Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Universal Coverage

From: Coffey, John R

 

I had this idea that we could take all the money companies and the government spend now on healthcare and give every single person the country a medical savings account.  Everybody would get an equal amount, whatever that would be, except at first we might have to give more for seniors who would lose Medicare.

 

People can spend the account as they see fit on medical care/insurance/preventative care/nursing home care.   I would disallow using it for medical marijuana.

 

They can invest the account as they see fit.  When people reach retirement age, they could use a fraction of the account as income.

 

I also think that we should eliminate the income ceiling on how much people contribute to SS/Medicare.

 

John Coffey

 

 

From: Trout, Larry

 

This is a similar solution that JP and I finally agreed on with a modifier.

People would use their tax free HSAs for most medical expenses by price shopping.

Tax free insurance premiums would be paid by people for insurance covering unexpected severe health events, maybe costing more than 12,000 a year.

Insurance companies liability would be limited to maybe 50,000 or 60,0000  a year.

The Federal government would step in above this, essentially offering and a extreme high deductibility insurance to all citizens for free, protecting from extreme events and chronic conditions.

 

The 2010 Legatum Prosperity Index

http://www.prosperity.com/

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Obama Underappreciation Syndrome

What are the real powers of the federal government?

  1. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_powers_of_the_federal_government_according_to_the_Constitution
  2. http://www.constitutionparty.com/party_platform.php
James Madison said: "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined." (Federalist Papers #45)   The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people (Amendment X of the Bill of Rights).

We can't spend our way to prosperity.

"Last week, the Cato Institute ran a full-page newspaper ad signed by more than 200 economists, including Nobel laureates stating:
"We the undersigned do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan's 'lost decade' in the 1990s ... Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth."

-- John Stossel.   "We can't spend our way to prosperity"

Spending money for infrastructure

"Spending money for infrastructure is another time-consuming way of dealing with what is called an immediate crisis.   Infrastructure takes forever to plan, debate, and go through all sorts of hearings and adjudications, before getting approval to build from all the regulatory agencies involved."

"Using long, drawn-out processes to put money into circulation to meet an emergency is like mailing a letter to the fire department to tell them that your house is on fire."

"If you cut taxes tomorrow, people would have more money in their next paycheck, ...


-- Thomas Sowell "What are they buying?"

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

National Debt Up $3 Trillion on Obama's Watch

Call me a crazy, but I think that a balance budget would benefit the country.   We would need major cuts but even bigger tax increases.

 

John Coffey

 

From: Trout, Larry R

National Debt Up $3 Trillion on Obama's Watch

New numbers posted today on the Treasury Department website show the National Debt has increased by more than $3 trillion since President Obama took office.

The National Debt stood at $10.626 trillion the day Mr. Obama was inaugurated. The Bureau of Public Debt reported today that the National Debt had hit an all time high of $13.665 trillion.

The Debt increased $4.9 trillion during President Bush's two terms. The Administration has projected the National Debt will soar in Mr. Obama's fourth year in office to nearly $16.5-trillion in 2012. That's more than 100 percent of the value of the nation's economy and $5.9-trillion above what it was his first day on the job.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20019931-503544.html

 

Monday, October 18, 2010

Alice in Wonderland

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1010/ahlert.php3

Liberals Don't Get the Tea Party Movement

 "Our universities have produced two generations of highly educated people who seem unable to recognize the spirited defense of fundamental American principles, even when it takes place for more than a year and a half right in front of their noses."



Best wishes,

John Coffey

Sent from my iPhone

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Not Your Average Joe

-- On Obama: "Nor has he said anything memorable -- not even a single aphorism over this long campaign. And the title of his book 'The Audacity of Hope' -- what on earth does that mean? He is always hinting at a substance that is never disclosed to us. He seems to live by raising vague aspirations he never fulfills." 

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=39309