Off the Editor’s Desk – 2-4-2015

MORE DEBT!

I was reading the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper Monday morning, the front-page story was about President Obama’s new budget proposal. It calls for up to six trillion dollars of new debt, new taxes.

I could only wonder who is going to pay off that enormous debt and what the annual cost of interest will be on a debt that is near $25 trillion. Not only will your grandchildren, but your great-grandchildren and so on will have to find some way to face that challenge. I only hope that the Republican-controlled Congress will bounce that budget idea right down into the sewer.

I would like to touch on a couple of other items that crossed my desk this past week.

First is that 2014 was not so hot of a year, satellites confirm. Climate scientist Roy Spencer, PhD who is a climate scientist with impeccable credentials, says that 2014 was not close to being the warmest year since 1979 when satellites first started collecting data. Instead, satellites show 1998 and perhaps 2010 as having that distinction. Spencer concluded, “Abundant evidence that it was just as warm 1,000 and 2,000 years ago as it is today.”

In a news release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it was indicated that as the February 15 deadline to sign up approaches, HHS is encouraging Wisconsin consumers to check out their options for quality affordable coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace. As of January 16, 177,157 Wisconsin consumers selected or were reenrolled in Marketplace coverage, according to the news release.

Of those that selected a plan, 90 percent got financial assistance; 30 percent were under 35 years of age with 66 percent reenrolled.

Of those 177,157 Wisconsinites that enrolled, 125 had Glenwood City Zip Code addresses of 54013, 124 with Boyceville Zip Code of 54725. Colfax had 192, Elk Mound 195 and Wilson with 88. Amery had 354. Communities with less than 50 enrollees were not listed on the HHS web site. Wisconsin, with a population of over 5.4 million, has just over three percent enrolled in health marketplace.

I watched the Super Bowl game, which I figured would be won by Seattle, but again I was mistaken. But the gang style street fighting was one of the highlights of the game. It’s like going to a car race just to see an accident.

Thanks for reading! — Carlton