The Schrug

On the heels of a report that one federal agency is now investigating another federal agency in connection with the recent West Virginia mining disaster, I’d like to ask Tea Party folks and other advocates of limited federal government: Which part of the federal bureaucracy would you like to see eliminated? The part that is [...]

Does the average voter care how much the average voter pays in taxes? I don’t think so. I think the Smiths care how much the Smiths think the Smiths pay in taxes compared to what the Smiths think the Joneses pay in taxes, and compared to what the Smiths think the Smiths used to pay [...]

A Facebook friend of mine posted a link to this income tax rate graph, which shows that the “average federal income tax rate for a median-income family of four” has declined from about 12% in 1980 to about 5% today – although it has been rising again in the past few years. My friend asked [...]

I have no problem with the idea of government involvement in the health care industry. But Governor Deval Patrick’s decision to deny requested premium increases is not the way to go. Actions like this lend some credibility to the otherwise fanciful cries about a “government takeover of health care.” As I pointed out recently, small [...]

I got this today from Mike Capuano. He’s the guy who, if I’d had my way, would be sitting in Scott Brown’s Senate seat today. You’d think that Capuano, as an advocate of a single-payer system, would be a solid yes vote in this round. But he’s not. It was an eye-opener to read about [...]

I thought things were complicated last year when I had to renew my small business’s health insurance plan. Back then, I was choosing between 25 different plans offered by the same insurer: Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare. (I could have gone with other insurers as well, but I’d been happy to that point with Harvard and had [...]

Continuing my observations from the previous post … Someone needs to take a poll of the American public: “Do you support the idea of having the Federal government create minimum standards for private health insurance policies?” I’m betting at least 60% say yes, and probably a lot more if you point out that the Federal [...]

The discussion is flawed from the get-go. You can’t simultaneously rail against the private health care insurance industry and insist that everyone should buy into it. (See comment below regarding pre-existing conditions.) To tamp down on partisanship, they should have mixed up the seating arrangements so that Democrats and Republicans were intermingled. I’m sure the [...]

I cannot for the life of me understand why people are fighting so hard to make sure everyone has health insurance when what we need is basic health care. If we’re successful in getting 30 million more people covered by insurance, what we’re going to end up with is 30 million more stories like this. [...]

I had a brilliant idea last night as the gloom of the Martha Coakley debacle set in. I was trying to imagine how President Obama must have been feeling as the returns were announced, and I thought of that scene from Downfall that has been endlessly parodied on YouTube. (Quick side note: I had to [...]