July 13, 2011 by Personal Liberty News Desk
Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) has predicted that the United States will endure a bankruptcy.
“I am very hopeful and positive in the long run, but I think we are going to go through a bankruptcy first,” the Congressman told Fox News. “Everything we have done so far has just spent more and run up the deficit.”
Lawmakers are currently attempting to reach a compromise on the debt ceiling. Republicans have said that if the debt ceiling is to be raised then equal cuts to spending must be made. Democrats have insisted that tax hikes be a part of any plan. Paul has warned that the GOP should be cautious about making a deal with the Democrats.
“In fact, reports are they may be ready to cave in to Barack Obama’s demands for a trillion dollars in tax increases in exchange for mostly phony spending and tax cuts in order to raise the debt ceiling,” the Presidential hopeful said in a statement. “In Washington, if you hear about a so-called deal, you can be sure the taxes will come, but the cuts never will. Republicans cannot take the bait and get fooled again.”
Showing posts with label national debt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label national debt. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
2011 Federal Budget, In Easy To Understand Numbers
2011 Federal BudgetFederal Budget: $3,820,000,000,000.Income: $2,170,000,000,000.New Debt: $1,650,000,000,000. Amount Cut: $ 38,500,000,000 – about 1% of the total budget. Harry Reid is calling this a “historic amount“. The President said it is a “historic deal”. John Boehner simply said, “we’ve come to an agreement”. Let’s Put This In Perspective: It helps me to think about these numbers in terms that I can relate to. Let’s remove nine zeroes from those numbers and pretend this is a monthly household budget for the fictitious Jones family. Amount of money the Jones family spent this month: $3,820 Total income for the Jones family this month: $2,170 Amount of new debt added to the credit card this month: $1,650 Outstanding balance on the credit card: $14,271 (This represents our national debt). So last night, the Jones’ sat down at the kitchen table and agreed to cut $38 from their monthly budget. A historic amount! At my house, we don’t spend 43% more than we make. I’m willing to bet you don’t either. Why do we let them do it in Washington D.C.?"
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Budget Disaster
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, Nev.) blamed “tea party extremists” on Tuesday for blocking a compromise that would allow Congress to keep the government running through September, the latest move by Senate Democrats to deflect responsibility for a partial government shutdown.
“Some Tea Party extremists seem to think ‘compromise’ is a dirty word, and have said that they would rather shut down the government than work with Democrats to find a common-sense, bipartisan solution,” Mr. Reid said in a statement Tuesday...
2010 Libertarian Candidate for US Senate, Chuck Donovan explained the situation thusly: "Democrats and Republicans are having drinks in the bar on the Titanic while Libertarians are trying to break into the wheelhouse to turn the ship around"- Don't you think it's time for a new direction in government?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
US Debt and Printing Press Benny's Inflation Cause Revolutions Around The Globe
Cereal Wars…and Zombie Wars…
Hey, how ’bout that Ben Bernanke… He’s a freedom fighter! Look what he’s done to North Africa!
Seems like every time we pick up the paper another dictator is toppling over. Where does it lead, we wonder? What would a world be like without dictators? Without them, who will the CIA and the State Department give our money to?
On the run this morning (but not quite given up) is Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.
Wait… Is this guy a friend or an enemy? We can’t remember. Wasn’t he a bad guy a few years ago? But recently we’ve heard that he is a good guy. He’s helped with the War on Terror. And he sells oil.
Friend or foe, we don’t know…but whatever he is, he’s beginning to look past tense. As of this morning, reports say he’s lost control of Libya’s second largest city. His troops are firing on protesters in the capital, where he and his loyal guards are holed up in a few government buildings.
His son vows to fight back. He says there will be “rivers of blood” before he gives up.
That “rivers of blood” image was used by Enoch Powell in Britain fifty years ago. It came from Virgil’s Aeneid, in which a character foresees “wars, terrible wars, and the Tiber foaming with much blood.”
Powell was referring to the effects of immigration into Britain from Africa and elsewhere. He thought he saw race wars and power struggles coming as a result.
But the younger Gaddafi uses the language as a threat, not a prophecy.
Still, it didn’t do Powell much good. Maybe Gaddafi will have better luck with it. Most likely, he’ll high-tail it out of the country before the blood is his own. That will bring to three the number of regime changes in the last few weeks. Which leads us to ask: what’s up?
The answer comes from our old friend, Jim Davidson. He pins the revolutions on Ben Bernanke. Behind the popular discontent is neither the desire for liberty nor the appeal of elections. It’s food. And behind soaring food prices is Ben Bernanke.
The Arab world is a model Malthusian disaster, says Davidson. Populations have ballooned. Food production has not. Which makes Arab countries the biggest importers of cereals in the world. And when the price of food goes up, the masses rise up too.
From Jim’s latest newsletter, Strategic Investment:
Food prices hit an all-time high in January. According to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) “the FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) rose for the seventh consecutive month, averaging 231 points in January 2011, up 3.4 percent from December 2010 and the highest in both real and nominal terms” since records began. Note that prices have now exceeded the previously record levels of 2008 that sparked food riots in more than 30 countries. “Famine-style” prices for food and energy that prevailed early in 2008 may also have helped precipitate the credit crisis that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke described in closed-door testimony “as the worst in financial history, even exceeding the Great Depression.”
This time around, the turmoil surrounding commodity inflation has taken center stage with more serious riots and even revolutions across the globe. Popular discontent is not just confined to “basket case” countries like Haiti and Bangladesh as in 2008. High food prices have roiled Arab kleptocracies with young populations and US backed dictators such as Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen. Even dynamic economies have been affected. Indeed, all of the BRIC countries, except Brazil, have witnessed food rioting.
Well, how do you like that, Dear Reader? All those billions of dollars spent propping up dictators – $70 billion was the cost of supporting Hosni Mubarak in Egypt alone – and then the Fed comes along and knocks them down.
The Fed lowers the cost of money so speculators can borrow below the rate of inflation. And then it prints up trillions more – just to top up the worlds’ money supply.
Is it any wonder food prices rise? Imagine you’re a farmer…or a speculator. You can sell food. Or you can hold it in storage. You know the food is valuable. You know the world has more and more mouths to feed everyday. You know food production is limited. And you know Ben Bernanke can print up an unlimited number of dollars. What do you do?
Do you sell immediately? Or drag your feet…holding onto your valuable grain as the price hits new highs?
Davidson continues:
While Mr. Bernanke modestly declines the credit for de-stabilizing much of the world, close analysis confirms that he played an informing role. His QE2 program of counterfeiting trillions out of thin air has helped ignite a raging bull market in raw materials with food and commodities – up 28% in the past six months. The fact that the US dollar has heretofore been the world’s reserve currency means that almost all commodity prices are denominated in dollars. As a matter of simple math, when the dollar goes down, the prices of commodities tend to go up.
Today, Libya. Tomorrow…Yemen? Or Saudi Arabia.
In North Africa, Cereal Revolutions…
In North America, Zombie Wars…
Yes, the battle rages in the Dairy State. And yes, Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman (Economics!) has no idea what is going on:
It’s “not about the budget. It’s about power.”
He thinks it is a battle between the rich and powerful, whom he calls the “oligarchy,” and the decent lumpenproletariat. Wisconsin’s governor is trying to bust the union, says Krugman, so that the elite can ride roughshod over poor government workers, cut their pay, and reduce their benefits (thereby downsizing the state’s budget deficit).
It’s not about money, says the New York Times columnist. He’s wrong, as usual. The Zombie Wars are always about money. There is less money available and more zombies who want it.
In the present case, rather than hire honest people to work at market rates…Krugman wants the state to be forced to deal with a privileged union. Union zombies should bargain with government zombies, he says. Together, in cooperation, not in conflict, they should figure out how to rip off the taxpayer.
Stay tuned…the Zombie Wars are just beginning.
Reprinted with permission from The Daily Reckoning.
Hey, how ’bout that Ben Bernanke… He’s a freedom fighter! Look what he’s done to North Africa!
Seems like every time we pick up the paper another dictator is toppling over. Where does it lead, we wonder? What would a world be like without dictators? Without them, who will the CIA and the State Department give our money to?
On the run this morning (but not quite given up) is Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.
Wait… Is this guy a friend or an enemy? We can’t remember. Wasn’t he a bad guy a few years ago? But recently we’ve heard that he is a good guy. He’s helped with the War on Terror. And he sells oil.
Friend or foe, we don’t know…but whatever he is, he’s beginning to look past tense. As of this morning, reports say he’s lost control of Libya’s second largest city. His troops are firing on protesters in the capital, where he and his loyal guards are holed up in a few government buildings.
His son vows to fight back. He says there will be “rivers of blood” before he gives up.
That “rivers of blood” image was used by Enoch Powell in Britain fifty years ago. It came from Virgil’s Aeneid, in which a character foresees “wars, terrible wars, and the Tiber foaming with much blood.”
Powell was referring to the effects of immigration into Britain from Africa and elsewhere. He thought he saw race wars and power struggles coming as a result.
But the younger Gaddafi uses the language as a threat, not a prophecy.
Still, it didn’t do Powell much good. Maybe Gaddafi will have better luck with it. Most likely, he’ll high-tail it out of the country before the blood is his own. That will bring to three the number of regime changes in the last few weeks. Which leads us to ask: what’s up?
The answer comes from our old friend, Jim Davidson. He pins the revolutions on Ben Bernanke. Behind the popular discontent is neither the desire for liberty nor the appeal of elections. It’s food. And behind soaring food prices is Ben Bernanke.
The Arab world is a model Malthusian disaster, says Davidson. Populations have ballooned. Food production has not. Which makes Arab countries the biggest importers of cereals in the world. And when the price of food goes up, the masses rise up too.
From Jim’s latest newsletter, Strategic Investment:
Food prices hit an all-time high in January. According to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) “the FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) rose for the seventh consecutive month, averaging 231 points in January 2011, up 3.4 percent from December 2010 and the highest in both real and nominal terms” since records began. Note that prices have now exceeded the previously record levels of 2008 that sparked food riots in more than 30 countries. “Famine-style” prices for food and energy that prevailed early in 2008 may also have helped precipitate the credit crisis that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke described in closed-door testimony “as the worst in financial history, even exceeding the Great Depression.”
This time around, the turmoil surrounding commodity inflation has taken center stage with more serious riots and even revolutions across the globe. Popular discontent is not just confined to “basket case” countries like Haiti and Bangladesh as in 2008. High food prices have roiled Arab kleptocracies with young populations and US backed dictators such as Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen. Even dynamic economies have been affected. Indeed, all of the BRIC countries, except Brazil, have witnessed food rioting.
Well, how do you like that, Dear Reader? All those billions of dollars spent propping up dictators – $70 billion was the cost of supporting Hosni Mubarak in Egypt alone – and then the Fed comes along and knocks them down.
The Fed lowers the cost of money so speculators can borrow below the rate of inflation. And then it prints up trillions more – just to top up the worlds’ money supply.
Is it any wonder food prices rise? Imagine you’re a farmer…or a speculator. You can sell food. Or you can hold it in storage. You know the food is valuable. You know the world has more and more mouths to feed everyday. You know food production is limited. And you know Ben Bernanke can print up an unlimited number of dollars. What do you do?
Do you sell immediately? Or drag your feet…holding onto your valuable grain as the price hits new highs?
Davidson continues:
While Mr. Bernanke modestly declines the credit for de-stabilizing much of the world, close analysis confirms that he played an informing role. His QE2 program of counterfeiting trillions out of thin air has helped ignite a raging bull market in raw materials with food and commodities – up 28% in the past six months. The fact that the US dollar has heretofore been the world’s reserve currency means that almost all commodity prices are denominated in dollars. As a matter of simple math, when the dollar goes down, the prices of commodities tend to go up.
Today, Libya. Tomorrow…Yemen? Or Saudi Arabia.
In North Africa, Cereal Revolutions…
In North America, Zombie Wars…
Yes, the battle rages in the Dairy State. And yes, Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman (Economics!) has no idea what is going on:
It’s “not about the budget. It’s about power.”
He thinks it is a battle between the rich and powerful, whom he calls the “oligarchy,” and the decent lumpenproletariat. Wisconsin’s governor is trying to bust the union, says Krugman, so that the elite can ride roughshod over poor government workers, cut their pay, and reduce their benefits (thereby downsizing the state’s budget deficit).
It’s not about money, says the New York Times columnist. He’s wrong, as usual. The Zombie Wars are always about money. There is less money available and more zombies who want it.
In the present case, rather than hire honest people to work at market rates…Krugman wants the state to be forced to deal with a privileged union. Union zombies should bargain with government zombies, he says. Together, in cooperation, not in conflict, they should figure out how to rip off the taxpayer.
Stay tuned…the Zombie Wars are just beginning.
Reprinted with permission from The Daily Reckoning.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Do Not Raise The Debt Ceiling
As of November 7th, the total U.S. public debt outstanding reached an astonishing $13.7 trillion. This means that although Congress just raised the debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion back in February, the new Congress will face another debt ceiling vote almost immediately next year. Otherwise, the Treasury will not be able to continue issuing debt to fund government operations.
The upcoming vote will provide an interesting litmus test for the new Republican congressional majority, especially those new members closely identified with Tea Party voters. The debt ceiling law, passed in 1917, enables Congress to place a statutory cap on the total amount of government debt rather than having to approve each individual Treasury bond offering. It also, however, forces Congress into an open and presumably somewhat shameful vote to approve more borrowing.
If the new Congress gives in to establishment pressure and media alarmism about “shutting down the government” by voting to increase the debt ceiling once again, you will know that the status quo has prevailed. You will know that Congress, despite the rhetoric of the midterm elections, is doing business as usual. You will know that the simple notion of balancing the budget, by limiting federal spending to federal revenue, remains a shallow and laughable campaign platitude.
Of course congressional leaders – now Republicans – will tell America that they plan on balancing the budget soon, but they just need some time. After all, we have to keep the government open, right? We can’t have an “emergency” shutdown of vital government services. But somehow Congress always finds money for emergency spending, in the form of supplemental appropriations bills for TARP bailouts, troop surges, and the like. Why is there never an emergency that justifies less spending???
Surely we are facing an emergency debt spiral, as evidenced by the Federal Reserve’s recent commitment to buy another round of Treasury debt. It’s now quite obvious that the U.S. government plans to inflate its way out of debt, and the world is fleeing our dollar in response. Just 7 years ago Congress raised the debt ceiling to $6.4 trillion, which means the federal government had doubled its indebtedness in less than a decade. Annual deficits for 2011 and beyond are projected to be at least $1 trillion. By contrast, the entire federal debt amassed from the founding of our nation until President Reagan took office in 1981 – a period of roughly 200 years – was $1 trillion. So it’s no exaggeration to state that federal debt is growing exponentially.
I have two simple proposals when the new Congress convenes in January. First, refuse to raise the debt ceiling. Find a way, month by month, for Congress to spend only what the Treasury raises in revenue. Second, start over from scratch with the 13 appropriations bills that fund the federal government. Reject any talk of baseline budgets or discretionary spending. It is all discretionary, and members of both parties should vote against any 2012 appropriation bill that is not at least 10% smaller – in nominal dollars – than its 2011 counterpart.
A motivated Congress could begin to slow the tide of debt by taking the simple step of cutting federal spending by 10% across the board for the next few years. Let’s hope it does not take the complete collapse of the U.S. dollar to provide this motivation.
By Ron Paul November 30, 2010
The upcoming vote will provide an interesting litmus test for the new Republican congressional majority, especially those new members closely identified with Tea Party voters. The debt ceiling law, passed in 1917, enables Congress to place a statutory cap on the total amount of government debt rather than having to approve each individual Treasury bond offering. It also, however, forces Congress into an open and presumably somewhat shameful vote to approve more borrowing.
If the new Congress gives in to establishment pressure and media alarmism about “shutting down the government” by voting to increase the debt ceiling once again, you will know that the status quo has prevailed. You will know that Congress, despite the rhetoric of the midterm elections, is doing business as usual. You will know that the simple notion of balancing the budget, by limiting federal spending to federal revenue, remains a shallow and laughable campaign platitude.
Of course congressional leaders – now Republicans – will tell America that they plan on balancing the budget soon, but they just need some time. After all, we have to keep the government open, right? We can’t have an “emergency” shutdown of vital government services. But somehow Congress always finds money for emergency spending, in the form of supplemental appropriations bills for TARP bailouts, troop surges, and the like. Why is there never an emergency that justifies less spending???
Surely we are facing an emergency debt spiral, as evidenced by the Federal Reserve’s recent commitment to buy another round of Treasury debt. It’s now quite obvious that the U.S. government plans to inflate its way out of debt, and the world is fleeing our dollar in response. Just 7 years ago Congress raised the debt ceiling to $6.4 trillion, which means the federal government had doubled its indebtedness in less than a decade. Annual deficits for 2011 and beyond are projected to be at least $1 trillion. By contrast, the entire federal debt amassed from the founding of our nation until President Reagan took office in 1981 – a period of roughly 200 years – was $1 trillion. So it’s no exaggeration to state that federal debt is growing exponentially.
I have two simple proposals when the new Congress convenes in January. First, refuse to raise the debt ceiling. Find a way, month by month, for Congress to spend only what the Treasury raises in revenue. Second, start over from scratch with the 13 appropriations bills that fund the federal government. Reject any talk of baseline budgets or discretionary spending. It is all discretionary, and members of both parties should vote against any 2012 appropriation bill that is not at least 10% smaller – in nominal dollars – than its 2011 counterpart.
A motivated Congress could begin to slow the tide of debt by taking the simple step of cutting federal spending by 10% across the board for the next few years. Let’s hope it does not take the complete collapse of the U.S. dollar to provide this motivation.
By Ron Paul November 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
China is FED Up and Doesn't Want To Import Our Inflation.
Rampant issuance of dollars by the United States is saddling China with "imported inflation", Chinese commerce minister Chen Deming was quoted as saying by state media on Wednesday.
"Given the current situation, companies have thought ahead and prepared for exchange rate fluctuations as well as an increase in labour costs," Chen said, according to the state-run China Business News.
"But because the issuance of dollars is out of control, and international commodities prices are continuing to rise, China is confronted with imported inflation, which has created major uncertainties for businesses," he said.
The comments came ahead of a meeting of the US Federal Reserve next week at which the central bank is expected to announce additional stimulus measures.
While critics in the United States accuse China of artificially undervaluing its currency to give exporters an unfair advantage, Beijing says Washington is foisting its economic woes on the rest of the world by printing more money.
Beijing pledged in June to let the yuan trade more freely and the currency has since strengthened slightly, but US and European policymakers say it could be undervalued by as much as 40 percent.
At the weekend, Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in South Korea pledged to "refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies" and aim for "more market-determined exchange rate systems".
Jittery financial markets were looking for a strong stand from G20 members against beggar-thy-neighbour currency policies, in the leadup to a November 11-12 summit in Seoul.
Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren urged "major reserve currency countries to take responsible economic policies", with the dollar sliding on expectations that the Federal Reserve would launch even bolder monetary easing.
China's central bank on Wednesday set the central parity rate at 6.6912, weaker than the 6.6762 on Tuesday. The yuan can trade up or down 0.5 percent from that mark.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Here's some more of what we're in for
2009 • Medicare cuts to hospitals begin (long‐term care (7/1/09) and inpatient and rehabilitation facilities (FY10))
2010 • Provide income exclusion for specified Indian tribe health benefits provided after 3/23/10• Temporary high‐risk pool and high‐cost union retiree reinsurance ($5 B each for 3.5 years) (6/23/10)• Impose 10% tax on indoor UV tanning (7/1/10)• Medicare cuts to inpatient psych hospitals (7/1/10)• Prohibits lifetime and annual benefit for private insurers spending limits (plan years beginning 9/23/10)• Prohibits non‐group private insurance plans from canceling coverage (rescissions) (plan years beginning 9/23/10)• Requires private insurance plans to cover, at no charge, most preventive care (plan years beginning 9/23/10)• Requires private insurance plans to allow dependents to stay on parents’ policies through age 26 (plan yearsbeginning 9/23/10)• Hospitals in "Frontier States" (ND, MT, WY, SD, UT ) receive higher Medicare payments (FY11)
2011 • Hospitals in “low‐cost” areas receive higher Medicare payments for 2 yrs ($400 million, FY11)• Medicare Advantage cuts begin• No longer allowed to use FSA, HSA, HRA, Archer MSA distributions for over‐the-counter medicines• Medicare cuts to home health begin• Medicare cuts for wealthier seniors ($85k/$170k), who are forced to pay higher Part D premiums (not indexed for inflation in Parts B/D)• Medicare reimbursement cuts when seniors use diagnostic imaging like MRIs, CT scans, etc.• Medicare cuts begin to ambulance services, ASCs, diagnostic labs, and durablemedical equipment• Impose new annual tax on brand name pharmaceutical companies• Americans begin paying premiums for federal long‐term care insurance (the CLASS Act, which analysis indicates is a ticking fiscal time-bomb)• Private insurance plans required to spend a minimum of 80% of premiums on medical claims (where 65% is considered the maximum "safe" amount to cover claims). Prior experience at the state level will indisputably harm private health insurance business.• Physicians in "Frontier States" (ND, MT, WY, SD, UT ) receive higher Medicare payments• Prohibition on Medicare payments to new physician‐owned hospitals (which will dramatically reduce access to senior care)• Penalties for non‐qualified HSA and Archer MSA distributions double (to 20%)• Seniors prohibited from purchasing power wheelchairs unless they first rent for 13 months• New Medicare cuts to long‐term care hospitals begin (7/1/11)• Additional Medicare cuts to hospitals and cuts to nursing homes and inpatient rehab facilities begin (FY12)• New taxes on all private health insurance policies to pay for comparative effectivness research (planyears beginning FY12)
2012 • Medicare cuts to dialysis treatment begins• Medicare to cut spending by using an HMO‐like coordinated care model (Accountable Care Organizations)• New Medicare cuts to inpatient psych hospitals (7/1/12)• Medicare cuts to hospitals with high readmission rates begin (FY13)• Medicare cuts to hospice begin (FY13)
2013 • Impose $2,500 annual cap on FSA contributions (indexed to CPI)• Increase Medicare wage tax by 0.9% and impose a new 3.8% tax on unearned , nonactivebusiness income for those earning over $200k/$250k (not indexed to inflation)• Generally increases (7.5% to 10%) threshold at which medical expenses, as a % of income, can be deductible• Eliminate deduction for Part D retiree drug subsidy employers receive• Impose 2.3% excise tax on medical devices• Medicare cuts to hospitals who treat low‐income seniors begin• $500,000 deduction cap on compensation paid to insurance company employees and officers
2014 • Unconstitutional personal mandate begins: Individuals without government‐approved coverage are subject to a tax of the greater of $695 or 2.5% of income• Employers who fail to offer "affordable" coverage would pay a $3,000 penalty for every employee that receives a subsidy through the Exchange• Employers who do not offer insurance must pay a tax penalty of $2,000 for every fulltime employee• More Medicare cuts to home health begin• All non‐grandfathered and Exchange health plans required to meet federally mandated levels of coverage• States must cover parents /childless adults up to 138% of poverty on Medicaid, receive increased FMAP• Tax credits available for Exchange‐based coverage, amount varies by income up to 400% of poverty• Private insurers cannot impose any coverage restrictions on pre‐existing conditions (guaranteed issue/renewability, which will bankrupt insurance providers)• Private insurers must offer coverage to anyone wanting a policy and every policy has to be renewed (which will bankrupt insurance providers)• Insurance plans must include government‐defined "essential benefits " and coverage levels• Government board (IPAB) begins submitting proposals to cut Medicare• Impose tax on nearly all private health insurance plans• Medicare payment cuts for hospital‐acquired infections begin (FY15)
2015 • More Medicare cuts to home health begin 2016 • Impose "Cadillac tax on “high cost” plans, 40% tax on the benefit value above a certain threshold: ($10,200 individual coverage, $27,500 family or self‐only union multiemployer coverage)
2010 • Provide income exclusion for specified Indian tribe health benefits provided after 3/23/10• Temporary high‐risk pool and high‐cost union retiree reinsurance ($5 B each for 3.5 years) (6/23/10)• Impose 10% tax on indoor UV tanning (7/1/10)• Medicare cuts to inpatient psych hospitals (7/1/10)• Prohibits lifetime and annual benefit for private insurers spending limits (plan years beginning 9/23/10)• Prohibits non‐group private insurance plans from canceling coverage (rescissions) (plan years beginning 9/23/10)• Requires private insurance plans to cover, at no charge, most preventive care (plan years beginning 9/23/10)• Requires private insurance plans to allow dependents to stay on parents’ policies through age 26 (plan yearsbeginning 9/23/10)• Hospitals in "Frontier States" (ND, MT, WY, SD, UT ) receive higher Medicare payments (FY11)
2011 • Hospitals in “low‐cost” areas receive higher Medicare payments for 2 yrs ($400 million, FY11)• Medicare Advantage cuts begin• No longer allowed to use FSA, HSA, HRA, Archer MSA distributions for over‐the-counter medicines• Medicare cuts to home health begin• Medicare cuts for wealthier seniors ($85k/$170k), who are forced to pay higher Part D premiums (not indexed for inflation in Parts B/D)• Medicare reimbursement cuts when seniors use diagnostic imaging like MRIs, CT scans, etc.• Medicare cuts begin to ambulance services, ASCs, diagnostic labs, and durablemedical equipment• Impose new annual tax on brand name pharmaceutical companies• Americans begin paying premiums for federal long‐term care insurance (the CLASS Act, which analysis indicates is a ticking fiscal time-bomb)• Private insurance plans required to spend a minimum of 80% of premiums on medical claims (where 65% is considered the maximum "safe" amount to cover claims). Prior experience at the state level will indisputably harm private health insurance business.• Physicians in "Frontier States" (ND, MT, WY, SD, UT ) receive higher Medicare payments• Prohibition on Medicare payments to new physician‐owned hospitals (which will dramatically reduce access to senior care)• Penalties for non‐qualified HSA and Archer MSA distributions double (to 20%)• Seniors prohibited from purchasing power wheelchairs unless they first rent for 13 months• New Medicare cuts to long‐term care hospitals begin (7/1/11)• Additional Medicare cuts to hospitals and cuts to nursing homes and inpatient rehab facilities begin (FY12)• New taxes on all private health insurance policies to pay for comparative effectivness research (planyears beginning FY12)
2012 • Medicare cuts to dialysis treatment begins• Medicare to cut spending by using an HMO‐like coordinated care model (Accountable Care Organizations)• New Medicare cuts to inpatient psych hospitals (7/1/12)• Medicare cuts to hospitals with high readmission rates begin (FY13)• Medicare cuts to hospice begin (FY13)
2013 • Impose $2,500 annual cap on FSA contributions (indexed to CPI)• Increase Medicare wage tax by 0.9% and impose a new 3.8% tax on unearned , nonactivebusiness income for those earning over $200k/$250k (not indexed to inflation)• Generally increases (7.5% to 10%) threshold at which medical expenses, as a % of income, can be deductible• Eliminate deduction for Part D retiree drug subsidy employers receive• Impose 2.3% excise tax on medical devices• Medicare cuts to hospitals who treat low‐income seniors begin• $500,000 deduction cap on compensation paid to insurance company employees and officers
2014 • Unconstitutional personal mandate begins: Individuals without government‐approved coverage are subject to a tax of the greater of $695 or 2.5% of income• Employers who fail to offer "affordable" coverage would pay a $3,000 penalty for every employee that receives a subsidy through the Exchange• Employers who do not offer insurance must pay a tax penalty of $2,000 for every fulltime employee• More Medicare cuts to home health begin• All non‐grandfathered and Exchange health plans required to meet federally mandated levels of coverage• States must cover parents /childless adults up to 138% of poverty on Medicaid, receive increased FMAP• Tax credits available for Exchange‐based coverage, amount varies by income up to 400% of poverty• Private insurers cannot impose any coverage restrictions on pre‐existing conditions (guaranteed issue/renewability, which will bankrupt insurance providers)• Private insurers must offer coverage to anyone wanting a policy and every policy has to be renewed (which will bankrupt insurance providers)• Insurance plans must include government‐defined "essential benefits " and coverage levels• Government board (IPAB) begins submitting proposals to cut Medicare• Impose tax on nearly all private health insurance plans• Medicare payment cuts for hospital‐acquired infections begin (FY15)
2015 • More Medicare cuts to home health begin 2016 • Impose "Cadillac tax on “high cost” plans, 40% tax on the benefit value above a certain threshold: ($10,200 individual coverage, $27,500 family or self‐only union multiemployer coverage)
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Timeline of Major Provisions in the Democrats’ Health Care Package
Timeline of Major Provisions in the Democrats’ Health Care Package Taken directly from the House Ways and Means Committee Report. By the time this is fully implemented, the Congressional Budget Office says that the national debt will amount to 90% of GDP. For those of you too poorly educated to know what this means, God help you because it will meant total economic collapse of the USA. Maybe that was the plan all along.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Just print more money.
Behind closed doors and with no cameras present, President Obama signed into law Friday afternoon the bill raising the public debt limit from $12.394 trillion to $14.294 trillion.
The current national debt is $12.3 trillion. Check out the National Debt Clock, which tells you your share of that -- roughly $40,000 per citizen, $113,000 per taxpayer.
The bill also establishes a statutory Pay-As-You-Go procedure requiring that new non-emergency legislation affecting tax revenue or mandatory spending not increase the Federal deficit – in other words, that any new spending or tax cuts be paid for with new taxes or spending cuts.
I think it's important to look at the amount now owed by every American, vs the amount to be paid by taxpayers. This means less than half of all Americans are now paying taxes. If that be the case, I fear that we are soon to reach the tipping point and the taxpayers will no longer tolerate the reckless spending and taxation in the USA.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)