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July 2, 2010

It's Friday!  

Quotable

- "Yesterday, the greatest question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater, perhaps, never was or will be decided among men. You will see in a few days a Declaration setting forth the causes which have impelled us to this mighty revolution, and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of God and man. ... It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this Continent to the other from this time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will triumph in that Day's Transaction." - John Adams' letter to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776

- "I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison, speech, Virginia Convention, 1788

- "Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves." - D.H. Lawrence, Classical American Literature, 1922 

Economy

- Freeing the market: Home shoppers who missed the April 30 deadline for a $8,000 housing tax credit could end up saving even more than $8,000, the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch reports. Some sellers are dropping their prices because buyers are harder to find now that the credit has expired. Builders and real-estate companies began offering promotions after the tax credit ended that, in many cases, are worth more than the credit. Interest rates have dropped enough since the credit deadline that, over the life of a loan, a homeowner could easily save more than the value of the credit. Source: Columbus Dispatch

- Nice work if you can find it I: Since the beginning of the recession (roughly January 2008), some 7.9 million jobs were lost in the private sector while 590,000 jobs were gained in the public one. And since the passage of the stimulus bill (February 2009), over 2.6 million private jobs were lost, but the government workforce grew by 400,000. Source: Mercatus Center

- Nice work if you can find it II: From 1990 to May 2010, private jobs in Georgia increased by 28 percent while government jobs increased by 32 percent, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since 2007, Georgia has lost 334,000 private jobs but gained 32,000 government jobs.  

Health

- Improving outcomes: A study published last year in The New England Journal of Medicine found one in five Medicare patients returns to the hospital within 30 days of being discharged. In 2004, these readmissions cost Medicare $17.4 billion. Project Boost (Better Outcomes for Older adults through Safe Transitions), a program developed by the Society of Hospital Medicine, provides hospitals with a tool kit of forms and procedures that standardize and enhance the discharge process. Atlanta's Piedmont Hospital, one of the first hospitals to use the Boost program, has reduced 30-day readmissions for patients under 70 years old to 3.97 percent, from 13.05 percent. Readmissions of older patients have fallen to 11.17 percent, from 15.9 percent. Source: New York Times 

Transportation

- A strong case can be made that true high-speed rail will eventually be necessary in the United States between major city-pairs separated by less than 300-400 miles, in order to relieve unacceptable levels of airport and air traffic congestion, according to C. Kenneth Orski, publisher of Innovation Newsbriefs. "In Europe, air service between Paris-Brussels (162 miles), Paris-Lyon (246 miles) and Cologne-Frankfurt (94 miles) has already been totally replaced by high-speed rail service. In the United States, there are seven heavily traveled corridors under 400 miles in length that could be logical candidates for high speed rail … But building even such a limited number of dedicated high-speed rail lines would require decades of a sustained national commitment spanning many administrations and requiring its own dedicated source of revenue outside the Highway Trust Fund. Nor is there any assurance that future presidents and future Congresses will share President Obama’s enthusiasm for high-speed rail and will not be distracted by other infrastructure priorities." Source: Innovation Newsbriefs

Have a great Independence Day weekend.

Kelly McCutchen

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