Gubmint Healthcare

Health insurance premiums are eating a big hole in my company's budget. We've changed coverage to reduce the costs, but we're getting to the point where anything more than a couple of office visits and short of hospitalization is coming out of our pockets... Not pleasant, however, ... The government goofs could try a couple of things first:

• make the state's insurance regulators to adopt a uniform list of stupid demands
• make the insurance companies offer a low cost "government minimum" package
• make it mandatory for people to have some insurance coverage
• The feds should pay retirees' private insurance premiums instead of MediCare
• The state should subsidize people's private insurance instead of MediCal (or the flavor in your state)

I hate "government mandate" ideas, especially enacted at the federal level (when a city or state forces you to do something you hate, you can always move), but cannot think of a better way to make basically healthy people "fork over the dough". MediCare is going broke (along with Social Security) and will drag the government's budget into the tank with it. Furthermore, when the VA hospitals are considered the pinnacle of effective and efficient health care providers, then, and only then, will I think that the government has any chance to run/dictate/regulate the health care industry without driving yet another part of this country into the sewer.

KfaD – Federal Taxes

All of our elected federal officials seem obsessed with spending money. Spending our money. That is what they get paid to do. Some of the things they think worthy of tax dollars seem dubious, but “you get what you pay for” applies to us voters too. We elected them, we're stuck with them.

The part I take exception to is the pained and twisted logic used to collect money; taxes. Not the amount (which is astonishing) but the targeting of this group or that industry or some other interest, etc. I use the term “targeting” specifically because of all of the little changes added to the tax code “in the middle of the night” that seem never to see the light of day until the IRS is sending you a letter saying “pay up, deadbeat”.

My idea, if I was “King for a Day”, would be to implement a variation of the “Fair Tax”; a national consumption tax. In concept the Fair Tax is the way to go. Without changes, it would be the most beneficial change to how our government works since its founding. In a nutshell, “It abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities.”

However, I would like to put in my two cents worth. I would:

1. Add specific language forbidding our congress critters from creating special rates for or exempting any service, product, or group from taxation.
2. Add language forbidding the formation of multiple tiers of taxation (a.k.a. a Value Added Tax scenario).
3. Transfers of money overseas (e.g. outside the Fair Tax realm) to be subject to the same rate of taxation (including internet purchases, dividend payments to foreign destinations, etc).
4. Establish a tax rate “T” that applies to all then make sure that the politicians have to change that rate as a single issue not as part of another bill or omnibus of tripe.
5. Abolish excise and “sin” taxes like the fuel taxes and the taxes on tobacco and booze.
6. Require states to adopt the same tax plan within the next year.
7. Require all sales to clearly and separately identify the federal consumption tax (FCT) and the state consumption tax (SCT) for each purchase.

I'm not sure if a balanced budget requirement should be added to the constitutional amendment, but it is worth discussing. Of course, with the proviso that deficit spending would be allowed for one year after a true declaration of war (not some phony baloney “war on poverty”, “war on mosquitoes”, or other crappola).

I do not want to put limits on which they spend money, though it is tempting. But, I believe taking the tax code out of the hands of the politicians would make life much better for the rest of us.

HDTV: The Last Minute

In the 1980's I was a good boy and paid my bills, paid for all my family's needs up front, skipped vacations (yes, I have never been to Hawaii) stayed in my 900 sq ft. house, kept my bills paid off, worked hard and enjoyed the little things. It didn't help that all around me every Monday at work, my cube-mates came in with stories of their boat trips, Disneyland, Vegas and Tahoe trips, and the Bavarian Cheese festivals. These coworkers would tell me that I was an idiot to pay off my 30 year mortgage in 18 years and that I should be riding the refinance wave - cashing out every 4 years. But I kept my head down, paid my bills, worked on weekends, and tried to keep my family as debt free as possible.

I was an idiot.

As it turns out, the people like me who sacrificed, who delayed gratification, who struggled and saved, abhorring borrowing and trying to do what we all know is right... we are getting taxed to death to pay for my cube-mates who got in way over their heads and spared themselves no pleasure on a weekly basis. They get bailouts, and I get taxes!

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Years ago it became apparent that the Golden State of California, in addition to its inability to manage money, has been refining its inability to manage water. They began to ask that all residents reduce water usage voluntarily. My neighbors all responded by watering their lawns 5 times a day to "green it up" in case the state cut off the water. I responded responsibly by looking for ways to reduce my water usage.

Well year 2 came along and the state decreed that we would take last year's usage and assign everyone 90% of that for this year, charging penalties on anything above that. The guys with the green lawns got all they needed, while I was forced to reduce my "absolute minimum" usage to less than that.

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So enter the HDTV conversion. I thought about getting it done before the first deadline, but then I analyzed the content of TV and 2 things became apparent.

1. The shows are formulaic and in general, crap. The news is wrong, or mostly ads, if I want to know something in depth, I'll go to the Internet.
2. This whole switchover is a giant ploy to get the last of the antenna holdouts like me to switch to satellite or cable. Not gonna happen. It was crappy when it was free, and from what I can tell it's 10x as crappy when you pay for it.
3. More and more, the shows I like are available on the Internet for free with less commercials.

So June 12 is coming. What should I do? I am *not* paying money for this crap.

Here's my plan. When the TV goes dark, I plan to begin watching my shows on-line. I will use the TV to watch my DVDs. I plan to attack that stack of books that has been growing since 1972. Maybe I'll go take a walk or ride my bike.

Will my life change without Craig Ferguson and Conan? Yes. Will it be a good change or a bad change? Probably good.

And so as the California economy sinks slowly in the west, I tip my hat and wink a friendly wink at the entertainment and advertising industries. Farewell compadres, I'm moving on.

KfaD – Washington, DC

The District of Columbia was established specifically that the nation's capital would not be part of one of the states. The problem is that those living in the District do not have the same political hierarchy as people living in Maryland, Virginia, or other states. Some folks think this is grounds for granting DC statehood with the idea that people need several layers of bureaucratic crappola to be “equally represented”.

My idea, if I was “King for a Day”, would be to have the federal government buy up all privately owned property in the District and create a national park. Nobody would be allowed to list DC as their permanent address.

• Build some reasonably comfortable standardized housing for our elected officials – be it condos, apartments, or houses – literally “one size fits all” accommodations.
• Set aside a section of the District for the building of new embassies – give each foreign government a newly cleared five acre plot.
• Build a nice hotel and an RV park/campground for short term visitors.
• Set aside a section for the Smithsonian to expand.
• Identify the most historically significant twenty or so buildings to save for curiosity.

Bulldoze the rest and plant trees!

The “King for a Day” Game

Over the years I've bitched about one government fiasco or another. Likely, this started when I got my first real paycheck and saw the “withholding” make my pile of hard earned dollars much smaller than expected. One day, when I was being quite vocal and yet less than articulate, my father (always a thoughtful and eloquent fellow) threw out something like “Alright, what would you do if you were put in charge in (insert location of concentrated political idiots here)”? Well, now... It is one thing to spout off “Those crazy ass politicians (CrAPs) in Lansing-Sacramento-Washington are screwing it up again!” its quite another to come up with a different solution to the problem. And not just the off the cuff comment, but a “reasoned and seasoned” idea.

By the time I entered college, the “what would you do?” question became a game; the “King for a Day” game. If you were “King for a Day” and the CrAPs couldn't just immediately undo the changes implemented, what would you do for the betterment of the country/state/county/city/school district? The rules are simple; 1) Define the problem, 2) Offer a solution, and 3) Try to rebut everyone's critique.

It seems that this game has had an effect on my life; I have become a conservative libertarian. The more I think of potential solutions, the more I'm convinced that government, at all levels, should not be involved. After a period of observation (much like examining some form of revolting, disease infested parasite), I came to the conclusion that most CrAPs see problems where there really aren't any. Secondly, the CrAP solutions to both real and phantom problems are more likely to create more problems.