URDRWHO's blog

Give me my monument

I guess thou holy elected officials are getting a bit testy. They aren't accustomed to not getting their monuments on Mt Olympus. Apparently Maxine wants a new building named after her but they just won't give up the money.

How the heck are these people ever elected and even worse, re-elected.

We are so screwed! They don't care because it isn't their money and when more is needed they either print it or tax us.

" A plan by House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) to ban “monuments to me” in this year’s appropriations bills has been sharply criticized behind closed doors by a senior Democrat who wants to direct $1 million to an employment center in her district bearing her name.

News today - They are Lying to Us or father to son....I remember when

Son I remember the year and time that our President told us a stimulus package had to be passed. That without the stimulus package everything would collapse, unemployment would go above 8 percent and our economy would collapse. The package was going to create many, many new jobs. Yes son, I remember those days.

But dad, unemployment is almost 10 percent and the stimulus package was passed. Dad, didn't Goldman get a big, bailout and now they are giving almost one thousand new million dollar bonuses. Dad they are saying that another stimulus package is needed and are going to pass it. Dad is borrowing from China good for me. Dad I remember our President said the economy had turned a corner. Dad are Green Shoots sprouting in our back yard?

Jobless rate slows, unemployment up and traders are happy

Revelation of Truth

  1. The thought is ridiculed
  2. The thought is resisted
  3. The thought is finally considered self evident

There are so many people that have run out their unemployment benefits and have either:

  • Just stopped looking and aren't working
  • They had to take part time work

In these economic times of a prolonged recession, oops better get my words in order her, call it an economic down turn.  Did the powers to be ever really say the R word.  Did we hit enough quarters for them?  I know for a long while they would take any positive growth, no matter if it was imperceptible, they took it just so they didn't count that quarter as negative.

"Fed’s warn of possible inflation"

No kidding?!?!?!  " Mr Plosser says, “To sum up, I am optimistic that the economy and the financial system will recover,” 

I could have said the same thing because it always does recover but recover to what?  Will it recover to a robust growing economy or to a leg-less economy?  

Their money printing presses have been burning up motors trying to print enough money to pay off whoever they've made arrangements to payoff.

Their favorite way to monetize debt is again going to raise its head.  I think we have discussed the good old Carter days of inflation.  I have a serious concern that if the inflation kicks in that we may wish for the Carter days. 

Add to the inflation the coming Cap and Trade energy inflation generator and we will wish that things were as calm as the carter days.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about National Health Plans ….and maybe more - Brazil and Tiawan

Brazil and Tiawan

Today will be an easy one because I didn't do an awful lot of research on these two plans. You rarely hear people talk about these plans, so I didn't spend much time on them.

Brazil

Private payers of health care in Brazil: characteristics, costs and coverage

The private sector is the predominant provider of health care in Brazil, particularly for inpatient services, and financing is a mix of public (through a prospective reimbursement system) and private. Roughly a quarter of the population has private insurance coverage, reflecting rapid growth in the past decade fuelled by the crisis in the public reimbursement system and the perceived deterioration of publicly provided care.

Four major forms of insurance exist:

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about National Health Plans ….and maybe more - United Kingdom

United Kingdom

Britain’s public provider of health care is known as the National Health Services (NHS). Services provided by the NHS include hospitals, family doctors, specialists, dentists, chemists, opticians and the ambulance service.

Not all services provided by the NHS are free of charge. Unless exempt, patients pay (subsidised) fixed costs for prescriptions, sight tests, NHS glasses and dental treatment. Hospital treatment, the ambulance service and medical consultations remain free.
 

The UK’s NHS was the first state organisation in the world to provide free universal healthcare. Today, it is an organisation with some severe structural problems which means:

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about National Health Plans ….and maybe more - Netherlands and Sweden

Netherlands and Sweden

In both countries, the majority of the population buys supplemental policies, often purchased from the insurer providing basic coverage. Insurers providing supplemental coverage are subject to fewer (Netherlands) or no (Switzerland) risk-rating restrictions. This has had complex effects on competition and mobility of the insured in the supplemental insurance market.

Tight regulation of basic health insurance markets, with requirements for open enrollment and community rating. Both countries require that insurers accept all applicants and prohibit variations in premiums by health status—community rating, with guaranteed offer and renewal.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about National Health Plans ….and maybe more - Japan

JAPAN

One thing I thought about when researching Japan's plan was the consideration of tradition and society.  As a professor once said, it is easier to get 100 Japanese to wear the same clothing than it is to get two Americans to decide on which pizza to buy.  In Japan families will help with in hospital nursing.  How willing would American's be to help with nursing?

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about National Health Plans ….and maybe more - Germany

Germany

"German Health System Not Quite in Intensive Care " - Going by media reports and public opinion in Germany, one might think the country's health care system is sclerotic and near collapse. But international comparisons and health-care experts paint a different picture.

In a 2000 report conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) on global health care, Germany ranked 25th out of 191 countries based on a cost-effectiveness ratio, coming in before the USA (37) and Canada (30). In another study, carried out by the Frank Beske Institute for Health System Research in 2005, Germany came in first among 14 industrial countries regarding health-care services available to the insured.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about National Health Plans ….and maybe more - France

France

"In the movie Sicko, Moore lumps France in with the socialized systems of Britain, Canada, and Cuba. In fact, the French system is similar enough to the U.S. model that reforms based on France's experience might work in America. That's not to say the French have solved all health-care riddles. Like every other nation, France is wrestling with runaway health-care inflation. That has led to some hefty tax hikes, and France is now considering U.S.-style health-maintenance organization (HMO) tactics to rein in costs.

Still, some 65% of French citizens express satisfaction with their system, compared with 40% of U.S. residents. And France spends just 10.7% of its gross domestic product on health care, while the U.S. lays out 16%, more than any other nation."

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