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Certainly it is unfair in the United States that employees can get health insurance in pre-tax dollars while the self-employed must pay for health insurance in post-tax dollars. But group purchasing of medical insurance by employers is more efficient and I do not think it should be discouraged. McCain's proposal would probably reduce the number of employers who provide medical insurance by making the benefit taxable. So this seems like a step in the wrong direction. Better to just make medical insurance costs tax-deductible for the self-employed.
Some see that tax deductibility as an interference in the free market. After all, why should a particular type of spending be favored by tax law? Well, I can think of a few reasons. Most obviously, if people do not buy medical insurance and they get seriously ill a large part of the electorate will favor taxing us to pay for the medical costs of the uninsured. That already happens today. Also, sick people are not productive people and so they earn less and pay less in taxes. This creates burdens for the rest of us. We are better off with a healthier population.
But even a change in the law to allow deductibility of health insurance would not cause most of the uninsured to become insured. There are a few reasons for that. First off, some people who can afford health insurance would rather spend their money on more immediately gratifying purchases. Second, some make so little money that they can't afford health insurance. This is, parenthetically, a really strong argument against letting in millions of low skilled Mexican and Central American immigrants. They just make our growing huge medical cost problem even bigger.
Third, one of the biggest problems with employer-provided health insurance is also a problem with self-purchased health insurance: Unemployed people can't afford it. Seems to me we need a way to pre-buy medical insurance. Either that or have a way to accumulate cash pre-tax to use to buy health insurance when not employed. Tax-advantaged Health Savings Accounts are a big step in that direction. But most people are getting whatever their employer provides and even HSAs still have a monthly premium for each current month's health insurance. The HSA cash is mostly for the costs not covered by the insurance.
The problem of unaffordable health care keeps getting bigger.

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For my money, FF, John Hopkins professor, is a fool. Morality is irrelevant to foreign policy, even if you "channel" Woodrow Wilson. How to defend Poland and the Baltic states? Is FF crazy? I'll say again: did we learn nothing from England's 1939 Polish corridor guarantee? Has FF seen a map of Europe? "Nato ... requires ... expensive defense commitments". Indeed. How do we meet them? With 30-year old F-15s? With a 276-ship Navy? FF should have learned long ago: ignore "intentions", only capabilities count. As George Washington said, "If we desire to secure peace, ... it must be known that we are at all times ready for war". "Fools," said Bismarck, "say they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by other people's experience". We should end Nato. Now! I had more sense than FF in 1960! Whaaaaat? I specifically remember a civil war in progress in the Congo-Leopoldville (now, DRC) over Katanga province's secession. Patrice Lumumba had been deposed in a coup d'etat, but not yet executed, which Wikipedia states was on 17 January 1961. Dag Hammarskjold, UN Secretary General, died in an airplane crash a few months later in September 1961. Living in the United Nation's home, New York City, mankind's "last great hope for peace" we were sent to the UN to see "peace at work" or some such thing. I suppose being sent to the UN was better than Siberia, or a Cambodian reeducation camp. I place my visit in late October 1960. Khrushchev's UN shoe banging incident was 12 October 1960. We were told that the UN let people of various countries come together to talk and avoid war. I remember telling my teacher, "that's nonsense. Whichever country has the biggest army decides. If President Eisenhower and Premier Khrushchev agree, that settles it. And if some country doesn't like it, either we'll drop a bomb on them, or Khrushchev will drop a bomb on them or we'll both drop bombs on them. What the other countries in the world think doesn't matter. If Eisenhower and Khrushchev disagree, either Eisenhower blinks or Khrushchev blinks or we'll have a war. That's it. What the rest of the countries in the world think doesn't matter". Not very evolved by today's standards. My teacher was horrified at what I said. I said this at the UN! I haven't "grown" much in the last 48 years. Having admitted this, I just removed myself from consideration as next US ambassador to the UN. I might like the job. It would be a laugh a minute. And it would give me the right to doublepark in New York City, a very valuable perk.

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About Trader Mark (http://fundmyfund.blogspot.com)
Mark is a self taught private investor, fascinated by the market since an early age, discovering mutual funds as a teenager in the 80s, and then moving to equities by the mid 90s. His equity focus is identifying secular growth trends, and the companies most likely to benefit from these macro trends. Stocks are identified through fundamental analysis, although basic technical analysis is used in determining entry and exit points.

With a degree in Economics from the University of Michigan, a broader understanding of the economy as a whole, along with interpreting investor psychology is also a major interest for Mark. His career background has focused on financial analysis in corporate America.

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Sorry Greenspan, Id give you five bucks but my home equity line was just closed. Maybe you can kick me down with some of the profits from your new book; you know the one in which you talk about all the wonderful policies that you didnt do? Now you tell folks to diversify into foreign currencies and how weak the dollar is. You came close and if you had it your way, we be at a zero percent interest rate policy and a home in California would cost $1 million and people would need to bring a wheelbarrow to their local bank if they ever needed cash. Of course Greenspan isnt the main reason for this bubble but he was like the main conductor of an orchestra leading the American people in Credit Delusion in C minor. Fascinating opera that starts out slow and melodic, builds in the middle to a furious mix of sounds and insanity, and ends with a massive explosion. Itll be playing for a few more years.
Ive been sent a few e-mails from readers telling me that they have had a hard time getting withdrawals from their local branches. Given the withdrawals were in the few thousand dollar range, it really makes you wonder if people are starting to horde cash? I dont mean placing it in a safe FDIC account but folks simply stuffing the money into the mattress. This isnt likely an easy stat to measure but it will be interesting if we hear more about this.
Clearly the $16 billion budget deficit in the state is not going to improve. In fact, recent reports of housing show the decline only getting worse and accelerating here in the state. It looks like some areas of California are going to see 40 to 50 percent drops from peak to trough. This doesnt seem like an unlikely scenario since many areas are more than half way there already. Count the job declines, the incredible budget deficit which guarantees further job cuts, the tanking housing market and you have for a very long 2008 in the Golden State.

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