Archive for October 6th, 2006
The following is written by Rep. Ron Paul, Texas.
No one disputes the diagnosis: American health care is in lousy shape. As a practicing physician for more than 30 years, I find the pervasiveness of managed care very troubling.
The problems with our health care system are not the result of too little government intervention, but rather too much. Contrary to the claims of many advocates of increased government regulation of health care, rising costs and red tape do not represent market failure. Rather, they represent the failure of government policies that have destroyed the health care market.
Netflix Delivers DVDs to your home. NO LATE FEES. Try for FREE!
American taxpayers spent a staggering $143.8 billion on farm subsidies over the past ten years, more than $104 billion of which (72 percent) went to the top 10 percent of recipients–some 312,000 large farming operations, cooperatives, partnerships and corporations that collected, on average, more than $33,000 every year.
. . . in calendar year 2004, payments under this program totaled $11.5 million to producers of five commodities (salmon, catfish, shrimp, blueberries, and lychee nuts). Three states accounted for 83 percent of the payments: Texas, Alaska and Washington.
USDA subsidies for farms in New York totaled $980,753,000 from 1995 through 2004. Following is an example for one farm:
Bruce D Thorn received payments totaling $331,049.21 from 1995 through 2004
USDA subsidy information for Bruce D Thorn
Bruce D Thorn: Summary | Programs | Programs by year | Farm Location(s) Addresses on file with USDA for Bruce D Thorn
|
Crop Payments
1995-2004Corn Subsidies $215,710 Wheat Subsidies $49,029 Soybean Subsidies $30,859 Sunflower Subsidies $13,769 Oat Subsidies $3,944 Livestock Subsidies $2,700
Click here for more information.
Farm subsidies come directly out of your pocket. The cost of goods, the subsidy plus the price you pay, is higher than if there were no subsidies. Subsidies inhibit efficiency and innovation since the Federal Government steps in and guarantees a profit.
People in Buffalo, and Western New York, talk about the economy, plans for development and a general turnaround of our economic plight. Nothing will change significantly until the root cause of the problem is addressed. Out of control government spending at all levels; federal, state and local. The money necessary to spur development and jobs is being forcibly taken by government and spent on wasteful, inefficient, problem causing redistribution of wealth schemes.
The programs are misrepresented to deceive voters into thinking they are beneficial, cost-effective and worthy of your support. The bottom line is that these programs are designed to allow politicians to dole out patronage and pork while appearing to be working in your best interest. The primary goal is reelection.
We don’t need the government to develop our waterfront, we need the government to leave the money in the hands of the private sector to ensure the funds are available for cost-effective and wealth generating development.
“Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others.”
Next year, if all goes well, a new sports car hits the market. Not only is it brand new, its brand is new: Tesla Motors. The car itself, the Roadster 100, sounds like a marvel. Touted to go from 0 to 60 in four seconds, the car is now in testing.
And at no point in that acceleration, or in deceleration, or while cruising, will it spew out fumes. No carbon monoxide. No carbon dioxide. No sulfur, tar, nicotine.
The car is electric. And it will be able to drive about 250 miles per charge.
Electric automotive technology sure has come a long way in recent years, the sorry fiasco of GM’s foray into the field notwithstanding. Several car companies are developing plug-in hybrids, hybrids that you can plug in for recharge, to cut down further on the gas you burn.
But the Roadster 100 is neither a hybrid nor hybrid-hybrid.
Too good to be true? Well, it is too good to be inexpensive. Price tag? $100,000. To order yours now, plunk down a $75,000 down payment.
This is all good news, not bad. Tesla’s Roadster may sound uneconomical, but if the car proves its hype, the technology will become more affordable as mass production meets increased demand.
That’s the way of progress. Early acquirers of DVD players in effect subsidized the development of that technology for the rest of us.This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
Here are some more photos of the car.
Back in 1978, when the airline industry was deregulated, Congress passed legislation providing a temporary subsidy for airlines serving small markets. The reasoning was that under deregulation the less profitable small markets would lose service. Of course, as we know, very rarely is any government program temporary, in fact, they usually grow larger. True to form, the subsidy was renewed as it was about to expire for another 10 years and subsequently made permanent.
Today we now have a program that is providing subsidies that sometime amount to over $600 per seat on flights carrying an average of 3 passengers. Proposed funding for the program for 2007 is $117 million. Attempts have been made to tighten the restrictions allowing the subsidy in an attempt to shrink the program. The attempts have failed as our crafty representatives in Washington have managed to come up with convoluted ways to bypass the restrictions, including distorting the distance of towns from airports.
You might think a town, like Lancaster, PA is 66 miles from a major airport. According to Arlen Specter, you are wrong. He maintains that the most efficient route to the airport is actually 80 miles, thereby skirting the rule that would eliminate the subsidy because Lancaster is less than 70 miles from the Philadelphia International Airport.
“Lancaster is 66 miles from the Philadelphia International Airport if you travel along Route 30, which is the old Lincoln Highway, where there is a traffic light every other block,” Senator Specter said in introducing the legislation in June 2003. He added that “any rational person” would take Interstate 222 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a faster route, at about 80 miles. Similar arguments were made for Alamogordo and for Brookings.
Last night on the news we learned that Joe Bruno is now in favor of removing the Breckenridge and South Ogden toll booths. Pataki has said the same thing and I believe Silver is on board too. Bruno stated that if the Thruway Authority doesn’t act, he will sponsor legislation to compel them to remove the toll booths. It is absurd that a government created Public Authority might need to be forced, by law, to heed the wishes of the government and the public.
Bruno missed the boat, he should have been proposing the abolishment of Public Authorities.
