Originally published February 6, 2009

TARP otherwise known as the Wall Street Bailout

Yesterday, Elizabeth Warren, Harvard Law Professor who now chairs the Congressional Oversight Panel responsible for reporting on the billions given away through TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program) or “Wall Street Bailout” told Congress yesterday that the government “overpaid” $78 Billion for the purchase of troubled assets.

Let’s see, our GOP Congressman here in Wisconsin’s 1st District voted for the TARP Bailout. In fact, he took credit for being one of the main architects to revamp the bill so that it could pass through both houses of congress and be signed by our now former president. I wonder if he has a plan to recover the $78 Billion?

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 or Economic Stimulus Package

As I write this post, the U.S. Senate is debating the Economic Stimulus package which has now ballooned to an amazing $900 Billion plus. This does not even take into consideration the interest that will accrue, because we will have to borrow all the money needed to pay for this piece of legislation. Granted there are some very good items to consider in this bill, but how much of it will stimulate our economy now versus how much is intended for one or two years from now? How much of the bill will actually stimulate our economy period? Do we have to pass one massive bill immediately or under duress conditions only to realize that decisions made with calm heads and careful deliberation may produce better more fiscally responsible long term results?

What is the real economic stimulus? HEALTH CARE.

Single Payer/Medicare – An Economic Stimulus Plan for the Nation

In an article by Bruce Dixon for the Black Agenda Report he highlights the following:

“According to a study released January 14 by the California Nurses Association, adopting a single payer system of universal health care in the US would create 2.6 million new jobs, as many as the Bush economy destroyed in 2006, and boost the revenues of private employers by an annual $317 billion. A single payer health care system would put more than $100 billion in the pockets of employees and add $44 billion to state, local and federal budgets in badly needed tax revenues.”

“The California Nurses Association study goes a long way toward proving that universal single payer national health care may be the best medicine not only for our health care holes and disparities, but for the economy itself. Whether the politicians who ran just weeks ago promising a national health care plan will take the prescribed medicine depends on our insistence, our tenacity, and our refusal to be distracted. People deserve universal health care, and the 2.6 million jobs created by single payer health care are equal to the president’s claims for the entire stimulus package. It’s time to take the medicine. “

I don’t like “insurers” when it comes to patients having to put their lives in somebody else’s hands. Sounds too much like the Mafia. I like to think of Medicare more as an administrator of payments. They make no profits, they simply pay the bills. Could it be privatized? Well, hospitals, doctors and the WPS administrator in Madison already are. I think my #1 and #2 above minimizes the governments’ involvement about as much as we need to.

Jack

You are in favor of Medicare expansion, because you believe it is the better of the 2 choices today.
What type of an “insurer” could you conceive of, that could be an even better third choice?
I am thinking of a not-for-profit, tax exempt insurer which does not provide products and services that are now available commercially.
Don Levit

1) Create a health care board of directors consisting of 15 experienced members from the industry and academia, including doctors and hospital CEOs, all retired people but most certainly people without any connection to health care today. No politicians. Let them lay out the rules of coverage and non-coverage. They can hear testimony from all sides of the issue, but they rule the roost.

2) Convert CMS to a workhorse entity that does not create rules but implements those created by the above board and provides oversight of the private area contractors (like our WPS in Wisconsin).

3) Establish private investigative companies that root out fraud and overuse and are paid on successes only.

4) Eliminate the Medicare Part D Drug program and turn it over to the doctor-pharmacist team. Doctors can write prescriptions and pharmacies can fill them and bill Medicare directly. They’ve been doing this for years so it is not new to them.

5) Mandate that all politicians be covered by Medicare instead of their gold-plated taxpayer funded policies of today. That’ll ensure its success and proper funding.

6) Require that all hospitals are community owned non-profit entities that are not owned by a for-profit parent. We cannot have patient care or hospital staffing dictated by profitability.

7) Mandate that all hospitals and clinics tie their patient records into the national VA Medical system’s VistA system.

There are many more ideas, and I’ll add them if I think of them. But this should get you started.

Think about it. From our corrupt politicians we got an unsustainable Medicare system and a trashed economy. In one case the insurance and pharmaceutical industries are walking away with trillions of wasted dollars, and in the other case the bankers, credit and auto industries are doing the same. Why? Because they paid big cash dollars to the politicians who wrote the rules.

Jim Sensenbrenner owns $5 million in pharmaceutical stocks and voted for the $780 billion giveaway to the drug industry that simultaneously blocked Medicare from negotiating the 50% discount the VA system is getting. Public outrage? Nah, he was re-elected with 80% of the vote. Billy Tauzin was instrumental in getting the bill passed and ended up with a $2 million per year job with Big Pharma as a lobbyist.

Because of campaign contributions the banking and credit industries were deregulated. I don’t have to tell you the results of that.

There IS only one solution: public funding of campaigns. For $10 per taxpayer per year these politicians would be working for the taxpayers instead of the greedy CEOs that are draining the system of trillions of dollars every year. Get the money out of the political system and politicians will make the right decisions. If that turns out to satisfy Ken, and we trash Medicare and Social Security, fine. But at least we’ll know that this was their stupid decision rather than the stupid decision of some special interest that wanted in our pockets.

And all of this ‘government borrowing from itself” wouldn’t be happening with a non-conflicted congress. I think it is in Singapore that they execute corrupt politicians. I don’t advocate that, but long jail times are in order.