CBO on Health Care

As any of you reading this probably know, I am against the current form of health care legislation (H.R. 3200).  I feel that I have expressed myself enough on the “health care issues”, so you’re going to get some links.  Your assignment, should you choose to become smart, is to go read these articles and decide if the current form of H.R. 3200 is a good idea.   I laughed when I read the CBO’s release concerning this bill.

CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) worked together to produce a preliminary analysis of H.R. 3200, the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, as introduced by the House Tri-Committee Group on July 14. These latest figures released on July 17 do not represent a complete cost estimate for the legislation. In particular, the estimated impact of the provisions related to health insurance coverage is based on specifications provided by the committee staff, rather than on a detailed analysis of the legislative language. In addition, the figures do not include certain costs that the government would incur to administer the proposed changes and the impact of the bill’s provisions on other federal programs, and they do not reflect any modifications or amendments made after the bill was introduced. Nevertheless, this analysis reflects the major net budgetary effects of H.R. 3200 and builds upon CBO’s July 14 preliminary analysis of the major provisions related to health insurance coverage that are contained in the bill.

*mockingly* HAHAHAHA!  OK, here’s some more info:

• what the heritage foundation thinks
• the washington post’s opinion
• the alternet view (according to wikipedia, alternet is “a project of the non-profit Independent Media Institute, is a progressive/liberal^[1] activist news service.”)

Basically, this bill is getting shot down. OK, can we think this through now? geeeeeees!

Everything Is Alive, Everything Is Breathing Nothing Is Dead and Nothing Is Bleeding

A great title to a from a band I’m tired of.  They were proving a point about their own music scene, and making light of it.

I’m sure a lot of people are tired of hearing the same things coming out of the mouth of the media. They throw out phrases like “economic recovery“, “regulation reform“, and “record breaking“.  It’s irksome to sift through all those hype words to try to decide the level of concern one should have.

Well, I’ll tell you the level of concern I have.  On a scale of 1 – 10 (10 = moving to a deserted island, 1 = fat, dumb, and happy), I’m at about a 7; which is more along the lines of investing outside the U.S. currency and avoiding taxes as much as possible.  How about some bullet points?

• Obama’s czars are not senate confirmed (we’ve had czars since the 1930’s btw, and George W. Bush had the most).  Although it’s not required for them to be senate confirmed.
• Alt-a and Option ARM mortgages: these represent a larger market than subprimes and delinquent payments are crazy.
• The dollar’s strength hasn’t been the same for almost a decade, and the International Monetary Fund has members wanting/suggesting a different world reserve currency (currently the dollar).
• China and Japan own more than half of the U.S. through us selling them our debt.

So, I’m concerned about what our government is doing without our approval, and how public (government) and private (individual) debt is crippling our economy. I’m concerned that the Alt-a and Option ARM mortgages will cause a larger and more catastrophic financial downturn, and that Ben Bernanke will turn to debt (stimulus) once again.

There are good things on the horizon, but none that are fact at this point – and I don’t want to be overly optimistic like the rest of the media.  Now, think about what these policies being introduced by our legislators will cost.  We have spent ourselves dizzy, and we desperately need to stop.  Not only stop, but eliminate what past administrations created.

Racism: a warning

If any of you disagree with President Obama’s policies, character, or beliefs you are probably racist.  Although it’s possible that you’re not racist for opposing Obama, chances are you really are racist.  Ask Jimmy Carter if you have any further inquiries – he is the one claiming this.

There are several reasons this piece of news has struck a chord with me.  Jimmy Carter sites the south as his knowledge on the subject:

“I live in the South, and I’ve seen the South come a long way, and I’ve seen the rest of the country that shared the South’s attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans”

So, the first reason I disagree with this opinion of Jimmy’s is because, if people take what he says to heart and judge accordingly, anything I say that happens to oppose Obama’s policies, beliefs, or character will be regarded as my being racist.  Since I do live in the South, these statements target me especially.  Because anyone who sincerely agrees with Jimmy Carter will follow the same line of thinking in judging my opinion.

A second reason this proclamation is disturbing to me is the extreme over-use and out-right smearing of the true meaning of racism.  The definition of racism has been so distorted, no one is certain for sure what it means and the race card can be used at will to belittle and discredit someone.  Racism means that someone truly believes that their race is SUPERIOR to another race.  So, if my Indian friend disagrees with Obama’s policy, in Jimmy Carter’s mind, he’s a racist.  I have a feeling that Jimmy Carter was not trying to target Indians, but, rather, white conservatives.  I would be much happier if Jimmy Carter just said, “All you concervatives, just shut up”.

My third reason for being upset about these statements made by the cute, old grandpa is that I think he can’t find another way to rise to the top of the political party.  What better way to raise yourself to new levels in your political party by kissing some booty?  “Mr. President, I like you more than anyone else does.  You don’t believe me?  Watch this…”  In my opinion this is a sad, desperate attempt for attention and he is selling himself away in hopes of further approval.

done.

Queen

I was going to call the title, “another one bites the dust”, but I think the band deserves more credit!

Anyway, I was thinking about the current mortgage situation because a good friend of mine is in the process of closing on a house with his fiance.  There is a lot of positive news out there: Ben Bernanke, bottoming housing market, low interest rates, etc. It is all trying to raise the consumer confidence to try and get people spending again.  This is due to the beliefs held by Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers (just read the last paragraph of that link if you want the gist) that the main purpose of the average U.S. Citizen is to take on debt.

Taking that into consideration, it appears that the average U.S. Citizen is not being fooled.  We have a positive savings rate, negative consumer confidence, and new spending habits that are scaring retailers.  Although, a lot of the decrease probably has to do with the fact that unemployment is sky high along with the amount of people who can’t pay their mortgage.

I shouldn’t write much more because it’s going to take forever to go through all those links and watch that video about mosquitoes.  I think you see my point though: we’re still in trouble, and it has only just begun.

It’s just too funny to ignore

As you may know about “Corporate America”, the larger the company, the dumber its operations seem to get.  For instance, the company I work for started implementing a system to effectively replace a team of people.  That was over 2 and a half years ago.  I joined the team after they were supposed to be replaced, and I left the team a year later without ever being replaced – they are still not replaced today.

Given that information, I found it funny to read this article today.  It is my understanding the SEC’s job is to do exactly what they are saying they are going to start learning.  They go on and on saying how this is going to “specialize” them.  This is really blowing my mind.  This entity exists solely to regulate our financial structure.  Meaning, that if you do something illegal, they are supposed to catch you!  I can understand how people get lazy, and, when there are no consequences, it’s easy to slip into a narcotic oblivion.  But, come on people!  *sarcastic tone* Oooo, you’re going to go to Fraud College!  So scary!  I certainly wouldn’t want to try and slip something past you guys! *end sarcastic tone* Except Madoff got it past the SEC for 10 YEARS!  What do you think going to Fraud College is going to do?!  (Wouldn’t it be funny if his name was “Madeoff”?  Like i just Madeoff wit yo money!  Am I behind on that joke?)

I’ll tell you what this is going to do.  You remember when you were little, and your parents would make new rules up on the spot in lieu of something that didn’t turn out well?  What happened in a month?  They forgot about the rule they made up, right?  It’s going to be the same exact thing.  We’re all hyped up about it right now, but, in a few months, this isn’t going to amount to any significant effort.

I mean, what, this isn’t going to become a law – they are just revamping efforts.  They’re going to look EXTRA hard at all those files!  Why?  Uh, because they looked dumb?  Well, if you’re not going to pay the employees more money for looking extra hard, they aren’t going to.  Why should they?  They’ve gotten away for 10 years with no consequence until now.  What’s one instance?  C’mon, it’ll be fine.  By the time this newly found enthusiasm reaches the people who do the work, that enthusiasm is going to rival that of a new tooth brush.