Posted on 09/07/2009 8:01:40 AM PDT by AJKauf
Imagine if corporations and the government started to provide insurance to purchase shoes. The policies would be comprehensive — all shoes would be covered — with $1 co-pays per pair of shoes. In a short time, many Americans would have closets like the late Imelda Marcos. Shoes as a share of GDP would soar. The parallel to health care insurance and volume is not that far off. President Obama has advertised the goodies — comprehensive insurance for all — and postponed the pain, claiming everything will be paid for and costs will drop. But for costs to drop, then incentives have to change and market forces brought into this sector of the economy, which is currently 17% and climbing.
Do not expect to hear any pitch for market forces, tort reform, or real insurance market reform Wednesday night. The president will try to calm the nation, drive away their fears (which he will claim are due mainly to conservative scare mongers), and provide some soothing music that all will be well or better if the nation just follows his lead. This is nonsense. The odds of a big package passing at this point are, I think, slightly better than 50-50, given the Democrats’ control in Congress and the desire not to embarrass Obama with a big defeat. The odds of passage for a more incremental approach (which will still not address any fundamental cost problem, but will not cost as much) are much higher.
I think Obama is an ideologue who believes in and wants bigger government. So I think he will try for the bigger package first. The brute force required to pass such a package could be worse than embarrassing for Democrats who go down in 2010. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...
Size matters?????
If the rats used the nuclear option and pass this turkey, the GOP should run on the theme of rescinding the bill in 2010. They will win in a landslide and the blue-dogs and other rats will be gone.
The MSM as well as the likes of Matthews, Olberman, etc. are writing now (or already have written) their coverage of “Obama’s Kocked It Out of the Park” health care address.
At this point, the Dems’ strategy is to pass a bill that will destroy the healthcare system rather than “fix” it. Once they’ve done that, it will be easy to convince people to rely on government for their healthcare.
I expect that their after the speech commentary to be that he knocked it out of the park. No matter what he says, they will say that he convincingly made the case for socialized medicine, and that the campaign for health care is back on track.
As numerous people have pointed out, there is a >.92 correlation between the Kenyan's high-profile speeches promoting this or that fascist/Marxist programme and a decline in the mkt indicies.
Thus, wait 2-3 minutes, perhaps as much as 5, into the speech, and, if the stock mkts start tanking, take a short position. In any of SPX, SP, or ES, either sell short outright or enter some October bear put spreads.
A bear put spread is, by definition, the purchase of a higher strike put option and simultaneously selling a lower strike put option, both expiring in the same month. In SPX, an example would be buying an October 980 strike put and simultaneously selling an October 950 strike put option.
Put spreads have the merits of A) being inexpensive (SPX put spreads with the strikes named above are about $700 each) and B) being cautious (if I'm wrong in supposing the mkts will tank, only $200-300 should be at risk in the example SPX spread, perhaps not even that much).
If I'm correct in this view, though, SP should drop at least 40 pts in 2-3 days' time, implying roughly a $1200 gain per spread in the example.
Any time anyone offers a 4-1 (or better) reward-to-risk ratio, I do believe I'll take a piece of the pie.
Good trading to you!
"My fellow Americans - if you don't go along with my agenda you are part of the MOB and we will crush you - the Chicago Way.
"I will call on ACORN to hire half the street people in the nation and we'll march in front of the press who will buy every preprinted sign designed by our White House War Room. And if the press doesn't buy it - we'll nationalized them and fire the top management. So get with the program or be ground up..."
That's a given, even if he did nothing more than read names out of a phone book for an hour.
Lets have government-run single-payer auto insurance. Lets see, a tank of gas should be only $5 (co-pay), oil change should be $8. If you get a flat, $7 copay. You pay $100 a month for "insurance", and your employer contributes $1200 per month. Other than that, its free.
[oh yeah, the "government" pays the other $5000 per month. Its no problem for the govt to pay that, as they know where to get it.]
... from taxes, printing presses, or China
IF this bill goes through in any form, all Hell is going to break loose in this country, and the politics as practiced for the last 70 years by both parties is going to have to come to an end.
Permanently! It's better than past time for a revolt.
Don't they just technically take the talking points from the White House Communications' Czar, and re-hash them into something for their own network?
Don't they just technically take the talking points from the White House Communications' Czar, and re-hash them into something for their own network?
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