1. A trinket. SoHo is my wife and daughter’s favorite gift store. It is located in the Forum shopping center in Norcross. Sun, the proprietor, is the nicest lady and very helpful. SoHo has such a huge selection of household, kitchen, and girlie things that I would be amazed if you cannot find something that would fit the gift-giving needs you have for your girlfriend, wife, mother or daughter.

2. Stone crab claws. Having grown up in Florida, nothing says fall/winter to me like a big pile of stone crab claws. Be sure to have some honey mustard and cocktail sauce at the ready. You will be amazed at just how delicious they are. Here are links to a couple on-line vendors – Marathon | FFtB. They will ship the crab to your door on dry ice. Just be ready to feast as soon as they arrive. Great eating!

3. Something for the home. Designer Antiques is also in the Forum shopping center. They have a ton of very great things for your home – mainly newer versions of cool old stuff – like this blue Bugetti pedal car. They specialize in custom furniture, interior design and accessories. My wife bought a our kitchen table and chairs from them. Designer Antiques is a family-run business (and one of our long time clients). Say “hi” to the owner, Christian Maloney, for us!

4. Home videos. This what I’m giving my wife for Christmas (thank goodness she doesn’t read this blog on a regular basis). We have a dozen or so of those little cartridges with family videos of the kids, fun times, etc. Well, we never watch them because the requisite camcorder is shot. I found Affordable Video Solutions and they are transferring all that tape to DVDs. I will then edit them into some nice home movies. I think the wife and kids will be thrilled – can’t wait to see their faces on Christmas morning!

5. Love and Respect. What better gift to give to your spouse and children than your honest love and respect. You could give nothing else and they would still be truly blessed.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

1. Forget Democrat vs Republican. Since Medicare was enacted in 1965, politicians of all stripes have spent funds meant to cover tomorrow’s Medicare obligations on today’s “priorities.” Whether the money was spent on butter by Democrats or on guns by Republicans is irrelevant. It’s gone. Get over it.




2. Over the next 20 years 33 million baby boomers will enter the Medicare system and suck what marrow there is from its bones.




3. Medicare has an unfunded liability of $32 trillion meaning we need, and don’t have, that amount of money to pay for future Medicare claims.




4. Yes, Virginia, Medicare is bankrupt.




5. So, forget the uninsured. They are the excuse not the reason for health care reform. Without some other source politicians will have to take money from the special interests who keep them in office and use it to honor their obligation to Medicare recipients.

Separate in your mind health care reform into two parts:

Part I – Funding Medicare. If you were to read the news and see examples of the government making wise spending choices; tightening the belt as normal families do when money is scarce then maybe a case could be made for drastic action. But that’s not happening now. Drunk meet sailor.

The simplistic, even call it idealistic, answer to funding Medicare is for the government to reset its priorities and honor its commitments. Quit spending money on _________________ (enter your list of non-essential projects here).

Part II – Insurance Reform. Over the past year or so when politicians talked about “health care reform” everyday Americans understood them to mean “insurance reform” – new regulations to address the stories of uninsured people, expensive coverage, people who were denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions, rescissions, etc.

Here is a list of insurance reforms I would consider. Note that there are plenty of smart people out there, so I’d like to hear some constructive criticism of these ideas – and would welcome additional ones too.

• Guarantee issue individual health insurance. In a nutshell, insurers would have to take everyone no matter what medical conditions may exist. Insurers currently do this for group business. It is not practical, however, to have a person opt-out of insurance, wait until they get sick and then sign up for a policy as they enter the emergency room. There have to be some protections for insurers:




• Include an annual open enrollment period. A person could only enroll once a year. Maybe make it their month of birth. If you choose not to enroll you are uninsured until the next year’s open enrollment period. This reduces the opportunities of adverse selection from twelve months to one.




• Include a pre-existing condition provision that is offset by prior creditable coverage. A pre-existing condition would be one that was diagnosed or treated in the previous twelve months. After the policy has been in force for twelve months a claim could not be denied because it was pre-existing. So, yes, you will have stories of people denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition, but these will be reduced over time as the policies mature. This is currently done with group insurance.




• Make individual premiums tax deductible. If a person is covered under a group insurance plan they can pay for premiums with pre-tax dollars. This reduces the effective cost of $100 in premiums to maybe $65. Make this tax benefit available to people who purchase individual policies as well. This would go a long way in making coverage more affordable and accessible to many people.




• Allow people to buy policies from insurers in other states. In effect, this will cause states to make their policies more affordable by removing expensive state mandated benefits.




• Make Health Savings Account plans a more robust option. Especially for young people, HSA plans are an attractive alternative to traditional insurance. Imagine if such a plan was available in 1965. Many of the baby boomers who are about to hit Medicare would have a nice nest egg ready to address their upcoming medical expenses.




• Tort reform. There are plenty of fresh ideas out there that could address the high cost of the practice of defensive medicine while still preserving patient rights.

As I write this I hear reports that the Senate is about to unveil a measure with stiffer penalties on employers and a government-run public option. This public option is the proverbial camel’s nose to a single-payer system. We do live in interesting times, no? What are your thoughts?

To pay for the additional tens of thousands of tax dollars I will owe under an Obama presidency which of the following changes should I make?

Reduce my take-home pay.

Reduce time with my family / work harder to satisfy additional tax burden.

Hire only one new employee this next year, not the two as planned.

Eliminate the discretionary sponsorships I make to groups such as TAG, TiE, Startup Lounge / Riot / Weekend, etc.

Shut down my second software venture and not pay the programmer the $40,000 or so I had budgeted.

There are a number of other reasons I like McCain over Obama, but what I have outlined above is a true representation of how an Obama presidency will negatively impact the Atlanta start up community.

I do not mind paying my fair share of taxes (and I do), but my definition of “fair” differs greatly from Obama’s. And, a capitalist market delivers prosperity more efficiently than does government. As the saying goes, “When have you every gotten a job from a poor person?”

What do you think? Any options I have not considered?