A Refugee From Mah-Jongg

I sit this morning in a coffee shop, guzzling a peppermint mocha (venti--oops--I gave away my true location). I am a refugee. My wife's turn to host mah-jongg. How much of the table-talk could I have taken? But at the moment, I am where I need to be. It's Christmas Eve Eve, and I am not shopping for more gifts this year. Maybe some flowers?

Watching all the people hustling around on the way to get just one more, I'm glad we stepped out of the marathon (or should I say shop-a-thon?) this year. Mostly for economy reasons, but I have a lot more time available to walk, to bake cookies, to read and to write than I would otherwise. So what have I accomplished with all this time? Just returning to the here and now, where my body remains regardless of where in the future or the past my mind wanders (Dan Millman, I think). Breathing in and out, listening and watching.

Here's wishing you some time like this for the holidays.

Just Wondering

Now that I am being told there is a "deal" in the works on health care reform, I am starting to wonder. How much better will the economy get as it tries to absorb the tax increases necessary to fund "the deal?" I'm just not one of those who believe the stories about "revenue neutral." How do we extend coverage to millions of people, protect Medicare, and have revenue neutrality? How do we pay "the highest rate of pay for the Senior Executive service under Section 5382(b) of Title 5," and the members of the bureaucracy the Health Choices Commissioner will head, and have cost neutrality? Do you know any government employees who are motivated to save money every day? That's what it would take to make this pay for itself. The employees of this new department of Health Choices will, at the very least, have to be dedicated to saving their own salaries every day.

Then there is the cost of health care for the millions who are added to the rolls. In my experience, health coverage costs at least $300 a month. So multiply the 20 million or so people times $300 each month and you have the expenditure that makes me wonder. Now, I know the Congress has a lot of smart people among its members and on its staff, but I'm wondering why none of those people can come forward and resolve all the doubts that I and others have. It must be something obvious we are all missing. I have attempted to glean some of this from the 2,016 page House Bill, but realized I was wasting my time as the Senate was preparing a markedly different bill that is 2,700 pages long, and I have yet to see it. Then there's the compromise bill that will finally be hammered out by a joint committee. What will that look like? I wonder.

Let's just relax. "It isn't going to take effect for several years; it will eventually be revenue-neutral…" We don't have to worry about this any time soon. But, I'm wondering about when it will become something to worry about. When will it all be paid for? How will we deal with the taxes? A basic principle that I subscribe to is that tax increases don't stimulate economic growth, they retard it. I'm wondering, am I wrong? I don't think so. If you increase taxes, you add to costs, you reduce profits; you reduce the amount of capital available for reinvestment. Isn't that how it works?

Oh, and the new villains of the piece, the insurance companies. What do we do with them? I'm wondering if they will continue to exist once we regulate away any profits. Oh, the government will decide what a fair profit will be. Do you guess the Federal Reserve will set profits, kind of like they control interest rates? I'm wondering how that is going to work. I may not be as smart as our Congresspersons who don't read the bills they pass, but I read where insurance companies will have to apply for approval before they change premiums on coverage they sell. I'm wondering if they will all have to submit their applications all at once. Or, will they have to combine as many insurance company applications together as possible so that the process won't take up the entire year. It just makes me wonder. How about you?