Could Taxing Employee Healthcare Fix the System?
Posted on November 8th, 2009 by admin
Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/06/Uncommon_Knowledge_David_Brady_and_Daniel_Kessler
Hoover fellows Daniel Kessler and David Brady discuss tax breaks for employer-based health benefits – what they describe as the “original sin” of the healthcare system. They argue that a tax on employee benefits would help rein in spending.
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David Brady and Daniel Kessler combine the insights of a political scientist with those of an economist and offer unique observations into the political forces and policies at play in the current health care debate.
Brady and Kessler compare the politics of Clintoncare in 1993 to the politics of Obamacare today. If President Clinton couldn’t push through sweeping health care reform in 1993 why does President Obama think he can in 2009? Has public opinion or the health care system changed? Has the health care system itself changed? And what exactly is the substance of the president’s plan and will Congress give him what he wants? – Hoover Institution
David Brady is deputy director and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is also the Bowen H. and Janice Arthur McCoy Professor of Political Science and Leadership Values in the Stanford Graduate School of Business and professor of political science in the School of Humanities and Sciences at the university.
Daniel Kessler is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. In addition to his Hoover appointment, he is an associate professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, where he teaches courses on economics, public policy, and the health care industry.
Peter M. Robinson is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he writes about business and politics, edits Hoover’s quarterly journal, the Hoover Digest, and hosts Hoover’s television program, Uncommon Knowledge.
Duration : 0:4:12
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November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I agree. We’ve been …
I agree. We’ve been naturally selected to listen to our parents, a behavior that’s retained in adulthood. Plus for millennia rulers slaughtered anyone who dissented. Realistically in a national electoral process I am powerless to choose my leader. I do have complete power, however, to choose my employer. Naturally I’m much happier with the leader I chose (my employer). Why can’t all leaders be voluntarily selected like this? Because humans suck? That just leads me back to my previous arguments.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
the point you’re …
the point you’re missing is that we’re animals, evolved to have a leader/ Alpha. now, we are much more open to consensus than some of our cousins, but not there yet.
we always hand power over to the few. we hand it over cause we’re stupid and lazy. throughout history, we hand it over.
your intellectual argument mean nothing in the real world.
now, i’m an anarchist myself, though i’m sure i differ a great deal from your views. i’m thinking to the future.
;d
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Stop being close …
Stop being close minded.
You just said “we’re all morons.” Where do politicians & voters come from? Mars? No. They come from us, the morons! OK, 666norton420 says we should all get off our & pay attention, so everyone stop being morons! ;p
Without a state mistakes are smaller in scale. Morons become smarter because they’re allowed to fail & learn lessons. All transactions are voluntary. Managers are naturally selected for their ability, not because their last name is Kennedy or Bush.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
if?
we are.
we’re …
if?
we are.
we’re all morons.
and the ones in government wouldn’t also be stupid/ignorant ,etc, if the electorates knew how to get off their and pay attention to their political systems.
not every gov is stupid and goes against their people’s wishes.
don’t prject the deficiencies of the US on the rest of the world.
;d
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
If human beings are …
If human beings are “stupid / ignorant /close minded / fearful” why on earth would you give a group of them power over the lives of hundreds of millions of people? That’s a disaster waiting to happen. That’s precisely why there are stupid / ignorant / close minded / fearful politicians spending trillions of dollars they didn’t earn to wage world wars with no exit strategy. That’s how 174 million people were killed by governments in the 20th century.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
LeGioNoFZioN, now …
LeGioNoFZioN, now you have gone of the deep end. You are telling me that Standard Oil became a trust because of the gov support?
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
single trust can …
single trust can only dominate with government support.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Eugensdiet, without …
Eugensdiet, without a strong gov, every market would be dominated by a single trust, we need anti-trust enforcement and we need rules and regulations to protect the consumer from things like lead additives.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
What have we hear? …
What have we hear? A bunch of rich bastards who think the working class aren’t paying enough tax?
That’s what it looks like to me. These people aren’t interested in solution. Despicable. The solutions to high health costs are automation and research. To bad we didn’t spend some of the stimulus money to speed up the modernization of health care. Reducing the cost is a solution, not passing the cost off on someone else. You want to tax something? Tax the churches!
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
“Why do we need a …
“Why do we need a government at all? ”
ummm…. because we’re human beings, therefor most of us are to stupid/ignorant/close minded/fearful, etc, to govern ourselves.
i for one could govern myself, but i’m not an average human.
i hope i live to see the day where by genetic engineering, we can build brains that won’t need such oversight.
;d
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
There are a lot of …
There are a lot of things to be proud of as an American, but we owe very few of those things to the government system. When people compete to serve consumers their achievements are more useful & less expensive. If you follow that logic to it’s end, there’s no consumer need that cannot be provided by a free market.
There are all kinds of anarchists. I’m one that believes in private property, free markets, and voluntary interactions without coercion. Why do you think I’m misguided?
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
So we can somehow ” …
So we can somehow “reform” health care just by taxing health benefits? Is anybody braindead enough to believe this crap? Oh wait, that’s right. – there’s also “tort reform”. What a circle jerk.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
“System” yeah, he …
“System” yeah, he he he, hardy har. Like buncha doctors, hospitals, nursing staff, clerical staff, and a separate(d) buncha medical insurance companies separately standing, and alla them overseen by government regulation & taxation entities and by private (non-government) professional affiliations (like AMA) on the one hand… and prospective patients on the other… constitutes a “system.” Yuck yuck yuck, hardy har.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
truthadvocate, I am …
truthadvocate, I am not an anarchist, I think they are misguided. I think we (USA) as a great gov. system, we just need to keep our troops at home.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I agree with you on …
I agree with you on why Ron shot himself in the foot. How? By telling the truth. Politicians can only win by lying & making promises to powerful special interest groups in exchange for campaign donations.
I also agree with your neutral foreign policy. But the public has been tired of this war for a long time & the government doesn’t seem to care that much. When this war finally ends, it will only be a matter of time before the next one begins.
Why do we need a government at all?
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Anti-trust laws are …
Anti-trust laws are a scam. They do not benefit consumers. They benefit politically well connected corporations. Because the corrupt politicians get to pick and choose which companies they screw over and which companies they don’t.
The answer is a free market. Free competition. The answer is no coercive centralized government. Any government reform is guaranteed to help the friends of politicians at our expense. We need reform designed by corrupt politicians like we need a hole in the head.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
truthadvocate, Ron …
truthadvocate, Ron killed himself by admitting that we asked for 911, which we did by supporting Israel. If the public gets tired enough of the war the gov will stop it, that is how Vietnam ended.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I wish that were …
I wish that were true, but why do you think government will stop wars? The congress funds the war, Bush started the war. Obama just moved the location. The only man that would have ended the war was Ron Paul, & he was marginalized throughout media & politics. The only way to stop massive decade-long wars is to get rid of the one thing that can afford to pay for them. The government. Only it can fund a war with taxes from generations that haven’t even been born yet. End the state to end war.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Point out exactly …
Point out exactly where I said national healthcare was the answer to anything? You’re spewing out tangential talking points to contentions I didn’t make.
As it is, we don’t have free competition. The health insurance industry is exempt from anti-trust laws and people aren’t allowed to buy insurance across state lines. But even if they were, that doesn’t change the 45,000 people dying every year from not having insurance.
We need reform and we need it now.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
truthadvocate, I …
truthadvocate, I already knew all that, but we cant make gov smaller, Bush was in office 8 years and only made it larger. But we can stop the wars.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Reagan, Friedman, …
Reagan, Friedman, McCain??? Greenspan spent the last twenty years pushing this shit, and when it all fell apart he said “there was a flaw in my worldview.” How long will the corporate owned republicans continue to push the same old bull.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Why stop there? Our …
Why stop there? Our government is the most massive, most inefficient, coercive monopoly on this planet. With no real competition, it has absolutely no incentive to serve the people effectively. 95% of it’s employees are permanent, unelected, & can never be fired. Without competition they perform poorly & give themselves a raise every year. Like a cancerous tumor will always grow, so will government spending. the only way to reduce growth, is to cut out the tumor entirely.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Thousands die every …
Thousands die every year because of national healthcare programs, drug regulation agencies, etc. Current government insurance programs deny a higher percentage of claims than major private insurers. National Healthcare is not the answer. Free competition is the best way to serve patients better at a lower cost. The more government intervenes the less competition there is to serve patients.
Hidden costs do not benefit patients. They benefit rich CEO’s. Making them visible is a good idea.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Why not just stop …
Why not just stop spending money on useless wars and Israel?
November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
It is time to …
It is time to separate health care from employment. That is the one major problem because it is big business that gets all the benefit for paying other business for the best discounts and loopholes.