Although certain media outlets are now criticizing mostly conservatives for showing pleasure in Chicago not getting the Olympics and pleasure in knowing it was a failure that damaged President Obama’s reputation, the fate was sealed long before the President’s trip was taken and the mistake was on the administration for not knowing what they were getting in to in the first place.
France and the U.S. have the oldest Olympic Committee’s (est. 1894) and obviously been powerful members. The USOC (United States Olympic Committee) has a sweet deal which gives them 13% of the ad revenue all of the Olympics and the TV deal by NBC wich is worth 5 billion over a 12 year period by itself. The IOC (Int’l Olympic Committee) has a conflict with the USOC because unlike the past where the US was 90% of the ad revenue it is now more like 40%. The USOC is a non-profit and the only non-government committee involved in the Olympics and has to rely on corporate and private donations to run unlike all the other national committees which are supported by their countries governments.
The USOC is made up of corp. exec., sports federations and former Olympic athletes. The USOC is also looking to set up its own network for the Olympics which is contrary to the IOC desires. Dick Ebersol (NBC Sports) was on “Morning Joe” and he indicated that the IOC believed the USOC was incompetent combined with the cash issue of the ad revenue it was going to be impossible for the US to win the 2016 bid.
So, the cards were stacked against Chicago and Oprah, Barack and Michelle traveling to Copenhagen which was a giant waist of time. They have to have been lied to by their “yes” men and the Olympic committee, five minutes with Ebersol would have cleared this up and saved a lot of money in travel and power.
© WithComment.com 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
That which is right, just and true can still prevail.
"It is simple. You will never forgive yourself. Accept it. You hurt others, many others, that cannot be undone. You will never find personal retribution, but your life does not have to end. That which is right, just and true can still prevail. If you do not fight for what you believe in, all may be lost for everyone else. But do not fight for yourself, fight for others, others that may be saved through your effort. That is the least you can do."
- Teal'c (SG1-"The Arc of Truth)
- Teal'c (SG1-"The Arc of Truth)
Healthcare is mostly socialized already.
If you take Federal, State, Local governments along with Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and V.A. coverage of civilians and veterans nearly 48% of the U.S. population are on a public healthcare program or a private policy funded by public funds through their employment with a government agency.
As to those “uninsured”, many of the 46 million are that way by choice. 18 million (40% of the uninsured) are between 18 and 34 years of age. This group, other than child rearing, have low healthcare costs compared to older Americans and choose to spend their money elsewhere.
17 million (38%) of the “uninsured” have an annual household income of over $50,000.
14 million (31%) of the “uninsured” are eligible for Medicaid or S-Chip but have not enrolled!
12 million or so are illegal immigrants.
Now many of these groups overlap and you get a larger number than 45 million but about 8 million make too much to be on Medicaid, yet need coverage and can’t afford it. This is the target group that the congress and the White house needs to go after. To do that you don’t need to change the whole system which will end up with bad management, I give you:
-Cash for Clunkers
-Most State and Federal deficit explosions for 2009
-Public Education (no competitors) has led to lower test scores and more violence.
-War on Poverty
-War on Drugs
-Fannie Mae & Freddy Mac and all the fallout including:
-TARP (remember it was to buy all the “toxic” assets, which is has yet to do)
-Stimulus Package I (most of the money comes in election year 2010!)
Changes that would help and not hurt would be:
· Doctors & nurses who perform a certain amount of service for free in these clinics will have their student loans reduced and if they full fill a five year contract will have gone to school for free.
· Limits on awards for malpractice suits.
· Companies to make their employees aware of programs like Medicaid & S-CHIP.
· Tax credits for small companies who offer health insurance (public or private)
· A health insurance that is just an addition to the Medicaid system and not an addition.
· Tax credits for individuals who take the plan if not offered through their employer.
· Allow insurance to cross state boarders just like auto insurance.
· Government oversight on reimbursement rates, much like utility companies.
The cost to companies and the public would be minimal and cover those who really do want to get health insurance but cannot afford it.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Part II: Nationalized Healthcare Service at the Clinic Level
There are two tiers to healthcare in the U.S.
The first is the clinic/G.P. doctors. This is the first line of defense against illness and first assessments of the need for hospitalization and long term care. One of the complaints is that people are seeing their doctors for minor health concerns, like colds and common flu, take up time and cost more than just using over the counter solutions. Reimbursements for vaccinations are such that nurses are the ones that usually administrate the shot and perform most of the work, freeing the G.P. for the final review and assess the more complex situations.
The second is the hospital and long term care needs. This is the arena of specialists and the area that per-patient costs are highest. This is where bones are set and life threatening treatments are performed.
The government (Fed or State) have an interest to keep costs under control. I believe that a regulated medical system is needed; however, direct involvement should be kept to a minimum at the hospital & specialist level.
The second approach I believe could work is one were more “free clinic” are available to those without health insurance. Staffing them is always an issue, but I have some ideas on that too. If a person without health insurance comes to a clinic for a non-emergency reason (flu/minor injury) they would have to be means tested. By this I mean that they have to fill out a financial record. Yes, it might be a bit time consuming and I don’t suggest this instead of treatment, but if the “Uninsured” is poor enough then they can sign up for Medicaid. If they have means but their employer doesn’t offer insurance, then a national ins. Policy linked to Medicaid type benefits would be offered but with premiums based on income.
This would be only offered to those currently without insurance.
The first is the clinic/G.P. doctors. This is the first line of defense against illness and first assessments of the need for hospitalization and long term care. One of the complaints is that people are seeing their doctors for minor health concerns, like colds and common flu, take up time and cost more than just using over the counter solutions. Reimbursements for vaccinations are such that nurses are the ones that usually administrate the shot and perform most of the work, freeing the G.P. for the final review and assess the more complex situations.
The second is the hospital and long term care needs. This is the arena of specialists and the area that per-patient costs are highest. This is where bones are set and life threatening treatments are performed.
The government (Fed or State) have an interest to keep costs under control. I believe that a regulated medical system is needed; however, direct involvement should be kept to a minimum at the hospital & specialist level.
The second approach I believe could work is one were more “free clinic” are available to those without health insurance. Staffing them is always an issue, but I have some ideas on that too. If a person without health insurance comes to a clinic for a non-emergency reason (flu/minor injury) they would have to be means tested. By this I mean that they have to fill out a financial record. Yes, it might be a bit time consuming and I don’t suggest this instead of treatment, but if the “Uninsured” is poor enough then they can sign up for Medicaid. If they have means but their employer doesn’t offer insurance, then a national ins. Policy linked to Medicaid type benefits would be offered but with premiums based on income.
This would be only offered to those currently without insurance.
- Doctors & nurses who perform a certain amount of service for free in these clinics will have their student loans reduced and if they full fill a five year contract will have gone to school for free.
- Limits on awards for malpractice suits.
- No companies forced to offer it, except to make their employees aware of the policy.
- Tax credits for small companies who offer health insurance (public or private)
- This health insurance is just an addition to the Medicaid system and not an addition.
- Tax credits for individuals who take the plan if not offered through their employer.
- Allow insurance to cross state boarders just like auto insurance.
- Government oversight on reimbursement rates, much like utility companies.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Part I: Car Ins. vs. Health Ins.
We have a system in place to copy our health insurance after and that is the auto insurance industry. You have insurance to protect you if there is damage to your vehicle, there is a deductible and a maximum coverage. The insurance also covers medical cost for you, any passengers and if it is your fault, the other vehicles driver and passengers. It works well.
If you car needs gas or any maintenance issues, such as oil change or new fuel pump, you pay for them. You don’t turn in a claim to the insurance company for these minor items (There is a company trying to promote a maintenance insurance policy but I would bet it fails). Only in catastrophic situations do you need to file a claim, accident, vandalism or act of nature (hail or flood).
Health insurance use to be this way too. Most early policies covered only hospitalization costs and most other visits to the doctor were paid by the policy holder. My father did not have health insurance when both I and my sister were born. This was 1966 & 1968 and costs were less but the system was the same. My mom saw the doctor multi times for prenatal care and took a check and the doctor’s services were completely paid by the time I was born. The hospital presented a bill after the care and he paid if off over a few months. Why was it cheaper? Because the doctor and hospital knew its patients were not wealthy and their fees were set accordingly.
As health insurance became more common and hospitals and doctors could charge higher rates, they had deeper pockets and lawyers began to file lawsuits and premiums went up for those institutions, who then had to charge even more.
I propose that the “National Healthcare” be hospitalization/major medical coverage. If the people on this insurance have to go to the doctor for routine check-ups, the patient should pay all or the vast majority of the costs (supplemental ins. could be offered). Only if the care is needed in an emergency room or admission to the hospital does the national policy kick in.
This would be only offered to those currently without insurance.
If you car needs gas or any maintenance issues, such as oil change or new fuel pump, you pay for them. You don’t turn in a claim to the insurance company for these minor items (There is a company trying to promote a maintenance insurance policy but I would bet it fails). Only in catastrophic situations do you need to file a claim, accident, vandalism or act of nature (hail or flood).
Health insurance use to be this way too. Most early policies covered only hospitalization costs and most other visits to the doctor were paid by the policy holder. My father did not have health insurance when both I and my sister were born. This was 1966 & 1968 and costs were less but the system was the same. My mom saw the doctor multi times for prenatal care and took a check and the doctor’s services were completely paid by the time I was born. The hospital presented a bill after the care and he paid if off over a few months. Why was it cheaper? Because the doctor and hospital knew its patients were not wealthy and their fees were set accordingly.
As health insurance became more common and hospitals and doctors could charge higher rates, they had deeper pockets and lawyers began to file lawsuits and premiums went up for those institutions, who then had to charge even more.
I propose that the “National Healthcare” be hospitalization/major medical coverage. If the people on this insurance have to go to the doctor for routine check-ups, the patient should pay all or the vast majority of the costs (supplemental ins. could be offered). Only if the care is needed in an emergency room or admission to the hospital does the national policy kick in.
This would be only offered to those currently without insurance.
No companies forced to offer it, except to make their employees aware of the policy.
Tax credits for small companies who offer health insurance (public or private)
This health insurance is just an addition to the Medicaid system and not an addition.
Tax credits for individuals who take the plan if not offered through their employer.
Allow insurance to cross state boarders just like auto insurance.
Government oversight on reimbursement rates, much like utility companies.
Limits on awards for malpractice suits.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The "Big" 3: The death of what was America
General Motors (GM): Founded 9/16/1908 as a holding company for Buick and over the next 2 years took on Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Pontiac and began GMC Trucks. Ironically William Durant lost ownership control after the collapse of new vehicle sales, regained control after starting Chevrolet, however, ultimately lost it for good after another slump in sales.
Chrysler (C): Founded 6/6/1925 from the ashes of the "Maxwell-Chalmers" company. In 1928 Plymouth was introduced along with DeSoto. By 1930 Dodge had been acquired. The last major name picked up by Chrysler was Jeep in 1987. In 1979 a 1.5 billion dollar loan was guaranteed to avoid bankruptcy. They sold off parts of the company that were profitable but not part of their core industry. In a few years they paid back the loan plus 300 million in interest to the U.S. government.
Ford (F): Founded 6/13/03 by Henry Ford with $28,000 and twelve investors. For a large chunk of Ford's existence it was a family owned business and is believed to be the most sound of the 3 auto makers.
All of the automakers have their own finance companies to help customers buy their product; they all also own auto parts retail outlets and have partnerships in all of the major countries around the world. Their size and depth in not only the U.S.,but the world economy, is very impressive. The effects of their bankruptcys are not limited to just the auto workers. Between these 3 some 20 millionvehicles are sold yearly and the market could not handle this shortfall.
This would create a shortage and thus increase the profits of those still making vehicles and what will probably happen is the Japanese and Chinese auto companies would buy up the best sellers of the American auto makers. They will not move them overseas as the costs still justify U.S. based manufactures, however, the unions will be weaker and those that have been on retirement plans will have to find other sources of income.
If that is the ultimate outcome, why not just do it now. By allowing them to dump the union contract, drop some model lines and probably combine Chrysler into some of Ford and GM the government can assure that automakers based in the U.S. still exist, just in case we need them for national security issues in the future. A temporary loan to allow this process to occur is justified and needed. Those Senators who voted against a plan just because Nissan has plants in their state are too short sighted in their thinking. That thinking would allow a no vote on aid to flood victims in the mid-west, or earthquakes in the west, hurricanes in the south, or terrorist acts in the north-east. We are still the "United States" and should act like it.
© WithComment.com 2008
Chrysler (C): Founded 6/6/1925 from the ashes of the "Maxwell-Chalmers" company. In 1928 Plymouth was introduced along with DeSoto. By 1930 Dodge had been acquired. The last major name picked up by Chrysler was Jeep in 1987. In 1979 a 1.5 billion dollar loan was guaranteed to avoid bankruptcy. They sold off parts of the company that were profitable but not part of their core industry. In a few years they paid back the loan plus 300 million in interest to the U.S. government.
Ford (F): Founded 6/13/03 by Henry Ford with $28,000 and twelve investors. For a large chunk of Ford's existence it was a family owned business and is believed to be the most sound of the 3 auto makers.
All of the automakers have their own finance companies to help customers buy their product; they all also own auto parts retail outlets and have partnerships in all of the major countries around the world. Their size and depth in not only the U.S.,but the world economy, is very impressive. The effects of their bankruptcys are not limited to just the auto workers. Between these 3 some 20 millionvehicles are sold yearly and the market could not handle this shortfall.
This would create a shortage and thus increase the profits of those still making vehicles and what will probably happen is the Japanese and Chinese auto companies would buy up the best sellers of the American auto makers. They will not move them overseas as the costs still justify U.S. based manufactures, however, the unions will be weaker and those that have been on retirement plans will have to find other sources of income.
If that is the ultimate outcome, why not just do it now. By allowing them to dump the union contract, drop some model lines and probably combine Chrysler into some of Ford and GM the government can assure that automakers based in the U.S. still exist, just in case we need them for national security issues in the future. A temporary loan to allow this process to occur is justified and needed. Those Senators who voted against a plan just because Nissan has plants in their state are too short sighted in their thinking. That thinking would allow a no vote on aid to flood victims in the mid-west, or earthquakes in the west, hurricanes in the south, or terrorist acts in the north-east. We are still the "United States" and should act like it.
© WithComment.com 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
The Economy of the United States of America
I designed this page with the idea to vent. As a conservative and registered Republican, I had become increasingly frustrated with the lack of leadership in D.C. and so had most of you. That is why in November 2006, the Democratic Party regained control of both the House and Senate of Congress. However, that was not a good solution because they choose to do nothing for the last 2 years and allowed, along with Bush, for the economy to fail.
Let me state here that deregulation itself is not bad, but deregulation along with bad policy is deadly. The Republicans use to be for deregulation of industry to allow the free flow of information and product markets. This is fine as long as the areas that need regulation, such as financial markets have good regulations. However, this was not the case.
Let me take a moment and talk history. The last leg of the civil rights movement was, and is home ownership. Democrats applied pressure to banks and financial organizations like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to facilitate that loaning of money to groups who had in the past been denied home ownership based on race and not financial capacity. Republicans want home ownership and see it as a cornerstone to a solid economy. The recipe for disaster is allowing people to believe they can afford something they truly can’t or to buy more then they need.
The other situation putting this collapse into motion was to bundle up these mortgages and sell securities based on them to the world. It all works as long as people have faith in the system and value of the underline mortgages are stable.
The collapse came quickly because fuel prices rose, interest rates went up and the economy slowed. The rise in interest rates forced many to refinance their adjustable rate mortgages or get out of them, creating a price bubble and collapse of home values. This forced banks and other financial institution to down grade their investments, forcing insurance companies (covering these mortgages) to have a greater need for cash and AIG fails.
Credit Default Swaps (CDS) are unregulated insurance policies to off set possible failures of mortgage investments and now serious money was needed to cover their exposures.
Enter the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve.
700 billion is not enough. 7.4 trillion might be! The ripples of this much cash infusion is still unknown and probably unknowable until we are there. Many believe the USA is on the decline and according to a Russian analyst a breakup.
The reason I have not written on this more is because of my natural optimistic view of the world and our financial institutions. Lately, I have become concerned to very concerned about the economy as a whole. I see massive inflation with all this cash infusions into the financial institutions which will be used to pay off these CDS obligations. Then when they have paid that off will they return to the business of lending out money, however, if the dollar has no value, what will they loan?
Germany in the 20’s and 30’s had hyper inflation and it took a barrel of money to buy food. What was Germany’s solution? Hitler. The rest of the world was also in a depression and what did we get? Mussolini in Italy, Stalin in Russia, Mao in China, a military government in Japan, but a Roosevelt in the U.S. and in a more limited sense, Churchill in the U.K. Churchill was only Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 or just WWII and had little to do with the depression on the post war recovery.
All of those countries had similar domestic policies in that public works projects were funded but were not enough. The “new deal” was not what gave us a recovery; it was a post WWII economy that had at its focus the rebuilding of Europe and Japan. Only when the private sector was fully deployed to furnish the U.S. economy and the world economy with goods from money borrowed from us by the Europeans and Asians, did the great depression finally go away, some 16 years after it began.
There is going to be no solution that won’t hurt much, if not all of the world’s economy. I know that an incoming administration wants to ease the pain but they also see opportunities to change government and the economy and that is even more scary.
What I believe is the best solution for the world and the U.S. is to make sure money is available to financial institutions and monitor those institution to make sure they are lending it out, and to create an “infrastructure” package to fix bridges and roads, lay new optical cables and ready this country for the upturn in the economy which will only happen when private business start hiring again. As for people power, we can make financing colleges easier for those wanting to receive degrees we need like engineering and the sciences.
Let me repeat, it is not the government that will get us out of this recession (potential depression) but the private sector and its free trade with other countries in the world. What we need from the President-Elect is a policy to create and environment where that trade can grow and prosper.
© WithComment.com 2008
Let me state here that deregulation itself is not bad, but deregulation along with bad policy is deadly. The Republicans use to be for deregulation of industry to allow the free flow of information and product markets. This is fine as long as the areas that need regulation, such as financial markets have good regulations. However, this was not the case.
Let me take a moment and talk history. The last leg of the civil rights movement was, and is home ownership. Democrats applied pressure to banks and financial organizations like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to facilitate that loaning of money to groups who had in the past been denied home ownership based on race and not financial capacity. Republicans want home ownership and see it as a cornerstone to a solid economy. The recipe for disaster is allowing people to believe they can afford something they truly can’t or to buy more then they need.
The other situation putting this collapse into motion was to bundle up these mortgages and sell securities based on them to the world. It all works as long as people have faith in the system and value of the underline mortgages are stable.
The collapse came quickly because fuel prices rose, interest rates went up and the economy slowed. The rise in interest rates forced many to refinance their adjustable rate mortgages or get out of them, creating a price bubble and collapse of home values. This forced banks and other financial institution to down grade their investments, forcing insurance companies (covering these mortgages) to have a greater need for cash and AIG fails.
Credit Default Swaps (CDS) are unregulated insurance policies to off set possible failures of mortgage investments and now serious money was needed to cover their exposures.
Enter the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve.
700 billion is not enough. 7.4 trillion might be! The ripples of this much cash infusion is still unknown and probably unknowable until we are there. Many believe the USA is on the decline and according to a Russian analyst a breakup.
The reason I have not written on this more is because of my natural optimistic view of the world and our financial institutions. Lately, I have become concerned to very concerned about the economy as a whole. I see massive inflation with all this cash infusions into the financial institutions which will be used to pay off these CDS obligations. Then when they have paid that off will they return to the business of lending out money, however, if the dollar has no value, what will they loan?
Germany in the 20’s and 30’s had hyper inflation and it took a barrel of money to buy food. What was Germany’s solution? Hitler. The rest of the world was also in a depression and what did we get? Mussolini in Italy, Stalin in Russia, Mao in China, a military government in Japan, but a Roosevelt in the U.S. and in a more limited sense, Churchill in the U.K. Churchill was only Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 or just WWII and had little to do with the depression on the post war recovery.
All of those countries had similar domestic policies in that public works projects were funded but were not enough. The “new deal” was not what gave us a recovery; it was a post WWII economy that had at its focus the rebuilding of Europe and Japan. Only when the private sector was fully deployed to furnish the U.S. economy and the world economy with goods from money borrowed from us by the Europeans and Asians, did the great depression finally go away, some 16 years after it began.
There is going to be no solution that won’t hurt much, if not all of the world’s economy. I know that an incoming administration wants to ease the pain but they also see opportunities to change government and the economy and that is even more scary.
What I believe is the best solution for the world and the U.S. is to make sure money is available to financial institutions and monitor those institution to make sure they are lending it out, and to create an “infrastructure” package to fix bridges and roads, lay new optical cables and ready this country for the upturn in the economy which will only happen when private business start hiring again. As for people power, we can make financing colleges easier for those wanting to receive degrees we need like engineering and the sciences.
Let me repeat, it is not the government that will get us out of this recession (potential depression) but the private sector and its free trade with other countries in the world. What we need from the President-Elect is a policy to create and environment where that trade can grow and prosper.
© WithComment.com 2008
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