Blog posts on USA

Posts selected fromManagement Blog - Engineering Blog - Investing Blog and other blogs

• The Continued Failure of the USA Health Care System and Our Politicians

  Providing a health care is extremely costly everywhere. Rich countries nearly universally provide a health care system that allows all citizens to get needed health care. Nowhere is it perfect and nowhere is it cheap. And nowhere is it more of a mess than in the USA.

  Sadly those we elect in the USA have continued for the last few decades to keep the USA healthcare system the mess we have now. The Affordable Care Act took a relatively small step in addressing several of the most flawed aspects of the USA system. It left unaddressed many of the major flaws. Instead of taking where we are now and making improvements to address the problems left from decades of Democrat and Republican created and maintained USA health care policy all we have had are demands to “repeal Obamacare.”

  This is exactly the type on avoiding improvements to maintain the existing (for the last few decades) broken healthcare system those in the USA must live with. 

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  We need to elect people dedicated to improving results not those interested in repeating slogans and avoiding any actual work on actually making things better.

  continue reading: The Continued Failure of the USA Health Care System and Our Politicians
• Improvements to Credit Collection Requirements Have Had a Positive Impact

  Abuse of the credit system by 3rd party collection agencies (and credit reporting agencies) in the USA has been a long term problem.

  An attempt to partially address some of the abuses was a change in the required reporting practices that impacted collections accounts specifically, known as the National Consumer Assistance Plan (NCAP), which rolled into effect during the second half of 2017.

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  This was a small good step in protecting consumers from the bad behavior of credit reporting companies and their customers. But much more must be done to protect us from having our financial lives negatively impacted by bad practices of the credit reporting companies.

  continue reading: Improvements to Credit Collection Requirements Have Had a Positive Impact
• ACA Healthcare Subsidy – Why Earning $100 More Could Cost You $5,000 or More

  One of the benefits of the USA Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) is that health insurance costs are subsidized for those earning less than 400% of poverty level income. The way that this has been designed you could get $5,000 (or more, or less) in subsidies if you earn just below the 400% level and $0 if you earn just above.

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  60 year old in Virginia - earning $48,200 would receive $7,073 in subsidies (60% of the cost*). Earning $48,300 would mean receiving $0 in subsidies (for this and also examples, the examples shown are for a single individual, you can use the tool to try different scenarios).

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  The subsidy levels for those with very high health insurance costs (especially those over 50 years old, or with a family) are very large. If you are close to the subsidy cutoff level the costs of going over can be huge, costing you $5,000 or even over $10,000 just by making an extra $100.

  continue reading: ACA Healthcare Subsidy – Why Earning $100 More Could Cost You $5,000 or More
• Parfrey’s Glen, Wisconsin

  Parfrey’s Glen is about an hour outside of Madison next to the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.  The trail covers over 1,200 miles throughout Wisconsin.

  continue reading: Parfrey’s Glen, Wisconsin
• Photos from my trip to New York City

  Photos from my trip to New York City include: The Cloisters (part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art – though located far uptown) art and architecture of medieval Europe, the remodeled Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building and Flatiron Building.

  continue reading: Photos from my trip to New York City
• New York City in 2007

  Photos from my trip to New York City in 2007, photos include: The Cloisters (part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art – though located far uptown) art and architecture of medieval Europe, the remodeled Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building and Flatiron Building.

  continue reading: New York City in 2007
• Measuring the Health of Nations

  Rankings: 1) France 2) Japan 3) Australia 4) Spain 5) Italy 6) Canada… 18) Portugal 19 and last) USA.

  The United States health system has some things to point to positively but the system seems to be losing ground to the rest of the world more and more quickly while many cling to a belief it is the best system around.

  continue reading: Measuring the Health of Nations
• The Growing Use of Apprenticeships in the USA

  Apprenticeships are a great option for many people. For one thing you don’t have to take on a huge debt burden (previous post: Personal Finance Considerations for Going into Debt for Education). Also for many careers and apprenticeship is what is needed, not a college degree.

  continue reading: The Growing Use of Apprenticeships in the USA
• The Current Republican Party is a Huge Risk to the Future of the USA

  I am very concerned about the extremism that dominates the USA Republican Party. Far too many people are complacent...

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  The Republic Party has been on a long term effort to destroy the rule of law in the USA. The continued tolerance of those that openly tried to overturn the results of the election they lost is a critical issue that anyone that cares about the rule of law should not tolerate.

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  The long term efforts of the Republican Party to disenfranchise voters is another completely unacceptable behavior...

  continue reading: The Current Republican Party is a Huge Risk to the Future of the USA
• Texas Civil Rights Project

  I donated to the Texas Civil Rights Project.

  It is a travesty what has been done for decades to suppress voting rights. We need those who have had their voting rights suppressed to help save the USA from the dangerous actions taken by those increasing their efforts to disenfranchise so many people.

  continue reading: Texas Civil Rights Project
• Manufacturing Outlook and History In the USA and Globally

  The USA manufacturing base is growing and far from crumbling (job losses are deceiving as they are global and not an indication of a USA manufacturing decline). China’s manufacturing growth is incredible. China and the USA are far away the top 2 manufacturing countries.

  continue reading: Manufacturing Outlook and History In the USA and Globally
• China Outsourcing Manufacturing to USA

  For decades foreigners have taken debt from Americans that promise to pay back later (to pay for what they consumed). Now many are deciding that these debts are not attractive investments and are looking to own productive assets in the USA (companies, factories…).

  continue reading: China Outsourcing Manufacturing to USA
• Racism in the USA

  ...I read biographies of Reggie Jackson and I learned about how bad racism was very recently in the USA, from the few pages they included about what he had to endure. That left an enduring mark on my understanding of my society.

  Here is a recent clip of him talking about some of his experience. It is extremely damaging that we have "leaders" today trying to erase history and deny current realities.

  continue reading: Racism in the USA
• The USA Faces Extreme Risk if We Do Not Vote For Democracy and the Rule of Law in 2024

  I am continually shocked and amazed at how far below (what I thought were low expectations) the Republican Party has managed to sink in the last 8 years. And it continually gets worse and more shocking. The country faces an enormous risk if we don't vote out those that have not strongly opposed the actions of the current Republican leadership this year. We need to rebuke their horrible behavior and vote those in power out of office, and keep those out of power today out of power forever.

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  I fear for the USA if we do not vote for those that oppose the abuses the Repubican Party has accepted and promoted the last 6 years.

  continue reading: The USA Faces Extreme Risk if We Do Not Vote For Democracy and the Rule of Law in 2024
• I Fear for the Future of the USA if We Do Not Vote in Favor of the Rule of Law this Year

  I cannot fathom how anyone seeking political office in the USA that doesn't strongly speak out against someone with the horrendous track record Donald Trump has amassed during his life and the last 8 years can get even 5% of the USA population to consider voting for them. However, the USA public has shown that my beliefs are very different than many, at least it seems about 40% or maybe even more, voters.  I fear we could not only elect him but also those that have not strongly spoken out against his hundreds of violations of criminal, ethical and other abuses against our society.

  Details on some of the many abuses (frankly even 5% of which should disqualify anyone from supporting such an individual for any political office and most certainly from the most powerful political office in the USA):

  continue reading: I Fear for the Future of the USA if We Do Not Vote in Favor of the Rule of Law this Year