The “Rationing” Switcheroo – NYTimes.com.
I agree with Paul here. If the Medicare system determines what it will or will not pay for – the basic medical care coverage – there should be nothing to preclude a patient from using their own money to get advanced or alternative medical care.
The Declaration of Independence did not declare that we have the right to life, liberty, and the all expenses paid pursuit of happiness.
I was looking for some information on the earth shifting and CNN has a short video on the tsunami impacts in Sendai. And they set it to a soundtrack – an ominous, funeral dirge sort of soundtrack. I guess it isn’t news anymore, now it is entertainment.
Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet; shifted Earths axis – CNN.com.
I saw an interesting interview with Senator Rand Paul by Jon Stewart last night, three parts. They were actually exchanging coherent ideas.
You don’t have the right to pollute your neighbor’s air, and the air is much cleaner than it was 30 years ago. (Only some of it is the Clean Air Act?) Things are a balancing act.
There is a difference between stupidity and over-regulation. Government has a role in regulation. Congress has a role in stupidity.
Corporations aren’t going to keep themselves clean; we the people need to have some oversight. That’s what Congress is for.
Do we work to monitor the stupidity in regulation or do we get rid of regulation altogether?
Rather than taking a sledgehammer to the government, let’s debate the extent that regulations should have. Let Congress do its job and rein in the Faceless Bureaucrats as needed. But it seems that congress doesn’t want to get involved with the details and they pass laws with vague wording that requires substantial interpretation. And if the interpretation is not politically correct, the politician has a fall back position.
I thought Paul’s example of Hazmat teams needed to clean up milk spills was a bit of hyperbole, especially since he tied it to Oil Spill clean up. Did a civil servant really tie the animal fat oil in milk to petroleum? Or is someone out there making fun of the faceless bureaucracy? Or is our milk supply really hazardous? (Where are those milk inspectors when you need them?)
Philip E. Agre
via What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?.
via Sidelights
Q: What is conservatism? A: Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy.
Q: What is wrong with conservatism? A: Conservatism is incompatible with democracy, prosperity, and civilization in general. It is a destructive system of inequality and prejudice that is founded on deception and has no place in the modern world.
And it really annoys me that so many Americans seem to want to elevate the President to a King.
I was just thinking about Corporate Taxes, don’t ask me why.
US corporate profit performance.
I’ve heard that the USA has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, 35%. So I am looking at these 2008 figures and see that Corporate profits are $1,360.4 Billion and they paid $292.2 Billion. That works out to 21.5%, not 35%. I see from the 2008 federal budget that Corporate tax revenues come to $314.9 Billion. I don’t know why these numbers don’t agree, maybe different fiscal calendars, but the latter is still only 23%, not 35%.
If we really had a 35% tax rate we would be collecting $476 Billion instead of the paltry sum we are currently collecting. That would help pay for a few more months in Afghanistan.
I see that the US corporate tax rate is listed as between 0% and 35%, so we don’t actually have a flat one-rate-for-all-corporations tax. I guess the fun is in starting with 35% and seeing how quickly you can get it to 0%. Why don’t they make a flat 25% tax with no deductions and stop playing games? I would like for them to revise the corporate tax code such that any compensation paid to an executive in excess of the US presidents salary would be counted toward corporate profits and not an operating expense.