Middle Class Dismissed

Our Legacy Systems: Dysfunctional, Unreformable

"Real reform would mean powerful constituencies would have to take real reductions in staffing, power, benefits and in their share of the national income. Rather than reveal this double-bind--reform is impossible but the Status Quo is unsustainable--the legacy system deploys its gargantuan resources to laying down a smoke-screen of bogus reforms and ginned-up statistics. America's legacy systems are like stars about to go super-nova. They have increased in size to the point where their stupendous mass guarantees that once their energy source (as measured in fossil fuels and money) falls below a certain threshold, the institution will collapse inward on itself." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOur Legacy Systems: Dysfunctional, Unreformable

Our Legacy Systems: Dysfunctional, Unreformable

"Real reform would mean powerful constituencies would have to take real reductions in staffing, power, benefits and in their share of the national income. Rather than reveal this double-bind--reform is impossible but the Status Quo is unsustainable--the legacy system deploys its gargantuan resources to laying down a smoke-screen of bogus reforms and ginned-up statistics. America's legacy systems are like stars about to go super-nova. They have increased in size to the point where their stupendous mass guarantees that once their energy source (as measured in fossil fuels and money) falls below a certain threshold, the institution will collapse inward on itself." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOur Legacy Systems: Dysfunctional, Unreformable

Dentists vs. Smiles

"Everyone wants an attractive smile, which is why teeth whitening is a rapidly growing industry. But thanks to lobbying by licensed dentists, Alabama—like a growing number of states—has made it a crime to sell teeth-whitening products, even if customers apply those products to their own teeth. Alabama is not the only state to shut down non-dentist teeth whiteners. In 2011, the Connecticut State Dental Commission outlawed the practice. In fact, at least 30 states have tried to shut down teeth-whitening entrepreneurs either through new statutes and regulations or through new interpretations of existing statutes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDentists vs. Smiles

Hospital investors ‘sold’ on Obamacare

"Shares of U.S. hospital operators have been on a tear this year, on average posting triple the gains of the broader stock market, as investors tallied up the benefits of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform. They expect company earnings to strengthen as more Americans gain insurance coverage and hospitals lose less money treating the uninsured. The reform law has spurred consolidation among hospitals, and further merger activity could lift valuations. The biggest benefit from health reform is expected to be an influx of patients whose treatment will be paid for either through expanded Medicaid programs or from state-based exchanges." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHospital investors ‘sold’ on Obamacare

The Obamacare Problem Isn’t Messaging, It’s Statism

"The Obama administration and its health-law allies are gearing up this summer to slice through three years of confusion and opposition to Obamacare. They’ve got their work cut out for them. Obamacare won’t have a shot at success unless millions of people sign up for insurance — the healthy as well as the sick. …Organizing for Action, spun off from Obama’s campaign operation, went up with a seven-figure TV ad buy in June, touting the new benefits and promising to offer 'the truth' about the law. Enroll America, a nonprofit group with ties to the White House, wants to leverage the grass roots across the country and engage big-name celebrities for the cause." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Obamacare Problem Isn’t Messaging, It’s Statism

Confiscation by the Installment Plan

"One plan might be to find locations in less-risky countries that will accept you as a client. Another possibility may be to resort (at least for moderate amounts) to what a very large portion of the population routinely did less than a century ago – keep some money at home. To modern culture, this latter idea seems downright primitive, yet well into the 20th century, this was the norm. In years to come, 2013 may be looked back upon as 'the arrival of modern bank confiscations,' and the majority of those who actually still have wealth in five to ten years may be the ones who foresaw the inevitable, got their money out, and put it in comparatively safer places." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingConfiscation by the Installment Plan

Federal food stamp recruiters operate on monthly quota system

"She curled her hair and painted her nails fluorescent pink. 'A happy, it’s-all-good look,' she said, checking her reflection in the rearview mirror. Then she drove along the Florida coast to sign people up for food stamps. It is Nerios’s job to enroll at least 150 seniors for food stamps each month. The job also has a second and more controversial purpose for cash-strapped Florida, where increasing food-stamp enrollment has become a means of economic growth, bringing almost $6 billion each year into the state. The money helps to sustain communities, grocery stores and food producers. It also adds to rising federal entitlement spending and the U.S. debt." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal food stamp recruiters operate on monthly quota system

Ron Paul: If You Like The Surveillance State, You’ll Love E-Verify

"The mandatory E-Verify system requires Americans to carry a 'tamper-proof' social security card. Before they can legally begin a job, American citizens will have to show the card to their prospective employer, who will then have to verify their identity and eligibility to hold a job in the US by running the information through the newly-created federal E-Verify database. The database will contain photographs taken from passport files and state driver’s licenses. The law gives federal bureaucrats broad discretion in adding other 'biometric' identifiers to the database and broad authority to determine what features the 'tamper proof' card should contain." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: If You Like The Surveillance State, You’ll Love E-Verify

Feds, truckers clash over new safety rules expected to increase shipping costs

"The federal safety administration counters that nearly 4,000 truck crashes a year is still too many. The new rules, it maintains, will prevent about 1,400 crashes and 560 injuries, and save 19 lives each year, according to its analysis. The rules also come with a cost to the trucking industry. More breaks and time off the road means it will take more drivers—and more trucks to move the same volume of goods. That cost impact won't be felt right away because shipping volumes tend to slacken in the summer months and pick up again in the fall. So don't be surprised if you end up paying a little more for shipping when you do your holiday shopping online this year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFeds, truckers clash over new safety rules expected to increase shipping costs

6 Insidious Ways Surveillance Changes the Way We Think and Act

"When I moved to a Czech village in 1994 to teach English, I was fascinated by the cultural difference between Americans like me and my new community. At that time, the oppressive memory of the dreaded Communist secret police, the StB, was still fresh. As a brash young ex-pat, born after the era of McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover, I understood little of what it felt like to live under constant surveillance. The Czechs knew better. Several decades under the watchful eyes of the StB (and before that, the spies of the Habsburg Empire) had molded their attitudes and behavior in ways that were both subtle and profound." Continue reading →

Continue Reading6 Insidious Ways Surveillance Changes the Way We Think and Act