Health Care

The Democratic Party has been anxious to take over managing health care for everyone in this country since the sixties. Ted Kennedy made it a life long ambition, Hilliary Clinton jumped on board later on, but Obama with his mandate, expects to make it happen in his first year of office. He has the super majority House and Senate pushing his agenda and success is very close. This tremendous new government run bureaucracy will increase the size of government by and unimaginable, scary amount.

But wait, there seems to be objections to a government run public option, where the government competes with private insurance companies.
And, there seems to be objections to the 1 trillion dollar cost, give or take a hundred billion.
Also, there seems to be objections to taking a half a trillion from senior citizens Medicare benefits.
And, there seems to be objections to eliminating the 8 to 10 million senior citizen Advantage insurance plans that cover the gap between Medicare Payments and full payments to doctors, hospitals and prescription drug providers. It looks like these objections are raised mostly by out gunned Republicans, but there is some support by Democrats too.

The final version of the Health Care bill is not finished or out for the public to read yet, a lot of closed door meetings are taking place to compose the final version but targeting seniors, spending big money and not reducing health costs are expected outcomes of the final version.

I find it strange that a health care measures put forward by this administration does not address the more obvious ways of cutting health care costs and insuring everyone in this country without a public option.

If we eliminate expensive, redundant, defensive medical practices, address tort reform, allow sales of health insurance across state lines, write law to prohibit insurance companies from refusing to insure because of previous conditions, establish a health insurance risk pool for those with prior conditions, require everyone to be insured giving special aide to those in need we could cut health care costs by as much as 50 percent. Where do I get my figures? I made them up because no one knows for sure. What if I'm right, or nearly right? Cutting health care costs at the source is a better plan than the government has put forward.

Most doctors in foreign countries are protected from malpractice law suits. Medical boards of review are established to judge malpractice, clumsiness, mistakes with licence's at risk and compensation amounts pre-determined.
American doctors will still not be protected with public health care reform so defensive, expensive medicine will still be practiced.

Open competition among insurance companies across state lines and requireing insurance for everyone while establishing a pool for high risk policies. These ideas seem like a no brain ers for lowering insurance premiums.

'Insurance companies are the enemy and government can do it better, cheaper' is thinking in liberal Washington and that is at the root of our problem. Trial lawyers are a strong lobby that continues to object to tort reform.
Most elected politicians in Washington are attorney's and the mood is not to upset trial lawyers.

A Ray of Sunshine

Let’s see, we left you a year ago advising you to downsize, chuck your spending plans, and C.Y.A. from the coming change in our government. (Check my 11/08 blog) Did you take my advice and 'consolidate your assets'?

Now that unemployment is almost 10 per cent everywhere and really closer to 13 per cent… we no longer count those who are no longer looking for work, who ran out of unemployment benefits, or decided to continue school because the job picture is so bleak.

My friends, the way I see it the economy is one that is not going to get much better in the near future.

I gave up writing this blog almost a year ago because no one wants to read gloom and doom, and I don’t enjoy writing it. Obama promised ‘Change’ and he has a liberal Congress to go along with his vision. I thought back then, with Obama’s employment history, his voting record in Congress and his core friends and associates that if he were able to get a supporting Congress, which he has, then you wouldn’t hear from me for quite some time.

Last November I put out a warning and it seems I was prophetic. Now I see a slight ray of sunshine, and increasing indication of a new change, one where Obama’s spending agenda will be frustrated and curtailed by a nervous voting public.

A ray of hope now exists for me in the mid-term elections where enough fiscally responsible Senators and Representatives will get elected to check the liberal wave overcoming Congress. I say fiscally responsible because I don’t believe that only Republican Congressmen are fiscally responsible although they seem to have more sensible leaders at the current time.

Currently this government is one trillion, four hundred billion dollars over budget and wants to continue to fight two wars, install a new health plan, hit up senior citizens for a half a trillion cut in Medicare and Advantage insurance, inject a punitive Cap and Trade bill on the public and businesses, and create a new federal army to ‘protect’ us here at home. The costs for these and other ideas in the pipeline are staggering and confidence in the US dollar internationally is reflected in its sinking value. When the dollar collapses, if the dollar collapses, and the dollar is in some danger, then 10 per cent unemployment will look like a booming economy.

This country’s growth and strong economy has always been sustained by aggressive consumer spending. When government uses the peoples credit and spends the people’s money in ever greater amounts that leads to unemployment, a shrinking economy, loss of confidence, and business troubles with recession. Not a pretty sight.

This government must stop spending and borrowing and change course back toward a pro-business, pro-consumer economy. Electing pro -business Congressmen in the mid-term elections will save our futures and our children’s futures.

It's simple really, go with what works and what we are doing now is not working.

Downsize

I did not waste my time writing The Right View this summer because nothing I, or any other right wing ideologue was going to write, or say, was going to change a thing.

All summer the hand writing was on the wall; Obama wins the election. Even the addition of Palin to the McCain ticket would not change the direction the country was heading.

Well, now with Obama’s election the country is headed somewhere, I just don’t know where, and I doubt if anyone else does. We will see change however, and not necessarily the kind most were expecting. These coming changes are economic. They will push us away from capitalism as we have come to know it. I’m talking about federalizing banks and industry, European style. These upcoming changes can not be attributed to Obama although he will make a contribution to exacerbating them. I’m talking about a very big bubble burst in the decades long running growth of the American economy. The bursting of the Dot com. bubble, and the Housing bubbles will be nothing compared to the bursting of the finance bubble together with the wild Washington spending spree. Add Washington’s Congressional influence on the economy and we will be assured of economic problems for the next year or more. The government is going to need money and they will be after you to get it.

So, what to do.

Downsize your life, your company’s and your future.
Pay off all revolving and short term debt while you still have a job.
Refinance and consolidate debt to lower outflow.
Save cash while you still have income, remember what a savings passbook looked like?
Sell off expensive toys you can live without, boats, ski mobiles, third vehicles, motor homes, trailers, etc..
Put off that expensive vacation.
Look for bargains, like foreclosures in multifamily housing for rental income.
Switch to securities that have low P/E’s and have paid dividends for many years, consecutively, and only those with a lot of cash on hand.
Own Treasuries.

Remember, prices go down in a recession so sell high buy low later. When the economy turns around you will be in a great position to run with the bulls.