seffieandcoco

Social Security Trust Fund Imbalance: We're Now Living Off the Interest

The problem is that so many people are taking early SS because there are no worthwhile jobs out there for them. I see this over and over. This is similiar to the situation with SSI where the majority can work but there is simply no work for them to do. I do not know if these numbers, the majority of those on SSI, are added into the unemployment rate. Do any of our readers know if it goes into U3? If it does not one can assume even that measure underreads unemployment.

America, The Nanny State

This is a good outline. I would like to point out that prior to 1965 doctors were the ones who allocated health care resources. We had ward care for those who could not afford it. They got the same surgery, the same tests and everything but they were in a ward. It was free. If a Goldman Sachs banker came in and broke his hip he would be charged and he would get a private room. The surgeon could charge him what he pleased just as an attorney would. If you have ever talked to an attorney I am sure you have heard, "Pay me what you think it is worth...." Believe me....we charged the investment banker enough so we could treat the majority free....and then the hospital would hit him up for a new wing. So the system was take from the rich and give to the poor back then but the doctors administered the financial transfer. There were not a whole lot of ways an investment banker could weasel out of a medical bill. They would not get a lot of sympathy at the country club or the courtroom.

Medicare changed all that by forcing us to establish fixed fees so all of a sudden we were paid on most of the patients but we were paid far less on the wealthy ones. The insurance industry piggybacked on Medicare and basically follows the Medicare rules. We do not have private practice at all at this time, as a practical matter.

The current bill does nothing to address the fact that costs have exploded. While doctor pay is not the major driver here doctor test ordering and surgery is. I am told that in my specialty the ratio of hosptal income on my work to my pay is about 5 to 1 so my pay is a relatively small amount of the equation. Anyway we are making less than we were in the 1990's and 1980's so doctor pay cannot be the problem.

The Truth About Unemployment Numbers

Some have recommended looking at the number of employed in comparison to the total population.

This number is at an extreme low.

Consider all those on SSI who are there because there is no work available in the current job market for them given their physical or mental abilities. The bar for this is quite low.

Extending Medicare: Medical and National Suicide

In addition providers, including doctors and all others, should be on salary. Pay for procedure combined with increasing numbers of medical doctors, osteopathic doctors, podiatrists, and chiropractors is economic suicide.

WaMu Shows, Again, Smart Money Can Be Wrong

Insiderman makes some good points. It was politically correct to let people with no money and no income own homes. It was a terrible idea. But the bulk of the disaster is going to be Alt A where a lot of decent earners fell because they wanted the granite and the new appliances. That was no government policy.......that was greed on all sides.

Forget the Moral Outrage: Just Restore the Mortgage Markets

The problem is not mortgage availablility......it is income availability........th... housing market, once the speculative expectation is gone, can only be supported by the income of the people living in the houses......the days of free living on house appreciation are over and housing will be worth what it is......a roof.......The whole premise of the GSE's was flawed and remains flawed......you are dreaming if you think that housing can be stabilized by a nation without industry and stable work......until there is a sound industrial policy in this country housing will continue to drop to rental value.........

The Two-Ton Wall Street Conflict of Interest Few Dare To Talk About

I am always amazed that those getting a government check seem to be the ones that complain about government intervention the most......and I include the investment class......without manipulation by the fed the wealthy classes in this country would have been wiped out by a stock market meltdown........it is not just tax policy but it is fed policy that is making the wealthy rich........imagine if you were living on a fixed income!!!! And if the trickle down effect is so effective why do they not give us a tax rebate when we are high earners? We will trickle down more to the gardeners and nannys so they can send more dollars to their native countries.

Obama Is Bad for the Economy - Barron's

I commend user 21284 and concur.......having made millions in the bond market myself during the runup I do think I deserve some sort of tax reward......I have three boats, two houses, one condo and six cars.....and I spend a lot of money on illegal aliens who do my yard and take care of my house as well as paint and maintain my boats......

America's Energy Policy: Coming to Terms with Reality

We need to have a manhattan project to get fusion power online in the next decade. As soon as the producers hear that we mean science and business the price will collapse. Methinks that the Arabs are paying off the congress.

Bernanke's Fed: Fox in the Henhouse

The oil price has to go up a bit more to make the alternative energy story take off.....but with the increase in dollars worldwide that might not take too long

Why GE's Selling Its Appliance Division

It is not the management that has sent all these jobs overseas........it is the doctors and the lawyers......and the workers

Why GE's Selling Its Appliance Division

Oh I go on........and GE provides good health benefits for its employees....and even if Haier was to have a United States facility it does not have to worry about health benefits. GE spends another 7000 per year on health insurance for every employee and when you add the families and the hangers on it is a lot more........they just cannot make washing machines profitably on that.......Something has to give.......

Why GE's Selling Its Appliance Division

And I would add that from my perspective GE's manufacturing management is second to none worldwide..........it is all in the politics and PR.......and I have done a lot of work for GE over the years.....if the Unions and the worker's comp attorneys were flexible they could make a good product with reasonable wages and good profits but doing heavy manufacturing in this litigation laden hell is just not going to work.....And the next place this is going to happen is in jet engines........right now they have a lot of work since we are in Iraq burning up a lot of turbines.......and they have to be domestically sourced.........but Brazil and the third world have engine rebuild facilities equal to ours and that is where the commercial work is headed. In ten years the entire manufacturing process will be overseas.....same problem......The IAM better wake up soon but I think the ages of the employees are just too high to enable them to think about who is going to be making these jet engines in 15 years....as long as they get their retirement checks and worker's comp awards.......who cares? Their kids can work for the government as firemen or policmen or prison guards at 200K per year.

Why GE's Selling Its Appliance Division

I think the commenter on the Appliance Park wages hit it on the head. GE should stay in the appliance business from a historical and ethical and patriotic standpoint. We do not need to create more McJobs....but the wages and benefits for GE employees are huge....I have seen it first hand......and when you add worker's comp and the litigation and the fact that our comp laws are so liberal that the normal ageing process gets stuck on GE's bill,,,,
Haier can buy it and make the appliances in China and ship them here for a lot less than it costs to make them in Louisville......or if shipping is an issue Haier can make them in Mexico and ship them across the border. Politically GE can't do that. So the sale is really about politics and PR. They know that something has to be done drastically but they just can't, as an American icon, do the dirty work themselves.

How to Default on Your Mortgage and Stay in Your House

There is no fault........everyone was greedy........the homeowners were not innocent.......they were all equally greedy........and the homeowners should simply walk...........