more like Health Deform

Health Reform That Breaks the Bank

"a tipping point has indeed arrived​—just not the one the climate campaigners expected."

In Denial

This article is long but well worth the time to read.

"The answer is to abolish Fannie and Freddie."

Bulldozing the dream

"The central role that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played in the financial crisis shouldn't be ignored. Without the lowered lending standards at Fannie and Freddie, mortgage originators would have paid more attention to the loans they were issuing, because the risk wouldn't have been shifted onto taxpayers so easily. And without the failure of Fannie and Freddie in September 2008, the market might not have destabilized, leading to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the quasi-nationalization of AIG and, eventually, the bailout of the financial industry."

"That still leaves us with a question: How many jobs did the stimulus actually create? Who Knows?"

Created or Saved or Estimated or Assumed

But don't take my word for it; take the CBO's. Unlike the administration, the CBO is a nonpartisan entity without a particular interest in strengthening its claims further than they should. All the numbers it produces are estimates, and the agency devotes plenty of ink to explaining its methodology and the uncertainties it entails. Last month's report cautioned that "considerable uncertainty exists about many of these economic relationships that are important in the modeling," which is why many of its estimates come in rather wide ranges. And its December report noted that "it is impossible to determine how many of the reported jobs would have existed in the absence of the stimulus package."

Change....out of your pocket

Fuel Taxes Must Rise, Harvard Researchers Say:

To meet the Obama administration’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, some researchers say, Americans may have to experience a sobering reality: gas at $7 a gallon.

"...the IPCC’s climate data are contaminated..."

World may not be warming, say scientists

"Pleasing their masters in government is now absorbing the psychic energy of CEOs..."

Under Obama, crony capitalism again rules the day

Crony capitalism is now the order of the day in the United States. The government and the United Auto Workers own General Motors and Chrysler, which aren't likely to pay back their billions in TARP money any time soon, if ever. Meanwhile the government tells Americans to stop driving Toyotas.

The government was going to remake the health care sector, and so Billy Tauzin and other health care industry lobbyists were busy in the White House cutting deals to keep their clients above water. The government was going to remake the energy sector, and utility CEOs and lobbyists have been busy flaunting their green credentials.

Principles for engaging the President in health care discussions

1. Scrap Obamacare. The Senate and House versions of Obamacare must be scrapped. The process must start anew. That's what the American people want. The WH already said no, so the answer is no negotiations.

2. No public option. If the Democrats insist that the government is should be a competitor to private health insurers, there is nothing left to talk about.

3. A smaller, more incremental approach. Remaking 1/6th of the economy is just a bad idea. A mistake that the Dems and Obama was trying to do "comprehensive" health care reform. Smaller changes are easier to make and mistakes would be easier to reform later on. It would also be much less disruptive.

4a. No accounting gimmicks. The Senate health care bill counted 10 years of taxes and fees and 6 years of benefits. It was designed this way to get a good CBO score to make the bill easier to sell. This type of gimmickry makes the public cynical and who can blame us. It also hides the true cost of legislation that will only blow up in our faces later on.

4b. No Passing the Buck. This section is really part 2 of the no accounting gimmicks principle, but the bill's cost can't be determined if it requires future Congresses to make other spending cuts or reforms, e.g., the Senate bill's reliance of future Congresses to approve medicare cuts that we all know won't happen anyway.

5. No Horsetrading. The bill must apply to all states equally. There should not be another Nebraska sell-out or Louisiana Purchase. If a Senator or House member can't vote on the legislation as it stands, his/her vote should not be purchased with special favors and taxpayer giveaways.

6. No New Taxes or Fees. No Republican can be a part of any discussion where raising taxes, or what the President calls "fees" are on the table.

7. Free Market Principles Are on the Table. Conservatives and the GOP know that the best way to lower health care costs in the long run is by letting the free market provide the health care. There should be more consumer choice and more competition among private insurers. Once the cost goes down, it will be more affordable to more people and as such, more people will have coverage.

8. Fix Medicare/Medicaid First. I wasn't sure to include this, but Medicare and Medicaid are going broke. Starting some new health care system w/o first fixing the current one makes no sense. 

Those are the principles that the GOP should hold fast to while engaging the president. If the Dems resist, which they will because they're only after a photo-op and making the GOP look like obstructionists, the GOP should say "thanks, but no thanks!"

Happy Birthday to the Gipper!

He was born 99 years ago today.