06-28-2017, 11:56 AM
(06-28-2017, 02:22 AM)Galen Wrote:(06-27-2017, 06:55 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote: And now a distraction on the other side. The Republicans said today, "Medicare needs to be cut' cause there's deadbeats on it.
Nope, lots of working poor need it, cause salaries ain't what they used to be. The GOP is living in the past, man.
There is still that small matter of 20 trillion debt and over 150 trillion in unfunded liabilities to be dealt with. Remember Gary North's pie chart of federal spending. Entitlement spending will decrease in real terms no matter who is running the show. Same for defense spending.
The debt/deficit can be relieved somewhat with.
1. Cut MIC spending by 60%
2. fix SS by popping the cap.
3. Have a top income tax bracket for those with over $1,000,000.
4. Fix drug patent laws such that pay to delay [competition] is forbidden.
5. A law where medical providers must provide their costs for service. I do not know how much a one night hospital stay will run. Also, each medical code needs to be deciphered , translated into English and a price for them as well.
6. If the above isn't enough then have a VAT to pay off the balance.
Yes, not too many things are free. However, I categorize health care as a public good since the ability to pay happens to be a lot of times less than the price of the goods and services. That is also why natural monopolies need regulations. No ideology has all of the answers.
Unfunded liabilities. Yes, most of these are pension related. These should be modified such that new entrants get a 401K, which must be funded yearly. The actual deficient part should be adjusted such that the payouts are based on yearly catch payments cojoined with converting the existing employees' pension to a 401K. The payouts would be reduced say on age.
Of course nobody will like Rags' pension reform idea. However, the fact remains, lots of public pensions are defacto bankrupt.
[That is to say, the amount owed is much greater than what can be paid. As for SS, ideally, popping the cap and if that doesn't get there, I'm OK with means testing the thing. Medicare, well let's just combine all other health programs into Medicare. Next, see the stuff numbered above. The main problem in the US wrt healthcare is that it's overpriced. If there are regulations that prop up prices, they should go. An example is the prohibition on selling health insurance across state lines. Ideally folks would just buy health insurance for extra stuff that Medicare does not provide. The prohibition of access to drugs sold in Canada, India, etc. also needs to go.
---Value Added 