Health Care – Republican Style

So when the Republicans take the House on November 3^rd, one of their key fiscal leaders will be Rep. Paul Ryan from Wisconsin.  Rep. Ryan and the other Republicans may propose a repeal of the Health Care Reform.  However, nobody is talks about the Republican proposal for Health Care.  Yes, they do have one and it is Representative Ryan’s.  He is proposing a refundable tax credit; $2,300 for individuals and $5,700 for families each year. 

First, a refundable tax credit means you pay first and then get it when you file your taxes.  In addition, you get the credit even if your tax liability is zero. 

According to the latest census projections, there are just over 310 million Americans.  According to the 2008 estimates of households, this separates families from individuals.

Total Households: about 112.3 million

Total Families: about 74.8 million

Individuals: about 37.5 million

So let us do some math, 74.8 million times $5,700 each year that equals 426,360,000,000.  That is just over $426 BILLION on tax credits for just Families.

37.5 million Times $2,300 each year that equals 86,250,000,000

That is just over $86 BILLION on tax credits for Individuals

For a total of $512 BILLION each year of spending to the Federal budget. 

A reminder to everyone, the CBO cost estimate of the Health Care Reform Act is 938 BILLION over TEN years; In comparison to my basic math using Rep. Ryan’s proposal and Census data, the Republican proposal is $5.12 TRILLION over ten years. 

If you really care about controlling spending, the national debt, and believe that we need to do something about health care in this country; The Democrats and the President’s Health Care Reform is the better solution for the country.  The Republican solution will continue their policy of fantasy governance or do nothing to solve problems.

Angry at the Government, BUT Are You Angry At The Right One?

The TEA party movement has been the main focus by the media in this election cycle.  The message from the media is that this is an election about anger at the government, at which government?   The focus has been on the Federal government; issues like TARP, the stimulus, and National Health Care Framework as signs that the GOVERNMENT is the problem.  The problem is not the Federal government, and it is not the market -- the problem for the average American is the state and local government.  The actions of the Federal government are so distant from the majority of American, that we do not see the impact everyday; on the flip-side, the actions of the state and local governments touch American everyday like housing and zoning, state and local pensions, and public education.

The major problems in this country are not Federal issues, for example, the housing market.  Yes, the financial industry bears some responsibility for their role in the collapse (note I say some).  However, the decision to zone areas for new home building was done by local governments.  In my home state of Arizona, home construction dominated the economic growth of the last decade.  New sub-divisions were being building every week.  The decisions for zoning by cities in the Phoenix metro area were made by the city councils competing for tax revenue, developer dollars, and prestige.  The short-term gain was important, not the long term effect.   In 2007, according to the WP Carey Business Schools at Arizona State University (ASU), 65,000 homes were built in Phoenix each year.  The thought was that the metro area would continue to grow at the 30% rate it had for the previous 5 boom years.  The problem is that assumption and the housing need were wrong.  The same fate has hit the commercial real estate market. 

Another consequence of state and local leadership decisions is the Pension crisis for government employees.  The crisis in California has highlighted the bad decision-making by local officials.  Many have tried to put the blame on the unions for the pension crisis, but there are always two participants to a negotiation.  The state and local government leaders agreed to the requests of the unions during periods of contract negotiation over the last twenty years.  Even if the threat of a strike was put on the table by the unions, the number of government employee strikes in the history of the United States can be counted on your hands.  If fact the last major police strike occurred in the 1970s, so the threat of a strike is not likely.  Many states have laws prohibiting strike for public employees, yet Republican politicians at the state and local level are trying to scare the public into thinking the union is to blame. 

My final example is education.  Yes there is a Federal Department of Education, but the standards for performance and decisions on curriculum are mainly made a state and local level.  The Federal intervention over the last decade to push policies like No Child Left Behind (NCLB) have led state and local leaders to use that as an excuse for the poor performance under their management.  The fact is that state and local leaders have failed to make real changes to improve education.  In many states, legislatures have cut the education budget in an attempt to balance budgets while not raising taxes.  In some states, they cut taxes and cut education.  

Another drumbeat of state and local leaders is the push for vouchers.  Vouchers have been a key reform issue for over a decade.  The thought is that you give a subsidy to a parent to send their child or children to whatever school they want, to ensure they will get the best education.  However, giving a subsidy to one child or one family may help that ONE child; the purpose of using taxpayers dollars for education is to help the whole of a community.  In addition, vouchers have been sold as parental choice; the parent has always had the choice to send them to a public or private school.  Vouchers are really a subsidy to the private and charter schools that do not have the same accountability to the public and community as your community public school.

In this country, we know who the President is and we can blame him for our problems or praise him for giving us hope (a lot less likely in the last 20 years). Yet, most Americans can not tell you who their City council member is or who is on the local school board.  Considering that a City Council member can determine the number of parks, police officers, firefighters, trash collection, and zoning of areas that you are in contact everyday; or the school board member who determines what school your child goes to, bus they ride, curriculum that is taught, books for the school, and the future of your child’s education – I WOULD THINK YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THEM.  Since your property taxes went up, an entire housing market in disaster because of over-development and zoning, commercial real estate ghost towns because of over-development and zoning, lack of good paying jobs in your area because they went after low hanging fruit in the market, and less resources for education – why are you not mad at your state and local politicians?  They are the ones who made all those decisions in the last decade. 

Finally, two things in this election, first, the majority of incumbent governors are Republicans, not the party of the President.  It looks that majority will increase.  Second, in Arizona  Arizona has been led by a Republican legislature since 1992, almost 20 years, and has only had 6 years with a Democratic Governor.  So if you are angry about the direction of the government you see in your day-to-day life, maybe, just maybe, you need to blame your local government.

The Who, What, Why, and How of This…..

The Who: 

Many of the people who I assume my read this    will already know the physical me, and some know the philosophical and ideological me.  However, background information, I have found helps for understanding the context of ideas.  Without at least a small self-portrait, that illustrates the essence of thought and ideas, the wrong impression can be made.

I was born in the suburbs of Chicago to two educated, professional, working class parents.  Both parents were teachers, homeowners, and involved parents that made sure my sister and I had every opportunity.  My father became a corporate trainer when I was 3, and did that until a business trip to Southern Illinois in 1984.  My father got Legionnaire’s Disease from the hotel he stayed at; from that point on our family’s path would wind through the future like an uncharted path in the mountains.  We moved to AZ in 1986, I was 8 -- almost 9, it gave me the unique characteristic from the rest of my family, I am an Arizonian.  So my ideals and principles were shaped by the culture of the West and the people who make up that culture.  I do carry a lot of the same values of my family, but my view of those values comes from a different perspective. 

Most of my youth and teen years were spent on a ball field, mostly baseball.  When I was 15 – almost 16, I found politics.  My father ran a “make a point” campaign for the Phoenix City Council, I loved it and many of my ideas were brought up during the campaign.  I knew this is what I wanted to do.  In 2000, I continued my education in politics, as a volunteer for Tom Liddy for Congress.  Tom is the son of G. Gordon Liddy, and would have been a great representative for the East Valley and AZ; he lost to Congressman Jeff Flake (who is a great representative for AZ).  In 2002, I worked as Campaign Manager for John McComish for State House, and Sal DiCiccio for Secretary of State.  I also helped Scott Bundgaard startup his run for Congress that year.  Three campaigns, three loses; the experience was great and I met wonderful people who expanded my view of politics, ideas, and the view of collective public.  In 2004, my friend John McComish again ran for State House, this time winning in a hard fought campaign.

Late in August, I interviewed for a position with a Think Tank in DC.  I was hired and moved to DC in mid-September.  I have been in DC metro area (Specifically NOVA) since then and built a career as a government (Federal, State, and Local) management expert. 

I have not been involved in politics here in VA, but have followed and tried to advise AZ state leaders.  I am married, and a father.  I am architect of the future.  I am a political underdog.   

The What:

This …. , I hope will be a expression of solutions.  Notice, I did not say beliefs, thoughts, or opinions.  I do understand that I may from time to time express all three of those items; however, I hope that each of those will lead to a solution.  I ask myself, and any readers to try not to get caught in the tendencies to “make it a bitch session”.  I hope this will be an expression of solutions

The Why:

I love public affairs, politics, and our democracy; I have ideas and solutions, which my wife is sick of hearing about “what I would do”, she wants me to get them out for people to see.  This is my start to taking those ideas and solutions out of my head and into a forum. 

I am moderate who is watching the rhetoric of opinion become fact, and the leaders we choose to guide us get bogged down in issue rather than the problem.  We the everyday citizens are not focused on the problem so we focus on the issue, and ignore any solutions.  I want to continue the evolution of this great experiment of our country, so my son and his children can build on the foundation.  This forum is an outlet to focus on the problems and the solutions, even if they are painful.  For god sake, we should be able to take some pain, we are Americans!!!

The How:

I plan to post my thoughts and solutions.  I am going to invite friends to post.  I will encourage comments and feedback, but I will censor this site for inappropriate posting.  Inappropriate to me is not about foul language, but the context of it.  If you make a comment that to me is bullying, or done with malice it will be removed.  This is my site, I am not the government, and there is no such thing as absolute freedom of speech.  This site is meant for identifying problems, not issues; for ideas and solutions; for debate and discussion.