A Modest Proposal

Japan Pension-Official Stabbings Revive Scandal of Lost Records
2008-11-19 15:34:48.770 GMT by Toko Sekiguchi and Sachiko Sakamaki (Bloomberg)

This is interesting too, regarding an earlier Bloomberg article about impecunious Japanese pensioners shoplifting in order to "enjoy" a few days or weeks of free room & board in jail. One needn't go so far as to commit homicide (i.e., this stabbing) to enjoy "Club Fed's" free room, board, health clubs, clothing, medical, and other benefits. I once considered writing "A Modest Proposal" a la Jonathan Swift's on this topic but feared someone might take it literally. You'd want to commit a federal crime as their facilities are more posh and financially certain: not paying taxes would be "poetic justice"! And nonviolent. Was the decision by Texas to defy GASB (earlier this year) to not capitalize OPEB in consideration that if they stop paying retiree health benefits then longevity costs will also decline? I suppose that's why I've railed so long & hard on the topic: such a "final solution" to a financial problem is abhorrent but, as in the UK (below) -- ``It seems like a money-saving exercise ... If a patient dies, tough'' -- perhaps inevitable once you can't "just raise taxes" anymore.

Cancer Patients Lose Shot at Longer Life in U.K. Cuts
Rosser, 57, was told the cost of Sutent, 3,140 pounds ($4,650) per treatment for his advanced kidney cancer, was too high for the NHS. … The U.K.'s National Health Service says that's not worth the expense. … `It's immoral,’ Rosser's wife, Jenny, said. `They resentencing him to die.'”

‘Just raise taxes’ just stopped working. Our "Brave New World" of OPEB cost containment.

JRB