Watering Down Dodd-Frank

In reaction to the news that the  US House of Representatives passed a bill that waters down the Dodd-Frank rules, I post the following quote from a former president.  


 “I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. 
A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit.
Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore,
and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. 
We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. 
No longer a government by free opinion, 
no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority,
but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.”
                                                                                 President Woodrow Wilson: 1916

Think about it.  Constraints are good for creativity, right?  
I think some constraints are very good for financial institutions, especially those that have demonstrated that they cannot govern themselves.   

Voter checklist

Since researching candidates can be somewhat dry, and watching debates sometime frustrating (depending on the questions and how the candidate you thought you liked is answering those questions), I was thinking that a quick checklist for candidates would be helpful.

So watch for the next post -- Tracy's checklist for a productive (and sane) government.

Thanks,

Tracy

Before you vote, read...

You've probably noticed by the number of political ads that an election is drawing near -- November 2.  In many places, early voting will also be available.

But before you leave for voting, be sure to check out the candidates and their records.  

There is a great deal of negative ads out there -- if you see or hear one sponsored by a third party with a nice sounding name, be suspicious!  Special interest is pouring money into the campaign to get candidates elected that will do what they want, which might be not in your best interest. (This is worse than usual due to the recent Supreme Court ruling)

So where do you go to get accurate information?  

The League of women voters lists forums and events:     http://lwvnc.org/ 

A great voter guide is available from UNC TV  http://www.unctv.org/election/candidates/Wake/index.html

Some overlooked but important posts are county commissioners and judges.  There is also something new this year, a ranking type / instant runoff race for in the NC Court of Appeals.  

So good luck, and please do your research...

Or if you'd rather not, subscribe to the blog for Tracy's picks in the next post.

Thanks for reading,

Tracy

Judging Too Soon Can Be Misleading

Too often things are latched onto by the media before all the facts are in.


This week, articles blasted health reform -- claiming hourly workers at MacDonalds would loose their mini-med plans due to the fact that the carrier claimed to not be able to make the 80-85% medical loss ratio (or conversely, they spend more than 15-20% on administrative costs, (including executive bonuses).


"Horrors!  It's due to that health reform bill, we knew it would have bad effects." said the ever-present critics.


Step back a moment. 
Maybe the hourly workers aren't getting a very good plan. 

In fact, the next day, that was the judgement.  The workers weren't getting much for the hard earned money they were paying -- in good faith that their employer was offering something worthwhile.
In fact, they were paying over $700 dollars a year for coverage that maxed out at $2000.

So health reform isn't to blame, and in this case is a good thing -- and plans like these should be investigated.  They are either inefficient, or someone's making too much money. 

If they had car company reform back ten years ago, maybe the car industry wouldn't have been in such a mess.  And if any oversight had been applied to the investment community, maybe the banking system wouldn't have been near collapse. 

In a perfect world, we wouldn't need government oversight.  But you see, it isn't a perfect world.

all the best,

Tracy

Links to articles on mini-meds:

To read more:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/05/news/companies/mini_meds_insurance_mcdonalds.fortune/

Article on the GOP and lobbying against regulations:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-health-politics-money-20101005,0,4869233.story

How to stimulate the economy

Everyone (well, not everyone actually) wants our economy stimulated. You hear quite a bit about it on the news, but no one seems to have an answer.

I don't claim to have the answer either (but keep reading anyway) but I would like to recommend a few things and refute some of the ideas I've heard one too many times.

Before I go any futher... here is my pet peeve.

"Letting the tax cuts expire on people who make more than $250,000
will hurt small business."

THIS MAKES NO SENSE!

I've heard this enough that someone must believe it!

Here's reasons why those people are either purposely misleading the public (lying) or ignorant of economics and human nature:

1) We are talking income taxes, not business taxes. Having been a business owner, I know the difference between the two, and can explain about LLC's vs. S-corporations.

2) What small business person have you ever hear say "Wow, I have this great opportunity, but I just don't think I'll do it because I might have to pay a bit more in taxes" ?

3) If a small business owner is lucky enough to clear $250,000 as income after all their business expenses, they have ample opportunity to reduce their income to lower their tax rate. Two methods to do this (that I can think of off the top of my head) are paying their employees higher wages or a bonus, or investing to grow the business. Both of these would help the economy.

4) The people that are fighting against letting the Bush era tax cuts make over $250,000 and usually work for the government or a political party.

So, the next time you hear this, please note who says it, and let me know!

Thanks,

Tracy