Where Do We Go From Here?

 To be frank and honest, I've been afraid to add to this blog for the last 4 years. The rabid dog mentality of Trump supporters, their absolute failure to grasp that the made up outrage of the Faux Entertainment channel is no more news than the National Enquirer was, their frenzied hatred of liberal principles and democratic norms in favor of the irrational ramblings of a narcissist terrified me. 

Today we have elected a sane man and a sane party to lead our country. 

I don't know where we're going to go, but at least it will be away from the precipice. 

I'd like for us to have a conversation. Let's get some ideas on the table. How do we make it easy to be an entrepreneur? What are the roadblocks? 

My dad had his own business. He ran it by himself mostly. He made good money in the 1950's and 1960's. Things went downhill in the 70's with his health. I know a little about the back end of running a business. 

The biggest drain on the cash accounts is the 'burden' based on the wages paid the workers. The entrepreneur pays a portion and the worker pays a portion, though often the boss pays more. 

What if the insurances were covered out of a mutual fund sourced by all of the workers and all of the business owners? Make the costs relate to income, so no one (owner or worker) pays more than he can reasonably handle. 

Now the mutually funded insurance would cover everything the individual insurances covered. Social Security could be augmented to handle temporary unemployment due to injury. Worried about the SS fund balance? Slide the limit upwards on the payroll tax. Include unearned income in the pool for the SS tax. 

Unemployment insurance should be equivalent to the living wage for the area. The duration should depend on the unemployment rate. 

Or... we could have a basic income with the caveat that anyone drawing the basic income must be working to improve our society. Maybe they're musicians. Maybe writers? Or the volunteer to help the needy. Provide a basic income as long as useful people need it and are contributing. 

Why would anyone with a real job want to support these liberal blue sky nonsense? 

People with a little money spend it. They spend it on food and rent and transportation, beer and whisky and drugs (legalize pot). And the people who supply goods and services to these contributors pay taxes and make profits. In turn they hire people, paying their salaries to make more money. 

The point being that, quite the opposite of the trickle down economic fiction, money spent at the lowest economic level fuels the engine of the economy. 

These are the things we should talk about. And energy, and climate change, and treating everyone with respect and caring. But first we need a functioning economy where the rich still get rich but they have to let the money pass through the rest of our hands first. 

Where do we go? As long as its forward, I don't really care. 

Health Care or "I CAN'T PAY THAT!!!!"

It seems that health care is the one thing we can't live with and can't live without.

Everyone wants to go to the doctor when they're sick. They want Mama on life support if there's still a chance she'll change her will and leave all the money to the kids instead of the cats. Except there isn't any money left.

Guess what?

We can't afford to be healthy and we can't afford to be sick.

Being really ill today and just requiring transport to an emergency room can cost a thousand dollars. Plus the emergency room bill, plus the doctor's bill, plus the incidentals. Paying out of pocket means emptying the bank account or taking out a loan.

So the conventional response is 'Everyone needs health insurance' which is a possible solution, but if everyone's bills are getting paid than someone has to pay for them. Insurance spreads the cost among a small group of insured. The insurance 'industry' (they're an industry just the casinos are...) selects its customers so that the ones with the highest requirement for payouts aren't covered, therefore making the business profitable. Or they limit to the broader audience just what they will pay.... again leaving the people who need help paying the bill out of pocket.

So we look to the government for a solution, but the government solutions are littered with backroom deals and compromised ideas that are so broken they can no longer be functional. And when we need the help, we're still left holding the bag.

The answer, at least from my simple perspective, is to decide en masse, that is as the body politic, what we want from our health care system.

So here are some thoughts. Let's do away with health insurance. No employer paid health insurance no medicare, medicaid. Nothing. Cash and carry. Now the hospitals can' t turn you away so you get treated but what happens when you can't pay? Do they force you into bankruptcy and garnishee your wages for the next dozen years? Oh,... that's what happens now when you lose your employer sponsored health insurance, work at a job without health benefits that disqualifies you and your family from medicaid, or if you have a pre-existing condition (including pregnancy).

We could make health insurance universal. Everyone pays enough to cover all of the health care costs, and the guaranteed profits of the insurance companies. Think of Uncle Guido, you know that Italian uncle with all the cash who never seems to work, and who can make people disappear? Him. The insurance companies assume no risk because they are guaranteed new customers every year and everyone has to pay. Nice deal  huh?

Or We could collectively insure ourselves. That is we all pay in to the pot and we all get our bills paid. Everybody pays, every body is covered and we empower Uncle Sam to stop cheats and scam artists.

The first question is do we want health care for all? If the answer is yes than lets find the most efficient solution. If the answer is no, then get rid of the vultures and lets go back to native medicines.... but wait, that's the subject of another discussion.