If and when do you think this stimulus plan will work?

Have you ever visited a busy port in any country where thousands of containers are being loaded and unloaded?

No, it isn't. It's because you only look at what the stimulus plan will create; not all the jobs that will follow from the jobs created by the "plan

That number is unknown even though Obama claims his jobs will create 3.5 to 4 million jobs

You miss one very important point; the economy today is much different than when FDR took action to increase jobs.

It should be "self-evident." Today's economy is much more complex than during FDRs time. Not only in the variety and complexity of similar industries today, but also looking at the problem as a world marketplace. Many foreign companies own companies in this country and visa-versa. It's not as simple as you think it is.

They're already doing that; what do you think this "stimulus plan" is all about?

That's why they're calling it "public works."

Is that right! Since when does commercial enterprise run programs less efficiently than government

Come on, hawkeye, you know damn well Medicare is an animal all its own that has been cutting costs to health providers forever

By almost every measure, Medicare is cheaper and more effective than private plans, according to government and academic research. Medicare spends 2% on overhead; private insurers typically spend 25% to 27% for overhead and profit

A UC Berkeley study last month found that a public option like Medicare could result in $1 trillion in national savings over 10 years by driving down costs, improving efficiencies and fostering innovation.


Critics contend that Medicare pays doctors so little that most physicians won't accept the coverage, and that it is too bureaucratic and financially unstable. Medicare does use its size to drive down what doctors and hospitals are paid. However, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission reports that 97% of physicians accept new Medicare patients, with 80% taking all or most patients, which is comparable to HMO acceptance rates. And with the massive consolidation of insurance companies and of HMOs, doctors and hospitals report to our group that Medicare payments are often as generous, if not more generous, than those of HMOs and private plans -- and received with less hassle and more consistency. Studies by AARP and the Commonwealth Fund also show that Medicare patients are more satisfied with every aspect of their care than patients with private plans.

Defense of Medicare Budget Cuts Takes Spotlight in Washington

Administration officials faced angry Congressmen from both parties

Feb.8, 2006 "Today President Bush defended his proposed $36 billion reduction for Medicare spending in his budget proposal for FY 2007 and prepared to sign legislation already passed that cuts another $39 billion from Medicare and Medicaid. Yesterday, members of his administration were busy defending the $2.77 trillion budget and the Medicare cuts. They also were facing questions about the budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to a report by KaiserNet.org.

hawkeye, The government can keep cutting benefits like Medicare, and the result is not "cheaper" cost; it's cutting services to seniors and the needy.

October 10, 1990
THE BUDGET AGREEMENT;
Critically Ill Hospital Keeps Ear on U.S. Budget Talks and Eye on Creditors
By LISA BELKIN, SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES

LEAD: In the tiny West Texas town of Alpine, in a nondescript single-story building that does not even have a sign out front, the abstractions of the Washington budget battle are colliding with reality.

The building houses the Big Bend Regional Medical Center, the only hospital in a 16,000-square-mile area of southwest Texas. It has been perilously close to closing for more than a year, administrators say.

Whether the doors remain open may depend on where Congress decides to cut the Federal budget. Officials of the hospital say the reason Big Bend is $400,000 in debt and losing $1,000 a day is that Medicare and Medicaid do not reimburse it enough for patient care. About 60 percent of the hospital's patients are covered by the two health programs - Medicare for the elderly and the disabled, and Medicaid for the poor.

The budget package defeated by the House of Representatives early Friday morning would have cut Medicare by about $60 billion nationwide, with half of that amount coming from hospitals and other health care providers, and the tottering hospital could not have absorbed its share of that blow, said Big Bend's chief administrator, Ron Ballew. The budget resolution now in the hands of Congressional committees still envisions raising about $30 billion from health care providers, although details have not been worked out.

Keep laughing CI if it makes you feel good, but please set aside some time to learn about the subject matter.
Quote:

By almost every measure, Medicare is cheaper and more effective than private plans, according to government and academic research. Medicare spends 2% on overhead; private insurers typically spend 25% to 27% for overhead and profit