What is wrong with National Health Care?

I was looking at the liberal editorial cartoons and they showed the evil hand of higher insurance premiums and that of being in bed with a slovenly elephant I realized they must know how bad the policy is. When someone tells us something bad about ourselves it is human nature is to reply with something just as bad. Our reply does not make our flaw go away or contribute to positive change. The idea is to change the focus to something else unrelated or to make the unrelated appear to be related. Is this bill so corrupt that it has no merits? Even the most vocal supports are indirectly showing the down side.

Has Apple Forgotten the Customer?

Today there is an article Publishers Short-Sighted in E-Book Price Fight that brings out that additional competition in tablet book readers has raised prices. Apple wants to corner the market by offering larger profits to book publishers. The problem is that the consumer must pay a significant amount for the reader and it is a legitimate question why publishers need more money for a book they are no longer make or support a brink and mortar distribution system to deliver. I guess this is an extension of paying management thousands of times more than the employees or the share holders.

Texas Loves Taxes

Another election and another land slide vote for higher taxes. First it was sad to see how few cared about the economy and taxes with few voters showing up. This was a constitutional election so there were no officials being elected. I keep thinking people want lower taxes or to at least stay the same. The taxes did look good on the surface such as funding for veterans home loans. Reading the notes on the bill it turns out to be money to bail out bad loans from the banks. We all know the bankers need more money. Every bill was that way. Are we so gullible that give us a lollypop and say it is all good and we vote yes? They should give out lollypops for voting. Why do I even bother reading up on the issues when the majority voting are going to say yes to any tax put on the ballet? Next time someone says they don’t want higher taxes I am going to ask if they really live in Texas. On a side note since few vote my vote counts for myself and all those who don't vote. So if the day ever comes when I am the lone voter taxes will go down.

My Question for Richard Florida

How do you create sustainable success? I listened to a lecture about creative class consumption this weekend by Richard Florida. His key message was that cities can be successful by having three things; technology (creativity), educated workforce, tolerance. This is along the lines of party cities; cities that attract creative and young people because they are hip and open and thus become prosperous. The problem is that when the party is over people move on. Detroit was a city that had these three components in the 1950’s. With over half the population being minorities they were one of the first places to see minorities move upwards and integrate the neighborhoods. It was an important center of American innovation. Now the medium home is $7500, half the population has left, and unemployment is among the highest in the country. San Francisco, one of his examples, is also past its peak and now in decline. The party goers are trapped in their homes unable to sale them. Perhaps they can learn from New York City. The city has managed to host new parties to replace the old. But it finds itself trying to organize yet another as the party goers of financial industry have passed out. This does not diminish the problem of cities face if they do not have the three components. But neither can they sustain prosperity with them.

If you lie and nobody listens is it still a lie?

I watched the short video of a heckler at a University speech President Obama gave about health care. The heckler was a copy cat of the liar heckle at the Obama address to Congress. The problem that I saw was that everyone else was yelling their support for Obama and heckling the heckler. This is a problem because nobody was listening and thus failed to realize that Obama was actually telling some whoppers. The Wall Street Journal has cast serious doubt into the health care stories Obama told. Yet he told them again. Come on with all the people with health insurance he could not find one true story? We know University students don’t read the newspaper. But are our students really dumb enough to believe quote? “We are the only country that allows millions of citizens go without health care.” Have they never heard of China, India, Pakistan, Soviet Union, Africa, etc? What happened to the empty promises and double talk that never actually answers the question? Have politicians given up even wanting to appear to tell the truth.

Obama scams consumers and faces trade war with China

President Obama faces fines from the World Trade Organization for trade dumping and illegal monopolistic pricing for chicken wings. Yes you heard it correctly, chicken wings. Wholesale prices for chicken wings have soared to over $1.55 a pound. This is part of a conspiracy that involves dumping over half the U.S. chicken wings to China for a few cents a pound. The Chinese attempted to ship some of those wings back and Congress and Obama passed a law making it illegal to import American chicken. Yes that is also correct. Not China chicken, import American chicken. China has threatened to block imports. Fortunate for Obama the main stream press has failed to pick up the conspiracy and have incorrectly reported that the issue is about tires. I like chicken wings but if you want American chicken wings for a few cents a pound I have to travel to China.

Nobody knows about Sugar

Ron Winslow and Shirley Wang wrote an article about the American Heart Association recommending less sugar consumption. I expect more from the Wall Street Journal. Wrong picture, if they read the WSJ they would know the country has almost run out of cane sugar, which has not been used in cola or most foods in years. What about mentioning speculation that the biggest and easiest way to immediately combat diabetes and obesity is to eat more sugar? That is to stop consumption of all corn syrup and replace it with sugar. There is the problem of calories in sugar, but most of the other problems have been linked to corn syrup. Plus using sugar has the bonus of raising the price. How much sugar did people fifty years ago consume compared to the corn syrup they use now? They are recommending 130 calories limit of corn syrup a day, but is any amount healthy? Quote “The warning was an unexpected blow for soda makers like Coca-Cola Co.”. With a majority of Coca-Cola sold being diet and a huge expansion into water flavored drinks how was this negative? I think there is a huge misconception that overweight and inactive Americans don’t know better. The authors fell into an old trap of assuming education will solve the problem. If that was true then so many new diets would not become fads. The WSJ writes to an educated audience in their other topics, why not health? On the positive side I have cut my intake of carbs from corn syrup and fatty foods by half this month resulting in a big boost in productivity.