Dan sent this article to me and I scan-read it as it is done in generalities. This not a criticism of the content as much as my pointing out it is done in brevity. The push is big for some form of Single Payer healthcare if one were to call it “insurance.” At some point and with the implementation of Single Payer healthcare, insurance could conceivably disappear.

Medicare for All Rallies in 50 Cities Show Big Support for Universal Health Care, TruthOut, C. J. Polychroniou, July, 2021

“What keeps the country from adopting a universal health care system, which most Americans have supported for many years now? 

Peter Arno: The short answer as to why the U.S. has the highest health care expenditures in the world is simply that, unlike other

RJS, MarketWatch 666, New Housing Starts Reported Higher in June, Building Permits 5.3% Lower

The June report on New Residential Construction (pdf) from the Census Bureau estimated that new housing units were being started at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,643,000 in June, which was 6.3 percent (±11.5 percent)* above the revised May estimated annual rate of 1,546000 units started, and was 29.1 percent (±11.2 percent) above last June’s pace of 1,235,000 housing starts a year…the asterisk indicates that the Census does not have sufficient data to determine whether housing starts actually rose or fell from May, with the figure in parenthesis the most likely range of the change indicated; in other words, June’s housing starts could have been

Commenter and Blogger R.J.S. brings the latest on Natural Gas and the impact on it from the heat wave. Focus on Fracking blogspot

Natural gas prices rose every day this week in surging to a new 31 month high, as yet another continental heat wave loomed…after ending last week unchanged at $3.674 per mmBTU as strong export demand offset cooler weather and a bearish storage report, the contract price of natural gas for August delivery opened the week higher on Monday and surged 10.5 cents, or 2.9% to a 30 month high at $3.779 per mmBTU on soaring global natural gas prices and forecasts for more air conditioning demand next week than had been previously expected…gas prices rose another 9.7 cents on Tuesday, bolstered by forecasts for hotter weather and

I am adding a brief comment here (it fits and is on topic) rather than going back to the earlier post which I believe to be titled correctly; “Little Good can Come from Private Equity in the Healthcare Industry.” As my source of information I had identified two different articles taken from Modern Healthcare and also MedPage Today. Both I read religiously and from both I get email notifications. My three points to my titling are as follows:

“Investors spent almost 10 times more buying physician practices in the second quarter of 2021 compared with the prior-year period.” It appears Private Equity woke up. A year later they are investing 10 times more that the previous year and are investing “more,” more in one particular part of healthcare . . .

Farmer – Economist Michael Smith is discussing how people get into farming and the issues.

There are three ways to get into faming, each with their own issues, pitfalls, and nuances.

There are three distinct ways to get into farming and those paths are all not worn at all. After a few rainy and hot weeks of watching the Top Gear guy farm his land he previously was subbing out, he now wants to argue with his wife about Cartel Avocados, and multiple documentaries are openly streaming on many a platforms. I have to confess I am confused. Not as someone with a plan. I am confused as to what the populace wants out of this new movement of knowledge. I grow things, my grandparent grew things, my parents, well we had pots on the back porch growing

In 1955, just past daybreak, a Chevrolet truck pulled up to an unmarked building. A 14-year-old child was in the back.

The article is part of “Inheritance,” a project about American history and Black life.. It is a good offering by The Atlantic, “His Name Was Emmett Till,” Wright Thompson

Depicted is the Barn where Emmet Till was strung up, beaten, and murdered on August, 28, 1955, What We Still Don’t Know About Emmett Till’s Murder – The Atlantic, Hannah PriceIntroduction: “The killing of Emmett till was early on the morning of August 28, 1955. Occurring, one month and three days after his 14th birthday. The decision to show his body in an open casket was his mother’s. Allowing Jet magazine to publish photos and “Letting the world see what

As if we did not have enough issues with the commercial healthcare insurance industry attempting to supplant single payer Medicare (minus setting hospital budgets, doctor fees, and pharmaceutical costs to the consumer) and the VA with commercial healthcare insurance and/or Medicare Advantage and ACOs? Commercial Healthcare Insurance and Medicare Advantage are “not” the equivalent of Medicare or the VA healthcare models.

Some advocates are actively promoting the replacement of Medicare with commercial Medicare Advantage which does not bode well for the healthy, the elderly, and also those with pre-existing conditions. In the end, it will be more costly healthcare to the nation and individuals. Fix the healthcare issues and move onward with single

DUC well report for June, Focus on Fracking, RJS

Monday of this past week saw the release of the EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report for July, which includes the EIA’s June data for drilled but uncompleted (DUC) oil and gas wells in the 7 most productive shale regions….that data showed a decrease in uncompleted wells nationally for the 13th month in a row, as both completions of drilled wells and drilling of new wells increased, but remained below the pre-pandemic levels…for the 7 sedimentary regions covered by this report, the total count of DUC wells decreased by 269 wells, falling from 6,521 DUC wells in May to 6,252 DUC wells in June, which was also 30.3% fewer DUCs than the 8,965 wells that had been drilled but remained uncompleted as of the

[unable to retrieve full-text content]MarketWatch 666, R.J.S., June Producer Price Index Sets YoY Records for Final Demand and Intermediate Services; 46 year High for Prices of Intermediate Goods The seasonally adjusted Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand rose 1.0% in June, as prices for finished wholesale goods rose 1.2% while margins of final services providers rose 0.8%…that increase followed a […]
The post June Producer Price Index for Final Demand and Intermediate Services appeared first on Angry Bear.

Steve Hutkins at Save the Post Office, “Reply to the USPS: How the new service standards will cause geographic discrimination”

The Postal Service’s plan to reduce service standards is now being reviewed by the Postal Regulatory Commission for an Advisory Opinion. On Friday, June 25, the Postal Service and several of the intervenors in the case submitted their Reply Briefs. (You can find the briefs and replies here.)

Below is my Reply Brief. (At several points it refers to the Postal Service’s Initial Brief, my Initial Brief and my Testimony.)

(The map above is from a Washington Post article on June 24, which appeared on the front page of the print edition on June 27: “DeJoy’s USPS slowdown plan will delay the mail. What’s it mean for your

This post is before my time of writing at Angry Bear. It does fit in nicely with the need for reasonable economics of our times and I noticed its popularity growing . The author of this piece is Kash, one of the originators of AB. This is a rehash which has seen rising popularity.

If you consider when this was written, it was on the precipice of the 2008 collapse when both Wall Street and Main Street were ready to fall into a depression. While the Fed’s Bernanke did his magic with two other international leaders, Wall Street was thrown a life line by Main Street to save it and themselves from the resulting economic damage Wall Street and the politicians created (see Senator Dorgan’s speech and The Messenger wore a Skirt.

“when capitalism

Steve Hutkins at Save The Post Office, “How the postal reform bill may help the Postal Service slow down the mail”

In August 1970, Title 39, aka the Postal Reorganization Act, created the Postal Service. The first section, 39 U.S. Code § 101, is entitled “Postal Policy.” It’s just over 400 words long, but it is probably the most frequently quoted passage in the history of postal legislation. It’s often cited in litigation, academic articles, and the dockets of the Postal Regulatory Commission.

In some respects, Section 101 is like the Preamble to the Constitution. It sets forth the basic principles on which the Postal Service is established:

(a) The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to

Steve Hutkins from Save The Post Office, “Why the USPS proposal to reduce service standards will cause “undue discrimination”

The Postal Service’s plan to reduce service standards is now being reviewed by the Postal Regulatory Commission for an Advisory Opinion. On Monday, June 21, the Postal Service and several of the intervenors in the case submitted their briefs and statements of position. You can find the briefs here, and the statements of position here.

Here’s my brief. (At several points it refers to numbers and maps in my testimony, which is here.)

I. Statement of the Case

On April 21, 2021, the Postal Service filed a request for an Advisory Opinion under 39 U.S.C. §3661 regarding planned changes to the service standards for

Professor Heather Cox Richardson, A history professor interested in the contrast between image and reality in American politics. I believe in American democracy, despite its frequent failures. “Letters from An American“

On Friday, as President Joe Biden signed “An Executive Order Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” he echoed the language of his predecessors. “[C]ompetition keeps the economy moving and keeps it growing,” he said. “Fair competition is why capitalism has been the world’s greatest force for prosperity and growth…. But what we’ve seen over the past few decades is less competition and more concentration that holds our economy back.”

Biden listed how prescription drugs, hearing aids, internet service, and agricultural

US crude supplies falling at a record pace, down 17.4% YoY; gasoline output at a 22 month high; record gasoline demand

The Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA, RJS, Marketwatch 666

US oil data from the US Energy Information Administration for the week ending July 2nd showed that even after a sizeble decrease in our oil exports and a modest decrease in our refinery throughput, we still needed to withdraw oil from our stored commercial crude supplies for the seventh consecutive week, and for the 23rd time in the past thirty-four weeks….our imports of crude oil fell by an average of 532,000 barrels per day to an average of 5,875,000 barrels per day, after falling by an average of 536,000 barrels per day during the prior week,

Commenter and Agriculture Economist Michael SmithThe Tale of Two Freezes:This one has been a long time coming and with the special session happening in Texas with our legislature a few things have become very apparent. Texas gets criticized heavily in the media all over the United States, and arguably, worldwide. We are a cast as a brazen form of maverick insurrectionists some of it reality, some not. But the truth is a little more egregious. Let’s focus on the politics and also look at some basics. “We are going to make sure not another Democrat ever wins in this state ever again:”Proclaimed the Republican top brass after the election success of Gov. Ann Richards. She was a spitfire reformer that the state needed during a time of economic downturn

This was always the plan? The plan did not include forcing people out of traditional Medicare and into Medicare Advantage.

No mistake on the date on this Copied and Pasted Angry Bear post from almost two years ago. Nancy Alt, Andrew Sprung, and Angry Bear were sounding the alarm in 2019 about trump’s move to privatize Medicare using Medicare Advantage plans and by placing traditional Medicare users into these commercial insurance plans.

Without using tax funds to back Medicare Advantage, there is no way Medicare Advantage can compete with traditional Medicare. Oh wait there are some ways and that is to make up the differences by cutting back on the care and service to users and increasing fees for that service to those who are in need of the

Senator McBroom’s Report – Picking Up from Where I Left Off

Republican UP State Senator Ed McBroom: “‘the bills should not be seen as challenging the validity of the November election, but as ways to tighten ‘safeguards’ from ‘real vulnerabilities.’”

So, the Republicans can pass legislation to resolve those “real vulnerabilities” McBroom worries about. Republicans have controlled the State Senate since the early 1980s from what I am told by knowledgeable people. Except for a few years and since 1990, Republicans have controlled the the State House. This year, Republicans have the House and the Senate; but, they lack the Governorship. But since they have a majority in each, they can pass the legislation they wish.

They will have to vote to

Much of Michigan is touting Republican State Senator Ed McBroom who led an investigation into Michigan’s supposed voting fraud. He found none and openly admitted there was none in his report. Senator and dairy farmer Ed McBroom also called for the prosecution of those who capitalized on the supposed voting fraud by starting defense funds and collecting donations. He also called upon the Democrat Michigan AG to investigate those who were promoting voting lies for monetary gain. And especially those who did so using the Antrim County saga.

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Bridge Michigan: A U.P. senator stood up to Trump. His career may suffer. His cows don’t care.

That report, authored by McBroom and adopted last week by the Republican-led Senate Oversight

June’s jobs report, Marketwatch 666, Commenter RJS

This week’s major agency issued economic releases included the Employment Situation Summary for June from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and three May reports that will input into 2nd quarter GDP: the BEA’s report on International Trade for May, the May report on  Construction Spending and the Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for May, both from the Census Bureau . . . this week also saw the last regional Fed manufacturing survey for June; the Dallas Fed’s Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey, which also covers adjacent western Louisiana and southeastern New Mexico, reported its general business activity index fell to +31.1 in June from +34.9 in May, still indicating an

This lengthy post deserves an introduction so I thought I would do one. We have been through several constitutional tests on the legitimacy of the PPACA. In each case and also in a congressional vote, the Republicans have failed to disenfranchise US citizens on healthcare. The next issue being brought to the forefront is just as divisive and has the backing of five right-leaning justices. It remains to be seen if they can be successful.

There is supporting documentation at the end of this post.

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“The legal arguments in are not exactly good arguments, but five justices have signaled they agree with them.”

The suit before the Texas federal judge Reed O’Connor having given SCOTUS the last PPACA challenge appears ready to lob another

Construction Spending Falls 0.3% in May after March & April Spending Revised Higher, Commenter RJS, Marketwatch 666

The Census Bureau report on construction spending for May (pdf) estimated that May’s seasonally adjusted construction spending would work out to $1,545.3 billion annually if extrapolated over an entire year, which was 0.3 percent (±1.0 percent)* below the revised annualized estimate of $1,549.5 billion of construction spending in April, but 7.5 percent (±1.3 percent) above the estimated annualized level of construction spending in May of last year…with this release, unadjusted construction spending data was revised back to January 2019 and seasonally adjusted data was revised back to January 2014…as a result of that and the usual

Farmer-economist Michael Smith comments from More Random News Events of the Week post

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My comment on the open thread, “what exactly does the federal government plan to do this is a little mind boggling. The USDA is limited in the resources they have. They can provide grants but it would need congress to fund it.”

A few things I am working through in the consideration of carbon capture:

1. How much is enough? My operation requires $50,000 a year approx. to fund the overhead for us to both live and work on the farm. This might not seem like much, but that is about $25 an hour for a regular 8-5. If we were ranching or were growing silage, those guys have huge amount of expenses between land and equipment and might need to clear

Gotta give credit where credit is due. If not for my morning readings at other sites, I would not have run across this gem at Crooks and Liars as done by Chris capper Liebenthal.

This gentleman, ahh redneck, paints the situation a bit differently than what I or other more learned (than I) people might do having a tendency to speak in elegant, technical, and formal verbiage. It is said plain and simple in this case. Now if you can not stand a few harsh words along the way of getting to the point, this clip is not for you. Fair warning!

[embedded content]
Republicans investigating Hillary Clinton so many times, she could have video taped her replies displaying them on a wall for Republicans.

Now here are the Democrats selecting House

PhD geneticist and molecular biologist Joel Eissenberg discussing CRISPR results.

— “A watershed moment in modern medicine,” says genetics expert

The promise of gene therapy may finally be realized.

I’ve been a PhD geneticist and molecular biologist for nearly 40 years. During that time, I’ve seen the cloning of many human genes for which inherited diseases were known (e.g., cystic fibrosis, Huntingtons, Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy). Each paper reporting the gene cloning concluded with an obligatory paragraph noting that this opened the door to gene therapy.

Sadly, the promised gene therapies have lagged decades behind the discovery and cloning of the affected genes. Instead, most of the progress since cloning has been in

CMS bans Surprise Billing

The issues here were medical services practitioners not being on hospital staff. Practitioners not subject to hospital billing practices and bargaining contracts with Healthcare insurance were billing at their rates to recover what they deem to be reasonable. In the end, the patient pays whatever can be worked out. Radiology and Anesthesiology are two of the practices which come to mind.

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The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled the first in a series of rules aimed at banning surprise billing.

The interim final rule bans surprise billing for emergency services and high out-of-network cost-sharing for emergency and non-emergency service. The bill also prohibits out-of-network charges for ancillary

“A Review of “The American War in Afghanistan,” Carter Malkasian, Foreign Affairs

In 2008, I interviewed the United Kingdom’s then outgoing military commander in Afghanistan, Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, in a dusty firebase in Helmand Province, where international troops had been battling the Taliban on a daily basis for territory that kept slipping away. Carleton-Smith stated the war in Afghanistan could not be won militarily. He was the first senior coalition military officer to say so publicly, and the story made the front page of the British Sunday Times. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates promptly denounced Carleton-Smith to the news media as “defeatist.”

Thirteen years on, U.S. President Joe Biden appears to have reached the same

Gen. Mark Milley responds to Rep. Matt Gaetz on Extremism & Critical Race Theory: "I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned, non-commissioned officers of being ‘woke’ or something else." pic.twitter.com/P1x6vg9FUr— CSPAN (@cspan) June 23, 2021General Milley during the hearing: “I’ve read Mao Zedong. I’ve read Karl Marx. I’ve read Lenin. That doesn’t make me a communist. So what is wrong with understanding, having some situational understanding about the country from which we are here to defend?”

“I personally find it offensive we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our noncommissioned officers, of being ‘woke.’ Or something else because we are

Black and Brown Americans suffer the most in biggest U.S. drop in life expectancy since WWII, Modern Healthcare, June 2021

In an earlier post listing a series of articles I thought might be interesting to AB, this one Modern Healthcare article was listed as one of interest. I decided to expand on the article and allow it more space and subsequent detail. The advent of Covid, lack of medical access, and subsequent resistance to vaccinations has played out in a regression in life expectancy. The regression hit the hardest in minorities. That is not to say, the white majority did not experience a regression either . . . a lesser regression. The author points to economic disparity accentuating “the decades of difference existing in the country between

“Getting to Yes: COVID Vaccine Edition,” Ken Haller, June 25, 2021

Pediatrician Dr. Ken Haller comes by way of AB Commenter and blogger Professor Joel Eissenberg. You can find Ken’s commentary on his site “Ken Haller.” Just follow the article title link or click on his name. If you have not been vaccinated yet, you putting your health and/or life in danger.

Ken offers up a common sense discussion with two of his parents about their child and his patient.

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The two first-time parents sat across from me. I had just examined their 5-day old baby who was there for her first visit to the office after everyone went home from the hospital. Breathing, feeding, peeing, pooping. Yep, all the plumbing was working. The baby looked