This is very cool. Disclaimer, I am friends with, sometimes work with and am a huge admirerer of David Welch at Whitecoat Strategies. That said, take a look at this incredible story. It makes me smile.
Showing posts with label Medicine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medicine. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Feds Screw Medicine, Docs Say Enough. Feds Force Physcians?
Of course the libs will blame the doctors.
Texas doctors opting out of Medicare at alarming rate
The uncertainty proved too much for Dr. Guy Culpepper, a Dallas-area family practice doctor who says he wrestled with his decision for years before opting out in March. It was, he said, the only way “he could stop getting bullied and take control of his practice.”
“You do Medicare for God and country because you lose money on it,” said Culpepper, a graduate of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. “The only way to provide cost-effective care is outside the Medicare system, a system without constant paperwork and headaches and inadequate reimbursement.”
If you put the federal government in charge of deserts you will have a sand shortage in no time. In 1965 my father, a doctor, said that the Medicare/Medicaid system was doomed to fail, but before it did, it would drive costs through the ceiling and quality down the crapper. Unfortunately for us, his family, and his many patients he died very young in 1967.
Unfortunate for his family, yes, but actually more unfortunate the patients who needed his considerable skill which was offered on need, not offered on one's ability to pay.He used to go to rural areas to treat farmers who not only felt they couldn't afford to pay, but more so because they couldn't afford to leave their farm work undone.
Once, my mother took a call from a farmer's wife who said her husband had caught part of his arm in a combine, had cut away tissue to get it loose and was now feverish and had a bad odor. As usual, my father looked across the dinner table, nodded to me and we headed out.
I could see his mind working through the flexing of his jaw as we drove. He was planning for the worst, but hoping for the best. Once there he reached into his bag and pulled out some alcohol which he poured onto to his handkerchief which he had pulled from his suit jacket and told me to hold it over my nose. I still remember the coolness of the alcohol on that hot August evening. And the flies.
The smell coming through the alcohol soaked handkerchief made me gag as we approached the back kitchen door to the farmhouse. Before we got through the door he told the wife to call family to help hold her husband down, to boil as many pots of water as possible and collect clean sheets. My job, I was 13, was to call for an ambulance and give them the address and have the company call the hospital and tell them "possible amputation due to gangrene" was coming in and then help the wife.
My father saved the man's life, most of his arm and almost lost his practice. First the lawyers came sniffing and promising the farmer's family that they could only save the farm by suing the doctor. Next came a medical review board and on and on. My father had been right, was proved right by the county medical board, the medical review board and the courts (after he was dead). He never charged the family a penny because he knew they were living on the edge of losing everything. The farmer never tried to sue, his very elderly parents had been coerced into signing the papers placed before them to save their son's farm as they were told.
Before my father died he was told he had to change how he practiced medicine because many didn't understand the new techniques he employed, that the government was so far out of touch with innovation that they were years away from okaying new techniques and that there would be no more house calls, if only to fend off the lawyers. This was told to him by his best friend, a lawyer.
It was a different time then before the government and lawyers took over medicine. That farmer didn't seek medical attention because he was too proud to negotiate paying the bill, not because he was stupid, ignorant or stubborn. He had pride. His family didn't take handouts. He didn't miss work. That farmer was a man of respect.
Well, Medicare/Medicaid had become the law and now some 45 years later it is the vehicle that the government uses to lessen medicine through their ridiculous notion that they know how to run a medical practice. If it wasn't for the ethics of doctors who have believe in "God and country" many patients wouldn't be treated, especially the old and the indigent. They are treated by a doctor, not some bureaucrat in Washington, DC. In an ironic twist, Medicare/Medicaid has a higher turn down rate for procedures than private insurance companies. Ah, but the private insurance companies are just in it for the money while the bureaucrat is in it for the good of the people and they will tell you that from their comfortable houses bought with their comfortable salaries and their ensured employment.
They are able to tell you that over a comfortable dinner because bureaucrats don't miss a meal or go on house calls. Not even for the dying. Office hours, you know. Oh, and government rules.
God help us from more government help, especially in the area of medical care. Just like the deserts, medical practices are becoming a shortage.
UPDATE: I was asked what happened to the farmer.
The farmer recovered and went on to make himself a success. His children now live comfortably in Florida on the proceeds from selling his land to a developer. My father died at a young age from 18 hour days and a fourth heart attack. He would have had it no other way because then, in his mind, he would not have done enough to help others. Yes, while alive my father made very good money which took care of my mother for another 33 years into old age and illness. My sisters and I do not live in Florida. I still have all of my father's records. At first we were told that we had to keep them for "legal reasons." Now I keep them to remember.
Texas doctors opting out of Medicare at alarming rate
The uncertainty proved too much for Dr. Guy Culpepper, a Dallas-area family practice doctor who says he wrestled with his decision for years before opting out in March. It was, he said, the only way “he could stop getting bullied and take control of his practice.”
“You do Medicare for God and country because you lose money on it,” said Culpepper, a graduate of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. “The only way to provide cost-effective care is outside the Medicare system, a system without constant paperwork and headaches and inadequate reimbursement.”
If you put the federal government in charge of deserts you will have a sand shortage in no time. In 1965 my father, a doctor, said that the Medicare/Medicaid system was doomed to fail, but before it did, it would drive costs through the ceiling and quality down the crapper. Unfortunately for us, his family, and his many patients he died very young in 1967.
Unfortunate for his family, yes, but actually more unfortunate the patients who needed his considerable skill which was offered on need, not offered on one's ability to pay.He used to go to rural areas to treat farmers who not only felt they couldn't afford to pay, but more so because they couldn't afford to leave their farm work undone.
Once, my mother took a call from a farmer's wife who said her husband had caught part of his arm in a combine, had cut away tissue to get it loose and was now feverish and had a bad odor. As usual, my father looked across the dinner table, nodded to me and we headed out.
I could see his mind working through the flexing of his jaw as we drove. He was planning for the worst, but hoping for the best. Once there he reached into his bag and pulled out some alcohol which he poured onto to his handkerchief which he had pulled from his suit jacket and told me to hold it over my nose. I still remember the coolness of the alcohol on that hot August evening. And the flies.
The smell coming through the alcohol soaked handkerchief made me gag as we approached the back kitchen door to the farmhouse. Before we got through the door he told the wife to call family to help hold her husband down, to boil as many pots of water as possible and collect clean sheets. My job, I was 13, was to call for an ambulance and give them the address and have the company call the hospital and tell them "possible amputation due to gangrene" was coming in and then help the wife.
My father saved the man's life, most of his arm and almost lost his practice. First the lawyers came sniffing and promising the farmer's family that they could only save the farm by suing the doctor. Next came a medical review board and on and on. My father had been right, was proved right by the county medical board, the medical review board and the courts (after he was dead). He never charged the family a penny because he knew they were living on the edge of losing everything. The farmer never tried to sue, his very elderly parents had been coerced into signing the papers placed before them to save their son's farm as they were told.
Before my father died he was told he had to change how he practiced medicine because many didn't understand the new techniques he employed, that the government was so far out of touch with innovation that they were years away from okaying new techniques and that there would be no more house calls, if only to fend off the lawyers. This was told to him by his best friend, a lawyer.
It was a different time then before the government and lawyers took over medicine. That farmer didn't seek medical attention because he was too proud to negotiate paying the bill, not because he was stupid, ignorant or stubborn. He had pride. His family didn't take handouts. He didn't miss work. That farmer was a man of respect.
Well, Medicare/Medicaid had become the law and now some 45 years later it is the vehicle that the government uses to lessen medicine through their ridiculous notion that they know how to run a medical practice. If it wasn't for the ethics of doctors who have believe in "God and country" many patients wouldn't be treated, especially the old and the indigent. They are treated by a doctor, not some bureaucrat in Washington, DC. In an ironic twist, Medicare/Medicaid has a higher turn down rate for procedures than private insurance companies. Ah, but the private insurance companies are just in it for the money while the bureaucrat is in it for the good of the people and they will tell you that from their comfortable houses bought with their comfortable salaries and their ensured employment.
They are able to tell you that over a comfortable dinner because bureaucrats don't miss a meal or go on house calls. Not even for the dying. Office hours, you know. Oh, and government rules.
God help us from more government help, especially in the area of medical care. Just like the deserts, medical practices are becoming a shortage.
UPDATE: I was asked what happened to the farmer.
The farmer recovered and went on to make himself a success. His children now live comfortably in Florida on the proceeds from selling his land to a developer. My father died at a young age from 18 hour days and a fourth heart attack. He would have had it no other way because then, in his mind, he would not have done enough to help others. Yes, while alive my father made very good money which took care of my mother for another 33 years into old age and illness. My sisters and I do not live in Florida. I still have all of my father's records. At first we were told that we had to keep them for "legal reasons." Now I keep them to remember.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Citizens, Glenn Beck, Dick Armey Scare Leftists
Conservatives are organized? If so, no one knows how well they are or are not, but they scare the Hell out of the liberals on Capitol Hill and rightly so. Leftists are using the same old rhetoric and slurs to vilify conservatives and any speaker or leader against any program or member of the Obama Administration.
After yelling "You lie" at President Obama during Obama's less than disingenuous descriptions of what health care reform would do, Joe Wilson received over $750,000 in donations in less than 48 hours. Many believe he would have received twice that amount if he hadn't apologized. Wilson's opponent is said to have raised $1,000,000. I will be interested to see where the donations came from and in what amounts.
Glenn Beck is being called "the real terrorist" and having false stories and outright lies passed around in the media and in blogs that liberals then say are just parodies, thus funny and fair.
People are being beat up, having fingers bitten off and threatened by union members bussed in, especially those from the SEIU, but the MSM portray the opponents of Obama's health care reform as "far right", out of touch and "wingnuts."
Liberals are scared.
Here is a memo from the Democratic leadership to newer members concerning the crowd size:
House Dem Leadership Memo On 9/12 Rally
Freshmen and Sophomores:
Some of you have asked about the 9-12 rally Fox News’ Glenn Beck, FreedomWorks and other conservative organizations are organizing for Saturday. As you may know, FreedomWorks held a Capitol Hill demonstration yesterday, that turned into an impromptu rally for embattled Rep. Joe Wilson. Now, based off of news reports and comments from leaders in the Tea Party movement, it looks like Saturday’s event is going to be a huge gathering, estimates ranging from hundreds of thousands to 2 million people. Below is what I have been able to find on crowd estimates. As I learn more, I will let you know.
Best,Doug
• MEDIA MATTERS: “Beck announces he will anchor Fox News’ live coverage of “the biggest 9-12 tea party yet, on Capitol Hill”http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200908130005
• NYTimes.com: “A demonstration against government spending and “socialized health care” planned for Sept. 12 in Washington could become “the largest gathering of fiscal conservatives ever,” organizers said on Thursday.”http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/fiscal-conservatives-plan-largest-gathering-ever/#comment-13997
• GOPExiles.com: “The march, organized by Armey’s political group FreedomWorks, is scheduled for Sept. 12 and is already generating hundreds of thousands of responses, the Texas Republican tells Newsmax.TV. The group isn’t providing transportation, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem.”http://www.gopexiles.com/?p=3097
• 912dc.org, “The March on Washington – Update”“As one wise conservative sage, Morton Blackwell, always says, “You should underpromise and overachieve.” That is what we are trying to accomplish by not giving the media any crowd estimates that they can use against us. We want to surprise them and shock the nation by the massive turnout that we expect on 9-12. I can only ask you to trust our judgment in this, and promise you that we will have a huge turnout.”http://912dc.org/2009/08/the-march-on-washington-update/
Liberals should be worried about their over-reach socialist agenda. It is wrong for America and bad for citizens.
Most citizens, having witnessed programs like the VA, Medicare, the US Post Office and many others, don't believe the federal government could find its own butt with both hands and directions. They'd be right.
UPDATE: Gateway Pundit has a story of how liberals are continuing to threaten anti-ObamasCare protesters.
DC Tea Party Planners Forced Out of Meeting After Bomb Threat ...Update: Massive Turnout Expected
They are going to try and force socialized government down our throats no matter what.
After yelling "You lie" at President Obama during Obama's less than disingenuous descriptions of what health care reform would do, Joe Wilson received over $750,000 in donations in less than 48 hours. Many believe he would have received twice that amount if he hadn't apologized. Wilson's opponent is said to have raised $1,000,000. I will be interested to see where the donations came from and in what amounts.
Glenn Beck is being called "the real terrorist" and having false stories and outright lies passed around in the media and in blogs that liberals then say are just parodies, thus funny and fair.
People are being beat up, having fingers bitten off and threatened by union members bussed in, especially those from the SEIU, but the MSM portray the opponents of Obama's health care reform as "far right", out of touch and "wingnuts."
Liberals are scared.
Here is a memo from the Democratic leadership to newer members concerning the crowd size:
House Dem Leadership Memo On 9/12 Rally
Freshmen and Sophomores:
Some of you have asked about the 9-12 rally Fox News’ Glenn Beck, FreedomWorks and other conservative organizations are organizing for Saturday. As you may know, FreedomWorks held a Capitol Hill demonstration yesterday, that turned into an impromptu rally for embattled Rep. Joe Wilson. Now, based off of news reports and comments from leaders in the Tea Party movement, it looks like Saturday’s event is going to be a huge gathering, estimates ranging from hundreds of thousands to 2 million people. Below is what I have been able to find on crowd estimates. As I learn more, I will let you know.
Best,Doug
• MEDIA MATTERS: “Beck announces he will anchor Fox News’ live coverage of “the biggest 9-12 tea party yet, on Capitol Hill”http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200908130005
• NYTimes.com: “A demonstration against government spending and “socialized health care” planned for Sept. 12 in Washington could become “the largest gathering of fiscal conservatives ever,” organizers said on Thursday.”http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/fiscal-conservatives-plan-largest-gathering-ever/#comment-13997
• GOPExiles.com: “The march, organized by Armey’s political group FreedomWorks, is scheduled for Sept. 12 and is already generating hundreds of thousands of responses, the Texas Republican tells Newsmax.TV. The group isn’t providing transportation, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem.”http://www.gopexiles.com/?p=3097
• 912dc.org, “The March on Washington – Update”“As one wise conservative sage, Morton Blackwell, always says, “You should underpromise and overachieve.” That is what we are trying to accomplish by not giving the media any crowd estimates that they can use against us. We want to surprise them and shock the nation by the massive turnout that we expect on 9-12. I can only ask you to trust our judgment in this, and promise you that we will have a huge turnout.”http://912dc.org/2009/08/the-march-on-washington-update/
Liberals should be worried about their over-reach socialist agenda. It is wrong for America and bad for citizens.
Most citizens, having witnessed programs like the VA, Medicare, the US Post Office and many others, don't believe the federal government could find its own butt with both hands and directions. They'd be right.
UPDATE: Gateway Pundit has a story of how liberals are continuing to threaten anti-ObamasCare protesters.
DC Tea Party Planners Forced Out of Meeting After Bomb Threat ...Update: Massive Turnout Expected
They are going to try and force socialized government down our throats no matter what.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Look Here-Look There - Taxes, Government Intrusion Everywhere
Forget ObamasCare and Cap And Trade filled with new taxes, hidden taxes, fee and more. Look at your state, county and local taxes, fees and hidden costs for this and that. According to supporters all these cost increases are necessary. That's BS.
Government is fat, bloated and intruding in every corner of our life to feed itself and they have the audacity to preen that it is for our own good. Food, gas, sins, soap, trash, construction, licenses, heat, medicine, water, sewage, new cars, old cars, pets, education, business, charity, free speech and every other thing you need or want is being regulated, taxed and fee'd to death.
Below is a quick search, but feel free to add what you find. Next time something, anything costs more, figure out why.
Battle lines drawn over soda, junk food taxes
City of Philadelphia takes out $275M loan...
Schwarzenegger to take prison fight to U.S. Supreme Court...
Honolulu seeking to ban 'BO' on buses...
AFL-CIO, Dems push new Wall Street tax...
WSJ: Growing Government Role Fuels Anger...
POLITICANS PLAY SOLITARE, WATCH BASEBALL DURING BUDGET DEBATE IN CONNECTICUT...
Pandemic bill allows police to enter homes, detain without warrant...
Cities and States Plan Strange New Taxes on Pretty Much Everything ...
Geithner Won't Rule Out New Taxes for Middle Class - George's ...
New Taxes Loom to Pay for Health-Care Overhaul - WSJ.com
Smokers, drinkers to carry tax burden? - Carrie Budoff Brown ...
New and Outrageous Taxes - WalletPop
Obama Proposes New Taxes on Dealers, Life Insurance (Update3 ...
DEMOCRATS HEALTH CARE PLAN FUNDING MAY TAX NEW YORK WEALTHY 57 ...
Democrats urge new taxes - Politics - News & Observer
New taxes pay for reform - More funding needed - Managed ...
STRIPPER TAX IS HARD TO 'BARE' - New York Post
New taxes to support churches and parochial schools take effect ...
D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty Proposes to Implement New Taxes and ...
Michigan Messenger » Granholm proposes new taxes to boost revenue
Senate Weighs New Taxes To Fund Reform
Localities Enacting New Taxes On Hotel Room Charges
Rendell vetoes called tactic to force new taxes - Pittsburgh ...
Senators mull new taxes to fund 911 Net upgrade Tech News on ZDNet
House Approves New Tax to Stem Wall St. Bonuses - The Tech
National Association of Manufacturers - NAM Calls New Taxes On ...
Oregon legislators support new taxes for roads - OregonLive.com
Brookline businesses want piece of new taxes - Brookline, MA ...
New phone tax starts Tuesday
Wisconsin cigarette tax goes up Tuesday
New tax law draws fresh fire from pharma
Online retailers challenge California sales tax legislation
Candy, soap, alcohol taxes take effect
Elm City toughens car taxes
Happy "New Tax" Day
Duluth City Council candidates plead their case at Chamber forum
Chicopee approves meals tax
US States look to hike taxes aiming high earners generating ...
Urbandale school maintenance needs become a priority
Council might weigh new taxes
Tax increase begins today
School Board Asks For Sales Tax Increase
Middleboro town meeting to vote on new taxes, increased spending
Sales tax 1 percent higher - now 7.75 percent locally
Tax hikes raise prices on most goods; court fees also go up
New DMV Fees
State high court hears grocers' challenge to tax
Fees, fees everywhere
License, registration fee hikes coming Tuesday
Builders criticize PTC Council's impact fee hike
It just keeps rolling.
Government is fat, bloated and intruding in every corner of our life to feed itself and they have the audacity to preen that it is for our own good. Food, gas, sins, soap, trash, construction, licenses, heat, medicine, water, sewage, new cars, old cars, pets, education, business, charity, free speech and every other thing you need or want is being regulated, taxed and fee'd to death.
Below is a quick search, but feel free to add what you find. Next time something, anything costs more, figure out why.
Battle lines drawn over soda, junk food taxes
City of Philadelphia takes out $275M loan...
Schwarzenegger to take prison fight to U.S. Supreme Court...
Honolulu seeking to ban 'BO' on buses...
AFL-CIO, Dems push new Wall Street tax...
WSJ: Growing Government Role Fuels Anger...
POLITICANS PLAY SOLITARE, WATCH BASEBALL DURING BUDGET DEBATE IN CONNECTICUT...
Pandemic bill allows police to enter homes, detain without warrant...
Cities and States Plan Strange New Taxes on Pretty Much Everything ...
Geithner Won't Rule Out New Taxes for Middle Class - George's ...
New Taxes Loom to Pay for Health-Care Overhaul - WSJ.com
Smokers, drinkers to carry tax burden? - Carrie Budoff Brown ...
New and Outrageous Taxes - WalletPop
Obama Proposes New Taxes on Dealers, Life Insurance (Update3 ...
DEMOCRATS HEALTH CARE PLAN FUNDING MAY TAX NEW YORK WEALTHY 57 ...
Democrats urge new taxes - Politics - News & Observer
New taxes pay for reform - More funding needed - Managed ...
STRIPPER TAX IS HARD TO 'BARE' - New York Post
New taxes to support churches and parochial schools take effect ...
D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty Proposes to Implement New Taxes and ...
Michigan Messenger » Granholm proposes new taxes to boost revenue
Senate Weighs New Taxes To Fund Reform
Localities Enacting New Taxes On Hotel Room Charges
Rendell vetoes called tactic to force new taxes - Pittsburgh ...
Senators mull new taxes to fund 911 Net upgrade Tech News on ZDNet
House Approves New Tax to Stem Wall St. Bonuses - The Tech
National Association of Manufacturers - NAM Calls New Taxes On ...
Oregon legislators support new taxes for roads - OregonLive.com
Brookline businesses want piece of new taxes - Brookline, MA ...
New phone tax starts Tuesday
Wisconsin cigarette tax goes up Tuesday
New tax law draws fresh fire from pharma
Online retailers challenge California sales tax legislation
Candy, soap, alcohol taxes take effect
Elm City toughens car taxes
Happy "New Tax" Day
Duluth City Council candidates plead their case at Chamber forum
Chicopee approves meals tax
US States look to hike taxes aiming high earners generating ...
Urbandale school maintenance needs become a priority
Council might weigh new taxes
Tax increase begins today
School Board Asks For Sales Tax Increase
Middleboro town meeting to vote on new taxes, increased spending
Sales tax 1 percent higher - now 7.75 percent locally
Tax hikes raise prices on most goods; court fees also go up
New DMV Fees
State high court hears grocers' challenge to tax
Fees, fees everywhere
License, registration fee hikes coming Tuesday
Builders criticize PTC Council's impact fee hike
It just keeps rolling.
Friday, June 26, 2009
June 26: Odd Coincidence
1284 – the legendary Pied Piper leads 130 children out of Hamelin, Germany
2009 - the estimatible Pied Pelosi leads 256 children out of sane America
2009 - the estimatible Pied Pelosi leads 256 children out of sane America
Friday, June 19, 2009
Obama's Health Care Ain't So Healthy
And nor is our health system after 44 years of government help.
That is the way government help goes. Vibrant black communities such as Harlem were devastated by government help. With government help abortions have sky-rocketed, but they consider that a success. Communities seeking relief from inner city problems and hoping for regeneration were given Urban Renewal complete with the help of government sponsored architects and urban planners. Those cities are just now physically recovering from that help. The districts, such as San Francisco's Fillmore District, have been destroyed forever along with the communities that lived there, city cohesion and the jobs are lost forever. All in the name of government help.
Now Obama wants to 'help' us all some more, maybe kill us with the cure.
My family has been involved in medicine and health care for generations, but before my father died in 1967 he was glad that I would not continue that family practice. He told me that with the advent of government Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, medicine in America would see medical care go in the toilet and the costs go through the ceiling.
Health care costs since the federal government started helping us:
In 1965, $42.2 billion (or $187 billion in 2005 dollars) was spent on health care.
In 2006, national spending on health care reached $2.1 trillion (an increase of almost 97 percent over the past 10 years).
The current national health spending of $2.1 trillion accounts for 16 percent of the gross domestic product.
This trend in health spending is projected to continue, reaching $4.3 trillion in 2017.
A look at a doctor's office, as an example, in 1965 shows a far different look than today's modern office. A typical doctor in 1965 had a receptionist who also handled billing and follow up calls and a nurse who assisted the doctor who, if also a surgeon, saw a steady stream of patients after a morning of surgery and also had his office open on Saturday mornings.
Today, my doctor, who is excellent, has a large staff just to cover paper work for the government and insurance companies, which also have large staffs for CYA with the government, a hidden staff of over seers and lawyers to check on him and to protect him and an even larger unseen partner called the federal government which has made him rethink being a doctor. He is not alone.
And we want more government help for .......?
That is the way government help goes. Vibrant black communities such as Harlem were devastated by government help. With government help abortions have sky-rocketed, but they consider that a success. Communities seeking relief from inner city problems and hoping for regeneration were given Urban Renewal complete with the help of government sponsored architects and urban planners. Those cities are just now physically recovering from that help. The districts, such as San Francisco's Fillmore District, have been destroyed forever along with the communities that lived there, city cohesion and the jobs are lost forever. All in the name of government help.
Now Obama wants to 'help' us all some more, maybe kill us with the cure.
My family has been involved in medicine and health care for generations, but before my father died in 1967 he was glad that I would not continue that family practice. He told me that with the advent of government Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, medicine in America would see medical care go in the toilet and the costs go through the ceiling.
Health care costs since the federal government started helping us:
In 1965, $42.2 billion (or $187 billion in 2005 dollars) was spent on health care.
In 2006, national spending on health care reached $2.1 trillion (an increase of almost 97 percent over the past 10 years).
The current national health spending of $2.1 trillion accounts for 16 percent of the gross domestic product.
This trend in health spending is projected to continue, reaching $4.3 trillion in 2017.
A look at a doctor's office, as an example, in 1965 shows a far different look than today's modern office. A typical doctor in 1965 had a receptionist who also handled billing and follow up calls and a nurse who assisted the doctor who, if also a surgeon, saw a steady stream of patients after a morning of surgery and also had his office open on Saturday mornings.
Today, my doctor, who is excellent, has a large staff just to cover paper work for the government and insurance companies, which also have large staffs for CYA with the government, a hidden staff of over seers and lawyers to check on him and to protect him and an even larger unseen partner called the federal government which has made him rethink being a doctor. He is not alone.
And we want more government help for .......?
Friday, March 06, 2009
The Economic Lies Of Sin Taxes
The tobacco settlement went to tobacco cessation programs, right? Lottery taxes pay for that quality public education that Dick, Jane and Johnetta get, right? Cigarette taxes pay for the increased cost the filthy habit imposes on society, right?
Nah. Sin taxes are a hoax.
Do they do some good? Yes. Do they do harm? Yes. Do these taxes help the very people they are purported to help through social engineering by local, state and the federal government. No. Do these taxes encourage more wanton government spending which allows government to interpose itself more into our private lives? Absolutely, yes.
Most importantly, are these taxes 'healthy' form of taxation? No, they are a perfidy upon our system of government.
Bootleggers, buttleggers and lootleggers are now a common forms of crime throughout the country and is getting worse daily because of further increases in government taxation on products that the public wants.
Government gets away with it by holding the innocent, the children and the health of the nation as reasons for otherwise logical citizens to buy into their illogical and false arguments. It would be more honest for the government to put a picture of a kitty on each product and say, "Pay the tax or kitty gets it." Unfortunately, our induced entitlement society no longer seems to have a problem with a dishonest government. In fact, to get 'theirs', they have embraced it and have thrown logic and truth out of the window. As long as they get what is 'owed' them, screw the other guy.
Sin taxes do not discourage the great majorities of their target, The Center for Disease Control has issued papers and studies showing that smokers remain the same percentage as before, even increasing in certain age and sex groups. Alcohol sales have remained steady until recently when they headed up sharply. Even though most people do not view lotteries as taxes, they are indeed, and not paid by all, but only by those whose engage in playing the lottery.
As one state increases their tax, the state next door increases their tax until one state lowers their tax to increase traffic (lower taxes do increase revenue) and then the first state makes a law that prohibits the interstate importation of said product from the lower taxed state back into their state. So much for fair interstate commerce, but the real culprit is interstate competition in business. Competition, as we all know, between private commerce is our market system and a good one for balancing prices and quality making for a good value for the consumer. Anti-price gouging laws are the counterbalance. Business competition, ie, monopoly enforcement, between states and other forms of government has been and is a disaster which hurts the consumer.
State lotteries, once forbidden nationwide, have grown exponentially to 'stop' the flow of money from one state to another. When one state forms a lottery, the one next door is likely to jump on the education/lottery bandwagon because they state 'their' tax dollars are fleeing the state. First, it isn't the state's money; second, the state should not be in business (think Fannie and Freddie); and third, the state lies to their citizens by stating what the raised tax money will be spent on and then spending it elsewhere and actually just creating another bureaucracy.
Higher and higher taxes to stop people from smoking and to pay for the increased costs of smoking on society is a set of canards that Barnum would be proud of. As smokers tend to die younger, they have not only saved the government and society a pot of money, they have paid for the right to die younger in sums that would make organized crime blush which is why organized crime has jumped into these markets. They want to steal as much money as the government has only without taxation, just profits. At least they are honest about their dishonesty.
Cigarette Taxes Are Fueling Organized Crime
Last month, New York law enforcement authorities announced the arrest of Queens resident Rafea al-Nablisi for smuggling 12,000 cartons of cigarettes a week. It was not the first such arrest, and thanks to New York's latest cigarette tax hike, it will not be the last.
On April 23, less than two weeks after Mr. Nablisi's arrest was made public, Gov. David Paterson signed into law a $1.25 per-pack tax hike on top of the state's $1.50 per-pack tax. That's in addition to New York City's own $1.50 per-pack tax. Come July 1, New York City's smokers will be paying on average $9 a pack for legal cigarettes.
But if history is any guide, most cigarettes sold will actually be trucked up from Virginia, or shipped in from China, by "butt-leggers" who can make over $1 million on each tractor-trailer load of smuggled smokes. The blunt fact, which politicians of both political parties are determined to ignore, is that high cigarette taxes in New York have led to a bloody, decades-long smuggling epidemic.
While the problem first surfaced during the Great Depression, tax hikes in the early 1960s created a major profit opportunity for smugglers and kicked the epidemic into high gear. By 1967, a quarter of the cigarettes consumed in the Empire State were bootlegged. New York City's finance administrator labeled cigarette smuggling the "principal stoking facility of the engine of organized crime."
Smuggling is very profitable. My ancestors could attest to that. Smuggling has become very dangerous and violent which takes law enforcement away from protecting the general public which does not engage in smuggling. This is yet another form of hidden taxation when we are asked to be taxed more for our safety when the increased crime and violence was actually made possible by government and then encouraged as they ignore reality and further increase their stupidity and our taxes.
Sin taxes are regressive, ie they disproportionately target the poor. These taxes hurt the very segment of society which they purport to help. Love stinks. They are regressive in another way as well as children learn that smoking, drinking and gambling are stupid, ergo their parents or family members who do so must be stupid and the state smart, making sin taxes good thus we, as a society, must have more taxes paving the way for more government programs and departments they were never intended to take part in, but are supported by certain segments of society and politicians hoping to pad their nest and get re-elected.
This is the rotten dais from which lies about the economics of taxation and sin taxes are told.
Nah. Sin taxes are a hoax.
Do they do some good? Yes. Do they do harm? Yes. Do these taxes help the very people they are purported to help through social engineering by local, state and the federal government. No. Do these taxes encourage more wanton government spending which allows government to interpose itself more into our private lives? Absolutely, yes.
Most importantly, are these taxes 'healthy' form of taxation? No, they are a perfidy upon our system of government.
Bootleggers, buttleggers and lootleggers are now a common forms of crime throughout the country and is getting worse daily because of further increases in government taxation on products that the public wants.
Government gets away with it by holding the innocent, the children and the health of the nation as reasons for otherwise logical citizens to buy into their illogical and false arguments. It would be more honest for the government to put a picture of a kitty on each product and say, "Pay the tax or kitty gets it." Unfortunately, our induced entitlement society no longer seems to have a problem with a dishonest government. In fact, to get 'theirs', they have embraced it and have thrown logic and truth out of the window. As long as they get what is 'owed' them, screw the other guy.
Sin taxes do not discourage the great majorities of their target, The Center for Disease Control has issued papers and studies showing that smokers remain the same percentage as before, even increasing in certain age and sex groups. Alcohol sales have remained steady until recently when they headed up sharply. Even though most people do not view lotteries as taxes, they are indeed, and not paid by all, but only by those whose engage in playing the lottery.
As one state increases their tax, the state next door increases their tax until one state lowers their tax to increase traffic (lower taxes do increase revenue) and then the first state makes a law that prohibits the interstate importation of said product from the lower taxed state back into their state. So much for fair interstate commerce, but the real culprit is interstate competition in business. Competition, as we all know, between private commerce is our market system and a good one for balancing prices and quality making for a good value for the consumer. Anti-price gouging laws are the counterbalance. Business competition, ie, monopoly enforcement, between states and other forms of government has been and is a disaster which hurts the consumer.
State lotteries, once forbidden nationwide, have grown exponentially to 'stop' the flow of money from one state to another. When one state forms a lottery, the one next door is likely to jump on the education/lottery bandwagon because they state 'their' tax dollars are fleeing the state. First, it isn't the state's money; second, the state should not be in business (think Fannie and Freddie); and third, the state lies to their citizens by stating what the raised tax money will be spent on and then spending it elsewhere and actually just creating another bureaucracy.
Higher and higher taxes to stop people from smoking and to pay for the increased costs of smoking on society is a set of canards that Barnum would be proud of. As smokers tend to die younger, they have not only saved the government and society a pot of money, they have paid for the right to die younger in sums that would make organized crime blush which is why organized crime has jumped into these markets. They want to steal as much money as the government has only without taxation, just profits. At least they are honest about their dishonesty.
Cigarette Taxes Are Fueling Organized Crime
Last month, New York law enforcement authorities announced the arrest of Queens resident Rafea al-Nablisi for smuggling 12,000 cartons of cigarettes a week. It was not the first such arrest, and thanks to New York's latest cigarette tax hike, it will not be the last.
On April 23, less than two weeks after Mr. Nablisi's arrest was made public, Gov. David Paterson signed into law a $1.25 per-pack tax hike on top of the state's $1.50 per-pack tax. That's in addition to New York City's own $1.50 per-pack tax. Come July 1, New York City's smokers will be paying on average $9 a pack for legal cigarettes.
But if history is any guide, most cigarettes sold will actually be trucked up from Virginia, or shipped in from China, by "butt-leggers" who can make over $1 million on each tractor-trailer load of smuggled smokes. The blunt fact, which politicians of both political parties are determined to ignore, is that high cigarette taxes in New York have led to a bloody, decades-long smuggling epidemic.
While the problem first surfaced during the Great Depression, tax hikes in the early 1960s created a major profit opportunity for smugglers and kicked the epidemic into high gear. By 1967, a quarter of the cigarettes consumed in the Empire State were bootlegged. New York City's finance administrator labeled cigarette smuggling the "principal stoking facility of the engine of organized crime."
Smuggling is very profitable. My ancestors could attest to that. Smuggling has become very dangerous and violent which takes law enforcement away from protecting the general public which does not engage in smuggling. This is yet another form of hidden taxation when we are asked to be taxed more for our safety when the increased crime and violence was actually made possible by government and then encouraged as they ignore reality and further increase their stupidity and our taxes.
Sin taxes are regressive, ie they disproportionately target the poor. These taxes hurt the very segment of society which they purport to help. Love stinks. They are regressive in another way as well as children learn that smoking, drinking and gambling are stupid, ergo their parents or family members who do so must be stupid and the state smart, making sin taxes good thus we, as a society, must have more taxes paving the way for more government programs and departments they were never intended to take part in, but are supported by certain segments of society and politicians hoping to pad their nest and get re-elected.
This is the rotten dais from which lies about the economics of taxation and sin taxes are told.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Obama's National Health Care Champion Tom Daschle
Even a stake through the heart won't keep the meddling "I know better than you" Tom Daschle out of our lives and our health.
Hillary tried her socialized medicine and now Obama will try his hoping his first term popularity will give the federal government the right to destroy our great medical care in this country.
Director Blue wrote about Daschle's plan, which Obama has endorsed, to hoodwink voters into giving a Democratic Politburo in Washington the right to over ride in Peoria the decisions made by a doctor and a patient.
This is a read you should make.
The Disastrous Daschle-Obama strategy to "fix" health care
In the name of the uninsured, they want to control your life and this will give them the power to do so. Got a bad habit, you will go to the end of the line waiting for care, unless it's Aids or drug related, or crime related, because those are society's fault.
Hillary tried her socialized medicine and now Obama will try his hoping his first term popularity will give the federal government the right to destroy our great medical care in this country.
Director Blue wrote about Daschle's plan, which Obama has endorsed, to hoodwink voters into giving a Democratic Politburo in Washington the right to over ride in Peoria the decisions made by a doctor and a patient.
This is a read you should make.
The Disastrous Daschle-Obama strategy to "fix" health care
In the name of the uninsured, they want to control your life and this will give them the power to do so. Got a bad habit, you will go to the end of the line waiting for care, unless it's Aids or drug related, or crime related, because those are society's fault.
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