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10 year deficit raised $2 trillion

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 | Economics, Health Care, Social Security | Permalink | No Comments |

Zero Hedge - Long-Term Budget Deficit Revised, Now $2 Trillion Dollars Worse:

White House budget review set for release Aug. 25 will show cumulative deficits over the next decade amounting to $9 trillion, up from $7.1 trillion that the administration predicted in May, the official said on condition of anonymity because the figures have not been made public.

So that’s another $2 trillion that can’t fund health care.

My theory is that if Obamacare-style nationalized health care doesn’t happen by 2016 it won’t happen for the foreseeable future. By 2016 the depth of the government’s deficits will be so great that no national health care will be unfundable. Besides the deficit itself, the liabilities for Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid will eat up so much of the budget that we’ll face a crisis just trying to keep the existing programs intact. The public will finally realize how badly the government has managed its finances and promises.

Tags: deficit

California’s farce continues towards its final act

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 | Economics | Permalink | 28 Comments |

Courthouse News - California won’t accept its own IOUs for payment:

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - Small businesses that received $682 million in IOUs from the state say California expects them to pay taxes on the worthless scraps of paper, but refuses to accept its own IOUs to pay debts or taxes. The vendors’ federal class action claims the state is trying to balance its budget on their backs.

Lead plaintiff Nancy Baird filled her contract with California to provide embroidered polo shirts to a youth camp run by the National Guard, but never was paid the $27,000 she was owed. She says California “paid” her with an IOU that two banks refused to accept - yet she had to pay California sales tax on the so-called “sale” of the uniforms.

I was telling someone the other day to imagine working for a company that was in as bad a shape as California.

Imagine your company furloughed all of its employees several days a month to reduce costs.
Imagine their already-underfinanced pension fund made bad investments that resulted in losses of 25% of the pension fund’s assets.
Imagine the company’s bonds are classified as “junk” with a rating as low as Russia’s.
Imagine that in July your company took in $4.4 billion and spent $9.4 billion.
Imagine they couldn’t pay their bills in cash and had to issue IOUs.
Imagine that your company couldn’t balance its budget even if it fired all of its employees.
Imagine that despite its dire financial predicament your company refused to drill for oil off its coastal property because it was still more concerned about environmental problems than financial problems.

It’s obvious that any company that had problems like California’s couldn’t stay in business. Anyone who thinks a government can be run that way is delusional.

Things are going to end badly in California. What happens in California is going to provide a glimpse of the problems the United States is going to have due to excessive spending, debt, and poorly-funded retirement programs.

Tags: california, deficit, pensions

Deficits climbing

Monday, August 10th, 2009 | Economics | Permalink | No Comments |

$188 billion in deficits in July alone. Geithner asks Congress to raise deficit ceiling as 12.1 trillion dollar limit approaches.

Tags: deficit

Veterans angry about Obama’s insurance proposal (UPDATED)

Monday, March 16th, 2009 | Health Care | Permalink | 6 Comments |

Obama wants private insurance companies to cover service-related injuries for military veterans. The American Legion is strongly opposed to the plan:

Commander Rehbein reiterated points made last week in testimony to both House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees. It was stated then that The American Legion believes that the reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate that VA treat service-connected injuries and disabilities given that the United States government sends members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies. The proposed requirement for these companies to reimburse the VA would not only be unfair, says the Legion, but would have an adverse impact on service-connected disabled veterans and their families. The Legion argues that, depending on the severity of the medical conditions involved, maximum insurance coverage limits could be reached through treatment of the veteran’s condition alone. That would leave the rest of the family without health care benefits. The Legion also points out that many health insurance companies require deductibles to be paid before any benefits are covered. Additionally, the Legion is concerned that private insurance premiums would be elevated to cover service-connected disabled veterans and their families, especially if the veterans are self-employed or employed in small businesses unable to negotiate more favorable across-the-board insurance policy pricing. The American Legion also believes that some employers, especially small businesses, would be reluctant to hire veterans with service-connected disabilities due to the negative impact their employment might have on obtaining and financing company health care benefits.

If Obama’s plan goes through many veterans will become uninsurable for pre-existing service-related injuries.

Hat tip to an email from Mark O’Dell.

UPDATE: Here’s candidate Barack Obama a week ago last year:

When soldiers return from fighting, they deserve nothing but the best in medical care, he said. More needs to be done, he said, to understand the effects of post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury on soldiers returning from war.

“We’ll have to keep our sacred trust with our veterans and fully fund the (Veterans Administration). We’ll have to look after our wounded warriors, whether they’re suffering from wounds seen or unseen,” he said.

Newsflash: Obama lied his ass off. Follow the link for then-Obama’s take on debts and deficits vs. now-Obama’s porkulus spending plan:

“Because of the Bush-McCain policies, our debt has ballooned. This is creating problems in our fragile economy. And that kind of debt also places an unfair burden on our children and grandchildren, who will have to repay it,” he said. “John McCain seems determined to carry out a third Bush term.”

Tags: deficit, obama, porkulus