Middle Class Dismissed

When It Comes To Healthcare, Paul Krugman Is Wrong 100% Of The Time

"In a recent New York Times column Krugman pronounced Obamacare a success before it has even been tried. Why? Because the premiums to be charged in California health insurance exchange are apparently lower than what the experts thought they would be. Aah… let’s see… Everybody thought health insurance premiums would be 100% higher. In fact, they are only 60% higher… Hooray… Break out the champagne! I’ll come back to these price comparisons in a minute. For the moment, I would ask: What kind of an economist would celebrate an expected price decline without asking what happened to quantity or quality? This is an Econ 101 mistake." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhen It Comes To Healthcare, Paul Krugman Is Wrong 100% Of The Time

Entire School District Shuts Down — Out of Money

"Michigan’s Buena Vista — 'Good View' — school district in Michigan shut down this week. It is out of money. Some teachers say they will teach for free. But will all of them do this? In any case, it’s illegal. Michigan doesn’t allow it. The state cut funding by $3 million, due to declining enrollment. The nearby Pontiac School District is close to bankrupt. It can’t meet payroll. Two districts in Arkansas are bust. The Philadelphia district in Pennsylvania is begging for money from the state. We are in an economic recovery. What happens in the next recession?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEntire School District Shuts Down — Out of Money

The Goodfellas of Wall Street

"If you think of the economy as this vast thing where success or failure is a matter of serving customers well, then you are deceiving yourself. (I’ve written about this before, about how America’s largest companies are basically products of state privilege.) This perspective is good too because the reality of the thing shatters many illusions. Think Obamacare is a socialist redistribution scheme? Take another look. What it really amounts to is the largest corporate giveaway and pork-filled legislation in the history of the country." Continue reading →

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IMF Bureaucrats With Tax-Free Salaries Propose $1.40/Gallon Gas Tax Hike

"For the United States, the IMF estimated that would require a $1.40 levy per gallon of gas and other fees totaling more than $1,400 per person each year — around $500 billion in total. Wow, that’s more than $5,500 for a family of four. Remember that these bureaucrats get extremely generous tax-free salaries, yet they apparently don’t see any hypocrisy in recommending huge tax increases for the peasantry. P.S. You’ll be happy to know that the IMF study deliberately 'did not look at government support for the alternative energy industry.' So Obama’s corrupt 'green energy' programs got a free pass. Gee, how convenient." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIMF Bureaucrats With Tax-Free Salaries Propose $1.40/Gallon Gas Tax Hike

Why a single mom is better off with a $29,000 job than a $69,000 job

"Let’s take the example of a single mom with two kids, 1 and 4. She has a $29,000 a year job, putting the kids in daycare during the day while she works. As the above chart – via Gary Alexander, Pennsylvania’s secretary of Public Welfare — shows, the single mom is better off earning gross income of $29,000 with $57,327 in net income and benefits than to earn gross income of $69,000 with net income & benefits of $57,045. It would sure be tempting for that mom to keep the status quo rather than take the new job, even though the new position might lead to further career advancement and a higher standard of living." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy a single mom is better off with a $29,000 job than a $69,000 job

Bill Bonner: Empire of Debt

"Everywhere you look the scene is the same. The insiders are taking more and more wealth from the outsiders. Everyone wants to be an insider. And in a democracy especially, over time, more and more people find ways to game the system and join the insiders. Finally, everyone seems to have an angle. And soon civilization is on the road to decline and ruin. This happens when there are more parasites than producers… and more voters with their hands in the cookie jar than there are people making cookies!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Empire of Debt

Bill Bonner: Empire of Debt

"Everywhere you look the scene is the same. The insiders are taking more and more wealth from the outsiders. Everyone wants to be an insider. And in a democracy especially, over time, more and more people find ways to game the system and join the insiders. Finally, everyone seems to have an angle. And soon civilization is on the road to decline and ruin. This happens when there are more parasites than producers… and more voters with their hands in the cookie jar than there are people making cookies!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Empire of Debt

Max Keiser’s Marshmallow Gun of Truth: Think Tank

"Abby Martin talks to Max Keiser, host of RT's 'Keiser Report' about everything from why a supposedly broke country always has money for war, and the often illogical outcomes of important events, citing Halliburton stocks rising following revelations of the company's criminality." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMax Keiser’s Marshmallow Gun of Truth: Think Tank

IRS Finalizes Penalty for ObamaCare Mandate

"Last week, federal tax collectors finalized a rule to penalize individuals who do not obtain health insurance under ObamaCare. The regulation from the IRS formally codifies the fine charged to people without insurance under the health care law's individual mandate, says The Hill. Under the law, most Americans must either be covered by health insurance or pay a penalty. For the first year, the charge for not obtaining health insurance is $95 or 1 percent of household income. The penalty will increase, though, to $695 per person or 2.5 percent of household income in 2016 and then according to a cost-of-living formula for following years." Continue reading →

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ObamaCare Was Sold To American Voters On Deceptive Terms

"In 2008, Barack Obama made it sound as though his health reform was only designed to help people who couldn’t afford health insurance afford it. Everyone else was going to be left alone. ('If you like the health plan you have you can keep it.') Then, on the eve of passage of the legislation, the focus changed to those few people (very few, it turns out) who are denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. But it very recently, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and others have been in print explaining that ObamaCare won’t work unless the government controls the premiums paid by everybody in the entire country! As far as the general public is concerned, this is a brand new idea." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObamaCare Was Sold To American Voters On Deceptive Terms