Depression

The depressing season is upon us.  Both conventions have finished.  The results?  Partisans of either side are happy for their side and convinced that the other team suffered.  My opinion is that neither convention did anything to reach out to those of us who worry about the future and do not see an obvious solution in either party.  My--slightly biased, totally non-scientific--read is that there is no attempt by either party to look at our problems and to propose serious plans.   In no particular order, here are some of my concerns.

We now have a health care plan, for better or for worse.  As a health care professional with a long-time interest in public health, I have always felt that a single payer plan, with options for supplemental plans--is the most attractive option overall.  When I read the Affordable Care Act, I do not see that plan.  The AFA does not cover all Americans, it does not address all of the problems in the existing government programs and it sets up yet another government bureaucracy.  Further, it takes money form the existing programs without a clear plan of where Medicare and Medicaid are going to make up the loss.  Yet again, Washington policy makers are promising us to make up the funds with vague promises of savings with greater efficiency.  I do not understand why anyone ever believes in these savings, they never materialize.

Taxation is a mess.  We have a horrific mess that is given to us by the people that we keep re-electing.  The tax code is inefficient, regressive and biased.  We gripe about people not paying their fair share but we are not willing to place the blame where it belongs--on us for electing and re-electing that same people who vote for all of the tax breaks and gimmicks in our tax code.  Don't blame the people who take advantage of the tax code; blame the people who voted for our tax code.

The deficit is out of control and neither side is willing to address the problem.  A true solution would require fixing both the tax code and the entitlement programs.  Do the rich--however you define them this week--pay a 'fair share'?  I don't know and neither does anyone else.  To define a fair share requires that we decide exactly what the government should do and what this would cost.  This has never been done even on an case-by-case basis; what is needed is such a study on an overall basis.  I do know that an upper rate similar to France's (75%) would still not fix our deficit. 

Other major problems--such as, immigration--are not being addressed by either side.  We just hear polemics and unsupported statements that say that 'we' are good and 'they' are evil incarnate.  Far too many otherwise intelligent people post and re-post bumper sticker flame bombs that do not contribute anything to a proper dialog.  Where are the people who are willing to discuss issues and compromise to find the best solutions?  I do not hear or see them anywhere.  So, depression season is upon us and will only get worse, I am afraid.