6 November 2023

"If you want less of something, tax it."  Jeff Bezos’ move to Miami will cost Washington state millions in tax revenue
Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation, stated in a Thursday blog post that Bezos would have been on the hook for about $1.44 billion a year under the proposed wealth tax. That would have made up about 45% of the projected $3.2 billion a year the tax was projected to bring in.
Nice move, Bezos. Sometimes Dems need to be taught a hard lesson.

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Doctors have no power. Medicare cuts doctor and hospital payments.  Since many physicians became employees of hospitals or private equity firms, they are no longer masters of their destiny. Although there is inflation and everyone else is getting pay raises, doctors will see a 1.2% pay cut. Some docs will still make out OK, but others will struggle. It's a slap in the face for the docs. I know that many people will get out the tiny violins, but they will have to deal with the doctor shortages.
Mercury News is recommending that people get second opinions. Good luck with that, when you have to wait a several months just to get an appointment. 
Meanwhile, Medicaid enrollees are decreasing as several states are dropping Medicaid now that the government rules prohibiting this have dropped. Hospitals hate Medicaid because it pays poorly, but it's better than no money at all. But the greater the proportion of Medicaid patients, the lower the hospital revenue. 
In Hillsboro, things have gotten so bad that OHSU/Tuality has set up a food pantry for hospital employees. Because they just can't raise their pay? Really sad.
But if you worked for a California hospital with unionized workers, you'd get a minimum $25/hour wage. If hospitals had to pay this much, they'd have to make deep cuts. But this gives union members a new benchmark for their next strike.

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Health misinformation and lack of confidence in vaccines continue to grow, years after the Covid-19 pandemic, survey shows. No one wants the vax products now.  In fact a quarter of Americans say they know someone personally killed by COVID jab.  It's over folks.

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Seattle's trying to lure people back to Seattle Center by having a European-style Christmas Market.  This would have been nice in days gone by, but I still wouldn't venture downtown.

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