$3.00 Gas, Laura Bush and Hypocracy.

Let's start with gas prices. I hear a lot of talk about our need to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. What about the oil companies? These companies make billlions, that's billions of dollars a quarter! I believe that the oil companies are still subsidized by the taxpayer. Let's conduct an experiment. Have the oil companies sell gas for $1.00 a gallon. I'd bet that they'd still make a huge profit, perhaps only millions of dollars a quarter. The rest of America is cutting back...
Laura Bush. I always thought she was a nice, elegant lady. I still do. However I always wondered how she could go along with all of the stuff that went on in her husbands administration. On Oprah she said she was in a car accident when she was 17. Apparently she was with a girlfriend in the car who said "you just passed a stop sign." Then she ran into another car who she would later find out was driven by a friend of hers. Her car collided with her friends car and her friend was killed. As an interviewer, I would have asked her if she was charged with a crime. Oprah didn't. I'm no lawyer, but I think if you run a stop sign and someone is killed, there could be legal consequences! When asked how she dealt with that horrible experience, she said she never talked about it. I guess that ability to block out negative experiences and live in a state of denial served her well when she was in the Whitehouse.
Now for hypocracy. For years I've believed that politicians, especially senators and congressman who hold hearings should have to wear patches on their suits, like racecar drivers wear, to denote who their sponsors are. Having them have to show who their sponsors are would have been very revealing when executives from Goldman Sacs were being grilled by politicians who receive money from the very people they are supposedly investigating. What a dog and poney show. Talk about hypocracy!

HealthCare Reform

Are you for it or against it. I should mention that I own a health insurance business that I started over 20 years ago. Most of my income has been derived from it. Am I for Healthcare reform? Yes. Why, you ask. Well part of the reason was discussed in my last blog on the economy. With all of those good paying jobs with benefits being outsourced, millions of Americans have found themselves without health insurance or have insurance that is terribly inadequate. Many lower paid workers have insurance with such high deductibles that they can't afford to go to see the doctor, even though they are supposedly covered.
My suggestion for healthcare reform was to increase the income limits on the medicaid program to include more of the working poor. The new reform has a provision like that where I believe that people making under 29k will be put into an expanded Medicaid program. The new reform does away with pre-existing conditions and with some cajoling from the White House, have accelerated the removal of pre-existing conditions for newborns. Off course there are drawbacks. Now drug makers have to wait more years before generic drugs can come on the market thereby increasing their profits on name brand drugs.
Is the current reform perfect. No, not by a long shot. But I think we can all agree that something had to be done! Let's hope that they iron out the wrinkles in a way that benefits Americans - One can always hope.

Patrick Gilligan Says

Todays' Topic: The Economy.
I hear people talking about the stock market, whether it's up or down and home prices falling and then going up slightly. I hear about all of the jobs still being lost... But No One is talking about the biggest problem facing our economy - Outsourcing! Hundreds of thousands of good paying american jobs with good benefits are gone, for good, and many more are being lost every day. That's the real problem facing this economy and no one is talking about it and even worse -No One is doing anything about it! Untill this problem is addressed, can our economy ever really recover?
Some states are harder hit than others. About eight years ago I was a guest on a University of Michigan talkshow promoting my book Patrick Gilligan Says Be Your Own Boss! The host asked me when I thought the economy in Michigan would turn around. I said it would be several years. How prophetic and pathetic! With all of the job losses here, the Michigan economy might not turn around until the Detroit Lions win the Superbowl.
That's all for now.