Health Care: Who's Going to Pay?

Who is going to pay for universal health care? According to Hillary, it would be the usual suspects: the wealthy and businesses.

Clinton will propose several specific measures to pay for her plan, including an end to some of the Bush-era tax cuts for people making more than $250,000 per year.

Now, granted, I'm sort of/kinda okay with taxing the rich, after all I'm a believer that "to whom much has been given, much is expected" in how it applies to everything--talent and wealth. I wouldn't go so far, however, as to attempt to equalize and redistribute wealth, those are socialist ideals that I do no subscribe to. If you work hard, you should be able to enjoy the fruits of your labors. I would caution that if we rely on the tax-the-rich scheme we begin to erode one of the motivations that made this country great--reward for hard work. I would also caution that tax-the-rich may not bring in the money that they think it will bring in. Really, it's about garnering support from the middle and lower classes; not forming a fiscally sound plan.

...businesses, in turn, would be required to offer insurance to employees, or contribute to a government-run pool that would help pay for those not covered. Clinton would also offer a tax subsidy to small businesses to help them afford the cost of providing coverage to their workers.

I'm not okay with placing an additional burden on business. Ultimately, it will impact the ability of small businesses to exist. A source of innovation one of the biggest means for the "little guy" to make it in this country will be taken away. As the barriers of entry get higher and higher in the form of increased costs (business tax, city tax, worker's comp, permits, fees), there are fewer opportunities for a small business to succeed and smaller margin for error. In the end, only big business will be able to survive because they will be able to afford the costs associated with doing business. We will pay in the form of reduced competition, meaning higher prices, and in the loss of local businesses that might have served us better than the big box stores. Hey, I'm all for the Target and Toys 'R Us types of the world, but I like to get my coffee at local (non-Starbucks) shops and I like those used book stores.

And who will pay for those "tax subsid[ies]" for small businesses? In the end, it's going to be you and me, the tax payer.

Let's face it, universal coverage will mean increased costs to everybody with extra burdens upon businesses and the wealthy. But, ultimately, it's going to cost you and me.

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Can We Stand Another OJ Trial?

So, Simpson is involved in yet another spat, this time involving sports memorabilia. To be fair, I think Simpson is claiming that the property that he is accused of taking belonged to him. Perhaps he is right. However, I wonder why the police have taken the step of arresting him, if they haven't already proven the provenance of the items in question.

If this means another protracted TV trial/event, I'll pass. Unless there's an appearance by the Dancing Itos.



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Title says it all

From the London Times: Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’.

“I’ve been worried for some time about North Korea and Iran outsourcing their nuclear programmes,” Bolton said last week. Syria, he added, was a member of a “junior axis of evil”, with a well-established ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction.

How come this hasn't been all over the American media?

The more things change . . . . .

the more they stay the same.

At least it is appearing that way in the news stories today.

2007 is like 1969? Well there are some similarities, a war the media and liberals think is lost, a presidential election being held next year and . . . . . . . well maybe not so much.

2007 is like 1991? Well in the real estate market it appears to be a repeat or at least the beginning of a repeat of the early 1990s. Home builders are aggressively trying move their inventory with rebates and give aways before its too late.

Anti-Semitism of the 1930s is making a comeback in 2007. Very sad, but this time Israel exists as a nation, has one true friend (the US) and has nuclear weapons.

In other news:

Vermont and other States (including California) may not have new cars to buy in 2014. The auto makers have said if the rules passed by California and adopted by 11 other States is allowed to stand, they will pull out of those markets because they can't meet the rules. I hope they (the auto makers) do it so EVERY politician can be reminded that passing a law doesn't solve the problem and that the politician works for the voters, many who may be out of work if the auto makers pull out of these States.

Global Warming advocates are now saying we must do what they say to cut carbon dioxide emissions even if global warming is a hoax. It will make us a better society so we should do it anyway. If Al Gore and the rest would lead by example, I might be more convinced. Traveling in a private jet instead of flying commercial or living in a house that uses 20 times the energy of the average family per year (and Gore has 3 of them) demonstrates how much he believes in his cause, not much.

A day of remembrance

Do you remember where you were when you heard the twin towers were hit? There was a Country song popular in 02 or 03 with just that question, do you remember.

Do no only remember those who died but of equal or greater importance is why they died. The other side declared war on us that day in a way we could not ignore (World Trade Center 1993), rationalize (US Embassy's in East Africa 1998) or write off as a one off (USS Cole 1999 I think). We are at war and need to keep fighting until the other side surrenders or dies. They started it we should finish it and fight it on our terms and not on the terms imposed by those who are on the sideline or the other side who ignore all the rules and yet demand we follow the rules.

If you are so inclined, there is an online petition (yes another one), but this one is by Victory Caucus. The petition reads as follow:

We, the undersigned, call on our national leaders and fellow citizens to resist calls for a premature withdrawal from Iraq and to support America's troops under the new commander, Gen. David Petraeus, as they implement a bold new strategy designed to bring a successful completion to their mission.

I urge you to sign it, petitioning our government is one of the rights in our constitution, just hope a few will listen to us.

TGIF

Yes, I do give thanks to God that its Friday and I've been given another week of life. Not planning on dying anytime soon, but knowing how fragile life is and how quickly it can be taken away, I am thankful for every day, even when I have to go to work.

I haven't posted because there really isn't a lot going on. While my daily life may be of interest to my wife and myself, I don't pretend anyone else would be all that interested. Also, there hasn't been much in the news that has interested me. Fred Thompson has finally announced he is running for president. If this was December I might care, but at the moment, the 2008 election is of little interest to me.

Three items in the news for today:

In New York, there isn't going to be a memorial service on Sept 11 this year. Alicia Colon (New York Sun paper) thinks that is a good idea because we have only remembered those who died and NOT the event that caused their deaths. We are not remembering the horror of the day or the attack, only the victims and therefore we forget why we fight, we were attacked first.

There is a new conspiracy, the Irish this time. Worth reading, but PLEASE read the editors note at the end.

Exonerated Duke Lacrosse Players Seek $30 Million Settlement and if the city and university do not agree, the players will go to court and likely win a lot more.

Have a good weekend.

Day after the holiday

Hope you all had a good holiday yesterday. Unfortunately, I had to work for part of the day due to Tuesday deadlines. Others in my company had to work the full day so can't complain too much.

To Rob's post: You don't get a hand out because your a responsible adult when it comes to borrowing money. I don't get a hand out either. Although we saw a nice 5 bedroom house on Saturday for only $895K which we can't afford so if we took out a loan might qualify for help because we were foolish.

In the News:

UNICEF dug wells in Bangladesh so people would have clean drinking water. They didn't test the wells and it turned out hundreds of them had high levels of poisons (natural, not man made or deposited) and is killing the people there.

Iowa is looking to give prisoners email access on a restricted basis. What is this? Criminals are not known for obeying the rules so what will prevent the bad guys from finding the holes in the system to have unmonitored access to the outside? Also if the Iowa prison system has so much money, shouldn't they return it to the State for use elsewhere? Hat tip and good comments at Lucianne.

Jonah Goldberg looks at the Media's response to hurricane Katrina.

Myths and their effects on public policy.

And now some articles on or about Iraq

Britain retreats from Iraq as they abandon their last base at Basra. Comments and hat tip Lucianne.

This wars Gettysburg moment.

President Bush goes to Iraq, one papers perspective.

General Abrams and the Vietnam Iraq comparison.

Have a good day.