The Truth about the Uninsured in America: What Politicians Don’t Want You to Know

The US Census Bureau estimates that 45.7 million people in the Us are without health insurance but if you take a closer look at the numbers, a different picture starts to emerge, a picture that many politicians in Washington don't want you to know about. Here is a breakdown of who the "real" uninsured people are in America. According to the US Census Bureau....

• 9 million make over $75,000 a year but choose not to purchase insurance
• 14 million are illegible through another program (i.e. spouse's program). 5 million of them can get it through an employer but choose not to
• 9.7 million are illegal immigrants-according to the Kaiser Family Foundation
• 3-5 million are in-between jobs
• 6 million are young people between the ages of 21-35
• That leaves 4 million people who are over the age of 35 and legitimately need health insurance

Destroying our entire healthcare system and letting the government take over 1/6 of our economy for 4 million people does not sound like a very bright idea to me. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out, it's simple logic and common sense. Removing the barriers that prevent us from purchasing insurance in other states will increase competition between health insurance companies, thus increase the quality of insurance for people who already have it and single handedly drive down the price for the actual 4 million who don't, buy forcing these companies to compete against hundreds of other companies from around the country instead of just a few in each state. FORCE these companies to have to compete against many, many, many other companies for your business. What part of this simple logic do the corrupt politicians in Washington not understand?

Cap & Trade Will Hurt Our Environment More & Obliterate What's Left of Our Economy

Most of us already know that Cap and Trade will hurt us all substantially by driving up the costs of our utilities, but there are a few other "hidden" things that Cap and Trade will do that some people may not be aware of.

1. Cap and Trade will actually increase global carbon emissions in the long run because it will force some companies who cannot afford the high tariff, to move to countries where there is no tariff and where the environmental laws are lax in comparison to our own (i.e. India and China). This alone will further contribute to the destruction of our environment. Greenpeace is even against Cap and Trade, and stated in June 2009 that "it is not science-based and benefits polluters."

2. Politicians here in the states want to enforce Cap and Trade regulations on foreign countries such as China and India, but this is very unrealistic. China has just become an emerging market in the global economy and there is no chance that they will slow that down anytime soon by imposing these laws on their companies. India on the other hand, is an extremely impoverished country with a very low GDP and it would be ridiculous, foolish and unrealistic to believe they will actually enforce Cap and Trade laws on their companies.

3. If by some miracle, China and India agree to follow through on Cap and Trade, Airbus and European car companies will make tons of profit off of this because the European Union has not and will not follow suit. We are not connected to them financially and so they have no reason to ever do so. Coercion of one group of people ultimately just helps another group of people get ahead, at our expense and our environments expense. Experts agree that the only way Cap and Trade will work is if the entire international community embraces it, and this clearly is not the case.

4. Even if the impossible happens and the international community does decide to embrace Cap and Trade, the benefits will be minimal but the destruction it will leave on our economy will be significant. According to the Heritage Foundation, Cap and Trade at its best will only cause a "0.05 degree Celsius reduction in temperature by 2050 but would cost an average 844,000 jobs every year and a loss of $7.4 trillion in GDP through 2035. Click on the graph to the side to see this visually. Want further proof of the destructiveness of Cap and Trade legislation? Take a look at what kind of effect it has had on Spain, where they have an 18% unemployment rate and 2.2 jobs are lost for every "green job" created. Cap and Trade on Spanish businesses has virtually destroyed Spain's economy while having no effect on their environment.

Minimal, if not any, environmental benefits at the expense of our already suffering economy does not sound like a very bright idea to me. What do you think?

What Cap and Trade has done to Spain-PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE!!!
Greenpeace Opposes Cap and Trade-Article

Does China Now Own the United States?

According to a recent article in Newsweek, the United States is now currently $11 trillion in debt and $3.3 trillion of that is owned by foreign countries. 53 foreign countries now own the debt of the US and out of all of these countries, who do you think is the largest share holder? If you guessed China, then you would be correct. China comes in first on the list, owning $767.9 billion and Japan comes in second owning $686.7 billion of our national debt (Newsweek, 2009). Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Algeria and Russia now also own part of the United States, just to name a few.
Despite this, the national debt keeps on growing. Every second it increases by $1 million dollars. Since 2007 it has increased by $3.71 billion per day, but since President Obama took office only 5 months ago the national debt has grown a staggering $137.27 billion per day. The new universal healthcare system that the Obama administration wants to implement is projected to put the US $1.2 trillion more in debt over the next 10 years, but will still leave 37 million people uninsured. Many believe that this number will actually end up being closer to $5 trillion after all of the smoke has cleared. George W. Bush started the problem and Barack Obama has now exacerbated it beyond repair (The Economist, 2009). Instead of fixing the problem and proving to be different then Gorge W. Bush, Obama and Congress have chosen to make the problem much, much worse. How does that make them any different then their nemesis?

So what exactly does it mean when countries like China own our debt? Well, when you take out a car loan to buy a car, the lender that gave you the loan puts a lean on your car until you are able pay off the loan, which basically means that the lender owns part of your car until you pay them back. So essentially, these foreign nations now own part of the US. Their control over the interest rates on these loans and thus their control over all of us is now at their discretion. But it gets even worse. China has recently expressed uneasiness and anger to the Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner because they have not seen a return on their investment and are starting to believe that the US will not be able to pay them back. They do not want to loan us anymore money, and they now want us to start paying them back right away. And there are other disastrous ramifications that will occur if the national debt continues to grow at the alarming rate that it is. The US government has already surpassed "bankruptcy" since "bankruptcy" signifies being at a "zero" point on the number scale and the US government is at a negative 12 trillion point on the scale. Thus the US has already far surpassed the point of "bankruptcy" and if the Chinese government were to ever stop funding this massively increasing debt then the US government would completely collapse and Americans would ultimately feel the ramifications of being beyond "bankrupt." The Federal Reserve is dangerously printing money to pay off the government's massive debt and as a result, inflation is now increasing at a rapid rate and the value of the dollar is quickly growing smaller and smaller. It is also possible that the US government could face "hyperinflation" at some point in time and if that happens then the dollar bill, your property, your life savings and everything else will be worth absolutely nothing (The Economist, 2009).

Don't think this could ever happen to your country? It happened to Germany after WWI and it is currently happening to the the citizens of Zimbabwe who are struggling to survive on a daily bases because of hyperinflation. It has made it virtually impossible for people who live there to purchase an item as basic as a slice of bread. If hyperinflation could happen to both of these nations then it could happen to any nation because history has proven time after time that if one does not learn from it, then it is doomed to be repeated. Unfortunately the Federal Reserve has now put us on a collision course with history.

Is the behavior of these politicans criminal? Would their behavior be considered theft on a massive scale? Absolutely because they are recklessly wasting your money without your consent. One way or another, you, your children and your grandchildren will have to pay it back. No debt ever goes unpaid. Most people are forced to live within a budget, so why shouldn't politicans be forced to operate by the same principle? People like you and me would be in prison if we even attempted a small portion of this behavior, so why is it that politicians (people who you elect to represent your voice) are allowed to recklessly waste your hard earned money without ever facing any consequences? And isn't it the President's duty and obligation to protect the financial stability of our Nation? What good will any social programs be if there is no longer a country to have them in anymore? Clearly the reckless and negligent spending spree in Washington needs to stop, but unfortunately the new administration shows no sign that this will actually happen anytime soon.

4 Simple Reasons Why Politicians Are Destroying Our Economy

Capitalism in the US is struggling because it's not being practiced correctly. This is largely due to the oppressive economic legislation that politicians have put into place. This legislation has made our economy Socialistic in nature, resembling the sluggish and unproductive Socialistic economies of countries like France. The reason is 4 fold:

1. Government assistance and bailouts to companies that failed because they did not provide consumers with what they wanted. Companies that don't provide consumers with what they want normally go out of business long before they ever reach the bankruptcy level. However, because of government assistance (which was happening long before the recent bailouts) these toxic companies have been able to stay afloat until they reach the bankruptcy level. This is also known as "corporate welfare."
2. Labor unions that have increased production costs for companies which has forced many of them to move their production to foreign countries in order to save money. Companies that have stayed in the US have been forced to increase their prices because of the labor unions, and consequently have trouble competing with companies from other countries who have much lower prices because they do not have labor unions.
3. The tax and regulation barriers that the government has put in place that hurt businesses in order to limit the competition of large corporations. This includes high taxes on small businesses, high property and capital gains taxes, and the many strict business regulations that have been created to limit the competition of large corporations but have made it more difficult for small businesses to survive and for ordinary people to start their own business and obtain wealth by working for themselves.
4. Government interference in the free market, for example The Bill Clinton "Fair and Affordable Housing Initiative" that gave trillions of dollars to mortgage companies who were willing to give home loans to risky people. Had it not been for this bill, this one single act of government interference, these risky people would have never received home loans and therefore would have never defaulted on their mortgages and the crash of the housing market would have never occurred (please refer to the article below titled "Who Really Caused the Bad Economy").

If politicians would get out of the way and let the free market take care of it's self, then Capitalism would be able to flourish like it hasn't been able to for sometime now. The legislation that politicans have put into place has turned our free market economy into a Socialistic one. This is why our economy is failing and becoming like France's, who in terms of GDP has a very sluggish and unproductive economy. China on the other hand does not have this kind of restrictive legislation in place and as a result Capitalism is working there and working very well. They now have a surplus that is estimated to be around 3 trillion dollars. So the question is, do you really want our economy to become like France's when China's economy is becoming like the way our's used to be? You make the call.

Why Africa is Being Destroyed by Foreign Aid

Over the past 45 years the US alone has given over $500 billion in foreign aid to the continent of Africa. The US even gave Africa $1 Billion last year, despite the fact that it has been facing it's own economic depression for the past several months. You'de think that with all the money sent to Africa, the poverty there would have been eradicated or that some sort of positive change would have occurred buy now, right? According to Dambisa Moyo, the author of the New York bestselling book Dead Aid, instead of helping Africa our efforts have hurt them even more. Moyo, who was born in Africa and has a PhD in Economics from Oxford University, says that despite the trillions of dollars the world has given Africa, it is still the poorest continent on the planet and poverty and disease there has more than tripled since we began sending them aid in the 1960's. Some 46% of Africans survive on less than $1 a day and half of them are surviving on less than 50 cents a day. Clearly Africans are not receiving any of the $$ that the world is sending them, so where exactly is it going then? According to Moyo, the money is ending up in the hands of corrupt African politicians, criminals, and individuals who serve to defeat the idea of a prosperous Africa, not the starving women and children we often see images of on the evening news.

Moyo also says that strict government regulations on African businesses have oppressed them economically. Many African leaders have established government monopolies, price controls, high taxes, nationalized foreign investment and excessively regulated foreign investors and even their own business class. As a result, African nations have seen huge losses in economic activity and foreign investment, a deteriorating infrastructure, and declining economic competitiveness with other developing regions. Basically, government interference in business has hurt Africa, the money we have been sending them is ending up in the wrong hands and helping these oppressive governments and the only way to save them is to help them find ways to trade with China, access the capital markets, and promote capitalism. That thing that everyone seems to hate these days called "capitalism" is the cure to a horrible and devastating system that is destroying an entire continent.

There is a way to put money directly into the hands of the African people, instead of their corrupt governments. An organization called Kiva, lets people like you and me give small loans over the internet to Africans, who are then able to start their own businesses. You can give a loan as small as $25 and as much as $1000, which is enough money to start a business in Africa. Not only are Africans able to start their own businesses with these small loans, but they are often able to live comfortably and support their entire families and sometimes even their whole village. And you won't believe this....99% of these people pay back their loans in full, and with interest (Forbes, 2009). A woman in Tanzania started her own juice business with a loan of $300 and was able to support her family and send her children to school as a result. So far, Kiva has assisted about 40,000 borrowers in 40 countries and provided a total of about $27 million in funding (Forbers, 2009). The founders of Kiva won a Nobel Peace Prize for their ingenuity in 2006. Foreign aid and strict governmental regulations have hurt Africa, but Kiva is an example of how capitalism and promoting the small business owner is the best way to empower Africans and help a person, a village, and an entire continent.

Read more about Kiva and how foreign aid is hurting Africa
http://www.forbes.com/2008/06/03/kiva-microfinance-uganda-ent-fin-cx_0603whartonkiva.html
http://www.kiva.org/
http://www.heritage.org/Research/MiddleEast/bg947.cfm

Why are the Rich Staying Rich While Everyone Else is Getting Poorer? You Need To Know the Truth

Did you know that 90% of all the jobs that were created in the past 10 years, were created by small businesses. Fourty-five percent of all the current employment in the US can also be attributed to small businesses, and you won't believe this.....98% of all the jobs in the private sector can be accredited to small businesses, not large corporations (Forbes, 2009). That’s amazing if you ask me. President Obama even said in March 2009, that "If small businesses fail, we all fail.” He says he wants small businesses to succeeded, but he wants to increase taxes on people making over $200K a year and what he fails to understand is that 99% of small business owners fill their taxes as individuals in order to save money for their businesses. It might seem like these individuals are making over $200k, but they have to pay their employees and their overhead fees and whatever profit is left they typically recycle back into their business. These aren’t wealthy people. They’re hard working middle class people and the more money they save, the more employees they are able to hire, which means fewer people will be out of work and the better off our economy will be.

Obama says that he only wants to increase taxes for "the rich" but the truth is the rich never pay taxes anyway because their accountants find loop holes in the system, or they stash their cash in foreign accounts. The billionaire Warren Buffet even admitted that he never pays taxes. Thus, middle class people and small businesses are stuck with the bruden and are never able to hire more people. Instead they have to lay off people or they eventually go out of business. And it's becoming more difficult for ordinary people to start their own business because of the ever increasing tax barrier, and are becoming stuck at dead end jobs were they have no opportunity for upward mobility. You might think that Obama's tax increase won't affect you but it will because when businesses suffer, unemployment goes up and the price of food, rent, utilities and everything else goes up as well. The economy gets worse, rich people stay rich and everyone else gets poorer.

If the president would instead enforce a low flat tax for all, then rich people would finally stop stashing their cash in foreign accounts and the government would be able to bring in huge amounts of revenue without hurting the rest of us. This was recently done in Slovakia, and the wealthy there couldn't find loop holes in the tax code anymore because it became so simple. Sales tax and all hidden taxes were abolished and remarkably, the poor didn't end up paying anymore then they had already been paying but their standard of living went up because the price of food an everything else went down (Forbes, 2009). When President John F. Kennedy enacted across-the-board tax reductions, including dropping the top tax rate, the economy boomed in the 60's (Forbes, 2009). Of course implementing a low flat tax will never happen because that would mean that the tax code would become too simple, so simple that no one would ever be able to evade it and politicians don't want that to happen because they use the tax code to hurt their enemies and reward those who are in step with their agenda. Why else would the government let Charles Rangel, the man you actually writes the tax code, and Timothy Geithner, the man who is actually in charge of overseeing the tax code, get away with not paying thousands of dollars in tax but will go after someone as irrelevant (but a perceived enemy none the less) as Joe the Plumber?

Obama is right that "If small businesses fail, we all fail," but unfortunately his tax increases on small businesses will be the very reason why they fail in the first place.

Read more about Slovakia's flat tax
http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2005/0606/031.html
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5653.html

So Who Really Caused The Bad Economy? You Will Be Shocked

The media wants you to believe that the Bush administration is to be blamed for the economy crash, and I am no fan of former President Bush but that is not factually true. According to the Noble Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, the collapse of the housing market is the # 1 cause of the bad economy, which former President Bill Clinton is largely responsible for. In June 1995, Clinton started the "Opening the Doors to Affordable Housing" initiative that gave trillions of dollars in subsidies to mortgage companies who were willing to give home loans to subprime borrowers, high risk individuals who normally would not be considered for loans. The mortgage companies, the banks and the lenders were being blind sighted by the trillions of dollars the federal government was rewarding them with for giving these loans to these risky people. The lenders used to make money off of giving loans to deserving people but because of Clinton's initiative, they were making money off of giving loans to risky people. So in essence, the reinforcements were all backwards. Like the domino affect, the fall of the mortgage companies, the banks, the stock market and the continued loss of millions of jobs throughout the nation, all began with the home foreclosures of the subprime borrowers, and that these people would have never received loans had it not been for President Clinton’s initiative.

I was shocked to find out that Senator John McCain tried to stop and shed light on how dangerous this initiative was in 2005, but his efforts were quickly squashed by Democratic congressman Barney Frank and Democratic Connecticut senator Chris Dodd. The only thing the Bush administration is responsible for in terms of the fall of the economy is not stopping the government from getting involved in private business and the free market. Banks know who to give loans to and who not to. It’s a successful formula that has worked time after time, but as soon as the government stepped in and tried to “regulate” their business, all hell broke loose. Now the new Obama administration wants to impose even more government regulations and interventions on private businesses. They think that the cause of the problem is the solution to the problem but they are wrong. Government and private business are like oil and water, they do not mix and if we are going to learn anything from the housing crisis, this should be it. Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

Sources
http://news.boconline.com/article.asp?artid=7766