Beware the new snake oil salesmen....

Snake oil salesmen....you can find them walking around the halls of Congress hawking their Republican agenda.

Now don't get upset Republican friends.  I'm not saying YOU are a snake oil salesman.  I'm saying you're being SOLD snake oil by the Republican congressmen and Senators who you trusted.  You're being played.  Consider this:

Their #1 agenda item (they say) is to repeal and replace ObamaCare.  They say to you that by stripping out $800,000,000,000 it will bring down the cost of your health insurance, which is now sky-high and has deductibles so steep many of you can't even afford to use it.  Their version will be better they say.  What it will do that they conveniently play down is push up the price of insurance for those over about 55 years old who are now beginning to have some health issues.  Their premiums will go up dramatically after any new Republican plan now being considered is adapted.  

And if you or a family member have a disease or are otherwise handicapped and have effectively been pushed down into the Medicaid-eligible category, you're screwed.  Kids already living in poverty will see their healthcare cut back too, as will the 45% of all seniors (maybe one of your parents, or you one day?) living in nursing homes who depend on Medicaid to survive (and that's no exaggeration).

It isn't just liberal Democrats who believe this.  Read THIS to see why the American Medical Association, hardly a bunch of wild-eyed Bernie supporters, opposes The Republican plan(s).  The American Hospital Association, and not surprisingly the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), feels the same.  

My Republican friends, you're being sold snake oil.  If your guys in Congress prevail, what you will actually get is NOT what they're selling you.  Reform, definitely, but this isn't it.  This is just the first step towards what they really want, which is a tax cut overwhelmingly benefiting the wealthy.  And if they can't save $800 BILLION on healthcare, they can't get their tax cut.  "Healthcare" is just a pawn in their bigger game.

Tax reform....that's what the Republican leadership calls it.  They want you to believe tax rates will be simplified, loopholes will be closed, and when the dust settles your tax system will be more equitable.  It will still be progressive (the more you make, the more you pay), but the middle class will be better off.  That's all a smoke screen.  What the middle class might save will be negligible if anything.  A tax cut for the rich, the benefactors who fund their political careers, is what it really is.

The Republican leadership will tell you that, yes, their tax reform windfall will go primarily to the rich, but the rich will in turn invest it back into the economy and create jobs.  They'll say it over and over again...JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!  That's straight out of Economics 101.  It's a valid economic theory, but doesn't fit the economic reality we have today.

This is important to understand: 

As of July 24th (yesterday) the 10 year Treasury yield was a very low 2.30%.  A low yield means there is already lots of money out there chasing very little demand.

WE'RE SWIMMING IN MONEY RIGHT NOW, LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO INVEST IT!

American corporations alone (not including individuals) already have $1.9 TRILLION dollars just sitting around.  (Check THIS for more interesting info.)  Giving the wealthy another few hundred BILLION dollars, when they can't even find a place to invest what they already have, WON'T CREATE JOBS!  We'll still see monthly job increases due to the fact that our population/economy is slowly growing and maturing.  But a massive transfer of wealth to the already wealthy won't result in a massive explosion of new jobs.

My Republican friends, you're being sold snake oil.  Your leaders have an agenda they aren't being truthful with you about.  Please stop them, and think this through.

S

Playing both ends against the middle....and losing

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is today unveiling the new, improved version of the GOP's repeal / replace healthcare legislation.  Early reports are that its success is already hanging by a thread, with enough Republican Senators against or leaning against to likely doom it. What seems to be the problem?

The problem is Republicans are facing an existential (life or death) conundrum.  On the one hand, they want to keep their voters happy, because more than anything in the world they want to keep their jobs.  They, and in fairness this applies to both Democrats and Republicans, would throw their mama under the bus if need be to keep their privileged positions in Congress.

But on the other hand they want to keep their wealthy special interests happy, too, for it is they who fund their political careers.  Without their money they can't buy all those media ads and send out all those slick mailers.  It's their special interest's money that keeps their privileged world spinning smoothly.

Their conundrum is they can't do both when it comes to healthcare.  When the less affluent and steadily shrinking middle class heard "repeal and replace", they envisioned putting in place something BETTER than what they had.  When the wealthy special interests heard "repeal and replace", they envisioned GUTTING federal government involvement in healthcare, resulting in a huge one TRILLION dollar +/- savings which would then come back to them as a tax cut.  The American people don't care about a tax cut for the wealthy special interests, and the wealthy special interests don't care about healthcare for the American people.

The latest polls say only 12 - 17% of the American people approve of either the Republican's House or Senate healthcare plans.  The American Medical Association...the doctors...and the American Hospital Association OPPOSE either of the GOP's plans because they know with 20,000,000+ fewer people being insured, they won't get paid.  They'll ethically and morally still treat these people, but know they'll never get paid for their services, and will then have to charge those who are insured even more.  So much for lower premiums! 

Likewise AARP, the American Association of Retired Persons, is OPPOSED to the GOP plans because they know it will adversely affect many / most of their 38,000,000 members.  FACT:  Medicaid pays the costs for 45% of all elderly nursing home residents.  How are nursing homes going to provide care to these people if fewer and fewer can afford to pay?  They can't just give it away!  Can families bring their loved ones home and properly provide 24 / 7 care themselves?

If Congressional Republicans truly cared about healthcare for our citizens, they could vote the money needed to pay for it.  But that would mean cancelling many of the special sweetheart tax breaks and subsidies the wealthy now receive, and then kissing goodbye the future financial support of the very upper crust of our society.

They're screwed if they support their constituents, and screwed if they support their benefactors. All signs now suggest the odds-on favorites to win this tug-of-war are the wealthy.  Money talks.  How else can you explain why Republicans go home to town hall meetings every week and try to sell a plan they know is supported by only 12% of their constituents?

Gee, what's a spineless, two-faced Congressman to do?

S  

I worry about my friends, Bob

And I owe it all to Hanz and Franz

Health-wise I've always been pretty lucky.  I've been told I come from a pretty healthy gene pool as very little has ever gone wrong with me....until recently.  I don't smoke, drink only occasionally and in moderation, no drugs, and I was always in pretty good physical shape, even though I never crossed paths with Ah-nold at any gym.  (I did wander into a gym once by mistake, though.)  

I did, however, have several back-to-back detached retinas a dozen years ago, and I came semi-unglued at age 64 when they discovered I had an immune system condition as well as heart arrhythmia (my heart was beating too slowly), necessitating a pacemaker.  Fortunately, thanks to my wonderful wife K, who had a corporate job with insurance (with me added as a dependent), those pesky little boo-boo's cost me surprisingly little out of pocket.  Not everyone is as lucky as me, though.  Here are a few examples of people I know personally who are in truly bad shape, both physically and financially:

My masonry contractor, let's call him Bob, has suffered mightily from kidney stones for many years now.  He's had all the tests, tried multiple doctors....everything....but they haven't yet been able to fix him.  They've given him pain meds and just told him to suck it up.  As his private health insurance carrier eventually jacked his rate up to $1,600 per month he had to let it go.  It was either food for his family or insurance.  

Bob is an American of Mexican heritage and still has relatives back in the old country.  Out of desperation Bob recently became a "medical tourist" (people who travel to another country to have needed surgery because it is so much less expensive than in the US).  He said the doctors and his hospital in Monterrey, Mexico were surprisingly good, but still, his surgery was only partially successful.  He's still hurting and still has no insurance.  I worry about my friend Bob.

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I once had a window washer, let's call him Bob, who came to my house regularly to make sure I could see out.  I didn't mind washing my own windows, but all I ended up doing was rearranging the dirt.  Anyway, Bob was in his early 20's at the time, and in conversation told me he worked 20 hours a week at Kroger's (grocery store) in order to have insurance, and then spent the rest of his time washing windows.

A few years later I visited with him again and he said he had to quit his Kroger job as his window washing job became a 40+ hour a week career he couldn't pass up.  I asked what he did for insurance and he said he was without.  He said if he got sick he was just going to go to the emergency room and hope for the best.  At his age I could tell "getting sick" was the last thing on his mind.  I heard some time later that he was involved in an accident (I believe there was a motorcycle involved) and could no longer work.  I don't know where he is today, but I still think about Bob.

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The foreman at the custom cabinet shop we used, let's call him Bob, was in his 50's when he had a stroke.  Like many small businesses, Bob's boss couldn't afford insurance for his employees.  Bob was airlifted to a hospital in Plano, Tx where they stabilized him, but he was left semi-paralyzed.  After several weeks there (and knowing Bob was going to be a charity write-off) the hospital finally worked with Medicaid to find a rehab facility that would take him.  The last I heard Bob was little improved.  I worry about my friend Bob.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are lots of "Bob's" in this country who are hurting and have no insurance.  Sometimes they have no insurance because they couldn't afford it, sometimes because they were foolish.  Notice I said all these people were working.  They weren't lazy bums who were looking for a handout, as many imagine uninsured people to be.  They just didn't have the good fortune of having a smart, hard working wife employed by a large, deep-pocketed corporation to carry them on their health insurance like I did.  Fate is too often fickle like that.

We have a lot of sick people here who compassionate Americans IMO shouldn't turn their backs on.  We're better than that.  But what to do?  I don't know the answer, but I'm confident that the Republican's Ryan/TrumpCare bill now making its way through Congress isn't it, nor is ObamaCare, which they say is now itself on life support.  To those who would rather have the Almighty Tax Cut a slimmed down healthcare bill promises so they can buy another shiny new gadget, I hope they'll think about my friends Bob when they're out toy shopping.

S

NOTE:  These are all absolutely real people I know.  If any of you reading this are actually named Bob, I suggest you stay inside today.  ;)

Circle the wagons, boys!

It isn't exactly "Breaking News" when I say that people get really touchy when you talk about getting into their wallets.  "It's MINE, I WORKED for it, you CAN'T have it!"  And this, IMO, is why our government today is so dysfunctional and our people are so upset.  One economic class feels they're paying for benefits that another economic class is receiving, and to be honest, it's largely true.  (Their elected political manipulators see this perpetual standoff as their job security.)

TAXES.  Just saying the word gets most people's blood pressure up.  The average middle class guy feels he's working 100 mph to pay for day care, to put braces on his kids teeth, to somehow pay another semester's tuition for his oldest to stay in college, to pay the deductibles and co-pays on his heath insurance, or if he's an "independent contractor", to pay for his family's health insurance that might cost more than his house payment, etc.  It's a struggle for sure.

Meanwhile, in his mind, another economic class gets free child care, food stamps, rent subsidies, college grants (that require no payback), free medical care (via Medicaid) and even a free cell phone, all paid for by HIM!  And then when you interject race into the equation, it really gets nasty!  To the average middle class taxpayer (statistically likely to be white) the average beneficiary of our social safety net is black or brown, and now includes immigrants, too, hence the animosity.  Facts to the contrary be damned!  He simply can't fathom his economic situation deteriorating to the point he might need some of those services himself some day.  These are benefits (he thinks) he'll never receive.

This is where he thinks his taxes are going.

At the other extreme, while he vaguely knows about the massive government subsidies going to the private sector ($37B to Big Oil, $270B to Big Pharma, $18B to Big Ag, $83B to Wall Street, etc) he can't put a face with a $$$$ to know who to direct his anger at.  (I know, I know, a preposition at the end.  Shoot me.  ;) 

This is why the idea of a tax increase to balance the budget, for example, is a non-starter.  "MORE money to give to those bums? Oh HELL no!"  

In their minds they, personally, aren't getting anything for their tax dollars (hello!...national defense, highways, etc?), with the exception of Medicare and Social Security.  Ahhh....don't you love it when a Tea Party supporter holds his sign up high that says "NO SOCIALISM IN AMERICA!!", then says, "but don't mess with my Medicare or Social Security."  *dude, those programs are the epitome of socialism!*  

As long as people don't feel like they are themselves getting anything for their tax dollars, they're going to resist.  Call them anything you want....selfish, greedy, uncompassionate....when you get into people's wallets, the battle lines will be drawn.  Let's just hope the rest of the world stays more f__ked up than us so they'll run over here with their $$$$ and finance our debt.

Just my thoughts. 

S

How NOT to run a welfare system....

Here's what's wrong with our current welfare system:  A local TV station has done an investigative study and found that several local dental groups are recruiting new, young patients at food stamp distribution centers around Dallas.  Paid recruiters are promising parents cash kickbacks and even iPod's if they'll bring in their small children for exams and treatment.  (NOTE:  The report pointed out that state law prohibits paying recruiters for soliciting new patients, but it happens.  They have it on video.)  It seems if a licensed dentist declares a poor child needs treatment it will be paid for through state Medicaid funds, no questions asked.  


There is no follow-up to see if the treatments are actually needed, so the dental centers have been giving little 2 and 3 year old kids root canals and steel caps on their baby teeth, etc, which dental school experts later reviewed at the request of the TV station and agreed were unnecessary.  Just one dental group billed the State of Texas over $6M last year, more than all state funds spent on kids Medicaid dental care in the entire state of Florida.  (Statewide the Texas total was $145M.)  Despite this, there is no ongoing state investigation.  The state just officially looks the other direction.  (Official collusion?)  You can watch the entire report here for yourself.


Abuse is rampant.  If there's this much fraud in just one area in one city covering just this one medical treatment, can you imagine how much there is nationwide?  Our country is so big, so populous, and the numbers of $$ involved are so large, it's easy to slip tens (hundreds?) of millions of dollars through unnoticed.  


We're a compassionate people, and of course we want to provide dental care for poor children.  But this goes way beyond that.  The taxpayers are getting screwed again.  This is one example of why the conservative movement has gained such a strong and growing following.  This abuse, like all government waste, needs to be addressed, and when that happens liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, can sit down together and effectively govern.  Right now we're too polarized to do much of anything except fight amongst ourselves.


S