Posted by kungfucraig on 10/23/09

Quote of the week

“[Monetary inflation] may be described as a tool of antidemocratic policy. By deceiving public opinion, it permits a system of government to continue which would have no hope of receiving the approval of the people if conditions were frankly explained to them.” – Ludwig von Mises

American Idea

by Walter E. Williams

“We Americans, as human beings, are no different from any other people, including Germans, Russians, Chinese, Africans and other people who have produced tyrannical regimes such as those of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Idi Amin. As such we are just as capable of committing acts of gross evil that have been a part of mankind throughout his history. We’ve not been a perfect nation but we’ve never approached the level of hideousness seen in other nations. That’s despite the fact that our population consists of people who have for centuries been trying to slaughter one another in their home countries, whether it’s between the French and Germans, English and Irish, Japanese and Chinese, or Palestinians and Jews, Igbos and the Hausa of Nigeria. Thrown into the American mosaic are religions that have been in conflict for centuries such as Catholic and Protestant, and Christian and Muslim. The question is: Why is the United States an exception and will it remain so?” more…

Macro for Dummies

by Bill Bonner

“It is safe to assume that no one working at the Federal Reserve or at the White House has a picture of Warren Gamaliel Harding over his desk. Yet, if American presidents were ranked on the basis of how well they faced up to financial disaster, Warren G. Harding might be somebody. His handsome face would be carved on Rushmore. His likeness would grace the $100 bill. Harding was the last American president to deal honestly with a major financial crisis. Every president since has tried to scam his way out of it.” more…

An Update on Peak Oil from ASPO

by Byron King

“Marcio Mello, the former explorationist from Petrobras (PBR: NYSE) and now independent petroleum consultant, electrified the Denver meeting of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas (ASPO).” more…

Could an independent Texas survive economically? The facts say ‘Yes’

by Dave Mundy

“Many of those who scoff at the notion of Texas independence do so by trying to paint a portrait of a trailer-park redneck republic which slides rapidly into Third World status without the many intricate connections to its sister states fostered by the benevolent government in Washington, D.C.” more…

Is Adulation of the Military Really Patriotic?

by Ivan Eland

“A recent article in the New York Times reported that the military has become frustrated with President Barack Obama because he hasn’t quickly decided to risk more of their lives in an Afghan war that is likely to be unwinnable. In a post-World War II world that has featured a non-traditional militarized foreign policy of profligate interventions into the affairs of other nations, the U.S. military and its opinion have acquired great prestige and are accorded hushed reverence in American society. The military and flag are worshiped as never before. But is this really patriotism?” more…

Regulars

• Comics
• Interview with Doug Casey.

News and stuff

• Here’s a nice graphical summary of the outmoded overly-simplistic left-right political paradigm.
• Feds back down on medical marijuana. Will respect local/state laws regarding it.
• Who is Anita Dunn? An admirer of Mao Zedong and a top-Obama advisor. Yikes.
• Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas
• 49% say no healthcare reform would be better than what is being considered. 39% disagree.
• Nancy Pelosi responds with “are you serious?” to the question: “Where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?” An aide later remarks: “That is not a serious question.”
• Maker of Russia’s #1 virus software is calling for the end of online anonymity, promotes the notion of “online passports” for all.
• Senate to seek increase in debt limit in a “defense” (read war) appropriations bill.
• US spies buy stake in company that monitors blogs, tweets.
• Senate healthcare bill uses the word tax 124 times.
• Some Senators are trying to water down the Audit the Fed bill.
• Patient’s own stem cells used to grow facial bones.
• An inflation calculator. Fun times!
• Ayn Rand gains traction in India.
• George Soros says that Wall St. profits are a gift from the state.

Videos

• Peter Schiff on CNBC.

And now the numbers…

DOW Jones Industrials – 9,972.18 (-23.73/-0.24%)
S&P 500 – 1,079.60 (-8.08/-0.74%)
VIX – 22.27 (+0.84/3.92%)
CSI 300 (China) – 3,413.252 (+171.543/5.29%)
BSE 500 (India) – 6,546.75 (-163.86/-2.44%)
MICEX (Russia) – 1,365.09 (+48.02/3.65%)
BOVESPA (Brazil) – 65,058.84 (-1,141.652/-1.72%)
RICI – 3,247.69 (+86.37/2.73%)
Gold/oz – 1,056.40 (+4.90/0.47%)
Silver/oz – 17.723 (+0.303/1.74%)
Copper/lb – 303.45 (+18.90/6.64%)
Oil/bbl (Brent) – 78.92 (+1.93/2.51%)
Wheat/bu (CBT) – 547.75 (+49.00/9.82%)
Corn/bu – 397.75 (+25.75/6.92%)
EUR-USD – 1.5008 (+0.0102/0.68%)
USD-JPY – 92.06 (+1.169/1.29%)
USD-BRL – 1.7173 (+0.0073/0.43%)
3 Month Treasury – 0.05 (-0.01/-16.67%)
2 Year Treasury – 1.00 (+0.05/5.26%)
10 Year Treasury – 3.49 (+0.08/2.35%)
30 Year Treasury – 4.29 (+0.05/1.18%)
U.S. Public Debt (official) – 11,896,808,244,570.30 (-49,894,888,237.00/-0.42%)
Baltic Dry Index (BDIY:IND) – 3,043.00 (+315.00/11.55%)

I was walking on campus Wednesday and there were some kids trying to get passers by to write letters to Michigan’s two United States Senators – the venerable hack Carl Levin and the hack in training Debbie Stabenow. Well I didn’t know exactly what they were doing at first, so I asked. Not surprisingly they were trying to support some hare-brained big government bull crap. You know, it’s the University of Michigan. What else would you expect?

In fact, they were supporting “Cap n’ Trade”. They had their talking points on a clip board and would just ask for a moment of your time to transcribe said talking points into a letter. Then at some future date they would deliver those letters to Levin and Stabenow. I have to admit that’s a pretty damn good tactic. One that we could use to our benefit.

Anyway I struck up a conversation with one of the scumbags in training and asked him where the money was going to come from to fund this monstrosity. “Well you know,” he said, “alternative energy sources will bring thousands of jobs to Michigan and besides we import so much coal into this state anyway.” So I asked again, “where is the money for this going to come from? You know we ran like a two trillion dollar budget deficit this year, it’s not getting any better, and well our currency could be destroyed.” “Well you know, we’re all just here on this rock in the middle of space and money doesn’t matter too much in the big scheme of things.” Seriously, that’s what he said. People this freaking stupid and shallow shouldn’t be involved in politics. Uggg…

Since my ride was not due for another fifteen minutes or so, and since I was just going to sit around anyway, I thought I’d try to keep the idiot’s attention for a while longer. So we talked in circles. Finally he says, “you know, I really can’t talk to you because if I stand here and debate you I won’t get any letters written.” But I kept talking. Finally he become adamant about getting back to his “job”. I asked who was paying him. He didn’t say, but he didn’t say he was a volunteer either. But in any case he had to “get back to work”. He wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything just talking to me. I smiled at him and said, “exactly”, and then walked off.

I think that’s another tactic we can use. If you’ve got a bit of time to kill, or just for fun anytime, hijack an activist.

And that brings me to my larger point, which is inline with what Walter Williams said above. Basically there is no conception in this society about the limits of government power. It is assumed that government may do anything it wishes, if only a majority supports it. That is a prescription for despotism indeed.

Can you believe Nancy “are you serious” Pelosi? Shallow and stupid, or malevolent? I keep asking that question… On the other hand does the answer really matter if the destination is the same?

Focus on the states… That’s what I need to keep reminding myself of.

Have a nice weekend.

This post originally appeared at http://www.craigwwright.com/

Posted 10/25/09 libertyspirit Modesto, CA

Nice summary!

Posted by kungfucraig on 08/31/09

By the time I turned 16 years old I had learned what is still probably one of the most important lessons of my life - the middle man always gets his cut. He might increase the price, he might dilute the quality, or he might lessen the quantity, but make no mistake he gets his. And that's okay, he's providing a service, connecting the person with the demand to the person with the supply. It's a vital role, but it's best to cut him out if possible.

Since my wife become pregnant about 9 or so months ago and my daughter was born less than two weeks ago I have been in more doctor's offices and more hospitals than I have in my entire 32 year life up to that point. My experiences have been mostly good. Care is adequate, although seeing the same doctor in a large clinic from appointment to appointment seems a near impossibility. And they are always late, which is really frustrating. When I make an appointment with someone I keep it. I expect the same. But overall the care we have received is good.

Thing is we were walking out of the pediatrician's office a few days ago and I was looking at the slip of paper the nurse gave us to check out with. It said that we had racked up $377 worth of charges. And that didn't even include the current appointment. Wow! They saw my daughter in the hospital, a basic checkup that took less than 30 minutes. Then we came in to their office 2 days later. They weighed her, measured her, and talked with us. Then we came back about a week later and they did it all again. Only at the hospital did we see an MD, the other two times we saw a Nurse Practitioner. We were in the presence of a professional for a combined total of, dare I say, 1.5 hour tops. All for the low low price of $377.

But that's okay the insurance company is going to get it.

Well I suppose that 's okay, but it occurs to me, this is all routine stuff. All newborns have these types of appointments. What are we insuring against?

Insurance is a tool to pool risk. For example, if 2 random individuals out of 100 are going to suffer some fate then each of the 100 can contribute a small amount of money (in proportion to how much each would need to have if he were one of the 2 unlucky ones) to a pool to ensure that the 2 people who will experience the insurable event will be taken care of when said event occurs. This is insurance. It's spreads risk. It allows us to account for random events.

Newborn checkups are not random events. Pretty much all newborns have them. All newborns should... (No, we didn't have the Hepatitis-B vaccine for those who are wondering. The CDC has some wonderfully scary propaganda with respect to that one, but that's another story for another day. We'll be getting many of the other vaccines.) In any case, all of this stuff is predictable. Insurance just doesn't make sense. And yet insurance companies cover these things. Why?

If something has a near 100% chance of happening and I pay a third party to "insure" me against its happening, am I not just cutting a middle man into the action? I pay the insurance company, I go to the doctor, the insurance company pays the doctor. Well it's not that simple. The doctor has billing agents to deal with the insurance companies, and the insurance companies have droves of clerks, managers, executives, and such. All of these people must be paid. And of course, the insurance company itself should make a profit for its shareholders. I do not begrudge them that, but that's one fat ass middle man.

So wouldn't it be better if I just paid the doctor cash myself? If all of us did? At least for routine things?

But why would I? My insurance covers it and I pay for my insurance. Then there's the fact that the insurance is often subsidized or discounted through an employer, and there's tax benefits to getting it through an employer and they are required by law to provide plans that cover certain things, like newborn visits.

So we pay for the insurance and we use it. I haven't done any rigorous calculation about what it would take to drop the current insurance, buy a true insurance policy, pay the extra taxes on the money previously used to buy the employer provided insurance, and then find a doctor that was willing to take cash. Of course said doctor would have to be charging a lot less than $150+ per visit. I haven't figured all of that out. Whatever, given the current system, I am not so sure that it would be cheaper. If my time is worth anything it is especially questionable.

The insurance companies (HMOs) got a hell of a scam going. Granted they still insure in the traditional sense, but they take money on policies and pay for routine things and make (probably a lot of) money doing it. They are just leeches in this process. We don't need them for this type of stuff. Cutting them out of routine care has the potential to save a boat load of money.

But the deck is stacked against us. Regulations prevent employer's from offering stripped down policies (it's a funny thing insurance companies support these regulations), doctors are not in the habit of providing cash discounts (if you don't use the middle man you shouldn't have to pay for the middle man), or taking cash at all really. And of course if I buy health insurance on my own I have to pay taxes on the money used to buy it, while on the other hand if I buy it through my employer I get to buy it tax free. That's a big incentive to buy it through my employer...

So the newborn visits are covered. In this rigged game I have no real incentive to change my behavior. That is, given the rules of the game I'm probably making the best decision possible.

If only we could change the rules to allow for a little more liberty, a little more personal responsibility. As it it now we have been corralled into a horribly inefficient situation.

But it could be worse, the wonderfully craptacular federal government could be the third party payer.

This article appeared originally at http://craigwwright.com/.

Posted 08/31/09 steve5044 New York, NY

A high deductable plan would solve this issue. You are 100% correct: regulations and incentives to employers by insurance company's prevent this type of plan from being offered by most employers and they would be extremely expensive to buy separately. A high deductable plan insure against the unforeseen, and lower the cost for routine visits by eliminating a lot the expense you mentioned before. How do we force insurance companies to offer this service? 1) better regulatory framework or 2) a government option. Option 1 is preferred to 2, but 2 is preferred to the current system. Some light reading by someone who knows a thing or two about health insurance companies. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/opinion/27kristof.html?_r=1& scp=2&sq=cigna&st=cse

Posted 08/31/09 DSciphire New York, NY

We need to find doctors providing services like Dr. John Muney in NYC and then find insurance companies that will only cover catastrophies. A wonderful Free-Market approach. He provides care for $79/month, flat-rate, which covers roughly 85% of your medical needs. We just had him speak at our monthly CFL meeting a couple of weeks ago and will be posting a video on our YouTube channel (NYCCFL) soon. Of course, he was cheaper before the State of NY and the insurance companies disagreed with his services and then forced him to change how he did business. He used to have unlimited visits for the same price but the powers that be didn't approve of people getting great care at a reasonable price. Here is the link. http://amgmedicalgroup.com/

Posted 08/31/09 rightsman Las Vegas,, NV

There is a medical group in Seattle that offers unlimited visits for a fee of, I think, starting at $49 per month to $149 per month. I have visited doctors who gladly accepted cash payments, if I didn't need a receipt. Since I haven't confessed any of my financial dealings to the Federal Reserve Bank's collection agency, the Internal Revenue Service, since 1983, I didn't need no stinkin' receipt. In two cases the charge was less than 50% of the regular fee. We don't need no stinkin' insurance either. The good doctors, and there were more than one, took the cash and run. Thank you, Robert Walker

Posted 08/31/09 patriot4liberty Marine City, MI

Right on, Craig! I have been saying this same thing for a while now. I have written two C4L blogs about it. People are mistaking the meaning of the terms "health care" and "health insurance." The way the system works now is basically pre-paid health care, as Craig so artfully explains. Read my blogs here: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=23136 http://www.campaig nforliberty.com/blog.php?view=22978

Posted 08/31/09 steve5044 New York, NY

@patriot4liberty - you are correct and I agree with your distinction between health care and health insurance. However, I believe you are not recognizing in your comments that regular check up (or tune ups) go a long way to preventing the catastrophes that insurance will inevitable cover. It's called preventive medicine. Also, in a prior blog you stated: "The result is that today, government madates mean that the American people must pay for one-size-fits-all policies that cover every health care expense imaginable, regardless of risk, need or choice. We are taking more out of the system in claims so we must pay more into the system, by way or premiums, co-pays and deductibles. It is no longer based on statistical risk, or catastrophic medical needs. " Can you point out what or where there is a government mandate that dictates one size fits all policies? I am very curious about this mandate.

Posted 08/31/09 willers32 Green Cove Springs, FL

The poster is correct in that insurance is supposed to be a mechanism for spreading risk. The real issue is the high cost of routine and major health care. It is a simple matter of basic economics: if you increase demand and restrict supply costs go up. Consider: for over 100 years the government, at both the State and Federal levels, has done absolutely everything in its power to both increase demand and restrict supply. Virtually every health regulation passed in the last 100 years does one or the other, if not both. Then the politicians scratch their heads in amazement when cost go up. DUH!

Posted 08/31/09 earthshelterguy Brooksville, FL

My wife was watching an "I Love Lucy" show about little Ricky's birth. When it was time to check out of the hospital, Ricky simply wrote a check for the services. I agree that insurance should return to the original concept of insuring catastrophic events only. Let's see how many $1000 tests are ordered without insurance. I don't see an economic recovery with runaway health costs because there isn't enough money left to support other businesses.

Posted 08/31/09 cfox189 Princeton, NJ

@steve5044, a government option, unless it is run as poorly as the post office, will drive the private insurance companies out of business. It is difficult to compete against an entity which does not mind loosing money. That was an interesting article. While the current state of health care is terrible, I do not believe it will get better when/if a health care bill is passed. The lobbyists and politicians are the problem because they have restricted competition. "However, I believe you are not recognizing in your comments that regular check up (or tune ups) go a long way to preventing the catastrophes that insurance will inevitable cover. It's called preventive medicine." I, and most likely most of the people on this board, am aware of what preventative medicine is. It is important and beneficial. However, I do not believe that you completely understand the point that is being made in this article in regards to this aspect of insurance. Maybe I can make the point a little clearer: Oil changes are absolutely essential for keeping an automobile running. Other maintenance work helps to prevent expensive accidents. Yet, this important care for your vehicle is not covered by automotive insurance. Only catastrophic damage is covered. If the work were covered by insurance, it would cost more because of the additional paper work and the other costs associated with adding a middle man. This blog entry, as I understood it, did not attempt to suggest that expected care and preventative medicine were unnecessary or lacked benefits; rather, it suggested that routine care could be more efficiently provided without insurance.

Posted 08/31/09 Product7 St. Clair Shores, MI

I have a liberty loving doctor that charges us $50 cash for visits. He also supports our decision to not vaccinate. Of couse he asked why I had decided not to, and once I provided my list of facts, he was glad to know that I had done my research. Here's a good source for you: http://www.whale.to/v/phillips.html we need to eliminate 3rd party insurance companies. Like everything else in a free market, the costs will eventually be driven down.

Posted 08/31/09 Glenn Cumming, GA

kungfucraig, I had simlar thoughts back in 1998 when I started out as a contractor and learned I could get basic, catastrophic medical insurance for about $35.00 month. With all the crying going on about our "healthcare system", you'd think more people would take more of an interest in their own well-being - perhaps becoming healthcare professionals themselves. Instead, our society is full of people looking to get others to pay for their own expenses. There is no group more adept at this than parents. Think about it, people have kids and expect someone else to pay for their education and well-being. And if they happen to have elderly parents themselves they try to pawn those expenses off on the rest of us. I figure natural selection is going to come into play soon and a little Chlorox will be applied to the gene pool to rid us of the weak.

Posted by kungfucraig on 08/07/09

I showed up to the event about 20 mintues early and there was a line forming outside. I was probably about 20 or 30 people or so back. We were informed that the building was full and we were not going to be allowed in. I started talking to the folks around me, most of whom opposed HR3200 (aka the Healthcare Bill). From there we got onto other topics like the corrupt system of central banking that we are saddled with and which is well on its way to enslaving us.

Turns out there was a big anti-Fed guy standing right next to me. I hope I convinced him to sign up for the Campaign for Liberty. In any case he did sign up for my newsletter. I got 3 or 4 new subscribers actually.

We talked and time passed and then I looked back and there must have been at least 250 people behind me in line. Probably more. People with signs and flags and other paraphenalia. The anti-HR3200 people probably outnumbered the pro-HR3200 people by 10 to 1. Also remember there were already at least 250 people in the buliding at this time.

And there were flags and placards and signs. There was a picture of Barack Obama with a Hilter mustache that said “I’ve Changed.” Of course the gadsen flag was on proud display. The anti-abortion crowd was out to as HR3200 would provide government funding for abortions, which really is just abhorent. Of course there were some pro-Obama signs, but so very few in comparison.

After a while folks started to get tired and began leaving, but then the Dingell staffers came out and said he would have a second meeting with those who were still waiting outside.

By this time I had been standing around for a while and the conversation around me was petering out, so I went and got my HR1207 (Audit the Fed) petitions and started getting signatures. So very few people refused to sign and I only got about 1/6 or so down the line before the second meeting started. Still I got 60 signatures or thereabouts. If there had been 3 or 4 more of me I could have had over 200 signatures easy. Auditing the Fed is such a braindead obvious thing to do.

One guy was just abosoutely hell bent on thrwarting me though. For instance he says, “you don’t trust the government so how could you trust the Congress to Audit the Fed?” You just can’t argue with these people. What are you supposed to say, “yeah well, I’d rather we break the US into 50 independent republics?” How well is that going to go over? I cajoled him and he agree to sign the petition. But he just wrote Xs where his signature and address were supposed to be. Uggg.

I saw another girl standing in line with a “Healthcare is Right” badge on, but still of course asked her, “would you like to sign my audit the Fed petition?” She shook her head. She seemed very lonely, standing there all by herself, unhappy, no friends, so trusting of our Imperial Federal Government. I kept moving. Most of those around her were talking about how corrupt and useless Washington is.

So after all of that I never went into the meeting, but from what I heard it was a typical political dog and pony show. Dingell puts all of his apologists and supporters in the front rows with signs, asks people to write down their questions, cherry picks the questions he’s going to answer and then proceeds to answer. I did hear some chanting from outside and apparently there were some disturbances inside, and some ranting by his constiuents, which I full well support.

I’m sick of the political class regardless of political party. They are abjectly corrupt and inept and they all need to be thrown out. Thursday evening was just another reminder of that.

This was originally posed at http://craigwwright.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/john-dingell-romulus-townhall/.

Posted 08/08/09 Fu Manchu Belleville, MI

There aren't to many politicians i despise as much as dingell. He's definitely in my top 5 hated list.