Social Security & Medicare

[bigbadwolf]

Tanning Tax One of the ways to pay for the health care reform law.


I am all for bad habits that can get you killed being taxed.

D'accord. The tanning tax will go down in the history books as a major breakthrough.

 

[daleholborow]

I am all for bad habits that can get you killed being taxed.

You don't drink? Drive a car for recreation (or heaven forbid, a motorcycle?).

I wouldnt mind the idea of taxes so much, if I thought they were being spent well. I think it might have been Rupert Murdoch, who had a quote along the lines of "Anyone who doesn't try to limit the tax they pay is a moron... because the government certainly isnt spending those tax dollars well"

 

[Joy Pathak]

You don't drink? Drive a car for recreation (or heaven forbid, a motorcycle?).

I wouldnt mind the idea of taxes so much, if I thought they were being spent well. I think it might have been Rupert Murdoch, who had a quote along the lines of "Anyone who doesn't try to limit the tax they pay is a moron... because the government certainly isnt spending those tax dollars well"

Insurance to drive could be considered somewhat similar possibly. And I actually don't drink. Lol
I agree with the spending quotation. I come from Canada, where we pay ridiculous taxes. I say ridiculous but I am okay with the way the government is spending them. The money is spent on things like Health Care, etc. Well atleast I that's what I see. In addition, there are massive infra-structure projects going on in some of the northern cities. I love the free health care system and the ease at which I can get checks up at a clinic or at any emergency at the hospital. I truly believe it is just amazing. In addition, the welfare system is also great. A lot of people take advantage of it giving it a bad name, but I know it helps a lot of people too.

Now, obviously you took what I said literally. There is a limit. You cannot tax everything. I think if you want to be a "daredevil" an additional tax is in order. For example: A 5% tax on snowboarding equipment. I am an avid snowboarder and I wouldn't mind paying that. But, if you want "free" things from your government.....there is a "price"...direct or indirect. Like I said, we pay massive income taxes, taxes on all kinds of goods. But at the end of the day it is for the people and I am okay with a bit of my money going towards helping the general public. It's like donation.

I hope the spending helps the people in USA. Only time will tell how affective this bill will be in actually savings lives and so on.

I am moving to USA, and would like to have similar access to things as I do in Canada. It should be better, considering...it is USA. This is my OPINION.

 

[koupparis]

BBW you raise valid points.

I haven't read the any parts of the bill, only what I could gather from websites.

The public was already tiring of the debates on this bill, I doubt they would even consider or care to hear about a single payer health care system.

All the questions you ask are good questions. I would assume that the proponents for health care reform saw that they were properly addressed. After all, that's why they're elected by us incompetent Americans. Or are they not capable of doing their jobs either? If this bill does have that many shortfalls, then why haven't I seen this pointed out/debated on any credible news-source?

* shrug * Maybe I'm missing all the fine print. Maybe I'm too naive. But unless someone opens my eyes, besides just saying this bill sucks, I'm looking at all the positives and thinking, how can this be bad?

 

[bigbadwolf]

The public was already tiring of the debates on this bill, I doubt they would even consider or care to hear about a single payer health care system.

Yes, because you see the debates are designed to bore people to distraction. That's their purpose. They're not real debates. These faux debates are there to bore you to sleep, or to open a can of beer and put on an adult DVD, or switch to a sports channel. The sound and fury about zilch is there to cover all the important things that are not mentioned, that are taboo. The con with the public option was masterful. It was kept vague all the time, except for non-attributable leaks. The "public option" was there to assuage all those who were interested in single payer. As time went on, the public option kept getting smaller and smaller (according to the leaks), until -- presto! -- it disappeared altogether.

All the questions you ask are good questions. I would assume that the proponents for health care reform saw that they were properly addressed. After all, that's why they're elected by us incompetent Americans. Or are they not capable of doing their jobs either? If this bill does have that many shortfalls, then why haven't I seen this pointed out/debated on any credible news-source?

But who are the proponents? This is a pay-to-play political system. Who can afford to pay? Insurance, HMOs, pharma. They paid, they get results. Western political systems -- in particular the American one -- don't respond to some amorphous public interest. That's why the public gets shafted each time -- particularly in the US. The public lacks focus, mobilisation, and drive and expects that by electing some paid-for crook to public office, its interests will be taken care of.

If by "credible news source" you mean CNN, Fox, and so on, they're part of the same racket. To get real news about what's happening in the US, you have to step outside of this MSM (mainstream media). In my opinion.

* shrug * Maybe I'm missing all the fine print. Maybe I'm too naive. But unless someone opens my eyes, besides just saying this bill sucks, I'm looking at all the positives and thinking, how can this be bad?

Because the few positives have been trumpeted while the big glaring negatives are hidden from the limelight. I can provide you with links that give another perspective:

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2010/march/pro-single-payer-doctors-health-bill-leaves-23-million-uninsured

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/pers-m22.shtml

http://unsilentgeneration.com/2010/03/22/health-reform-big-pharma-overwhelms-obama/

 

[bigbadwolf]

Some video here, from Real News Network.

And this seems worth reading for a synopsis of the few pathetic things the bill does and the many important things it does not.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, a year sooner than projected last year, and the giant trust fund will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner, trustees reported.

Social Security and Medicare finances worsen

Is there any reason I'm paying this huge Social Security tax if it's already known that when I reach age of 62 the fund will be depleted?

Uncle Max,
Even 2016 is pretty good if it's even true. We are paying out more than taking in this year, 2010 which is 6 years earlier that predicted last year.

This year, the system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

NY Times

 

[bigbadwolf]

Uncle Max,
Even 2016 is pretty good if it's even true. We are paying out more than taking in this year, 2010 which is 6 years earlier that predicted last year.
NY Times

But it is now going to be targeted; see this brief article:

No one is even trying very hard to pretend that the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform has any purpose other than cutting Social Security, Medicare, and probably Medicaid as well.

The idea was a good one in principle. But American politicians have kept raiding the funds and replacing them with worthless IOUs. And now they will reduce entitlements. Even if they don't reduce entitlements (which they will), those who do get paid will get paid in dollars of uncertain worth. Being made to pay for social security is outright extortion. The mafia must have a better pension plan for its soldiers than US social security.

American public finances are smoke and mirrors all the way through.