Our failures in medical care are catching up to us as well as the Brits and Canadians. Now we find “Medical Travel Today” as a way to find quality care at a decent cost. Check it out here (requires email for free subscription)
Greed. The level of greed is astonishing. The greed for other people’s money permeates health policy discussions. Taxation is discussed as “what can we collect from politically weak groups.” There is no concern for the damage done by this grasping attitude. There is a complete lack of compassion for people who work hard to earn that money. There isn’t even any implicit acknowledgement that it is someone else’s money. Anyone who has more than someone else ought, it is presumed, to be able to get by with less. This attitude also corrupts people who are dependent on public programs. In the public hearings I’ve attended, these beneficiaries have never expressed any gratitude to those who fund them. They demand more. Always. If you have an inexhaustible source of other people’s money, it will always be spent, and the newly impoverished will be back seeking more. And more.
Linda Gorman, Independence Institute, Golden, CO
According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, a record 829,625 Americans were arrested for violating marijuana laws last year. Of those arrested, 89 percent of those were charged with simple pot possession — the highest annual total ever recorded and nearly three times the number of citizens busted 15 years ago. Despite protests from local law enforcement that they do not target marijuana users, marijuana arrests have increased every year for the past 16 years.
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has been in early-primary-state New Hampshire talking up his support for eliminating the federal income tax and replacing it with a national sales tax.
Let us begin by saying that we’re thrilled that a presidential candidate is talking about fundamental tax reform. And the Institute for Policy Innovation is based in Texas, which is one of the states with a state sales tax rather than a state income tax. So we’ve seen sales taxes serve as a more than adequate replacement for income taxes.
That system works pretty well; Texans don’t fill out or file any income information with the state. As a way to address the regressivity inherent to a sales tax, Texas excludes several necessities, such as food, housing, prescription drugs and medical bills—items that take up a disproportionate share of low-income workers’ incomes.
Were we able to get a national sales tax working that well, we’d be all for it. But—You knew a “but” was coming, didn’t you?—count us as skeptical.
(more…)
In what has become an annual ritual, Medicare announces a cut in physicians’ fees, and physicians threaten that patients will lose access to care. And this time they really mean it.
An average 10.1% fee cut was slated to take effect on Jan 1, 2008. Two-thirds of the doctors in Sarasota County said they would stop accepting new Medicare patients if federal payments don’t improve.
For the first time in either group’s memory, the AMA and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) are working together to lobby Congress on this issue.
Bloomberg.com has an interesting bit about global warming sceptics in France:
Read the whole story here.
A month’s worth of clippings to amuse, irritate, or enlighten…
Manhattan residents are the best-paid workers in America, earning an average of $147,000 annually. The national average is $45,000.
— (Source: New York Post)
Minneapolis is the best American city in which to conduct business, according to Marketwatch.com’s annual rankings. New Orleans was the worst.
—(Source: Marketwatch.com)
A pair of Hispanic surnames–Garcia and Rodriguez–are for the first time among the 10 most common names in the U.S.
— (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Sixteen of the top fifty U.S. philanthropists gave more than $100 million to charitable causes this year. Nine individuals gave more than $200 million.
—(Source: BusinessWeek)
The value of U.S. toy imports from China between January and June 2007 is estimated at $33 billion.
— (U.S. Census Bureau)
Americans expect to spend about $900 on holiday gifts this season. About 30 percent will pay off their bills from the holidays within three months. A quarter will take a year.
(Source: TodayShow.com)
New York City–home to over 8 million people– has had less than 500 homicides this year. That’s the lowest number since police began keeping track in 1963.
—(The New York Times)
Wal-Mart lost $3 billion due to theft in 2006.
—(Source: Houston Chronicle)
Prediction is hard, especially about the future, said Neils Bohr. So why not try to predict the past? A study in the Royal Metereological Society journal did just that, focusing on the best available evidence of the past 25 years. Measuring instruments have improved immensely in accuracy and coverage in recent decades, using satellites, weather balloons and surface sensors.
Alas, all 22 math models use by the United Nations failed to predict the last twenty-five years.
“The usual discussion is whether the climate model forecasts of Earth’s climate 100 years or so into the future are realistic,” said the lead author, Dr. David H. Douglass from the University of Rochester. “Here we have something more fundamental: Can the models accurately explain the climate from the recent past? It seems that the answer is no.”
“The 22 climate models used in this study are the same models used by the UN Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC), which recently shared a Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.”“We suggest … that projections of future climate based on these models should be viewed with much caution,” said Dr. Fred Singer from the University of Virginia.
And give back that Nobel Peace Prize, would you, Al? We demand a recount!
James Lewis blogs at http://www.dangeroustimes.wordpress.com/
The Honorable John Shadegg
United States House of Representatives
306 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Shadegg:
On behalf of the 362,000 members of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I write in strong support of the Health Care Choice Act. By allowing consumers to purchase health care from out-of-state providers, this legislation would greatly expand the variety of insurance choices in the marketplace, thus reducing the effect of onerous state regulations and bringing costs down.
The number of Americans lacking health insurance is of great concern to many, but it should not serve as a pretext for larger, more intrusive government. The Health Care Choice Act simply opens up restricted state markets and gives consumers additional coverage options — without the creation of yet another federal program or bureaucracy. This approach addresses the problem while respecting markets and personal freedom.
Franklin Roosevelt said that “Nothing happens in politics by accident.” That sure was true of America’s independence, where people spoke out, got together, took action. Like Sam Adams, today known as the father of the American Revolution.
Don’t you wish we had people like old Sam living today? Well, we do. The Sam Adams Alliance is finding them and bringing them together to make government more accountable, to put citizens back in charge.
Now, at the end of its first year, the Alliance is recognizing some of these citizen leaders with awards dubbed The Sammies. For 2007:
Many people know Sam Adams mainly as a very substantial beer. Now, here’s a toast to very substantial political activism!
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
