Political Hating of Business Men and Women

          

Why bother to run a business when the federal government has a Bulls Eye on your back?

                     

There is a little-used federal anti-business law on the books. So as a politician, why not use it during a  recession when you say you’re creating jobs? And your deepest instincts may well be anti-business?

The feds will tell you they’re not anti-business; that they’re looking out for your interest. They’re not.

                                        

The government passed the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act in 1938, with a provision that authorized criminal action against corporate officers. No evidence was needed that an officer knew a crime was being committed. Being connected with the company at the top was the guilt.

                     

You can see why this section of the law was not used, until present politicians got wind of it, with an eye on drug companies. How many top execs are willing to put their personal wealth and liberty at risk , to run a company of thousands of employees, one of whose transgressions would put that CEO at risk of jail? (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

ObamaCare’s Imagined Reduced Costs

          

We should always prevent illness. But prevention may actually increase costs not reduce them. So, spending must be cost-effective over the years.

                                    

Back on Aug.7, 2009, in a  letter to Rep. Nathan Deal, Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf’s aide, said: "Researchers who have examined the effects of preventive care, generally find that the added costs of widespread use of preventive services tend to exceed the savings from averted illness."

"It is usually necessary to provide preventive care to many patients, most of whom would not have suffered that illness anyway." This costs money that would not have been spent.

                     

The study came directly from the respected Congressional Budget Office. And it refuted the claim for savings that will flow from ObamaCare. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Controversial Job Training

      

Good politics makes bad economics is an often used axiom. It’s especially fitting when it comes to the ruse by politicians when they hand out taxpayer funds for job training. It does sound good. People do lose jobs because of new technology for which they are not able to qualify.

                     

The unfortunate unemployed are told they can be retrained, as they should be, But in truth, the federally- sponsored programs usually are poor. Private efforts have been more successful.

                     

A study as far back as 1969 showed that teens actually did worse in a federal jobs program once they started. Another study showed how tens of billions were spent on federal job training from 1961 through 1980 with no real success. Programs since then, with 1982 legislation, have fared no better.

                     

But the charade still goes on. Promises of job training programs that sound good—the government is doing something. But nothing  is accomplished for getting skilled jobs. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Damage-Prone Dodd-Frank Rules

          

Politicians love power wherever and however they can get it. Unfortunately, this has become a habit in Washington. Especially when it creates a source of contributions to help finance campaigns to get out votes.

                     

The Dodd-Frank Act has investors over a barrel in so many different ways, through onerous regulation. Yet, this type of damage can sometimes be as easy to make as it is for a baseball outfielder to occasionally flub the ball.

                     

While lawyers have gotten more advantages from all the new restrictions. Since one political party gets well over 90% of campaign funds from tort lawyers, guess why these messy tidbits are in the law? (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

The Facts About Insurance Policy Cancellations

                 

Politicians have demonized insurance companies for dropping policies, much as they demeans other industries from time to time.

                     

I was a senior banking and insurance analyst in the past and keep in touch with the business. I wish politicians were as informed.

                     

A policyholder can have his or her policy dropped for a number of valid reasons:

                     

One: Material lying about pre-existing conditions. No one should be allowed to buy fire insurance while a fire is in progress.

                     

Two: Fraud. Material misrepresentation which is so basic that the company would otherwise not have accepted the risk

                     

In one of the insurance companies independently studied, only 0.1% of policies or 20,000 cancellations were made. It sounds like a lot when politicians talk, but it’s a study from millions of policies over a 5 year period.

                     

On the other hand, our government does not tell you that it cancels about 7% of Medicare claims. Think of that the next time you consider truth in political advertising, especially when you hear about government health care. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

ObamaCare Codes

            

Doctors and hospitals now use about 18,000 codes to indicate the procedures they use when treating patients.

                     

However, federal mandates will increase the number to about 140,000, And this is just the beginning, as ObamaCare is yet to be quite fully implemented.

                     

The idea is to describe every and any procedure a doctor may do for a patient.. I also see the road map for tort lawyers. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Important Employee/Employer Agreements

             

Be sure you’re agreeing to what you want, when you take a job. Don’t misread employment application fine print.

                     

Many companies include a mandatory arbitration clause. That means you agree to give up your right to take disputes to court, even when the employer has broken the law. Employers in financial services, health care and pharmaceuticals usually favor arbitration because it keeps costs down. It also prevents cases from being tried in the media.

                     

When the case goes to an arbitrator, the grounds for appeal are limited. The National Employment Lawyers Association estimates that more than 30 million Americans are bound by arbitration clauses at work.

                     

A recent study found that arbitrators decided in favor of employees about 30% of the time, and when the individual arbitrator had worked previously on a case with the employer, the employee won only 12% of the time. Employees can often fare better in court because jurors are more easily swayed.

  Arbitrators are not necessarily prejudiced. They may be wiser than jurors. But employees do not always have the better case. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Layoffs are a Sign of Mismanagement

Experts among the financial media and journalists are elated when companies sharply pare back expenses with massive layoffs. But then again, these observers really don’t have genuine business acumen.

                     

Something is amiss if management has overstaffed to a point where a sudden decision is necessary to lay off thousands of employees in one fell swoop. Forward planning to that point had to have been in considerable error.

                     

Moreover, it’s costly to train lower, middle and then higher management, only to suddenly get rid of them; perhaps soon afterward, to start new hiring cycles, when times become better. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Overseas Pharmaceuticals are Cost-Cut by Americans?

      

The media often give the impression that drug prices are too high in the U.S., compared to Canada and Europe.

                     

Prices for the same pharmaceuticals are certainly much lower overseas. But pharmaceutical companies there are forced to sell there below true cost.

                     

To do that with foreign governments holding guns to their heads, companies must raise prices in the U.S, to make their profit. Otherwise, no further business can be done.

                     

And if there is no business, no drugs can be produced. A company spends as much as a billion dollars to find and research a new drug before it’s on the market.

                     

Think about this the next time you get a lesson from a politician on the enormous profits drug companies make. Furthermore, if the companies are so profitable, why are not all the experts on Wall Street falling over each other buying drug stocks? You will notice that pharmaceutical securities are not always investor favorites. They are merely politician scapegoats. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Misleading Unemployment Number

        

The conventional media overlooks the real unemployment numbers. As one example: There are those, who once jobless find

new employment within reasonable time. Then, there are those with in-between jobs that may be just temporary or part time. And others during a recession, who go off for work in totally fewer skills, for less work hours.

                     

The number of weeks someone is unemployed is an important statistic. Many unemployed give up seeking work and, if able, retire earlier under Social Security at reduced benefits.

                     

New job creation figures are important. Look also to see the type of jobs created. Government work is not creative. It does not have a multiplier effect as does private industry jobs.

                     

The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides a whole list of unemployment categories. The real, practical number varies greatly from public announcements. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Equal Pay For Women Questions

             

Women had been discriminated against in the past. The question is whether they still are, when anti- discrimination laws have been around for decades and penalties are severe.

                     

Women still tend to earn less. But there can be valid reasons. Many women leave jobs in mid-career for maternity reasons; that distorts statistical averages. Others prefer to spend more time with family,

                     

Still, there are more variations in certain professions than others. Hostile environment may often remain. Occurrences depend on profession or industry.

                     

Women’s needs may also differ within those jobs, especially where measures of hostility may actually exist. So you cannot evaluate discrimination charges in such instances without further investigation. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Government Job Creation--a Fantasy

                               

Government statists often reflect fantasy jobs:  Whether at a government office or at a construction site. Hand out a pick and shovel, if that’s what it takes.

Or place folks on unemployment insurance. Some say that resultant demand for goods and services produces jobs.

                     

Good old Keynesian theory that does not work in practice and never does for long, if it ever does temporarily.

                     

Getting down to reality, many politicians have no concept of creating jobs, that of using the psychology of entrepreneurial spirit. That is why they will tax small business in the depths of a severe downturn. That’s why tax exemptions, not tax cuts, are only short-term.

Or why politicians raise minimum wages for small business during economic recessions. And their use of such dampening forces to see that jobs are not created.

                     

Basically, the Left does not like business. They look at profits as criminal, to be taxed away for redistribution back to the community by wise governmental bureaucrats. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)