"Your taxes won't go up one single dime"

I seem to remember Mr Obama promising that as he marketed the new health plan. Not one single dime...not even ONE!!!!! Well, think about this courtesy of drwes.blogspot.com:

THE PACEMAKER TAX

... or is it really just an "assessment?"

The legislation does not work like a sales or excise tax. Rather, it follows the model of the punitive tobacco settlement imposed on cigarette companies in the '90s. It assesses an industry-wide payment that firms must make in proportion to their market share. It bars the them from passing along the cost of the assessment by charging more for certain basic products, but allows them to raise the price of others to raise the funds for the fee.

The result will be that virtually every piece of advanced surgical equipment will be subject to a price increase to meet the levy from Washington. No matter that these devices often make the difference between life and death and that, in effect, taxing them raises the cost of vital treatments. The vengeful White House will have its pound of flesh from the medical device industry for daring to be independent and to refuse to knuckle down to administration pressure.

Not a single dime! RIGHT!! And oh by the way, lab tests are considered a taxable device also.

Those who know me know that I have had 3 coronary artery stents (anything worth breaking is worth REALLY breaking!). My insurance, which is no different than yours, I'm sure, covered it without a fuss. When I tore the snot out of my knee, I needed repairative surgery with donor ligament and a goodly amount of PT before and afterwards. My insurance covered it without a fuss. I am on the uphill side of age 60, and I got no gripes from the insurance co. about my being too old for this sort of thing, that my "good years" were behind me, that a cane or crutch would be good enough for me, etc, etc. Compare how the gov't will treat the same situation..... from Rob't Reich. At least for me,this is NOT a tough question. Are there bugs in the current system? Definitely are! Does that mean we scrap the whole system and put government care in its place? I don't think so.

A Number We Never See

With all the finger-pointing in D.C. about the evil health insurance companies and their inhuman profits, what actually ARE their profits? Check out these numbers, courtesy of Villainous Company.com:

The President's characterization of insurance profits rated a "FALSE" on Politifact's Truth-o-meter. In fact, the insurance industry ranks 86th in profits - hardly obscene by any measure:

As I reported several months ago the industry "Health Care Plans" (includes Humana, Aetna, WellPoint, Magellan, etc.) ranks #86 by profit margin at only 3.3% (see table above, data here for the most recent quarter), not exactly strong evidence of "excessive profits" or monopoly power. Four health insurance companies (Molina, Health Net, Coventry, and Universal American) have profit margins below 1% for the most recent quarter, and another four (Humana, Magellan, WellCare and Centene) have profit margins between 1 and 2 percent (data here).

America's Health Insurance Plan, the industry's trade association, recently reported that annual health insurance premiums averaged $2,985 for individual coverage and $6,328 for family plans in 2009. Using the industry average profit margin of 3.3% means that insurance companies make less than $100 per policy in profits for individual coverage, and a little more than $200 in profits for each family policy. Doesn't seem too "excessive" or an indication of monopoly power, does it?

I wonder why we never see THAT number in the press?

Here's another invisible number for your amusement. We have a czar (a word that means the same as dictator, for crying out loud!!) who is telling private companies how much they can pay employees, especially the big exec's. While that is going on, the gov't run Freddie Mac hires a new exec. Does he bite the bullet in salaries? (this from Businessweek.com)

The pay package given to Freddie Mac's new chief financial officer should have sent a message from Washington to corporate America about how executive compensation standards must change. Instead, it did just the opposite.

The government-controlled mortgage finance company is giving CFO Ross Kari compensation worth as much as $5.5 million. That includes an almost $2 million cash signing bonus and a generous salary that could top $2.3 million.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Freddie Mac, approved the pay package. A spokeswoman pointed to a statement that justified the agency's approval of the pay, which was done in part because the amount was comparable to what others in the financial services industry make.

That way of thinking is exactly what helped feed the surge in executive pay over the last decade. Everyone wants to make at least as much, or more, than their peers.

Freddie Mac is not just another company. It's alive today, and nearly 80 percent owned by the government, only because almost $51 billion in taxpayer funds were pumped into it over the last year. More bailout money also may be needed in the quarters ahead as losses from its troubled mortgages mount.

What a silly notion that government should follow the rules it imposes on the low-life slobs who must pay the bills!

pretty Much Summarizes Where We Are

We're going to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose head says he
doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts
themselves from it, signed by a president that also hasn't read it, and who smokes,
with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, overseen by
a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke.

What possibly could go wrong?

With thanks from Nebraska Bob via theo

Pelosi and health care bill

Watching the news on TV this evening, and there is the House speaker in front of the mics, absolutely gloating as she tells the reporters that the health bill will mandate health insurance, with a stiff penalty if it isn't purchased. And she says with a straight face that the people of this country overwhelmingly want the "public option" (ie Gov't insurance)

Just where the hell does she get off telling me and you that we HAVE to buy health insurance? Who exactly appointed her my nanny and/or my boss? And where exactly is there ANYTHING in the Constitution that gives her or any other jackass in Washington any right at all to mandate this? There are times when their arrogance and their deceit really hits you right in the face . At the same time as she says this, the news is reporting the most recent poll shows 50% are AGAINST gov't insurance. And as I remember, there have been more than a few protests against this massive takeover of yet one more part of our economy, but hey, what difference do us peons make anyway. Just shut up and prepare to send even more money to this idiots via her newest plan, a value-added-tax.

Back from an enforced break

First of all, an apology to the vast hordes who read the blog (I think that is somewhere between 3 and 5 people) for the long pause......my computer developed a severe personality disorder and refused to show any video. No idea why.....it was serviced, nothing was found, and it's been working fine ever since.....no doubt it is Bush's fault.

Anyway, I came across this from Mr Charles Krauthammer, and as usual, am stunned by his ability to cut to the quick. The link after the video seems not to work, so here is an essay of the full speech.
What more can be said. Our leaders seem to be comfortable taking us on a course that can only lead us away from the greatness that we have enjoyed for many, many years. Personally, I think this country is the greatest country in history. We are not perfect, nor will we ever be so, since we are a human creation. But we are the best that has ever been seen, delivering freedom from oppression to countless millions, and giving our own citizens a level of freedom that has never been seen before. And that level of freedom has led to a prosperity unmatched anywhere in the world. But we seem to be intent on throwing all of it away, instead using as a new goal some sort of socialist plan. Look at history; look at the past and what it tells us. Every time, EVERY TIME that this has been tried, it fails miserably. The inevitable outcome is an equality of misery for all except for those in power.

Have a great weekend...more later if I can collect my thoughts after collecting my fallen leaves.