Sunday, February 11, 2007

tax cuts and the health care field

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17075561/page/2/

Bush’s proposed health-care cuts spark debate

this article, by Christopher Lee and Lori Montgomery discusses the newly proposed cuts in health care by the bush administration. it suggests that his cuts could either sink or save medicare and medicaid. the authors also say that although the cuts could potentially work in helping balance the budget, they do nothing to address the real underlying problems that are making medicare and medicaid costs rise. they also show a concern for the future of the medical industry as far as people actually wanting to become doctors or surgeons or any other medical professional.

I think this article is excellent. i really entirely agree with what mr. lee and mrs. montgomery say in it. its true that tax cuts could, theorhetically, balance the budget, but for the most part in times of war it is considered good policy to increase taxes in order to raise funds for the war. in addition, i really don't think that simply making cuts in the budget can actually reduce debt, simply make the national rate of creating debt lower. we're still spending money, its just that we have slightly more to pull from, we aren't actually making money.

these cuts in the medicare and medicaid programs could also have extraordinary costs in the future. being as hospitals and by extension their employees are really not getting paid the full cost of doing many of the procedures they do, or it is at least very difficult, it could deterr people who are looking at a career in health care to reconsider. granted, people shouldn't look at a job just because of its salary, but many people do, and regardless of the reasoning behind getting into a field of medicine, we need doctors.

in addition to people being deterred from entering the medical field, bush's cuts propose to essentially stop paying for graduate education in teaching hospitals, yet another huge blow to the overall medical population.

so how will we balance the budget? if this passes, will medicare and medicaid survive, or will it become the next social security? what will happen to the medical field if it does?

sports economy

http://www.econlib.org/LIBRARY/Columns/y2004/Sandersonsports.html

so, this article , by Allen Sanderson, was about how large of a deal it is when athletes raise their pay, but how little it seems to matter when other entertainers (movie stars, etc.) raise their salaries, and questioned how we should view college athletes skipping years of school in order to begin their career in proffesional sports. it also compares college athletes to sweatshop workers, and pro athletes on steroids to entertainers who use cosmetic surgury.

Personally, i agree that we shouldn't make as big of a deal when pro sports players raise their pay because it really has little effect on the price of tickets, as Sanderson points out. the price of tickets is determined by the team's owners, who base it on the market as far as how much people are willing to pay in order to see the all star players, not how much the players charge for the service.

i do, however really have to disagree with Sanderson's point about college athletes being very similar to sweatshop workers. this is because although, yes, college athletes don't get paid for their performances on the field (besides maybe a t-shirt) they are building their talent so they can be paid an extraordinary amount of money in the long run because they are getting their names out there for pro coaches to see.