Ye Olde Presidential Primer

Ye Olde Presidential Primer

By George Washington

First publication:  March 4, 1797

It shall be the purpose of this primer to provide guidance to new presidents.  Succeeding presidents may amend this publication as they see fit.  It is to be passed on to your successor.

1. Loyalty – Loyalty is to be earned and not demanded.  It is a natural byproduct of other activities such as “treating others with respect” and “leading by good example.”
2. Respect – Respect, like loyalty, is earned in much the same manner.  For more information, see the Golden Rule.
3. Promises – Promises are statements of your future aspirations and intentions.  They are not to be made lightly or for personal gain.  Promises must clearly outline achievable tasks you expect to perform or directly cause to be accomplished by your efforts.
4. Truth – Truths are statements based on facts.  They have no room for misleading or deceitful information.  True statements should be verifiable and based on reliable sources with proven records of accuracy.
5. Lies – Lies are the opposite of truth.  They are intentional statements designed to mislead others.  Lies may only be used when stating your age.  Lies may never be used to brag of your accomplishments.
6. Half-Truths – Half-truths are the most heinous of all lies, as they are attempts to disguise lies by inclusion of some limited truth.
7. Compromise – You can’t always get everything you desire.  Listen to others and try to agree on a mutually acceptable course of action.  To quote from a song made popular by a small local sextet called Ye Rolling Stones, “You can't always get what you want; But, if you try sometimes, well you might find; You get what you need.”

Thank you, 

George Washington

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Amendments and thoughts of succeeding presidents:

William Henry Harrison:  I don’t have much to say as I feel a cold coming on.

Millard Fillmore:  I got my job when “Old Rough and Ready" Zachary Taylor died in office after drinking unpasteurized milk with cherries.  My recommendation is that you should avoid milk and cherries, especially when they are served to you by your vice president.

Abraham Lincoln:  Be honest to yourself and others.  I’ll have more to say when I get back from the theatre.

Richard M. Nixon:  Beware of tape recorders and The Washington Post.

Ronald Reagan:  Before all important decisions, consult your astrologer.  Mine is Joan Quigley.

Barack Obama:  Make sure you turn off the tape recorder I left hidden in the Oval Office.  To turn it off, just enter the serial number from my Hawaiian birth certificate into the red phone on your desk.  I'm sure you have found a copy by now.  Please note that all recordings are automatically transmitted nightly to the Washington Post.

Are We Great Yet?

Candidate Trump was the Man With A Plan.  He was going to do many "great things" on his "very first day" and other items were put off to merely "one of the first things we are going to do."  All things were simple but it was going to take a smart businessman who knew how to get things done to make all of these changes.  He (candidate Trump) had his very own plans and "really great ideas." He was going to Make America Great Again.

Well you have to give him credit for one thing, he did have a really great slogan. It fit on ballcaps, tee-shirts, worked on yard signs, and it used mostly one and two syllable words.  The slogan worked exceptionally well for a man who thinks a thesaurus is a giant lizard that choked to death eating a caveman.

Thesaurus Rex
(Courtesy Assia Alexandrova)

We now have to ask ourselves, "Are We Great Yet?"  Let’s look at the Trump record of accomplishment.  The Reader's Digest summary of his time on the American stage would read that he has: made fun of the disabled, disparaged a Gold Star family, alienated our long-standing allies, made light of sexual assault, questioned the constitutional guarantee of a free press, and fired the FBI director investigating Russian interference in our election process.  I bring this up to briefly memorialize some of his finer moments.  But, getting on to more important matters...

Russian Translation, Make America Great Again

His Major Campaign Promises

He promised:  That he had a plan to build a beautiful 20’ tall wall that Mexico would pay for.

What he did:  He signed an executive order asking Congress to figure out how to build and pay for the wall.

Trump Builds His 20' Wall
(Has anyone thought of crowdfunding a Mexican based 25' ladder factory?)

What’s been done:  The 1,900+ mile wall is estimated to cost between $20 billion and $70 billion of US taxpayer capital.  To put that in perspective, the recently commissioned Gerald Ford class aircraft carrier was estimated to cost $14 billion while its actual final cost was $36.3 billion (typical government estimate accuracy).  Along the Mexican border there was already 694 miles of fencing in place.  Funds have now been budgeted to repair 40 miles of that existing fencing.

On July 20^th of 2017, Congress also approved funding for 28 miles of a levee wall and 46 miles of new fencing.  Neither party has expressed any desire to make funding of a border wall a priority.  Mexico certainly won’t pay for the wall and, even if a remittance tax is enacted, it wouldn’t provide the necessary funding.  The ultimate burden would fall to the American taxpayers.

The practicality of the wall is highly dubious.  Over 40% of illegal immigration comes to this country by car, plane or boat using legitimate visas. I would further venture that a border wall would have little to no impact in eliminating the importation of illicit drugs.  Planes, boats, trucks, and shipping containers will be used to circumvent any effort to curb the illegal drug trade.

The promised 1,900-mile WALL will end up being many miles of fencing, a 28-mile wall, electronic sensors and manned patrols.  Some form of border security is needed at all of our borders but, building a giant wall is not the best way to spend our tax dollars. More efficient methods are readily available.  The wall was just another ill conceived idea.

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He promised:  That he had a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).  There would be “insurance for everybody” with no cuts to Medicaid.  No one will lose coverage and “artificial lines around states” would be eliminated allowing people to buy insurance across state lines. 

What he did:  He told Congress to come up with a plan to repeal and replace the ACA.  When several attempts backfired he was quoted to say, "Now, I have to tell you, it's an unbelievably complex subject," he added, "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated."

What’s been done:  In a word, we're somewhere between nothing and not much.  Neither President Trump nor the Republican Party has any sound idea that wouldn’t cut Medicaid, raise rates, and reduce coverage.  No proposal yet put forward would accomplish even one of the President Trump’s promised improvements to health care.  He famously tweeted to the GOP that it was time to “keep your promise” on health care.  Note that he didn’t mention HIS promised plan on health care only that all recent failures were to be blamed on Congress.  As this was being written the Senate used the Vice President to break a 50-50 tie to advance a proposed bill for further debate.  Glaciers in the arctic are melting faster due to climate change than the Congress is moving on affordable health care.

Yes, the ACA in its current implementation, especially with the recent elimination of the individual mandate, is destined to eventually fail.  It is in dire need of repair.  Blaming Republicans for demanding change over the last six years and not having anymore of an idea on how to provide affordable health care than candidate Trump did, is not productive.  It's time to stop pointing fingers across the aisle and time to start rolling up your sleeves.

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He promised:  That he had a plan to cut the tax rate for middle-income taxpayers to 12.5% and zero percent for those making under $25,000.

What he did:  He issued a one page vague memorandum proposing a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans and a drop in the corporate tax rate to 15%.

What’s been done:  Nothing.  Aside from some negotiations with Congress and the one page memo, nothing has been done.

Congress Working On Tax Plan

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Other "accomplishments"

Environment:  While ignoring an overwhelming body of scientific evidence he has denied climate change, pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement, cancelled rules protecting whales and sea turtles from fishing nets, made a budget proposal to cut the EPA budget 31%, appointed anti-EPA activist Scott Pruitt to head the EPA, forced the removal of climate data from the EPA website, ordered a review of our public lands and national monuments to see which of those could be opened for development, rejected a planned ban of the pesticide chlorpyrifos that causes brain damage in children and farm workers, gutted the EPA Clean Power Plan to reduce CO₂ emissions, and removed restrictions on the dumping of coal mine waste into our waterways.

WHY?

NATO:  President Trump said NATO was obsolete.  He later changed his mind stating; “I said it [NATO] was obsolete” “It’s no longer obsolete.”  He realized that our fight on terrorism benefited from our support of NATO.

NATO Flag

China:  Candidate Trump pledged to label China as a “currency manipulator” on his first day in office.  He has since abandoned that pledge.

Torture:  During the campaign Mr. Trump said he would approve waterboarding immediately and “make it also much worse”, and further stated, “torture works”.  He later deferred to the desires of his Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA director Mike Pompeo, effectively abandoning this course of action.

Waterboarding

Infrastructure:  During his victory speech in November, President-elect Trump stated that the country’s infrastructure , “will become, by the way, second to none and we will put millions of our people back to work as we rebuild it”.  To date no action has been taken to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.

Jobs:  Candidate and President Trump promised to promote jobs in America.  To Keep America First and “Buy American and Hire American”.  Not only are his clothing lines made “Not in America” he annually files for H-2B visas to hire foreign workers for his Mar-a-Lago Club.  While the local West Palm Beach employment office has over 2,000 applicants wanting those service industry jobs, President “Hire-American” Trump plans to hire 15 housekeepers, 35 waiters, and 20 cooks from overseas.  He filed the visa requests, adding insult to injury, during “Made in America Week.”  He is also expanding the H-2B visa program to add another 15,000 foreign workers to our employment rolls.

Mar-a-Lago Hires Foreign Cooks using H-2B Visa Program
Apparently No American Cooks Were Available to Fill the Position

Summary

In summary, it would seem that Candidate Trump had no plans.  His only plan to Make America Great Again was to delegate the details to others.  This may work well in the business world but, as we see, doesn't work so well over in the government sector.  President Trump is trying to delegate all planning to the same government he has called ineffective.  While I agree with his analysis of Congress, the fact that he wants to dump all responsibility for the plans he said he had on that same government body, epitomises his hubris.

President Trump "talks the talk" but doesn't "walk the walk."  He is rhetoric without substance.  His plan to Make America Great Again has not provided any improvement in the plight of the middle class Americans and blue collar workers who helped put him in office.  These very same people remain hopeful.  They regularly attend his ongoing campaign-style "can I still get some applause please" rallies.  He is still just talking the talk.

Trump's White House Staff Analyze a Current Problem

He is fighting to keep Mexicans on their side of the border and is trying to ban Muslims from entering the country.  At the very same time, he wants to expand the H-2B visa program to allow more foreign workers to fill low wage jobs at his properties and those of other wealthy business owners.

He has managed to punch through a few things to make the wealthiest among us more wealthy.  His laissez-faire capitalistic spin on trickle down economics (aka Reaganomics) didn't work in Reagan's days, didn't work during the Bush years, and won't work now.  Correction, they did help the rich get very, very rich.

Opening the spigot of capitalism at the very top only fills the coffers of those who reside at the top. The very wealthy have become astute at finding ways to keep their money out of the mythical stream that runs beyond their neighborhood. The people further down the economic food chain barely get damp from the "trickle down" that makes it that far.

Trickle Down Economics At Work

Meaningful solutions to the job losses suffered by our manufacturing communities have yet to be proposed.  Factories remain shuttered.  Jobs will still go to those willing to work for less, wherever they reside in the world.  Coal mining will not rebound while natural gas remains a less expensive option. Health care will never be inexpensive, especially while insurance companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers are allowed to make obscene profits.  Revising the ACA is clearly needed but universal affordable coverage will be painful to someone.

As a great visionary, President Trump has been shown to be a bit myopic.

Our Visionary President

The Make America Great Again balloon is full of the hot air that symbolizes Washington, D.C., and President Trump keeps the gondola basket loaded with his empty promises.

Hot Air Balloon Delivering Empty Promises

I postulate that America was always great.  It continues to be great. It is certainly greater than most of the alternatives.  Like any family this large, we have room for improvement. We need to continually revisit what we are doing to see how we can make things better.  Not only for the privileged few at the pinnacle of our pyramid of wealth, but also for the citizen base that provides the foundation of our democracy.

In Memoriam

It is with great sadness and sense of loss that we, the American people, announce to the world the loss of our dear friend, Integrity.  After suffering through a prolonged illness, Integrity succumbed to the cancers of corporate greed and political expediency on January 20, 2017.  Integrity was predeceased by her companion of many years, Honesty.

Both Integrity and Honesty traveled the psyche of America for centuries and basked in the knowledge that they represented the ne plus ultra of ideals upon which this great country was founded.  They are survived by their children Hope and Change.

Integrity was well known in political circles many years ago.  However, she fell out of favor when her rival, Money, became the true leader of our government.  Integrity and Honesty will be remembered by the generations of Americans who relish the period in our history when political utterances were not peppered with deceit and lies.  We will long for the time when a person’s word and a warm handshake could be trusted.  We will forever miss our not so distant past, when political rivals could sanely discuss important issues and come to reasoned conclusions that would be of mutual benefit to their constituencies. 

Our American ideals and future are now in the hands of Hope and Change. 

President Münchhausen and other Tall Tales

You have probably heard of Münchhausen Syndrome or its variation Münchhausen Syndrome by Proxy, where the sufferer lies about either personal illnesses or illnesses of individuals close to them in order to generate sympathy or attention to themselves.  Well, the reference name “Münchhausen” was loosely based on an actual person, one Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen.

You see the real Münchhausen, was born in 1720 Germany.  While generally considered an honest man, he was famous for his storytelling ability where he could enthrall guests with tall tales of his travels in Russia.  He famously married his second wife who was 57 years his junior.  He was 74 and she was 17.  Therefore, we have a connection to Russia, an ability to tell tall tales, and a penchant for younger women.  Whom can you think of with a similar pedigree?

The real-life Münchhausen was then the basis for an even more extravagant fictional character created by a writer, scientist, and con artist, Rudolf Raspe.  This fictional Baron von Münchhausen rode a flying cannonball, traveled to the moon, was swallowed by a giant fish, fought a 40’ crocodile, and used laurel tree branches to fix his horse when the animal was cut in two.  The good Baron relates each tale in a manner wherein he appears to believe every word, no matter how inconsistent they become, and he is indifferent to disbelief he encounters in others.  Hmmmm!

Baron von Munchhausen Rides a Cannonball

Therefore, our own President Münchhausen, can generously thought to be continuing the tradition of telling amusing tall tales.  In American folklore, we have stories of Paul Bunyan, John Henry, Babe the Blue Ox, Sasquatch, Pecos Bill, and the Lone Ranger.  The only problem we have here is that, our President Münchhausen isn’t telling tall tales for amusement wherein sane individuals easily recognize their absurdity; he is actually fooling something just south of 40% of the American public.  Approximately 10% of the remainder simply recognize the falsity of the narrative but elect to either justify the statements with circuitous logic or to just ignore their existence.  The other 50% recognize the foul stench accompanying such a huge mound of bullshit.

Falsehoods uttered to deceive or change opinions and perceptions can no longer be considered to be tall tales but must be called by their true name, lies.  We, the American public, have come to realize and accept that politicians lie rather effortlessly during what we call campaign rhetoric.  We further realize that once they are elected to office, they will expectedly stretch, spin, bend, and twist, the truth like Gumby, to make a point.  Lying for no perceived reason however boldly enters an area, to paraphrase the Star Trek opening, "where no man has gone before." 

On the TV series Seinfeld, George Costanza (played by Jason Alexander) said, “It’s not a lie if you believe it.”  Adolf Hitler (played by Adolf Hitler) said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”  Some individuals, like Robert Ripley, turned lying into an art form.  His Ripley’s Believe It or Not, let you trust your lying eyes or resort to common sense.  Then there was Harry Gerguson, born an orphan in New York, who throughout his life claimed to be Michael Romanoff (of the royal Russian Romanov dynasty).  He used his invented royal credentials to open a Hollywood restaurant, enroll in Harvard, and to make many celebrity friends.  His credo:  stick to the lie, and eventually people might find the whole thing charming.

Our own Liar-in-Chief is different from his presidential predecessors in that he lies for no reason at all.  Previous residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have lied to protect themselves from some perceived harm.  He, by exception, seems to be lying to gain personal attention or to appear more admirable.  Even his self-harming lies seem to satisfy some internal need.  As long as he has unwavering support from his Republican base, he will suffer no direct consequence from his actions.

As a medical condition, it is called pseudologia fantastica, pathological lying, or mythomania.  An individual with this condition lies habitually and for no reason at all.  Some therapists believe individuals may develop this habit as a result of living in an environment where the practice of deception is an advantage.  Many compulsive liars have no ulterior motive for lying and they will tell lies that result in personal damage.  Even after their falsehoods have been exposed, people who lie compulsively may still have great difficulty admitting the truth.

Compulsive lying is commonly tied to Narcissism.  According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a person suffering from NPD or Narcissistic Personality Disorder will often exhibit many of the following symptoms:

• ·        Preoccupation with fantasies of extreme success, power, or fame
• ·        Constant need for admiration and affirmation
• ·        A strong sense of entitlement
• ·        A belief that others should envy him or her
• ·        Inflated sense of self-esteem
• ·        Belief that he or she is special or unique
• ·        Setting of unrealistic goals
• ·        Exploitation of others
• ·        Difficulty maintaining healthy relationships
• ·        Lack of empathy or the ability to take responsibility for their behavior
• ·        Cannot tolerate criticism

How many of the above symptoms can you see in our 45^th president?

Who me?

State of the Union by Jack, 4th of July Edition

When Donald Trump won the presidency over Hillary Clinton, my first thought was, how bad can he possibly be?  I'll admit that Hillary Clinton wasn’t my first choice for a democratic nominee, but she was definitely the more qualified of the two final offerings.  While it's true that most politicians have skeletons in their closet, Hillary’s walk-in looked more like Freddie Kruger’s with pants suits.  The Donald also had baggage that wouldn’t fit in the overhead.  Hell, his baggage could sink an ocean liner.  The thing that sold Donald Trump was probably the fact that he wasn’t a politician.  We have tried politicians as presidents and it was now time for something different.  Or so some thought. Anything had to be an improvement over what we had been doing.  We were faced with two not-so-ideal choices.  We ended up with one Donald Trump, real estate tycoon.

Hillary's Closet

With Trump in the White House, I looked for the unseen benefit.  I thought that maybe Washington could use a little shake-up.  Well, January 20, 2017, Washington got a rattling like the 1964 Prince William Sound 9.4 magnitude earthquake.  Maybe this was a good thing.  Perhaps America will wake up now to see that not only does the emperor have no clothes, but also that Congress is acting like a bunch of third graders with a substitute teacher.  I don’t need to reiterate here the numerous missteps of the Trump presidency.  They are the daily fodder of all the major news outlets.  Even the “fair and balanced” Fox Network has occasionally found fault with their Commander-in-Tweet.

Trump White House

President Trump is truly the Teflon Don.  He keeps swinging for the left field fence and hitting nothing but the hot air of Washington in the summer.  He, just like a Kansas twister, keeps changing direction, destroys everything in his path, and eventually heads for the comfort of his fan-base in the trailer park.  Yes, President Trump has followers that have raised him to deity status.  With religious fervor they will follow him through the valley of the shadows of Congress, and fear no evil. He is their designated hitter, to get back to the baseball analogy, and he gets a thousand strikes.

This is not another Trump bashing.  After years of public apathy and putting up with a broken system, perhaps it’s time to let our government find rock bottom so that it can be rebuilt with lessons learned.  Right now, the rest of the way to the bottom looks like it will be a short trip.  The Democrats don't appear to have a clue and seem to be pinning their hopes on the midterm elections of November 6, 2018.  All 435 House seats will be on the block along with 33 Senate slots.  The future looks rather bleak, unless you happen to be one of the wealthy beneficiaries of the current Republican largesse.

Just know that we currently have government officials who believe that:

•         anthropogenic climate change is a hoax
•         trickle down economics just needs more time to work
•         Americans should only get the healthcare they can personally afford
•         good education should be reserved for the more affluent
•         their Christian faith is the true and only course for America
•         schools should be profit centers for business
•         the earth is less than 10,000 years old
•         we need to deregulate those responsible for the subprime mortgage crisis
•         we need to deregulate those responsible for the dot com bubble
•         job-loss is to be wholly blamed on illegal immigration and our globalized economy
•         our national drug problem can be solved with more jails and a bigger fence
•         our jails should be profit centers for business
•         Congressional gridlock is in the national interest
•         clean air and water are secondary to the needs of business enterprise
•         our infrastructure is going to be fine for a few more years
•         our energy future lies with oil and coal

The election of Donald Trump, with all he stands for, seemed better to many than trusting the existing government structure.  The distrust of our government leaders is not unfounded.  We see the constant shift of power.  It is being taken from "We the People" and shifted to "We the Affluent Minority."   Donald Trump is not the problem.  Like blood in your toilet, he is but a harbinger of a more serious issue.

We can only hope that those who placed their faith in The Great White Hope, aka President Donald Trump, will see that he is not their savior.  They should all soon realize that:

·        the south will not rise again

·        coal mining jobs will not return to bring prosperity to West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, etc.

·        the retail job market has forever changed and will undoubtedly shrink even more

·        manufacturing jobs will continue to suffer from automation and cheaper foreign labor

·        the Great Wall on the Mexican border won’t be built as promised

·        the Obamacare replacement won’t be both better and cheaper

·        all politicians lie, even the new ones

Money is the root of all evil, Timothy 6:10.  You didn’t know I could quote the Bible.  I didn’t either.  Money is certainly the root of all evil in politics, Jack 1:1.  Until we can find a way to remove the influence of money in politics, we will all suffer the consequences.  The people no longer vote for the candidate of their choice.  They vote for the candidate that is offered by the financially well-endowed who can afford the most airtime.

Scariest Words in the English Language

I can wish the best for our country but, as a pragmatist, I don’t hold out much hope for our democracy.  I am still proud to be an American, but I am not proud of our government.  I am not proud of the Democrats.  I am not proud of the Republicans.  President Donald Trump may very well be the Mt. Vesuvius to the Pompeii we call America.  His explosive verbal eruptions and pyroclastic tweets foretell a bleak future.  The tectonic plates are rattling, the heat is building, and something has to give.

Mt. Vesuvius

Healthcare, Nullum Gratuitum Prandium

Nullum gratuitum prandium (there is no free lunch).  Health care in America is going to cost somebody something.  The question now seems to be, how much will it cost and where are we going to find that “somebody” willing to pay.  Is it really that hard to figure out what’s wrong with our current healthcare system and come up with solutions that offer something better than what we now have?

You can call it Obamacare, or Trumpcare, or Medicare, just don’t call it, “I Don’t Care.”  Eventually, everybody cares.  If you live long enough, you, or someone close to you, will need something more than a Band-Aid.

Well, the first problem we have is where to find the money.  I have a few ideas that will help us along.  They may not be the total solution, but I think most of these ideas are better than giving the wealthy deep tax cuts while shifting the healthcare burden to the remaining 99.9% of us.  Cutting taxes and cutting coverage seem to be simple solutions developed by lazy minds.  Good solutions are only difficult if you go in trying to cut how much we spend on healthcare while looking to find ways that private industry can make a greater profit.   If you try to pair a massive tax cut for the wealthy with an improved healthcare delivery system, you are doomed.  Such goals are not just unattainable they are unrealistic.

In Greed We Trust

What would be achievable?  You could identify additional revenue sources while lowering existing costs for healthcare.  You can outline the structure for the delivery system.  The one very important rule here is that everyone must participate.  Healthcare coverage can’t be voluntary.

Why don’t we?

1. Eliminate the cap on Social Security where people earning over $127,000 (in 2017) stop paying into the system.  Then take the added revenue from this “new tax” and put 20% into the Social Security System and the remaining 80% into a Medicare for All Fund.
2. Mandate that all employers who don’t fully provide an approved healthcare insurance plan, who have 25 or more employees and/or contractors, be required to pay $1.00 per hour into a compulsory savings plan (CSP) up to a maximum of $40 per week.  Where contractors, part-time, or salaried employees can be shown to work fewer than 40 hours per week, the $1.00 per hour rate will apply.  The CSP is set up for individuals and would be held in interest-bearing accounts.
3. Employers who do provide an approved healthcare plan will pay a lesser amount for each employee than the amount identified in number two above.  This will go a long way to make insurance “portable” in the event that employee becomes unemployed.  These payments will also go into an employee identified CSP.
4. Begin taxing those workers currently exempt from paying Social Security, like some federal and state employees, railroad workers, and certain religious groups.  You would only tax these individuals when their salaries exceeded the current Social Security cap.  For these individuals 100% of the amount collected would go to the Medicare for All Fund.
5. Impose new taxes on liquor and tobacco that will go directly to the Medicare for All Fund.  Charge $0.01 per ml of distilled spirits ($0.75 for a 750ml bottle), charge $0.01 per oz.) for beer (12 cents a bottle), and similar rates for other forms of alcohol.  Tobacco could be billed at $0.05 per gram of tobacco in your product, which would be about $0.75 for a pack of 20 cigarettes.  If marijuana is ever approved and taxed, it too would be included here.
6. Raise the top marginal tax rate and raise the capital gains tax.  Reagan lowered the marginal income tax rate from 70% to 28% and the capital gains tax went down to 20%.  Raise both by two percentage points to help pay the cost of Medicare for All.
7. Reinstate the luxury tax implemented in 1991 by George H.W. Bush but eliminated in 1993, and put it to paying for healthcare.  Individuals who can afford big-ticket items like luxury cars, private aircraft, yachts, furs, and expensive jewelry can afford to help out the nation that provides them with the opportunity to make the big bucks.
8. Tax corporations and wealthy individuals who elect to make political donations to PACs and similar organizations, in excess of previously established contribution limits.  They should have a portion of that donation taxed and funneled into our national healthcare coffers. 

I’m sure I missed some other logical sources of revenue like charging politicians every time they are caught in a lie, but we don’t want to raise too much revenue.  Our current president could end up funding the entire plan.  The figures used in the enumerated points above are all arbitrary and completely negotiable but serve as examples of reasonable sources of revenue for healthcare.

Now, what can we do to make healthcare more affordable?  Let’s reduce the cost of that care.  Why not allow the Federal Government to act as a central purchasing contractor for all medications, medical equipment, and medical supplies.  The government would negotiate the rate that they will pay/reimburse for those items.  They would be allowed to negotiate the prices for drugs, medical supplies, and medical equipment in the global marketplace, not just the US.  Buy America first, but not exclusively at the expense of our healthcare.  This one act could make a dramatic impact on current costs.

Negotiate Prices

All US citizens under age 65 would be provided basic Medicare type services.  The existing Medicare structure could work where everyone is covered by the federal plan for basic healthcare.  Insurance carriers could operate at the state, regional or national levels as they choose and could offer enhanced plans for those willing to pay.  They could use the federal negotiated rates for drugs, equipment and supplies, or they could negotiate their own rates.

Insurance carriers would be required to offer their plans to all residents of the states or regions where they elect to operate.  National carriers would have to be open to all citizens.  The federal government would charge a fee to all insurance carriers offering health insurance and accordingly underwrite those carriers against catastrophic losses in the event of pre-existing conditions or unforeseen chronic illnesses or injuries.  Fees and thresholds would need to be negotiated regularly.

No healthcare would be free.  Some form of copayment would be required for all services.  Where an individual has a CSP (compulsory savings plan), copayments would be made from that fund.  There would be an opportunity, after an individual goes on regular Medicare at age 65, to cash out any funds remaining in their CSP, tax-free.  This compulsory savings plan would provide some incentive for people to avoid unnecessary trips to the doctor and to try to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  Stay healthy and you have money in the bank at age 65.  At $40 per week and nominal interest, a little used CSP could have over $100,000 in it at retirement.  They could then use some of this money to buy a good supplemental health insurance plan or just take that long-postponed vacation to Singapore.

I mentioned Singapore only because they currently have a healthcare plan that provides better national health care coverage than the U.S.  They do this for a lower per-capita cost and provide better care.  According to a year 2000 study conducted by the World Health Organization, Singapore ranks 6^th overall in the world for the quality of care.  Bloomberg ranked them as the most efficient in the world in 2014.  America ranked 50^th out of 55 countries in the Bloomberg review.  Life expectancy in Singapore is 82.65 while Americans can expect to make it to 78.94.  While these reports, like any complex analysis, may be subject to criticism, the takeaway here is that there are many better programs in many other countries.  We can and should do much better.

I don’t have access to the resources of our congress.  I don't have the Congressional Budget Office to work the numbers offered here to discern their viability, but then I wasn’t elected and paid to do that job either.  Come on congress.  Earn your keep.  You know you can come up with a good plan.  You certainly came up with a better healthcare plan for yourselves*.

*  One theory about the urgent need to repeal the ACA, put out by by Jeffery Frank of the New Yorker in his January 17, 2017 article , was that access to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) was eliminated by Article 1312 of the Affordable Care Act.  The FEHBP was the wonderful plan that the Post Office, Congress, and congressional staffers had enjoyed since 1959.  With the repeal of the ACA, these same government employees could go back to their original plan with all its benefits.  Is Congress so devious that they would better themselves at the expense of their constituents?

I'll have what Congress is having. (scene from When Harry Met Sally)

The Plutocratic States of America

A man standing on the bank of a river watches a man in a canoe go by and exclaims, “Boy is he rich.”  The man in the canoe sees another man in a 16’ open-fisherman and proclaims that man to be wealthy.  The man in the open-fisherman heads out to sea and spies a 34’ cabin cruiser and dreams of the wealth of the owner of that magnificent craft.  The cabin cruiser owner is sitting at the stern of his boat (he has a captain of course) and sees that he is about to be overtaken by a 95’ mega-yacht and wonders if that owner is sitting in his air-conditioned salon being served cocktails and hors d'oeuvres by his steward.  He too dreams of being truly wealthy like that lucky mega-yacht owner.

Plutocracy is from the Greek ploutokratia or government by the rich, 
from ploutos wealth + -kratia rule, power.

You see, it’s all a matter of perception, or the size of your boat (or canoe or shoes) to keep the metaphor going.  Here, in the wonderful PSA, most people dream of more and more and, you get my drift.  The man in the mega-yacht can’t even see the man on the riverbank but he knows he exists and feels better about himself accordingly.  The wealthy are only wealthy if they feel wealthy by comparison with others who are less fortunate.

Median Household Income 2010-2014

The mega-rich need to not only maintain their status as very wealthy Americans but they need to increase the financial distance between themselves and those “poorer-than-me” folks behind them.  This “financial gap” needs to be ever widened for the truly wealthy to realize any progress in their status.  You see, it is not just about the dollars but also, perhaps more importantly, about the power and control that are needed to expand that gap.

The people in this rarified atmosphere of wealth and power have been referred to as the top 1/10^th of one percent.  How much money is that?  Well, that actual dollar figure is hard to ascertain because while you and I file an income tax return with rather easily traceable sources like wages, interest on savings, and dividends on investments, the very wealthy are a bit more difficult to track.  By one estimate the top one percent of Americans own almost 40% of everything.  That same analysis states that the top 0.1% is represented by about 16,000 families with around $6 trillion in assets.  This would mean that these families have assets equivalent to two thirds of the rest of America.  In 2011, PolitiFact indicated that the top 400 wealthiest Americans have over half of all the wealth in the US.

Not Since the Roaring 20's Has the Concentration of Wealth Been So Lopsided

US wage earners, who may have highly skilled jobs, could soon find that their skills are no longer needed because globalization and technology have put them in direct competition with lower paid workers in foreign economies.  These same individuals may find that not only have their jobs been lost but their life saving may be destroyed by these same economic changes.  Workers in the US that lack the education, training, or skills needed in the new technology driven economy, will see their wages decline or disappear entirely as mechanisation and developing world labor competition take their toll.  Political job creation promises will not be enough to undo the damage done by these global market forces.

This article is not about begrudging the very wealthy their ownership of a disproportionate share of assets.  That is, after all the American way of life, aka The American Dream.  I will however challenge this group when they try to widen the financial gap by taking even more from the rest of us by controlling our government.  I will resist when they try to degrade the quality of our health care (already in deplorable condition based on what we currently spend) and try to attack Social Security as an un-earned charity.  I will call them out when they improve their status by degrading the quality of our educational system.  I will again be upset when they get richer through tax breaks for their brethren while shifting the burden to the other 99.9% of us.  I will express outrage when they feign that our military needs even more money while our infrastructure deteriorates at an alarming rate.  I will sound the alarm when they literally blow smoke up our collective asses claiming that climate change is a hoax.  I will challenge them when they offer false promises of new jobs and other societal benefits if we will make concessions where they benefit.  Trickle down economics is just that, a TRICK-le.  The emphasis here is on the TRICK.

Citizens United Decision Tips the Scales

Education or lack thereof is used to control the financial gap.  Wealthy individuals make sure their children are afforded the benefits of a much better than average education.  Prestigious preschools, private middle and high schools, and private colleges all help ensure that wealthy children will be members of the wealthy elite when they graduate.  At the same time, they fight any attempt to better the education of the rest of our society.  Financially starve public education and then offer charter schools as an answer to the problem created by the now deteriorating public schools.  A win-win where education suffers and a few charter school owners can make a fast buck.

Ours is no longer a democracy.  Ours is now a plutocracy where our society is ruled by the small minority of our wealthiest citizens.  While the collapse of the Soviet Union in December of 1991 spawned the creation and expansion of the Russian oligarchy, it was perhaps Citizens United v. FEC on January 21, 2010, that provided the final nail in the coffin of our already failing democracy.  Prior to Citizens United, influential-level campaign donations by the wealthiest among us, was restricted to quasi-legal and illegal activities. 

[Note that you may click on any graphic to enlarge for detail.]

Election Spending Pre and Post Citizens United 2010 Decision

Jeffrey A. Winters, a political scientist at Northwestern University, wrote that, "oligarchy and democracy operate within a single system, and American politics is a daily display of their interplay."  Former president Jimmy Carter has stated that the United States is now “an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery,” as a result of the Citizens United decision, which removed most restrictions of political donations.

Does anyone of sound mind have any doubt that money can buy legislative access.  This is not a partisan issue.  Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike, benefit financially from their time in office.  The net worth of our congress increases by an amount that far exceeds their salaries.  We are a nation governed by wealthy individuals who are in turn made richer by even wealthier individuals and corporations.  The chart below covers the top 20 congressional leaders who have seen their net worth skyrocket while in office.  The figures shown are annual averages.  You may want to know that the average salary of our congressional leaders is $174,000. plus benefits.  How several of these individuals have had increases in the millions is of some interest.  It must be the "benefits".

Top 20  Members of Congress with Annual  Average Increases in Wealth 2012
Note that Ms Pingree (top) was due to marriage

It should be clear here that the Citizens United decision needs to be overturned.  The inalienable rights of our Constitution belong to We the People and not to corporations and labor unions.  Money should never be equated or confused with the right to free speech.  The old joke about the Golden Rule where he who has the gold gets to make the rules is just that, a joke.

Whoever Has The Gold Makes The Rules

While we are led to believe in the democracy created by our Constitution, we are unduly influenced by the power of political spending.  Gerrymandering of voter districts and restrictive election laws are all designed to control the outcomes of elections.  Seemingly unlimited spending on outrageous attack ads during the days leading up to a vote are all paid for by deep-pocketed individuals and corporations who will benefit from the outcome.  It would be easy to blame the un/under-educated for their malleability when it comes to the political rhetoric that besieges us daily, but I have witnessed individuals with advanced degrees spouting easily discredited political bullshit.  Ignorance in such cases is voluntary.

The Wealthy in Control of Government