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	<title>Comments on: Healthcare Costs and the Looming U.S. Budget Crisis</title>
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	<link>http://www.highlighthealth.com/healthcare/healthcare-costs-and-the-looming-us-budget-crisis/</link>
	<description>Discover the Science of Health</description>
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		<title>By: Healthcare Spending After the Recession &#124; Highlight HEALTH</title>
		<link>http://www.highlighthealth.com/healthcare/healthcare-costs-and-the-looming-us-budget-crisis/comment-page-1/#comment-8268</link>
		<dc:creator>Healthcare Spending After the Recession &#124; Highlight HEALTH</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2009 13:52:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.highlighthealth.com/healthcare/healthcare-costs-and-the-looming-us-budget-crisis/#comment-8268</guid>
		<description>[...] just two years ago, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) projected that U.S. healthcare costs would consume approximately 20% of GDP by 2050 with dire consequences. We&#8217;re now looking at that occuring within the next [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] just two years ago, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) projected that U.S. healthcare costs would consume approximately 20% of GDP by 2050 with dire consequences. We&#8217;re now looking at that occuring within the next [...]</p>
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		<title>By: I.O.U.S.A. One Nation Under Stress and In Debt &#124; Highlight HEALTH</title>
		<link>http://www.highlighthealth.com/healthcare/healthcare-costs-and-the-looming-us-budget-crisis/comment-page-1/#comment-8028</link>
		<dc:creator>I.O.U.S.A. One Nation Under Stress and In Debt &#124; Highlight HEALTH</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:12:31 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>[...] wrote about Healthcare Costs and the Looming U.S. Budget Crisis last summer here on Highlight HEALTH. I.O.U.S.A. follows now former Comptroller General David [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] wrote about Healthcare Costs and the Looming U.S. Budget Crisis last summer here on Highlight HEALTH. I.O.U.S.A. follows now former Comptroller General David [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Mark&#8217;s Daily Apple &#187; Blog Archive &#187; Deconstructing Healthcare in America - a Modest Proposal</title>
		<link>http://www.highlighthealth.com/healthcare/healthcare-costs-and-the-looming-us-budget-crisis/comment-page-1/#comment-1001</link>
		<dc:creator>Mark&#8217;s Daily Apple &#187; Blog Archive &#187; Deconstructing Healthcare in America - a Modest Proposal</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:26:38 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>[...] people achieve, maintain or regain good health. We are getting sicker and sicker as we continue to spend more on [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] people achieve, maintain or regain good health. We are getting sicker and sicker as we continue to spend more on [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Walter</title>
		<link>http://www.highlighthealth.com/healthcare/healthcare-costs-and-the-looming-us-budget-crisis/comment-page-1/#comment-306</link>
		<dc:creator>Walter</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 Jun 2007 19:35:31 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>Very interesting. Thanks for the information Ian.

For those wishing to read more:
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fairtax.org&quot;&gt;FairTax.org&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fairtax.net/13.htm&quot;&gt;FairTax Foundation - benefits of the FairTax&lt;/a&gt;

&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairTax&quot;&gt;FairTax on Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://linder.house.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Resources.Home&amp;Resource_id=1&quot;&gt;US Representative John Linder&lt;/a&gt;, sponsor of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.00025:&quot;&gt;FairTax Act of 2003&lt;/a&gt;</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Very interesting. Thanks for the information Ian.</p>
<p>For those wishing to read more:<br />
<a href="http://www.fairtax.org">FairTax.org</a><br />
<a href="http://www.fairtax.net/13.htm">FairTax Foundation &#8211; benefits of the FairTax</a></p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairTax">FairTax on Wikipedia</a><br />
<a href="http://linder.house.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Resources.Home&#038;Resource_id=1">US Representative John Linder</a>, sponsor of the <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.00025:">FairTax Act of 2003</a></p>
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		<title>By: Ian</title>
		<link>http://www.highlighthealth.com/healthcare/healthcare-costs-and-the-looming-us-budget-crisis/comment-page-1/#comment-284</link>
		<dc:creator>Ian</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:50:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.highlighthealth.com/healthcare/healthcare-costs-and-the-looming-us-budget-crisis/#comment-284</guid>
		<description>The FairTax would be such a consumption-based tax system.  Here is why the FairTax will make a good U.S. tax system REPLACEMENT. It&#039;s:

• SIMPLE, easy to understand
• EFFICIENT, inexpensive to comply with and doesn&#039;t cause less-than-optimal business decisions for tax minimization purposes
• FAIR, loophole free and everyone pays their share
• LOW TAX RATE, achieved by broad base with no exclusions
• PREDICTABLE, doesn&#039;t change, so financial planning is possible
• UNINTRUSIVE, doesn&#039;t intrude into our personal affairs or limit our liberty
• VISIBLE, not hidden from the public in tax-inflated prices or otherwise
• PRODUCTIVE, rewards, rather than penalizes, work and productivity

Its benefits are as follows:

FOR INDIVIDUALS:
• No more tax on income - make as much as you wish
• You receive your full paycheck - no more deductions
• You pay the tax when you buy &quot;at retail&quot; - not &quot;used&quot;
• No more double taxation (e.g. like on current Capital Gains)
• Reduction of &quot;pre-FairTaxed&quot; retail prices by 20%-30%
• Adding back 29.9% FairTax maintains current price levels
• FairTax would constitute 23% portion of new prices
• Every household receives a monthly check, or &quot;pre-bate&quot;
• Pre-bate equals payback for taxes on spending to poverty level
• FairTax&#039;s pre-bate ensures progressivity, poverty protection
• Finally, citizens are knowledgeable of what their tax IS
• Elimination of &quot;parasitic&quot; Income Tax industry
• NO MORE IRS. NO MORE FILING OF TAX RETURNS by individuals
• Those possessing illicit forms of income will ALSO pay the FairTax
• Households have more disposable income to purchase goods
• Savings is bolstered with reduction of interest rates

FOR BUSINESSES:
• Corporate income and payroll taxes revoked under FairTax
• Business compensated for collecting tax at &quot;cash register&quot;
• No more tax-related lawyers, lobbyists on company payrolls
• No more embedded (hidden) income/payroll taxes in prices
• Reduced costs. Competition - not tax policy - drives prices
• Off-shore &quot;tax haven&quot; headquarters can now return to U.S
• No more &quot;favors&quot; from politicians at expense of taxpayers
• Resources go to R&amp;D and study of competition - not taxes
• Marketplace distortions eliminated for fair competition
• US exports increase their share of foreign markets

FOR THE COUNTRY:
• 7% - 13% economic growth projected in the first year of the FairTax
• Jobs return to the U.S.
• Foreign corporations &quot;set up shop&quot; in the U.S.
• Tax system trends are corrected to &quot;enlarge the pie&quot;
• Larger economic &quot;pie,&quot; means thinner tax rate &quot;slices&quot;
• Initial 23% portion of price is pressured downward as &quot;pie&quot;
increases
• No more &quot;closed door&quot; tax deals by politicians and business
• FairTax sets new global standard. Other countries will follow</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The FairTax would be such a consumption-based tax system.  Here is why the FairTax will make a good U.S. tax system REPLACEMENT. It&#8217;s:</p>
<p>• SIMPLE, easy to understand<br />
• EFFICIENT, inexpensive to comply with and doesn&#8217;t cause less-than-optimal business decisions for tax minimization purposes<br />
• FAIR, loophole free and everyone pays their share<br />
• LOW TAX RATE, achieved by broad base with no exclusions<br />
• PREDICTABLE, doesn&#8217;t change, so financial planning is possible<br />
• UNINTRUSIVE, doesn&#8217;t intrude into our personal affairs or limit our liberty<br />
• VISIBLE, not hidden from the public in tax-inflated prices or otherwise<br />
• PRODUCTIVE, rewards, rather than penalizes, work and productivity</p>
<p>Its benefits are as follows:</p>
<p>FOR INDIVIDUALS:<br />
• No more tax on income &#8211; make as much as you wish<br />
• You receive your full paycheck &#8211; no more deductions<br />
• You pay the tax when you buy &#8220;at retail&#8221; &#8211; not &#8220;used&#8221;<br />
• No more double taxation (e.g. like on current Capital Gains)<br />
• Reduction of &#8220;pre-FairTaxed&#8221; retail prices by 20%-30%<br />
• Adding back 29.9% FairTax maintains current price levels<br />
• FairTax would constitute 23% portion of new prices<br />
• Every household receives a monthly check, or &#8220;pre-bate&#8221;<br />
• Pre-bate equals payback for taxes on spending to poverty level<br />
• FairTax&#8217;s pre-bate ensures progressivity, poverty protection<br />
• Finally, citizens are knowledgeable of what their tax IS<br />
• Elimination of &#8220;parasitic&#8221; Income Tax industry<br />
• NO MORE IRS. NO MORE FILING OF TAX RETURNS by individuals<br />
• Those possessing illicit forms of income will ALSO pay the FairTax<br />
• Households have more disposable income to purchase goods<br />
• Savings is bolstered with reduction of interest rates</p>
<p>FOR BUSINESSES:<br />
• Corporate income and payroll taxes revoked under FairTax<br />
• Business compensated for collecting tax at &#8220;cash register&#8221;<br />
• No more tax-related lawyers, lobbyists on company payrolls<br />
• No more embedded (hidden) income/payroll taxes in prices<br />
• Reduced costs. Competition &#8211; not tax policy &#8211; drives prices<br />
• Off-shore &#8220;tax haven&#8221; headquarters can now return to U.S<br />
• No more &#8220;favors&#8221; from politicians at expense of taxpayers<br />
• Resources go to R&amp;D and study of competition &#8211; not taxes<br />
• Marketplace distortions eliminated for fair competition<br />
• US exports increase their share of foreign markets</p>
<p>FOR THE COUNTRY:<br />
• 7% &#8211; 13% economic growth projected in the first year of the FairTax<br />
• Jobs return to the U.S.<br />
• Foreign corporations &#8220;set up shop&#8221; in the U.S.<br />
• Tax system trends are corrected to &#8220;enlarge the pie&#8221;<br />
• Larger economic &#8220;pie,&#8221; means thinner tax rate &#8220;slices&#8221;<br />
• Initial 23% portion of price is pressured downward as &#8220;pie&#8221;<br />
increases<br />
• No more &#8220;closed door&#8221; tax deals by politicians and business<br />
• FairTax sets new global standard. Other countries will follow</p>
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