March 30, 2012

Problem with the ACA: they called it a penalty, not a tax.

Interesting analysis from Major Garrett on hardball earlier. He said the house bill called the consequence of not having health insurance a tax but the Senate wanted to call it a penalty and the White House made a political decision to go with the Senate language. That is what made it fall afoul of the constitution. If they had called it a tax they should have been ok because congress has the authority to tax.

March 27, 2012

Dudley Sees ‘High Bar’ to MORE Fed Purchases of European Debt

By Cheyenne Hopkins
March 27, 2012 11:26 AM EDT

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said that the central bank holds a very small amount of European sovereign debt and that he sees a “high bar” to additional purchases.

The standard for buying more European sovereign debt “is extraordinarily high for the U.S., for the Federal Reserve, to actually go out and buy foreign sovereign debt for its own portfolio, apart from the very small foreign exchange holdings that we have,” Dudley said today to a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing.


http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-27/dudley-sees-high-bar-to-more-fed-purchases-of-european-debt.html

March 17, 2012

HHS rules require birth control pills to be provided with no co pay.

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/216485-white-house-says-colleges-must-cover-birth-control-for-students

"The Health and Human Services Department said student health plans will be treated like employees’ plans, meaning they will have to comply with new requirements under healthcare reform — including the requirement to provide contraception without charging a copay."

So why don't they require no co-pays for more important drugs that keep people alive?

March 14, 2012

Analysis: As debt maturities loom, U.S. needs to extend

From Sept 2011 but still relevant I imagine.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7803QD20110901?irpc=932

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Insatiable demand for safe haven U.S. government bonds is helping mask a potentially huge financial problem -- the need to extend the maturity of debt issued by the United States.

The United States has the least balanced maturity schedule of any major nation. Over 70 percent of its bonds mature within 5 years, compared with an average 49 percent for the 34 member countries in the OECD.

This leaves the country extremely vulnerable to any shift in investor sentiment at a time when its debt load has almost doubled in four years.

Marketable U.S. debt has risen to over $9 trillion, from around $5 trillion in late 2007, before the government increased spending to bail out struggling financial companies.

If sentiment were to shift quickly, it could send the cost of refinancing the country's bonds sharply higher. This would, in turn, eat into its budget and ability to meet long term obligations.

March 12, 2012

Debt, the American Way

"We haven't really dealt with the underlying causes of the crisis," Mr. Hyman says.

And the most basic cause is this: "Consumer debt has crowded out business debt. …GE Capital can make more money issuing credit cards to consumers than it can loaning money to businesses."

Indeed, the interest rates charged for many consumer loans used to be prosecuted as criminal offenses. Banks bought off the lawmakers and became loan sharks with risk-management models singling out borrowers they know can't repay—ruining them and everyone around them as their subprime debts choke the economy.

Mr. Hyman argues our economy will never be fixed until government policy encourages credit to flow more freely to those who produce and less freely to those who consume.

If capital is invested in businesses that can create decent-paying jobs, then maybe people won't need so much credit to buy the things they consume.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/debt--the-american-way-.html

March 3, 2012

Why aren't birth control pills OTC anyway?

Then this wouldn't be a health care debate and everyone would have access.