Morpheus: The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. {{{You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. --->>And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. <<<--- p="">Cost Overruns Put ACA On Life Support
http://godsdestiny.org/destiny_christian_center3_011.htm
http://godsdestiny.org/destiny_christian_center3_011.htm
While reading the original version of the Affordable Care Act, in its first commentary The Rant took pains to point out why the plan was a joke. The CBO and supporters underestimated the costs by half and over estimated the revenues by about 60%.
The Rant claimed, back in June 2009, that this piece of legislation would never accomplish what it was supposed to--universal coverage for America without collapsing the republic form of government our Constitution demands and replacing it with a giant step towards complete government control of all aspects of life. The Rant's dissenting voice was drowned by a clamorous support from Main Stream Media.
Universal coverage is a grand idea--on the surface. But like most things government gets involved in the promised benefits are never quite what was promised while the expenses always outstrip projections. The big failure here was the anticipated increase in young, non-ill adults in order to cover those with pre-existing conditions. There is a reason those offering coverage deleted people with pre-existing ills--they were too expensive to make the offered group coverages affordable.
Less than two years into the ACA, the old mathematical problem is raising its ugly head.
Obama consistently and vociferously promoted the idea of a one-payer system. He claimed it would cut costs, guarantee quicker payments of services rendered while increasing the scope of services covered and would, eventually bring those waiting times for services down. Many states set up insurance co-ops to handle the increased customer base. Obama promised these co-ops any cost overruns would be covered by the government because, in his utopia, you can always get needed revenues by raising taxes.
In many ways, Obama's plan for the health insurance industry bore a very close resemblance to the way FDIC operates for the banking industry. This "risk corridor plan" had profitable insurers paying into a fund that would subsidize losses in other plans but prevent a collapse of the entire system. While financial institutes have had problems over the years and would have collapsed completely with Lehman Bros. failure in late 2007 without a vast infusion of money from the government and the Federal Reserve, Obama and his planning cohorts disregarded this unpleasant fact while promoting the plan.
What America wound up with was a health insurance scene eerily reminiscent of the banking system pre-Great Depression. That's why state co-ops across the country are closing from big states like New York to "flea bite" economic states like Wyoming. Twelve have shut down so far and we haven't finished the second year.
The reason they are closing is the 'slush' fund that was supposed to prop those weak sisters up isn't collecting nearly enough to cover losses. Now remember the insurers began collecting in 2010 and didn't pay benefits until 2014. This was supposed to jump start the slush fund and keep the industry viable until 2020 when the current cost:benefit ration would have to be adjusted.
The Rant did the quick calculation and projected the country would be losing $1 trillion per year on average not the $100 billion the CBO projected before the monstrosity was enacted. The CBO has slowly inched its projections forward and now claims the "average loss per year" will be $1.3 trillion by 2024.
In fact the slush fund is able to pay only 13 cents for every dollar overspent through these first two years. What this means is the younger, healthier crowd is not signing up like was expected. Millions of potential Obama-cited buyers are finding the high out-of-pocket expense makes it too costly to use their benefits they are entitled to because the don't have the income leeway to pay for basic expenses much less something they didn't want in the first place.
What is ironic is we are once again in an election cycle. Terrorists seem to be the main daily headline but with doctors, insurers, taxpayers, hospital service staff, hospitals and patients all expressing dissatisfaction with Obamacare, is this landmark accomplishment for the Progressives really paying off?
By the time of the election, most everyone will be aware of the 2017 cost factors to keep health coverage. Don't be surprised if that sticker shock doesn't warp completely the current polling numbers for all sides.
There's a black widow most politicians have not noticed in this election. It is not immigration, not terrorism, not the huge number of Americans not in the "workforce" nor the staggering economy.
It is the un-Affordable Care Act that will bite most unexpectedly and with more venom than anyone can imagine.
"I have sworn on the altar of God eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the mind of man."--Thomas Jefferson
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Economy Wilts Before Our Eyes
If you participated in the Black Friday shopping frenzy this past weekend, you might have noticed a distinct difference from past years--the crowds were not as large, as angry or even that interested as in the past.
Some have suggested on-line shopping is a reason and that when the final tally is in the American consumer spent just as much as he had done in the past. Don't go to the bank with that bet just yet.
Manufacturing, once the bellwether of a solid economic base, is slumping in America. In years gone by that would have rung alarm bells throughout the political arena. Such is not the case now.
Manufacturing accounts for just one of every eight dollars the economy generates now. Most just look at the overall economic numbers and see no problem. They blithely continue as if all is well.
Historically they are completely wrong. Manufacturing is the lifeblood of Gross Domestic Product. In the past decade it has become fashionable for economists to alter the meaning of GDP and lump it generally into "economy" so as not to see the hollowness of the economic numbers generated from Washington's bureaucratic masses.
It is that subtle adjusting of the meaning of economic phrases that is most disturbing and carries huge implications down the road.
It is true that manufacturing counted for as much as 30% of all economic activity in the 1950s. But there was much less reliance on "service sector" jobs then as well. Comparing service jobs with manufacturing jobs is an error that will soon be paid for. It is, in essence, the same trap the Roman Empire fell into two thousand years ago.
Rome, after taking over most every adjoining area, fell into sloth by outsourcing its manufacturing capabilities to the cheaper outlying regions. The ideas originated in Rome but the actual construction was done by slaves and the materials obtained outside Rome itself. The Roman population lost its overall strength because others were used to do the heavy lifting--even in its military.
Is that any different than America is today? We have scads of numbers to put into the economic database but we are fooled by the new "norms" created by bureaucratic adjustments. These adjustments conveniently hide the fact America today is not what it was less than 20 years ago.
Take unemployment as a starter. The Rant has long harped on the phoniness of the new calculations that show a mere 5% unemployment rate. Normally that would be a sure sign of economic health. Not under the current adjustments, now the numbers are a cause for concern.
Most every analyst acknowledges the "real unemployment rate" is over 10% and take the BLS official figure with a heaping teaspoon of salt.
Lance Roberts, in an analysis published yesterday, focused on the 25-54 age group--the prime working years. Roberts looked at the last time the unemployment rate was down at 5% and the current situation. In the past this particular group enjoyed more than 80% employment, today the number is just 77%. But most distressing is the fact today's 25-54 group represents five full percentage points less of the overall population than it had before.
Then Roberts factored in the difference between wages in the past and now. Since manufacturing jobs dominated the pay scale when America was booming, Roberts found the new service jobs have been a drag, not a boost, on the economy and wages when adjusted for inflation have actually continued a downward trend over the past 50 years.
Roberts then demonstrated another revealing statistic for the manufacturing sector versus the service sector. The jobs in the service sector do not have a wide impact on the overall economy. Their multiplier effect throughout the economy is almost on a par with government jobs--at the bottom end. Manufacturing jobs generate far-reaching, big multiplier earnings. This is another reason the economy is struggling. Seventy percent of the economic activity comes from consumers still and the consumer, by Black Friday standards is not in a spending mood yet.
Put it this way, every dollar spent by government or a service-job employer travels less than half as far as the manufacturing job earnings. This leads to much slower growth in the economy.
Hence all the highly-touted "shovel ready jobs" Obama was seeking had little to no long-term impact on the economy. They were merely a one-shot and done deal.
The disconnect between political goals and manufacturing's contribution is at the heart of the economy woes America is facing. Without the direct interference of the central bankers--at political urgings--closing time would have already arrived.
The question, as Roberts put it so well, is what happens to the party's dream world when the bartender has to make his "Last call" shout? I think we saw a glimpse of it Thursday evening and throughout the weekend.
"I have sworn on the altar of God eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the mind of man."--Thomas Jefferson
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"Mysterious" Fire Hits Argentine Ministry Of Finance, Destroys Years Of Prior Regime's Files
Zero Hedge - Just days after Argentina threw out the Peronists, who have ruled almost non-stop in the three decades since the end of military rule, The Ministry of Finance suffered a mysterious fire in its computer center, catastrophically (and coincidentally) destroying the prior-regime's files… This is not the first time a fire has destroyed government records - or second, or third, or even fourth... In February, there were fires in the Pink House and Senate and last month in the Libertador Building… And then there was last February's deadly fire which destroyed the central bank's records just days after a planned crackdown on the banking system.
Zero Hedge - Just days after Argentina threw out the Peronists, who have ruled almost non-stop in the three decades since the end of military rule, The Ministry of Finance suffered a mysterious fire in its computer center, catastrophically (and coincidentally) destroying the prior-regime's files… This is not the first time a fire has destroyed government records - or second, or third, or even fourth... In February, there were fires in the Pink House and Senate and last month in the Libertador Building… And then there was last February's deadly fire which destroyed the central bank's records just days after a planned crackdown on the banking system.
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China Opening “The World’s Biggest Animal Cloning Factory”Telegraph - The world’s biggest animal “cloning factory” is due to open in China, producing one million calves a year, sniffer dogs and even genetic copies of the family pet.... The factory, which will include a 15,000 square metre laboratory, an animal centre, a gene bank and an exhibition hall, is currently being built in the port city of Tianjin, near Beijing, and is due to open in the first half of next year.... The European Parliament’s environment committee co-rapporteur, Renate Sommer, has criticised the technique of cloning as not being “fully mature” as members voted on the ban in September. “In fact, no further progress has been made with it,” Ms Sommer said at the time. “The mortality rate remains equally high. Many of the animals which are born alive die in the first few weeks, and they die painfully. Should we allow that?"
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New Ebola Cases Surface in “Ebola Free” Liberia: “The Threat Remains”Mac Slavo - The threat from ebola remains quite real, and there is legitimate concern over whether or not the world’s health experts are really capable of containing it. The West African nation of Liberia has once again been reminded that it must remain vigilant and mindful of the terrible power that ebola has in its capacity to transform into a deadly epidemic. Just months after being declared ebola free – twice now – the country has again been plagued by new cases. Authorities aren’t sure how the recent outbreak of ebola happened, but know that it could once again be spreading.... Among other factors, health workers learned during the most recent outbreaks that the virus for ebola can turn up in sperm long after the ordinary incubation period and/or recovery, and can be spread through sexual contact – even six months later.
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World War III Draws Closer As Russia Accuses Turkey Of Being ‘Secret Allies’ With ISIS
Are Russia and Turkey on the verge of going to war? In remarks that were almost entirely ignored by the western media, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Turkish government of being “secret allies” with ISIS on Friday. And on Monday, the Russians announced that they would be attempting to seal the border between Syria and Turkey, and we also learned that the Russians have been rushing heavy artillery units into Syria. As tensions between Russia and Turkey continue to escalate, could we be in danger of seeing World War III erupt in the Middle East? (Read More....)
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Nervous Dems Push Yellen to Hold Off on Rate Hike...
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'CLONE FACTORY' SCIENTIST EYES HUMAN REPLICATION
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Mom could go to jail for letting her son play outside alone
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VIDEO: Proof the News Is Scripted... Part #2 (Christmas Edition)
Are Russia and Turkey on the verge of going to war? In remarks that were almost entirely ignored by the western media, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Turkish government of being “secret allies” with ISIS on Friday. And on Monday, the Russians announced that they would be attempting to seal the border between Syria and Turkey, and we also learned that the Russians have been rushing heavy artillery units into Syria. As tensions between Russia and Turkey continue to escalate, could we be in danger of seeing World War III erupt in the Middle East? (Read More....)/
Nervous Dems Push Yellen to Hold Off on Rate Hike...
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'CLONE FACTORY' SCIENTIST EYES HUMAN REPLICATION
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Beijing (AFP) - The Chinese scientist behind the world's biggest cloning factory has technology advanced enough to replicate humans, he told AFP, and is only holding off for fear of the public reaction.
Mom could go to jail for letting her son play outside alone
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A former Marine collecting for Toys for Tots was told to stay outside Walmart. (Credit: Facebook, via Fox News)
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Australia has been experiencing freak weather in recent weeks and lightning was seen spectacularly flashing east of Kangaroo Point in Brisbane on Sunday night. This stunning picture is made up of 33 individual lightning strike photos, compiled and flattened in Photoshop
New Dawn: China’s Renminbi Approved as a World Reserve Currency The International Monetary Fund admitted China's Renminbi into its benchmark currency basket, scheduled to take effect in late September of 2016
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VIDEO: Proof the News Is Scripted... Part #2 (Christmas Edition)
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Donald Trump Dares To Say That Turkey ‘Looks Like They’re On The Side Of ISIS’
Donald Trump just said something that he was not supposed to say, and it is something that Barack Obama will never admit. During an appearance on Sirius XM’s “Breitbart News Daily” on Tuesday morning, Trump stated that the Turkish government “looks like they’re on the side of ISIS more or less based on the oil”. This makes Trump the first presidential candidate to tell the truth about this to the American people. By now, just about everyone knows that ISIS is using Turkey as a home base, and I have previously written about how Turkey is “training ISIS militants, funneling weapons to them, buying their oil, and tending to their wounded in Turkish hospitals”. But a major U.S. politician, especially one running for the White House, could get into really hot water for saying these kinds of things about our NATO ally. You see, the truth is that the American people are not supposed to know that Turkey is actually on the same side as ISIS and has been facilitating the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars of oil that has been stolen by ISIS. (Read More...)Global Crisis: Goldman Sachs Says That Brazil Has Plunged Into ‘An Outright Depression’
One of the most important banks in the western world says that the 7th largest economy on the entire planet has entered a full-blown economic depression. Brazil’s economy has now contracted for three quarters in a row, and many analysts believe that things are going to get far worse before they have a chance to get any better. Earlier this year, I warned about “the South American financial crisis of 2015“, and now it is in full swing. The surging U.S. dollar is absolutely crushing emerging markets such as Brazil, and if the Fed raises interest rates this month that is going to make the pain even worse. The global financial system is more interconnected than ever before, and the decisions made by the Federal Reserve truly do have global consequences. So much of the “hot money” that was created by the Fed poured into emerging markets such as Brazil during the good times, but now the process is starting to reverse itself. At this point, it is hard to see how much of South America is going to avoid a complete and total economic disaster. (Read More....)/
Moment of Truth For Puerto Rico: $355 Million Debt Payment Due Puerto Rico faces the islands $355 million payment today, as a possible default looms over the island as they attempt to service their $72 billion debt.
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Christian YouTube Channel Suspended For Hate Speech Violation Olive Tree Ministries YouTube channel was suspended Saturday for reaching their third strike after claimed violations of YouTube's community guidelines.
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Weather Channel Founder Says Prince Charles’ Climate Change/Syria War Theory is NUTS
If you needed proof that spending the first 67 years of your life waiting for one’s mum to die so you have a job damages ones ones brain, this might suffice. Britain’s Prince Charles appeared on Sky News on Monday and declared that the world’s failure to tackle climate change as a root cause of the civil war in Syria, terrorism and the consequent refugee crisis engulfing Europe.
If you needed proof that spending the first 67 years of your life waiting for one’s mum to die so you have a job damages ones ones brain, this might suffice. Britain’s Prince Charles appeared on Sky News on Monday and declared that the world’s failure to tackle climate change as a root cause of the civil war in Syria, terrorism and the consequent refugee crisis engulfing Europe.
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Cruz: ‘The Overwhelming Majority Of Violent Criminals Are Democrats’
Now listen, here’s the simple and undeniable fact. The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats,” insisted Cruz. Democrats “fight to give the right to vote to convicted felons, why, because the Democrats know that convicted felons tend to vote Democrat.”
Now listen, here’s the simple and undeniable fact. The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats,” insisted Cruz. Democrats “fight to give the right to vote to convicted felons, why, because the Democrats know that convicted felons tend to vote Democrat.”
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Oil Plunge Raises Fears of Societal Unrest
With Wall Street shops like Goldman Sachs (GS) and government officials in Venezuela signaling oil could go to the mid-$20 per barrel range next year, analysts...have been warning that chronically low oil prices...means increasing social chaos in countries on the edge—including those battling ISIS. Five countries are high on the radar screen for societal risks from low oil prices...Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, and Venezuela.
With Wall Street shops like Goldman Sachs (GS) and government officials in Venezuela signaling oil could go to the mid-$20 per barrel range next year, analysts...have been warning that chronically low oil prices...means increasing social chaos in countries on the edge—including those battling ISIS. Five countries are high on the radar screen for societal risks from low oil prices...Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, and Venezuela.
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BRICS Banks Will Begin Borrowing In The Yuan To Bypass The Dollar
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Black Friday breaks record with 185K gun background checks
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60 DAYS TO IOWA: TRUMP DOMINATES
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France's Top Weatherman Hired By Kremlin After Being Fired For Questioning 'Global Warming'...
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Brooklyn pizzeria blames Obamacare for rising price...
UNITEDHEALTH CEO: 'We did not believe it would become this severe'...
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Every dime in your IRA, 401K, 403B, etc. will be tracked by DEPT.OF LABOR- Nobody will be able to move a penny, even to liquidate it and put it in a individual account, without the DOL tracking it.
Steve-
In reference to the MK's comments about back up software for the banks... those in the financial services industry have had to do these business continuity plans for years. It's about time they started looking at backup software (if it is possible they are concerned about their depositors, which is highly unlikely).
Coming from the days when there were small, independent brokerage houses all over the country, the best advice I can give is not to hold anything in street name (if you are still in the market) and keep a hard copy paper trail of everything. Computers do nothing but centralize the control over everything. Things were more secure when it was all paper and pencil.
Pretty soon your stockbroker will be nothing more than a teller. All the portfolio management will be done by the last banks standing. The Dept of Labor is busy setting up the protocols for eliminating investment advisers, (the 12(b)(1) fees will be eliminated at the first of the year) so they can eventually confiscate all retirement assets. This isn't going to happen this week, but the wheels have been set in motion for this ultimate goal. Every dime in your IRA, 401K, 403B, etc. will be tracked by the DOL. Nobody will be able to move a penny, even to liquidate it and put it in a individual account, without the DOL tracking it.
If you buy hard assets, make sure you SS# (or other identification) is not attached to it. Keep it safe with your AR-15.
As Hawk says, prepare for everything to go wild weasel (sooner than later).
Paula
In reference to the MK's comments about back up software for the banks... those in the financial services industry have had to do these business continuity plans for years. It's about time they started looking at backup software (if it is possible they are concerned about their depositors, which is highly unlikely).
Coming from the days when there were small, independent brokerage houses all over the country, the best advice I can give is not to hold anything in street name (if you are still in the market) and keep a hard copy paper trail of everything. Computers do nothing but centralize the control over everything. Things were more secure when it was all paper and pencil.
Pretty soon your stockbroker will be nothing more than a teller. All the portfolio management will be done by the last banks standing. The Dept of Labor is busy setting up the protocols for eliminating investment advisers, (the 12(b)(1) fees will be eliminated at the first of the year) so they can eventually confiscate all retirement assets. This isn't going to happen this week, but the wheels have been set in motion for this ultimate goal. Every dime in your IRA, 401K, 403B, etc. will be tracked by the DOL. Nobody will be able to move a penny, even to liquidate it and put it in a individual account, without the DOL tracking it.
If you buy hard assets, make sure you SS# (or other identification) is not attached to it. Keep it safe with your AR-15.
As Hawk says, prepare for everything to go wild weasel (sooner than later).
Paula
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Pope Francis – “Fundamentalism is a Sickness” ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, November 30, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) — On the plane returning from his journey to Africa today Pope Francis made his clearest remarks in condemnation of ‘fundamentalist’ Catholics. “Fundamentalism is a sickness that is in all religions,” Francis said, as reported by the National Catholic Reporter’s Vatican correspondent, Joshua McElwee, and similarly by
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How Money Disappears in a Fractional-Reserve Money System
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House Democrat Warns Obama's Actions Could Lead To "Devastating Nuclear War"
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How Money Disappears in a Fractional-Reserve Money System
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House Democrat Warns Obama's Actions Could Lead To "Devastating Nuclear War"
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