Lets stop kidding ourselves and start calling the bill what it really is, the Jobs Killing and Anti Small Business Act of 2009.
The bill says it will mandate that employers purchase health insurance for their employees or pay a fine of up to 8% of their payroll. It also says that small business owners must buy insurance for themselve.. But early in the bill it prohibits insurance companies from selling health insurance from the day the bill is passed.
Exhibit summary of the bill passed by the House of Representatives:
•Employer Mandate: Requires employers to provide insurance or pay a penalty for not doing so. Businesses with more than $500,000 in revenues would pay a penalty of 8% of payroll. There is a graduated penalty for firms falling between $250,000 to $500,000 in revenues with business with less than $250,000 exempt from the mandate. (The graduated rates are 2% of payroll for employers with payrolls above $250,000 to $300,000; 4% for employers with payrolls above $300,000 to $350,000; and 6% for employers with payrolls above $350,000 to $400,000.)
•Individual Mandate: Individuals and the self-employed are required to buy health insurance or pay a financial penalty, which would be 2.5 percent of income.
•Higher Taxes: A surtax would be imposed on higher-income individuals - many of which are small business owners. Individuals earning $280,000 and couples earning $350,000 would get hit with a 1% tax; those making $500,000-$1,000,000 would be taxed 1.5%; and couples earning more than $1 million would pay a 5.4% tax. These tax rates would increase if certain targets are not met.
Now lets review the language used on page 16 of the bill and see if it is possible to meet these goals or if companies will have to pay the 8% penalty for not providing insurance.
"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day of the year the legislation becomes law."
The whole thing is a scam to get more tax dollars since it is impossible for anyone to buy private health insurance, but yet it is mandated or they have to pay a penalty.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The Recession is not All Bush's Fault
During the Bush years the economy grew at an unprecedented rate. By his 5th year in office unemployment was virtually non-existent. The value of the US dollar was skyrocketing. Gold prices were stable.
The last year of his presidency the market started making a correction as it always does toward the end of any administration (IE Clinton Recession, Bush 41 Recession, Regan Recession) instead of just letting the recession take it's natural course of dumping toxic assets from the system, the government decided to interfere thus deepening the recession.
Now the government is mandating that the markets keep the toxic assets on the books which is leading into an even deeper recession because the market is not allowed to work as it has since it's inception.
Instead of letting the market work itself out, we now have the government owning banks and car companies and look at where it got us. The car companies still had to go into bankruptcy, but instead of a powerful market place cleaning the mess up in a manner to insure economic viability of the companies, the government basically told the debt holders "screw you" and handed a lot of the company over to the UAW. Kind of makes you wonder since the UAW was the biggest financial supporter of Obama.
Also the government now has the power to dictate what type of cars they must build. This is going to be a serious cluster since the government wants them to build the cars that no one was buying that lead to the financial problems. They want them to build these little golf carts which are not profitable. The money that was being made by GM and Crystler were their truck lines and their SUV lines. Sedans also were making money. The little cars were made solely for the purpose of meeting the CAFE standards set by the government. They never have made money and never will make money. Not to mention they are dangerous vehicles.
Just wait. within the next few years these car companies will be begging for more money and then, when allowable by law, they will be filing for bankruptcy again.
Once you look at all the facts, there is no way in which one can come to the conclusion that the government knows what the hell they are doing. In fact they seem to only make things worse.
The last year of his presidency the market started making a correction as it always does toward the end of any administration (IE Clinton Recession, Bush 41 Recession, Regan Recession) instead of just letting the recession take it's natural course of dumping toxic assets from the system, the government decided to interfere thus deepening the recession.
Now the government is mandating that the markets keep the toxic assets on the books which is leading into an even deeper recession because the market is not allowed to work as it has since it's inception.
Instead of letting the market work itself out, we now have the government owning banks and car companies and look at where it got us. The car companies still had to go into bankruptcy, but instead of a powerful market place cleaning the mess up in a manner to insure economic viability of the companies, the government basically told the debt holders "screw you" and handed a lot of the company over to the UAW. Kind of makes you wonder since the UAW was the biggest financial supporter of Obama.
Also the government now has the power to dictate what type of cars they must build. This is going to be a serious cluster since the government wants them to build the cars that no one was buying that lead to the financial problems. They want them to build these little golf carts which are not profitable. The money that was being made by GM and Crystler were their truck lines and their SUV lines. Sedans also were making money. The little cars were made solely for the purpose of meeting the CAFE standards set by the government. They never have made money and never will make money. Not to mention they are dangerous vehicles.
Just wait. within the next few years these car companies will be begging for more money and then, when allowable by law, they will be filing for bankruptcy again.
Once you look at all the facts, there is no way in which one can come to the conclusion that the government knows what the hell they are doing. In fact they seem to only make things worse.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Thoughts on Michael Jackson
Its been a little over a week since the world lost one of it's greatest talents. Although his life was surrounded by controversy, there was no doubt that he was one of the world's greatest singers, songwriters, dancer and over all entertainer.
The first time I heard Michael Jackson sing, that I can remember, was when I was about 3 and my mom put in an 8-track tape (those who are onld enough remember those clunky things that had great sound for the time) of the Jackson 5. The first song on it was ABC.
I can remember telling my mom that I was going to be just like Michael Jackson. The only problem was that I couldn't sing or dance and I still can't. LOL
I can remember the first time I heard the album Thriller. I was only 11 years old and I can remember being mesmerized by the sounds that were coming off my record player as I listened to song after song. I wasn't the only one who felt that way listening to that album. After all Thriller went on to be the best selling album of all time. Just here in the United States it has sold more then 65 million copies.
By the time Bad was released, Michael Jackson fever had settled down. I like most people moved on to other music. But that album as almost as good as Thriller and soon Michael Jackson fever was in full force again.
Well anyway. Needless to say Michael Jackson released some of the world's best known songs and some of the most unbelievable songs throughout the 1990s. To this day you can still here his music being played on radio stations all over the world.
Out of respect, I am not going to bring up his more recent controversies especially since this post is a celebration of his music and talent. Let's just say that I am skeptical of a lot of what has been said over the years about him simply because I do not know the facts of what supposedly took place.
May Michael Jackson Rest in Peace.
The first time I heard Michael Jackson sing, that I can remember, was when I was about 3 and my mom put in an 8-track tape (those who are onld enough remember those clunky things that had great sound for the time) of the Jackson 5. The first song on it was ABC.
I can remember telling my mom that I was going to be just like Michael Jackson. The only problem was that I couldn't sing or dance and I still can't. LOL
I can remember the first time I heard the album Thriller. I was only 11 years old and I can remember being mesmerized by the sounds that were coming off my record player as I listened to song after song. I wasn't the only one who felt that way listening to that album. After all Thriller went on to be the best selling album of all time. Just here in the United States it has sold more then 65 million copies.
By the time Bad was released, Michael Jackson fever had settled down. I like most people moved on to other music. But that album as almost as good as Thriller and soon Michael Jackson fever was in full force again.
Well anyway. Needless to say Michael Jackson released some of the world's best known songs and some of the most unbelievable songs throughout the 1990s. To this day you can still here his music being played on radio stations all over the world.
Out of respect, I am not going to bring up his more recent controversies especially since this post is a celebration of his music and talent. Let's just say that I am skeptical of a lot of what has been said over the years about him simply because I do not know the facts of what supposedly took place.
May Michael Jackson Rest in Peace.
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