The rich don't create jobs, we do

http://www.truthout.org/actually-rich-dont-create-jobs-we-do/1305380742

Abe, I'm just saddened by the ignorance and lemming quality of the American people when it comes to politics. Truly a large majority are more governed by their prejudices and personal religious issues than common intelligence. Thus, hired lobbyists and Madison Avenue advertisements govern their thinking. Sound bites and celebrity quotes steal their intelligence.

Early democracy was born of public debate - not paid lobbyists and advertising. People gathered in the square to listen to ideas and draw their own conclusions.

Now, we have a proliferation of information; but most of it is controlled by self-serving ratings whores and media moguls. There are so many blogs and bloggers, an ordinary person only runs into a few and generally gravitates to those that match their already set ideas.

Demand creates jobs. In times of hardship like the present, government creates jobs so people have the funds to demand. It's a simple equation. The problem is wealth controlling information.

The $billions spent on lobbyists for big oil will defeat the bill to stop subsidies that are long past the purpose for which they were intended. Just like foreign aid, the oil companies consider these subsidies their entitlement, part of their budget.

Yet, public entities everywhere are cutting staff because of the deficit and good social programs are threatened. Those jobs cut reduce the number of people in the market to demand goods and services.

We have the wrong representatives. Mary Landru from Louisiana is a big voice in stopping oil subsidies. Big surprise. I wonder who paid her campaign funds?

Every time a small business closes, the opportunity for job creation shrinks. If anyone should be subsidized it's start-up businesses with a hope for growth. It's supports to keep those small businesses (and some large) from failing so long as it's not poor management. Even poor management can be corrected with a team of experts.

Oh well, thanks for sharing an article that certainly states what is obvious to me: if people don't have jobs; they don't spend. When they don't spend, entire industries go under and jobs are reduced. The wealthy get their money from paper. They speculate. They have the money to take risks. Money leads to more money. And, believe me, the wealthy are not going to let go of theirs at any cost.

That's why we have government in a democracy. In a society with dictators and feudal type leadership, we expect royalty to live opulently while the masses barely exist. In a democratic society, the entire population matters. At least that's the myth.

Quote :

Producers and Parasites




The idea that there are producers and parasites as expressed in the
example above has become a core philosophy of conservatives. They claim
that wealthy people "produce" and are rich because they
"produce." The rest of us are "parasites" who suck blood and energy from
the productive rich, by taxing them. In this belief system, We, the
People are basically just "the help" who are otherwise in the way, and
taxing the producers to pay for our "entitlements." We "take money" from
the producers through taxes, which are "redistributed" to the
parasites. They repeat the slogan, "Taxes are theft," and take the
"money we earned" by "force" (i.e. government.)

What a metaphor that is - right out of George Lakoff's concepts.

Ann

It doesn't look good. I copied this from a facebook post by Phil Harris.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/14/medicare-social-security-_n_862017.html?ref=fb&src=sp#sb=782856,b=facebook

Not to put down high-tech medicine - it's saving lots of lives, but there have been so many reports of "padding" at hospitals and clinics. I can't help but feel that if those misuses were looked into and controlled, that we wouldn't be in nearly as much of a fix.

Ann

I agree Ann. When I was on a US Plan, I reviewed my bills before sending them to the insurance company. When they were sent direct, the Insurance company asked me to verify. There were frequent charges that didn't apply.
The best person to verify is the patient. Being charged $20 for an aspirin is real bad, worse is when you didn't get the aspirin. Padding occurs when there are no controls and/or it is over-controlled.

I don't know exactly how it works where I live, but when I go to the doctor, I give them my coded insurance card that looks like a credit card. I never see a bill. The doctor sends the information to the insurance provider to get paid. If there was a problem, I feel confident that the insurance provider would ask me to verify. When things run smoothly, and the doctor or hospital gets paid without hassle, there is less of a chance to pad or abuse a system that provides them with their income. Abuse or fraud has consequences.

There are systems that work. A smart thing to do, is to evaluate them and select one to emulate. If the system is flawed. Band Aids aren't the answer. Surgery is required.

The most important thing is to treat the patient without any hassle. Waiting until insurance is confirmed or method of payment is approved before treatment has cost lives. Is the priority health care or payment? In private hands, payment appears to take precedence. In public hands, I believe priority is in providing service where needed.

I have a $10 copay general practitioner and a $30 copay specialist. I had an annual with the general and a follow-up with the specialist. Both required blood tests. I suggested the blood be drawn once and analyzed with info to both doctors. No. Two draws were necessary because of "codes." Interpretation: both needed to bill for the blood draw and analysis.

I looked at my coded bill. Diagnosis: "Chronic Kidney Disease." I have totally healthy kidneys. That was a major coding error that if I had not asked for the detailed billing would have incorrectly been in my record.

In order for me to have some specific medical treatments, my general practitioner who diagnosed the need still had to refer me to the specialist who referred me to exactly the treatment recommended by the GP.

The GP could have handled the entire matter. All of the specialist expenses were related to ordering tests the GP could have ordered.

And we wonder about medical costs? Every other tv and radio announcement is encouraging people to ask their physicians for expensive brand name drugs or discover hidden ailments. I never realized how much plastic surgery I needed until I started looking in the rear view mirror on my way to work in the morning, influenced by a radio ad to turn me into a youthful beauty by ridding me of the parenthesis (didn't know those smile lines had that term even); frown lines (you know, the ones I've had from squinting since I was a teenager); and jowels (didn't know I had those either until I looked very closely based on the radio ad).

And how about all the depression medications? I didn't know how depressed I was until I matched my moods to the television ad. Of course, those mood swings are cured by a much cheaper night of dancing or afternoon swim in the Gulf. How about an ad for the free benefits of exercise in the great outdoors?

'nuf.

Yes, we have a take-a-pill mentality, and the independent insurance agents are not concerned about whether the amount they pay out is justified or not, so long as they have clients paying the ever-increasing premiums, nor does it matter to them if only the wealthy can afford those premiums.

And we pay more all the time for medicare because of the continual back-scratching.

Ann

This article is full of false dichotomies and erroneous conclusions. Like the opening statement that the rich are producers and everyone else is a parasite. Who said that besides the author of this flawed piece?

It's not even worth picking apart...