The Guardian had an article entitled World’s wealthiest people now richer than before the credit crunch. But wait; there is more good news. The USA is #1 in rich people! And, we have the highest proportion of wealthy women.

Despite the crushing tax burden I’ve read so much about, we have about 3.1 million high net worth individuals — people having more than $1 million in investable assets, not including their primary residence. Japan is second with about 1.8 million HNWIs. With the uptick in the economy, I am pleased to report, our wealthy are, thankfully, learning how to live again spending on wine, art, and luxury automobiles.

But, all is not well. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels, basking in the reflected glory of our wealthiest. We are in danger of losing our precious lead in rich people.

[I]t is Asian-Pacific countries where the ranks of the rich are swelling fastest. For the first time last year the region surpassed Europe in terms of [high net worth individuals].

I, for one, don’t know how we could enjoy frivolities such as food, jobs, and health care without our country having a secure lead in wealthy people. And so, with this pressing danger in mind, I have to thank Eric Cantor and Jon Kyl for refusing to negotiate on balancing the budget and preventing financial defaults by the U.S. government so long as the Democrats insist on jeopardizing our precious lead by even entertaining the idea of taxes on the wealthy. Those brave lawmakers understand what is truly important in our country and what makes us great.

A number of news outlets, including the Guardian, are reporting that a North Carolina man staged a one dollar bank robbery to get health care in jail.

What he did was hand the clerk a note that said: “This is a bank robbery, please only give me one dollar.” Then, as he later told the local NBC news station, he calmly sat in the corner of the bank having told the clerk: “I’ll be sitting right over there in the chair waiting for the police.”
. . .
He told the paper he had lost his job after 17 years as a Coca-Cola delivery man, and with it his health insurance. He was in increasing pain from slipped discs, arthritic joints, a gammy foot and a growth on his chest.

Since being in the jail he has attained his goal: he has been seen by nurses and an appointment with a doctor is booked.

It sounds true, and it probably is true. But, the story has the feel of one of those things that’s weird, but so easy to believe that maybe it’s a hoax. Anyway, health care for the poor is a huge problem. And the disparity between poor, law abiding citizens who have to go without and poor criminals who at least get some health care is appalling. For those with health challenges, there is actually an advantage to going to jail. They don’t necessarily get the best care, but they frequently get better care than when they’re free.

Jail doctors get to treat the mentally ill, diabetics, and all kinds of other health challenged individuals who go all but untreated on the outside, frequently getting to jail and requesting, for example, all sorts of prescriptions from the distant past which have not been filled with any regularity when the individual wasn’t in jail.

Jails end up having to foot the bill to provide this health care (and to defend against lawsuits when the inmates believe the health care was inadequate.) Unsurprisingly, there isn’t a huge appetite to fund inmate health care when honest, law abiding citizens are often forced to go without.

Update I caught this column from John Thorpe about the “robbery” which was pretty good. The upshot is that we are providing health care in the stupidest possible way.

Update 2 Just saw an article in the Evansville Courier Press by Jonathan Lintner about Vanderburgh County Jail’s shift to in-house medical care. Apparently, the Sheriff’s deputies and inmates used to make a lot more trips to the hospital – at greater expense and security risks.

Great article in the Journal & Courier today by Sophia Voravong on the subject of Tippecanoe County Legal Aid celebrating its 40th anniversary. I’m extremely biased, having been on the Legal Aid board for six years, having served as its President for two years, and having been involved with the golf outing fund raiser for seven years now.

Besides that, the article features Legal Aid director Ken Weller in front of the court house, a story told in John Gambs inimitable style, quotes from my buddy Gregg Theobald, and mention of Fred Hoffman who founded my law firm.

Legal Aid is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation that provides legal services to those who cannot afford them in civil, non-fee generating cases. A lot of times this involves issues surrounding termination of parental rights. But, it can be divorces, land-lord tenant issues or a number of other matters. The premise is that the legal system works better when the scales of justice balance.

Our particular organization got its start 40 years ago because Fred Hoffman asked John Gambs to write a letter to Lilly for a foundation grant. It was initially denied but John pressed the matter, contacting Mr. Lilly – for whom John had once been a chauffeur – directly. In its early history, Judge Daniel, formerly director of Legal Aid, fought the City of Lafayette and the State Board of Accounts to keep funds coming. Ken Weller has been shouldering the primary burden as the director for a long time now. And, Gregg Theobald has been doing remarkable things with the golf outing fund raiser.

Speaking of which, if there is anyone out there in blog land who is interested, get in touch with me or Gregg. The golf outing this year is on July 21, 2011 at Coyote Crossing golf course. Entry fee is $100 per golfer. Lunch at noon. Shotgun start at 1:00 p.m. Hole sponsorships available for $150. Proceeds go to Legal Aid.

I saw two posts from conservative sources — though conservative in different ways — that struck me as related but contradictory. Both have to do with people having sex when they probably shouldn’t and how (or whether) to mitigate the consequences.

One was entitled “Rick Perry’s Catholic Problem” (h/t Tipsy). The other was by Abdul about Father’s Day and contraception.

Rick Perry is the governor of Texas who may well run for the Republican Presidential nomination. Gardisil is a vaccine that helps prevent the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which causes genital warts and cervical cancer. Perry got into trouble because of his connections to the pharmaceutical companies, an executive law mandating that 11 and 12 year old girls get the vaccine, and a sense from some conservative quarters that the vaccine encourages promiscuity.

Per Tom Bevan:

[I]n Texas, Gov. Perry chose to bypass the legislature and on Feb. 2, 2007, he issued an executive order making Texas the first state in the country requiring all sixth-grade girls to receive the three-shot vaccination series (which cost about $120 per shot). The move generated a fierce public debate. Conservatives slammed Perry for promoting what they saw as an intrusion by the state into private health decisions of parents and their children. Some also complained that the mandate would encourage promiscuity among teenagers.

Per Joshua Mercer in the “Catholic Problem” article linked above:

So why would Culture of Life Catholics and evangelicals have a problem with this?

Unlike other public health threats like meningitis, which spreads easily between people in close quarters, the only way a teenager will get HPV is from sexual intercourse. If they abstain, they are in no real danger in getting this virus which causes cervical cancer.

Obviously Merck wants to make a lot of money by making all of our daughters get the $120 shots. And I understand that sexually transmitted diseases have become a pandemic, one that we don’t talk enough about.

But if we force every daughter to get Gardasil, we have lost hope in the ability of our children to say no to hazardous premarital sex.

(emphasis in the original.)

So, rather than lose some moral authority and risk clouding an unambiguous command not to have sex, the solution is to apparently forego a vaccine that would prevent your daughter from getting cervical cancer. (Leaving aside, for a moment, issues related to non-consensual sex.)

Contrast this with Abdul’s message on father’s day:

[W]hile a lot of the punditocracy spent Sunday pontificating on the importance of fathers, I honestly think we would have fewer societal issues if fewer people became fathers in the first place.

Allow me to elaborate. This past week a 16-year old was arrested for shooting and robbing a man on the Monon Trail. In less than four weeks a lot of good-hearted people are going to team up with law enforcement and patrol downtown Indianapolis during the second Saturday of Indiana Black Expo because some people are going to let their children run loose. For the past several weeks we’ve had hearings on the possible state takeover of failing schools because, in part, some people have decided not to be good parents and let their children’s’ education go straight to hell.

When I look at those few examples, it makes me wonder why instead of defunding Planned Parenthood, Indiana lawmakers didn’t increase funding and hand out gift cards. Let’s face it, some people are not just ready to be parents. And instead of chastising them, we really should turn our efforts into convincing them not to procreate. It’s not fair to the children and certainly not fair to us who will have to bear the costs, financial and otherwise, of their bad choices.

As a secular humanist type, my choice on these perspectives is pretty easy. I give my daughter the vaccine and protect her against cancer. (The concerns about Perry’s exercise of executive power, ties to the pharmaceutical company, and questions about efficacy are noted – but not the point of my post here.)

I agree with Abdul that there are a lot of people who don’t have the resources, commitment, or temperament for parenting; and the rest of us would be better off if they just went ahead and didn’t procreate until they matured. (It’s an open question as to whether the people who are more irresponsible about parenting would be terribly reliable in using contraception even if promoted and freely available.) I have more global concerns about the number of humans that are sustainable on planet earth. The procreation values of a bronze age tribe trying to survive and out compete neighbors might not be the sort of thing we need on a planet closing in on 7 billion humans.

In any case, the distinction between Abdul’s post and the Catholic Vote post makes me think, once again, of that book from some years ago positing that Red State culture figures having families turns adolescents into adults and Blue State culture figures only adults should create families.

(Cross-posted from my Family Blog)

A lot gets said about how a Dad influences his children. And it’s true. But, less recognized is how kids make the Dad. It’s a feedback loop, I suppose. But, in my case, I know I would be a much less well developed individual without my wife and kids. It’s fun to joke about how things would be different without them. And, a day or two alone every once in awhile is pretty cool. But, really, without them, I’d be a disaster. If raging alcoholism didn’t take hold, at best, I’d probably be one dimensional, unmotivated, and largely friendless — or the friends I did have would probably be sketchy at best. I’ll hasten to add – that’s just me based on what I know about myself. There are plenty of wonderful individuals without kids and without spouses.

Today, the kids were just so excited to give me my presents, that when Harper woke up, the kids were at my bedside, telling me it was time to open presents. They had done an outstanding job writing their cards and decorating them. Obviously, they’d taken a lot of care in preparing them. Harper got me a pair of cargo shorts and an awesome Galaga t-shirt. Cole got me a pair of Guinness swim trunks and a Taj Mahal jigsaw puzzle. I’m sure they had a fair amount of help from Mom in picking them out, but my kids certainly know me. This was followed up by an excellent breakfast of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and toast.

Yesterday, the kids & I had a lot of fun taking a bike ride on a geocaching expedition. Of the four sites we went to, we located only one of the caches. At least two of the others should be findable, and if the sun comes out, maybe we’ll go back today to try to locate the caches. If not, we’ll probably work on the jigsaw puzzle. Then, later in the day, some friends are coming over, and we’ll grill out.

Good times.

Following up on an earlier article by Eric Bradner, the Evansville Courier Press has a good editorial on a home care funding dispute.

Due to funding restraints, FSSA has sent out contracts to area agencies on aging, promising funding of only 70% of a state home health care program. For the remaining 30%, the agency is basically saying, “trust us, we’re good for it.” From the Bradner article:

For the new fiscal year that starts July 1, the Family and Social Services Administration sent contracts to those agencies May 13 indicating they will get 70 percent of that amount, or about $20 million.

The rest, state officials said, will come later in the year, as taxes are collected and placed in Indiana’s general fund.

“We do want to maintain some flexibility, but that doesn’t mean that we’re withholding funding from them,” said FSSA spokesman Marcus Barlow.

Still, the fact that 30 percent of what state lawmakers appropriated is not included in their contracts is causing the area agencies on aging some consternation.

The Evansville Courier Press suggests that there might be some distrust resulting from budget debates about funding the CHOICE program during the legislative session. According to an article from Lesley Stedman Weidenbener for the Louisville Courier Journal:

CHOICE was a key issue during budget negotiations this spring. Daniels proposed a cut in the program’s funding and his spending plan would have allowed Family and Social Services to divert all the CHOICE money into a Medicaid-funded program for home health care.

Just speaking generally, I’m always uneasy with clients who have contracts that incorporate only some of the terms of the agreement. I believe FSSA hopes to be able to fully fund the programs, but if they send you a contract that says 70%, you probably have to assume you’re only going to get 70%.

Occasionally, I’ll hear stories about this or that venue where fairly big musical acts used to come and play. Frequently, this will be in towns with barely a pulse, let alone a vibrant music scene. Along these lines, Tim Brouk has a good article in the Journal & Courier on some of the musical acts that used to play at Indiana Beach in Monticello. A related article, also good, is Henry Howard’s discussion with Tim about researching the story.

Some of this, I suppose, is a function of the general decline experienced by a lot of small Midwestern towns. But I think there has been a change in the music industry. Artists don’t seem to do this kind of barnstorming outside of bigger cities, and establishments don’t seem to offer a lot of live music. To the extent they do, it seems like local acts of one kind or another. (Which isn’t bad, mind you, local acts need to be encouraged.) And, I’m not sure audiences are terribly interested in coming out to see live shows.

I don’t know enough to even offer good speculation. But, I wonder how much of it has to do with TV and more elaborate movie offerings and just a host of entertainment options that mostly involve staying home. I wonder how much of it is a sort of industrialization of music, where the trend is toward more elaborate performances and bigger audiences. And, I wonder how much of it has to do with better control by an artist over their own fate — I have this impression that the earlier music business featured labels with a great deal of control, paying artists very little. They could ride their artists hard, forcing lots of performances at marginal venues and, once their artists were burned out and used up, just moving to the next act in the stable.

I don’t get out and watch live shows as much as I probably should. I really enjoy kicking back at a bar, having a few drinks, and listening to a live show. It’s not uncommon for me to wonder why the person on stage isn’t enjoying radio time when a lot less entertaining material fills the airwaves.

The Posner-Becker blog has a good debate between the two on the role of Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae in the financial crisis. Becker thinks it was more substantial than does Judge Posner.

Judge Posner:

As Becker points out, Fannie and Freddie were effective in obtaining congressional and presidential assistance to ward off threats to their activities and their profits. But I don’t think that that assistance, unseemly as it was, and perhaps corrupt as well, was the basic problem of Fannie and Freddie, or the cause of their collapse; nor do I think their collapse was of any great consequence for the nation.

Rather, he blames the depression on other factors and suggests that, without Fannie & Freddie, things could have been worse. Had their debts instead been those of banks like Goldman and Morgan Stanley, those banks may have collapsed and the government may have taken over those firms. Posner lays more of the blame at the feet of Greenspan and Bernanke keeping interest rates too low, encouraging the housing bubble. He also suggests that financial deregulation had gone too far.

Recently, I saw some off-hand post about how much better Japan was doing after its disaster than New Orleans was doing. I didn’t look beyond that to see whether there was anything like an apples-to-apples comparison going on. It just mentioned that “some parts” of New Orleans were still a wreck. And, some parts of Japan are not — I’m sure some parts of Japan are still in bad shape.

I threw out a glib remark, saying “Maybe it’s because their Constitution renounces war, freeing up resources for useful things.” The response to that was pretty revealing. “Maybe it’s because Japanese people are not afraid to roll their own sleeves up and get to work, unlike lazy government freeloaders in New Orleans.”

My response was “Uppity, shiftless freeloaders, no doubt.”

I’m not one to see racism under every rock, but there was certainly some of that going on here.

Of course, I have my own perception of difference between how the Japanese seem to react to a crisis versus our own. I was struck by the story recently in the news about how some of Japan’s elderly were volunteering to work in the radioactive areas, reasoning that the damage from radiation took some time to manifest and probably wouldn’t be felt until after they’d likely be dead in any case. I just can’t see something like that happening in the U.S.

But, that may well be because I’m afflicted by stereotypes as well. I have in my head a caricature of an older American formed by the summer of discontent over the health care reform debate — along the lines of an overweight white person in a hover-round shrieking about keeping government out of their Medicare. Such a person is mortally concerned over the prospect that someone, not them obviously, might be getting away with something. It’s the specter of the young buck using food stamps to buy T-bones and the welfare queen driving a Cadillac.

I don’t know if my stereotype is any more a reality than the Reagan-era welfare imagery is. But the stereotypes are powerful and shape our political discourse.

Rachel Sheeley, writing for the Palladium-Item, has a nice article on retiring Richmond High School journalism teacher, Ann Herrman. Not that it’s a huge deal in the scheme of things, but it is very likely that, without her, this blog wouldn’t exist. I had her as a teacher my junior year in high school, and she encouraged me to sign up for the paper. I did, and during my senior year, I fell into a niche writing an opinion column. (Which, by the way, has to be the easiest gig in the newspaper business.) That experience led, more or less directly, to my bloviating around here.

I had to laugh at this:

Some students tried, and managed to, sneak questionable headlines into the newspaper. However, the longer she taught, the more savvy Herrman got.

Now, I’m sure I wasn’t the only guilty party along these lines, but I distinctly remember getting read the riot act following the September 16, 1988 wherein I contributed the sports headline “Richmond scalps Indians after creaming Trojans” — referring to the football team’s victories over Anderson and New Castle respectively.

The newspaper was a great experience. To this day, the students I worked with are some of the most interesting people I’ve had the pleasure to know. Ms. Herrman is retiring after 25 years of working for the paper and the school yearbook. There is a party at the high school on June 18 for former students.