Compare & Contrast

[Peter_Puget]

 

[jon]

[Peter_Puget]

Great post Jon! It is interesting how the NE blue states like NY and NJ with moderate job losses have huge budget gaps..much like WA here in the NW. Red state Indiana also stands out. Servere job losses and yet looking comparatively good in terms of budget gap. Compare to its neighbor to the left.

[jon]

The most likely explanation is that the combination of lost tax revenue and unemployment benefits for WA, NY, and NJ workers with the a large percentage being over the median earners.

[Peter_Puget]

"Falling revenues" alone could account for the difference but in a the context of a recession that is simply restating the problem. I think that NY and Ind have actual average weekly UE benefits that are fairly comparable. Also doesn't the Federal Government fund much of the extended benefits?

 

I wonder how the various states reserved for possible UE claims. I assume that any reserves have been drawn down by this point in any event.

Edited January 20, 2010 by Peter_Puget

[olyclimber]

what kind of bullshit is this? on felix day? here is your map:

[StevenSeagal]

Wonder why Alaska is so fucked up? It couldn't be the anti-governmentarians collecting unemployment, oil dividends, state health subsidies, and "tax rebates" combined with bridges to nowhere that got earmarked by politicians who didn't earmark them.

 

I bet they're glad they aren't socialist, at least!

[JayB]

Wonder why Alaska is so fucked up? It couldn't be the anti-governmentarians collecting unemployment, oil dividends, state health subsidies, and "tax rebates" combined with bridges to nowhere that got earmarked by politicians who didn't earmark them.

 

I bet they're glad they aren't socialist, at least!

 

If economic growth is X percent a year, and total government spending is X+N percent a year, and the value of N is greater than zero....

 

I don't think you have to be a wing-nut ideologue to be concerned about the rate of government spending growth relative to real economic growth, you just have to understand math.

 

FWIW I like having public services available for the most vulnerable and least fortunate folks in society at any given time, and consequently I'm concerned about maintaining the economic capacity to finance them.

 

Given that there's a finite amount of tax revenue that can be extracted from the economy before it has a negative effect on both output and revenues - it also seems worthwhile to have a discussion about the best use of the limited funds available to the government.

 

At some point - like now - you have to decide whether funding animal shelters, services for the homeless is more important than the Deputy Assistant Diversity Coordinator III in Olympia's right to be insulated from rising health care costs and the responsibility to fund his or her own retirement...

 

[StevenSeagal]

 

If economic growth is X percent a year, and total government spending is X+N percent a year, and the value of N is greater than zero....

 

I don't think you have to be a wing-nut ideologue to be concerned about the rate of government spending growth relative to real economic growth, you just have to understand math.

 

I was told there would be no math...

 

FWIW I like having public services available for the most vulnerable and least fortunate folks in society at any given time, and consequently I'm concerned about maintaining the economic capacity to finance them.

 

Given that there's a finite amount of tax revenue that can be extracted from the economy before it has a negative effect on both output and revenues - it also seems worthwhile to have a discussion about the best use of the limited funds available to the government.

 

At some point - like now - you have to decide whether funding animal shelters, services for the homeless is more important than the Deputy Assistant Diversity Coordinator III in Olympia's right to be insulated from rising health care costs and the responsibility to fund his or her own retirement...

 

I agree. My point above was the irony of Alaskans always claiming such libertarian, anti-government values and yet being one of the biggest so-called "nanny states" out there.

[j_b]

Wonder why Alaska is so fucked up? It couldn't be the anti-governmentarians collecting unemployment, oil dividends, state health subsidies, and "tax rebates" combined with bridges to nowhere that got earmarked by politicians who didn't earmark them.

 

I bet they're glad they aren't socialist, at least!

 

If economic growth is X percent a year, and total government spending is X+N percent a year, and the value of N is greater than zero....

 

I don't think you have to be a wing-nut ideologue to be concerned about the rate of government spending growth relative to real economic growth, you just have to understand math.

 

if you understood math you wouldn't rest your analysis on meaningless entities like "growth, 70% of which is consumption afforded by taking on debt over the last 30+ years.

 

Given that there's a finite amount of tax revenue that can be extracted from the economy before it has a negative effect on both output and revenues - it also seems worthwhile to have a discussion about the best use of the limited funds available to the government.

 

During 1940-1970, the top marginal tax rate was at least twice what it is today. Needless to say, the use of tax heavens and transfer pricing weren't standard operating procedure either.

 

At some point - like now - you have to decide whether funding animal shelters, services for the homeless is more important than the Deputy Assistant Diversity Coordinator III in Olympia's right to be insulated from rising health care costs and the responsibility to fund his or her own retirement...

 

more anti-public sector demagoguery ...

 

It's not because private sector employees are getting screwed of retirement benefits that public employees should be screwed too.

[j_b]

I agree. My point above was the irony of Alaskans always claiming such libertarian, anti-government values and yet being one of the biggest so-called "nanny states" out there.

 

It's not just Alaska. The overwhelming majority of red states with balanced budgets today are welfare states whereas most blue states with a budget shortfall have a ratio of federal spending to fed tax that is less than unity.

[Jim]

At some point - like now - you have to decide whether funding animal shelters, services for the homeless is more important than the Deputy Assistant Diversity Coordinator III in Olympia's right to be insulated from rising health care costs and the responsibility to fund his or her own retirement...

 

I don't know about the Diversity Coordinator, but my understanding of the current state retirement system is that it is funded through employee contributions with a modest match from the state. If you are an long-time employee 20 yrs+, you may be on a different system. Just like private business there has been a shift of responsibility to the employee. Trying to wade through the options of my wife's TRS provided a new definition of Byzantine.

[prole]

...right to be insulated from rising health care costs and the responsibility to fund his or her own retirement...

 

I just read this phrase again. Hilarious on a couple of levels.

 

 

Edited January 20, 2010 by prole

[Peter_Puget]

Jim -

 

Is she on plan 1,2 or 3?

[Jim]

Jim -

 

Is she on plan 1,2 or 3?

 

The dreaded 3, which does not even allow you to max out contributions to the IRS limits (?); you have to join a seperate state system for supplemental contributions to do that. Go figure. Maybe they assume teachers can't afford to do that.

[Peter_Puget]

 

I don't know about the Diversity Coordinator, but my understanding of the current state retirement system is that it is funded through employee contributions with a modest match from the state. If you are an long-time employee 20 yrs+, you may be on a different system. Just like private business there has been a shift of responsibility to the employee. Trying to wade through the options of my wife's TRS provided a new definition of Byzantine.

 

Here is a link to the plan: link to plan 3

 

It appear to be a combo of a defined contribution and a defined benefit plan. From the AFLCIO:

Most union-negotiated pension plans are defined-benefit pension plans, which for decades have guaranteed retirees a fixed monthly income. These defined-benefit plans are usually funded entirely by employers through tax-exempt contributions and automatically cover all qualified employees. Since 1978, the number of defined-benefit plans plummeted from 128,041 plans covering some 41 percent of private-sector workers to only 26,000 today, according to the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics finds 21 percent of workers in the private sector have defined-benefit pensions.

 

link

 

 

Edited January 20, 2010 by Peter_Puget

[Jim]

Thanks. I'm more familar with it than I want to be - believe me, there are many more "online resources" available.

[olyclimber]

well, its cheaper that way. the market will dictate the level of care you get.

[Jim]

Speaking of which. I saw this PBS show recently of comparisions of health care in 6 different countries. In Tawian each person has a small card they carry. A physician just has to plug it into a reader to see his patient's history and it's also used for a single billing system. What a concept.

[Peter_Puget]

Speaking of which. I saw this PBS show recently of comparisions of health care in 6 different countries. In Tawian each person has a small card they carry. A physician just has to plug it into a reader to see his patient's history and it's also used for a single billing system. What a concept.

 

Ah but the US has ~ twice the physcians /1000 and 5 times the numer of hospital beds /1000. Despite this the Tawian system spends more than it is funded - ie it results in government debt. In additon the small card does not have a complete medical history.

[olyclimber]

dude...its common knowledge that national debt is a healthy part of a thriving capitalist system.

[Jim]

How does it work? Taiwan's new health system extended insurance to the 40 percent of the population that lacked it while actually decreasing the growth of health care spending. The Taiwanese can see any doctor without a referral. Every citizen has a smart card, which is used to store his or her medical history and bill the national insurer. The system also helps public health officials monitor standards and effect policy changes nationwide. Thanks to this use of technology and the country's single insurer, Taiwan's health care system has the lowest administrative costs in the world.

 

[Peter_Puget]

How does it work? Taiwan's new health system extended insurance to the 40 percent of the population that lacked it while actually decreasing the growth of health care spending. The Taiwanese can see any doctor without a referral. Every citizen has a smart card, which is used to store his or her medical history and bill the national insurer. The system also helps public health officials monitor standards and effect policy changes nationwide. Thanks to this use of technology and the country's single insurer, Taiwan's health care system has the lowest administrative costs in the world.

 

The card has only 22kb of storage available - well 32kb but 22kb all that is used now. (Give me a guess how much memory a mri requires)

 

Check out these links:

 

link1

 

link 2 see page 2

 

You are clearly suggesting that the Taiwan system is more advanced that it is. The cards have limited info and there are still significant barriers to information holders sharing data seamlessly.

 

You also ignore the cost containment issues.

 

 

[Jim]

I looked at the links and I'm not sure what your point is. The system is working as planned - which was never to have portable MRI data. That is easily transfered via something new, called secure FTP sites.

 

Yes, they are struggling with some cost issues, but compared to the US it's much more reasonable. And they spend the least on overhead. How anyone can argue our current system is fine is beyond me. I've always said the best way to reform our system is to look at what other contries are doing and then select the best from the lessons they have learned. We have smart people here; we can do it. That is, if the pols weren't awash in big pharm and medical bribes.

[prole]