“Of course, this is far from the only tax-preferred savings account anyone wanting to maximize government largesse can employ. There are Coverdell Education Savings Accounts and 529 plans, both of which encourage saving for future schooling for children. There are three types of individual retirement accounts and simplified employee pensions for the self-employed. There are ABLE accounts for disability expenses, flexible spending accounts for dependent care or parking and transit reimbursement, and countless others I don’t have a good enough financial advisor to know about.
“All of these have their own complicated rules (check out this long explainer on HSAs): how much money you can pour in per year, how much you can take out and what you can do while it’s sitting there.
* * *
Instead of dozens of grants and loans and tax breaks for education, the government can simply make tuition at public colleges and universities free, and repayment for other expenses automatic rather than dealing with a middleman loan servicer. Instead of tax season stress, the government can send us our tax return, as it works in other countries, which we need only double-check and send back. Instead of having people juggle inadequate retirement accounts, the government could expand Social Security. Instead of gap insurance policies for Medicare, the government could just make Medicare cover what’s missing. In fact we could just put everyone on Medicare, saving all the burdens on the individual to update policies every year and continually search for the best deal. And instead of 18 different means-tested, segregated benefit programs, we could just give people a basic income and the guarantee of a job.”
“Dr. Gupta is correct in calling what was removed from the Senator’s brain “an abnormality.” It could also be described as “a lesion” or “a mass.” Although news articles called it “a blood clot,” it was sent to pathology to be reviewed under a microscope to see what was actually removed.
“Typically blood that is drained or removed from a body cavity is not examined under a microscope. Such detailed analysis is used for a tissue diagnosis. Meaning that there was likely something besides blood removed from the Senator’s brain.” (my emphasis)
regarding expanded Social Security and expanded Medicare
I agree with you, but there is a trap:
if you “expand” these programs by having “the government” (meaning “the rich”) pay for them, they will turn into welfare as we knew it.
instead we should “expand” both of them by redirecting the money ordinary workers pay for private (risky and expensive) retirement plans and health insurance.
that means “expanding” the Social Security (FICA) tax and the Medicare tax. This would be a hard sell, viciously fought by both “the rich” who should know better, and “the Left” who can never think of any solution to any problem but “tax the rich.”
so all we need is a genius politician like Franklin Roosevelt, to sell the idea to the public, and explain it quietly to “the rich” so all but the insane rich understand it.
You (we) should understand and expect to pay for all the normal costs of living (including retirement and health care). no doubt a decent society would find room for “charity” to deal with extraordinary events even if that “charity” was paid for out of general taxes. but that is very different from just “demanding” “the rich” “pay their fair share’ (which appears to mean that if someone makes ten times as much as i do, he should pay ten times as much for his groceries, and I should get mine for free… even if i am not “poor” by normal standards).
Paying for “expanded” Social Security (about twice the current level of benefits) would require about a doubling of the current level of FICA taxes. This is not unreasonable or unaffordable. Paying for “expanded” Medicare would require about double the current level of Medicare tax… not unreasonable or unaffordable… and probably the best way ordinary workers would have to pay for their retirement and health insurance… but the current mental state of the people suggest the sticker shock would kill them. They would never understand either that they would be saving money in the long run or that they could easily afford the “double” tax. (“Hey, MY money is for ME… so I can buy cool cars and exotic vacations. Retirement and health care should be free as a natural Right.”)
Why look at new revenues pay for expanding civility (calling it welfare is 2016 Clinton campaign donors’ jargon) in our society?
Why not look at cutting the money defending Salafis (including grounding the USAF tankers fueling Saudi F-15’s over Yemen) from the Shiites they have tromped for centuries?
If the US’ discretionary budget were lowered to 4% of GDP instead of 7% by cutting into the half the world’s war spending flowing through the pentagon you could have a more civil society (you can call it welfare, the unwarranted influence screed will).
Then the general welfare would be respected as if it were in the preamble.
Of course perpetual war funded through the 5 sided wind tunnel in Arlington Va sends a lot of profits to rich people, and safe, good paying, no issues when the engineering fails jobs to a large part of the top 5% earners.
And keeping ARAMCO’s golden royals safe is good for big oil and soccer mom’s 8 cylinder Mercedes’
Not a big fan of polls, but the one I just saw shows what Democrats need to realize.
56% of Republicans do not believe that Donald Trump Jr. met with Russians in Trump Tower last June, despite the fact that Donald Trump Jr. says he met with Russians in Trump Tower last June.
They are not going to change their vote. They just have to be outnumbered.
Talking to them is a total waste of time.
Talk to your base.
Get them out to vote.
There is no such thing as a swing voter in any meaningful numbers, and those swing voters are not people you would want to be near.
At this point I am convinced of one thing that will come from Mueller’s investigation (not that I think there will not be others).
That is that the Trump Mob is guilty of money laundering over an extensive period of time from Russian oligarchs(and maybe others).
I call them a mob instead of an organization as I refer to organized crime. An organization does the same thing as a mob, but an organization has someone who has someone with intelligence running it.
Take Philly. When Angelo Bruno ran the Philly mafia, it was an organization. When Nicky Scarfo ran the Philly mafia it was a job. Not that most of their methods were not the same, but there was a difference.
i have nothing against welfare. i object to turning Social Security into welfare as we knew it in a political reality that will insure that doing so will enable “the rich” to destroy it. even calling for “making the rich pay” gives the insane rich the key to the propaganda they are using to destroy Social Security.
that said, even if Social Security were not at risk, and even if America could cut its budget and turn away from its crimes of empire, i don’t think most people want to live on welfare. they want to have jobs that make them feel useful and are well paid enough so they can afford to pay for their own retirement and health insurance and the other things that make life worth living.
“i object to turning Social Security into welfare as we knew it in a political reality that will insure that doing so will enable “the rich” to destroy it.”
Interesting post indicating that not having children is the #1 way to reduce climate change: http://scienceblogs.com/classm/2017/07/19/if-kids-are-responsible-for-climate-change/ In particular the having 1 fewer child is by far the biggest impact on Co2 emmissions. A lot of folks objected to this because it does get to human motivation. Also birth rates can change over a generation see Iran or Mexico for an example.
AN ALL TIME CLASSIC ROUNDUP OF FRACTURED SERVICES
The Lesson of the GOP Health Care Collapse: Make America Simpler Again
http://thefiscaltimes.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=40d2c5373681f5cd830b6d823&id=1aae68d050&e=794571382d
“Of course, this is far from the only tax-preferred savings account anyone wanting to maximize government largesse can employ. There are Coverdell Education Savings Accounts and 529 plans, both of which encourage saving for future schooling for children. There are three types of individual retirement accounts and simplified employee pensions for the self-employed. There are ABLE accounts for disability expenses, flexible spending accounts for dependent care or parking and transit reimbursement, and countless others I don’t have a good enough financial advisor to know about.
“All of these have their own complicated rules (check out this long explainer on HSAs): how much money you can pour in per year, how much you can take out and what you can do while it’s sitting there.
* * *
Instead of dozens of grants and loans and tax breaks for education, the government can simply make tuition at public colleges and universities free, and repayment for other expenses automatic rather than dealing with a middleman loan servicer. Instead of tax season stress, the government can send us our tax return, as it works in other countries, which we need only double-check and send back. Instead of having people juggle inadequate retirement accounts, the government could expand Social Security. Instead of gap insurance policies for Medicare, the government could just make Medicare cover what’s missing. In fact we could just put everyone on Medicare, saving all the burdens on the individual to update policies every year and continually search for the best deal. And instead of 18 different means-tested, segregated benefit programs, we could just give people a basic income and the guarantee of a job.”
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2017/07/senator-mccains-blood-clot-explain-recent-behavior.html
“Dr. Gupta is correct in calling what was removed from the Senator’s brain “an abnormality.” It could also be described as “a lesion” or “a mass.” Although news articles called it “a blood clot,” it was sent to pathology to be reviewed under a microscope to see what was actually removed.
“Typically blood that is drained or removed from a body cavity is not examined under a microscope. Such detailed analysis is used for a tissue diagnosis. Meaning that there was likely something besides blood removed from the Senator’s brain.” (my emphasis)
Denis
regarding expanded Social Security and expanded Medicare
I agree with you, but there is a trap:
if you “expand” these programs by having “the government” (meaning “the rich”) pay for them, they will turn into welfare as we knew it.
instead we should “expand” both of them by redirecting the money ordinary workers pay for private (risky and expensive) retirement plans and health insurance.
that means “expanding” the Social Security (FICA) tax and the Medicare tax. This would be a hard sell, viciously fought by both “the rich” who should know better, and “the Left” who can never think of any solution to any problem but “tax the rich.”
so all we need is a genius politician like Franklin Roosevelt, to sell the idea to the public, and explain it quietly to “the rich” so all but the insane rich understand it.
You (we) should understand and expect to pay for all the normal costs of living (including retirement and health care). no doubt a decent society would find room for “charity” to deal with extraordinary events even if that “charity” was paid for out of general taxes. but that is very different from just “demanding” “the rich” “pay their fair share’ (which appears to mean that if someone makes ten times as much as i do, he should pay ten times as much for his groceries, and I should get mine for free… even if i am not “poor” by normal standards).
Paying for “expanded” Social Security (about twice the current level of benefits) would require about a doubling of the current level of FICA taxes. This is not unreasonable or unaffordable. Paying for “expanded” Medicare would require about double the current level of Medicare tax… not unreasonable or unaffordable… and probably the best way ordinary workers would have to pay for their retirement and health insurance… but the current mental state of the people suggest the sticker shock would kill them. They would never understand either that they would be saving money in the long run or that they could easily afford the “double” tax. (“Hey, MY money is for ME… so I can buy cool cars and exotic vacations. Retirement and health care should be free as a natural Right.”)
Coberly,
Why look at new revenues pay for expanding civility (calling it welfare is 2016 Clinton campaign donors’ jargon) in our society?
Why not look at cutting the money defending Salafis (including grounding the USAF tankers fueling Saudi F-15’s over Yemen) from the Shiites they have tromped for centuries?
If the US’ discretionary budget were lowered to 4% of GDP instead of 7% by cutting into the half the world’s war spending flowing through the pentagon you could have a more civil society (you can call it welfare, the unwarranted influence screed will).
Then the general welfare would be respected as if it were in the preamble.
Of course perpetual war funded through the 5 sided wind tunnel in Arlington Va sends a lot of profits to rich people, and safe, good paying, no issues when the engineering fails jobs to a large part of the top 5% earners.
And keeping ARAMCO’s golden royals safe is good for big oil and soccer mom’s 8 cylinder Mercedes’
Two observations
Not a big fan of polls, but the one I just saw shows what Democrats need to realize.
56% of Republicans do not believe that Donald Trump Jr. met with Russians in Trump Tower last June, despite the fact that Donald Trump Jr. says he met with Russians in Trump Tower last June.
They are not going to change their vote. They just have to be outnumbered.
Talking to them is a total waste of time.
Talk to your base.
Get them out to vote.
There is no such thing as a swing voter in any meaningful numbers, and those swing voters are not people you would want to be near.
At this point I am convinced of one thing that will come from Mueller’s investigation (not that I think there will not be others).
That is that the Trump Mob is guilty of money laundering over an extensive period of time from Russian oligarchs(and maybe others).
I call them a mob instead of an organization as I refer to organized crime. An organization does the same thing as a mob, but an organization has someone who has someone with intelligence running it.
Take Philly. When Angelo Bruno ran the Philly mafia, it was an organization. When Nicky Scarfo ran the Philly mafia it was a job. Not that most of their methods were not the same, but there was a difference.
Trump is no Angelo Bruno.
ilsm
i have nothing against welfare. i object to turning Social Security into welfare as we knew it in a political reality that will insure that doing so will enable “the rich” to destroy it. even calling for “making the rich pay” gives the insane rich the key to the propaganda they are using to destroy Social Security.
that said, even if Social Security were not at risk, and even if America could cut its budget and turn away from its crimes of empire, i don’t think most people want to live on welfare. they want to have jobs that make them feel useful and are well paid enough so they can afford to pay for their own retirement and health insurance and the other things that make life worth living.
Coberly,
“i object to turning Social Security into welfare as we knew it in a political reality that will insure that doing so will enable “the rich” to destroy it.”
Agreed.
Interesting post indicating that not having children is the #1 way to reduce climate change: http://scienceblogs.com/classm/2017/07/19/if-kids-are-responsible-for-climate-change/ In particular the having 1 fewer child is by far the biggest impact on Co2 emmissions. A lot of folks objected to this because it does get to human motivation. Also birth rates can change over a generation see Iran or Mexico for an example.