An American Solution to Stagnation

We have to get busy and work for a replacement to Obama and all those stifling energy development. One has to ask, is he and his supporters purposely trying to destroy the country? There is no other explanation for an administration and its cohorts: the Senate majority, and various special interest lobbyists, that have refused to develop energy, which is the life-blood of our civilization. Not just refused to develop it but work actively to shut-down development! 

That's not hyperbole, that's a fact. Energy, or lack thereof, was the prime mover of Japan's attack in 1941. It was the reason Adolph and Co. attempted to take-over Europe. Thanks to our abundant energy resources prior to WW2, and of course our distance from the front, we were able to prevail. Since then America has depleted the "low hanging fruit" - we have used-up much of our easy to get oil. But natural gas (NG/CNG) is abundant and available for the taking right here in the US and Canada.

Energy is what has gotten humans to their current high standard of living.

Without reasonably priced energy America cannot compete on the world industrial stage what with competitors like China, who have no EPA, OSHA, Dept of Energy, etc. to shackle and hinder growth and production. In China, a projects are identified, discussed, and if given the go, construction begins within days. At trip to China is absolutely mind-blowing!

I'm not suggesting that we become the dictatorship/oligarchy the likes of China, but we have to develop energy if we are to preserve our strength and our wealth, or we will fall under the  control this type of government.

Just imagine where we would be if energy was all but free! We have vast resources of NG. Many pipelines are already in place; every major city has them supplying most of the population now. Supply pipelines already criss-cross the country. Our government should offer tax incentives, and outright cash, to convert gas stations to CNG stations. Unlike Cash for Clunkers, a costly and complete failure, Cash for Conversion would yield a payoff every time one used their car or truck! Converting the USA rolling stock to CNG would all but shutdown the use of oil for transportation - our biggest use of the product. The money spent on oil, by the way, is essentially exported.... it's a tax without a return in the form of returned government services. A complete loss! Ironically, most of that money goes toward those at odds with our way of life.

The side benefit, and not a minor one, would be the radical drop in the cost of oil. Add to that scenario: the elimination of all taxes on energy. With these two ideas working together suddenly Made in America would have real meaning..... our products would be far more competitive in the world marketplace. In the EU gasoline/diesel/avgas costs range from $8 a gal on up to $16 a gal and more! In terms of costs of industrial production, we could beat them on every front. China uses coal for industry, but still must ship their finished product around the world, not a cheap enterprise. America, manufacturing locally - customers available localyl - both right where goods could be produced with cheap energy; that spells, what Charlie Sheen calls WINNING!

Add to that: American Cost Of Living would drop drastically. Heating/AC, cooking, traveling - all living costs are tied directly to energy costs - all would be a lot less expensive. This would in turn free-up cash for other uses improving American's lives. Farm products too would drop in cost, since fertilizer, tractor fuel, shipping, and refining costs would all drop - drastically.

Think of the jobs that would be created immediately, today, building systems and converting every service station to offer CNG; and every car and truck to run on CNG. This is the kind of government sponsored infrastructure that would actually pay returns back to citizens for generations. 

If energy was a lot less expensive, maybe we could actually afford to get sick! We have to put those in favor of developing NG into the driver's seat.

Cheers, Mel

Taking Easy Money

The Seniors of America are the last bastion of confiscatable  wealth. In practical  terms they can't leave the country; they can't sell their assets in a bad economy; they have children and grandchildren they can't leave. Their income, for the most part comes in the form of Social Security and Medicare. It just so happens that those two items are the largest part of the Federal budget. 

Now the best part; it's easy to take: 1) stop COLAs - done, 2) pare back Medicare coverage - underway; 3) demonize those two funds as, "The biggest part of the problem is not discretionary spending, it's entitlement spending," read: Social Security and Medicare. Also know that the discretionary spending is the source of pet project money of nearly every elected official. And lastly 4) Inflation, which is the ultimate theft from Seniors; they don't work, have limited ability to earn enough to keep-up, and survive by an ever lowering standard of living. 5) Easy to TAX.  They are the largest group of individuals in our society with paid for homes. Seniors do not use credit and are not a threat to the banking system. 

A weak and immediately identifiable group: Seniors are America's last bastion of hard earned and saved wealth.

Cheers, Mel

Frank View of the Big Picture

The following is from friend, NYU Stern School of Economics Economist, Price Waterhouse Accountant, Fortune 500 Co. Comptroller, entrepreneur, and now retired, Frank Fischer. This is his response to an ongoing email exchange concerning the future of America.


Hi Mel...

I think you already know some/most of my big picture suggested spending cuts to the Federal budget. Getting rid of entire agencies and departments, like the Dept of Education, EPA, Dept of Energy, Dept of Commerce and as big a hawk as I am, big cuts in the military/Pentagon. I'm sure there are others that could be eliminated. All other departments and agencies should take a 25% budget hit, bar none except veterans programs. I also believe the Feds should cut 25-40% of all Federal employees and implement wage, bonus and COLA pay increase freezes until the budget is balanced. I also believe it's an opportune time to get a balaced budget amendment passed.

Also, no more defined benefit pensions. Stop them all right now and immediately switch all Federal employees to defined contribution plans like 401ks. No more Cadillac health care programs either. Stick them all into Obamacare insurance pools, if Obamacare doesn't get repealed. Congress and Federal employees are exempt from Obamacare. WTF!!

I also believe we need term limits for all Congressmen/women (3 years) and Senators (6 years). Cut the hell out of their pay, or don't pay them at all, like it used to be. Or pay them something similar to what the military pays for a low-ranking officer. Same for their staff. Give them some frugal expense reimbursement plan. No pensions, no health care they take with them. No more per diem, that they just pocket for personal use. Build a decent barracks-type residence for all reps, or just convert one of the many unused buildings in DC to a residence hall type thing for when Congress is in session. Staff are on their own like the rest of us. Eliminate perks like paying off their school loans for them too. 

Get rid of all the BS money-draining subsidy programs like Ethanol and money sucking things like Amtrak and the Post Office. Privatize these things with no subsidies from the taxpayers. If they fail, they fail. If prices go up, tough shit. Pay the going rate or use something else.

That would reduce federal taxes for the folks which would help our 70% consumer spending based economy and set an example for frugality for state and local government. State and local gov'ts need to cut the fat and get rid of all of the money sucking union pensions, health care and big paychecks. The lower taxes that would result will also help the 70% consumer based economy. Privatizing a lot of what state and local govt's do will cut costs and make things much more efficient. Case in point - NYC Sanitation Dept. Why have a city run sanitation dept? Sub-contract the work out, including snow removal. There certainly wouldn't have been any slow-down in snow removal with that last storm that hit NYC. Waste Management does a great job. They've been picking up my trash for years at a very low cost and I don't know if they provide pensions or health care to their employees. Frankly, I don't care.

We need a national energy plan and as you know, I recommend CNG, nuclear and clean coal. Plus we need to drill for more domestic oil in the meantime and send these OPEC and other dictatorial financial rapists back to the stone age. This would probably be the biggest contributor to putting money into consumers pockets, thus helping the 70% consumer spending based economy.

Those are some of my "big picture" actions I'd like to see take place. I don't consider them small or insignificant.

As far as all of the smaller things I, and you, become aware of and bitch about all the time, a $ billion or two here, a few $ billion more there....it all adds up to tens or hundreds of $ billions. It's just like eliminating earmarks. Sure, they don't add up too much in the big picture scheme, but taken as a cumulative whole with everything else, they add up to a ton of money. Plus, it helps eliminate corruption. Corruption always starts small and grows from there as politicians become bolder and bolder and steal/waste more and more of our money. Case in point is the ethanol scam and the proposed cap & trade fraud.

As far as our economy goes, I still believe we're in the midst of our fist lost decade. And it may continue to another decade, not unlike Japan. Obama and Congress aren't going to get us out of this mess. Only the private sector can do this. Regretfully, I don't see any clear way out. I don't see any clear way to reduce unemployment, other than through attrition as folks fall off the unemployment roles. But then they're on welfare, food stamps, etc. The housing market has crushed us. The US economy has been riding on fictitious, non-existent wealth in the form of bogus home equity for the past 10 years.

For years, folks have been pulling this bogus equity out of their homes to buy cars, big screen TVs, take vacations, remodel their homes, buy 2nd homes, etc, etc, etc. Then there were the house flippers taking quick profits of bogus equity. It was all BS. Look at what happened when the bubble burst. IMO this is the main cause of unemployment in this country. All of the lost jobs including contractors/builders, sub-contractors, building suppliers, realtors, mortgage brokers, bankers, title companies, etc, etc, etc, plus all of the government related jobs, like those in building depts, inspectors, etc. Then the effect it had on the rest of the economy. Severely reduced auto/trucks sales, mall closings, restaurants closings, retail shops out of business.... you name it, it's gone. Then the foreclosures....well over a million, maybe 2 million and an estimated 3 million more coming. This has touched every part of our economy.

So the big question is: in what sector of the economy will jobs be created? I have no idea. Neither does anyone else, including Obama and Congress. The truth is I don't believe a significant number of jobs will, or can be created in any sector. Hence my forecast of 2 lost decades. Until such time as all of the millions of baby boomers (1946-1964) are finally out of the work force, we'll continue with 9-10% or higher unemployment. It's the norm now and may get worse. We need to create 140K jobs a month just to keep up with normal growth. Where are all the kids graduating high school and college getting jobs? They're not. They're moving back in with their parents or other family members. Folks that have lost their job and their houses are moving in with friends and relatives. It's a mess. All of this causing a lack of contribution to our 70% consumer spending based economy.Yet the population continues to grow.....with illegal aliens and babies from single parent mothers living in projects and ghettos. All needing entitlement support, further stressing out the financial situation in the country.

Sure, the stock market is doing better, but it's all BS. Most companies are recording increases in their bottom line profits, but little to no growth in their top line, revenues. This is all because they cut the hell out of expenses, mainly with headcount reductions. Productivity is way up. Wall St banks are making a killing since they're able to borrow money from the Fed at zero % interest and turn quick, daily profits by lending it to other banks on short terms. Business and consumer credit is still tight and tough to get. All of this Wall St and stock market crappola does nothing for our 70% consumer spending based economy. Consumers that do have an income aren't spending. Those that don't, can't. Many are terrified and either saving or paying down debt. Many are helping to support other family members, just to help them get by with the basic needs to survive. Bankruptcies are at a record high. Foreclosures the same. Huge numbers of unsold homes are out there and the numbers are growing. Home values are dropping like a rock and continue to do so.

That is the big picture. We're screwed. The truth is guys like you and me DO get it. It's the rest of them that don't.

Frank

Affordable Health Care..... Now

Just saw an ad on TV selling the Silver Sonic XL by Bell and Howell. This little baby looks just like a bluetooth cell phone ear piece you see mounted on dopes at Costco. Here's the deal. My dad and Rebecca's mom wore hearing aids. Their vanity wouldn't let them wear any device, let alone a honkin' wasp's nest on their ear, until science and engineering had invented a completely invisible device worn entirely inside the ear. The problem here was that these elegant tiny marvels of sound amplification were expensive - - $Thousands! But the Silver Sonic XL shows how humans adapt. And how we'll move forward into our brave new world - - cheaply, putting function before fashion. To wit: Now, you can get a fully featured audio enhancement device..... for only $19.95. And if you call right now you get 2 for the price of one!! One for each ear or one for you and one for your partner! So there you go.... what cost Bernie and Becky four grand every year or so.... trying to get one that really worked.... is now available, functionally anyway, for only ten bucks! Your future at work, bringing costs down! Aren't we creative funny creatures? The next thing you know that same world of hi-tech will bring us cheap knee replacements...... a simple amputation of the lower leg - above the faulty joint - and the ware-it-home replacement! A fully featured wooden-leg, but modern..... and much better; with - get these features: super light weight super tough kevlar "leg," no-rust titanium joints at both knee and heel!, super-stick silicone custom-fit breathable "cup" at the stump.  To make it a real winner it will be available with any number of shoe styles..... including slippers. One hell of a lot cheaper than the current "invisible" but very expensive "knee replacement procedure!" Cheers, Mel www.melvinshapiro.blogspot.com

Tea Party Redux

The TEA Party, named after the Boston Tea Party, the forerunner to the American Revolution that began in 1773, is nothing less than a Citizen rebellion against a government felt to be dictatorial and unfair.

That first revolution began on December 16^th 1773, and soon spawned all out war against government that did not end until 1783 when the Treaty of Paris recognized the sovereignty of the United States. 

But make no mistake, the revolution was war against the citizen’s own government - -  British citizens, “Colonists,” living in British America, against a British government, a government that had grown ever more hungry for tax revenue and ever less responsive to citizens. Thus the famous phrase: No Taxation Without Representation.

Today we have a similar struggle: The Government has grown ever more hungry for citizens' wealth and ever less responsive to those paying taxes. Taxes for unpopular wars; for bloated and needless bureaucracies; for overpaid government employees; for unpopular entitlements; for outrageous government employee pensions; etc., etc. When taxes could not be raised to fund these unpopular adventures and entitlements, the money was simply “borrowed.” Borrowed without the approval of the citizenry and expended primarily for constituents’ of powerful lobbies, in return for political support -- i.e. the sale and purchase of votes.

When the Constitution was originally conceived, the House of Representatives was designed to allow for a single Representative to “represent” 30,000 citizens - a population, in today’s terms, of a small American town.

Over the years the number of citizens represented by each Representative has grown from that reasonable figure of 30,000, to now 750,000+ folks. How does a Representative represent nearly a million people (750,000+/-)? Well they don’t. They represent a few special interests. This huge number of 750,000+ citizens has turned Representatives into a kind of “short-term” Senator, but free of State accountability. Members of the House have grown very powerful, commandeering huge entourages, enjoying foreign junkets, and even providing some with private government-paid-for jetliners, wherein they travel like kings and queens!

Article. I.

Section 2.

Clause 3: Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. (See Note 2) The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, ………”

Perhaps it’s time to return to the original concept of “representation” as spelled-out in the Constitution. With modern technology there is no need for Representatives to congregate in D.C., a computer at a home town office will do just fine. With electronic conferencing and voting and with direct input to and from constituents a more perfect union could be had.

Here’s the problem with the current Representative arrangement:

1) Anonymity. A small town Mayor or a County Sherriff has much greater accountability to the voters. They are widely known as are their views, and they nearly always reflect the character and political position of their electorate. Representatives, having an electorate of 750,000+ souls can take just about any position they chose!

2) Arrogance. Representatives somehow feel that they are elected to exercise their own views, totally contrary to the actual reason for their existence, which is to represent the political views, within the framework of the Constitution, of their immediate electorate. They are not elected to represent a position that they think is best, the arrogant elitist position – “I know what’s best for …you!” No, this is not their job. And lastly,

3) Corruption. When Representatives vote for positions paid for by lobbyists they have become corrupt. When they “trade” votes to satisfy a fellow Representative, in return for who knows what, they are corrupt. Their job, their only job, is to vote the will of their immediate electorate -- again, within the framework of the Constitution.

In 2012 there will be another TEA Party “wave.” As a matter of fact there may be a succession “waves” until Representatives “get it.” I fear they will never get it until the system is fixed. The best way to largely fix all of the above is to:

1) Cap the number of constituents within a congressional district to 30,000. Representatives will then have to answer to a small group and will be out the first time they fail to represent the views of their constituents. In this past cycle, Representatives voted in direct opposition to the wishes of the majority of voters, from deficit spending to entitlement broadening to health care. They ignored the voter’s wishes to effect tort reform which would reduce the cost of virtually everything, change health insurance company operating rules, thus making their product more competitive, and eliminating State Mandates that force  insurance companies to cover idiocy like sex change, and a plethora of other issues.

2) Remain in their home districts. They do not have to be in DC. If there are hearings held, Committees can be assembled to hear testimony. Interested house members and the public can view them via TV or on the Net.

3) Term limits. Serving is an honor… not a career. Serve, do you job and get out of the way.

I think we should go back to the original percentage of Representatives spelled-out in the Constitution --one per 30,000. No assembly in Washington; the new Representative, one of 10,000, would vote with computers from Representatives’ home offices. Then a citizen will truly have representation. Representatives should never have become potentates. Today, just as in 1773, there is once again Taxtation Without Representation. One Representative per 750,000+ people is no representation at all, and allows Representatives to act capriciously without care of citizens' wants. Not good. Let them be locals, and answer directly to their hometown constituents.

Cheers, Mel

Melting Down

We are witnessing historic American Political times. The 1st non-white President. The 1st American President attempting to mollify long-time historic enemies (since the Jefferson Presidency) with bows and American deprecation. The most serious economy crises since the Great Depression. And now the first major breakdown of one of our major parties.

Founded in 1854, when The Whig Party lost touch with the American public and the Democrats continued to support slavery, the GOP is at it's end. Are we seeing the demise of a party that too has lost contact with its prime supporters? The Republican Party, for some time, and especially so since the Bush 41 administration, has steadily drifted to the left and has finally joined-up with the Elite Power Structure, the Political-Media /Government-Union Complex. The Complex, consisting of - starting at the bottom, SEIU (and all big unions), ACORN, Government employees, the Mainstream Media (including it's propaganda arm - Hollywood) and at the very top Elected Officials (both Dem and GOP), is our ruling class.

All of these folks have become fat and happy living off the wealth of America, created largely since the end of WWII. Today, Union and Government employees earn incomes nearly double that of the "civilian" population, enjoy broad job security and generous early retirements. They are our Greece! Those that pay for these excesses have finally had it. That 15% of the population living below the poverty line, have decided that they'll not take it anymore either. 

All the moves coming out of Washington, for decades, have steadily increased the cost of living, made life more difficult, more complex; have created the fallout of the Nanny State; have created the Entitlement Mentality.... well known in Europe, newer to our shores.

And the trend may well have continued until, like the frog immersed for cooking in a cool pot of water, when finally feeling the heat discovers he's too "cooked" to jump free, the U.S. was so deep in the paradigm it was all but too late to climb-out. But then Candidate and then President, Mr. Obama promised Fundamental Change. Little did he, or The Complex, imagine the story now unfolding. 

The Change is less "Change You Can Believe In" and more; Obama, The Agent of Change. Change is happening, and the off-hand remark of Rick Santelli on CNBC, that recent outrageous government actions begged for "a new (Boston) Tea Party," was Change the public really did believe in!  Rick, you got one. The Ruling Class is on the run, Change is a comin', but it ain't Obama style and it ain't Establishment style.

Below is a picture of just a tiny corner of the coming meltdown.....

Cheers, Mel

www.melvinshapiro.blogspot.com

Is Karl Rove the Architect of His Own Political Demise?

Power Elites have been exposed as never before, the Far Left came out of the closet like defiant gay extroverts, and RINOs are stampeding

By Jim O'Neill on Thursday for CFP; September 16, 2010

Last night I watched Karl Rove drive the final nails into his political coffin, as he double-downed his attacks against Christine O’Donnell, on Greta Van Susteren’s show “On The Record

 

.”  It may be awhile before the “funeral” takes place, but the coffin is finished, no doubt.

The night before I had watched as Rove began his public self-immolation, on The Sean Hannity Show.  Hannity, to his credit, defended O’Donnell against Rove’s surprising (to me, at least) and graceless attack, after her win against Power Elite insider, Mike Castle, in the Delaware Republican primary.  (Link)

 

(Kudos to Sean Hannity for standing up to Rove, however, I hope he won’t mind a bit of friendly advice: lose the UN-blue power tie.  It’s a bit of sartorial style that was first popularized by “the anointed one” himself, Obama—besides, well…it’s UN-blue).  (Link)

 

Response to Rove’s rant by true conservatives was immediate

 

, and almost unanimously, negative.

Rush Limbaugh said

 

, ““Everyone I know that saw this was just—they were perplexed and said, ‘What’s going on?”

Michelle Malkin noted

 

that, “Rove came across as an effete sore loser instead of the supposedly brilliant and grounded GOP strategist that he’s supposed to be.”

Last night when Van Susteren had Rove on her show, I fully expected to see some fancy damage-control back-pedaling.  Nope. 
         
Figuratively speaking, Rove took out hammer and nails, and went about sealing his political coffin, with a will.  If you’ll permit me to mix metaphors, his aim was unerring, when it came to shooting himself in the foot.  His performance was stunningly tone deaf, arrogant, and elitist. 

When Greta responded to some derogatory comments about O’Donnell’s student loans, by saying that perhaps a lot of people, in this economy, could relate to her troubles, Rove failed to take the hint, and carried on with his tirade.

Has Rove never heard the old saying “When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging?”  Apparently not. 

There’s one thing “we the people” can thank Obama for—a lot of previously well-disguised “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” have been shown for who they are.  The Lame Stream Media has been irredeemably discredited as a source of unbiased news, Power Elites have been exposed as never before, the Far Left came out of the closet like defiant gay extroverts, and RINOs are stampeding. 

All of which is, in its way, good news for “we the people,” as it has given us a much clearer view of the “lay of the land.”  It may be an unsettling view, but as we wake up and get our bearings, it’s a much needed view, nonetheless. 

The Republicans have strayed too far away from their conservative roots, and the Democrats have wandered off to…only God and George Soros

 

know where—Lenin Land, or another planet, it would seem.             

As for Karl Rove

 

—he’ll be moving on to greener pastures, with the rest of the RINO herd.  Well, maybe the pastures won’t be greener, but he and the herd will definitely be moving on.

Laus Deo.

Health Care Cost Reduction? NOT!

It's not a matter of NEEDING health care. We all need health care. The problem with health care is its cost!  With the Obamacare Bill, Congress has not done a single thing to lower the cost of health care.... which is the public's number 1 "health care" concern. As a matter of fact, they have just raised that cost!

Think about it for a minute, without emotion, but with common sense. The Administration claimed that this new law will cover 31 million Americans, heretofore uninsured. The US Census Bureau estimated that in 2006 there were 116 million households in the US. Each household has approximately 2.6 members. That means the uninsured represents about 12 million households. Subtracting those 12 million uninsured from the total of 116 million leaves 104 million insured households to pay for all those uninsured. Simply speaking, if 104 million households picks up the tab for 12 million uninsured ones, the 104 million will have to pay at least 11.5% more in insurance costs every year!

Now some will say, "No, business will pay!" Or, "No, the government will pay!" Or, "No, insurance companies will have to pay!" Of course, but getting back to the emotion free state of logic, we all know that in the first instance businesses will simply raise the price of their goods or services to cover those new taxes/expenses, which means that the end user will pay... that's us. In the second instance, we know that the government has no money, other than that collected in taxes from... us. In the third instance, the insurance companies, if not permitted to raise premiums will simply go out of business.... they can't run on air! That leaves... us! In other words a single-payer system funded by.... us!

So no matter how one slices and dices it, raw insurance premiums will have to go up by at least 11.5%. As they say on TV commercials, "But wait, there's more!" There's more here too because now the government will have to hire tens of thousands of folks to administer the program. The Bill calls for 16,000 new IRS "inforcer/collectors" immediately. That's right now, while the private insurance companies are still in business. As they fold their tents and vanish, more and more government workers, like those at the DMV or the Post Office, will be required to do the underwriting/administrating those insurance companies had been doing, competitively I might add.

All that may not sound so bad until you figure that, hey, those private insurance companies used to make money and pay taxes and their newly out of work employees will be in the unemployment lines.... pulling even more money out of the system! What will all these unintended consequences cost... us? Another 10%? Or more? One last note about expenses.... you can just forget about the "fraud and abuse savings." Those savings will never be found... as a matter of fact they will only increase. Costing another 10%!

There are solutions to many of the problems that have increased the cost of care and the cost of insurance, but none of these have even been considered by the elected officials currently running the show. Here's a few:

• Insurance should be 100% portable. When we moved from CA to HA we could not take our California Blue Cross policy with us. The same thing happened again when we moved abroad, yet again when we moved to Washington. Moving abroad we discovered that outside the US there are Insurance Companies that sell policies good anywhere in the world!
• State mandates put upon insurance companies should be eliminated. Why should one have to buy an insurance policy that provides for sex-change operations? Or plastic surgery? Or, or, or? My family wanted and needed only major medical insurance. We were middle aged, had no intention of having children or a sex change!
• State lines for the purchase of Health Insurance should be erased. Some States allow a variety of policies to be issued; some at far cheaper premiums than others, but neither you nor I can shop across State lines to buy them - this should be changed.
• Employees should own their own policies. If it's a job-perk, fine... the employer could simply give the employee a cash credit to purchase their own policy, fully portable. If the job is lost, or the individual changes career, or whatever the reason for change... the policy travels with the "owner."
• Tort reform for everything!.... would bring down  - way down - the costs of everything. From food to fuel to especially medical care, drugs, and expensive items like Auto Insurance! We've lived where it's happened, in both New Zealand and Australia. But Congress, where too many are lawyers, won't do it. Billions of dollars are wasted on high insurance premiums and cover-your-ass expenses in every industry, all of which are passed on to the final consumer..... us!
• Mandatory Physical Education and mandatory nutrition courses, K thru College 4 - with mandatory weigh-ins! When we were kids we rode a bike or walked to school. Once in school we were required to exercise - in Physical Education class - every school day! My high school graduation class had nearly 800 seniors in it; I can't remember a single fatso let alone a third of the class being "two-ton-tubbies!" 

These are the issues that have driven-up health care, none - NONE - of which have been addressed by Obamacare. Your family's health care costs will continue to rise, as will all American's until these problems are fixed. By then private medical insurance companies will be out of business, we will have "single payer," your doctor may well be foreign born, you will go to a "clinic" for services, you will wait all day to see.... not a doctor but a Physician Assistant. There will be no other choice. Payment for the government plan will be mandatory. If you want private services you'll have to pay extra for them yourself. Better health services may well be found in Costa Rica. This, by the way, will further us down the road to the two-class system. The privileged and the rest of..... us.  

Body parts: knees, shoulders, hips, etc., will be denied unless you are young enough to "pay-back" the cost through future taxes. Your option? Go get them on your own in Brazil or Switzerland, or wherever. That's a fact. In New Zealand and Australia they have a simple age cut-off, re-determined each year, that sets eligibility based upon cash in the system. Oldsters either come here to the US for those parts, or go to Asia, or stay home... use a cane, a walker or sit in a wheelchair. 

My argument does not oppose health care for all.... all already get it. For example, a couple (unrelated) friends of ours were stricken with breast cancer.... neither had insurance. They had money for the latest and greatest Apple computers, cell phones, tattoos, one even enjoyed Cuban Cigars (really! - $10 each!) and to drive new cars but nary a dime to spare for insurance!  Although never a dime was paid, they both were guided to a California community "program" that paid for all their needs. Not only paid for everything including surgery, all meds and follow-up therapy but also for "reconstructive" surgery; new breasts to match and lipo to go with them! Another acquaintance, a middle aged gentleman, not a citizen but living in Washington, suffered from a massive heart attack. Likewise, not insured. His bypass surgery, all follow-up and post surgery meds (some of which will be needed the rest of his life) were/are all paid for by...... us!

We've all seen off-ramp-beggar's with signs saying they needed money for food (although I've never seen one that looked starved), but I've never seen a sign that said.... Need Money for Surgery (or even medicine).

With Obamacare, everyone (that has two cents to rub together) will have to pay more for health insurance. An ARMY of public employees will be hired to administer the soon to be National Health Care Agency (or some such) in a - I guarantee you! - half-ass manner. If you don't think that costs will skyrocket beyond our atmosphere and into the stratosphere then you're living on the Moon. It has to go way up. Health care will become the biggest expense this country has ever seen. To cover the costs the US will have to change the Pentagon from a defense military organization into an international police force. A Standing Army, Air Force, and Navy will not be affordable.... without sucking every dollar out of the atmosphere. And speaking of atmostphere.... no more NASA exploration either, every farthing will be sucked-into the giant government maw, just to accommodate "health care" expenses.

Welcome to the Fundamentally Changed America!

Cheers, Mel