The Oil Drum

Westexas,
I agree with what you say as being a strong indication of the slide of the average American’s financial well being. It’s an epidemic of vast proportions, and the debt of this country is a strong signal that we are in trouble. The average voter puts politicians in place who will tend to do as they wish, which is all too often to give generously to the public welfare. I saw a news article today that claimed that about 1 in 6 in this country is receiving public assistance, and much of this was Medicaid. Health and Human Services is the largest outlay for the government, beating out the DoD. This can’t go on forever, so something has to give.

Also in the recent news were articles concerning the health care cost problem. A number of politicians and others were discussing how this might be “fixed.” From what I could see, all the ideas they presented were nothing more than ways to shift those costs around, or spend yet more government funds! Health care costs have been skyrocketing. Which is no surprise when you consider that the professional health care providers and the corporations that run the public hospitals know they can charge just about whatever they wish, because the bill will get paid in most cases by private insurance or the government. I was recently hospitalized myself, and remember well a number of doctors who charged me $300 an hour! How plain can it be? Just how many of us average citizens could afford to pay that out of pocket? Not very many, so we are stuck with paying insurance and being bled of our work over our life times! Either way we get the shaft. The poorest among us rely on the government. How can someone who makes $6 or $7 an hour afford any kind of decent health insurance? They can’t, it’s that simple. Many have been living off the rising asset price of their home, but not now!