As Many as 45 million Americans Without Health Insurance?

Many in the U.S. claim 45 million Americans have no health insurance. There is lots of doubt about this figure. Many 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

College Shortcomings

I have spoken about this often before.

Of the 630,000 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.

Tidbits 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 not more than 5% of college professors and teachers, vote Republican, even much less in the social sciences, as in the 2004 election, red flags should go up all over.

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 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.)

The Entitlement Era Is Here

Sometimes 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 only bankers and not the politicians are responsible for the mortgage mess. (See the Earl J Weinreb NewsHole® comments.)

Taxpayer-Subsidized General Motors

The GM bailout was government meddling in its purest sense, a form of state capitalism as in Italy during Mussolini’s day.

Instead of legal bankruptcy, the government executive department forced bondholders to step away from their contractual rights and cede them to labor unions. This could only be viewed as a political favor in the light of past and present union contributions to the political party in control of the directives involved.

At the same time, tax terms were arbitrarily re-arranged whereby GM was able to keep valuable income tax credits that would have been lost under conventional and legal bankruptcy.

No matter what GM does from here on in, the original share and bond holders were robbed in broad daylight for blatant political reasons.(See the Earl J Weinreb NewsHole® comments.)

Wasting College Time and Funds

I would suggest two books about wasteful college education, a subject on which I cannot comment often enough. It’s a message to which the media gives little attention.

One study is “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses” by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa (the University of Chicago Press), and “Higher Education?: How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids—and What We Can Do About It,” by Andre Hacker and Claudia Dreifus (Macmillan).

The sociologist Andrew Hacker and New York Times reporter Claudia Dreifus say, among other points, that faculty attention on tenure and sabbaticals have an influence on the education a university offers. Too little effort involves the learning environment.

Sociologists Arum and Roska provide another serious view of the educational mess we consider the most prestigious college educators. Arum and Roska find about half of students do poorly in analytical reasoning and critical thinking as well as written communications during their first two years of college. (See the Earl J Weinreb NewsHole® comments.)

Climate Lessons Learned?

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.

In fact, the SEC 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.)

Suggestions For Practical Health Insurance Changes

Do away with wasteful first dollar insurance. Too much costly paperwork is involved for small claims everyone can afford to pay. Have deductibles for small amounts but be sure to cover catastrophic losses.

Also: Make insurance portable from job to job and state to state. That’s a worthwhile change most folks need right away.

And make coverage available to all, not just when someone gets sick. That’s like buying fire insurance only when your house burns down.

Moreover, have interstate insurance competition. You can be sure that will reduce cost.

Most importantly: Eliminate questionable law suits with tort reform, preferably with arbitration panels that eliminate the huge lawyer’s take. (See the Earl J Weinreb NewsHole® comments.)