Friday, November 26, 2010

Barker's Newsbites: Friday, Nov. 26, 2010


O.K., folks... Thanksgiving is behind us... onward to Christmas!
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3 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/25/AR2010112503638.html

Want an appointment with kidney specialist Adam Weinstein of Easton, Md.?

If you're a senior covered by Medicare, the wait is eight weeks.

How about a checkup from geriatric specialist Michael Trahos? Expect to see him every six months: The Alexandria-based doctor has been limiting most of his Medicare patients to twice yearly rather than the quarterly checkups he considers ideal for the elderly. Still, at least he'll see you. Top-ranked primary care doctor Linda Yau is one of three physicians with the District's Foxhall Internists group who recently announced they will no longer be accepting Medicare patients.

Medicare's payment rate has not kept pace with the growing cost of running a medical practice. As measured by the government's Medicare Economic Index, those expenses rose 18% from 2000 to 2008. During the same period, Medicare's physician fees rose 5%. (And that's not even taking into account a long-postponed rate-setting method that is on track to slash Medicare's payment rates to doctors by 23% Dec. 1.)

* BTW, THOSE CUTS WON'T TAKE PLACE. EVERYONE KNEW THEY'D NEVER TAKE PLACE EVEN AS OBAMA, PELOSI, REID, AND THE DEMOCRATS INSISTED THAT THE CUTS WOULD HAPPEN... EVEN AS THEY "ASSUMED" THE CUTS WHEN CREATING OBAMACARE...

(*SIGH*)

* READ THE FULL ARTICLE TO GET A PICTURE OF HOW THE POLITICIANS HAVE LIED TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

November 26, 2010 at 11:34 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703514904575602943209741952.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

None of the personal income tax or capital gains tax increases enacted in the post-World War II period has raised the projected tax revenues.

Over the past six decades, tax revenues as a percentage of GDP have averaged just under 19% regardless of the top marginal personal income tax rate. The top marginal rate has been as high as 92% (1952-53) and as low as 28% (1988-90). The Obama administration's budget projections claim that raising taxes on the top 2% of taxpayers, those individuals earning more than $200,000 and couples earning $250,000 or more, will increase revenues to the U.S. Treasury. The empirical evidence suggests otherwise.

When tax rates are raised, taxpayers are encouraged to shift, hide and underreport income. Taxpayers divert their effort from pro-growth productive investments to seeking tax shelters, tax havens and tax exempt investments. This behavior tends to dampen economic growth and job creation. Lower taxes increase the incentives to work, produce, save and invest, thereby encouraging capital formation and jobs. Taxpayers have less incentive to shelter and shift income.

On average, GDP has grown at a faster pace in the several quarters after taxes are lowered than the several quarters before the tax reductions. In the six quarters prior to the May 2003 Bush tax cuts, GDP grew at an average annual quarterly rate of 1.8%. In the six quarters following the tax cuts, GDP grew at an average annual quarterly rate of 3.8%.

Even amoebas learn by trial and error, but some economists and politicians do not. ... Nineteen percent of a larger GDP is preferable to 19% of a smaller GDP.

The target of the Obama tax hike is the top 2% of taxpayers, but the burden of the tax is likely to fall on the remaining 98%. ... Most small business owners pay taxes at the personal income tax rate. Small businesses have created two-thirds of all new jobs during the past four decades and virtually all of the net new jobs from the early 1980s through the end of 2007, the beginning of the past recession. In other words, the Obama tax increases are targeted at those who are largely responsible for capital formation.

The Obama administration and members of Congress should study the record on how the economy reacts to changes in the tax code. The president's economic team has launched a [two]-pronged attack on capital: They are attacking the income group that is the most responsible for capital formation and jobs in the private sector, and then attacking the investment returns on capital formation in the form of dividends and capital gains.

November 26, 2010 at 11:49 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704104104575622980958139348.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop

More bad news out of Michigan: Facing a $3 million deficit on its $18 million budget, the Detroit suburb of Hamtramck is seeking permission to file bankruptcy. Other towns may not be far behind.

Hamtramck suffers from high unemployment and falling income, but its budget problems go deeper than the recession. The town began running million-dollar deficits 10 years ago due to union contracts that would make Greeks blush. City workers were entitled to annual wage increases at four times the inflation rate and eight paid weeks of vacation each year. That's in addition to 15 paid sick days, three paid emergency leave days, three paid personal days and one paid birthday.

* SO... LET'S DO THE MATH: 8x5=40+15=55+3=58+3=61+1=62. THAT'S 62 PAID DAYS OFF.

In 2000 the state appointed an Emergency Financial Manager who in five years managed to balance the budget by cutting the city work force, privatizing services and selling bonds. He got the unions to renegotiate some benefits by promising retirement service credits and promotions, but that set the city up for future pension woes.

(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)

Fast forward and the city again teeters toward bankruptcy. Workers still receive five weeks paid vacation and their health plans have no co-pays or deductibles. City health costs have risen nearly 40% this year and are expected to shoot up another 40% next year. Pension costs have climbed 36% in a year.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

The city has asked its unions for concessions, to no avail. City manager Bill Cooper says...the town will run out of money by February.

Mr. Cooper has now asked the state for permission to declare bankruptcy - the only way the city can force the unions to renegotiate their contracts. Michigan has never allowed a city to declare bankruptcy, and soon-to-depart Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm isn't eager to oppose her union supporters.

Municipalities nationwide are running a $574 billion unfunded pension liability, on top of $3 trillion in state unfunded liability. Philadelphia's pension fund is set to run dry in 2015 and Boston's in 2019. Chicago's fund will be broke by 2019, when over half of the city's revenue will be dedicated to pensions. By allowing workers to collectively bargain, states and cities have ceded control of the public purse to workers whose main interest is enlarging government.

Hamtramck is a harbinger of bankruptcies to come, and a case study in why politicians from FDR to Fiorello LaGuardia opposed the creation of government employee unions.

November 26, 2010 at 12:28 PM

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