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Healthcare costs are the biggest problem in my opinion. The government spends more per person than any other country and we don't even have universal healthcare. The way our system is setup basically says, get lost if you have a lump and only come back if it turns into full blown cancer. If the government would invest in preventive care, the cost would decrease. This is why I support Obamacare. It's not the best system in the world, but I do believe in the long run it will save our government money.
The problem with this mindset is that it doesn't go nearly far enough. The best "prevenative care" starts with the food you put in your mouth, not with a visit to the doctor's office. Obamacare has made a lot of promises that it's going to reduce the cost of care. But I don't really believe that is possible unless we get rid of the "pills & surgery" model of health care that we currently have. If we did that, there would be much less demand for government sponsored guarantees because health care costs would drop dramatically. As it is, the government (that's us) is not going to be able to afford the escalating cost of health care.
that may or may not be true. the jury is still out on the many studies that try to figure out if too many healthy people living longer are going to stress the system more or less.
it may actually be cheaper to let people do unhealthy things , die sooner and pay the bills in the short term then having them live until ripe old ages and use the system long term.
Nope, sorry, I don't buy it. Reading the book "The Blue Zones" by Dan Buettner convinced me that health care costs would drop dramatically if we actually lived truly healthy lifestyles. The problem is that few of us actually do.
Buettner is far from a right wing nut job, by the way. He just started looking at the cultures where a disproportionate % of people lived to age 100. He found the same things in 4 different parts of the globe:
--plant based diet (either no red meat/poultry consumption or only in small amounts)
--minimal or no alcohol consumption (aka "clean living" as far as alcohol & other drug use goes)
--minimal or no processed foods
--regular religious/spiritual practice
--more family/community orientation than you typically have in the U.S.
He also found the people who lived this lifestyle used the health care system much less than other people and diseases such as Alzheimer's, dementia, obesity, diabetes, etc. were either nonexistent or much less prevalent.
Missing some key points -- the increase in Healthcare is .gov contrived. Not talking the usual (R) too much regulation whine, but rather the Corporations -- Insurance, Pharmco, and AMA that actually write the laws that they then pay Congress (largely R) to pass.
1. Pharmco prices are high because Pharmco bribed Congress to block international drug imports to the US. Quick cure would be to "NAFTA" the Pharmco Industry. Allow massive imports and undercut the US prices.
2. Medical Service fees are high because the AMA bribed Congress to pay Medical Schools to limit enrollment. Quick cure would be to H1-B Visa a bunch of International Medical Service providers.
3. Insurance Prices are high because of 1 and 2, above. The higher the base costs, the higher the Insurance, and they live in a percentage market, so Insurance Corps make even more money the higher they make prices go. Quick cure is limit insurance payments to match Medicaid / Medicare creating published, stable base prices, all equal for Insurance, US .gov payers, and Cash Customers.
But that is just a matter that would bring one area under control.
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As far as what to actually cut -- in a Deflationary Depression -- which is what the model still is . . .
Most of the spending is Domestic -- Inside the US, as it were. For US overall, this a good thing. Should not cut ANY Domestic Spending.
The big Overseas **** Away is the Military. Once that money is gone it leaves the US and is nothing but debt to US. Biggest players are operations like Halliburton. Makes Billion$ as the Sole Source Contractor for the Endless War of Terror. And it is no longer even a US Corporation. HQ moved overseas, and no longer paying US taxes. Total parasites, the MIC (Military Industrial Complex) are.
The worst that will happen is we go off the cliff and then the Dems bring up the tax cuts for the bottom 90 percent and the neo cons wont dare vote them down. This will in effect be letting the top tax cuts die for the top earners. As for the grand bargin I don't know if Boner can keep his people in line and asking for Obama care to be put on the table was the dumbest ass thing he could have said. I think it would have been smarter to ask Obama to change the color of his skin. But boner has never been a smart man.
Nope, sorry, I don't buy it. Reading the book "The Blue Zones" by Dan Buettner convinced me that health care costs would drop dramatically if we actually lived truly healthy lifestyles. The problem is that few of us actually do.
Buettner is far from a right wing nut job, by the way. He just started looking at the cultures where a disproportionate % of people lived to age 100. He found the same things in 4 different parts of the globe:
--plant based diet (either no red meat/poultry consumption or only in small amounts)
--minimal or no alcohol consumption (aka "clean living" as far as alcohol & other drug use goes)
--minimal or no processed foods
--regular religious/spiritual practice
--more family/community orientation than you typically have in the U.S.
He also found the people who lived this lifestyle used the health care system much less than other people and diseases such as Alzheimer's, dementia, obesity, diabetes, etc. were either nonexistent or much less prevalent.
there hasnt been enough studies yet to really say yes or no. someone not living long enough to collect ss and medicare certainly saves the system a
huge amount especially if they crap out after paying in for decades.
as far as actual medical costs long term/healthy life style vs short term/unhealthy lifestyle i would need to see far more studies done.
the big question is how much genetics vs health play a part and at what age do you die .
my genetics are poor with my mom dying at 55 and my dad early 60's. im pretty healthy myself and am a gym rat. but the question is will genetics over take my healthy lifestyle anyway.
yeah, and ending all the bush tax cuts, plus enacting the sequestered spending cuts, still leaves us with a $663B deficit for this FY.
as for "taxing 401ks" - they are taxed, when you withdraw the money. the only thing they could possibly change is lowering the amount you can contribute with pre-tax dollars, currently $17,000/yr.
It also implies that gov't tries to control our private retirement accounts. I guess that if any one retires with a lot of money in 401k and IRA, would be cut off SSI benefit . That money is shared to poorers.
A good suggestion is for them to stop spending on green at least until the economy is straightened out. Everyone on welfare takes a pay (for no work) cut.
Agreed. We should cut down welfare and orther spendings when middle class has been losing more jobs and being forced to work with less hours and lower wages.
A picture is worth a thousand words, which is why I believe we need to increase tax revenue and decrease spending across the board which includes military cuts and entitlement reform/cuts.
Come on now. I would have expected you to differentiate entitlement programs from non-entitlement programs (ie social security). Definitions are rather basic... Doesn't take a rocket scientist...
The economy needs more demand. Consumers have to buy more. Government spending hasn't outpaced natural growth. It's revenue that has plummeted. One reason is the butchering of the tax base. I'm in favor of returning to a post WW-II system. Though I've been behind military cuts for years. I just cannot seem to find where all this money has disappeared to, further compounded by the amount of antiquated gear the military has. Over a half a trillion dollars a year... And it's not going to the troops, that's easy to figure out.
The economy needs some reassurances that action has been taken to avoid another 2008, which nothing has been done. We put more effort into chasing pump-and-dump scams then cracking down on those who brought the world to its knees.
But mostly it's a lack of demand issue. Americans need to buy more junk to fix the economy, but to fix their debt levels they should refrain.
Agreed. We should cut down welfare and orther spendings when middle class has been losing more jobs and being forced to work with less hours and lower wages.
Welfare isn't what you should be worrying about if you want to improve the middle class. Welfare right now is one of the best "stimuluses" for the economy. It has a higher multiplier then most of the other stuff attempted. Far better then the horrible monetary policy they are trying.
If you want to improve the middle class, lobby for an increased minimum wage. Statistically, as the minimum wage increases, so does everyone else's pay. It's been rather slow at keeping up in recent decades. Figuring inflation, sometime in the 1970s it peaked at $9/hr today's dollars... It's not that today...
You get the bonus of more employment too. Those working multiple jobs to keep their heads above water will need to work fewer jobs, opening up those spots for others. Course it'll return to the same as we have now eventually, unless government can keep the increases up with the cost of living increases.
The "middle class" from the late 1970s onwards could only take on so much more debt or extra jobs before completely breaking down.
The worst that will happen is we go off the cliff and then the Dems bring up the tax cuts for the bottom 90 percent and the neo cons wont dare vote them down. This will in effect be letting the top tax cuts die for the top earners. As for the grand bargin I don't know if Boner can keep his people in line and asking for Obama care to be put on the table was the dumbest ass thing he could have said. I think it would have been smarter to ask Obama to change the color of his skin. But boner has never been a smart man.
Democrats need to put cuts on the table. If not then everyone should get hit hard with the Bush expiration. Only then will everyone wake up and demand spending cuts.
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