Now that I'm back from vacation and doing my catch-up reading, I just came across this blog post from Rortybomb. The author, Mike Konczal, points out that we just passed a $680 billion defense bill for the year with little...
Re: "The Cost of Giving -- Nation can't afford $250 handout to seniors, Thursday Editorials. The Dallas Morning News said seniors would be "stealing" from future generations if we receive a $250 bonus. The younger generation has earning power that...
Re: "Wonder whether she means it," by Wolf A. de Vallette, Sunday Letters. De Vallette asked whether someone who opposes government support programs would refuse Social Security and Medicare. Asking whether one would opt out after years of paying tens...
Re: "Reform, Responsibly -- Health care changes need clear revenue stream," Monday Editorials. How good of The Dallas Morning News to avoid inflammatory rhetoric. The editorial's recommendations on bending the cost curve and ways to pay for expanded coverage were...
In the late '60s because of my sex and age, and because I was too broke to buy another semester at State U., a Democratic president gave me the choice of jail or Vietnam. When I got back from Southeast...
The Texas long-term care provider community strongly supports health care reform, but we strongly urge our U.S. House delegation to help derail unwarranted cuts of $32 billion over 10 years to Medicare-funded nursing home care. This ill-advised element of the...
Re: "Health changes in D-FW? Hospitals, insurers talk about cures for care, skyrocketing costs as region ranks among top U.S. spenders," Sunday news story. It would be unfortunate if your readers ended up believing that the elderly users of Medicare...
At a time when our leaders are searching for ways to bring better health care coverage to more Americans, it's troubling that one of the most valuable and cost-effective government-supported health care benefits is facing serous cuts: the Medicare benefit...
Candidate Barack Obama repeatedly pledged that those making less than $250,000 would not have their taxes increased. It is now clear to any unbiased observer that Obama cannot keep that pledge. Using fear of financial collapse, he rushed his stimulus...
This piece from today's New York Times contains some of the most encouraging entitlement reform news I've heard in a while. The two leading senators on the Senate Finance Committee, Democrat Max Baucus and Republican Charles Grassley, have come up...
Re: "FDR's changes didn't work," by Charles B. Parker, Friday Letters. It is true that World War II brought an end to the Great Depression. It is less well-known that the economic stimulus of the New Deal was actually improving...
Re: "Entitlements on the table -- Social Security, Medicare overhaul called center of Obama's spending curbs," Thursday news story. Another entitlement we should review is the congressional pay system. Our statesmen get generous benefits and should also participate in the...
Bill's Medicare column was eye-opening and insightful. Although it will be a loooooong time before I will need the help of Social Security or Medicare (if it's still solvent by then), I can't help but worry about the huge burden...
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