We need to trust the American people with their money, and trust they will innovate.\u00a0 Ironically, we discuss the subprime mortgage crisis not too long after this.\u00a0 This was an example of American innovation (the financial instruments created to facilitate these transactions and place the risks in the hands of ill-equipped investors), and it was an example of Americans using their money, in particular many Americans accepting money to purchase homes that they had no capacity to repay.<\/p>\n
Health care was addressed.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 Tax policy in regards to health care was addressed.\u00a0 The usual pablum about Health Savings Accounts was offered.\u00a0 There was also talk of extending income tax deduct-ability to health insurance premiums, so that independent contractors and such will have a lower burden.\u00a0 While I do agree with this particular policy in principle, most likely the ability to exclude the premiums from one\u2019s income isn\u2019t the reason for not having health insurance.\u00a0 For some they don\u2019t take the insurance because they can\u2019t afford it.\u00a0 For others they don\u2019t take it because the seasonality of their income makes paying premiums difficult.\u00a0 For still others they don\u2019t want to lose such a large amount of their income for a benefit they are unlikely to receive in their present circumstance.\u00a0 Others are indeed uninsurable.\u00a0 Regardless, the argument that tax policy will radically or even significantly change the present situation is I believe a stretch.\u00a0 We also had other pablum about not having the government choose your doctor or care.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Compared to the choice between bankruptcy and care or a life of indigence and care, that argument becomes less and less persuasive, not to mention that none of the models put forward so far include the government choosing your doctor.\u00a0 It was\u00a0at this point my wife went to bed.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t all bad however.\u00a0 The President mentioned the immigration fiasco.\u00a0 He mentioned the need for a regulated border, which no one really disagrees.\u00a0 He also mentioned the need to find a way to accommodate those offering work with those seeking work through legal means so as to avoid this being accommodated through illegal means.\u00a0 This has been an area of bitter disagreement.\u00a0 He also reminded us that we need to address the issue of illegal immigrants presently in the country.\u00a0 For many of these immigrants, this should be a path to legalization.\u00a0 Like our president and our bishops, I believe resolving this issue is very important.<\/p>\n
The President also discussed foreign policy.\u00a0 I regret having to admit that I really stopped paying attention to his pronouncements on foreign policy three years ago.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We need to trust the American people with their money, and trust they will innovate.\u00a0 Ironically, we discuss the subprime mortgage crisis not too long after this.\u00a0 This was an example of American innovation (the financial instruments created to facilitate these transactions and place the risks in the hands of ill-equipped investors), and it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2948,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,264],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mz","category-us-affairs"],"yoast_head":"\n