Dose of Clarity

There has been a lot of public debate lately about having an insurance mandate as part of the health care reform proposal, and the characterization of it has been met with varying opinions. The main disparity is centered on whether this should be considered a tax increase hence breaking the campaign promise of not raising taxes on people making less than $250k. Supporters of the mandate are feverishly defending it as simply providing for one’s own health care or being assessed a penalty upon failure to obtain such coverage. Critics are countering with the fact that the Government is mandating this on its citizens thus it is effectively a tax. While the politicians, pundits, and the media are debating how to label this forced participation, it should not be difficult for us citizens to characterize the end result. Regardless of what official label is ascribed to it as the political games continue, the one certainty is it will extract money out of the pockets of citizens. This will surely [Read the rest of this entry...]

Will illegal immigrants be able to take advantage of national health care or will the proposed bill HR 3200 exclude them from services as claimed by the supporters of the bill? This is the issue that led to the outburst by Rep. Joe Wilson during the President’s address to Congress and set off a firestorm that has become a political football despite an apology given and accepted by the two men themselves. There is a section in the bill (Sec 246) that excludes illegal immigrants specifically from “affordability credits,” this then begs the question as to how comprehensive is its scope. Republicans state that it is only one area of the bill and nowhere else are there any exclusions nor does it provide a verification process to administer services, earlier attempts at such provisions have been struck down upon any inclusion within the bill. Apparently, the Obama Administration agreed with this verification argument and issued a clarification within days after Rep. Wilson’s outburst by adding a requirement for proof of citizenship. The underlying question [Read the rest of this entry...]

The concept of social justice has been around for quite a while now but it seems to have really gained momentum in our society recently. It has come to my attention so often lately that it has me thinking about what exactly is the objective of someone who touts this initiative. If you generally define the expression beginning with the word “social,” it refers to basic human co-existence or interaction among people. The word “justice” is commonly accepted to mean what is right, appropriate or deserved. This becomes realized when an unjust act is remedied and the victim is made whole again. It seems from a justice perspective that a person must be harmed by a specific person or entity, a careless action has been taken that directly impacts another and creates damages. This does not really fit the usage or the reality of the social justice message very well because there are avenues equally available to redress any such grievances that one commits on another. That leads me to [Read the rest of this entry...]

People across the nation are currently getting all twisted up in town halls and other demonstrations concerning the Government’s proposed health care reform. The outcry is very understandable because it is an emotional issue that affects all of us and the outcome will have lasting effects on our nation. Every facet of the proposed bill is being argued, but only one single issue is really essential concerning the 1500+ pages of legalese. It is not what is covered, rationing of care, choice, single payer, or whether grandma will be allowed to live to her 75th birthday. The crucial point of the entire bill is where will the decision authority reside after its passage and into the future. Currently, this judgment exists at the point of service with patients and their doctors along with some occasional battles with an insurance company. The question to be answered within the debate is does this authority continue to fully reside with the individual or does it shift [Read the rest of this entry...]

The majority of working Americans never have a chance to pay their taxes because they are deducted in advance of their paychecks being received. This is usually the case for everyone except a small percentage of people that are subject to paying estimated taxes through the year or any year-end settlements with the IRS. Being that our Government takes possession of your money prior to its receipt makes you wonder about the true ownership of that money. It is a small distinction to draw that effectively sets the balance of power in the relationship and should make you question who really owns your labor and efforts. Are you really paying your taxes, or is the Government taking what they deem to be their share and giving you what is leftover? It is well conceived on their part to not only position themselves to have a senior claim on your earning potential, but they also divert your mind from your money, thus you end up paying little attention to the tax collection process. The thought here is the classic out of sight out of mind notion that fosters [Read the rest of this entry...]

Just what is it about a sales tax holiday that gets people so excited and willing to get to the stores early and fight the crowds? Why is there even such a crowd to begin with? The reality of this promotion is that it merely saves you 6-10% depending on the state in which you reside. We live in a society that routinely has sales or markdowns all through the year that far exceed any benefit given by a sales tax holiday. It is not unusual to see 40, 50, or even 60% off sales, but we casually stroll by them with little attention given, but as soon as a tax holiday is announced, then its time to set the alarm and get to the store by 8:00 a.m. to stand in line so we can save 8%. We are not impressed or moved into action by a half-off sale, but we will have our shopping list and our plan of action ready for that single-digit savings event that we have been waiting for all year. It makes absolutely no sense that we will elbow our way through the masses of humanity for something that is less of a benefit than we can experience numerous times by thumbing though a newspaper for sales, using coupons, or shopping on the internet that often excludes sales tax as a normal course of business if used selectively. The fact that this campaign elicits such a strong response tells me that people are not really considering the reality of its perceived benefit, or it goes to show the true value of effective marketing. In either case, it is probably better to let others run each other down with their shopping carts in pursuit of the latest Winnie the Pooh backpack and instead choose to shop at another more peaceful time. It may cost you an extra 8% in tax, but you are likely to find greater discounts without all the hype of this exaggerated promotion.

It seems rather astonishing that President Obama has been building an organization of Czars with barely a critical mention of it outside of mild fascination from the public. It is a very suspicious activity in light of the huge Government grab of power and control from us citizens during a time when every issue seems to be an opportunity for bigger Government. Terms such as Socialism, Marxism, Fascism and any other oppressing “ism” you can think of are being used to describe where our nation is headed, regardless of your preferred term it is certain the Government will be getting much bigger at the expense of our individual liberties, and that power is being channeled to favor the Executive branch as evidenced by the Czar network being created. This should be setting alarm bells off throughout our society, but I think the constant barrage of momentous legislation is otherwise monopolizing the nation’s attention. Why, as our Government gets larger and more intrusive, do we have this network of Czars being constructed? What is the purpose or [Read the rest of this entry...]

Once Congress reconvenes in the fall, they will soon start pushing the Cap and Trade bill once again in order to fight the Loch Ness monster of our time known as global warming. Many people will swear it exists, but just as many will deny its presence, and there are scientists on both sides of the issue that feel strongly in their positions. Everybody will have their own opinion on the subject which will certainly be shaped by what “experts” they choose to follow and believe. Instead of arguing the issue from an emotional standpoint maybe it would be useful to come at it from another angle. Here is a list of statements that we should seriously think about and determine the believability of each before Cap and Trade is supported.

1. First of all, you would have to believe that global warming actually exists, not just that temperatures have become warmer over recent history which is definitely a measurable item, but that it is absolutely not a naturally occurring process that is repeated throughout the earth’s history. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Hardly an hour goes by over the last few days without hearing about how proud and excited our Government is with the success of the Cash for Clunkers program. They initially appropriated $1 billion of funding for the program and have been completely surprised by the rapid acceptance it has received, and now they are working on additional funding to add another $2 billion to this “wildly successful” program. They are practically breaking their arms patting themselves on the back for successfully giving money away. At the end of the day it is simply just that, a money giveaway program that has members of our Government surprised that the public was so enthusiastically accepting free money, thus they are scrambling to extend the funding so they can continue this manufactured success. Here is a summary of what has happened in a nutshell. [Read the rest of this entry...]

One of the certainties associated within any market over time is that an adverse outcome will inevitably happen that will negatively affect investors as well as the public in varying degrees. Upon this transpiring, the allegations and finger-pointing begin because someone must be held responsible for inflicting such pain and they must be restrained by more simple-minded legislation by our Government. The truth is that someone will be blamed so our political establishment will appear to be doing something, and something is better than nothing regardless of how inane it is on their part. The latest hullabaloo is blaming oil speculators for last year’s run up in oil prices, and it only took them a full year to reach this mindless conclusion. I realize it is popular to point to these traders because it appears that they are a bunch of rich people stealing from common folks so they can [Read the rest of this entry...]