Category Archives: government
US Economic Data – You Figure It Out
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th July 2016I’m going to present some data about the US economy. I’m going to let them speak for themselves, as much as possible. This is because almost everybody believes what they believe because they believe it, rather than as the result of sober analysis. So I’ll present the data along with a few questions about them….
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Educational Thought of the Day
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 31st January 2016Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder. A Study of History – Arnold J. Toynbee (1889-1975)
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A Note on Pumpkins
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th October 2015The Department of Energy has just issued a pumpkin alert. Before digesting it ask yourself a few questions: Where did the carbon in the pumpkin come from? How will it get into the atmosphere if the discarded pumpkin is buried in a landfill? Doesn’t the Dept of Energy have anything better to do than worry about…
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Substandard Medical Care, Etc
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th October 2015An article in The Guardian says that two-thirds of hospitals in the UK give substandard medical care. Furthermore 75% of hospitals have levels of safety that “are not good enough.” These hospitals are said to be understaffed and underfunded. These problems are expected to worsen as the government phases in cuts to the National Health Service….
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The Real Problem With Healthcare
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 14th January 2014I have nothing to add to the discussion about the merits of the ACA otherwise known as Obamacare. Everyone who wants information about it has had more than enough offered to him. It’s not the real problem with our medical system. The kernel of our dilemma is us. We are the problem and congress can’t…
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Section 9007 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th June 2013Community Health Needs Assessment In order to continue as a 501(c)(3) organization, each hospital must conduct a community health needs assessment every three years and adopt an implementation strategy to meet the community health needs identified through the assessment. The assessment must take into account input from persons who represent the broad interests of the…
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How Much Does the New Healthcare Tax Cost?
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd July 2012Now that we’ve been informed that the Affordable Care Act’s penalty for not purchasing health insurance is a tax rather than a real penalty, I thought it informative to see how much this tax might be and what the consequences of opting to pay it rather than purchasing medical insurance are. I’ll go through the weeds below; but briefly the take away message…
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More on Taxes and Spending
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th July 2011In an earlier post I presented data on income tax revenues before and after the Bush tax cuts. These revenues rose after the tax cuts and then fell with the severe economic downturn of 2008. Below is a more recent graph that shows both government revenues and spending. They seem to show that the greater spending the…
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Educational Thought of the Day – Farm Income and Dept of Agriculture
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd July 2011US farm income in 2011 is estimated by the Department of Agriculture at $94.7 billion. The Department’s 2012 budget is 145 billion. For a comment on this wonderful achievement in the Wall Street Journal go here. Interestingly the commentator underestimates the Department’s budget. No further comment, at least by me, is needed.
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