tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-112789452011-09-17T16:28:11.280-04:00<p>This <strike>blog</strike> On-Line Magazine is about the current debates on Social Security and on Medicare, including Part D as well as universal healthcare.</p><p> I provide occasional articles which I hope are illuminating as well as links to a lot of the significant on-line publications.</p> <p>I worked eight years as a Social Security Claims Representative and have some training in economics and statistics (including an MBA), so I think I can provide some insight to the discussion.</p>Richardnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1781100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-66335538926403928052011-09-17T16:19:00.003-04:002011-09-17T16:28:11.347-04:00

What are the facts about the costs of publicly paid health care and privately paid health care? Consider these facts with links to the backup data: If the Medicare age is raised to 67, it will save the government $5.7 billion in 2014 but cost others twice that amount.Government payments to private, comprehensive Medicare plans (Medicare Advantage) have been well above the cost of the program’s

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-7644608304115356402011-08-31T13:51:00.003-04:002011-08-31T13:59:16.529-04:00

Allan Lichtman, professor at the American University, has a thirteen element formula which has successfully predicted which party would win the Presidency each election since 1984. US News has published his prediction for 2012. Obama will win, he says. Combine this with Steve Benen's report this morning that Obama is going to propose a big jobs initiative force the Republicans to continue to

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-64003221611707911692011-08-30T17:13:00.001-04:002011-08-30T17:14:56.436-04:00

Here are some excellent health care insurance articles from Ezra Klein. Why did we stop looking for individual health insurance? by Sarah Kliff, 8/30/2011 How much of the Affordable Care Act could President Rick Perry repeal? by Ezra Klein, 8/30/2011 A win for the individual mandate by Sarah Kliff, 8/30/2011 Health reform: A message battle both sides are losing by Sarah Kliff, 8/29/2011 Health

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-26071692482735156812011-07-14T18:16:00.003-04:002011-07-14T18:26:46.728-04:00

The Chained CPI is a really bad deal for Social Security beneficiaries. Here's Kevin Drum's explanation.:Economists on both left and right mostly agree that the current standard measure of inflation, CPI-W, slightly overstates the actual growth in the cost of living. The reason is something called "upper level substitution bias," which means that instead of always buying a standard basket of

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-57561333417847521482011-04-15T15:28:00.007-04:002011-04-15T15:43:41.105-04:00

Does anyone really think that Paul Ryan's Vouchers-for-Medicare plan can work? Ask the insurance industry which companies want to offer health insurance to the over age 65 demographic. This is from Benjy Sarlin at Talking Points Memo.Unlike the Affordable Care Act, which mandated that millions of young and healthy Americans purchase insurance with government subsidies, the Paul Ryan plan would

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-50584104671315553302011-04-08T13:26:00.001-04:002011-04-08T13:29:14.458-04:00

Ezra Klein has an important posting on Ryan's health care proposals. The point he makes is that while the media has fallen in love with Ryan's vision of a new health care policy that, if implemented, would shift the increase in health care costs away from the government and onto the sick, the Democrats have an actual plan that includes many elements designed to actually lower health care costs.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-75017200159653624272011-04-05T15:35:00.000-04:002011-04-05T15:36:59.108-04:00

Medical costs are climbing sustainably. No question. But America pays more than twice as much per person for health care as any other industrial nation while NOT getting as good results for what is bought as those other nations get! So what is the Republican solution as presented today by Rep. Ryan? Abolish Medicare.Here's an excellent description of what was offered written by Josh Marshall,.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-9731675832683913032011-04-01T18:31:00.004-04:002011-04-01T18:44:22.117-04:00

The Republicans in the US Congress have proposed H.R. 1255, a bill which states that once it is passed, if the Senate does not also pass it then the bill becomes law without Senate passage and without the President's signature. Since the Republican House Majority established the rule that every bill proposed in the House had to include a clear statement of what part of the US Constitution permits

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-59997749687824625572010-12-04T20:41:00.004-05:002010-12-04T23:35:55.850-05:00

The elites - the plutocrats practicing class war against the working and middle class - are after Social Security because it's a way of taxing the lower classes and handing off the money to the wealthy. in 2000 Clinton had the deficit under control. Then Bush was selected to support a Republican House and Republican Senate. With the Presidency and Congress in their control the Republicans gave us

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-76399766937268452872010-10-06T11:38:00.000-04:002010-10-06T11:40:18.789-04:00

When you are surrounded by lies and demagoguery, where do you go to find the truth? Try Paul N. Van de Water if the lies involve Social Security. In a new paper, I’ve tried to correct some of the misinformation that critics of Social Security have been spreading about the program.Here are the facts. Social Security is a well-run, fiscally responsible program. People earn retirement, survivors,

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-4394381651209970002009-05-01T13:59:00.000-04:002009-05-01T14:01:18.027-04:00

This new flu is beginning to look like it is not the new "killer flu" like the 1918 flu was, but it has a real problem anyway. It is genetically novel, and humans have no immunity to it based on previous experience. Here is an explanation of the danger from an expert: What's important about this virus is its genetic novelty. As far as we know, the human population doesn't have any natural

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-30343196800336783712009-05-01T11:14:00.001-04:002009-05-01T11:46:27.709-04:00

A major reason for getting health insurance is so that you can have access to health care regardless of your employment status. That's important because is the case of severe illness, you may not be able to work so insurance is essential. The second reason is to protect your personal wealth from the unexpected and, in the case of many severe illnesses, extremely high costs of health care. So when

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-78209855534471688402009-04-10T22:35:00.006-04:002009-04-11T02:06:32.650-04:00

This is reported in Digby and from a news report. In the coming debates over health care, when your Uncle Bob pulls out the old conservative trope asking, "would you really want government bureaucrats to be in charge of your health care?" give him this article: Five months ago, Rose Camilleri was a superstar at the Zales outlet at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets. In November, the diminutive

Richardnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-60886986911787153872008-12-27T09:06:00.002-05:002008-12-27T09:16:58.348-05:00

The Obama team is setting the stage to revamp America's health care system and avoid the mistakes the Clinton administration committed in 1993. WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama and his team have signaled that they plan to work jointly with Congress to overhaul the healthcare system, rather than produce a separate White House bill that would be sent to Capitol Hill, according to people

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-89310812821581073072008-12-11T12:30:00.001-05:002008-12-11T12:32:21.889-05:00

One major thing about the election of Obama as President will be the effort to break the health insurance lobby and allow Americans to get universal health care. The announcement that ex-Senate majority Leader Tom Daschle will become Secretary of Health and Human Services as well as director of the new White House Office of Health Reform indicates that Obama is serious about health care

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-56158359775473572132007-03-30T17:13:00.000-04:002007-03-30T17:31:12.774-04:00

Karen Tumulty of Time Magazine moderated and covered the debate about health care held in Las Vegas last week. All the current candidates for President, Republican and Democrat both, were invited. No Republican accepted, while all the Democrats except Joe Biden accepted and showed up. The health care forum was held at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas on March 24, 2007.Every Democrat in the

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-59441404889172422962007-03-23T00:10:00.000-04:002007-03-23T00:31:17.431-04:00

The LA Times just published this story: Blue Cross of California systematically violates state law when it cancels health insurance policyholders after they get pregnant or sick, making no attempt to determine whether the consumers did anything to merit such harsh treatment, a scathing investigation by state regulators has found.As a result of its unprecedented investigation, the Department of

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-78190715466482446052007-02-23T13:52:00.000-05:002007-02-23T14:39:34.849-05:00

Quinnipiac reports (Feb 22, 2007) a national poll that says: By a 64 - 31 percent margin, American voters say, "It's the government's responsibility to make sure everyone in the United States has adequate health care," according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. Democrats support this position 81 - 15 percent, as do independent voters, 67 - 28 percent, but Republicans

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-35999814334375819402007-02-22T20:36:00.000-05:002007-02-22T20:54:39.656-05:00

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, running for the Republican nomination for President, has just proposed that Social Security should be indexed to prices rather than to wages. Wages increase more than prices do. What indexing SS behefits to prices rather than wages will do is slowly lower benefits for everyone on Social Security, while lowering benefits for higher wage-earners more than for lower

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1166361848077354592006-12-17T08:08:00.000-05:002006-12-17T08:24:08.913-05:00

From: the Baltimore Sun Dec 15, 2006.The outgoing Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner says that the proposed plan to continue the federal budget levels at 2006 levels through 2007 will require that SSA employees be furloughed for at least seven days during fiscal year 2007. This is the result of the fact that the Republican Congress has not met the requested budgetary requests for

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1163857746422435622006-11-18T08:48:00.000-05:002006-11-18T09:00:38.056-05:00

There hasn't been much new news recently on Social Security or Health care. I'd speculate that with the election coming up the Republicans felt that their efforts on both subjects were likely to be net negatives for them at the ballot box, and the media does not report much on issues raised by the minority party. With the election, however, things seem to have changed. With the change to Democrat

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1158965680310175922006-09-22T18:39:00.000-04:002006-09-22T18:54:41.650-04:00

From TPM Cafe we get the news that Rick O'Donnell, Republican Candidate for Colorado congressional district 7 has gotten down on bended knee asking forgiveness for what he wrote 12 years ago. That that time he wrote that "for freedom's sake," we should "eliminate Social Security."Now that his opponent, Democrat Ed Perlumtter, has called him on it apparently the accusation has drawn real blood.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1154396107549091652006-07-31T21:21:00.000-04:002006-07-31T21:35:07.953-04:00

The stakes in the November elections just got clearer. Rep. John Boehner, Republican Majority Leader, says: "Q: Where does Social Security reform stand?A: ...If I’m around in a leadership role come January, we’re going to get serious about this." That means that every vote for a Republican Congressperson on November 8, 2006 is a vote to eliminate fixed, government-guaranteed retirement benefits

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1152647837968659122006-07-11T15:45:00.000-04:002006-09-06T22:43:10.720-04:00

The solution to higher medical costs according to the Republicans (led by Senator - Dr. Bill Frist) is to limit jury awards in medical malpractice claims. But research doesn't support this. "Dr. David Studdert led a team of eight researchers from Harvard Medical School and Brigham Young University who examined 1,452 medical malpractice lawsuits. They found that more than 90 percent of the claims

Richardnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1147796000984383662006-05-16T11:52:00.000-04:002006-05-16T12:19:36.383-04:00

Cecil Johnson reviews this very interesting book:Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Health Care Costs so MuchThe story offered by this book is that the free market fails when it is used as the overall system to provide healthcare for the nation.According to economists, competition should provide better products for lower prices to the consumer. The problem is that medical care is not a

Richardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1146551314283443472006-05-02T02:24:00.000-04:002006-05-02T02:28:34.300-04:00

Only a month late, the Bush administration has finally published the Annual Report fo the Trustees of the Social Security Trust Funds to Congress. There is no explanation for the delay. I haven't read through it yet, but Kevin Drum at Political Animal has what I am sure will be only his first post on the report.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1146155542823793762006-04-27T11:50:00.000-04:002006-09-06T22:52:48.933-04:00

The Wisconsin state legislature is beginning to talk about a health program that covers every employee in the state, and will allow self-employed people to buy in at cost.This program:Covers every employee in the state.Standardizes benefits and administration (lowering administration cost substantially.)will lower prescription drug prices by bargaining with pharmaceutical companiesestablish

Richardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1146106792554149942006-04-26T22:52:00.000-04:002006-04-27T12:44:20.660-04:00

Healthcare problems that result from the lack of an adequate structure of healthcare financing are getting worse. The following is from the Commonwealth Digest.Findings from the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey show that, while lack of insurance continues to be highest among families with incomes under $20,000, uninsured rates for moderate- and middle-income earners and their

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1146058668647176182006-04-26T09:16:00.000-04:002006-04-26T09:45:43.340-04:00

You were farsighted and fortunate. You bought an individual health insurance policy from the best company out there, Blue Cross Blue Shield, when you could get it. Now you find you are ill, and you want to use the policy you were careful enough to get before getting sick.Your diagnosis was hypertension or diabetes. That triggered a review of your policy, and Blue Cross cancels your policy instead

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1145899314936959282006-04-24T13:19:00.000-04:002006-04-24T13:22:12.446-04:00

One Oncologist is of the opinion that health insurance companies just want to collect their premiums, then let his cancer paitients die. Here is a dKos diary on the subject.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1145817439149522512006-04-23T13:57:00.000-04:002006-04-23T14:39:52.863-04:00

Markets do a fine job of allocating investment resources in those areas with the greatest possible profit, but when someone get really sick - cancer for example - where's the profit?Ask any insurance underwriter. The profit is in denying care, not in providing it. As Kevin Drum point out today: One of the reasons America spends so much more than any other country on healthcare is because upwards

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1145378373866453522006-04-18T12:33:00.000-04:002006-04-23T14:43:55.680-04:00

Regarding the late Social Security Annual Report, I emailed a request to the Social Security Administration and received a reply from the Office of the Actuary that they will publish it in May and send me a copy.I was given no reason for it being late.I have also written my Congressman and both Senators asking why it is late. No reply yet. I don't expect one from John Cornyn.Prior post on this

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1145377909589858732006-04-18T12:14:00.000-04:002006-04-18T12:31:49.603-04:00

This is the position of Benjamin Brewer, M.D.: Doctors in private practice fear a loss of autonomy with a single-payer system. After being in the private practice of family medicine for 8 1/2 years, I see that autonomy is largely an illusion. Through Medicare and Medicaid, the government is already writing its own rules for 45% of the patients I see.The rest are privately insured under 301

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1144361660314564272006-04-06T18:08:00.000-04:002006-04-06T18:32:27.326-04:00

The Massachusets legislature passed a bill designed to provide health care coverage to all citizens of the state. The House passed it 154 to 2 and the Senate passed it 37 to 0. Governor Mitt Romney is expected to sign it. I am not sure yet what to think of the bill, except that it seems to be going the correct direction. Here is the article in the Washington Post. Naturally the Boston Globe has

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1144329509434530752006-04-06T08:35:00.000-04:002006-04-06T09:46:18.783-04:00

First you are asked to choose which, from about 40 plans with "...different premiums, co-payments, deductibles and formularies", is the plan that will meet your needs for the next twelve months. This is a decision which it almost impossible for healthy and well educated people to make. Someone who is elderly, ill and/or not very educated or not a native English speaker will find this part of the

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1144255737990146772006-04-05T12:40:00.000-04:002006-04-05T12:48:58.006-04:00

Dan Froomkin asks "Is anyone paying attention to the president anymore?" It seems that Bush is pushing Health Savings Accounts especially hard yesterday and today. Anyone heard that? Except for Froomkin, I sure hadn't. Froomkin goes on to point out that supposedly HSA's will squeeze health care prices lower because individuals will be more price conscious. Yeah, right. More price conscious than

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1144249512105680442006-04-05T11:02:00.000-04:002006-04-05T11:05:12.120-04:00

Part D of Medicare added critically needed pharmaceutical coverage to Medicare, but it was poorly designed and has been implemented incompetently. Go read this post at Easter Lemming Liberal News.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1144160287451783382006-04-04T09:55:00.000-04:002006-04-04T10:18:07.473-04:00

The Social Security Administration is required to publish its annual report each year not later than April 1. It is now April 4th, no report and there is no idea when one will be published. (Matt Yglesias at TPM Cafe.) This is extremely suspicious.The Social Security Act requires the publication of the Social Security Trustees Report to Congress by April 1 of each year. (The relevant provision

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1143472931558553872006-03-27T10:54:00.000-04:002006-03-27T11:22:11.573-04:00

From a good diary at dKos, here is what is happening to drug costs to the consumers under Part D of Medicare: The drug prices offered here in Southern Maine by the ten leading private insurance plans for the ten prescription drugs with the highest sales are, on average:Almost 80 percent higher than the prices the federal government negotiates for the Veterans Administration;More than 60 percent

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1142918325613062962006-03-21T01:10:00.000-04:002006-03-21T01:18:45.630-04:00

Knight Ridder describes the results of a new study that shows Americans get the appropriate medical care only 55% of the time. So, think this means that wealthy and well-insured people get better care, and poor people get bad care? Nope. WASHINGTON - U.S. patients receive proper medical care from doctors and nurses only 55 percent of the time, regardless of their race, income, education or

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1142723917072570252006-03-18T18:54:00.000-04:002006-03-18T19:18:39.033-04:00

Paul Krugman writes in the March 23, 2006 New York Review of Books [and, for some odd reason, suggests three books on how we need to structure American healthcare.]There's now a large body of evidence on what works and what doesn't work in health care, and it's not hard to see how to make dramatic improvements in US practice. As we'll see, the evidence clearly shows that the key problem with the

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1142468960728626792006-03-15T20:15:00.000-04:002006-03-15T20:29:20.753-04:00

Anyone who has a passing awareness of the cost of American healthcare is aware that we pay over twice as much per person (including the uninsured in those figures) as the next most expensive healthcare system in the world. So we should have great healthcare, right?We aren't getting what we are paying for, and a new study reported by the Boston Globe shows how badly our so-called free market

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1142054163486818272006-03-11T01:09:00.000-04:002006-03-11T01:23:29.306-04:00

Another state is working to provide universal healthcare to all its residents.Here is the legislative summary of the universal healthcare proposal submitted to the California legislature Feb 22, 2006: SB 840, as introduced, Kuehl. Single-payer health care coverage. Existing law does not provide a system of universal health care coverage for California residents. Existing law provides for the

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1142031355095532412006-03-10T18:17:00.000-04:002006-03-10T18:55:55.110-04:00

This paper (.pdf) describes the middle class as being broad, politically powerful and the source of new businesses which innovate and replace older, large ossified businesses. It is important to recognize that middle class societies have realtitively little income inequality. The paper focuses on the differences between the development of Poland and Russia since the end of Communism. Poland has

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1141958127446740692006-03-09T22:33:00.000-04:002006-03-09T22:35:51.680-04:00

Massachusetts is looking at an incremental improvement in health care for workers. The question is, does the proposal go far enough to be useful?

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1141957720216384952006-03-09T22:22:00.000-04:002006-03-09T22:30:45.633-04:00

The Republican-dominated New York state legislature has proposed a major expansion of health care benefits for workers in the state: The bill would require all companies in the state with one hundred employees or more to provide health care to their employees, or pay a tax of $3 an hour per worker to cover the states expenses in caring for uninsured workers. If enacted, this would be a serious

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1141879094581599702006-03-09T00:35:00.000-04:002006-03-09T00:38:14.596-04:00

Kevin Drum discusses (too briefly) which other country's healthcare systems should be compared with the broken American system. Hint - Canada and Britain are not the best examples.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1141136096532468522006-02-28T09:57:00.000-04:002006-02-28T10:14:56.566-04:00

Kevin Drum reports on a study that shows that in 2005 medical malpractice premiums increases only 2% in the first six months and increased not at all in the second half of 2005. The study he references also explains that in the last three decades, medical malpractice premiums have increased sharply along with all other property insurance premiums when investment income to insurance companies

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1141015874546589822006-02-27T00:48:00.000-04:002006-02-27T00:57:16.640-04:00

Estimates of healthcare expenses expected to reach one dollar in every five spent in the U.S. within ten years. The projections estimate that collective public and private spending for health care will average about $12,320 per person in 2015, compared with $6,683 per person in 2005. See Knight Ridder.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1141012317310265372006-02-26T23:16:00.000-04:002006-02-27T00:24:45.013-04:00

This is an ancient debate (year 2000) on whether the US should adopt universal health care by Adam Gopnik and Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell was opposed to universal healthcare then. Now he has changed his mind, partly because of the thoughts he published in This article.Here is what Gladwell recently wrote on the subject: the idea of employer-based health care is just plain stupid--and only our

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1139465879954565702006-02-09T02:10:00.000-04:002006-02-20T15:50:13.890-04:00

Kevin Drum reports (from Allan Sloan) that the Social Security reform [That is, phase out of Social Security] is built into the administration's proposed budget. Last year he announced it with great fanfare and delight in the State of the Union speech. Then he got his head handed to him. This year he is hoping no one will notice it in the proposed budget and sort of "accidently" pass it. What is

Richardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1138973846270054632006-02-03T09:09:00.000-04:002006-02-03T09:37:26.296-04:00

Who benefits from HSA's? TPM Cafe has a discussion that covers some parts of it.One problem I don't see discussed is how we get our health care. I have a single physician who I go to first for all illnesses and health issues. He has my records and my healthy history, something no other physician will have. My memory isn't perfect, and in some cases I flat don't know what problems I had. For

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1138868830753518042006-02-02T04:26:00.000-04:002006-02-02T04:27:10.793-04:00

You can't beat Ted Kennedy's current proposal.This proposal will provide quality affordable health care for all Americans. It will also take the burden of providing health care off of American employers, while allowing those which wish to provide greater benefits to employees the right to do so. Bush disagrees. as he attempted to do last year with his Social Security privatization fiasco,

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1137166345874404732006-01-13T11:19:00.000-04:002006-01-13T11:32:25.896-04:00

The Century Foundation describes how Chile's privatized pension system adopted a quarter century ago under the dictator Pinichet has failed. Pensions are significanlty lower than were predicted, while costs to the government continue to be higher than hoped or promised. Transition costs from the older system are expected to average 4.3 percent from 1999 to 2037. Commissions, fees and other

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1137077311598027682006-01-12T10:42:00.000-04:002006-01-12T10:48:31.643-04:00

This is from the NY Times: January 10, 2006Chile's Candidates Agree to Agree on Pension Woes By LARRY ROHTERSANTIAGO, Chile, Jan. 9 - Michelle Bachelet is a pediatrician and a Socialist, while Sebastián Piñera is a billionaire businessman and a conservative. They may agree on little as the opposing candidates in Chile's election for president, but they concur on one important point: the country's

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1136923111474186242006-01-10T15:53:00.000-04:002006-01-10T16:05:17.093-04:00

From Kevin Drum-HEALTHCARE: STILL A PROBLEM....To absolutely no one's surprise, overall healthcare costs rose at a breathtaking rate yet again last year. Healthcare now accounts for 16% of U.S. GDP, compared to about 10-11% in our nearest competitor.And what do we get for all that dough? Not much. Healthcare quality rose only marginally, which means we still suck on virtually every aspect of

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1131666862388723702005-11-10T19:53:00.000-04:002005-11-10T21:06:58.546-04:00

That is the question Kevin Drum briefly addresses. The answer is "it depends." On what? Simple. What are your goals? If your primary goal is economic efficiency, regardless of the damage to social networks then the comment Kevin Drum is responding to is correct. But that is a very inhumane view of society. People don't live in the economy, they live in a society of which the economy makes up only

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1129762749815329012005-10-19T18:48:00.000-04:002005-10-19T18:59:09.826-04:00

Matthew Yglesais points out the strange fact that when Bush's privatization of of Social Security had been shown unacceptable, the administration dropped the whole subject. Does that mean there is not actually a crisis, or that the crisis was manufactured simply to destroy Social Security? Oooh! I know! I know! Call me!!

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1129588223461547532005-10-17T18:26:00.000-04:002005-10-17T18:30:23.473-04:00

Inflation for the federal year from Oct 1, 2004 to Sept 30 2005 was 4.1%, mostly in gas amd medical espenses. The good news is that Social Security will go up 4.1% in January 2006. The other bad news is that the cost of part B of Medicare will also increase in January 2006. Still, it beats any private pension. Here is a set of notes from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1129579200725561172005-10-17T18:00:00.000-04:002005-10-17T16:00:00.733-04:00

General Moters is losing market share world wide partly because the health care costs of employees is killing them. Worldwide they have to compete with other companies who hire employees covered by national health care. Ford has the same problem. Kevin Drum briefly discusses the problem.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1127404292129887832005-09-22T11:47:00.000-04:002005-09-22T11:51:32.146-04:00

Rick Santorum has attacked the Bush strategy for Social Security reform. It's hard to see that as anything except a major split in Republican ranks between Santorum in the Senate and the White House. That split probably says Social Security privatization cannot be passed.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1126830998072847592005-09-15T20:29:00.000-04:002005-09-15T20:44:11.420-04:00

from Bloomberg Sept 15th. Prospects that the U.S. Congress will pass an overhaul of Social Security this year have vanished, leaving Republicans to debate how best to walk away from the centerpiece of President George W. Bush's second-term domestic agenda. Lawmakers in the House and Senate said a comprehensive proposal had no chance of being acted on this year, even though Republican leaders such

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1123267734604564462005-08-05T14:43:00.000-04:002005-08-05T15:03:20.160-04:00

The New Republic offers a really silly proposal for how the federal government should be financed. It is quite breathtaking in its lack of connection to any form of reality. Go read Kevin Drum for a brief and devastating analysis of the article.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1123071601715452702005-08-03T08:08:00.000-04:002005-08-03T08:20:01.726-04:00

Mark Kleiman offers thoughts by Steve Teles on private retirement accounts. Steve provides an interesting proposal for increasing savings in America, but I would have to ask "Why?" The problem in the American economy is not a lack of investable funds. If Americans save more, then the money will be placed by our superb financial markets in the investments that promise the best return. Those "best

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1122678282983547632005-07-29T20:59:00.000-04:002005-07-29T20:18:50.503-04:00

Bush's Massive New Spending Plan Dwarfs Military:A new study by Jim Horney and Richard Kogan at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a Washington-based research organization focused on fiscal and poverty issues, has found that the borrowing needed to fund President Bush's Social Security plan would cause the national debt to increase by a staggering 19.5 percent of gross domestic

Richardnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1122315315063744562005-07-25T16:15:00.000-04:002005-07-25T15:59:03.973-04:00

Are private retirement accounts such as those in the Galveston Plan really superior to the existing Social Security system? According to Michael Hiltzik, writing in Kevin Drum's Political Animal, the next propaganda push for private accounts by the Bush administration will focus on the benefits provided by the "Galveston Plan." His discussion, based in part on a study of the Galveston Plan by a

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1121815555819814502005-07-19T20:15:00.000-04:002005-07-19T20:19:21.060-04:00

The House GOP has presented its ideas on how to phase out Social Security. Manufacturers of smoke machines and mirrors anticipate rapid increases in the price of their stocks. The New York Times published an AP story on the new proposals from the House GOP. WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House Republican plan to overhaul Social Security requires retirees to give up their guaranteed benefit level if they

Richardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1121791784425136732005-07-19T14:41:00.000-04:002005-07-19T13:08:29.136-04:00

US News & world Report fills a slow news week by interviewing White House Budget Director Josh bolton about the status of the Social Security benefit reduction and phase out plan. Michael Hiltzik (Author of “The Plot Against Social Security: How the Bush Plan is Endangering our Financial Future.” - see link below.) debunks Bolton's talking points over at Kevin Drum's Political Animal. Read it.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1121712997313795062005-07-18T14:47:00.000-04:002005-07-18T14:56:37.333-04:00

A Social Security system provides protection against the loss of income caused by retirement, serious illness and unemployment. As a pert of that we must have a healthcare system that provides care for serious illness. The American system of "pay-up-front or employer-provided health care insurance" is rapidly breaking down. The so-called free market is inadequate and cannot provide a solution to

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1121390935657693002005-07-14T23:13:00.000-04:002005-07-14T21:36:47.846-04:00

It's official. Has to be, because it is in the Washington Post.Social Security Fades Into Fall"House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) now thinks he may not begin consideration of Social Security legislation until September, an aide said. Thomas told an Associated Press reporter yesterday that, "The issue is dealing with more time-sensitive legislation first." He said

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1121370817022639092005-07-14T15:20:00.000-04:002005-07-14T15:53:37.026-04:00

There hasn't been a lot of public activity on the Social Security phase out front recently. Josh Marshall has referred us to Iowa's Daily Nonpareil online. Karl Rove told employees of Ameritrade: "Over the years, Social Security has been a huge success, but the system has grown "creaky with age," said Karl Rove, deputy White House chief of staff on Friday.Unless changes are made, it's only going

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1121193424681577072005-07-12T16:35:00.000-04:002005-07-12T14:37:07.903-04:00

Social Security is only part of the social safety net. Another very large part is health care. I have a new article on the American health care system at my News magazine Politics Plus Stuff. Our current insurance company controlled system simply costs too much and offers too little in return. This is a problem both for individuals and for America's global economic competitiveness. Lawyers and

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1120374056697657182005-07-03T05:00:00.000-04:002005-07-14T21:43:26.290-04:00

Christian Science Monitor June 27, 2005 describes the new effort by Republican ideologues to carve out private accounts to replace Social Security.The new idea redesignates the treasury bonds already held by the Social Security Trust fund to specific named accounts. Taxpayers could then cash in those bonds and purchase other investment in their private accounts. Since those bonds have already

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1120017711395236122005-06-29T01:27:00.000-04:002005-06-29T00:05:50.450-04:00

Dave Johnson Seeing the Forest reports on the lobbying groups coming out for"...no payroll tax increases; solvency for the program to provide a government safety net for all retirees; and, an opportunity for workers to invest a portion of their payroll taxes in voluntary individually-owned and directed personal retirement accounts that can be used to enhance benefits."This action is supported by

Richardnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1119973762201103482005-06-28T11:33:00.000-04:002005-06-28T11:49:22.220-04:00

Josh Marshall has a compelling story posted on TPM Cafe. Read it. Then go over to the right side fo this blog and click through to Americans United to Protect Social Security and send them some money. Then go back and read the comments to Josh's story. Those comments provide a revealing look at how weak the organization of progressive and Democratic causes is. With all the emotion and excitement

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1119395857171028352005-06-21T21:05:00.000-04:002005-06-21T19:23:58.416-04:00

Josh Marshall surfaces an AP article that is pure Republican propaganda. He provides an interesting deconstruction of the lede. The news tonight on CBS TV was that Bush was dropping his requirement of "private accounts." Think Progress tracked that down and shows it is not true. Rather sad that CBS didn't do decent journalism. The most important thing about this AP Story is to understand how

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1118924510166569512005-06-16T10:18:00.000-04:002005-06-16T08:24:46.416-04:00

I missed this from Josh Marshall earlier. He caught the New York Times committing an act of truth-telling. It makes you wonder if the Grey Lady will be firing some reporters because they have learned too much and actually reported it honestly.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1118914225944874162005-06-16T07:30:00.000-04:002005-06-16T06:00:23.843-04:00

The Presidents' Social Security phase out campaign has gone aground in rough waters, and the Republican congressional leadership is looking for a way out of the whole thing.This from today's Washington Post."Democrats are united in their opposition, and the Finance Committee does not have the Republican votes to approve a Social Security plan that would divert some payroll taxes to private

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1118849216364101312005-06-15T13:25:00.000-04:002005-06-15T11:28:33.040-04:00

The plan in 1983 was that the baby boomers would prepay a part of their Social Security and that the excess would be saved in government bonds in the trust fund. Then, when benefits started to exceed revenue, the trust fund would cash in those bonds to maintain the benefit level.This may become a problem since the Bush administration has been giving away revenue in tax cuts and still overspending

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1118642415292160642005-06-13T01:46:00.000-04:002005-06-13T02:00:15.306-04:00

The New York Times rather breathlessly takes on the absolutely new issue (to them, I gather) that the amount needed for Social Security retirement depends on the expected life span of the retirees.Gadflyer points out (as the NY Times article does not) that expected life span of retirees is and has been a basic part of the projections that Social Security depends on since the program began.Nothing

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1118518701392105212005-06-11T17:33:00.000-04:002005-06-11T15:39:07.326-04:00

College graduate policy-types consider this a minor, not too expensive option for solving the (theoretical) problem of the revenue shortfall which might possibly afflict Social Security in a few decades. For some reason, polls show that it doesn't go over as well with most working people.Kevin Drum has a good discussion of this.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1118502306015794622005-06-11T13:01:00.000-04:002005-06-11T11:05:59.570-04:00

The new book is The Plot against Social Security: How the Bush Administration Is Endangering Our Financial Future by Michael A. Hiltzik and is listed on the right side of this blog.Here is what Publishers Weekly says:"A Pulitzer Prize-winning financial journalist for the Los Angeles Times, Hiltzik gathers arguments made by a plethora of economists and skeptics into a comprehensive, biting

Richardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1118414454337160462005-06-10T09:54:00.000-04:002005-06-10T10:40:54.353-04:00

Thursday several Senate Republicans huddled together to develop a Social Security bill they can pass through the Senate Finance Committee. It drops Bush's private accounts and the worst part of the Pozen plan he offered in his infamous press conference a couple of months ago.Josh Marshall summarizes the report rather well. The Associated Press report by David Espo is found here - GOP Leaders

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1118350647258649432005-06-09T18:55:00.000-04:002005-06-10T15:27:22.850-04:00

Social Security is the main plank of the (inadequate) American safety net, but in addition to Social Insurance, Americans need Health Insurance. Right now there are 44 million Americans without insurance, and another 40 or so million who go without health insurance for part of each year. That is 30% of all Americans.Kevin Drum at the Political Animal (from Washington Monthly) and his guest

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1118345427438853382005-06-09T17:01:00.000-04:002005-06-09T15:34:42.996-04:00

Is Bush really giving up on private accounts? Maybe. But he is not giving up what he wants.Josh Marshall has the issue pegged."What President Bush wants is to phase out Social Security. That isn't just rhetoric or words designed to put the other side off their footing. It's really the truth of the matter. Social Security is a social insurance program with guaranteed benefits for Americans when

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1117235240916499952005-05-27T18:41:00.000-04:002005-05-27T19:07:20.926-04:00

Matt Yglesias at Tapped writes about how Democrats need to learn how to lose votes in Congress, and he especially focuses on Social Security. His key point is that the Republicans won the elections fairly in 2002 and 2004. As a result they now dominate Congress and the White House. If they want to pass something (like Social Security reform) they can do it. The only protection from the

Richardnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1117046558262011382005-05-25T14:38:00.000-04:002005-05-25T14:43:24.933-04:00

From Talking Points Memon (Josh Marshall)A TPM Reader chimes in ...Josh, Why is it Social Security that needs fixing when it is the Republicans’ runaway’ spending that is the problem?!By their own admission, the problem will occur when the excessive SS contributions begin to slow down causing the government to look elsewhere for the money they need to cover all those tax cuts they gave their rich

Richardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1116717366501446812005-05-21T19:11:00.000-04:002005-05-21T19:16:06.506-04:00

Several days ago Congressman Rober Wexler offered his plan to "save" Social Security, breaking ranks with the Democratic Party leadership to do so. This is a copy of the letter I sent him. May 21, 2005Congressman Robert WexlerPalm Beach County Office2500 North Military Trail • Suite 100 • Boca Raton, FL 33431Re: your recent Social Security proposalDear Congressman Wexler,You aren’t my Congressman

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1116531229248936772005-05-19T17:23:00.000-04:002005-05-19T18:17:19.693-04:00

Is Social Security on an inevitable course to collapse?The scare rhetoric about the ultimate failure of Social Security is still flying thick and fast. The reality is that other than having a politician destroy it, Social Security will NOT become bankrupt or collapse. It is a strong system and probably will not face the alleged problems in 2041. The severely oversold possible problemThe first

Richardnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1116526253794736402005-05-19T12:59:00.000-04:002005-05-19T14:10:53.800-04:00

Robert Pozen, the man whose ideas Bush presented at his press conference last month, told the audience at the American heritage institute that "carve-out" private accounts should be dropped from the President's proposals. He also said that the "Ownership Society" was a weak argument for them. Think Progress presents the story.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1116120245116444072005-05-14T21:03:00.000-04:002005-05-14T21:25:13.693-04:00

Rep. Robert Wexler (D - FL) is prepared to offer a bill to change Social Security. The Republicans are delighted because this means the Democrats have begun to break ranks. The Associated Press has reported the story. It was posted about 5:00 PM CDT on Saturday. Think someone doesn't want the media to take much notice??

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1115759991186256222005-05-10T19:16:00.000-04:002005-05-10T17:20:30.140-04:00

Richard W. Stevenson of the New York Times wrote May 9th that since Bush made his big Press Conference the Republicans are looking for Democrats to throw out proposals and deal with them. The political risk the Republicans would have to take to pass an all Republican Social Security reform bill has them seriously looking at whether they can survive the next election after they do that. The

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1115757247224195372005-05-10T18:16:00.000-04:002005-05-10T16:34:07.283-04:00

In the Sunday (May 8) New York Times David Brooks tried to make the argument that Bush's recent proposals to "means-test" Social Security so that the benefits went only to the poorest beneficiaries was a "progressive" policy recommendation. As such, it was calling the Democrat's bluff to show that they would not accept anything he offered, even a good, solid progressive suggestion. This is how

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1115589386895800902005-05-08T19:49:00.000-04:002005-05-08T17:56:26.906-04:00

Peter Grier of the Christian Science Monitor writes a pedestrian 'Common Wisdom of the Media' summary of where the Social Security issue is after Bush's Social Security Press Conference. Read it. Then go look at the simple solutions offered by Robert Ball at my comment on his paper. Be sure to click through to the paper if you haven't read it already.

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1115503990777408992005-05-07T20:12:00.000-04:002005-05-08T18:01:13.463-04:00

And why is Bush trying to do Social Engineering?Josh Marshall, on his honeymoon, sneaks away from his bride long enough to post this really illuminating question: "In the context of Social Security, what exactly is ‘solvency’? And just what are we looking for when we say we want to find it? I pose these questions because the president's new ‘plan' has placed them in a much higher relief for the

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1115453137042024442005-05-07T06:05:00.000-04:002005-05-07T04:05:37.096-04:00

From the Dallas Morning News. "In holding a prime-time news conference for the first time in his second term, President Bush had one goal: to counter the growing impression that his Social Security proposals are dead by stressing his efforts to ease the system's long-term financial problems. "The decision a day later by his faithful House Republican allies to schedule consideration of the issue

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1115353901139375862005-05-06T02:31:00.000-04:002005-05-06T00:34:52.220-04:00

The following is a speech by Elaine Chao attempting to sell us on Bush’s Social Security ideas. It seems to have been written by a door-to-door or used car salesman. This is from the Dallas Morning News, an extremely conservative Texas Newspaper. I offer you the article (her speech) with my explanations of what she is really saying. I underlined some items to highlight them. Elaine L. Chao: A

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1115344103286722892005-05-05T23:47:00.000-04:002005-05-05T21:49:46.436-04:00

This is an interesting article from the Boston Globe. The money quote: "One-third of the people who become disabled in their 50s were injured because of the work they do."A major drawback in any plan for private accounts is that it will have to account for payments of disability benefits. As in retirement, the solution is to increase revenue or reduce benefits. If Social Security is replaces by

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1115342235495890002005-05-05T23:15:00.000-04:002005-05-05T21:30:06.363-04:00

Go read Molly Ivins. She's always good, and usually correct. This time she is both. But especially, read her description of the "Clawback." If you ever felt like the promises of the private accounts that "you own and can leave to your children" are too good to be true - they are. And the reason is the "Clawback." Just remember. If Bush is going to let you place a third of your FICA taxes into a

Richardnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11278945.post-1115338495020210032005-05-05T22:14:00.000-04:002005-05-05T20:15:57.630-04:00

From the NYTimesGuess What. The same U.S. government which has been spending millions of dollars to finance Bush's 60-day, 60-stops campaign to eliminate Social Security is warning the AFL-CIO that they may be breaking the law if they use member's money to "advocate a particular result in the current Social Security debate."In addition, "The Labor Department also warned the federation that

Richardnoreply@blogger.com0