State and Local Government Pension Problems

Public pension deficit gaps are worse than what the mainstream media mention. That’s because the projected income used for investments in them is still are too high at 7% and 8% when actual earnings are more like 6% and often less.

                       

In reality, the estimated earnings on investments to pay future public

employee pension payments ought to be equivalent to what the state or city or other local entity has to pay when it borrows to finance the pension money.

                       

Therefore, the problem we see has, unfortunately been hidden too long by politicians kicking the proverbial can down the road. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Uncontrollable Medicare and Medicaid Fraud

Medicare fraud is estimated to be well over  $60 billion each year. Widespread criminal operations go mostly unchecked because of poor government oversight on varying levels. It consists of ploys such as using dead doctor reports, fake patients and non-existent treatments.

                       

The FBI says Medicaid fraud is a $10 billion annual industry. Practices involve billing for nonexistent or unnecessary services, kickbacks and inflated costs.

                       

Therefore, how is the government going to undertake a massive ObamaCare plan that will entail one sixth of our entire economy?

                       

Politicians on the left tell you only how this fraud-infested system is going to save money. We now know the opposite is true, even without massive fraud. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Education For Educator Benefits

 The primary purpose of education is to teach a student to think, not to merely graduate and collect a degree.

                       

By that standard, all current independent research and surveys have come to one conclusion. Education in the U.S. at all levels, from elementary school to high school, through college, has been a complete, dismal disaster for the students.

                       

It has done extremely well for the “educators” who have given the latter term a new meaning. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Plaintiff Lawsuits Add to Health Costs

One cost of health insurance is a subject the administration intentionally glosses over because over 90% of lawyer political contributions go to the Democrat party.

                       

Yet, the cost of malpractice insurance and the need for tort reform to reduce costs, represent a major area for health insurance reform. This has not been directly addressed by ObamaCare, under which MDs can still be sued for malpractice.(See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

                       

Government Health Care Costs

                     

It stands to reason that government has a disadvantage in cutting costs. Politics finds it easier to hire than to fire. Voters you fire will not vote for you again. Politics finds it easier to overpay. Especially when government jobs are unionized.

                       

Has any government ever run efficiently? The Post Office is an example. Also consider our experience with Medicaid and Medicare. How they have botched efficiency and costs of that forerunner to ObamaCare.

                       

If the cost of Medicaid and Medicare have gotten so far out of hand, beyond their original projections, how can we believe the health care savings fantasies of the future? (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

The Fed’s Disregard of Inflation

The Federal Reserve Bank policy under Alan Greenspan after the turn of the 21st Century, and under Ben Bernanke today, has always shown some fear of deflation, the kind that engulfed Japan for over the past twenty-odd years. So the Fed always has had an inflation bias.

                       

But why was deflation acceptable in the second half of the 19th Century when the U. S. operated and expanded under the gold standard? Prices trended down for decades. The financial panics the U. S. experienced were relatively short.

                       

And why must we have 2% or 3% inflation as a norm? That can hurt middle class savings over time? To make it worse, an International Monetary Fund economist has suggested a target inflationary rate of 4%, to make it easier to fight recessions by adjusting interest rates. He deems today’s rates too low to be used as a recession-fighting tool.

                       

But even 2% inflation is a cruel tax. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

A Doctor Shortage Solution

                                          

Unsaid with all the talk about ObamaCare is the fact we already have a shortage of doctors, particularly in primary care. This gets worse every year. Moreover, it occurs most rapidly where the government keeps restricting their income and adds to the workload.

                       

While ObamaCare planning has doctors still subject to any alleged tort malfeasance.

                       

Massachusetts, for example, covers 97% of its residents with enforced coverage, but it does not have enough doctors to accommodate the added insured put into the system. The average wait time to see a primary care MD is up to from 36 to over 50 days. Yet, the state happens to have more of these doctors than others.

                                           

Furthermore, the shortage is expected to get worse through out the country, as doctor income is pressured downward, while workloads go up.

                       

Doctors start careers in heavy debt and it is becoming more and more impossible for them to recoup that burden with present political thinking in this country.

                       

Universal health care planning has lost lots of its common sense regarding doctor employment. Without enough competent doctors, the best planning is useless. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Doctor Shortages Are Now Inevitable

Finding a doctor under ObamaCare will not be as easy as passing a law offering universal health insurance. You have to pay them a decent wage for the skills they have. In fact, a large percentage of law-impaired American doctors now intend to take early retirement.

                       

About 1,500,000 Canadians don’t have or cannot easily find a primary care physician. Because of a shortage in medical staff in Norwood, Ontario, in one instance, a TV video showed a town clerk pulling names of lucky winners to see a doctor in a lottery. Losers had to wait.

                       

That’s only one reason many sick Canadians have come to America for surgery. Canadian officials call much of what we may consider essential surgery as “elective.”

                       

Before we change our system to emulate Canada’s or that of the British, or any other universal health coverage version, remember health coverage does not automatically mean health care. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)    

Our Steady Climb To European-Style Debt Catastrophe

Under the Maastricht Treaty, leading to the European monetary union, budget deficits were limited to to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) and total debt was restricted to 60% of GDP. However,Greece consistently cheated. France and Germany and others also broke the Treaty agreement in this regard.

                   

Ben Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank in the U. S., has said that total debt of 2% and 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) is sustainable, though we are now past that level. (The extraordinary Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae debt are not even in the federal budget.)

So why are we not headed down the same road to disaster as is Europe? (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Supply and Demand of Health Services

To make health coverage cheaper without government meddling, increase supply to meet demand and be alert.

                   

Add the number of patients but add more doctors. Developing disincentives for doctors to practice family medicine, will not make medicine cheaper. You cannot legislate lower income for doctors and have more in the system.

                   

Driving out of business over 1,500 competing private insurance companies with onerous mandates will not reduce costs. Have insurance companies compete over state lines, which they presently are not permitted to do. That may even attract competition.

                   

And remember, rationing of benefits under the guise of “suggesting” treatments that doctors ought to give, is not a proper way to reduce demand to meet supply. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)                                    

Tort Reform Will Reduce Health Costs

The political bias in health insurance is highly evident. It explains why tort reform was never a part of legislation.

                   

What could save enormous costs but is hardly ever mentioned is tort reform. Even though the government will tell the doctor how to practice, he or she could still be sued for malpractice. All that’s needed is a cap on lawsuits, something lawyers are successfully lobbying against.

                   

At least 25% of medical costs are for defensive medicine. Yet, impartial arbitration panels could determine whether patients have been harmed, and how, and for how much they ought to be compensated. Without lawyer imagination, subterfuge and costs. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

ObamaCare Small Business Taxes

Employers must insure employees under ObamaCare; those who don’t offer coverage, will pay a penalty.

                 

Labor is a major cost for most small, non-manufacturing businesses, The net, bottom line often does not exceed 5% or 10%. With an added health tax, many entrepreneurs who would love to insure employees when they want to attract them in a booming economy, will not be able to afford them.

                   

Is this legislation for a recessionary economy in need of a genuine boost? (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Why Not Also Have Government Supermarkets?

ObamaCare in its present form, despite what the administration has said. will not force the 1,500 or so private health insurance companies become more competitive. All it had to do would be to make it possible for companies to compete across state lines. ObamaCare did not call for it.

                   

But if the government presence could make health insurance more competitive, why not a government supermarket chain to cut prices? Or a government clothing chain?

                   

That is exactly what Russian consumers “enjoyed” under the Soviet Union. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

College Course Correction

I have noted before the lack of balance in colleges with regard to the world political and cultural view of campus teaching.
                       
One-sided views negate the purpose of going to college for a broad education. The minutiae that are relegated to memory are soon forgotten; the ability to reason and think ought to be the prime college education goal.
                       
The remedy is simple: Publish the resumes, including commentaries of all professors and full time instructors, along with the rest of the routine material that colleges use to entice prospective students.
                       
Have teachers and professors comment on their ideas about recent Supreme Court decisions on business, finance and other pertinent U. S. Constitutional matters. Moreover, schools ought to be responsible for the relative accuracy of such statements made to recruit students.
                       
Truth in advertising laws should apply to college recruiting. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Will Government Health Coverage Cost Lives?

Over three-quarters of Canadians must wait about three months for an MRI under government-operated health care.
                       
Almost 15% of patients in Great Britain must wait more than one year to receive treatment, after they have been referred to a specialist by a doctor. As much as 50% of patients getting government care must wait between 18 to 52 weeks for treatment.
                                               
You can imagine how their governments put teeth at the bottom of the preference list when they must cut costs.
                                   
More than 75% of National Healthcare Service British patients waited four or more weeks for admittance into a hospital, in one report in May, 2009, and there has been no improvement.
                       
The average survival rate for all types of cancer for patients in the United States is 60%. Canada’s survival rate is at 55%; Europe’s is at 48%. About 80% survive prostate cancer diagnosis in the USA , as compared to about 43% in the U.K., under their nationalized service.
                       
Americans are not all familiar with this. The media tends to overlook such facts and continue to spout health care propaganda without much analysis. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Government Health Standards Alone Are Sufficient

The Harvard School of Public Health reported that about twelve health style abuses account for over one million American deaths each year. Cut down those statistics and you have remedied the health care problem.
                       
It’s been estimated that smoking costs about 467,000 American lives a year. High blood pressure from unhealthy lifestyles causes about 395,000 lives per year. There is some overlapping as bad health habits are the cause of multiple afflictions.
                               
An emphasis on such changes can save the American economy an enormous amount of money, while keeping its capital infrastructure intact.
                       
But that may be too simple for many of our health care grandstanding politicos. They would rather change the entire structure of a sixth of the economy, by having government controls. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Drug Cost Manipulation by Governments

Overseas government sponsors of public health insurance always set standards for doctors to treat patients. This is what is being done to reduce costs under government-sponsored programs in England, Canada, and Europe.
                       
But what you are not told by U.S. public health enthusiasts, for example, is that cheaper drugs dispensed are often the older versions. They are older generics, whereas newer, more costly branded versions are not dispensed.
                       
That saves money for the government health system.

However, in many instances, older drugs are not better. In fact, they may not do as good a job as the newer, branded drugs.The government thus saves money at the expense of the patient’s health or life.(See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

The Inaccurate Media

The media is often inaccurate with their business and financial information and idea comments. Always question the accuracy and slants you get on such subjects.
                       
There are three basic reasons for my doubt about the accuracy and slant of the media.
                       
One is the fact that most of the actual reports are not in-depth. Reporters and columnists may not have the time to devote to the topic or they are simply too lazy to get into details.
                       
Secondly; many do not know their subject. It is difficult to adequately discuss business or finance without real hands-on business and/or financial experience. Few in the media meet these requirements.
                       
And thirdly; the slant of most reporters and columnists who have learned from their college professors, have had a left-leaning bias thrust on them for a number of years. It shows in their career work. They have no idea how the real, day-to-day business and financial world works.
                       
So my ingrained doubts about the media persist. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Social Security Political Gibberish

Remember, Social Security is not a bonafide insurance or retirement program, but an arbitrary government program. I repeat this from time to time as the majority of Americans believe what politicians tell them.   
                                           
Benefits today still pay off more than are paid in. Those extras paid to the retired are from folks still working. In the private sector, this is called a Ponzi scheme. It's illegal, for good reason.

About 65 years ago,  there were over 16 people paying Social Security tax for each retiree. Now, there are fewer than three. And in about 20 more years, the funds will run out; the scheme will be fully obvious.       
                                    
Why? There are no reserves; the Social Security Trust Fund is a fictitious account only in the mind of politicians.                       
                       
Payroll taxes should be abolished. Social Security should be funded from income taxes on pay-as-you-go. There should be an option for a taxpayer’s individual allocation to go into a private Social Security fund, in a stock index or U.S. savings bonds; a true insurance fund with reserves and guarantees.  (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)                                    
           

American Populist Trials

• Government show trials occur too often, comparable in many respects to those in the old Soviet Union.

                       
What have happened before our eyes  can happen again. They serve the purpose of populist politicians.
                       
Congress had organized a union chase after Toyota, which is non-union, in a huge show trial with the cameras and the finger pointing. No disclosures were made that confused victims sometimes stepped on gas pedals instead of brakes, which jammed sensitive equipment.
                       
Another example: The government and union conflict-of-interest with its ownership of competing General Motors and Chrysler, of course had to do with this extravaganza showcase. Add to this, continued public on-the-carpet questioning of oil, banking and similar top CEOs. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)                                    

How Many Americans Haven’t Health Insurance?

                       
The left in this country claim 45 million Americans have no health insurance. There is lots of doubt about this figure. Many others claim, with reasonable authority, that this includes illegals, those in between jobs that offer insurance, and folks who are not interested and wish to self-insure.
                       
But as with many of their claims, facts are not important; the left prefers to substitute good intentions with fact as the norm.
                       
Yet, if that number is considered, that is only about 15% of the population. And, in truth, we are looking at true need in only about 5% of the population. They can be handled without a massive restructuring of our national economy. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

College Deficiencies

Of the 630,000 or so full time college instructors and professors, there is a major dysfunction in the way they instruct their students. It has been going on for some time, but it has been recognized only by a few.
           
It has to do with the world political and cultural view of those who
teach our youth. and negates the whole purpose of going to college.

Bits relegated to memory are soon forgotten. The ability to reason and think clearly, ought to be what college education should instill in youthful minds.
                       
But when more than 95% of college professors and teachers, vote for the same political party, Democrat, even much higher in the social sciences, red flags should go up.
                       
How broad are perspectives being taught? These academics are turning out media “giants” and our business and political leaders who are attuned to ideas slanted to that one political party.
                       
The media are desperately in need of a broader perspective than what they get in school. They require a more independent, and less politically slanted view of what they now get toward business, finance and western values. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

The U. S. in an Entitlement Era

The sense of entitlement gets out of hand.
           
Examples: Ads on credit card reduction services where banks are abused for wanting to collect “YOUR money they lent you.”
           
Or where you have the sole right to change the terms of your mortgage from lenders, obligations that you never could afford and never should have taken.
           
Read or listen to the media and you get the impression that bankers and not the open-handed politicians are responsible for our mortgage mess. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Climate Science and Hoaxes

                 
Global warming research has been corrupted by a number of scandals. A major disclosure of what occurred at the University of East Anglia in the U.K. and the U. N. research debacle are cases in point.

Those who always disputed global warming contentions are finally, though only slowly, being given voice not available to them in the past.
Yet, there is still continued talk of climate-warming change. It has been a religious-type habit that many have invested too much of their careers in, for them to suddenly recant as having been subject to a hoax.

The world still needs clean air and water, but the old global warming mantra has truly become a secular religion to many on the left. In fact, the SEC, influenced by the administration, wants corporations to report how they are handling the problems of global warming. As if the hoax were never perpetrated. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at twitter.)

Suffocating New Jobs By Government Edicts

The Federal Reserve started its  purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage securities in December of 2009. That action has subsequently resulted in an ongoing rationing of capital which has taken a severe toll on the American economy.

The Fed action has enabled the government to carry on its huge deficit financing and it has helped foreign economies in their spending sprees. It has helped fuel Wall Street with a facade of phony optimism.

But underlying it all: Small business credit is being sucked dry by the aforementioned excesses. As a result, new jobs and enterprise are being sharply curtailed. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Negatives of Buying a Franchise

Why should you buy a franchise? The main purpose is to get a valued company name and expertise. But you can probably acquire a suitable name and expertise at no franchising cost.

I have discussed this in the past. Buying a franchise may make sense only if you get a highly recognized brand name and you get special management expertise.

Understand that the usual upfront fees and the royalty you pay on sales, that cover whatever management training and materials you receive, will probably represent about half your net earnings.

Many franchisees eventually form groups with other franchisees, to sue over contract terms because they are unhappy with their arrangements.

Think clearly before you make an expensive franchising decision. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at twitter.)

The Problem With Regulators and “Too Big to Fail” BandAids

If a bank, or any business, is too big to fail, according to a government regulator’s premise, might it not be too big to manage in the first place?
Perhaps the emphasis on size is misdirected when related only to the need for government oversight.

When corporate entities get gigantic, there usually are hidden management problems that are almost impossible to recognize and avoid. Those may involve more correction than possible from conventional governmental regulation.

Example: Many commercial banks also are in the investment banking business. But there are aspects of investment banking that can veer off in varying directions, which I have always felt go beyond the normal skills of everyday managerial skills at those institutions. Those specialized skills are business-oriented and are not usually the skills attained by investment bankers.

Problems encountered have little to do with the need for more regulation. In fact, the more regulation, the more likely management will fail. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at twitter.)

Scapegoating “Big Business”

                               
Too many folks attempt to get at “big business” or anyone who has more money than they.

But that often means they can stick it to anyone who they deem “profiteers.” I am speaking about any private sources who provide jobs. Even government jobs must come from taxes paid by the “rich” in business. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at twitter.)

Why Attend Expensive College?

         
The idea of having more college graduates is not a positive. Graduates are not producing a smarter population.

Colleges are doing a poor job, achieving only, in many respects,  what high schools accomplished in the past. In fact. educational productivity is poor from kindergarten on, through grade and high school and into institutions of “higher learning.”.

The prime function of a college diploma? Apart from impressing friends and relatives? Employers use them merely as a shortcut for lazily screening and evaluating prospective employees. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Value of Productivity Gains

Economic changes occur without public knowledge or publicity, but they affect the affairs of all of us. The public ought to get basic economics education from the media, so that they may more readily absorb information that has so much to do with everyday life.

One example: Positive changes in output per hour by industry often is considered to be good during economic recessions; it helps recovery. Companies cut staff to do this to keep labor costs low.

It is painful, of course. Lost jobs produce the favorable statistic. However, that is true only in private industry. The public sector, particularly those unionized, are being added to, with the aid of past federal stimulus funds. And they are budget-busting, absolutely non-productive. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at twitter.)

Helping the Corporate Image

Companies try to redo their image as well as re-focus when fortunes turn. They do what individuals do with New Year’s resolutions. Most individuals never seem to take those resolutions seriously.

When companies do it, the program is an expensive undertaking. Moreover, it’s a sign of desperation and poor management when it periodically and habitually occurs. Customers and the public instinctively feel management may be hiding real problems and that it is all a sign that management is weak or dishonest.

There is a natural tendency not to believe what corporations say and do, because of populist left-leaning media and politicians. Corporate managers have to be doubly careful about image. They can be damned no matter what they say or do. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at twitter.)