The Epidemic of Mental Illness: Why?

Marcia Angell

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jun/23/epidemic-mental-illness-why/

One more example of a set of made-up diseases created to justify hugely inappropriate prescription of very profitable drugs.

UNE 7, 2011, 6:00 AM

Health Care Costs and the Tax Burden

By BRUCE BARTLETT

Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served
on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul.

Last week I showed that total taxes at the federal level — individual and corporate income taxes, payroll taxes and so on — are at a 60-year low as a share of the broadest measure of income, the gross domestic product.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/health-care-costs-and-the-tax-burden/?pagemode=print

So much for the myth that Americans are over-taxed. Facts are such pesky things!

Where Wisdom Lives

By DAVID BROOKS

Sometimes life presents you with a basic philosophical choice. Americans are going to have to confront a giant one over the next several years.

It starts in the wonky world of Medicare. As presently constructed, Medicare is based on an open-ended fee-for-service system. The government pays providers each time they deliver a service. The more services they provide, the more money they get.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/opinion/07brooks.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

The comments on Brooks' column are very good and well worth reading.
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/opinion/07brooks.html