Healthcare Legislation: it sucks

Well the house finally passed a(by only 20 votes) a health care bill designed to lower costs in the year "who in the hell knows" and promises to make health care more competitive. Unless they plan to model the NFL's collective bargaining agreement were are all screwed. Looking at the bill from afar, with over 1,000 pages that is really afar, the bill does not do any thing to affect the supply side of medical costs. Nothing is stating about getting more certified doctors, using more government research and money for experimental procedures and future medicines.

It is all about attacking the health insurance companies and taking away from them their power. If congress wanted help curb premium hikes, start enforcing a little law known as antitrust. In the majority of the states, few insurance companies dominate the market and because of federal regulations (which can be reversed by Congress)individuals and companies are forced to purchase insurance from the state they reside in. I am no economist but that does not sound like an open market.

for my last rant I take exemption to the "everyone must be covered and those who are not will be fined" thought. I am currently one of those, by choice, because I rarely get sick. In playing sports all my life and in the physically demanding job environment of the Army I have suffered one broken bone (right index finger) sprained ankles and muscles pulls. In 10 years I have been to the doctor more time for annual check ups than for illness. I eat healthy, workout regularly and for most illness I will pay a certain amount to get treated. But Nancy says I am evil and I am a drain on everyone else. And because I am so evil I should be fine for be such a drain. I totally agree of having accessible care to poorer people but those of who choose not to buy insurance should not be punished like some sort of criminal.

Super Freakanomics

I recently bought the highly touted sequel to Freakanomics, Super Freakanomics. For you who do not know about either, "Freak" was developed and written by an economist and investigative journalist. They look at several different phenomenon and explain causation with factors that most people would not really think about. In the first book they look at what successfully helped lower crime rates in the 80's and 90's. Most people claim better laws, prevention programs, and other institutional structures. But the authors, looked at the legalization of abortion. Citing mountains of empirical data, they illustrated a link between the demographics of women who usually get abortions and the demographics of active criminals. They found that both shared lower qualities of living, less educated, single or come from broken families to name a few factors. They explain that a major causation for drop in crime rates was due that less potential criminals were being born.
In the new book, they will apply their empirical research into global warming and other current topics. One excerpt that I enjoy was the empirical relationship that one is more likely to be killed drunk walking than drunk driving. While they do not condone drunk driving as it usually impacts everyone else besides the drunk, a drunk is more likely to die trying to walk home.
The first book is a great read and I would recommend to anyone no matter their background and I look forwarding to finishing the second book.

If you buy American buy Ford

Ford's 3rd quarter figures were released this week highlighted by $1 billion in profit and a positive growth outlook for 2011. "http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,571009,00.html". Of course spurring the number was the government cash for clunkers program, which brought many buyers in to Ford dealership's across the country. But what really help spur this turnaround were two things: Ford's decision not receive government bailout and ability to consolidate debt without going through bankruptcy. In the eyes of many Americans, this illustrated Ford's ability properly manage itself along other American companies.
When business was booming, Ford maintained it business model. It did not try to over expand it truck and SUV lines even though they were bringing in huge margins. Ford understood that all the external pressures pressing on the car market would soon be too much for truck and SUV sales. Early in this decade, Ford was truly committed to producing a hybrid car that would stylistic appeal to buyers as well be very economical. Ford also continued to develop its lower margin cars to be more efficient without a huge price increase. Ford used the boom in sales to strengthen its position against debt holders and it paid huge dividends when sales crashed. Ford managed to consolidate debt and cost production costs to avoid taking federal money or proceeding through bankruptcy. Their ability to remain flexible and to evolve are essential into surviving this new market.
And this is why I believe if you buy American you should buy Ford. They have demonstrated the proper way to tightrope profit margins with operating efficiency and customer satisfaction. They have a new sleek and fuel efficient product line that are very affordable while still offering some of there high value trucks such as the best selling F150. We all know that American cars are dependable, now it is time to recognize which to those makers we can count on no matter where the future will take us.