The Steussy Ranch

Looks like it’s done now. Thank God. Stole the photo above from Paul Krugman; it seemed appropriate.

For those of you who also read Paul Krugman’s NYT columns and blog, don’t worry too much about us over the article published here. The 39% increases seem to be part of the individual insurance market, and we’re insured through my corporation under a business policy. Since there are fewer business customers fleeing due to high insurance prices, we’re somewhat protected from this.

Nonetheless, we faced a 30% rise in our own premiums two years ago, so we’re not completely immune. Health care reform is essential — the current situation reminds me incredibly of Enron and the power outages created in California in 2001 to force the state to pay higher electric bills.

Remind me again why I’m such a strong free-market advocate?

I just heard about him in the Economist. Harvard educated economist/lawyer/entrepreneur who represents Central Florida in the House of Representatives. Strong backer of health care reform (his master’s thesis was on geriatric health care in the US, and he posts the number of people dying for lack of adequate health care in America on his website).

His other target is the Federal Reserve, which has acknowledged expanding its balance sheet by $1 trillion this year (“printing money”) and has been accused of keeping off balance sheet expansions of up to $9 trillion. One of Grayson’s videos on Youtube on the topic has been viewed 2 million times (here).

He’s on my radar screen.

So, why did he win? I took a look at some of the campaign commercials. Heck, I might have voted for him based on some of these. I love the truck ad. Below the fold.

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This one hurt. Ted Kennedy is spinning in his grave. And I personally felt someone’s hand on my wallet.

It’s all about Health Care. Let’s go over the impossibilities now. The House has a chance to pass the Senate version of the bill unchanged. Unfortunately, this would leave all of the Senate pork intact (and there was a lot of it, ask anyone in Nebraska). And none of the House pork would be there, so they have little reason to vote for it other than the kindness of their hearts.

The Republicans will not welcome a bipartisan solution after this victory; they smell blood in the water. They think that the next round of elections this Fall will overturn Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate if they do what they just did; running against Obamacare.

There are a lot of good reasons to dislike Obama’s Health Care plan, not least the political deals made Democrat-to-Democrat in getting the thing done, simply because individuals saw it was in their power to insist on their pound of flesh. It was ugly.

But something really needs to be done. Even if our health insurance only rises by eleven percent a year, as it did this year, we will soon see it as the biggest part of our budget. Bigger than the cost of the house we own. Bigger than anything in the business. Just compounding our current rates, not accounting for the vast change we will face when I turn 50 in three years, here is what we will have:

2010     $15,400
2011     $17,094
2012     $18,974

2013     $21,062  I turn 50 this year, so we will face a diametric increase in our rates. For simplicity, I am sticking with the 11% increases here.

2014     $23,378

2015     $25,950  This is the year medical costs of our healthy family will exceed our mortgage.

2016     $28,804
2017     $31,973
2018     $35,490

This is not a good thing, Massachusetts. Not a good thing at all.

There is an old Ronald Reagan quote that I never quite understood. “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.'”

I think I understand it better after reading this.

And I was liking Timothy Geithner.