Wages are up again – do workers really want to elect Democratic tax-hikers?

[mystery-ak]

Wages are up again – do workers really want to elect Democratic tax-hikers?
by Washington Examiner
 | November 02, 2018 08:21 AM



Election Day is just around the corner. Republicans are now expected to hold the U.S. Senate. Most forecasters still expect Democrats to take over the House, but it might be close. Democrats need to net 24 seats; they are expected to gain between 20 and 40.

So why might this year’s midterm elections deviate from the “shellackings” of 2010 and 2014? The most important difference is probably the fact that the economy is basically off the table as an issue. Despite the stock market’s recent tough times, the components of the economy that ordinary people tend to feel first are doing very well and seem likely to continue. Employment is up by more than 4 million jobs since President Trump’s election. Unemployment is plumbing new depths at 3.7 percent, despite a growing labor force. Consumer confidence is at an 18-year high, and the number of available jobs exceeds the number of estimated job seekers.

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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/wages-are-up-again-do-workers-really-want-to-elect-democratic-tax-hikers

[Fishrrman]

"Wages are up again – do workers really want to elect Democratic tax-hikers?"

Sadly, a surprising number of them do.

Logic makes no difference here, and cannot explain it.

[RoosGirl]

At our recent company "Townhall" it was mentioned that the cost of the health insurance was going up 50%, so I wondered what that was going to do to raises.  I don't know if a 50% hike is pretty common across the country right now, or what exactly is causing that big of a jump.  I'm part time, so I'm not on their health insurance plan.

[bigheadfred]

At our recent company "Townhall" it was mentioned that the cost of the health insurance was going up 50%, so I wondered what that was going to do to raises.  I don't know if a 50% hike is pretty common across the country right now, or what exactly is causing that big of a jump.  I'm part time, so I'm not on their health insurance plan.

 Long article: How Government Regulations Made Healthcare So Expensive

https://mises.org/wire/how-government-regulations-made-healthcare-so-expensive

snip

Since the early 1900s, medical special interests have been lobbying politicians to reduce competition. By the 1980s, the U.S. was restricting the supply of physicians, hospitals, insurance and pharmaceuticals, while subsidizing demand. Since then, the U.S. has been trying to control high costs by moving toward something perhaps best described by the House Budget Committee: “In too many areas of the economy — especially energy, housing, finance, and health care — free enterprise has given way to government control in “partnership” with a few large or politically well-connected companies” (Ryan 2012). The following are past major laws and other policies implemented by the Federal and state governments that have interfered with the health care marketplace (HHS 2013):

snip

During the past 48 years, the U.S. has paid a heavy price for denying potential competitors entry into the health-care marketplace. The nation has likely wasted the equivalent of nearly two trillion dollars per year (in 2012 dollars). The costs are bankrupting the country as the leading contributor to the $16 trillion national debt (through spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security). Health care is also the number one barrier to America's global competitiveness (according to Edward Deming), and the largest contributor to financial stress and personal bankruptcies.

[RoosGirl]

Long article: How Government Regulations Made Healthcare So Expensive

https://mises.org/wire/how-government-regulations-made-healthcare-so-expensive

snip


snip

Yeah, but with the eo ending the individual mandate I thought that would at least stabilize the insurance prices a bit. 50% in one year is substantial.

[bigheadfred]

Yeah, but with the eo ending the individual mandate I thought that would at least stabilize the insurance prices a bit. 50% in one year is substantial.

That EO probably meant more people dropped their insurance. The people running the shitshow aren't going to take a pay decrease. Rate hikes were part of the plan all along.

Looks like the Idaho average will be around 38%.

This isn't about healthcare. It never was, IMO. Health insurance and healthcare is a racket. A con game.

There is a tax exemption. You can claim healthcare as being unaffordable and not pay the penalty for not having insurance. Which I have done for the last 3 or 4 years. The IRS hasn't questioned it.