So, what political jujitsu did I come across that can inoculate someone from the populist ‘tax the rich’ argument? Well, here it is. Our tax system is progressive already meaning that we do tax the wealthy more than others. President Obama and the Democrats are using a crisis to state that the already progressive tax system is not progressive enough. The key here is not progressive it is the justification in making it more progressive. If there is a true national crisis then why not ask all Americans to help out. Forget that nearly 50% of Americans pay no federal tax today. Those Americans are exempt from saving the country but benefit when the country is back on sound financial footing while those who carried the load will receive no reimbursement, no future benefits and no thank you from the ruling class or those who benefitted by having the government make others pay. The simple truth is that this is not about fairness, solving a national crisis or duty to country because it is all about politics.

The funny thing is that nobody is calling bull s@$t on the President. If he’s able to find a way to cut taxes to save the day why in the world does he need additional taxes? Why did he allow the tax cuts formerly known as the Bush Tax Cuts to be extended and all of a sudden change his mind now when faced with a ‘crisis’? Politics is your answer.

What is needed now as much as budget cuts from a bloated budget run amuck is tax revenue from those who lost their jobs during the recession. Yet, we see the President doing nothing to solve that problem except to double down on the things he did to extend and actually worsen the recession. Time to start growth policies to create jobs instead of taking the capital out of our economy that we need for that growth.

My wife lost her younger sister on 9/11.  It was a shock to us all because she worked in Connecticut and was only there because she was asked to attend a conference at the World Trade Center the night before.  She agreed because it allowed her to commute with her husband of 5 months who did work in the building.  When she said good bye as they parted it was only intended to mean good bye for now.  Her final good bye came later via Blackberry – messages that would crush even the strongest among us.

In 2005, we moved our family from New York to North Carolina.  Our move took place in August and my wife returned to New York on the 9/11 anniversary the following month to read her sister’s name at the Ground Zero ceremony.  Upon her return to North Carolina she found that the town we lived in had no memorial.  She set out to change that by writing to our mayor.  He agreed to allocate a small sum to create a memorial at a town park.  My wife did the work to find a stone for the memorial and found a vendor to make a plaque.  Eventually, the modest memorial was dedicated and out town had its own 9/11 memorial.

Last night, my wife went to bed early.  I came up almost an hour later to find the TV still on.  Since she was sleeping I felt no need to consult her before I started to change the channels.  That’s when one of the news channels caught my eye with a pending news conference from the White House the subject of which was not yet released.  I thought it unusual so I stayed with the broadcast.  The newscasters were speculating that it was Libya related.  After listening for 20 minutes I was thinking of possibilities and Bin Laden came to mind.  Not long after that the newscaster came to the same realization and then the reports came flooding in.  Once it became clear that it was true I woke my wife at about 11:15 PM.  I wished her Happy Anniversary 45 minutes early and then informed her that Bin Laden was dead.

Today, I visited the site of this memorial.  The purpose was to give my wife her anniversary gift.  You see, her memorial for her sister was not completed.  There was always something missing.  Thanks to the CIA and the Navy Seals I was able to finish the job.  Happy Anniversary, E.  Your memorial has now taken its final form.

This is a vision that says up to 50 million Americans have to lose their health insurance in order for us to reduce the deficit.  And who are those 50 million Americans?  Many are someone’s grandparents who wouldn’t be able afford nursing home care without Medicaid.  Many are poor children.  Some are middle-class families who have children with autism or Down’s syndrome.  Some are kids with disabilities so severe that they require 24-hour care.  These are the Americans we’d be telling to fend for themselves.

I have one question for The President.  Mr. President, what exactly are you as the head of our government doing for kids with Autism today? If you’re doing something I’m not seeing it.  I have a 15 year-old son with Autism.  There is no treatment, no service and no assistance that I receive which comes from the government.  You make a claim that under the Ryan plan programs for my son will be cut or done away with.  Well, sir, I don’t see what it is that you’re doing for him now.

I just filed my taxes this week.  My W-2 shows that I paid nearly $38,000 in taxes to both the federal government and my state.  Boy, I’d love to have that money back because the accumulated bills for my son over the years are more than twice that.  The truth is that anyone with any sort of income is disqualified for government assistance related to Autism.  Add to that the fact that Autism is not considered a medical problem so insurance companies do not pay for many of the services.  And since insurance doesn’t pay so the doctors and therapists ask for cash in advance.  Medical Reimbursement is only $5,000 per year so my pre-tax contributions to that plan are wiped out long before the year ends.  So where does that leave me other than to pay out of my pocket without assistance which is exactly where you’re saying we’ll be under the Ryan plan but the truth is we are already there.

So, next time you wish to make a point and attempt to add a line about Autism in order to gain sympathy for your cause one word of advice – DON’T!  You don’t speak for me and you clearly don’t understand my situation as a parent of a child with Autism.  And next time you open your mouth and the ‘A’ word comes out you’d better have something for the families dealing with Autism because you’re not helping and we’re fending for ourselves right now.

It was reported today that part of the reason for the $200 Million per day cost of the Obama visit to India has to do with security.  Apparently, there will be 34 US warships in Mumbai to help with security in addition to an expanded security detail, Marine One, the Presidential limo, etc.

I find this ironic.  We are going to spend all this money on security for Obama, yet what happened when the Indian Prime Minister visited the White House for their state dinner?  If you guessed Michaele & Tareq Salahi crashing the party then you are correct.  While it would be a safe bet to assume that Michaele & Tareq won’t get anywhere near the Obama entourage I would not rule out an appearance.  Those Housewives of DC can be pretty resourceful.

Well, today the media is in a frenzy wondering what President Obama is going to say at 1 PM after his party got badly beaten in yesterday’s elections.  And saying badly beaten is not even remotely close to the truth because it was a blood bath.  While the Democrats will be pointing to the fact that they held the Senate that’s an anomaly because only 1/3rd of the Senate was up for reelection.  If it were the whole senate it would have been worse.  If you want affirmation that the Democrats took a beating look at the house, governors and state legislatures you see a Red wave of Republicans taking over.  Only a CNBC host would make the claim that things were not so bad.

The media is typically waiting for the next words from the President.  While it might be nice to hear him congratulate all of the winners and concede that he went too far in moving forward with $787 Billion in unnecessary spending or ramming a bad Healthcare Bill down our throats it’s too little too late.  It’s like Bush firing Rumsfeld after the Democrats decimated the Republicans in the 2006 mid-term elections.

What will be far more interesting will be the events in January 2011.  I have a novel idea.  At the first sign of conflict, presumptive Speaker Boehner should pull Obama’s ‘I Won’ quote out of mothballs and fire it back to him.  I doubt that he’ll get the connection but it will make the intended point.  It will make the point that more Americans are against him than with him.  It will make the point that states he counted on to win like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey and Florida are now firmly in Republican hands.  It will make the point that some of these states will lose seats in redistricting and the gains will be made in states that he lost.  It will make the point that state legislatures now in Republican hands will redraw the congressional district maps and those maps will continue to favor the Republicans.  Finally, it will make the point that President Obama will be the next one to face the voters and that before he faces the entire electorate it is still possible that an unpopular President could face a challenge from within his own party.

What Steve Jobs wants to do is reinvent the publishing industry which is losing readers and money as it’s customers shift from print to online.  There are plenty of technologies that allow people to view content online versus in print – everything from computers, to reading devices like the Kindle to their phones (iPhone, Palm  Pre, Android-base phones and Blackberries).  I fully expect to see Steve Jobs bring his A game and create his usual Reality Distortion Field.  But he needs to bring more to the table than simply technology if he wishes to succeed.

The problem facing the print media business is not that people are not reading their products but they are reading their products for free.  Also, advertisers are not willing to pay the same for online as they are in print.  That creates a gap in revenue that online can deliver and that combined with lower readership puts the print media business in their current situation.

If the iTablet is going to be a game changer it has to be more than simply technology.  It has to hit home on two fronts.  First, it has to convince consumers that it is a better experience than their current online reading devices.  More value translates into subscriptions.  But subscriptions alone will not save publishers because they need advertisers to make up the difference much like they did in print to cover the cost of paper, printing and mailing.  Apple must show the advertising world that they will deliver on bring the eyeballs (read people willing to buy the iTablet) but they must offer something to advertisers as well.  Advertisers place ads in publications that prove they have the audience that will buy the advertiser’s product.  There are demographics that the publisher can quote which guarantee the advertiser eyeballs.  These are called Media Kits and spell out the benefit.  What Apple must be able to do is one up these Media Kits for their publishing customers.  They can do that by letting the advertiser not only the demographics of a reader is but when they view the ad.  That might more powerful than Google’s click through because the ad can be tailored and things can be done to attract that view to click through faster if there is a window which the ad is good for – like product launch, movie premier or TV show episode.

If Apple is successful in selling to both consumers and advertisers then Slate (or whatever the service will be called) will be a resounding success.  However, if they approach the solution to the problem as one that’s missing the right device then Apple haters will see their dream come true in an Apple product that fails to deliver.  My prediction is that Apple understands all of this.  Some of what I outlined may or may not be articulated because they’re going to sell some through back channels (media to advertising discussion like Don Draper does in Mad Men).  In some cases, the technology may not be totally ready for public consumption and Apple will only show finished product.  I give the company a good shot of delivering on their promise and will anxious to see the presentation when it gets posted to iTunes.

I always see the emotions of the day through my wife.  She was 4 years older than her sister and was the closest with her in the family.  The pain of losing anyone in your family is bad.  Knowing that her sister had finally put her troubles behind her, was married only 5 months earlier and had only a bright future ahead makes the loss that much more difficult for her.  And it’s hard for me to see the pain in her.

I always put my feelings on the back burner but I do get angry not only about what happened to our family that day but as a result of the actions of others ever since.  I see an 8 year-old scar where giants once stood.  For years, the City and State of New York as well as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, developers and architects have bickered over what to do and how to do things.  Their bickering is not only an embarrassment in front of the whole country but also a symbol of American failure and a country in decline.  There is absolutely no reason why there should not be completed buildings and a memorial standing today.  It is nonsense like this that gave my wife and I the motivation to move from Long Island to North Carolina.

I heard today on the news that Mayor Bloomberg said that they’re intentionally moving slow so that they get every detail right.  He went on to promise a completed memorial in 2 years for the 10 anniversary.  My opinion is that is utter and complete nonsense.  It simply sows that Albany and Gracie Mansion as well as the state legislature and city council are failures more interested in having their say and getting their way then solving problems and making things work.  They should have made selfless acts like those made on that day by policemen, firefighters and even airplane passengers who made the ultimate sacrifice for others.  Yet, politicians will do what they always do to make things worse, not better and we have the scar for all of the world to see yet again.

And then we have our Presidents.  I give President Bush credit for keeping us safe in the days since when there is no denying that if asked about the likelihood of another attack 8 years ago all would have responded affirmatively, that we would be attacked on the homeland again.  I also take points away for drawing a line at the Pakistan border and not sending special forces in to finish the job.  And Obama?  Here’s what he said before taking office:

“I think it is a top priority for us to stamp out al Qaeda once and for all,” Obama told CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “I think capturing or killing (Osama) Bin Laden is a critical aspect of stamping out Al Qaeda. He is not just a symbol, he’s also the operational leader of an organization that is planning attacks against U.S. targets.”

Barack Obama on 60 Minutes – November 2008

Obama now owns the war.  He escalated with a surge of his own even if he won’t use that language to describe it.  He’s good at giving speeches and making claims.  However, his execution in this respect and on other matters, like the economy, falls way short of what was stated.  For someone who said in the debate that he’d give the order to kill Bin Laden and who claimed that Bush was a failure for not killing him at Tora Bora he’s not exactly doing any better.  He’s yet to give us his vision for the military action, define success or give us a reason why all of this is necessary.  And he’s standing behind the same border that Bush did holding a capable military back from completing the job.

I never placed a lot of confidence in government to do anything productive.  What 9/11 shows is that no matter the party, no matter the promise, no matter the man they are all the same – cowards and incompetents.

Ben Hershenson, a self-described Republican — “I don’t know what I’m doing here” — fretted that a government-run public plan option would kill private insurance companies.

…and he (President Obama) said a government-run public option should not kill private insurers, but rather force them to be more competitive, even going so far as to compare the competition between them toFedEx, UPS and the Postal Service. “UPS and FedEx are doing just fine,” Mr. Obama joked. “It’s the post office that’s always having problems.”

New York Times

Sorry Mr. President.  I understand where you’re coming from but this analogy simply doesn’t work.  The implication is that USPS, UPS and FedEx all do the same thing when in truth they do not.  The one thing that they all have in common is that they deliver something to your door.  It is that something that separates them.

United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (FedEx) are permitted to deliver packages and overnight express envelopes to your residence or place of employment.  They also have other businesses like LTL and Truckload services, freight forwarding, warehousing, supply chain management, logistics and even trade finance.  Both must do this at a profit because both are public companies traded on stock exchanges.

The one thing that UPS & FedEx cannot deliver is mail.  The US Postal Service (USPS) is a monoploy created by the Federal Government.  They are the only organization permitted to carry mail throughout the United States.  Now if they are a monopoly why are they not turning a profit?  The problem is government interference.

Every so often people complain about the rising cost of postage.  Stamps go from X cents to Y cents and the USPS prints up new stamps to mark this occasion.  The stamps are part of the problem.  The USPS charges you the same to mail your letter next door as it does for someone in Miami to send a letter of equal size and weight to Sarah Palin in Alaska.  Hawaii to New York?  Same price.  But what are their costs?  There’s the problem.  The actual cost to move a letter from you to your neighbor may be far less than the cost of postage.  However, the Miami-Alaska or Hawaii-New York letters are loss leaders.  Taken as a whole the USPS network is a loser because of this one rate policy.

Now, let’s circle back to UPS and FedEx.  Their pricing models are far more complicated.  They know that distance equals cost and as such base their pricing on that factor.  They also know that equal distance from each point does not cost the same.  Therefore, their pricing models from Miami, Hawaii and from your house are totally different rather than harmonized like with the USPS where distance for everyone is priced the same even if it does not cost the same.

Back to President Obama.  The impression he’s trying to make is that the private sector survives and even thrives in a setting where the government run organization cannot.  What he’s leaving out is the fact that UPS & FedEx are operating in a free market whereas the USPS is operating under strict federal regulation.  What if FedEx and UPS were forced to adopt USPS pricing?  No doubt both would not be as wildly profitable as they are now and would never garner Presidential accolades again.

Getting back to healthcare, since both public and private insurers would be operating under the same rules all would end up like the USPS.  Since the public option would be the one that’s ‘too big to fail’ the government would let the private insurers fail leading to a government monoploy for healthcare.  Sound familiar?  That would make the public option the USPS of healthcare.

Tonight’s honoree is Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Democrat from Michigan.  In her most recent election, her commercials claimed that one of her successes was to keep Canadian garbage out of Michigan.  Judging from the employment rate in the state these days maybe opening up a landfill for Canadian garbage would have been a pretty good idea.

This time around it’s waste of a different kind that is getting Debbie into trouble.  This time she’s waxing poetic on the subject of carbon emissions.  Stabenow is stating her support for the badly named ‘Cap and Trade’ bill which is a massive tax program.  And for you climate change doubters out there she has better proof that it is happening than if a scientist was able to recreate it in a laboratory.  Here is her proof:

“Climate change is very real,” she confessed as she embraced cap and trade’s massive tax increase on Michigan industry – at the same time claiming, against all the evidence, that it would not lead to an increase in manufacturing costs or energy prices. “Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I’m flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the price in more hurricanes and tornadoes.“

Detroit News on Sen. Stabenow

According to the article this is contrary to the facts on the ground in Michigan:

Michigan just experienced its coldest July on record; global temperatures haven’t risen in more than a decade; Great Lakes water levels have resumed their 30-year cyclical rise (contrary to a decade of media scare stories that they were drying up due to global warming), and polls show that climate change doesn’t even make a list of Michigan voters’ top-ten concerns.

Maybe Nancy Pelosi is right.  They really do need to spend a few hundred million more on a new fleet of congressional aircraft.  Then maybe ol’Deb won’t feel any bumps when she flies to and from WashingDumb.

In previous blogs, I have advocated for what former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates calls friction free commerce. In the healthcare world this means returning healthcare insurance to what it was in the past and should have been all along – something there for surgery and long term illness. On Sunday I finally saw coverage of something that gets us moving in the right direction. Good Morning America had a report on a company that charges people a monthly fee of between $45-$75 per month for unlimited primary care. No insurance is billed and no copays at the office. Patients see doctors and doctors get to spend more time with patients.  The beauty of this is no government intervention and if your doctor participates then you get to keep your doctor.

Question 1: if you could pay for a service like this with pre-tax dollars or out of a healthcare savings account partially funded by your employer would you prefer this option to what’s being floated in Washington by the Democrats?

Dean Kamen is best known as the inventor of the Segway – you know that two wheeled, self balancing scooter that was supposed to transform cities.  However, he is an inventor with over 400 patents many of which are for medical devices.  Popular Mechanics recently published an interview with Kamen where he gives an interesting take on the healthcare debate. He does not take sides because he feels that neither side completely understands the problem. His solution is forward looking and depends upon innovation to eradicate diseases, come up with new therapies and revolutionary surgeries so that projected future costs are taken out today. While it does sound expensive he argues that it is simply a matter of priorities. As a nation we spend twice as much on sporting events (400 billion) than we do on drug research (200 billion). He throws out numbers for tobacco and soft drinks – things that fund medical research. Kamen adds that he’s not out to limit the bread and circuses but believes that if we put more resources into medical research then the impact would be significant.

Dean Kamen Interview with Popular Mechanics

Now compare this with what’s wrongly been called Obamacare.  I say this because he has given no input over HR 3200 and has let Congress and the staffers write the legislation.  Obama is simply a glorified tonic salesman.  Anyway, the new system adds more people into coverage and asks fewer people to pay and requires an initial investment of $1 Trillion before it can take place.  Because healthcare goes from something where profit can be derived to one where profit must be preserved innovation will never, ever be part of the solution.  That means no opportunity to take future cost out of the system from medical cures today.  Why?  If there’s no profit incentive then there will be no capital formation around possible solutions meaning no investment in future cures.

Question 2: where would you rather have your money go – unwillingly to the government for a healthcare program where we tread water or willingly buy a low cost government backed bond to fund medical research akin to War Bonds over buying tickets to a ball game?

I don’t believe that I have all of the answers.  These are just two perspectives that I find very interesting and believe over time will be more effective than what is currently on the table.  I trust that folks in medical related fields have better ideas.  They simply need to be heard.  Unfortunately, those in government believe that only government can save the day.  That’s one prescription that I’m not buying.