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Status Quo on the Budget Is Not Good Enough II. Look at the Big Picture!
In my last post, “Status Quo on the Budget Is Not Good Enough,” I discussed a report from the outgoing chair of the Senate Budget Committee, Patty Murray (D-WA), and explained how it epitomizes the...
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Progress on Medicaid Reform
It is widely understood that the rapid increase in spending for entitlements (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) is the main driver of our debt problem. Anything that can be done to get...
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Can America’s “Fourth Revolution” Be Avoided?
My last post, “America’s Fourth Revolution,” presented a persuasive argument by the political scientist, James Piereson, that our currently dysfunctional political system will be unable to solve our...
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Lowering the Cost of American Healthcare II. Entitlements
My last post emphsizes that any solution to our nation’s long term debt problem must include reining in the cost of American healthcare. There are two major drivers to this problem as is made clear...
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Lowering the Cost of American Healthcare III. Single Payer?
My last two posts, here and here, argue that the high costs of American healthcare, almost double what other developed countries pay per-capita, has two fundamental causes which must be addressed:...
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Health Care Spending is Driving Budget Deficits
In my last post, “Annual Deficits are Starting to go Back Up,” I refer to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office to show that it is the large annual increases in federal healthcare...
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Our Dire Fiscal Situation: A Summary
We are currently living in a high risk fiscal bubble. Low interest rates mean that our enormous and rapidly growing national debt is virtually “free” money. When interest rates return to...
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Fiscal Policy after the Election
As the presidential election tightens and the likely margin of victory for either candidate continues to shrink, it becomes ever more apparent that we need a bipartisan approach to solving our most...
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The Origins of Trumpism
Everyone is trying to figure out what Donald Trump is all about and I am no exception. My last two posts, here and here, compare his positives and negatives and what he is doing well so far and also...
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The Necessity of Fixing Medicaid
As I have discussed in previous posts, here and here, the American Health Care Act, the GOP replacement for the Affordable Care Act, is a step in the right direction. One of the best features of the...
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The Need to Put Medicaid on a Budget
The GOP healthcare plan, both the House version and the Senate version, are highly imperfect. Yet they each do one thing which is badly needed. They put Medicaid on a budget. The current open-ended...
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America’s Most Serious Problem: Excessive and Growing Debt
I know that I repeat myself a lot. I am a fiscal conservative and social moderate. This puts me in the middle of the political spectrum from left to right. I support social welfare programs if they...
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It’s Time for a Bipartisan Approach to Healthcare Reform
The Affordable Care Act was passed by a Democratic Congress in 2010 with no Republican support. It expands access to healthcare but does nothing to control costs which have now reached 18% of GDP and...
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Moving Forward on Healthcare Reform: Emphasize Cost Control
Now that the Republicans have failed to replace the Affordable Care Act with a poor substitute, it is likely that a bipartisan plan will emerge. Both sides want changes in the existing structure of...
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Getting Started on Fiscal Responsibility
This blog is devoted to fiscal and economic issues facing the U.S. Both the Trump Administration and the Democrats are working to speed up economic growth and I believe there is a good chance that...
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Why Entitlement Spending Is So Difficult to Control
The readers of this blog know that my favorite topic is our very large national debt, now 77% of GDP (for the public part on which we pay interest) and predicted by the Congressional Budget Office to...
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Why Our National Debt Is a Very Serious Problem for All Americans, but...
Congress has just postponed the debt ceiling until December 8 but at least they didn’t repeal it. It is crucial to retain regular and explicit debt ceilings as a reminder of the urgency of putting...
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There Is Really Only One Way to Reduce Our Debt
In 2012 I was a candidate in the Republican Primary for U.S. Congress, Nebraska District 2. My platform at that time was to “Eliminate the Deficit.” Today I am about to enter the 2018 Nebraska...
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The National Debt and Medicare Spending
I am a candidate in the May 15 Nebraska Republican Primary for U.S. Senate, against the incumbent Deb Fischer because she is totally ignoring our enormous and out-of-control national debt. In fact...
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