Maggie's Farm

I suspect the government will force doctors to accept insurance from the exchanges, before too long. As it becomes apparent this is going to limit choice even more than the government has already done so, the government will seek to 'expand' choice by diktat.

In Belgium, in the 1950's or 60's (whenever they socialized medicine) the doctors went on strike.

So they were all drafted into the army. The details may be somewhat hazy, but that's what I recall.

With regard to the 'lousy jobs', it is a shame that the new job market is so downscale.

However, it's fair to say we need MANY MORE of these jobs, and it wouldn't hurt if the minimum wage was either removed or lowered to help accommodate more of them.

Plenty of people may be making less than $20k a year, but we shouldn't be blind to certain facts about these people:
1. Most are probably teens or young adults living at home
2. Few are raising families and rely on only 1 income
3. Many have little to no training or education, and would otherwise be collecting benefits, so this is a good starting point for them.
4. Many are part-time, or flex-time, or temp workers.
5. Many are taking their first job, or second job, and are looking to move up. Most of these jobs are not careers, merely stepping-stones or placeholders.

When I was unemployed, I took one of these jobs and deferred payment until my unemployment ran out (or I got a job). When I finally started working again, I got a nice lump sum check.

These jobs are not horrible, they are necessary and needed and for some reason we, as a nation, try to belittle them and get rid of them.

Fact is, we could use more people WILLING TO DO this kind of work.

Yesterday The Barrister posted a link to Mike Rowe making a comment about 'following your passion' and what a crock it is. I was speaking with a friend of mine who runs his own maintenance company, and he agreed. As he said:

"I hate what I do, it's dirty and it's hard work. I usually wake up at 4am and I'm on top of my workers until 8pm. I'm out earlier and in later if it snows. But it's my company, it pays me and the workers well, and I am responsible for 50 people. I finally have good people in place and am starting to set my own hours, and now I'm looking for ways to grow and expand. But if I had my choice, there are plenty of other jobs I'd rather do, except I'd have to work for someone else, and I could never do that."

This guy has a pilot's license, and has managed a building owned by Donald Trump. It's not like he doesn't know what he's talking about. But when he had the chance to start his own company, he did. Some of the people who work for him are people earning less than $20k a year, but that's the kind of work he handles - stuff nobody else wants to do.

Depends on hours worked and amount paid, as well as when the compensation is delivered. Plenty of factors which come into play.

I was very careful to not commit fraud, reviewed it all with the company lawyers.

Even so, I know plenty of people who work under the table while collecting unemployment. I have no problem with this, however fraudulent it is or may seem. The concept of unemployment preventing people from taking any kind of work is insane to me.

A better concept is that you should be allowed to work and collect up to a given amount of income, relative to your region. In some nations, unemployment insurance operates as a "topping up" situation where you work and collect, and the amount you collect declines over time so you can get used to a lower pay scale situation.

Our current unemployment scheme is so skewed, it's an incentive for many people to NOT work. I know two-income families where both earners were unemployed, one went back to work while the other remained unemployed and collecting. When Obama extended benefits, this was an incentive for the second worker to NOT LOOK.

So, regardless of how fraudulent or amoral or unethical anyone considers this - I say the system causes the behavior we tend to dislike, and I don't blame the people.