Okay posts on printing and Self-Publishing are going to have to wait once again. It seems that the last post, We Sure Swallowed the Health Care Lie, I seriously stirred the pot. If you go back and read my post and the attached comments, you will find that sentiments are all over the place. The truth is we don’t know what to do about the corporate Godzilla’s wreaking havoc in our lives. We know who they are, and there is plenty of finger pointing to go around, but our backs are against the wall and there isn’t a rescuer in sight.

Does this sound a tad dramatic? It is, but unless we see the monsters for what they really are we won’t muster the will to fight them. Tracy commented on my post, and I quote, “I emphatically agree with you regarding your views on health insurance…perhaps because I, too, am self-employed and have been for 31 years. My Blue Shield plan just increased about 3 months ago by 22% and is going up another 18% in December (when I enter a new age bracket). I worked in the housing industry and my income is down 90% while my health insurance will have increased 40%. I have been charging my health insurance premiums since January of this year because I am afraid to cancel it because, as you stated, it will be impossible to get health insurance then. Something has GOT to change!”

Tracy’s example is representative of the trouble many of us are finding ourselves in; let’s look at the the history of the unholy trio: US Congress, Health Insurance Companies, and the Financial Industry; and discover the careful step-by-step path that led us into this unconscionable position.

• 1920′s Health Insurance created by Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
• 1929 estimated annual average health care expense for American families totaled $108.00.
• 1933 Federal Government passes Glass-Steagall Act wherein “banks, brokerages, and insurance companies were effectively barred from entering each others’ industries, and investment banking and commercial banking were separated.” Post by Kitty Wampus
• 1940′s saw the entrance of commercial insurance companies into health insurance  after seeing the success of Blue Cross/Blue Shield (source EHNet).
• 1960 Health Care expense rose to an average of 6.6% of a family’s annual income. It was no longer a luxury–it was now a necessity.
• 1973 the last year middle-class and poor Americans saw an increase in real earnings–only the top 20% saw gain–the bottom 80% has been stagnant for 36 years.
• 1980 congress passed Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control which broadened lending powers and banks rushed into real estate lending and speculative lending.
• 1980 Ronald Reagan elected president, took office 1981 (note: Regan didn’t start banking deregulation).
• 1981 Economic Recovery Act spurred a boom in real estate.
• 1982 Garn-St.Germain Act authorized money market savings accounts in banks and savings and loans. Seriously undermining their security.
• 1999 President Clinton, Republicans agree to deregulation of US financial system effectively nullifying all of the protections of Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.
• 2001 Health care insurance premiums risen three times more than wages. With company health care the average person paid $2,827.00 including premiums and deductibles. Health Reform.Gov
• 2005 Bankruptcy laws changed to protect banks at the expense of customers. Banks who encouraged consumers to participate in reckless free-spending credit card lifestyles feared to face the results of their own actions.
• 2006 Average spending on health care including premiums and deductibles rose 30% in five years to $3,744.00. For those without company sponsored group insurance the costs were even more. HealthCare.gov
• 2008 ushered in the biggest financial failing since the Great Depression. US Government offers bailout money to head off economic collapse. Banks promise to renegotiate home mortgages, instead raise credit card interest rates by double or more

So here’s the bottom line as I see it:

1. The way to unimaginable wealth is to create and market a product that becomes a necessity, like cigarettes and cocaine. The health insurance industry did just that. How? By allowing costs to spiral up. Since medical providers have had unrestrained ability to charge outrageous fees, i.e. the ten dollar dose of Tylenol, ancillary costs and services have skyrocketed too. Who now can afford treatment for even simple procedures without insurance? Furthermore, should a policyholder contract an illness or suffer an injury while covered, their options of changing insurance companies becomes impossible. Pre-existing condition clauses keep people stuck. Drop your insurance with a pre-existing condition and you may never qualify for coverage again.
2. The financial industry has manipulated the government into lifting all of the protections that were implemented to prevent the collapse experienced during the Great Depression. What happened? Is it any surprise that the country is experiencing a deep recession? It is okay with the CEO’s because they take their bonuses whether the company makes money or not. It is the workforce and small businesses are hit hardest. Big banks are recovering nicely because of bailout money, higher credit card charges, and tougher bankruptcy laws.
3. People like my commenter, Tracy, find themselves charging their rising
   

   New & Improved Card

   health insurance costs on credit cards that can, and do, double interest and fees without restraint. If she can’t find another way to pay those usurious interest rates and outrageous policy premiums she will lose everything she has.

4. Congress, the health insurance, and financial industries have us just where they want us. We have become slaves of the system just as surely as blacks were plantation slaves over 200 years ago. If you want proof, just try to get away without paying income taxes. Go to a hospital without an insurance card. Refuse to pay exorbitant credit card fees. Do all of those things and see what happens.

What’s next, debtor’s prison?

Regular readers may have noticed that it has been a few days since I made a post. Please accept my apologies. I do have an excuse. My solution to battling  printing economic woes is to develop additional income streams. I reason that if my livelihood isn’t dependent on just one source, should one be down, the other streams can still keep my boat afloat. The problem is that I’ve spent thirty-five years developing the print broker income stream and barely three months working on the others, and since my other income ideas still revolve around printing, there is no guarantee that there will be any better payoff–is there?

There are thousands of financial gurus out there who promise to teach one, for a fee, how to make big bucks during an economic downturn. They have the secret and it’s always easy, fast, and guaranteed. Blah, blah, blah. The way you learn how to get rich is to buy what they are selling. You give them money, and they get rich. You can’t fault them. They deliver what was promised. With your money they do demonstrate the number one wealth building principle–get someone else to give you their money.

Heck, even in my own advertisement next to this blog I promise to reveal a secret that will teach printing buyers how to save money. It isn’t really a secret at all, but it does work. All of the marketing experts I’ve read say that you have to have some sort of hook to draw people in. Can I really teach methods to cut printing expenses? Yes, I believe that I can. So please forgive me if I use a little teaser to call attention to my message. All I’m attempting to do is utilize my long career in printing to help other people. If I can teach them a few techniques to help make smarter purchasing decisions, then I’ve provided a needed service. How do I know that it is needed? I meet people all of the time who have the responsibility of handling printing for their companies and they don’t even know the difference between digital and offset printing. If you don’t even know the basics you are in over your head. How many art and marketing students graduate with an understanding of printing? Not many, I can tell you. If the schools don’t teach it, how are they to learn?

So am I trying to present myself as a printing guru that will swoop in and give you a magic elixir that will fix all of your printing woes? Oh G_d, I hope not. I’m not flashy (just ask anyone who knows me), I don’t swoop, and I don’t promise anything I can’t deliver.

I hope you readers aren’t too bored by this point. I’m going somewhere with this train of thought and it isn’t just self-promotion, although it may sound like it. President Bill Clinton was quoted as saying, “Ah feel your pain.” In his position he wasn’t sharing the pain. He was above it. I have to confess that I am sharing your pain. My business is off too. My wife and I are in a position we haven’t been in for thirty years. We are struggling to make ends meet. We share your pain.

What are we doing about it? We are trying to implement some, and I hate to trivialize it with a cliche`, out-of-the-box thinking. We are attempting to establish multiple income streams and redefining our service. Would we have done this if we weren’t faced with the current difficulties? Nope. Adversity is the mother of invention, not to take anything away from Plato who said, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” And when the dust settles, what will the printing industry look like? Truly, I don’t know. I can make some guesses which may or may not be right, but I am optimistic about the future. Upheavals present challenges, challenges lead to new thinking, and new thinking leads to improvement. The printers who survive will be leaner, more efficient, and I hope, more prosperous. It’s not that that we have a choice. Innovate or die. That’s the only choice.