Archive for March 22nd, 2010

The biggest loser ? … Yep, the tanning salons get nailed ! … and, here's who else.

March 22, 2010

The trillion dollar ObamaCare program gets funded roughly half through MediCare cuts — mostly elimination of Medicare Advantage — and half from tax hikes, including …

  • A .9% increase in Medicare payroll taxes on couples with income of more than $250,000 a year.
  • Extension of Medicare payroll taxes (3.8%) to unearned income: dividends, interest, and capital gains.
  • A 10% excise tax on customers of indoor tanning salons.
  • Additional fees on insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers, including $33 billion over ten years on fees on drug makers
  • A tax on individuals without qualifying coverage, maximum penalty set at 2.5% of income
  • An excise tax on high-premium insurance plans, equal to 40% of premiums paid on plans costing more than $27,500 annually for a family, starting in 2018
    http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/st_healthcareproposals_20090912.html

* * * * *

Ken’s Qs:

1) Since I’ve been TurboTaxing my 2009 taxes, I’m curious: Is the magic $200,000 / $250,000 Gross Income, Adjusted Gross Income, or Taxable Income ?  That makes a big difference, and I haven’t seen a single reference clarifying it.  Anybody know ?

2) If some body hits the $200,000 / $250,000 kill point, is is all income taxed at the higher rate, or just marginal income above that rate ? Anybody know ?

3) How can a serious piece of legislation single out tanning salons for extinction — and let the Beverly Hills facelift doctors run free ? (Rhetorical question)

4) I’m still eager to see the 15,000 new IRS agents running around repo’ing big screens from folks who don’t have health insurance ?

5) If the reconciliation bill doesn’t get thru the Senate — does Obama’s deal with the unions — giving them a pass on the Cadillac plans — vaporize ?

This is going to get very interesting as folks understand the implications …

Posted in Health Care / Medical Insurance | 2 Comments »

Dog catches bus! Be careful what you wish for … and other wisdom from Grandma Homa

March 22, 2010

Rarely can I pair two of Grandma Homa’s bromides together …

The dog has, indeed, caught the bus.

I think that Team Obama will soon realize that they accomplished the easy part of their healthcare takeover: getting the lemmings to pull the voting levers.

Now, they have to implemented the largest government program in recent history.  This, from an administration that has shown no implementation capability at all.  Think stimulus; mortgage / foreclosure programs; cash for clunkers, caulkers, etc.; GITMO closing; underwear bombers ratted out by parents.

The only aspects of the program that I can imagine getting implemented are the tax hikes and the elimination of MediCare Advantage since they only require swipes of a pen.

To ObamaCare supporters: I don’t want to hear any whining from you, you got what you wished for …

Posted in Health Care / Medical Insurance | Leave a Comment »

The biggest loser ? … Yep, the tanning salons get nailed ! … and, here’s who else.

March 22, 2010

The trillion dollar ObamaCare program gets funded roughly half through MediCare cuts — mostly elimination of Medicare Advantage — and half from tax hikes, including …

  • A .9% increase in Medicare payroll taxes on couples with income of more than $250,000 a year.
  • Extension of Medicare payroll taxes (3.8%) to unearned income: dividends, interest, and capital gains.
  • A 10% excise tax on customers of indoor tanning salons.
  • Additional fees on insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers, including $33 billion over ten years on fees on drug makers
  • A tax on individuals without qualifying coverage, maximum penalty set at 2.5% of income
  • An excise tax on high-premium insurance plans, equal to 40% of premiums paid on plans costing more than $27,500 annually for a family, starting in 2018
    http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/st_healthcareproposals_20090912.html

* * * * *

Ken’s Qs:

1) Since I’ve been TurboTaxing my 2009 taxes, I’m curious: Is the magic $200,000 / $250,000 Gross Income, Adjusted Gross Income, or Taxable Income ?  That makes a big difference, and I haven’t seen a single reference clarifying it.  Anybody know ?

2) If some body hits the $200,000 / $250,000 kill point, is is all income taxed at the higher rate, or just marginal income above that rate ? Anybody know ?

3) How can a serious piece of legislation single out tanning salons for extinction — and let the Beverly Hills facelift doctors run free ? (Rhetorical question)

4) I’m still eager to see the 15,000 new IRS agents running around repo’ing big screens from folks who don’t have health insurance ?

5) If the reconciliation bill doesn’t get thru the Senate — does Obama’s deal with the unions — giving them a pass on the Cadillac plans — vaporize ?

This is going to get very interesting as folks understand the implications …

Posted in Health Care / Medical Insurance | 2 Comments »

Reporting live from Saturday’s Tea Party … stuff not on the nightly news

March 22, 2010

Since Georgetown’s hoops season had come to an abrupt end … and since the weather was beautiful … and since I take this healthcare stuff seriously… I went to the Capitol mall to be part of the citizens’  rally.

I’m glad I did.  First, I felt really democratic (small “d”), and second, the experience was very revealing.

Here’s what I saw and heard:

  1. It was a big crowd … filled the entire grass area in front of the Capitol … spilled over some across the street to the Mall.  I’m not a crowd estimator, but I know there were more than the 2,000 people that CNN reported.  There were at least as many people as were at the Verizon Center for the Duke game (my crowd estimating yardstick) … so, the crowd was at least 20,000.
  2. The crowd was very orderly. I only saw one Capitol policeman walking the crowd.  Not a single shouting match or fight or anything like that. I overheard several “where are you from ?” conversations.
  3. The crowd was all sizes and shapes and ages.  The latter surprised me some — I expected an old folks skew — while folks in their 50s were prevalent, there were plenty in there 40s, 30s, and even 20s.
  4. There weren’t any “for pay” organized groups — no conservative equivalents to ACORN or SEIU.  There were plenty of couples, many family groups, and some church groups from around the country.  No organized bus caravans.
  5. I saw several people identifying themselves as nurses and doctors. 
  6. My wife Kathy spotted one logo shirt from a local country club.  Beyond that, there weren’t many readily identifiable “fat cats” in the crowd.  I expected more since they’ll be footing much of the ObamaCare bill. I guess they protest in a different way  [more on that to come]
  7. Big deal: the crowd was all white.  I don’t recollect seeing a single non-white person, except for a doctor who spoke — and claimed to be Obama’s cousin.
  8. The intensity level was VERY high.  Obviously, people who trekked to the rally are more engaged than the average citizen, but I was still struck by the passion in the crowd — individually and collectively. 
  9. The words “civil disobedience” were evident — not prevalent, but evident.  On the Metro heading in, the guy sitting in front of us said “If this thing passes the country will be torn apart by civil disobedience”.  I hadn’t noticed that expression in years.  At the rally, there were signs calling for civil disobedience.  They didn’t spell out what kind of disobedience, they were just planting seeds.
  10. The applause line that got the biggest reaction: Do what Rush advises ‘just deem your taxes paid’. The crowd went nuts.

* * * * *

Here’s what I took away:

  1. The stark reality is that the tax payers who will be funding ObamaCare are  passionately opposed.  Why ? Well, it is their money, and — while they are OK supporting the genuinely down-trodden — they don’t want to carry slackers, drug addicts, and illegals.
  2. The ObamaCare opposition is almost entirely tax payers who consider themselves increasingly victimized by “taxation without (adequate) representation“. They’re frustrated and looking for a meaningful way to channel their emotions — and their money.
  3. My bet: April 15th is going to be an unusually interesting day this year.For sure, there will be protests galore.

    More important, there are plenty of folks scratching deeper this year to “remember” tax deductions and pursue any legal gimmick that can lower their tax payments.  In the past, for some, it wasn’t worth the effort.  But now, it has gotten personal. 

    And, it wouldn’t shock me if a statistically significant number of citizens heed Rush’s call to “deem their taxes paid”. 

    This has the prospects of getting very ugly, very fast.

Posted in Health Care / Medical Insurance, Politics | Leave a Comment »

We’ve Crossed the Rubicon …

March 22, 2010

This guy hits the nail on the head …

Do Democrats realize that we really have crossed the Rubicon?

In the future when the Republicans gain majorities (and they will), the liberal modus operandi will be the model — bare 51% majorities, reconciliation, the nuclear option, talk of deem and pass, not a single Democrat vote — all ends justifying the means in order to radically restructure vast swaths of American economic and social life.

Is someone unhinged at the DNC?

They just blew up any shred of bipartisan consensus when their President polls below 50%, the Democratically-controlled Congress below 20%, and health care reform less than 50%.

Usually unpopular leaders and their unpopular ideas seek the shelter of minority rights and prerogatives.

What will they do when they are in the minority—since they’ve entered the arena, boasted “let the games begin” and shouted “by any means necessary”?

We’ve Crossed the Rubicon
http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/weve-crossed-the-rubicom/2/

Posted in Health Care / Medical Insurance | Leave a Comment »

Why we make mistakes: Winging it, too few constraints, greener grass

March 22, 2010

In this and a couple of preceding and subsequent posts, i’ll be excerpting  the 13 reasons from:

Why We Make Mistakes, Joseph T. Hallinanm, Broadway Books 2009

Today, we finish the list.

* * * * * *

The errors we make can be explained through 13 lessons:

1. We look but don’t always see.

2. We all search for meaning.

3. We connect the dots.

4. We wear rose-colored glasses.

5. We can walk and chew gum — but not much else.

6. We’re in the wrong frame of mind.

7. We skim.

8. We like things tidy.

9. Men shoot first.

10. We all think we’re above average.

* * * * *

11. We’d rather wing it.

Over time, winging it just doesn’t work. Knowledge and deliberate practice do.

When performed correctly, prolonged, deliberate practice produces a large body of specialized knowledge in the mind of the person doing the practice.

Having this large body of knowledge allows an expert to quickly recognize patterns that other people don’t.

12. We don’t constrain ourselves.

One way to reduce errors is by introducing constraints. Essentially, these constraints are simple mental aids that keep us on the right track by limiting our alternatives

13. The grass does look greener.

Researchers have found that when it comes to well-being, neither social states, education, income, marital status, nor religious commitment accounts for more than about 3 percent of the variance in people’s reported levels of well-being.

Nonetheless, it’s human nature to overvalue the unknown and, in the process, chase elusive dreams that turn out to be less fulfilling than what we have.

All done …

Posted in Decision-making, Problem solving, Psychology | Leave a Comment »