The National Center for Policy Analysis points out that, in 2004, Edward Prescott (an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis) won the Nobel Price in economics for his paper “Why do Americans Work so Much More than Europeans?”  How much is “much more”?  Prescott found that the average production per adult between 1993 and 1996 in the United States was:

• 49 percent greater than in the United Kingdom
• 75 percent higher than in Italy
• And 35 percent greater than in France and Germany.

Regarding these findings, Prescott found that ”Most of the differences in output,” he wrote, were “accounted for by differences in hours worked per person and not by differences in productivity.”  Americans are not working more efficiently or effectively, per se, just much more.  “More” in terms of days of the week, the number of weeks in a year, and the number of years in a lifetime.

According to the research:

• In 2007, the average French or Austrian male retired at 58.7 and 58.9 respectively, the average American male works until 64.6.
• That same year, 72 percent of Americans between the ages 15 to 64, were in the workforce, compared with 59 percent of Italians and 64 percent of the French.

As a result, Americans produce and earn considerably more than Europeans.  For example, the average American makes $47,000 annually compared with $36,000 in Germany and the United Kingdom, and $34,000 in France.  In fact, the disparity between the US and Europe is so great that, citizens of our poorest states, like Mississippi have a higher GDP per capita than the Italians.  Meanwhile, Alabamans have a higher GDP per capita than the French, Belgians, and even the Germans.

So why are Americans more productive than their European friends? Prescott points to high taxes as a deterrent to economic growth and industriousness. Furthermore such taxes encourage people to want to retire early so they can get on the dole.  Where is all the money going?  According to writer James Glassman in Commentary Magazine (July/August 2010), it is not to maintain a strong defense, but to sustain the region’s giant welfare state.  This seems to be the path the United States is following.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media.  Kevin Price is also host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN radio).  Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com.  Visit the archive of past shows here.

_________________________________________________

Other Articles of Interest:

Why the economy’s struggling: Too many people saving money

First Bennett, now Murkowski: Tea party keeps beating McConnell cronies

Another ass-kicking: Judge rejects Obama drilling ban again

In 1997 the Linguistic Society of America passed a resolution calling Ebonics a form of communication that deserves recognition and study. Characterizations of Ebonics as ‘slang,’ ‘mutant,’ ‘lazy,’ ‘defective,’ ‘ungrammatical’ or ‘broken English’ are incorrect and demeaning.

A language formerly considered lazy a few decades ago is now en vogue. To emphasize this, the government hires people too lazy to learn proper English to monitor those too lazy to partake in the American Dream.

In the 1800’s Ebonics was spoken by slaves to keep Massa from knowing what the slaves were doing. Ironically, the re-enslavement of America has slaves repeating history.

For those wondering why Ebonics speakers are needed, it may be that Democrat policies have led to there being more drug use, thus more drug sales, dare I say more drug crimes…in da hood?

Though this article says it’s not just black folks’ phones that are being tapped, conversations intercepted and translated, I’m not so sure. This program will be rolled out in what is described as “the agency’s Southeast Region — which includes Atlanta, Georgia; Washington; New Orleans, Louisiana; Miami, Florida; and the Caribbean…” 

Let’s analyze these areas:

Atlanta, GA – Chocolate City

DC – Chocolate City

New Orleans – Chocolate City

Miami – Caramel Chocolate City

Caribbean – Chocolate Islands

As Jesse Jackson proclaimed while race-baiting the banking crisis, “They are targeting the blacks and browns.”

I’m inclined to agree, as it appears this program has been gerrymandered. In Florida for example, these new agents aren’t being deployed in Naples!

But you can’t possibly think that Eric Holder or Obama wants to really crack down on drugs, ergo crime in black neighborhoods. Two brothas who would not prosecute Black Panthers?!  The HNIC who appointed Van Jones to his Czar network?!  Cracka please!

Neither of these light-skinned, metrosexual brothas would run the risk of losing street cred.

This token gesture—pardon the pun—is just political posturing, and what this administration thinks will be a win win.  Liberal blacks who will never abandon Obama will proclaim that he is cleaning up black neighborhoods, creating jobs, providing opportunities, and so on.

However, if a Republican administration were hiring Ebonics agents, these same blacks would be crying foul, and joined in their chorus by every race-baiting Leftist organization in America.

The lamestream media would report, “Republicans Targeting Blacks with Racist Hiring”!

Here’s the wrap:

Leave it to Democrats to promote the use of a useless language to fight a war that can’t be won with the current strategy, then to attempt to sell the Ebonics as a language.

Ebonics is creative code that takes elements of English, and synthesizes it, so it is not understood by the mainstream. Like Jazz for example, Ebonics is no longer just “black,” but it belongs to all. Ebonics has a sort of poetry to it, as its use of metaphors requires one to think, sometimes deeply.

Given that definition, this administration could use some creative types capable of deeper thought.

Because as it stands now,

“O and his peeps pitchin’ straight game, hella clownin’ America. Can’t nobody fade them chickenheads, cuz they stone wack; tryin’ to git all of America to catch a ride, and laying a bum beef on the Republicans. Ya feel me?!”

Peace out!

© 2010 Kevin Jackson – The Black Sphere, LLC All Rights Reserved

Kevin Jackson is a father of four sons, and an unlikely success story, given his background.  He is a leader in the consulting industry in America, having some of the world’s largest companies as his clients.  Interaction with prominent business leaders, as well as being a business leader himself has provided Jackson real world perspective to politics.  Kevin has appeared on Fox News with Glen Beck and other conservative leaders.  You can read more of Kevin’s work at his blog, The Black Sphere.

Nichols was recently endorsed by former White House Advisor and Fox News Commentator, Dick Morris, citing “Natalie Nichols is one of the rising, young stars in the Republican Party.”

Other interest:

Speaking truth to race-hustlers

Time wonders how Obama lost his mojo

Arizona vs. the U.N. human rights police

HOW REPUBLICANS WILL WIN THE SENATE

Boot Barney Frank: Support GOP challenger Sean Bielat

Cities and counties dumping hospitals in advance of ObamaCare

Note: With race unfortunately becoming a hot topic these days, I thought I’d share with you the first chapter of my book,

‘A Nation of Cowards’

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.”
~ Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General

“A nation of cowards.” Pretty harsh words coming from our newly confirmed attorney general, not yet one month removed from the inauguration of the first black president of the United States. Holder, himself a symbol of achievement as the first black to serve as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, was commemorating Black History Month by criticizing our inability, individually and collectively, to speak frankly on matters of race. Such a dialogue, he opined, is the only “way we can hasten the day when we truly become one America.”

Mr. Holder took a lot of heat for his comments and I was one of those bringing the heat:

[I]f we are a nation of cowards, Mr. Holder, it’s because the black community doesn’t encourage honesty but rather demands fealty to one worldview. If you want to eradicate cowardice in the national discussion on race, how about starting with us?

My beef with him wasn’t with the intent of his statement–I, too, welcome the day when we can be honest with each other about race without incurring each other’s wrath. The problems we have with, and perceptions we have of, one another can’t be addressed if we are guarded in our disclosures and refuse to show our hand.

No, my objection was and is to the likely outcome of any attempts to discuss race honestly, especially in the black community. Let’s be blunt: The white community isn’t going to talk about race in any form or fashion because they don’t want to be labeled as racists. It’s like inviting them to walk through a minefield. The chances of their getting to the other side unscathed are practically nil.

Black people who wish to have an honest dialogue about race in America aren’t treated any better. Ask Bill Cosby what happens when he speaks frankly about race and class to his fellow black Americans. Talk to Shelby Steele, John McWhorter, Thomas Sowell, Joseph C. Phillips, Star Parker, Ken Blackwell, Roy and Niger Innis, LaShawn Barber, Justice Clarence Thomas or any other black person who has dared to be candid about his or her views on race in America.

Not only will the high priests and scribes of the black orthodoxy lay waste to our reputations and integrity, they will sanction sympathetic whites to do the same. Oh, and no epithet is off limits, even if it is racially charged. The white enablers of the black orthodoxy are almost giddy with glee as they practice their best racist statements against those black men and women who dare to offer an opinion on race that deviates from the politically correct rendition of the state of blacks in America today.

I know this firsthand because I am a “sellout”–a Sambo, a Stepin Fetchit, a house Negro, an Uncle Tom. I know it because I refuse to become one with the hive and I am protective of the individuality and independence bestowed upon me by the Creator.

Incidentally, those who use the phrase “Uncle Tom” as a slur have no concept whatsoever of the character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s famous anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Tom was a noble Christian man who endured the hardships of enslavement with amazing grace. He refused an order from Simon Legree, his cruel white master, to whip a fellow slave and was savagely beaten by Legree as a result. He also heroically resisted Legree’s attempts to break him of his faith in Christ.

Tom comforted the other slaves, encouraged two of them to escape and refused to divulge their whereabouts to Legree. Because of this, he was beaten to death by two black slaves, Sambo and Quimbo, who acted as Legree’s overseers. Tom forgave his assailants even as he was dying and they were so humbled by his mercy that they became Christians too. So Stowe’s main character is a man of great dignity and Christian faith.

Tom represented Stowe’s deliberate attempt to dispel the popular minstrel show stereotypes of black men as ignorant, lazy and frolicsome buffoons. In fact, it was the minstrel shows that subsequently took the Uncle Tom character and twisted him into a happy-go-lucky, boot-licking apologist for his white masters.

It seems that neither the minstrels nor the audiences of Stowe’s day were ready to accept the portrayal of a black man as better than a white man, no matter how evil the villain was. So in contempt for Tom’s goodness, many of the minstrel shows disposed of Simon Legree altogether.

Nonetheless, I smile when I’m called an Uncle Tom because, in the character’s original and intended incarnation, he is a Christ-like figure. My willingness to embrace what my adversaries think is an insult confounds them, which brings me even more pleasure.

The reason we are “a nation of cowards” when it comes to discussing race is because we don’t permit honesty to enter into the dialogue. There is a prescribed narrative that is deemed acceptable and no deviations from that narrative are permitted without negative consequences.

Yet I am no coward. Anyone who reads my articles on the internet–or anyone who’s read one of my letters to the editor of my local newspaper–can vouch for my fearlessness in discussing and debating issues of race or any topic related to politics, society and faith.

There’s an old saying that goes “Never discuss religion or politics in polite company.” Well, I broke that rule a long time ago and we may as well add race to the list because the response of “polite company” to that topic is likely to be equally charged as it would be to the first two.

So let’s talk about race in America, but from the perspective of a proud Uncle Tom and sellout. You may not like or accept what I have to say, but I am certain of my right to say it because it’s not a privilege to be granted or revoked by the black orthodoxy, their white enablers or anyone else. I was conceived in the image of God, “fearfully and wonderfully made.” I am a free man in the Creator’s universe with a view of the world that is uniquely mine and mine to express as I think best.

Jesus Christ says, “[Y]ou will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” I didn’t fully grasp what that meant until after more than 50 years of living. The knowledge of the truth instills in a person clarity, confidence and serenity, allowing one to stand firm against the lies and attacks of the world without fear.

Courage is true freedom and I came to that place because of Jesus Christ. Only in Him, the Eternal Word and Truth Incarnate, am I free to be a contrarian black man.

Ron Miller is a conservative writer and commentator, author of the book, SELLOUT: Musings from Uncle Tom’s Porch, and the president of Regular Folks United, a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of individual liberty, free markets and our nation’s founding principles. The nine-year plus veteran of the U.S. Air Force and married father of three writes columns for several online sites and print publications, and his own website, TeamRonMiller.com. Join him on Facebook and Twitter.

_______________________________________________________

Other articles of interest:

Speaking truth to race-hustlers

HOW REPUBLICANS WILL WIN THE SENATE

Arizona vs. the U.N. human rights police

Wyden: For imposing the Obamacare individual health mandate before he was against it

I recently heard syndicated talk show host, Clark Howard, talk about how the city of Washington, DC has passed a tax charging 5 cents for plastic bags you use to get for free from stores, as an environmental measure.  What kind of impact did it have?  Well, retailers in DC are nothing short of shocked as the usage of such bags was cut in half in just a matter of weeks and that percentage continues to shrink.  Money matters in our decision making.

It is being reported that, in Massachusetts, new mandates, few reforms that actually contribute to lowering costs, and artificially high demand created by the government requiring people to have health insurance, have led to a massive increase in health insurance costs in that state.  Instead of containing costs — a “promise” offered both by Obama and Massachusetts reform advocates, there has been a huge increase, which is prompting many small companies in the Bay State to drop coverage for their workers.  Those businesses are also encouraging those employees to sign up for state-subsidized care instead.  This promises to put an enormous strain on a state that already has a budget crisis, according to the Boston Globe.

Since the state’s socialized health care program went into effect a few years ago, insurance brokers have noted a significant increase in the number of terminations among smaller firms.  Companies that have seen the biggest jump are restaurants, hair salons, stores, and day-care centers.  These same firms are known for their low wages and for having employees that easily qualify for the state’s subsidized insurance program. 

The 2006 health insurance “reform” included new regulations meant to discourage low wage employees from pursuing state insurance instead of the firm they work for, more pricey plans.  For example, Massachusetts made individuals ineligible for state plans if they had been offered private coverage that paid for 33 percent or more of an insurance plan in the six months before they applied.  In spite of the prohibition, some firms have let employee plans go in order to test the state’s response and their employees were still able to get state coverage.  To make matters worse for the state’s health care program, it is much less expensive for businesses to merely pay the state’s penalties (approximately $295 per employee, per year) than it is to pay thousands in health insurance premiums.  $295 does little to pay for the huge cost of the state’s health care program.  Since the Massachusetts law requires people to have coverage — the least expensive to individuals, but most harmful to the state’s fiscal integrity — will naturally become a natural favorite to many.  This is just one more example of how public policy that fails to recognize human nature will naturally fail.  This failure in policy is only fostering more fiscal ruin and could provide a window into the future problems we will face nationally from Obamacare.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media.  Kevin Price is also host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN radio).  Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com.  Visit the archive of past shows here.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Other Articles of Interest:

Terrific: Bankrupt Freddie Mac hires “diversity officer”

Obama: The people at Beck’s rally are filled with anxiety

HOW REPUBLICANS WILL WIN THE SENATE

• “According to the Tax Foundation’s Microsimulation Model, to erase the 2010 U.S. budget deficit, the U.S. Congress would have to multiply each tax rate by 2.4. Thus, the 10 percent rate would be 24 percent, the 15 percent rate would be 36 percent, and the 35 percent rate would have to be 85 percent.”  Obviously, in the real world, we would hopefully have people who are not participating in the tax system at all (roughly half of the population) to get into the action.  Still, even the most casual observer can see how such tax rates would wipe out the economy as capital would take flight to safer parts of the world (as it is already doing).
• “In 2010 the U.S. government is projected to issue almost as much new debt as the rest of the governments of the world combined.”  This one actually made me literally gulp.  I would love the source, but the numbers make sense because of the exponential rate of the growth of our deficits.  We now do annually what originally took 186 years to accomplish – trillion dollar debts.
• “Total U.S. government debt is now up to 90 percent of gross domestic product.”  Move over Greece, here comes the good old US of A!
• “Total credit market debt in the United States, including government, corporate and personal debt, has reached 360 percent of GDP.”  People continually talk about “robbing from the next generation to pay for this.”  Reality?  We are taking from our great, great, great grandchildren.
• “U.S. corporate income tax receipts were down 55% (to $138 billion) for the year ending September 30th, 2009.”  Capital is taking flight to other countries as the US now has the second highest tax rates of any industrialized country in the world.  Furthermore, our prohibitive tax and regulatory policies are causing business to reduce tax revenue generating activities.
• “There are now 8 counties in the state of California that have unemployment rates of over 20 percent.”  Watch out Cleveland, Detroit, and Camden, here comes California!  The Golden State is looking a little rusty.
• “According to a Pew Research Center study, approximately 37% of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 have either been unemployed or underemployed at some point during the recession.”  There is a great old saying, “a recession is when your neighbor loses his job and a depression is when you lose your job.”  This recession is pretty depressing.
• “More than 40% of those employed in the United States are now working in low-wage service jobs.” This is that group that is being tired of being told that “any job is better than nothing.”
• “Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008. Not only that, more Americans filed for bankruptcy in March 2010 than during any month since U.S. bankruptcy law was tightened in October 2005.”  I have interviewed many of these people on my radio show.  There are many personal tragedies out there in this economy.
• “In California’s Central Valley, 1 out of every 16 homes is in some phase of foreclosure.”  This is after how much money was spent to reverse this trend?  By the way, in that same vein, 80 percent of all homes that received help to avoid foreclosure found themselves in the same situation again, further proving the truth to the statement that you “cannot spend your way out of a recession.”
• “For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.”  In spite of this reality, politicians are still trying to figure out how to develop more programs to build more houses.  I suggest they allow the market to force those in the building industry to do whatever is necessary to make a living where the market bears and not in an obviously glutted housing market.
• “U.S. commercial property values are down approximately 40 percent since 2007 and currently 18 percent of all office space in the United States is sitting vacant.”  This is a sneak peak into the next major bubble to burst. Which TARP number will this be?
• “In 2009, U.S. banks posted their sharpest decline in private lending since 1942.” Interesting and this came after bailouts equaling billions of dollars.  Banks did not have to lend as aggressively thanks to an artificial cushion created by Uncle Sam.
• “To make up for a projected 2010 budget shortfall of $280 million, Detroit issued $250 million of 20-year municipal notes in March. The bond issuance followed on the heels of a warning from Detroit officials that if its financial state didn’t improve, it could be forced to declare bankruptcy.” This may be the least surprising fact of all.
• “According to a National Foundation for Credit Counseling survey, only 58% of those in “Generation Y” pay their monthly bills on time.” Another non-surprise, considering the example they received from the generations that came before them.
• “According to a new report based on U.S. Census Bureau data, only 26 percent of American teens between the ages of 16 and 19 had jobs in late 2009 which represents a record low since statistics began to be kept back in 1948.” The administration’s answer to this was to allow minimum wage to go up to its historic high, even as the economy suffered from unemployment levels we have not seen in over a quarter of a century.  It is true, that minimum wage was passed by a previous president, but Obama had the numbers in Congress to put a hold on this job killing legislation.
• “According to an analysis by the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation the health care “reform” bill will generate $409.2 billion in additional taxes on the American people by 2019.”  This includes 7 new taxes for those who make less than $200,000.  So much for the President’s promises to those who make less than that amount.

This is only a partial list, the whole article is worth reading and sharing with others.  The major media is not touching these type of stories because they are too invested in our economic system and fundamentally believe that big government is best.  Ironically, they are sitting on the biggest news story of the past hundred years.  Ideology prevents them from doing their job.  That burden falls on every American to spread the word.

Other articles of interest:

Left: The NYC Muslim cabbie stabbing was right-wing ISLAMOPHOBIA!…oh, wait a minute…

Quotes of the day

Will Murkowski run as an independent? Update: Libertarian Party the only option?

PARTY TREND HAS YET TO KICK IN

“Natalie Nichols is one of the rising, young stars in the Republican Party,” said Dick Morris, President of Vote.com. “She is struggling to make Bowie County a two-party government with checks and balances. Right now, it is run by the fiat of the Democratic Party organization.” Morris explained, “The Clerk’s office is the key to releasing the voting records of the Commissioners Court. The current clerk sits on the records and won’t release them without a formal request. Natalie, not to be deterred, now videotapes their meetings and posts them on her website for all to see.”

Morris worked as a Republican strategist before serving as a White House Advisor under President Clinton, and is credited for helping President Clinton succeed by convincing the President to adopt Conservative Republican policies. He is an 8 time NYT best-selling author, renowned political strategist, and a regular commentator on Fox News.

“We need the likes of Natalie in politics and, I suspect, the people of Bowie County need her, in particular, as an advocate. They couldn’t get a better one,” added Morris.

“I’m honored to receive the endorsement of Dick Morris, and am so grateful for his advice and friendship. I was deeply humbled when he wrote to offer the endorsement,” said Nichols. “He is one of the strongest voices in the Conservative movement today. His wisdom and wealth of knowledge is beyond compare. Public Information has been under lock and key in our county for decades. I will give our citizens every opportunity to view our elected officials’ voting records, without having to ask for them. The records in the County Clerk’s office do not belong to the Clerk, they belong to the people.”

Editors note:  Natalie Nichols is a co-founder of Political Integrity Now

Other Headlines:

Obama’s Beltway Chainsaw Massacre

Advice to GOP Candidates; Avoid Adjectives, Nouns are Good Enough

Big Labor’s Massive New $88 Million War Chest

Upset in Alaska?

Game Over:  McCain Crushes Hayworth

The proposed mosque near to ground zero is not really a religious institution. It would be — as many mosques throughout the nation are — a terrorist recruitment, indoctrination and training center. It is not the worship of Islam that is the problem. It is the efforts to advance Sharia Law with its requirement of Jihad and violence that is the nub of the issue.

There is a global effort to advance Sharia Law and make it the legal system of the world. Most major banks and financial institutions offer Sharia Compliant Funds which have their investments vetted by the most fundamentalist and reactionary of clerics to assure that they advance Sharia Law. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the founder of the proposed Mosque, helps to prepare a Sharia Index which rates countries on their degree of compliance with Sharia Law. In the United Kingdom, many courts have recognized Sharia as the governing law on matters between two Muslims.

Not only is Sharia Law a vicious anti-female code which orders death by stoning, promotes child marriage, decriminalizes abuse of women, and gives wives no rights in divorce, but it also explicitly recognizes the duty of all Muslims to wage Jihad against non-believers and promotes violence to achieve its goals. In this respect, violent Jihad is as inherent in Sharia Law as revolution is in Communist doctrine.

But there are non-Sharia mosques where peaceful and spiritual Muslims worship God in their own way without promoting violence. A soon-to-be published study…

Read More

Early in the governor’s new administration, Christie created a New Jersey task force designed to identify ways the state could save money. According to the Associated Press, the panel found ways for the state to save “at least $210 million a year by privatizing motor vehicle inspections, turnpike toll booths, preschools, state parks and some services at state prisons.” The five member panel put together a fifty page report detailing areas where savings could easily be found. Christie was delighted by the effort, stating in a news release, “What they have provided is a path for change that will benefit New Jersey’s taxpayers through improvements in the quality of public service programs and services delivered to our citizens without placing further burdens upon the state budget, I look forward to further reviewing these recommendations.”

The recommendations are far reaching and include:

• Turning over park operations to management companies.
• It suggests expanding vehicle title and registration services to private firms, which were only performing services for used cars.
• Privatize the state’s four psychiatric hospitals for a potential savings of $10 million to $22 million.
• It calls for the privatization of bus routes at an estimated savings of $7.5 million in the first year alone.  After seven years the projected savings should be up to $300 million.
• Instead of using state inspection stations for cars, the report suggests that drivers pay for emission tests at service garages. The estimated annual savings would be $28 million.
• Have a private company take over cash toll collections for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. This agency operates both the Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway. This private firm would convert to a fully automated collection system with the potential of saving of up to 50 percent compared to the current government agency.
• Privatize prison services, including the medical, food, and educational needs of inmates.
• Utilize private providers to run preschool programs.
• Instead of government agencies handling workers’ compensation claims and career needs, the panel proposed turning these services to a private company.

In a very typical “knee jerk reaction,” the Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly, Sheila Oliver (a Democrat) has been critical towards the idea of charging fees for car inspections that are currently “free” if done at Motor Vehicle Commission facilities. This is at the heart of the problem, there is nothing “free” if it requires government dollars. This service is being paid for through taxes, when a strong argument could be made that only vehicle owners should pay for such services. When they are done through private firms, it is typically at a more competitive price.

Privatization is beneficial on many fronts. For one thing, it restores competition when in comes to government services, which naturally will drive prices down as companies compete to be the provider of those services. Furthermore, since private companies cost significantly less than government agencies when it comes to paying employees, that savings is passed on to taxpayers. For example, USA Today notes that the average government “employee earns an annual salary almost 60% higher than the average private-sector employee — $79,000 vs. $50,000. Federal employees do have more education (on average) than private-sector workers. Their unions argue that this justifies their higher pay. But it doesn’t. Even after controlling for education and experience, federal employees get paid significantly better — 22% more per hour, on average — than private-sector workers.” The average cost per New Jersey employee is comparable to the federal governments (according to columnist James Allen who noted it was approximately 45% higher than the private sector), which means a huge saving for the state if these services were done through privatization. A savings of $210 million would make the Garden State a much more attractive state for the people of New Jersey and would further enhance Chris Christie’s reputation as a leader who can be taken seriously.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media.  Kevin Price is also host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN radio).  Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com.  Visit the archive of past shows here.

Other articles of interest:

The White House War on Jobs

Left-wing campus embraces unapologetic, murdering peacenik bomber

Ground Zero Mosque:  The real issue

The prominent use of the emergency room by the uninsured was one of the most frequently heard arguments for the President’s socialized medicine program. Since people know they can get treatment there without paying immediately (if at all), they would fill up the room regardless of how small the need.  The argument goes on that this care costs so much more and when done for non-emergency needs, it creates a disruption of care for those who really need emergency treatment.  Devon M. Herrick, a health economist and senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, believes the data from the NCHS paints a very different picture.

So who are the biggest users, those most likely to misuse, and even abusers of emergency rooms?  According to NCH,S it is a group that already has government health care…individuals in the Medicaid system.  Here are some other findings:

• Approximately 32 percent of these Medicaid enrollees used the emergency room at least once during a 12 month period in 2007.  Meanwhile, those with private health insurance were only about half as likely (17 percent) to go to an ER, and a similar number (around 20 percent) of the uninsured did the same in that time frame.
• Medicaid enrollees were three times more likely than those with private insurance and twice as likely as those who are uninsured to go to the ER twice in that past year.
• There are approximately 120 million ER visits made in the United States each year.  These make up approximately 11 percent of all ambulatory visits.

One thing that there is little debate among health care professionals is that many of these 120 million ER visits could be better handled in other environments (such as a doctor’s office, emergency clinics, etc.).  Dr. Stephen Nichols, a regional medical officer for Schumacher Group, says “In general, 5 percent to 25 percent of patients who visit an emergency department in a community hospital have non-urgent complaints that could easily have been addressed in an outpatient setting,”  The Schumacher Group contracts for emergency department services at community hospitals.

The Heartland Institute in its report on the uninsured and their use of emergency rooms, quotes Dr. John Dunn, an emergency room specialist from Brownwood, Texas who noted that “Thirty percent to forty percent are emergencies or urgent care and deserve treatment within a reasonable time. But it is care that could be seen to in an urgent care clinic or a well-equipped office, though the patients probably are better off in the emergency department.”

Why are Medicaid patients the most likely to use the ER in a less responsible manner?  It simply comes down to the economic way of thinking.  People with private insurance pay significantly more in co-pays for using an emergency room over a clinic or doctor’s office. Therefore, avoiding the Emergency Room makes economic sense to them as consumers. Obamacare will essentially have all Americans treated similarly to the current Medicare patients.  As a result, one can expect ER abuse to explode once socialized medicine goes fully into effect.  This NCHS study not only weakens the argument for socialized medicine, but would be a devastating blow if facts still mattered in public policy debates.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is also host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN radio). Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.