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2009-10-01 15:50:00

We better get THIS one right

Answer: Thanks for asking. I do not know what kind of health care reform we are going to end up with, but I do feel we will have something. Perhaps it will be a “token something” and grow into “something” different in the future. Like I said, I don’t know, but soon, I feel we will all see the evening news’ headlines and the front page of the morning papers, say or read something like...”It took nearly 100 years but we’ve got it now!” When that day comes, I hope EVERYONE does everything in their power to make health care reform work. To do that, we’ve got to be more civil to one another...from the left to the right...the right to the left...and from the center to both the left and the right. You see, I don’t think we can afford to make too many more mistakes...as a country. And, I think it’s a given that whatever health care reform we have, will work a whole lot better if everyone is pulling in the same direction. We need to be on a “united front.” That sounds so odd...and old. A “united front,” when do you suppose the last time was that America was truly on a “united front?” Was it for a few days back on September 11th, 2001? Before that...was it JFK’s assassination? Was there a time between then and September 11th? Before that...was it Korea? WWII? You know...I was born in 1950, but I can remember studying about and seeing clips of Americans uniting together like we never have since, at the time we entered WWII in 1941. Many men and women went to war. All those left at home were called upon to give up things to help the war effort. Many of those who didn’t go to war went to work to help the war effort. Everyone was called upon to sacrifice...and unite together for a common cause. Do you think we could ever unite together again as a nation like we did back then? Think for a moment, about how much our country could get accomplished, if we were on a “united front...for a long enough period of time”...on any cause. Why is it so important this time to be “united?” Because our government does not have too good of a track record in running things like health care reform. If we don’t get this one right, it could be one of our last mistakes. I do not bring these up to criticize, but rather to make my point. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. We’ve had 234 years to get it right. It’s not working. Social Security was established in 1935. We’ve had 74 years to get it right. Without major changes quickly, it will go broke. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. We’ve had 44 years to get them right. Without major changes quickly, THEY will go broke. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been operating since 1968 as government sponsored enterprises. We’ve had 41 years to get them right. They’ve both been bailed out with money we don’t have. They didn’t work when they needed to work. Can they work in the future? We have spent billions in the TARP (Stimulus) program, and the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. We still have nearly 10% unemployment, with most predicting it to go higher before it levels off. Inflation, perhaps even rampant inflation, is predicted by just about every credible source in the country to be “just around the corner.” Consumer spending (critical to any economy...particularly a recovery) is way down, and what IS being spent, is being spent more for Chinese made goods than USA made goods. Why? Many say we can no longer compete with them. Why can’t we compete? Some say it’s because we’ve lost our competitive edge. Some say it’s because our manufacturers have to do things here in the way of compliance, labor, regulations, etc., that manufacturers in China don’t have to do. I don’t know the real reason or reasons why...but we all know it is happening. Did you ever stop to think what $780 billion would be if it was divided up among every man, woman and child in the country, all 306 million of them? It works out to $2,550 each. I wonder what would have happened if the government would have issued a $2,550 check to everyone, instead of sending it to the places they did (or the places they will send it when it all gets spent). The cost to the American taxpayer would have been the same. Although I am no economist, I have to believe, if they wanted to “stimulate” the economy, this would have stimulated it a “bunch.” A family of four would have received more than $10,000! An enclosed card with the checks saying, “Pay off a few bills, save a little and spend the rest” may have worked very well. “Cash for Clunkers” is a program that was established this past year. This program took approximately 700,000 cars off the road (that were the best some people could afford) and replaced them with higher priced and less-affordable cars, mostly foreign. This caused most of the profits to go out of the country. The $3.5 to $4 billion cost, like all programs, was footed by the American taxpayer. It caused a lot of dealers to stay in business...which is always good...but in hind sight...has it REALLY worked? August sales were great, but since then, sales have tumbled. Dealers nationwide are having a “clunker hangover.” We are now seeing a second round of dealership closings. Used car and truck inventories are way down...so the prices of what’s there is 20% higher than they were three months ago. What do YOU think? Did this program work? Our country has more than $12 trillion worth of debt as of today...much of it to foreign countries...most of it to China. We pay more than $500 billion in interest on this debt each year. This is not only going to trigger the “rampant inflation” I mentioned earlier, but the value of the US dollar is also being “shredded” because of this debt and interest. What happens if the dollar goes away? I think the first big indicator will be when crude oil changes how it is bought and sold. Instead of being traded for in US Dollars, it will be traded for in Franks, Marks, Euros, Ameros or some other currency. If the US Dollar DOES go away, I wonder how much notice we will get. How will it go down? I mean, someday do you get your checking/savings statement from the bank and it says you now have 100 Ameros for every 1,000 US Dollars you used to have? What will back the Amero? What IS an Amero anyway? Has anyone ever seen one? Theodore Roosevelt had health care reform in his 1912 Progressive Party Platform. It’s been nearly 100 years in the making. Now, it looks like it is here. As I have said in previous columns, our Declaration of Independence states that each of us is entitled to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and having good health is not something that should just be set aside for those who can afford it. Everyone should be able to feel good and be as healthy as they can be, and receive proper care if he or she is not feeling well or needs help. So, if health care reform comes...and it comes by way of our democratic process...maybe we better put aside the hatred and the criticism we’ve seen on just about every other issue for the past several years. If it still needs to be discussed...and debated...let’s discuss and debate the issues and not attack the people involved. We’ve got 20% of our total economy riding on this one item. We got to get THIS one right.