My hope is that the Republican party moves towards a more
fiscally responsible party that does not practice the crony
capitalism that I have seen conducted in Washington by both
parties. I think it is appalling what Frankenstein creature
that Paulson has created. To get only 5% preferred stock when
the Brits and Buffett got significantly more percentage for
similar deals shows that the Treasury is just a method for
funnelling money to Paulson's golf buddies. The AGI deal was
another example.
We need to get the savings rate up in the U.S., reduce our
national debt and deficit, and reduce our trade deficit. We
need to make our citizen's labor more valuable by enhanced
productivity and better protection of our Intellectual
Property internationally. We need to eliminate our dependence
on imported oil - it is not a market question but more of a
question of national security. I am in favor of a large
tariff on imported oil. We need to consider the importation
of sugar based ethanol (an excellent source for this would be
the Carribean). Electric cars are a nice thought if they can
be combined with some clean/reliable method for producing the
electricity (almost every green plan currently proposed has
significant environmental and reliability issues). It should
be remembered though that the 150,000,000? cars in the U.S.
now run on fossil fuel. I think we are going to be seeing
80/20 gas/ethanol for quite some time yet even if we converted
to selling only green cars tomorrow. A really nice market
would be found for individuals who can figure out how to
convert gasoline powered vehicles to 100% ethanol or CNG.
Folks need to recognize that the cost of energy input has an
important bearing on how competitive our industries will be.
Over time this has national and security implications. I have
looked closely at the solar plan being proposed (effectively
covering half of Arizona with solar panels), and I cannot
believe that electricity will not be twice as expensive as
with coal fired plants. What happens when we green while
China continues to pay half as much for electricity. Also,
what are the environmental implications of so many solar
panels? Right now lots of companies are trying to set up
solar farms in the Southwest but are experiencing continuing
headaches with environmental laws. Are we going to bigfoot
aside those laws in preference for green energy?
Windmills
We need to decouple health insurance from our employers.
Obama wants to make the Federal plan available to all - I
think that this is an excellent idea and the starting point
for the conversion. These portable plans should move towards
universal coverage by being a floor for every citizen to have
access. Eventually I would like to see a German style plan of
portability. I think any plan should be a high deductibile
plan with tax credits assisting low/no income workers.
Hopefully with the efficiencies discussed by Obama, a typical
family plan can be reduced from $12,000/yr. to $8,000/yr with
a 5,000/yr deductible. Currently my employer effectively pays
my premiums for this plan into an HSA ($1400), and I fully max
my HSA. At the start of the year I know that my medical
deductible is covered. Since I get to keep the HSA at the end
of the year, I am motivated to only see the doctor if I am
truly sick and feel that the doctor can help the situation.
The plan pays for annual physicals for all family members
which I think is essential for any plan. I would think that
Obama would move towards every employer be required to pay
somewhere in the neighborhood of $3000-$4000 per employee
(maybe best handled by a payroll tax applied to everyone like
the Medicare tax). I do not see a reason why small employers
should be exempted. I would see all the union plans (which
are typically better than the salaried plan described above
for large employers like mine) be moved into a federal plan as
discussed above. I think we need to recognize the fact that
Obama's health care plan will effectively freeze drug
development in place, and the drugs we currently have will be
priced down to their variable marginal cost plus a small
profit incentive to continue to even produce them. Current
manufacturers may elect to sell their IP to 3rd world
producers with better variable costs to produce. The drug
companies will close their R&D departments. If trials on
new drugs need to be conducted, then the federal government
will have to conduct them (along with the R&D to get them
to the trial stage).
We may have to eventually think about euthanasia and denying
medical care to older people. This is already happening in
Western Europe which is the template that Obama is following
for his health care plan. If you truly run the numbers we
cannot continue to provide Medicare/Medicaid at current
levels. For those on Medicaid medical care is free and is
consumed at irrational rates. I am not saying that I like
this situation or that it is right, but studies need to be
done to determine where the money is going to come from if we
elect to continue our current Medicare/Medicaid approach.
On the social side. I would like the Republicans to agree
that nationally all partnerships of two consenting adults be
recognized and given all rights/responsibilities formerly
reserved for man/woman marriages. Over time the word marriage
should be removed from state licenses and replaced with civil
unions. In our modern society marriage should be reserved for
an individual's religious belief system.
Sorry I can't go as far as Obama on abortion. Babies are
viable in the 2nd and 3rd trimester and how can any individual
say they are not conscious and human at that point? I am
strongly in favor improvements in birth control methods, and,
if the school wants to teach the mechanics of prevention, so
be it. I would like to see the school wait, except for
teaching about molestation prevention, to teach these
mechanics in the 7th grade.
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