U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
Rich - Do you desire government control of your life? IMO you have no insight or understanding of how dangerous that view is. It also seems that you cover for this lack of perspective on the problems our society faces by making simple incoherent ramblings that you believe are intellectual.
People helping people of their own volition is noble. Yielding all responsibility to the government is cowardice. I'll take leave of you with a quote from Ayn Rand:
"It stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master."
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
Rich - In the US approximately 60% of the hospitals are nonprofit, while 25% are government-owned and the remaining 15% are for-profit. The main reason for this distribution is the federal government offered subsidies to cities to build hospitals and receiving the money required nonprofit tax status and a promise to provide a community benefit. The IRS defined community benefit to mean spending 3% or more of operating revenue to take care of patients who couldn’t pay.
How Obamacare will affect this distribution is unclear. The rules will change but the hospitals have no clear statement of what they will be. Hospitals take a bath on Medicaid patients and there’s also a legitimate question about what constitutes charity care and what constitutes bad debt or an unpaid bill.
Many hospitals are converting to for-profit enterprises on their own or through consolidation with for-profit hospital chains. Other hospitals are waiting on an agreement on a community benefit standard that unlike the old one does not depend on taking care of uninsured patients for free.
This is another example of how the government changes laws without fully considering the ramifications.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
I'm having trouble with your leap from welfare being counter-cyclical to having a job. At some level welfare prevents people from working. If you can receive $30K a year in total welfare support why would you accept a $16 per hour job?
The political process within which you want to apply the Keynesian norms bears little or no resemblance to that which was implicit in Keynes' basic analysis. The economy is not controlled by the sages of Harvey Road, but by politicians engaged in a continuing competition for office.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
Keynes' popularity endures with democrats because it provides intellectual cover for their self-serving and irresponsible spending. Also, as you noted, it is very difficult to turn off the spigot in better economic times, and Keynes blithely ignored the long-term effects of financing an expanded deficit. Maintaining a belief in Keynesian economics is foolish because entitlements have grown large enough to influence the economy, a phenomenon unheard of when Keynes was alive. Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and other entitlements are much larger factors in economic decision making than all of discretionary spending. These simple facts make Keynes irrelevant today.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
Rich - Thanks for the clarification. Is there a difference in the quality of care between the public and private providers? In the US we have public providers for veterans and native American Indians. These public providers are troubled by high turnover (doctors leave after receiving their tuition reimbursement) and second rate facilities and care.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
Government accounting is notoriously fraudulent. It would be a lot easier to discern fact from fiction if the federal government was required to use GAAP.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
I believe the problem is more prevalent in K-12 but is invading our colleges and universities too. In the professions of medicine, law and engineering there are real life consequences to being wrong and the curriculum would hopefully recognize that.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
Rich - My understanding is that Canada's system of care is publicly financed and privately delivered, which is a single-payer system. That is different than socialized medicine in which the government operates the health care facilities and employs the providers.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
Comparing America with Canada, or any other country for that matter, in just one regard is not fruitful. I don't want America to become Canada. I want America to be the freest and richest country in the world. Furthermore, many Canadians would object to being referred to as a Welfare State.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
Yours is an interesting academic question that would require a suggested timeframe to answer. It is not possible in one year, certainly, and perhaps not in a decade. The main problem is that the government continues to spend in excess of revenues. The government has adapted borrowing as their preference to support their spending habit going back to LBJ and it has gone parabolic since Carter. When the government borrows money it will either have to print money later or raise taxes to pay it back. If the government raises taxes, it is in effect, robbing Peter to pay Paul. If the government prints the money, it will increase inflation, which will decrease the value of the dollar. That, in effect, robs Paul to pay Paul back with devalued currency. The only truly viable solution is to reduce spending gradually, say over the next decade, and then limit spending to a percentage of prior years GDP.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
BruceM - Excellent points. It is becoming increasingly difficult to improve the economy as is well illustrated by the Armey Curve. While all the conversation has been focused on taxes and revenue the real problem we have is government spending. If we can reduce the spending significantly, we will have a better economy and could lower taxes for everyone.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
davisbdc - I agree with you wholeheartedly. The everyone gets a trophy mentality and an education system that won’t tell a student that they have provided a wrong answer so as to not harm their psyche is having detrimental effects on society. We are losing our appreciation of what it takes to be great and therefore will have less greatness. I don’t have a viable solution for the next generation either but I know the government won’t provide it. As for my own children, I demand excellence and use failure as a learning experience and demonstrate that there are consequences for continued failure. This all goes to personal responsibility which we are increasingly avoiding to our detriment as a society.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
People helping people of their own volition is noble. Yielding all responsibility to the government is cowardice. I'll take leave of you with a quote from Ayn Rand:
"It stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master."
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
How Obamacare will affect this distribution is unclear. The rules will change but the hospitals have no clear statement of what they will be. Hospitals take a bath on Medicaid patients and there’s also a legitimate question about what constitutes charity care and what constitutes bad debt or an unpaid bill.
Many hospitals are converting to for-profit enterprises on their own or through consolidation with for-profit hospital chains. Other hospitals are waiting on an agreement on a community benefit standard that unlike the old one does not depend on taking care of uninsured patients for free.
This is another example of how the government changes laws without fully considering the ramifications.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
The political process within which you want to apply the Keynesian norms bears little or no resemblance to that which was implicit in Keynes' basic analysis. The economy is not controlled by the sages of Harvey Road, but by politicians engaged in a continuing competition for office.
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]
U.S. Taxes: Who Makes And Who Pays - More Than The Rich Will Have To Pay More [View article]