Okay folks, it looks like the whole country is now playing Peter Peterson's budget ball. For those not familiar with him, Peterson is a Wall Street investment banker. He has made billions of dollars through his dealings and government subsidies, and now he is using much of this money to accomplish a lifelong quest, gutting Social Security and Medicare.
Toward this end, he has set up a fake news service (the "Fiscal Times"); he's funded scary, anti-Social Security documentaries; sponsored a set of rigged public forums (America Speaks) and even paid for the construction of a high school curriculum to indoctrinate school children. According to some accounts, he is now the largest employer in the DC area after the Pentagon.
The way Peterson's budget game works is that you get some deficit or debt target. This is against a backdrop where the baseline projections show the deficits going through the roof in 10-20 years. The reason for the exploding deficit is the projection of exploding health care costs. The US would be looking at massive budget surpluses if it had the same per person health care costs as any other wealthy country.
Under the rules of Peterson's budget ball, you are not allowed to do anything about rising health care costs. In fact, reform of the private health care system was explicitly ruled out as an option at the Peterson-funded America Speaks forums.
This means, for example, that we can't reduce prescription drug costs by adopting a more efficient mechanism for financing drug research. The Center for Medicare and Medicare Services projects that the country will spend more than $3.3 trillion on prescription drugs over the next decade. We would probably spend less than one-tenth of this amount if drugs were sold in a free market, but Peterson's budget ball doesn't let you reform the system of financing drug research. You can't even go the intermediate step of public financing of clinical trials advocated by Joe Stiglitiz, the Nobel laureate who was President Clinton's chief economist.
Peterson budget ball also doesn't let contestants take any of the other steps that could bring US health care costs more in line with costs elsewhere. This would include letting Medicare beneficiaries buy into more efficient health care systems elsewhere. This could put tens of thousands of dollars into the pockets of beneficiaries each year while saving the government trillions of dollars in the coming decades.
Nor does Peterson budget ball allow for medical tourism, which could lead to huge cost savings as people get their health care in other countries to escape our broken system. Peterson's budget ball also does not allow contestants to take down the barriers that prevent more foreigners from coming to practice medicine in the US, bringing physicians' wages here in line with the rest of the world.
Not only does Peterson's budget ball prevent contestants from fixing the health care system. He also doesn't want them to tax Wall Street speculation. This source of revenue could raise close to $1.8 trillion over the course of a decade. Virtually all of the revenue would come at the expense of the financial industry, since most investors would simply cut back their trading in response to any increase in trading fees.
And Peterson doesn't want anyone to consider the possibility that we could have the Federal Reserve Board simply hold the government bonds it is now buying, so that taxpayers are not burdened with hundreds of billions a year in additional interest payments. If the Fed held $3 trillion in bonds in 2020, offsetting the inflationary impact with higher reserve requirements, it would save the country $150 billion a year in interest.
Their argument is that we wouldn't want Congress dictating policy to the Federal Reserve Board. After all, the Fed has done such a great job. According to the claims of its chairman, Ben Bernanke, the Fed's policies brought us to the brink of a second Great Depression. With that sort of track record, how can anyone suggest making the Fed more accountable?
In short, in Peterson's budget ball, we can't make any changes that might create any serious inconvenience for the rich and powerful. We can have some small cuts in defense and modest tax increases for the rich as window dressing, but what we are left with is a massive budget deficit and nothing but Social Security, Medicare, and other social programs left to cut.
That might sound like a rigged game, but Peterson is paying for it, so he gets to set the rules. What else would we expect? The big question is whether President Obama is also playing this game. We will find out Tuesday.
The NFL Season is down to four teams. This coming week, two more teams will end their season just a bit early and two teams will move on to play for the coveted Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLV. A ticket to the AFC Championship -- New York Jets vs. Pittsburgh Steelers -- is definitely not cheap, going for $604 on average.
If you're trying to get to Heinz Field on a "budget" it would be best if you were already in Pittsburgh so you wouldn't have to pay for airfare or a hotel. If you are living in Pittsburgh, you can sit in the "cheap seats" for $246/ticket. However, if you're living in the Tri-State area, it's going to cost you a pretty penny to get to the game. The cheapest flight from New York to Pittsburgh is a nonstop Delta flight, which will cost you $367/ticket. A 3-star hotel in Pittsburgh starts at $59 a night, so if you are staying for three nights, a hotel will cost you $177. Add that all up and Jets fans will have to pay at least $544 more than Steelers fans to get to the AFC Championship Game.
Summary
Tickets to the AFC Championship*:
• 500 Level - $252/ticket
• 100 Level - $353/ticket
• Lower End Zone - $353/ticket
• 200 Level - $371/ticket
• 50-Yard Line Lower Level - $640/ticket
• 50-Yard Line Front Row - $1,117/ticket
*Best Price for each section
Airfare:
• New York (LGA) to Pittsburgh on Delta - $367/ticket
Hotel:
• Cheapest 3-star hotel - $76/night
• Cheapest 4-star hotel - $113/night
Total: 500 Level - $252/ticket, New York (LGA) to Pittsburgh on Delta - $367/ticket, Cheapest 3-star hotel -$76/night ($228 for three nights) = $847+
Now if money is not an issue...
Tickets to the NFC Championship: 50-Yard Line, Front Row - $1,117/ticket
Airfare: New York (JFK) to Pittsburgh First Class on Delta - $841/ticket
Hotel: Omni Hotel - Premier Suite - $379/night
Total: $3,095+
For more insight on what both the Steelers and the Jets need to do to achieve success and advance to Super Bowl XLV, check out the guest commentary below from two devoted fans, and bloggers.
Steelers Keys to Victory Over the Jets
Guest commentary by Bam Morris Blitzburgh Blog. You can find Bam on Twitter at @blitzburghblog1
Expose the dark side of Sanchez: We all know it is there, even the Jets fans. He's been solid during most of his playoff games, but there's no way the Jets would want to see him down by 14 points having to air it out against the Steelers defense. The Steelers need to stop the run and make Sanchez be the difference maker.
Solid special teams: The Steelers have a bad history of blowing winnable games on special teams, mostly with poor kick coverage. This area is one of the Jets strengths and a big kick return TD might be all New York needs to walk out of Heinz Field with a ticket to Dallas.
Let Roethlisberger do what he does best: The Jets caused chaos all over the field against Tom Brady and he blinked. Ben Roethlisberger is a different beast. He thrives on making great plays out of busted ones and he needs to punch the Jets in the mouth when they come after him.
Troy Polamalu: No other safety in the league gets inside a quarterback's head like Polamalu. He didn't play during the teams last meeting and his presence alone will make Sanchez think twice on almost every pass.
Cut down the penalties: Pittsburgh was one of the most penalized teams in the league this year and can ill afford to be hit with a ton of flags, especially the costly personal foul calls that have become commonplace. This will be a physical contest, no doubt, but cooler heads need to prevail for Pittsburgh to make the Jets earn every last yard.
Jets Keys to Victory Over the Steelers
Guest commentary by Daniel Krieg of Rex Sanchez.
Dominate the Steelers O-Line: The Jets must take advantage of the Steelers beat up offensive line. If they can put the same pressure on Ben that they put on Brady, the defense will dominate.
Don't Respect the Steelers: The Jets cannot give the Steelers too much respect. They play better when they're filled with anger and hate. I hope that fire continues burning.
Do NOT trust Nick Folk: I say this every week because it's true. It's a good thing the Jets found the end zone last week because had they needed Folk he would've choked.
Play it smart on special teams: The Jets punt returners terrify me when they let the ball bounce on kicks. I can see a nonsense fumble like that costing them the game. Also, Weatherford cannot keep booting the ball for touchbacks. Field position will be huge in this game.
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