This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
In contrast, bank credit has dried up. Q 1 2009 outstanding loans were liquidated at an $857.2 billion annual rate and $931.3 billion in Q 2. In addition, net new mortgages aren't being created. Instead, annualized liquidations hit $39.3 billion in Q 1 and $239.5 billion in Q 2. Cash availability through credit cards eroded by $95.3 billion in Q 1 and $166 billion in Q 2.
According to Professor Tim Congdon of International Monetary Research, "There has been nothing like this in the USA since the 1930s. The rapid destruction of money balances is madness," suggesting serious trouble ahead.
The September 2009 US Treasury Bulletin adds more by showing America owes foreign investors nearly $7.9 trillion, and suggesting that these sources may begin drying up and eventually contract because dollar investments no longer are safe. Some, in fact, say the time for alternatives is now.
Medicare Reform Through MedPAC - The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
Established in 1997 as an independent congressional agency, it advises Congress about Medicare. Each year, it submits a "Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy," the latest on March 17, 2009 for FY 2008 with recommendations to the nation's lawmakers:
"to help constrain costs both in the short and long run. (These) recommended actions are one part of a broader array of recommendations aimed at more fundamentally reforming Medicare's delivery system," including achieving greater overall "efficiency" to control the unsustainable out-year costs.
However, since recommendations aren't policy, S. 1110: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) Reform Act of 2009 (with one co-sponsor) was introduced in the Senate on May 20:
"to amend title XVIII of the (1935) Social Security Act, making the Commission an executive branch agency, and providing the Commission new resources and authority to implement Medicare payment policy."
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
