Public obsession with Flat Tax

http://www.drnoie.com/drnoie.htmHerman Cain's standing in the polls for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination is rising. Many believe this popularity is primarily due to his “9-9-9” tax plan suggestion, which has become his signature issue. Ordinarily, flat tax proposals would not get much attention during presidential debates. Senator Bob Dole was the last political candidate who campaigned for a 15 percent flat tax during his 1996 bid for presidency. His flat tax did not raise much interest among voters. He eventually lost that election to Bill Clinton and is now mostly remembered for his battle with ED and endorsement of the drug Viagra than his flat tax.
A world of loss
A lot has changed in the past decade. A few ticking bombs have gone off in the same time period. In spring of 2001, the dot-com bubble officially burst. Many working people lost their retirement savings along with their trust in Wall Street establishments. On September 11 that same year Americans, along with many other nations, lost their sense of personal security. We realized that were not as safe as we once thought. On October 2007—following the worst financial meltdown our nation has seen since the Great Depression—we lost our faith in two other key institutions: banks and government.
Cain’s claim
Cain's 9-9-9 plan claims that it will level the taxation playing field by replacing the current complicated tax codes with an easy to understand plan. He also claims that his proposed plan will save us around $430 billion dollars a year. That is supposedly how much we spend to file our taxes each year. His plan seems simplistic, making it appealing to middle class Americans who are increasingly frustrated with the nation's labyrinthine tax system. There are a few financial experts who like his plan. But, a much longer list of economists say Cain’s plan would be a tax hike for the lower and middle class and a tax windfall for the wealthy.
The (boring) math
I decided to do the math myself. I found out that under current tax laws a family of four with an annual income of $50,000 are paying an average of $3,850 dollars in federal income taxes. Under Cain’s plan, they would be taxed at 9 percent or $4,500 dollars. In addition, they will pay 9 percent in federal sales tax on top of their existing state sales tax. For Texas that would be 17.25 percent combined sales tax on everything we buy. Simply put, the cost of everything will go up by 9 percent cross the board. The average family of four will have to cut back on their spending by 11 percent to compensate for this spending tax. On the other end of spectrum, Warren Buffet (who has graciously made his tax returns accessible) has to spend about 40 million dollars a year to pay the same income tax that he pays under current system. That is just not a realistic scenario.
Bottom line
Mr. Cain's plan sounds catchy and strikes a chord with many average citizens who are tired of not understanding how our tax system works. But, unfortunately the math is just not there. Governor Perry just revealed his proposed flat tax plan. His plan needs to be further researched before any conclusions are drawn. He might have found the magic formula—or maybe his campaign decided to capitalize on public distrust of the tax system as well.
My take
It is true that income in America is skewed toward the rich. But taxes are skewed far, far more in that direction. “The top five percent pays well over half the income taxes,” says economist Stephen Moore in The American Spectator. There are lots of loopholes in the tax code. But things are not as bad as people think. The Alternative Minimum Tax limits the amount of tax breaks an individual or corporation can receive.
Thousands of revisions and provisions have turned our tax system into a scary abyss. Most people simply don't understand or trust the fairness of the taxation process. I believe such mistrust is the root cause of "Occupy Wall Street" movements cross the country. It's hard to defend Cain's tax reform proposals. His plan is flawed and overall bizarre. But the momentum behind it—tax simplification and reform—is not.

When the Tides went down

 Warren Buffett once said, “You don’t know who is skinny dipping until the tides go down”.  Well, toward the end of 2008 financial tides did go down after years of prosperity. There are several theories about what caused the down turn. The leading theory appears to be the risky practices of mortgage lending institutes. I wondered how could such debacle happen at such large scale and why? So I begin to search for answers. I wanted to understand what conditions and decisions lead to this major tragedy. My mother taught me to always look through the rubbles of a bad experience and pick up the lessons that I just paid dearly for. Otherwise, she said, it would remain a net loss.

The bait:

In the 1990s banks learned to convert home loans and interest income from them into thousands of mortgage backed bonds and bond funds. It was not as profitable as if they kept the loans to maturity. But this way they were able recycle their assets more quickly. Plus, let’s not forget about the profit that comes from all the various origination and processing fees. Soon, the practice of lending money turned to practice of “lend, repackage, unload, and repeat. They even convinced AIG to insure these bonds. For this concept to work however, volume must increase. How does one increase the number of loans issued? By promoting, marketing, and lowering the requirements for lending. The down side of lowering requirement standards would be a higher default rate. Ordinary that would be a major drawback unless lending institutes pass it on to investors as well.  That was exactly what happened. They even categorized these bonds based on their risk potentials. 

The bubble:

The new concept appeared a win win situation. Lenders were able to recycle their assets more rapidly. More renters were able to realize the American dream of owning their own home. Builders were able to build more. Suppliers of the home material saw a sharp rise in orders. Realtors were able to sell more. It was almost too good to be true. Somehow a lot of smart people failed to factor in the demand and supply principle. The new lending practices created more demand for residential real estate (by design). The home prices started to go up sharply to keep up with the new artificially created demand. A bubble began to form. It continued to inflate due to constant increase in demand. In some states it turned into frenzy. People rushed to buy home before the prices went up even more. Lenders, which by now have become just loan processors, continued to lower the requirements and blindly accepted the new unrealistic appraisal values which were based mainly on recent sale prices.

The big bust:

It did not take long before a combination of overvalued housing market (which was moving much faster than average household income) and irresponsible lending practices created an unsustainable platform. When the ride was finally over and the housing prices finally peaked, the reality kicked in. Millions of people who purchased homes (that they couldn’t afford) in the hope that the upward trend will continue found themselves in a new position, upside down. Defaults were inevitable. It was simply a matter of time before this house of cards come down. As the foreclosures began, the security mortgage bonds and bond funds began losing value.

The big Bang:

Devaluation of the mortgage backed bonds spread the housing crisis to Wall Street and caused a massive financial institutes failure which lead to the largest financial rescue mission in recorded history. It led to devaluation of everyone’s stock, 401K, and retirement portfolio. It nearly brought the whole house down. Luckily we survived as we often do when faced with a natural or manmade disaster. The American Spirit and resiliency prevailed until the tides came back up again.

The Lesson:

We were reminded once again to always consult with our inner wisdom before making a major decision. Sometimes it is very difficult to ignore all the hype. Nonetheless, we must trust our instincts and common sense and not allow any external hype or rosy glasses influence our better judgment.

About the Author: Dr. Farid Noie  has been in private practice in the Bay Area since 1996. He is a Diplomate of International Congress of Oral Implantologists, Fellow of Academy ofGeneral Dentistry, and Assoc. Fellow of American Academy of Implant Dentistry. He has completed his surgical training at New York University as well as Medical University of South Carolina, Temple University and Wright State University School of Medicine. He completed his oral Anesthesiology training from University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

Are we smarter than Mother Nature?

     The arrival of dental implants has revolutionized the field of dentistry the same way that industrial revolution changed our daily life and made us efficient & productive beyond our wildest imaginations. I first became interested in dental implants in 1993. As I began my research, I soon realized that there were only a small handful of data available at the time. We finally have a real meaningful solution for replacing our lost teeth that closely resembles a natural tooth. Dental implants have been proven to be both durable and as comfortable as our natural teeth without the worries of getting cavity.  They make us look and feel good and confident. They can even improve our general systemic health.

     Needless to say with popularity comes gimmicky tag along(s). There is nothing wrong with new spin-offs that improve upon the original concept, so long as it is initiated and driven on real science not popular demand. Throughout the years I have seen these popular driven spin-offs come and go. There was once a dental implant type called “Blade implant” (Some very creative dentists even carved their names into these blades as their radiographic signature). Their design was driven from lack of required bone width for placement of dental implants so they decided to narrow the implants to fit thinned available bone. Another very imaginative spin-off actually inserted some long screws externally from under the chin to eliminate the need for bone to implant integration. Others include mini implants, short implants, etc. We now are able to re-grow the lost bone and remain true to natural tooth form and function.

     The latest Spin-off is called “All-on-4”. Its inventor, Dr Paulo Malo of Lisbon, Portugal decided to place the dental implants where it is convenient as opposed to where they should be placed for optimum force distribution. The back part of our jaw bone usually goes away faster than the front section. Dr. Malo decided to place two implants in the front area of each jaw where there is usually adequate bone and place the other two sideways at the end of front area while tilted sideway pointing toward the back of the jaw. These four dental implants are then connected together and supposed to replace fourteen of your natural teeth (hence the name “All on 4”). To top it off, he claims you can go ahead and chew on them that night.

    This concept is flawed for two major reasons. First, dental implants, like any other post, can tolerate compressive (vertical push) and tensile (pull) forces very well. But they should not be placed under sideways (Shear) forces, especially on the back of the jaw where jaw forces are at their highest. A vertical force over a tilted post (dental implant) translates the center of gravity away from the body of dental implant to surrounding bone. Bone cells simply can’t handle that kind of repeated force and will over the years resorbs the precious bone around the implant. Besides, no dental implant has been designed to be loaded sideways. It will eventually go away and leaves you worse off.

    Secondly, about placing them in today and chewing with them tonight or in an hour. To this date I have not seen any legitimate study that suggests applying load and pressure on the newly placed dental implant improves its success ratio. Bio-science suggests otherwise.  Bone cells go through several stages during the process of integration with dental implant including “Osteoclastic" (dying of the old bone cells) and Osteoblastic (growth of new bone cells) phases. Immobility and prevention of micro movement is crucial to the successful integration process. In my opinion there is no need for immediate loading of the dental implant. Transitional dental implants will achieve the same result by allowing you to chew immediately without compromising the integration process. They are relatively inexpensive and are well worth the investment. So before we all fly to Lisbon or Katy to get on all fours, let's ask ourselves if we would feel comfortable living in a house that is sitting on top of tilted “load bearing posts”? If the concept does not feel safe enough for your home then it can't be any different in your mouth.

Typical All-on-4 dental implant cas

my case, in function for over 5 years

 About the Author: Dr. Farid Noie  has been in private practice in the Bay Area since 1996. He is a Diplomate of International Congress of Oral Implantologists, Fellow of Academy ofGeneral Dentistry, and Assoc. Fellow of American Academy of Implant Dentistry. He has completed his surgical training at New York University as well as Medical University of South Carolina, Temple University and Wright State University School of Medicine. He completed his oral Anesthesiology training from University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

Why we kiss so many frogs?

     A few years ago the administrators of the Barron Prize for Young Heroes polled American teenagers to name their heroes. Superman and Spider man were named twice as often as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, or Abraham Lincoln. Rosa Parks wasn’t even mentioned. More than half named an athlete, a movie star, or a musician. One in ten named winners on American Idol as heroes and yes, Britney Spears was listed as a hero by some of our teenagers.

     On a separate event, not too long ago, the world witnessed the royal wedding of Prince William to a common girl next door, Kate Middleton. There was so much media coverage and public attention that one could not help but to be exposed to it. I think the royal wedding received more media coverage than any other major event since royal wedding of Prince Charles to another common girl, Diana. I wondered what created this much attention to these particular royal wedding? Why were we so fascinated by it? It couldn’t have been because of lifelong accomplishments of either William or Kate. Individually, neither one of them possesses any special characteristics that makes them special. The question is not whether it was all just another grand spectacle for public. The real question is why? Why do we love fairy tale and bed-time stories and believe in them over & over again? Why do women have such tendency to believe in prince charming?

Looking for prince charming is just another branch of our obsession with fictional bigger than life characters. I wondered:

• Why do we even need to look up to other men as heroes? 
• Why do we have a tendency to believe in “knight in shining armor” or other fictional heroes?
• Knowing very well that they are fictional, why so many of us substitute real heroes with comic book or fairy tale characters?

As children we learn partly by modeling others. So we start out idealizing our parents and ultimately along the way they (being just another flawed human) disappoint us in some ways. Other significant people in our life also eventually end up not living to our unrealistic childhood super human expectations.
 

As adults, believing in heroes, allows us to recapture that earlier time when we had this exquisite connection with our initial heroes, our parents without the disappointment part. The early model of a “bigger than life super human hero” goes back to Ancient Greek. Wikipedia defines a hero as:  “person, typically a man, who is admired for courage or noble qualities”. Greeks separated heroes  from ordinary people by making them divine or semi-divine. The Greek term for hero literally meant  someone who was semi-divine and born from one mortal and one divine parent.

Unfortunately, motion picture industry has come a long way since its early days of special effects. Thanks to computer Generated Imagery (CGI) and 3D technology, entertainment industry has  mastered the art of visual illusion. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for our sub consciousness to  separate real from fiction these days. This repeated exposure to alternate reality will eventually (if not already) dissolve the line between real & fiction all together. Public extravagant exhibition of royal wedding and other so called reality shows such as “Bachelor” and many others alike further solidify the believe in our children brain that fairy tale can happen to any of us if we just believe hard enough. That’s usually when frogs begin to look a lot like a Prince-in-Disguise. That’s when believing in fairy tale overcomes our common sense.

That’s when we start believing that ordinary flawed people such as Tiger wood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Berry Bond, and many others are more divine than the rest of us. Our relationship with these perfect princes and divine heroes is built on unrealistic expectations. We put them up on high pedestals even though we don’t really know them except through the eyes of camera. It would be a matter of time before they exhibit human like behavior and self-destruct since their real-life persona is often very much in contrast to their public image.

The best antidote to this phenomenon is to teach our children to become accepting of the limits of human nature. Washington and Jefferson held slaves; Martin Luther King was accused of philandering and plagiarizing, just countless others have had sex with someone they shouldn't, and so on. We need to choose heroes that are real separate out the things that make our heroes noteworthy, and forgive the shortcomings that blemish their heroic perfection. True, the false steps and frailties of heroic people make them more like us, and since most of us are not particularly heroic, that may seem to reduce the heroes' stature. But this dynamic pulls in the other direction as well: these magnificent spirits, these noble souls, amazingly, they are like us, they are human too. And perhaps, then, what was possible for them is possible for us. They stumbled, they wavered, they made fools of themselves - but nonetheless they rose and accomplished deeds of triumphant beauty. Perhaps we might do so too. Believing in fairy tale and divine heroes is too often just an excuse for sparing ourselves the effort.

This far thou shall go and no further

That was the first message that patriots delivered to British (red coats) army who was relentlessly in their pursuit from Boston to Philadelphia. Well, to be historically correct,they didn't actually deliver that message. They nailed it to a tree that was in a very visible location. Either way, for the first time, American patriots stood up and openly claimed this land as their own not king of England’s.

After exhausting several political options, King George III decided to make an example of these ungrateful American colonists. In his mind he felt completely justified. His royal army endured heavy casualty and expense to finally win the seven year war against French and native Indians to secure the colonies. All he wanted was to recover his cost by applying only 3 cents tax per pound to tea imports. But American colonists defied him in an act that was later called “the Boston Tea Party”. British Empire was no stranger to colony uprisings. They had gained plenty of experience in dealing with uprisings of Scottish and Irish in the past. They had the military muscle to shock and awe their subjects into loyalty and obedience. They had learned the best way to show them who is the boss is to stunt the opposition by throwing their biggest punches first.

The king send his three best and most experienced generals along with over four hundreds Battleships armed with thousands of long range cannons and tens of thousands of trained soldiers. The British Army was a skilled, well trained, well paid, and well equipped fighting machine. Patriots’ army on the other hand was assembled from under trained, under disciplined, farm workers and rag tags ranging from as young as nine or ten to sixty plus years of age. They were poor and usually hungry. They however were able to do the impossible and defeat the world's most powerful super power against all odds because they were defending their family and home turf. They made it clear that they would rather die than to obey an outsider.

On this 235th anniversary of Declarations of Independence we owe it to the founding fathers of this land we call home to learn from them and not allow for history to repeat. They taught us that military might is eventually no match for the will of locals who fight to protect their family and land.

There is an old saying that goes something like this: “any poker player can hold or fold. But only the great ones know when to hold and when to fold. Abraham Lincoln thought us that one can gain more respect by knowing when to fold as opposed to staying with a failed policy. I believe it is time for this great nation to commemorate its founding fathers by following their path and ideologies not just carving their faces into the stone and intentionally or not, create another tourist attraction. We must draw a line in the sand and declare that Americans will not be the invader again. We must never again send our young sons, daughters, spouses, friends, and fathers in the harms way unless there is a real need to shield us from a clear and imminent danger. This shield is painted with their blood and sweat. It should be given the respect that it deserves and never be used in vein.

History also supports this home turf theory. The Vietnam conflict is still a tender wound. Korean War was won, but, was it really? How come we still have to deal with “North” Korea as a hostile after half a century? How about Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan? Are we really making any friends in that part of the world?

I think it is time for sons of the patriots of the revolutionary war to stand as a nation and deliver a message to their leaders. The note shall say "we shall no longer tolerate the cost of trading innocent lives with oil or other precious commodities". Let's put the American ingenuity to work to find a cheaper and cleaner energy. The answer just might be over our head on a hot and "sunny" day. If sun can keep us warm and cozy ninety three million miles away then maybe nuclear fusion (if used safely) might be a good option to explore. Using nuclear fusion, sun generates more energy in less than a second that earth can use for thousands of years. It has been doing it consistently for billions of years and will continue to do so. After all, there are only a finite number of dead dinosaurs or vegetation that were buried sixty some million years ago suddenly before they got a chance to decompose properly.
We should use the power of Internet and social media and deliver an old message to the policy makers once again. "This far thou shall go and no further".

About the Author: Dr. Farid Noie  has been in private practice in the Bay Area since 1996. He is a Diplomate of International Congress of Oral Implantologists, Fellow of Academy ofGeneral Dentistry, and Assoc. Fellow of American Academy of Implant Dentistry. He has completed his surgical training at New York University as well as Medical University of South Carolina, Temple University and Wright State University School of Medicine. He completed his oral Anesthesiology training from University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.