. Giving credit where credit is due, this particular filmmaker displayed great courage and skill. What I wonder about, still, is all those people on 9/11 who did nothing constructive and died as a result of that. Were they really that afraid of box cutters??
First posting
I just created another blog. The intent here is to write about politics, society and all those "big" issues that I once discussed over too many drinks. Be advised that my political positions are typically but not always a bit to the left of mainstream and that I tend to be cynical.
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