Merck

Apparently the drug maker Merck has gotten busted for writing "research studies" and paying prominent doctors to publish them under their own names.

I am no basher of big pharma, I think they are important companies, and it is not fair to hang the dismal state of health care costs in America at their doorsteps.

I do think however that this is just another in a very long line of the consequences we are suffering from the Reagan revolution. Reagan told us that big government needed to "get out of the way" and let the marketplace and free enterprise thrive.

Well, this is what we get: a culture of corruption in business, cozy relationships between regulators and the industries they are supposed to oversee, no sense of responsibility for doing the people's business on the part of the people running governments agencies.

I fear America is heading in the direction of 3rd world countries: where greed, fear and corruption become the guiding principles.

I recently heard a report from an American living in China. The feeling there is of unrestricted optimism, that anything is possible, and that government is moving in the direction of being a force for the benefit of society.

Doesn't that sound like where we were fifty years ago?

Another report I heard from an American living in Thailand talked about how much people in Asia dislike travelling by air in America. They think it is uncomfortable, inconvenient and plagued by delays

Isn't that what we used to think about airplane travel outside the US?

What the hell has happened to us?

Spring

The weather finally got a little better this last weekend. Temperatures in the 60's. I got out our bicycles and my daughter and I went for a ride. She just learned to ride her 2-wheeler last summer so had to get used to it again. It only took about 10 minutes to remember all about steering and brakes and we were off.

She really did great and I can foresee a lot of bike riding this summer. I remember when I was a kid how much the world opened up for me when I learned how to ride my bike around the neighborhood.

Jobs and more

80,000 jobs lost in the US economy in the last reported month.

Almost 80% of the US population thinks the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Is there any real doubt as to which party is going to win the White House this year?

It is so painful to see the economy reeling this way. I had hoped to never see bad days like the 70's again, and it is especially unnerving to see widespread job losses.

Taxes

I did my taxes this weekend using TaxCut software. I have been using it for a few years and I like it. I think all of the major tax packages are equivalent functionally. I just use this one because it imports last years information easily and costs $39.95.

This is the first year I e-filed. It burns me that it costs $19.95 to file elctronically. I mean it actually saves the government money to have the information delivered in electronic form instead of having to pay for data entry. I did it because I have a pretty good refund coming and I would like to get it as early as I can. No way was I going to pay another $19.95 to e-file my state return though!

I don't get all worked up about taxes like a lot of people do. Republicans want to cut taxes, but not spending, so they end up with big deficits and user fees for stuff that used to be free, like entrance fees to National Parks, fees for airline security, more sin taxes to pay for public works projects.