American Survivor
By Donald Holmes Lewis
The other day I read an article about surviving the new realities of the American economy. Spend less. Save more. Love your job if you have one. Renegotiate your mortgage through the government’s new Make Home Affordable plan. Pay down your credit cards. Etc. Etc.
The article compelled me to put a little questionaire together for myself. Here goes:
Do you own a home with some equity in it?
Have a job or income that provides enough cash for your family’s basic needs?
Do you have health care coverage?
Do you own a car?
Are you free to speak your mind?
Are you secure from the threat of bodily harm each day?
I was able to answer yes to them all, even though I’m scrambling like a crazy rancher these days trying to mend fences and feed the animals with far fewer resources than ever. Despite getting a 100% on my own test, I’ve had a tendency since the world financial crisis to feel sorry for myself.
But I did a little research about where my 100% score ranks me percentile-wise within the entire population of Planet Earth. It turns out that by answering yes to the above questions I am a member of a rather exclusive club.
Think about this one. According to data available from all kinds of places, sources such as the World Health Organization, automaker groups, international real estate surveys, and democracy watch dog organizations, less than one half of one percent of all humans can score 100%.
Of course, a great score doesn’t make you happy. A lot of other things come into play there. Love. Friendship. Productivity. Good Health. Good Food. Humor. Elbow Room. Opportunity. Overcoming Challenges. That list goes on and on and doesn’t include winning the Super Lotto.
But my good score does remind me that with this luck and privilege comes an awesome and daunting obligation to do something about the dire situaition of others when I can. And it helps me to be thankful, not frightened. Sometimes when you ask yourself a few quesitons and give yourself a good talking to, you listen. Heck, I’m an American Survivor.
The Big Mac Tax Proposal
By Donald Holmes Lewis
Copyright 2009
According to Gallup, over 70% of Americans believe our health care system is broken and needs fixing. Now, not later. In fact, raw statistics say the number of adults with no health insurance whatsoever is approaching 30%. The number of young adults age 18 to 35 without coverage is staggeringly high at close to 50%. Experts on the future of Medicare are putting forward 2022 as the year the health care cash runs out for those 65 and over. According to a poll conducted by the AMA, nearly all health care providers feel the system is unsustainable in terms of being able to provide basic services. Hospitals are expected suffer. Not so true for insurance companies.
On the national stage, there’s a lot of talk about achieving universal health care coverage. However, the funding gap is so tremendous that nearly everyone agrees the cost of making coverage for all Americans a reality is overwhelming and could bankrupt our treasury, more than the all the stimulus bills and bailouts combined. A little scary. How the heck are we going to pay for it? That’s the battle looming on the horizon like an enemy army, too many foot soldiers on the other side to stand and fight.
We all know the the biggest drags on health care costs are two specific demons: diabetes (heart attacks, stroke, etc.) and smoking (heart attacks, cancer etc.). So here’s a proposal that will pay for universal health care for all Americans. We’ve got to pay for the future somehow, we have to get to the other side of the mountain. So here goes.
Tax all fast food with high fat content by 25%. Current Big Mac cost $1.79. New price $2.23. This discourages consumption and raises massive revenues to help pay for health care reforms.
Tax cigarettes by 50% more. I know the federal tax just went up cause I still smoke (sorry, trying to quit). But do it anyway. This also discourages consumption. Current cost around $5.00. New price $7.50. That would generate a lot of dough for universal health care coverage.
According to projections, these two taxes would fully fund coverage for all and provide a surplus.
Those who burden the system more than others pay the higher costs.
Greens and fish, less fatty beef. No smokescreens. We can do this.