The Economic Policy Institute has released a chart showing the average overall tax rates in 1979, 1992 and 2007. The picture isn’t pretty. While the tax rate for you, me and the other 99% of this country has remained pretty much the same over the years, the tax rate for the top 1% has seen […]
New numbers came out today and one of them shows that inflation rose 2.7% last year. That’s pretty bad when people aren’t making us much money and we still have a big unemployment problem, but the problem doesn’t stop there. Social Security recipients didn’t get a raise this year. The calculated that in June, so […]
Something I have been meaning to do is figure up the cost impact of health care for people with diabetics. Most insurance policies don’t cover diabetic testing supplies. That gives diabetics an extra $100-$120 expense every month. I want to take a minute and figure up what premiums plus average out of pocket expenses would […]
I am going to stick with 1980 for my discussion on the federal poverty level because in this post it also works to exemplify the problems. In 1980 families didn’t have as many costs. Two costs are internet and cable. Some might argue that those are luxury items, but when you are talking about a […]
One thing I have been having trouble finding is how the federal poverty level is actually adjusted every year. Here is how Health and Human Services describes the process: To calculate the 2009 poverty guidelines, do you use a projection of what the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) will be for 2009? No. ASPE does not […]
For those just catching up, the idea I have come up with to fix health care is not by adding in the public option or instituting Medicare for 55+. Instead I have taken a much different approach, one that would be much easier to make a reality. What we should focus on is the FPL, […]
Right along party lines as expected, with Jim Bunning not voting. What’s interesting is that since the GOP started praying for Democratic members of the Senate to not show up, a Republican has missed every vote. Irony or sweet revenge? This ends the 2009 legislative year and now we are on to reconciliation to fix […]
I’m not entirely on the “kill the bill” bandwagon. There is definitely some good being done in the bill, but it is being overshadowed by the bad. One issue I haven’t seen addressed is the effect on charitable care. The bill supporters out there seem to either ignore the issue, or just aren’t aware of […]
Like I have been saying – the survival of health care out of conference is anything but certain: “Last night’s vote in the Senate should be applauded for what it was: an affirmative statement by that body that comprehensive health care reform legislation should not be held captive any longer by a select few.” “As […]
This is something me and a lot of the opposing factors to the latest HCR bill saw coming the other night when Democrats caved to Lieberman: Nelson’s key points: Asked if he would vote for cloture even if his initiative to restrict abortion were adopted, Nelson flatly said “no.” Nelson not only said a vote […]