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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (765500)	1/24/2014 12:44:57 PM
From: combjelly	Respond to of 1573922

The reality is that socio-economic mobility in the post-war period increased until 1980 when it stalled then started to fall. From the notoriously liberal Chicago Fed... We estimate a time series of intergenerational economic mobility using a two sample estimation approach that matches individuals in the Census to synthetic parents in the prior generation based on state of birth and cohort. We find that mobility increased from 1950 to 1980 but has declined sharply since 1980. chicagofed.org The reality is that there is very little that can be done to prevent successful people, who want to accumulate wealth, from doing so Actually, there is a lot that can be done to keep a small number of people accumulating all of the wealth. We had effective policies that did that from WWII to 1980. The middle class did very well during those decades. Not so well since. Granted, correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation, but the mechanisms are well understood and operates in the same fashion every time it is tried.

To: i-node who wrote (765500)	1/24/2014 1:15:55 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 1573922

"The reality is that there is very little that can be done to prevent successful people, who want to accumulate wealth, from doing so -- without devastating the economy." That's a myth you've been trained to believe, like a monkey. The FACTS are, after WWII, the wealthy were taxed at 91% of income. The economy was FAR from "devastated".

To: i-node who wrote (765500)	1/24/2014 1:20:51 PM
From: bentway	Respond to of 1573922

Suits: How a Hospital Chain Schemed to Boost Profits 'NYT' LOOKS AT LAWSUITS AGAINST HEALTH MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES By Arden Dier, Newser Staff newser.com Posted Jan 24, 2014 9:41 AM CST (NEWSER) – The New York Times today takes a look at whistle-blower lawsuits claiming for-profit hospital chain Health Management Associates employed a strategy to up admission—whether or not patients needed care—in order to boost Medicare and Medicaid payments. The paper shares one tactic, in which ER scorecards were posted daily, showing doctors who met an admission target in green. Doctors who were close to the figure were in yellow, and failing doctors in red. That target? Admitting at least half of patients over 65 who visited the emergency room. In another case, a baby was admitted with a "fever" despite a normal temperature of 98.7 degrees. When the CEO of an HMA-owned North Carolina hospital reported that his doctors wouldn't go along with the revenue-boosting policies, former HMA chief exec Gary Newsome—who made $22 million in three years—allegedly replied, "Do it anyway." Threats and financial incentives were also allegedly used, while execs who questioned the policies were often fired and reports on admission rates were burned, the Times adds. So far eight whistle-blower lawsuits have been filed against HMA in six states; last month, the Justice Department joined in, but one expert says typical penalties number in the 8-figure-range—pennies compared to the profits. She predicts it would take a settlement of at least $500 million to make an impact. To wit, the Times reports that when HMA revealed the DOJ was stepping into the lawsuits, its stock hardly moved.

To: i-node who wrote (765500)	1/25/2014 2:18:34 AM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573922

Milestone: 3 Million in Marketplaces Posted January 24, 2014 By Marilyn Tavenner, Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Since the beginning of open enrollment, millions of Americans are gaining access to health coverage–many for the very first time—thanks to the Affordable Care Act. The most recent data indicates that approximately 3.0 million people have now enrolled in a private health insurance plan through the Federal and State-based Marketplaces since October 1 hhs.gov