Bits Bucket for October 24, 2013
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The incidents of threats against (President Barack Obama) are greater than for any other president in modern times.”
Julian Bond on Wednesday, March 6th, 2013 in an interview
No evidence to support claim about threats against Obama
False
He’s the nation’s first African-American president. He’s infuriated many people with his policies on key issues, such as health care and taxes. He’s also a target of terrorists.
Because of some of these factors and others, some say the U.S. Secret Service has handled more death threats against President Barack Obama than anyone who’s sat in the Oval Office.
“The incidents of threats against (Obama) are greater than for any other president in modern times,” civil rights legend Julian Bond recently said on “The Colbert Report.”
PolitiFact Georgia received a request from a reader on Twitter to examine the accuracy of such claims. We tried to reach Bond, but our efforts were unsuccessful. We tried him through the American Program Bureau, a company that has arranged interviews and speeches for Bond. We emailed Bond at American University, where he is an adjunct professor in the School of Public Affairs. We called the university’s communications department, which said it would try to contact Bond for us.
Bond, 73, is the former chairman of the NAACP and a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He is a former Atlanta resident and member of the Georgia House of Representatives. Bond has taught college courses and was the narrator of the award-winning “Eyes on the Prize” television series about the civil rights movement.
Others have made similar claims about threats to Obama. And they seem to come from a single source.
A U.S. Secret Service spokesman told us the agency does not discuss the number of threats against any president. But the most recent director left some bread crumbs that we followed.
In August 2009, an author who’s written about the Secret Service estimated that the number of threats against Obama had increased by 400 percent in comparison with his White House predecessor, George W. Bush.
But that December, then-Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told a congressional committee that the number of threats against Obama had not — again, had not — increased by 400 percent.
“The threats right now … is the same level as it has been for the previous two presidents at this point in their administrations,” Sullivan said.
He told the committee he’d discuss specifics in private. The Secret Service doesn’t like to discuss threats against a president because it doesn’t want copycats to get any ideas.
Sullivan told U.S. News during an interview in March 2010 that the threat level had not increased since Obama became president. Sullivan retired last month.
In 2012, some news outlets reported that there had been a spike in threats against Obama. One report from WLS-TV, an ABC affiliate in Chicago, used the 400 percent increase figure that Sullivan had said was inaccurate. The station later added that it is believed that Obama is the most threatened president in U.S. history. But the report cited no sources.
PolitiFact has occasionally dealt with claims in which the federal government cannot discuss specifics. For example, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., claimed during the 2012 presidential campaign that GOP nominee Mitt Romney went 10 years without paying taxes. Reid said he got the information from a Romney business associate who wished to remain anonymous. Although the Internal Revenue Service can’t release Romney’s taxes without his permission, PolitiFact believed the burden of proof was on Reid since he made such a serious claim and rated it a Pants On Fire!
To recap, Bond said “the incidents of threats against (Obama) are greater than for any other president in modern times.”
But a former Secret Service director has twice said there has not been an increase. The Secret Service is, well, secret, so they won’t discuss the number of specific threats against Obama.
There’s no concrete evidence that Bond and others have produced to back up their claim.
We rate Bond’s claim False.
He’s young, blackish, and pretends to be liberal… of course he’s gonna get the old white gun-toting whacko’s knickers in a twist.
Biden was chosen for that purpose Julian……
the horror of President Biden…
To recap, Bond said “the incidents of threats against (Obama) are greater than for any other president in modern times.”
But a former Secret Service director has twice said there has not been an increase.
Who is one to believe on this issue? The head of a government organization called The Secret Service that has an agenda or a highly respected investigative journalists with “unparalleled access” to top players in government law enforcement agencies?
Since Mr Obama took office, the rate of threats against the president has increased 400 per cent from the 3,000 a year or so under President George W. Bush, according to Ronald Kessler, author of In the President’s Secret Service. telegraph . co . uk
From the ultra-right Washington Times on Ronald Kessler:
“Ronald Kessler is a veteran Washington-based investigative journalist on national security. His unparalleled access to top players in America’s counterterrorism campaign allowed him a rare glimpse into their tradecraft, making The Terrorist Watch a riveting account.”
Since leaving the Washington Post, Kessler has authored 19 nonfiction books on intelligence and current affairs. Five of his books reached the hardcover nonfiction New York Times Best Seller list: The Secrets of the FBI (2011), In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect (2009), described by USA Today as “the inside scoop on those stern-faced guys who protect the president,” Laura Bush (2006), a biography of the first lady; A Matter of Character (2004), an admiring look at George W. Bush’s presidency; and Inside the White House (1995), a behind-the-scenes expose of presidencies from Lyndon B. Johnson to Bill Clinton..”[8]
…….Kessler’s book, In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect, was described by USA Today as a “fascinating exposé… high-energy read… amusing, saucy, often disturbing anecdotes about the VIPs the Secret Service has protected and still protects… [accounts come] directly from current and retired agents (most identified by name, to Kessler’s credit)... Balancing the sordid tales are the kinder stories of presidential humanity… [Kessler is a] respected journalist and former Washington Post reporter… wiki
@ closer
ok, you asked for something interesting at the beginning. it’s interesting that you couldn’t answer this last night. i guess it takes a little time to get the spin right. you have to do a little conniving in order to get a good spin. takes a little time. you’ve had your time, so let’s see your spin, closer.
===========================
Poor folk are gonna see doctors and stuff.
ooops.. comrade closer, are you lying again?
you don’t mind if i paste an address or two for you, do you closer?
====
Health plans are sending hundreds of thousands of cancellation letters to people who buy their own coverage, frustrating some consumers who want to keep what they have and forcing others to buy more costly policies.
Florida Blue, for example, is terminating about 300,000 policies, about 80 percent of its individual policies in the state. Kaiser Permanente in California has sent notices to 160,000 people – about half of its individual business in the state.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2013/October/21/cancellation-notices-health-insurance.aspx
====
(CBS News) CBS News has uncovered a serious pricing problem with HealthCare.gov. It stems from the Obama administration’s efforts to improve its health care website. A new online feature can dramatically underestimate the cost of insurance.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57608843/healthcare.gov-pricing-feature-can-be-off-the-mark/
====
oprah no likey either..
Talk-Show Queen Oprah Turns Her Back On Obama; Refuses to Endorse ObamaCare
and this
Oblivious Obama totally clueless of ObamaCare troubles, Sebelius asserts: By Andrew Malcolm
no links to the last two. just use your paste function comrade closer, to find them in google. you’re good at pasting.
looks like lots of poor folks aren’t going to be able to afford obamacare, comrade closer.
looks like lots of poor folks aren’t going to be able to afford obamacare, comrade closer.
I didn’t answer yesterday because I thought the answer was obvious Dr. Goebbles, when you read the article. Of course there is going to be a shake-up at the beginning of the game-changing ACA. Everyone knew that. But there is no doubt that more poor-folk and regular folk will have health-care as Obamacare kicks in in the next couple years. Most of those cancellations are for junk insurance policies that don’t cover much anyway. Read the article.
“the main reason insurers offer is that the policies fall short of what the Affordable Care Act requires….By all accounts, the new policies will offer consumers better coverage, in some cases, for comparable cost — especially after the inclusion of federal subsidies for those who qualify”
Those on the right opposing ACA are kind of stupid. It was originally a Repub plan, developed by the right and first implemented by a Repub governor. If our health-care system implodes, IMO we will get a much more socialistic health-care system that the right will hate much more than the ACA. Pushing for ACA to fail by those on the right is a fool’s errand. The ship has sailed. Near universal coverage (by any means) is the new normal in the USA.
Cherry-picking a few articles pointing out a few “failures” of the law even before it started is not going to put that genie back in the bottle. But if it makes you feel good, do it.
Of course there is going to be a shake-up at the beginning of the game-changing ACA. Everyone knew that.
sure, it’s gonna get better! watch as the news continues to roll in comrade closer!
But there is no doubt that more poor-folk and regular folk will have health-care as Obamacare kicks in in the next couple years.
false, but even if it’s true, what are you gonna do about the people who are dying now, closer? this whole fiasco is a ‘glitch’ like the titanic hitting the iceberg was a glitch.
Most of those cancellations are for junk insurance policies that don’t cover much anyway.
mighty big of you to decide for other people, closer.
Those on the right opposing ACA are kind of stupid.
but not as stupid as those on the left who were for it.
It was originally a Repub plan, developed by the right and first implemented by a Repub governor.
except that was a state plan. at least you had the option to leave the state if you didn’t like it. on top of that, romney is a republican LIBERAL. still, he would have been 100s of times better than obama.
If our health-care system implodes, IMO we will get a much more socialistic health-care system that the right will hate much more than the ACA.
this was the liberal plan all along. just ask valerie jarret. you know, the iranian that really runs this country.
Pushing for ACA to fail by those on the right is a fool’s errand.
it unworkable comrade! this is part of the plan. it would fail no matter what.
The ship has sailed. Near universal coverage (by any means) is the new normal in the USA.
yes comrade, i fear you are correct on this one. it will take a miracle to stop it.
Cherry-picking a few articles pointing out a few “failures” of the law even before it started is not going to put that genie back in the bottle.
YOU are griping about someone cherry-picking articles?? ba da boom! good one comrade closer.
is a ‘glitch’ like the titanic hitting the iceberg was a glitch.
You lost me there. You got to step up your game if we’re going to be a comedy team - Yyou setting up the jokes by saying the dumbest stuff with a straight face and me delivering the punch line.
They both have a great ring! I can’t decide which would look better on a Vegas billboard.
“Now appearing/Sold out”
Comrade Closer and Dr. Goebbels
or
Dr. Goebbels and Comrade Closer
You lost me there.
i know it’s difficult for you, but do try to follow along. you get lost so easily.
Comrade Closer and Dr. Goebbels
or
Dr. Goebbels and Comrade Closer
but comrade, you said we were a team, not me. comrade is an appropriate word for a communist team member.
and you identified yourself as ‘closer’. i didn’t name you, you did. remember closer?
but if you want identify me as someone else, fine. i don’t mind. you chose your own identity komrade closer.
you said we were a team,
Comrade Closer and Dr. Goebbels
or
Dr. Goebbels and Comrade Closer
I can see we already have a problem deciding on the name.
Of course Comrade Closer would let the people decide but Dr. Goebbels would have to defer to his Führer.
(ba daa bump!)
And if we’re going to be a comedy team, you still need to say all the dumb right-wing/Rand propaganda stuff that you do, but try to say it in a more light-hearted way - less anger. A lot of what you write comes off like your writing it through gritted teeth and your head is about to explode.
But I’m tellin’ ya, we’ve got a future!
Dr. Goebbels would have to defer to his Führer.
if you mean me, i don’t defer to anyone comrade.
And if we’re going to be a comedy team, you still need to say all the dumb right-wing/Rand propaganda stuff that you do, but try to say it in a more light-hearted way - less anger.
the right wing isn’t far enough to the right for me. that’s why i’m a registered independent, not a republican. nearly all pubs are left wingers, i’m not. and i’m not angry comrade, i’m quite happy now. anger? maybe later closer.
A lot of what you write comes off like your writing it through gritted teeth and your head is about to explode.
you need to get a new meter to measure things with, comrade.
But I’m tellin’ ya, we’ve got a future!
i think so too! congrats on the name you picked for yourself!
“the right wing isn’t far enough to the right for me”
Joseph Goebbels, 1932
false quote comrade. hitler was a national SOCIALIST. he was a lefty, not a right winger. that he was a right winger is a myth started by the lefties to try to give the righties a bad name. and as usual, many fools like you believed them, comrade closer.
hitler was..a lefty…that he was a right winger is a myth….
Dang.
You actually can tell some funny jokes too!
(But you’re the “straight man” remember?)
You actually can tell some funny jokes too!
no joke comrade. if you say he’s right winger, prove it. you can’t prove it closer, and you know. he was a lefty just like you comrade.
hitler was a national SOCIALIST. he was a lefty, not a right winger.
Now you just made a fool of yourself. National Socialism is Fascism. One of the reasons German businessmen supported Hitler is because they were terrified of a Communist uprising in Germany. Hitler a lefty? Oh please. He was best buds with Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco: A Fascist club if there ever was one.
no joke comrade. if you say he’s right winger, prove it. you can’t prove it closer, and you know. he was a lefty just like you comrade.
from wikipedia:
“Nazism, or National Socialism in full (German: Nationalsozialismus), is the ideology and practice associated with the 20th-century German Nazi Party and state as well as other related far-right groups. ”
“Prior to the emergence of the Nazi Party, other right-wing figures had argued for a nationalist recasting of “socialism”, as a reactionary alternative to both internationalist Marxist socialism and capitalism.”
(Hitler) was a lefty just like you comrade.
You’re too funny today Dr Goebbels!
“The Nazis or National Socialists started in 1919 as a right wing, racist, militaristic working-class, lower-middle class organization. Hitler tells us in Mein Kampf that he picked the name in order to confuse members of the German Socialist, Marxist and Communist parties, or at least steal potential membership from them. At this time, the German Left was the most powerful left-wing force throughout Europe outside Russia. Throughout much of the Weimar Republic, the Left Wing was dominant and the Right wing was in retreat. The highly conservative, right wing and reactionary state, Bavaria, even became a Soviet Republic for a limited period of time in 1919.
2.
The Nazis operated on the right-wing of the political spectrum. Hitler clearly admits this in numerous places in Mein Kampf. His earliest allies were members of the radical right wing German nationalist movement and also conservatives.
Men such as Ludendorff, Von Pappen, Hindenburg and the like were all conservative and/or right-wing nationalists and/or monarchists. They all hated eachother on a personal level, as all politicians often do, but they shared a common goal: the elimination of socialism, the preservation of Germany’s class system and the recreation of Germany’s militaristic culture and/or economy.
In no way did the Nazi Party operate within, or come from, the liberal or Leftist political tradition in either Germany, or any other country for that matter. Nobody at the time would have thought so, either. Hitler was a rightwing extremist trying to “cross-over” and win members of the radical middle, as well as convert a sufficient minority of folks on the Left. This does not make him a Leftist.”
http://www.open.salon.com/blog/rw005g/2010/09/12/was_hitler_really_a_socialist
Now you just made a fool of yourself.
no, you’ve made a fool of yourself for not knowing that fascism is a form of socialism. they all spring from a fundamental place. the urge to extort and control people.
One of the reasons German businessmen supported Hitler is because they were terrified of a Communist uprising in Germany.
correct. so they gave up having total control of their businesses and paid their tribute to hitler. better than having the state completely control them. or so they thought. turns out it was still hell on earth for them.
Hitler a lefty? Oh please.
you think this proves he was a rightie? hitler was a national socialist. he identified himself as such. nowhere did he embrace conservative ideals.
He was best buds with Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco: A Fascist club if there ever was one.
yes, and fascism is a leftist ideology.
“Nazism, or National Socialism in full (German: Nationalsozialismus), is the ideology and practice associated with the 20th-century German Nazi Party and state as well as other related far-right groups. ”>/b>
a false association promulgated by the left. those who don’t know it are in danger of repeating it.
“Prior to the emergence of the Nazi Party, other right-wing figures had argued for a nationalist recasting of “socialism”, as a reactionary alternative to both internationalist Marxist socialism and capitalism.”
it was left wing. yes, it was a reaction to marxism and communism. but it was a left wing reaction that the left tried to paint as right.
So many pigeons and only two holes. So nazis were right, soviets were left. Where does a anti-war libertarian fit in?
There is no right or left. Political views are too varied and complex to be categorized by an artificial, two dimensional model.
Political views are too varied and complex to be categorized by an artificial, two dimensional model.
we do need to agree on definitions. and i agree that there are many due to misinformation.
for instance, many think that having religious political goals like being prolife are conservative. i see them as being socialistic because they are asking big government to intervene on their behalf.
i am for freedom. individual freedom, not anarchy. the constitution isn’t perfect, but it comes closer to perfection than any other country’s political system. therefore i’m pro constitution. fiscal conservatism naturally goes with this. i’m for not interfering in other countries unless we’re attacked. and i’m for free market capitalism because it’s the only thing that creates the wealth and prosperity that makes all our lives better. i have no religious agenda. all that together makes me conservative.
You’re too funny today Dr Goebbels!
not surprising that you’d post some false left wing drivel from solon.com
you still haven’t explained how fascism is right wing. you won’t be able to either, because it’s leftist, the same as hitler.
‘we do need to agree on definitions’
But we never do. So what’s the point of using terms like left and right? To polarize and over-simplify the issues?
What’s the left position on illegal immigration? Because I see people on “both” sides of the aisle in more than one camp. How about military intervention outside the country? It’s interesting that all recent congresses and presidents are all for that. So where does opposition to military intervention fall, left or right?
I’ll offer a guess; when something isn’t approved of by those who decide what’s left or right, it’s crazy talk! You can’t legalize pot, man, didn’t you see reefer madness? Is there really a left/right position on homosexuality? How do you explain Lindsey Graham?
But we never do. So what’s the point of using terms like left and right? To polarize and over-simplify the issues?
i want to be polarized from socialists/communists. we will lose our freedom completely if we don’t fight them.
What’s the left position on illegal immigration?
they’re obviously for it. they want the invaders for votes. the establishment pubs want them to satisfy their business backers.
Because I see people on “both” sides of the aisle in more than one camp.
because for the most part there’s really only one isle.
How about military intervention outside the country?
true conservatives are against it for many reasons. tell me if you want me to go into a few of them.
It’s interesting that all recent congresses and presidents are all for that.
they are on the left no matter what party they claim to be from.
So where does opposition to military intervention fall, left or right?
conservatives are against intervention in another country. they are for dismantling most if not all the bases around the world. you can claim to be a conservative, but unless you hold to principle, you are not.
I’ll offer a guess; when something isn’t approved of by those who decide what’s left or right, it’s crazy talk!
there are online tests that can tell you where you stand politically. i’ve already taken a few. i’m very conservative.
You can’t legalize pot, man, didn’t you see reefer madness?
outlawing drugs was very left wing.
Is there really a left/right position on homosexuality?
it is a conservative position to live and let live. that principle rests on the golden rule.
How do you explain Lindsey Graham?
rino. not very conservative.
But we never do. So what’s the point of using terms like left and right?
From reading this thread, I see that people have different definitions for the terms. I now understand that for TJ, left means totalitarianism and right means free democracies. Unfortunately that is not the classical definition. The thing is that there are both left and right wing dictatorships, just as there are also left and right wing democracies.
i want to be polarized from socialists/communists. we will lose our freedom completely if we don’t fight them.
I think you just proved Ben’s point…The number of actual socialists/communists is probably on the order of the number of separatists/cultists.
For most people I know personally, where they fall on the scale depends solely on the particular issue being discussed.
On healthcare, education, and the environment I lean toward socialism. On foreign wars, gun ownership (mostly due to statistical analysis/correlation/logic), (freedom of) religion, illegal immigration, and other things I lean much the other way.
Alas, the bipolar, black/white, us/them way of thinking wins out because it’s easier for the simpleton to think that way.
had the option to leave the state
I’ve just got to chime in on this one. There might be good reasons for leaving things at the state level, but this is about the dumbest defense of states’ rights there is. So, if I was born and raised in said state and, perhaps, am dependent on my friends and family in said state, now I can just up and move? Maybe we should make it county rights?
So, if I was born and raised in said state and, perhaps, am dependent on my friends and family in said state, now I can just up and move?
no one said it would be easy. but if you want to leave bad enough, you can.
“Maybe we should make it county rights?”
You’re getting better and better at making arguments for more localized government all the time sleepless!
I didn’t know I had a history…
The point is it makes more sense either at a federal level or at something less than the state level, depending on the specific issue.
As someone noted recently, some things (environmental abuse, for example) don’t observe state borders. As such, it would make sense to be handled at the federal level.
It might make sense to be overseen at the federal level, but mostly it makes sense to operate on the local level…
Good point. Agreed.
It’s the “if you don’t like it you can leave” idea of the state’s rightists I don’t like.
I like being able to leave a state/county much better than I would like having to leave the USA… I think that’s all people are trying to say with that tack on things…
yes, and fascism is a leftist ideology.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the definition of socialism is:
: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2
a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3
: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done
See socialism defined for English-language learners »
See socialism defined for kids »
In neither Nazism nor generic Fascism do the above apply. Fascism is in direct opposition to Socialism, and as Rio pointed out, Hitler adopted the name socialism to confuse his opponents.
Show us a credible source that says that Fascism is leftist and socialist.
all that together makes me conservative.
It is possible to be “conservative” without being “right wing”.
false left wing drivel from solon.com
Counter the facts in the story, not the source. Putting down the source while ignoring the facts is a false argument ie “genetic fallacy”. It gets no points in formal debate. (It makes the debater look kinda dumb too.)
You can’t counter the facts in that story because Hitler was a right wing fascist. The facts of history prove it. Hitler says in Mein Kampf that he picked the name (National Socialism) in order to confuse the ignorant…………… Looks like it worked with you!
badaboom! You just keep settin’ me up for the punchline!
The genetic fallacy, also known as fallacy of origins, fallacy of virtue,[1] is a fallacy of irrelevance where a conclusion is suggested based solely on something or someone’s origin rather than its current meaning or context. This overlooks any difference to be found in the present situation, typically transferring the positive or negative esteem from the earlier context.
The fallacy therefore fails to assess the claim on its merit. The first criterion of a good argument is that the premises must have bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim in question.[2] Genetic accounts of an issue may be true, and they may help illuminate the reasons why the issue has assumed its present form, but they are irrelevant to its merits.[3] wiki
I like being able to leave a state/county much better than I would like having to leave the USA…
But this to me is mostly hyperbole. And where would you go if it got *that* bad?
If it got *that* bad and it was possible for states to arrange things however they wanted, it would not be *that* bad everywhere. And people would vote with their feet (and a jalopy full of extended family if necessary) to get to where they could make a living.
I think he’s saying the opposite; that everything would be controlled by the feds/no ability for the states to do anything. If that’s the case, what non-”socialist” country would you choose?
its not hyperbole.. people are leaving California in droves currently and heading to Texas. They are avoiding state and county zoning and tax laws in CA in favor of Texas. Healthcare would just be one more reason people left CA.
Leaving the country, mathguy. You said you’d rather leave a state than the country. Nugent. One of the Baldwins. Didn’t they both say they’d leave the country if the other guy won? And neither one did. Hyperbole.
If we gave the feds full control and if it got *that* bad, what country would you leave for?
I’ve pretty thoroughly enjoyed my time in Costa Rica, Panama, and Mexico. Have extended family in Honduras, but I didn’t like the security problems as much.. I would definitely consider austrailia, new zealand, thailand, singapore, and pretty much any south pacific island chain that isn’t tiny. The only things keeping me in california now are surf + family. As a doctor/engineer combo family, my wife and I can pretty much move where we want. 50% tax rates DO influence us to consider the GTFO of CA option… Hawaii offers marginally lower tax rates, but significantly higher COL.
Everyone is always so negative about the pull yourself up by your bootstraps people… No one can do that.. it’s an impossibility today. Then they just screw over those of us who are working hard to actually do it. People keep talking about how we shouldn’t vote against our own self interest… why do we tax the engineers, doctors, and other professionals with successful careers at 50% then? These are the people making our lives better. Why don’t we just put the taxation back onto corporations, and free the working and professional classes from personal income tax… Just make a flat 25% tax on all wages paid that the corporations (or small businesses) pay and are responsible for paperwork on… Capital gains tax can then also be set to 25% so there is no preference for a company to pay salary vs dividends or stock.. This will eliminate 95% of IRS rules, personal income tax exemptions, tax credits, wealth based tax loopholes, paranoia about filing or making mistakes on personal income taxes, … the list goes on..
why do we tax the engineers, doctors, and other professionals with successful careers at 50% then?
Because we’re taxing the Mitt Romney’s at 14%.
So why don’t you focus on fixing that instead of screwing with the healthcare I have that works?
Aren’t most of those countries at least as “socialist” as the US?
Therein lies my point. What do you envision being so bad that you’d go to countries that you know today to be as socialist or more than the US?
But I agree on the South Pacific island idea…if you could get there.
So why don’t you focus on fixing that instead of screwing with the healthcare I have that works?
“my health-care that works”
Me, me, me and and a wife MD. (hey that rhymes)
I’ll put 50 million Americans before that any day but I didn’t touch your precious health-care and Obama probably didn’t either.
“Therein lies my point. What do you envision being so bad that you’d go to countries that you know today to be as socialist or more than the US?”
Why would I stay in the US if it was the same as other countries and I could live in a tropical paradise?
Why would I stay in the US if it was the same as other countries and I could live in a tropical paradise?
For most Americans who have family, friends, culture etc, there is no “tropical paradise”.
Yea, maybe for a week, a month, a year, maybe 2 but 90% will not find it a “paradise” after much more. A 3 week Tahiti vacation does not count.
There is no “paradise” or “paradise” can be found anywhere if one adjusts his mind to be so.
Why would I stay in the US if it was the same as other countries and I could live in a tropical paradise?
Well, duh.
But if oppression is okay as long as the sun’s out wouldn’t San Diego be more convenient?
Kaiser Permanente in California was our choice for individual coverage. Every year the bill got bumped up by at least $150 until we could no longer afford it. IIRC, it hit close to $1,300 a mo for two adults. That’s insane. The Glaucoma diagnosis was post sign up. The eyeball surgery and care was top notch. The rest stunk. Way too many gatekeepers and many locations practiced antiquated medicine.
I found a great eye clinic (up to date) at fair prices by calling UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Clinic. Great folks. USC wasn’t as helpful, btw.
TJ, did you see this part of the Kaiser article:
The main reason insurers offer is that the policies fall short of what the Affordable Care Act requires starting Jan. 1. Most are ending policies sold after the law passed in March 2010. At least a few are cancelling plans sold to people with pre-existing medical conditions.
By all accounts, the new policies will offer consumers better coverage, in some cases, for comparable cost — especially after the inclusion of federal subsidies for those who qualify. The law requires policies sold in the individual market to cover 10 “essential” benefits, such as prescription drugs, mental health treatment and maternity care. In addition, insurers cannot reject people with medical problems or charge them higher prices. The policies must also cap consumers’ annual expenses at levels lower than many plans sold before the new rules.
At least a few are cancelling plans sold to people with pre-existing medical conditions.
“at least a few”.. big deal. just watch this whole fiasco implode in slow motion.
It was this sentence that was key.
By all accounts, the new policies will offer consumers better coverage, in some cases, for comparable cost — especially after the inclusion of federal subsidies for those who qualify.
in some cases, for comparable cost
and in most, not.
you won’t believe how bad this will get. most will be begging to get rid of obamacare. single payer in the wings.. then the real fun begins. many canadians would have died if they couldn’t have come to the USA for medical help. where will they go when we become like them? where will we go?
you won’t believe how bad this will get. most will be begging to get rid of obamacare.
You’re making about a prediction. When will this happen? When will most people beg to get rid of Obamacare?
When will most people beg to get rid of Obamacare?
shortly after it becomes fully implemented which is supposed to be sometime in 2016 (i believe). until then it will probably be just many, not most.
“where will we go?”
Before Obamacare, we have already seen medical tourism to India, Costa Rica, and other places by people who could not afford care in America.
Good, let’s all remember to meet back here in 2016 to see how that pans out.
Also, regarding Canada, can you actually find any support for your statement that “many canadians would have died if they couldn’t have come to the USA for medical help? ” My guess is that the number is quite small.
On the other hand, here’s an article that mentions a study estimating that 18,000 Americans die every year due to lack of health insurance.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/healthcare/2002-05-22-insurance-deaths.htm
Finally, here’s an idea for you. When we establish a single payer plan, let’s not imitate Canada. Let’s just extend our existing Medicare system to cover every American.
We should really have free infectious disease clinics on every street corner to supply free flu shots for anyone who wants one. Highly contagious diseases require treatment of the entire population, regardless of immigration status or ability to pay.
Tuberculosis is making a comeback among poor and immigrant people.
Wisconsin, July 2013
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/07/18/200871130/tuberculosis-outbreak-shakes-wisconsin-city
Los Angeles, February 2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/22/us-tuberculosis-losangeles-idUSBRE91L13Z20130222
Jacksonville, Florida, 2012
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional/worst-tb-outbreakin-20-years-kept-secret/nPpLs/
Illinois, 2007-2011
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6111a3.htm
many canadians would have died if they couldn’t have come to the USA for medical help.
Seriously? Oy vey!
At the risk of being viewed as a screeching harpy, I will offer my hypothesis again.
Hypothesis: The desired outcome to the dilemma of the Nation’s revenue vs. funding crisis is to reduce the median age by four years (present day). Reducing median age solves jobs, Medicare and Social Security funding crises.
The outcome is attained with a policy decision, now playing out in slow-mo.
The outcome will manifest over the course of our lifetimes, despite a generational recession.
U read it on Ben’s Blog furst.
Who’s trying to reduce the median wage and how are they trying to do that?
median age, that is
It’s getting harder and harder to find a housing post here on tj’s obamacare blog these days.
When did “flippers” become “investors?” So you slap on some paint and fresh carpet, you jack the price up 40% from what you paid 90 days ago and now you’re an “investor?” Unbelievable what passes for financial journalism these days.
Flippers are speculators. Nothing more, nothing less. The value these people add to the homes they flip is nowhere near the price appreciation they seek. Rant, rant, rant…
And speculators should be called out on it at every opportunity. But the financial media will never do that. Maybe they used to, I don’t know, my experience begins in the bubble once it became the norm to encourage speculation.
Call it for what it is. I think they have tried to morph “flipper” into kind of a cutesy quirky headstrong younger brother, who does his own thing, but also usually ends up making out.
Thank you for actually getting us back to talking about housing. To the rest of you arguing politics, Obamacare, etc please take it somewhere else. And please read the title of the blog where the word HOUSING is prominent.
As others have pointed out, this is the place for off-topic conversation, which the blog owner takes part in as well. Besides, these things are all related. Some argue that w/govt out of housing and healthcare, both would be more affordable. Maybe. But one thing is for sure: Unaffordable healthcare makes for people who are either uninsured, or who are paying more than they can really afford for health insurance, which affects how much they can pay for rent, or a mortgage. Similarly, those paying more in rent or on a mortgage than they really should may opt for no health insurance to make it work. One big medical emergency, goodbye home. I’m not arguing one way or the other here as I only want to point out why many seemingly off-topic discussions are very appropriate, even if Ben actively discouraged them, which he doesn’t.
Yes, I know all that - I’ve been coming here for years. I’m just saying it’s getting a bit excessive.
“Unbelievable what passes for financial journalism these days.”
Write them and they will come.
I’ve said this before:
Mark Twain, in his book “Roughing It”, told of his experiences as a journalist in Virginia City during the Comstock Lode gold/silver rush era about how he would write some VERY favorable articles (and would receive free some company stock in return) about some of the mining companies operating nearby, and these articles would be circulated about a few thousands of miles away in the financial district on the East coast where they would be utilized as “supporting evidence” about the wonders of investing in some of the mining companies that he wrote about.
The big money wasn’t made by these small companies by mining the ore, the big money was made by selling the stock.
This happened some hundred and fifty years ago and, IMO, not much has changed.
dot.com
Mark Twain wrote about how a mining company officials would spend most of the day selecting a “representive sample” of ore to be assayed and the assayer would then annoint this sample with his certification and his blessing about the richness of ALL the ore in the mine that this sample represented.
This sample of ore represented the richness of the entire mine just as a RE comp represents the richness of an entire neighborhood, which means if you can control the stated value of the sample - whether the sample is a chunk of ore or a RE comp - then you can control the value of the entire entity of what the sample represents.
Pay a higher and higher price for a RE comp and - presto! - the value of the entire neighborhood goes up. And if you happen to own a lot of houses in this neighborhood then - just like magic - the values of all the houses you own also go up.
The locals who live in the neighborhood may balk a bit at all this because they can see first hand what is what, but those “investors” who live some distance away aren’t there to see things first hand so they have to rely on others to supply them with the needed info, which is where the bought-and-paid-for MSM comes into play.
IMHO.
But then inventory increases in the neighborhood based on houses being put on the market by owners who were underwater until the comps rose. And the inventory increases even more when flippers who caught on and bought somewhat low towards the end of the investor buying spree try to sell at crazy flipper wishing prices. Then that new inventory sits and doesn’t sell, and the “investors” have left the market because the prices they drove up make buying for any kind of cash flow too risky.
Now where does this go? Permanently high plateau?
Oh I forgot to mention, just down the street are three housing developments for new homes coming on line now also.
This is what is playing out in my neighborhood.
The locals who live in the neighborhood may balk a bit at all this because they can see first hand what is what, but those “investors” who live some distance away aren’t there to see things first hand so they have to rely on others to supply them with the needed info, which is where the bought-and-paid-for MSM comes into play.
Which is probably why investing from far away remains popular even though you’d think people would only want to invest in what they know. But for some reason the grass is always so much greener far away, and this is why.
Speaking of sh*tty journalism, this blurb from a Bloomberg piece:
“Rising home prices have also given a boost to personal finances, particularly for wealthier Americans”
Because you can borrow your way into prosperity, right.
J6P loves to hear that he’s a wealthier American. Finally he’s getting what he has coming to him. And sure enough he does.
Rising home prices have also given a boost to personal finances
Unless you sell and buy a smaller (cheaper) house I don’t see how this could “give a boost” to personal finances.
They look at zillow and suddenly their house is 20,000 more today than 2 months ago. They quickly start planning on how to spend that 20,000.
Borrowing against one’s equity, while it might provide short term “fun money” for luxuries, does not provide a boost to personal finances, if anything it does the opposite.
Yup, Colorado. The house worth is not free cash unless you sell and buy something cheaper.
The worst offender for this is the HGTV renovation shows. They have a $400K budget, find a house for $350K, and immediately spend $50K “cash” on renovations. Wait, they don’t HAVE $50K in cash! That $50K was to be borrowed and paid back over 30 years (+$30 in interest).
Hell, forget rising home prices. Stocks are in a bigger bubble than the historical RE bubble.
William K. Black tears the NYT a new one in this scathing response to their article on the purported 13 billion dollar JP Morgan settlement.
JPMorgan: Fish Rot from the Head
By William K. Black
New Economic Perspectives
October 23, 2013
The New York Times’ spin of the tentative settlement of JPMorgan’s latest myriad felonies begins early and runs throughout the article. JPMorgan and Attorney General Eric Holder have reached a common meme on their settlement: the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Holder are stalwarts who have demonstrated their toughness and JPMorgan is a model corporate citizen. The inconvenient facts that the senior officers of JPMorgan, Bear Stearns (Bear), and Washington Mutual’s (WaMu) grew wealthy through the frauds that drove the financial crisis and that JPMorgan’s senior officers will not be prosecuted and will not even have to repay the proceeds of their crimes never appear in the article.
WaMu was one of the world’s largest criminal enterprises specializing in making fraudulent liar’s loans and then selling the fraudulent loans to the secondary market through fraudulent “reps and warranties.” These frauds destroyed WaMu. Dimon made the decision to buy WaMu – and to do so without receiving indemnification from the FDIC for any losses JPMorgan might suffer due to WaMu’s massive frauds.
To the NYT, and one prays earnestly only the NYT, the “reputational blow” to JPMorgan and Dimon does not come from JPMorgan, Bear, and WaMu committing the largest and most destructive financial crimes in history – but from JPMorgan paying a miniscule percentage of the damage its officers’ frauds caused the world.
The NYT account is so delusional that it thinks that it speaks well of Dimon that he “steered JPMorgan through the crisis without a quarterly loss or major government scuffle.” Hint: many of JP Morgan’s frauds helped it avoid reporting “a quarterly loss.” The fact that regulation had been so effectively destroyed by its anti-regulatory leaders and lobbying from the big banks, including JPMorgan, that they never even “scuffle[d]” with JPMorgan despite its thousands of felonies is why Dimon was celebrated for years for leading what was in reality a criminal enterprise instead of being denounced.
http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2013/10/jpmorgan-fish-rot-head.html#more-6761
I was considering the fawning media articles we see time and time again about the financial orthodoxy. Journalism is a business. They have a product they must get out in time. A journalist must groom sources and curry favor with sources. Also, if one of those sources gives him a well written article that will sell well, he’ll use it, regardless of the truth value. Because the journalist is not selling truth, he’s trying to attract readers. And also, it depends on the business model. A print magazine gets money from subscriptions and advertisers. So it needs to strike a balance about what it prints.
Also, this looks like Black’s twitter feed:
https://twitter.com/WilliamKBlack
In similar news: (no one saw it coming)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/23/us-bankofamerica-hustle-idUSBRE99M14B20131023
Bank of America liable for Countrywide mortgage fraud
It’s time to play… Spin that Turd
“by now you’ve probably heard that the website has not worked as smoothly as it was supposed to”
Jansing and Co | October 23, 2013
Fixing the glitches
Reason’s Matt Welch, msnbc.com’s Irin Carmon and Rep. Adam Kinzinger discuss the glitches surrounding the health care rollout.
Fixing the glitches - Video on NBCNews.com - MSN.com
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/jansing-and-co/53352593 - 39k - Cached - Similar pages
18 hours ago
Romney! Bahh!
Tech Expert Analysis
http://video.foxnews.com/v/2764821699001/tech-expert-calls-obamacare-site-an-awful-process/?playlist_id=928378949001
He could’ve made something better for about $1,000,000!
I would have done it on 999,999.
On a serious note. I bet the whole O’care program pays multi millions each year on support alone to vendors like Oracle, IBM, Cisco, etc. IT isn’t cheap people. The sleek snake-oil IT frauds will tell you IT is going to save you this much and that much. That’s a big crock of $hit.
no, actually, its what helps makes some of the most productive persons in the history of the world. Google probably saves the world 10 trillion dollars per year in research and education costs of/for their workforce. The rest of the available online information itself probably saves another 40 trillion. The last time I had to pull out a manual, look in the index for the topic i wanted, then read through to the part I wanted was probably 10 years ago… supposing i had the manual on hand and could find it in the first place. At least 10 times daily I will quickly google a term or reference, use the information as needed, and move forward with a problem that 15 years ago would have cost me hours instead of minutes. None of this is possible without IT…
Very true mathguy, but IBM ain’t Google. They are the antithesis of Google.
The ACA website failed for multiple reasons, but mostly for the same reasons most large IT projects do: politics and unreal expectations and deadlines and sabotage by its foes.
Sabotage!
While we’re fixing computer systems, can we get the IRS a computer system capable of detecting 24,000 tax returns (ITIN returns, no less) going to the same address?
Families With Kids Go Homeless as U.S. Rents Exceed Pay: Economy
By Jeanna Smialek - Oct 18, 2013 10:07 AM ET
Not Affordable
The report found that extremely low-income households could afford to spend no more than $495 a month on an apartment this year, while the national two-bedroom fair-market rent was $977.
In Pipeline
That may increase the pipeline of Americans heading toward homelessness. There was a 9.4 percent increase in the number of poor people “doubled up,” or living with friends or family due to economic need, between 2010 and 2011, based on the NAEH 2013 report. Crowley said 2011 is the latest year for which usable data on doubling up is available.
Labor Market
“The biggest driver now of increase in family homelessness is the labor market,” Calabria said in an e-mail. “The most effective thing we can do is create jobs, which federal programs don’t have a good record at.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-18/families-with-kids-go-homeless-as-u-s-rents-exceed-pay-economy.html - 153k -
“The most effective thing we can do is create jobs, which federal programs don’t have a good record at.”
Kind of hard to do when entire industries are offshored to countries where pay is a tiny fraction of what it is here.
Bingo…
“Families With Kids Go Homeless as U.S. Rents Exceed Pay: Economy”
This would be problematic only if these people were deserving homeowners. Renters are disposable people.
I’m going to admit I didn’t read the article but I’d like to submit a synopsis of a conversation I had w/a friend over college considerations and this will get back to housing.
We were discussing a school in Troy, NY. I asked my friend what she thought because she had a very successful relative who attended the school about 25 years ago. She told me she had discussed the college w/an Albany (next town over) area acquaintance recently who told her the crime had encroached so much closer to the college and was of such a more aggregious nature compared to what it was a few years back that they were no longer considering it for their son.
That conversation got me thinking about the creep of serious crime and how it essentially takes whole neighborhoods of housing out of the realm of consideration for most people.
Personally, if my husband lost his job I would most definitely rather live in a “van by the river” than in an apartment in some of these neighborhoods where people get beaten to death randomly for fun, or where several young girls disappear over a month’s time from a single area.
I mention this to point out that even the snap shot of affordability for low income people isn’t as good as first glance because of the ever expanding areas currently deemed untouchable once serious criminal activity creeps in.
I’m with you on the van down by the river. If the neighborhood declines, it is really simple to move. You can join a gym for under $100 per month to take care of personal hygiene.
Mobile shanty towns - is this a great country?
“The most effective thing we can do is create jobs, which federal programs don’t have a good record at.”
Ben posted a link a to story about a new ship being built for the navy that’s turning about to be a big boondoggle. I doesn’t float, or go fast enough, or something like that. Nevertheless, it’s a federal program that has created a lot of jobs, I would hazard to guess.
Nevertheless, it’s a federal program that has created a lot of jobs, I would hazard to guess.
no, more jobs would have been created if the money was left in private hands.
Gee, let’s not get into that debate. Anyway, I don’t think that Mr. Calabria was making your argument when he said that federal programs don’t create jobs.
Anyway, I don’t think that Mr. Calabria was making your argument when he said that federal programs don’t create jobs.
i’m not saying that the federal government doesn’t offer jobs. i’m saying that taking the money from the private sector for those jobs has a negative net effect on the overall creation of new jobs.
TJ, would you agree that it might make a bit of difference who you took the money from?
“The most effective thing we can do is create jobs, which federal programs don’t have a good record at.”
No, the most effective thing we can do is create jobs that pay a living wage.
The handout mentality is the antithesis of creating jobs. A living wage is code for “pay more than they are worth.” Where is legislation to require something like this allowed in the constitution?
A living wage is code for “we didn’t fight major wars at home and abroad and die in labor battles to become a country of slave-wages to make just a few rich.”
Where is legislation to require something like this allowed in the constitution?
The whole Constitution was written mostly for the advancement of the entire American people and economically too. Did you not get the memo?
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,[note 1] promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Oh, I see, there it is talking about welfare in the preamble. I was mistaken. Hah! More SNAP CARDS FOR ALL. Set the living wage at $25 an hour or maybe $50.
Better yet, why do we need a “wage” at all. Just give out the money for no work. I’m sure the Framers would agree.
Welcome to the Age Of The Reseller. They’re just EBayers with deeper pockets. I remember that there used to be actual auctions of stuff on EBay. Now its all resellers who are offering buyitnows for more than retail. I feel sorrow for all those who honestly believe that they can make a buck by being a middleman. I think those days are numbered.
Rant off.
I’ve been using ebay to get a vintage lite brite for my nephew (my brother doesn’t like the modern ones). Looked at all the “buy it now” stuff. Pretty much all of it was a total rip off - not quite all, but very, very close. I bought one item that way (extra sheets) but I found the only person selling unused ones for less than a $1 each.
The biggest problem was that people didn’t describe their item properly. They wouldn’t tell you how many sheets there were total, or how many were already used vs. not used at all. Same thing with the actual toys - people would say some sheets were included, but not describe their condition. Maybe they didn’t describe it because the worst assumption you could have was the correct one (all the sheets were used). That is certainly the assumption that I made. But if they had anything any better than the worst assumption I could make, they were losing on a potential bidder.
The extra light up pegs that I got for 99 cents (plus $5.70 for shipping) arrived yesterday. Original price was over $4. I was shocked that a plastic toy component was made in the US.
Thanks for the reminder about lite brite. Brings back memories of old school toys:
http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toys/toy_categories/classic_retro_toys/index.cfm
Die-cast models of stuff, especially ‘Space 1999′ and Star Wars spaceships, well that and a backyard and a kid could imagine adventures all day.
Those were the days … now they all play GTA
what happens to a parent that gives underage kids alcohol? same thing should happen to parents who let underage kids play GTA.
…and i am a huge PC gamer. the shit that is in some of those games and letting young kids play them is borderline child abuse.
There was a pretty funny skit about that on SNL recently…showing a suburban mom who got hooked on GTA and lost her mind :-).
what happens to a parent that gives underage kids alcohol?
I’d would guess that prosecutions are extremely rare.
what I personally like about buy it now is the time to make a deal happen. I dont want to waste a bunch of time sitting around waiting for bidding to end. With buy it now I can get the item within a few days.
With selling fees and shipping I don’t see how a lot of these people make any money.
Does anyone know how much of a break on shipping you get if you are a business shipping a lot?
I dunno, but ebay motors has been a godsend to get accessories for my older VW. Beats the heck outta calling around to junkyards.
The equivalent to calling around to junk yards for my purchase would have been haunting yard sales for weeks or months. Ugh. No thank you. I didn’t even find anything by doing a quick search on Craigs List.
i played with a mega sized lite brite at a museum the other day. I’m probably going to try to jack it. I’ll see you all after a few years in jail.
“The equivalent to calling around to junk yards for my purchase would have been haunting yard sales for weeks or months. Ugh. No thank you.”
I get a kick out of going to yard, garage and estate sales, not to mention thrift, charity, second hand and junk shops. But it’s fun for me and I’m usually not looking for anything in particular, just interesting stuff that might make a buck on resale.
When I need to find a specific item, the net is the way to go.
Agree that “buy it now” saves time, but I was bidding in October for stuff I don’t need until late November. I have (had, actually, I’m done) plenty of time. I think it also helped that there were hundreds of items available in my category. I was bound to find the ones I needed with little or no competition eventually. Which is what happened.
And seriously, there is someone still trying to charge close to $20 plus shipping for 20 odd unused vintage lite brite sheets. I paid $35 for over 200. Even “buy it now” has differing levels of absurdity.
yeah there are a lot of wish prices on there. I guess their waiting for a greater fool to show up. We know how that goes around here.
I look for Buy It Now with best offer. And having sold that way as well, it’s not bad. Completed listings are a good way to see what people are willing to pay and a great way to set the Buy It Now and see what comes in on the offers. Works for antique and vintage items, and some of the quirky, hard to find old things. Sometimes people don’t even bother making an offer, if the buy it now price is reasonable.
Polly:
And most people take lousy pictures (or huge file size) even with the good cameras in phones today.
We still use a 12 year old Sony Mavica that records on Floppy disc…no kidding its the perfect file size for Ebay and CL, and it has zeiss optics, and all you need to do is just give it some even lighting and the picture come out great, i have 2 external floppy drives got for $25 each and its so easy to post pictures…
Also ebay has changed a lot now charging its 10% on postage…..because some morons would have tons of 99 cent buy it now on cd’s and $6.99 for postage.
Plus they dont really allow you to sell lots of cd’s or records easily so the buy it now includes postage packing materials sometimes i can reuse materials but then I paid for those too.
Im glad i sold my brothers old laserdisc collection those are incredibly heavy…before they imposed the fee on postage…like 400 pounds for 350+ discs with box sets books etc.
Amazon sells sheets for “classic” Lite Brite. $7.95 for a 10-sheet set. Several themes. So if your nephew really likes the Lite Brite, you can get extra sheets for him for other holidays/birthdays.
Yeah, I’ll leave the sheets for almost a dollar each to his parents to buy if they want to. I paid less than 19 cents each including shipping for a combo of pictures and blanks. I didn’t think it was fair to give the gift to the kids if there weren’t enough sheets to make life easy for the parents for the first few weeks (assuming the kids like the toy and use it a lot), but anything above and beyond that, they are on their own. There has to be some advantage to being the aunt, not the owner.
However, I was particularly fond of the listing for a lite brite console described as being perfect as a “grow box.” Hmmm…
Exactly. It’s the same story irrespective of industry and people are getting ripped off big time.
Take a look at the “home improvement” scam. Sears, Home Cheapo and other fly by night operators market substandard materials like PVC siding and mark it up 400-500%(that’s a minimum mark up for materials that don’t meet ASTM), mobilizes a local siding crew and installs on your shack. You won’t get a written bid estimate or schedule of values showing where the money is going. No labor line item, no materials line item, no construction schedule. Just a massively inflated bottom line price and people pay it because they’re too lazy or stupid to do simple math. And I’m sure they’ll finance it “for free”.
You won’t get a written bid estimate or schedule of values showing where the money is going. No labor line item, no materials line item, no construction schedule.
I had a screen door installed by Home Depot. The contractor came to look at my door, left me a written estimate with a schedule of values, with line item for each material (such as a Z strip), a line item for labor, and a schedule for construction. They contractors arrived on time, worked very well, cleaned up, and gave me some other housey info tidbits to boot.
A schedule of values for a screen door huh?
BWHAHAHAHAHA
You my friend have lost grip on reality.
Reedem yourself Donkey.
You my friend have lost grip on reality.
We don’t need to hear about your Doctor’s opinion.
Reedem yourself Donkey.
Easy to find things on Ebay. Ebay sellers over charge but Ebay takes about 25% off any thing you are selling cheap less than 25 dollars.
I sell on Ebay every week for the last 5 years really cheap stuff but I am not a re-seller.
Its OK many changes over the years. BTW you can easily buy illegal stuff on Ebay like Peyote really easy
The avg person hasn’t been able to afford to sell on ebay in almost a decade.
To Our Blog Liar “Rio”:
Post up a phone pic of your “ocean” or a simple scene in “brazil”. Make sure you got your middle finger in the picture so we understand clearly that it’s you.
Otherwise, you’re a fraud.
Post a pic of a typical house that your outfit builds. You know, the kind that cost you $50/sq ft. And I won’t even ask you to post a picture of the land that it sits on.
Odd the Donkey gets involved. Anything to deflect huh Liar???
+1 HA
Post up a phone pic of your “ocean” or a simple scene in “brazil”. Make sure you got your middle finger in the picture so we understand clearly that it’s you.
I can do that but 2 conditions.
1. You have to tell me how to do it where I’ll still remain anonymous.
2. After I do it and prove your lying assertion wrong you have to donate $1,000 to Ben’s Blog.
Put you money where your mouth is. If you don’t, you are the fraud.
Wait! Let me get the popcorn first!
HA: Post up a phone pic of your “ocean”…..Otherwise, you’re a fraud.
Me: After I do it and prove your lying assertion wrong you have to donate $1,000 to Ben’s Blog…If you don’t, you are the fraud.
Eco: Wait! Let me get the popcorn first!
I think you have plenty of time to get the popcorn. I don’t think “Housing Analyst” has posted 1 time in about 8 hours since I challenged his BS. He ran away because he knows I do live in Rio. But that’s the Modus operandi for internet bullies, frauds and cowards.
You’ve had all day Liar. All day and still running.
You’ve had all day Liar. All day and still running.
You got punked. Punk.
You’re a bully coward. Put your money where your mouth is.
After I post a proof from Brazil and prove your lying assertion wrong you have to donate $1,000 to Ben’s Blog.
Deal punk?
Of course not. You’re a coward and a liar and now you know I live in Brazil. I’m going outside, to look at the Atlantic and finish my cigar. You are like the bully I a$$ kicked in 8th grade.
I bet you were the bully. Dam Marxist.
Prove it coward. Post a picture of the ocean with you flipping us off.
Waiting you liar.
Prove it coward. Post a picture of the ocean with you flipping us off.
And you’ll give $1,000 to Ben’s blog right?
Of course not. Cowardly big mouth, bully Punk.
How bout only $500 big mouth? You have to have that, living in mom’s basement and whining that you missed out.
PS,
I can hear the waves crashing while I’m watching the Cardinals. They just won! Crazy huh?
Prove your in Brazil Donkey.
You’re a fraud.
Prove your in Brazil Donkey.
Thanks to your pathetic cowardliness to put your money where your big mouth is………….. I just did.
Got to crank up the A/C in the bedroom.
You got punked coward. You should feel like a clown.
Boa Noite galera.
What are you afraid of “Rio”?
More great news:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/jobless-over-50-challenging-search-183540519.html
Not that that has ever changed, but reality bites. Working for one’s self might be the way to go. At least you do not have to deal with the office politics as much and might have more passion about making agreat product or service versus doing it for the corporate maw.
Self employment works as long as you start before you have drained all of your assets.
My boss is about ten years younger than me. I have the advantage of less naïveté over him. I am still paid well. I will stay with this place a bit. My assets are earning more than my annual income now. At this rate within a year my assets will return more than my income plus bennies.
At this rate within a year my assets will return more than my income plus bennies.
Enjoy it.
Alone again, naturally.
If you take on mortgage debt at current massively inflated housing prices, you’ll enslave yourself for the rest of your life.
“Debt is bondage.”~ Suze Orman, May 11, 2013
Don’t Be A Debt Donkey®
“Remember… equity is a fallacy. It doesn’t exist. Either you own it or you down. And sadly, as Robert Shiller so eloquently states, “home equity just isn’t a great place to put your money”.”
Dump housing while you still can for whatever you can get for it.
Washington DC Housing Demand Cratered 12%+ in 2013
And the cratering is accelerating
http://picpaste.com/pics/7301cf5d3c9b8e731ea36f68359434f0.1382097703.png
Shiller: “Home Equity Isn’t A Place To Put Your Money”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-16/shiller-s-lesson-housing-was-never-a-great-investment.html
Why?
Because houses are depreciating assets that result in loss every.single.time.
Remember…. “equity” is a fallacy. It doesn’t exist.
Very good article HA! The last couple of lines Gould apply to people of all ages. Buying a house is a heavy anchor and a wallet drain on older people who also are forced to go from job to job. I am in my early 50s and anticipate another job in three or four years. I won’t want to be commuting more than 8 miles each way.
Heavy anchor? Boat anchor.
And throwing more money away on “improvements” merely exaggerates those losses.
Stay on the liars. Expose them.
I am in my early 50s and anticipate another job in three or four years.
Says the “libertarian”
Being in one’s early 50’s and “anticipating another government cheese job” is not my idea of libertarian. How can one be a “libertarian” working for government one hated, and being yanked around the country at their will chasing their ball as do dogs? How? That’s liberty?
My idea of libertarian is the reality of my entire working life.
I walk the walk. Yea, I think I’ll wake up at 9 tomorrow.
(Unless I feel like sleeping later of course.)
Reedem yourself Rio.
Rio you arsehole I said not one word of getting paid government money. You like to beat that leftist liar drum to death don’t you?
“i walk the walk’
hell no you don’t.
Denver Housing Demand Collapsed A Whopping 26% In a Month
http://picpaste.com/pics/6cf110a0630bd518b543e40e053761d9.1382581190.png
And much like California, new and resale housing prices have resumed their declines.
Unfortunately, you’re wrong.
The pretty young things won’t stop moving here from out of state.
As a Californian, I apologize for this, and share my condolences.
Take it up with Zillow and http://www.coloradorealtors.com. They developed the data. I posted it.
Cratering housing prices is gloom and doom? Nonsense.
Falling housing prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels is positively bullish!
Phoenix Housing Demand Crumbles 18% YoY
http://picpaste.com/pics/2c77ce32b5ed6cf3044d1035e5ace819.1382617535.png
Will U.S. Public Debt Reach $22 Trillion by Feb. 2014?
By Ron DeLegge | ETFguide – Tue, Oct 22, 2013 3:52 PM EDT
Just imagine an undisciplined out-of-control spender whose credit limit has just been extended. In other words, they can continue overspending without any accountability. That “they” is the U.S. government.
It’s been almost a week since Congress reached a temporary deal to suspend the U.S. government’s debt ceiling and the Treasury department has already wasted no time by adding another $375 billion in new debt.
Suspension of a cap on U.S. debt, which was previously fixed at $16.69 trillion, means the Treasury department, headed by Jack Lew, can effectively spend whatever amount of money it needs or wants.
How much debt can the U.S. government rack up by the next debt ceiling deadline on Feb. 7, 2014? At the current spending pace of $375 billion per week, U.S. public debt would reach $22.70 trillion.
Numerous times, we’ve written extensively about how the U.S. Treasury had been using accounting shenanigans to avoid going over the previous legal debt limit. We also made the point that any corporation or corporate executive that attempted to use the U.S. Treasury’s same accounting tactics would be charged with fraud. Others too have caught on to the U.S. Treasury’s financial games.
“When you are the largest economy in the world, when you are the safe haven in all circumstances, as has been the case, you can’t go into that creative accounting business,” said International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde in an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-public-debt-reach-22-195230330.html - 139k -
Will U.S. Public Debt Reach $22 Trillion by Feb. 2014?
Given that the current national debt (according to the ubiquitous online “debt clocks” is $17T, that would imply that the FedGov would have to borrow $5T in the next four months.
Let’s see ..first of all spending is not the same as borrowing.
Secondly, if the FedGov spent $375B, week after week, the total spending would be $19.5T, which is about 5X the federal budget.
Sounds to me like the “journalist” cherry picked a single week of usually high spend and presented that as typical spending, which it is not.
Given that the 2014 deficit is projected to be $744B, I seriously doubt that the debt will reach $22T by next February.
Good catch.
Does it seem to others like the MSM is suddenly jumping all over themes we have discussed here for years?
George Leef, Contributor
OP/ED 10/23/2013 9:31AM
A Tale of Two Bubbles — Housing and College
…
A review of the Florida housing market;
http://www.city-journal.org/2013/23_4_florida-economy.html
Which MSM? The stuff on cable TV or on the MSM internet news sites? I don’t see them having a cohesive output so I read only the headlines and wonder what is not being reported.
Its a big club and sorry to say, you aint in it. Get to work and pay for the affordable care act so poor folks can get some free healthcare.
The MSM are paid schrills always behind on what is happening on main street.
Thank God for the internet where we can get some real news.
“paid schrills”
That’s a new term. Zero hits for the phrase on Google.
spell “schrills” as “shrills”?
“Get to work and pay for the affordable care act so poor folks can get some free healthcare.”
Working stiffs also have to pay for affordable mortgage lending so low income households can become homeowners, and personal homeowner bailouts for when they become foreclosure vampires and stop paying the mortgage.
For those too dense to miss the connection, the “payment” in this case comes in the form of artificially inflated housing prices and rents paid by those who remain current on their mortgages and rents.
the dude who bought a house near me must of went all in on the purchase. I know he paid 10k over list price. I saw him mowing the lawn with a cordless weedeater the other day. Just hacked the heck out of the nice looking lawn.
How much of your taxes are going to pay for another round of bailouts for freddie and fannie this year?
Gee, can you send me a picture of some of these people that I am supporting so I can put it on my frig door to look at daily?
“can you send me a picture of some of these people that I am supporting”
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/
[IMG]http://i39.tinypic.com/24wtvde.jpg[/IMG]
Working stiffs also have to pay for affordable mortgage lending so low income households can become homeowners
Aren’t “low income households” also “working stiffs?”
The workin-ist and stiffed of them all!
Michael Babad
The Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Oct. 23 2013, 12:02 PM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Oct. 23 2013, 3:17 PM EDT
Bank of Canada warns of risks
The Bank of Canada is warning about the risk of a housing “correction” given the latest strength of the market.
While it believes Canadians are cutting back on their thirst for borrowing, and that all will be fine in the end, it nonetheless cites the risk of a bubble and the fallout on the broader economy.
“The elevated level of household debt and stretched valuations in some segments of the housing market remain an important downside risk to the Canadian economy,” the central bank said today.
“The continued slowing in household credit growth and the rise in mortgage interest rates point to a gradual unwinding of household imbalances,” it added in its monetary policy report.
“However, recent data suggest some risk of renewed momentum in the housing market. This would provide a temporary boost to economic activity, but could exacerbate existing imbalances and therefore increase the probability of a correction later on.”
It’s not that things aren’t necessarily going as expected, it’s the tweaks to the language. In September, for example, the central bank said in its policy announcement that housing had been “slightly stronger than anticipated,”
The central bank’s comments today underscore the angst surrounding Canada’s housing market and record high debt burdens among consumers.
The housing market slumped in the summer of 2012 after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty moved to cool it off with another round of mortgage restrictions.
…
China’s Real Estate Bubble Hits Manhattan
By Matthew C. Klein
Oct 21, 2013 12:49 PM PT
(Corrects figure for office tower purchase price in first paragraph)
Fosun International Ltd., a Chinese conglomerate that invests in everything from steel to pharmaceuticals to Club Med, has agreed to buy the office tower at 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza from JPMorgan Chase & Co. for a whopping $725 million. This isn’t an isolated incident.
Zhang Xin, a billionaire property developer who grew rich building Beijing’s central business district, recently bought about 20 percent of the General Motors building for $680 million. And a Chinese state-owned group has agreed to buy a 70 percent stake in Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards development for an undisclosed sum.
This time may be different, but I can’t help but be reminded of other recent periods when wealthy foreigners splurged on premiere U.S. real estate. It was usually a sign of overheated capital markets in their home countries.
…
Here is a shocking “news” item: As we have been reporting here for over five years running, over half of U.S. foreclosures remain occupied by vampires.
Half of nation’s foreclosed homes still occupied
By Les Christie @CNNMoney October 24, 2013: 4:03 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Foreclosure sounds like the end of the line, but actual eviction can take months or years — even after the bank has repossessed a home.
RealtyTrac estimates that 47% of the nation’s foreclosed homes are currently occupied. The percentage actually tops 60% in some hot housing markets, like Miami and Los Angeles.
Those still living in repossessed homes include both former owners and renters. Either way, their time in the homes is mortgage and rent free.
To arrive at its estimate, RealtyTrac compared its database of foreclosed homes with postal records showing whether mail was still being collected and whether change-of-address forms had been filed.
Even when occupants leave voluntarily, old owners typically take about two months to vacate.
With renters, it can take a year or more. “If someone has a bona fide rental agreement, we have to abide by that,” said Amy Bonitatibus, a spokeswoman for JP Morgan Chase.
…
More shocking news here! Janet Yellen’s home turf of San Francisco has the least affordable housing market, followed by San Diego.
Home affordability sinks as housing slows
Diana Olick CNBC
18 hours ago
Rising interest rates and higher prices are making home ownership less affordable. A new report card grades which cities are the most and least affordable.
Prices are up more than 12 percent from a year ago, according to several reports, and the average rate on the 30-year fixed is a full percentage point higher than it was last spring. It is now far harder for the average U.S. household to afford a home.
“The simple fact is that the very small improvement Americans have seen in their paychecks hasn’t kept pace with a jump in home prices and mortgage rates,” said Mike Sante, managing editor of Interest.com.
Of the top 25 housing markets, just eight are considered “affordable” for a median-income household, according to a new report from Interest.com. That is down from 14 affordable markets last year. The reason is largely that incomes, which are up just about 3 percent from a year ago, are not keeping pace with home prices.
To determine which markets are still most affordable, Interest.com calculated median home prices, median incomes, property taxes, insurance and household debt.
It found Atlanta, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Detroit and Pittsburgh to be most affordable.
Miami, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego and San Francisco are currently the least affordable markets.
Existing home sales fell nearly 2 percent in September from the previous month, and Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said he expected sales to decline further through the rest of 2013.
“Affordability has fallen to a five-year low, as home price increases easily outpaced income growth,” wrote Yun in the September sales report. “Expected rising mortgage interest rates will further lower affordability in upcoming months.”
…
Ah, another day of hope and change. I hope that if I do nothing more then sit in my chair all day and eat junk food that my body will change itself into that of a gymnast!
Much ado about a website. I’m not a fan of Obamacare by any means, but I really don’t understand why all the brouhaha about the website. So it’s a pig, I get it. But can’t people buy into Obamacare without using a website?
Whatever did we do before the internet?
‘whatever did we do before the internet’
not get spied on by the nsa?
BINGO
Whatever did we do before the internet? We drank muddy water & slept in hollow logs.
Hah! We had a power outage here the other day, only for about an hour, but I was a little bit twitchy, since I’m not wireless.
We lived in tent cities and in Hondas…
“So it’s a pig,”
It’s a $650 million pig.
Do you know how many time you could fly Bo to Martha’s Vinyard on a MV-22 Osprey for $650 million? OK, so it should have cost $5 million to have a site that worked. Do you know how many time you could fly Bo to Martha’s Vinyard on a MV-22 Osprey for $645 million?
There are 55 (FIFTY-FIVE!) different contractors “working” on the fix.
55 invisible hands of the free market.
55 layers of overhead and indirect costs.
55 layers of profit (cream) skimmed off.
If you hate government contractors, you are a commie!
Cues up the Wutang Clan: “Cash rules everything around me, C.R.E.A.M. get the money, dolla dolla bill y’all!”
Many different private contractors seems to ALWAYS mean cost overruns. But it’s OK, the contractors LOVE it. They get paid no matter what. Even blatant fraud takes a while to be proved. The gears of justice grind slowly.
And yet, if you try to award just a few (5-8) contractors on projects like this, you end up with protests of the award at GAO. Last time I saw an award for 8 contractors, there were about a dozen lined up to challenge it. Then it was reawarded for 16 contractors. Challenged again. That particular contract is an Air Force contract called NETCENTS 2. Worth something like $6 BB (but will end up costing 10BB or more, almost certainly).
LOL private contractors. Fun fun fun.
LOL private contractors. Fun fun fun.
Hate the disease not the sympotms. Sympotms will go away if you take care of the disease.
Private contractors bully the agencies and the GAO bc private contractors means private lawyers. Many of whom used to work for the gov’t then left to get a (much)bigger paycheck. But even without the crossovers, you just have much more aggressive, sharper lawyers who are not staffed on 20 cases at a time like the feds are.
It’s only $650 million. Just a drop in the bucket compared to the government contractors and corporate welfare that you should really be worried about. Give them twice as much if that’s what it takes. After all it’s only someone else’s money.
Food Stamps = $80,000,000,000 a year
Government Contractors = $500,000,000,000+ a year
Food Stamps = $80,000,000,000 a year
I bet a big chunk of that goes to contractors supporting the program & logistics. I would like to know how much the recepients actually get.
2004 data:
“The FSP is an important, though smaller, entitlement.
In 2004, it served 24 million people, providing an average
monthly benefit of $86 per person, with a total Federal
cost of $27 billion (excluding the Nutrition Assistance
Program in Puerto Rico). This represents about 2 percent
of mandatory spending, 1 percent of total Federal spending, and about a third of USDA spending in 2004.”
24,000,000 x $86 = $2,064,000,000
PDF:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/ORA/menu/Published/SNAP/FILES/Other/FSPProfile.pdf
Never forget: 70% of military spending goes to private contractors.
You can. There is a phone number. And some of the states trained people to do it in person.
“And some of the states trained people to do it in person.”
I hope they trained a lot of people.
More than 400,000 Floridians face notices health policies are ending
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013
More than 400,000 Floridians are getting notices their health insurance policies are going away, spiking like a fever the debate over what it all means.
Opponents of the Affordable Care Act color it as a cancel-fest symptomatic of the law’s problems that already include a balky online marketplace. Supporters blast what they see as phony alarmism and say large numbers of people stand to obtain better coverage, in many cases for less money.
Comments
Posted by FranciscoM at 7:16 p.m. Oct. 23, 2013
This is a LIE!!! our dear leader ( AKA as the lier in chief) said we could keep our existing plan!!!!
He also said we would save $2500 per year, and we could keep our doctor, and that his plan would not add :one Cent to the national debt, and that tax dollars would not be used to fund abortions and and, and,
400,000 people? this morning it was 300,000. What sit going to be by the end of the week, 5 million?
Posted by HaverhillHarold at 7:41 p.m. Oct. 23, 2013
Hahahahaha Suckers! Most of these people probably voted for the Great Obama and thought that Obamacare was going to be free health insurance. Everyone fell for the promises of better insurance at lower prices and keeping their same plans and doctors.
Hahahahaha, sorry I can not help but laugh. The only thing lower on these insurance plans is going to be what doctors get paid so I predict in the near future there will be a shortage of doctors because there will be no incentive for people spending so much time and money going to medical school to get paid what the government thinks they should get paid. Who wants to pay back a $100,000 dollar plus loan by making bargain basement wages?
Now that companies are going to drop coverage for a half a million people in Florida alone and the healthcare.gov website is not working this is just great!!!
@FransiscoM–the 2500.00 in savings Obama spoke of per year was the amount that you save in Government fines if you did not have insurance..It not actual savings that go into your pocket….
How about an intelligent comment?
——
“Posted by DAW at 8:22 p.m. Oct. 23, 2013
There in nothing in the ACA that requires an employer to drop healthcare for its employees. If an employer chooses to do so, it could do so now or at anytime in the past. The only requirement an employer has is to pay minimum wage and OT over 40 hours for most but not all employees. If you are angry that employers are dropping health insurance that is the very reason we need a single payer system. There is no reason on earth why an employer should be responsible for health insurance, they are not responsible for home insurance, flood insurance, auto insurance, long term care insurance or life insurance so why is health insurance any different.”
——
The commenter is right. If your employer drops your insurance “because of Obamacare,” then the employer is at fault. The employer either offered junk insurance which isn’t good enough, or used Obamacare as an excuse to line his own pocket rather than provide insurance to you.
And you don’t like this, hey, you have a “right to work” in the free market. If you’re so valuble, then quit your job and find another job that provides better insurance. If no employers provide good insurance, then ask your government for a public option.
There is no reason on earth why an employer should be responsible for health insurance, they are not responsible for home insurance, flood insurance, auto insurance, long term care insurance or life insurance so why is health insurance any different
Government isn’t responsible for any of these either, why do we want it to be responsible for our health care/insurance?
If your employer drops your insurance “because of Obamacare,” then the employer is at fault.
brilliant logic. so if a burglar has a gun and the victim drops his knife, it’s the victim’s fault if he gets robbed.
The employer either offered junk insurance which isn’t good enough, or used Obamacare as an excuse to line his own pocket rather than provide insurance to you.
why should employers be forced to provide insurance at all? it isn’t enough that they provide a job?
And you don’t like this, hey, you have a “right to work” in the free market.
you’re mad that people have a right to work?
If you’re so valuble, then quit your job and find another job that provides better insurance.
or get the government out of making insurance laws for insurance companies, so your company can afford to pay you more and you find your own insurance (if you want it or need it).
If no employers provide good insurance, then ask your government for a public option.
sure, ask the government to do more so it can take even more money out of the economy, and have even more control over you, and intrude even more on your privacy. sounds good. after all, it’s not like government meddling in health care has already driven up prices even before obamacare.
More than 400,000 Floridians face notices health policies are ending
All of those 400,000 will be able to buy real health insurance now. A lot of those being canceled have junk insurance that doesn’t cover much.
From the article:
Supporters blast what they see as phony alarmism and say large numbers of people stand to obtain better coverage, in many cases for less money.
brilliant logic. so if a burglar has a gun and the victi
You lost me there Dr. Goebbels. How many people you think make it to the end when you post tit-for-tat with boring junk?
“If you like your health coverage, you can keep it.” Or words to that effect.
Also, this is not employers dropping coverage.
Whatever happened to “if you like your insurance you can keep it”?
I guess there was a caveat: “if you like your insurance, you can keep it, as long as it’s good enough to meet our standards for what is covered, including the proper economic mix between deductible and premium.”
I’m not saying having standards for coverage is bad (there are 10 “essential health benefits” and preventative medicine required), but monkeying with the type of insurance I want to buy that has those standards is BS. Explain to me again why I can’t have a lower premium, high deductible plan (deductible of over $6,350), if that’s what I want?
The rhetoric of “don’t worry, if you already have insurance, the law won’t really change a thing about your coverage” was a lie. Flat out lie.
And now, you are saying that calling out the government on this lie is uncalled for because it was just a little white lie, and everyone will be better off anyway?
I guess telling the truth about the ACA before it was passed would have caused more people to ask questions, and maybe, just maybe, politicians would have been required to explain the law before they rammed it through…God forbid, we couldn’t have THAT, now could we? It would require us to actually READ the law, instead of giving speeches about how great it will be.
We’re the government, we’re here to help. Don’t worry, everything will be fine…this won’t hurt a bit.
You lost me there Dr. Goebbels.
sorry, it would take too long to dumb it down further for you.
By the way, the estimate that I recently saw is that 16 million people will lose coverage because their plan doesn’t meet the ACA’s standards (by the way, this could be as simple as NON-free preventative care…$10 co-pay).
Are there enough people manning phones to get those 16 million people signed back up quickly?
Yes, there was a story on the local news how a local ecudational institution got a grant to train “navigators”. However, looking at the folks they showed on camera, I’m not sure I’d want to deal with them. I dunno, maybe there was something in the grant that said they had to hire inarticulate, obese, poorly dressed schlubs or something.
that’s racis
I dunno, maybe there was something in the grant that said they had to hire inarticulate, obese, poorly dressed schlubs or something.
Like a lucky ducky wage?
It’s a metaphor for the whole thing. Junk design. No accountability. No repercussions when it fails and the budget for it has to be doubled or more. And no discussion of how if they can’t even handle a website that they’ve had years to build, how are they going to handle the actual program. And it isn’t just Obama I’m blaming. It is the government way.
If it was eBay, it would be working.
I heard one comment that the website disaster was a good example of how if you are a potential government contractor, it is more important to know how to navigate the process to get the contract than it is to actually be the most qualified to do the work.
This is a metaphor for ALL of government contracting. How many other incompetent contractors are there because they know how to get the contract, and NOT because they are the best suited to do the work?
How many other incompetent contractors are there because they know how to get the contract, and NOT because they are the best suited to do the work?
All of them? And I’m not saying that they are all totally incompetent. I’m just saying that getting the contract is their core competency or they wouldn’t be there. Therefore all other competencies have to suffer in order to focus on the core.
If there’s no consequence to delivering a terrible product - and apparently there’s not - then the contractors will continue their current business model.
If there’s no consequence to delivering a terrible product - and apparently there’s not - then the contractors will continue their current business model.
And even if they try to fight it they’ll soon be undercut by others who are more comfortable with such ethical dilemmas.
“But can’t people buy into Obamacare without using a website?”
Yes they can–but ease of shopping is a big factor. People who REALLY need insurance, and had pre-existing conditions, or needed a subsidy will go to the ends of the earth to get insurance…making a phone call will be no big deal.
HOWEVER,
To make the whole thing work (to make it economical to not have insurance too expensive for oldest patients, and those with pre-existing conditions), you need to convince the “young invincibles” to buy insurance.
If there is no easy way to do so, you may find a lot of those folks just pay the fine. In the first year, a single guy making $50,000 per year would pay a $500 fine. What would their insurance cost be? $2,400 ($200 per month)? Certainly way more than $42 per month. In year 2, it would be $1,000. In year 3 and beyond, $1,250. And yes, they don’t have insurance, but they have more money for clubbing…after all, they’re invincible.
After a while, they’ll just get used to the fine…after all, it’s just another line item on their already confusing tax return, right? It’s not like there will be men in black showing up at their door demanding payment for protection.
Does the math work if they don’t sign up? From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t…you’ll find premiums go up because not enough of the low-risk patients are in the system, so the higher risk patients will need to pay more…which will in turn cause the subsidies for lower-income, high-risk patients go up.
They supporters of the ACA are concerned with that negative feedback loop occurring–it’s hard to break that, because if the young invincibles don’t sign up early in the life of the law, they will be less likely to sign up the next year if the premiums are even higher.
In year 3 and beyond, $1,250. And yes, they don’t have insurance,
I think a lot will sign up by year 3. The math is pretty simple.
$1250 fine and no insurance or
$1,000-$3,000 (depending on income and subsidies for good health insurance.
One or two doctor visits/scrips for $200-$300 bucks will wake them up. A bill for them or their friend for a broken hand or foot will put the freak into them.
And yes, 20 somethings get sick and injured too.
“I think a lot will sign up by year 3. The math is pretty simple.”
But the sign-up process is not (simple).
“And yes, 20 somethings get sick and injured too.”
They have for years, and they have refused to buy health insurance, because hey, they are young, and invincible.
And if you are at the level of a $1,250 fine, you are a single person making $50k per year. Do you think there is one DIME of subsidy? Your lower bound should be nowhere close to $1k.
“I think a lot will sign up by year 3. The math is pretty simple.”
But the sign-up process is not (simple).
How do you know the sign-up process is not simple 3 years from now?
Your lower bound should be nowhere close to $1k.
You are correct. I just found and used this calculator for a 28 year old single non-smoker making 50K. USA average. Silver plan (good insurance) $230 a month. That’s pretty good for a good plan nowadays. No?
And now that all these calculators are out, your argument that you can’t find rates and subsidies without going through the government website and giving personal info is now…..moot. No?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/09/30/226456791/how-much-will-obamacare-cost-me-try-our-calculator
Signing up for insurance has never been simple. The problem is that on top of it not being simple, the website to make the “not simple sign-up” easily accessible and easy to price doesn’t work.
I’m sorry, but it needs to be compelling enough for a large
percentage of the uninsured “young invincibles” to sign up.
Here is SOME of a young person’s thinking:
So, I don’t use medical care, and healthcare companies can’t deny me insurance once I get cancer.
So, tell you what, I’m going to pay my $1,250 fine per year ($100 per month), and not go to the doctor. I’ll save $125 per month, and if I get cancer, I’ll get insurance.
How does that sound?
To many, that will sound better than paying the $125 per month additional for something they don’t use.
At the end of the day, it will ALL be moot, because we’ll see if it entices the young invincibles, or not…
By the way, the pissed off people will be the following:
23 years old and healthy, non-smoker, just got a job, making $31k per year (that’s about the cutoff for a subsidy).
Health insurance cost to them will be $2,500 per year, no subsidy, or they can pay a $775 fine.
What decision do you think they’re going to make?
What if they have student loans?
By the way, how incompetent is the government if they can’t produce a simple calculator like this with 2-3 years of planning, when others can put it together in a couple of weeks?
LOL. $2760 per year for a single, healthy 20-something non-smoker. Add in the co-pays and deductibles to that plan and you’re actually talking about $3700 annually if you actually have to use the insurance.
At $50k/yr annual income for a single filer, you get no subsidy. The healthy 20-something would save $200/mo if they just pay the penalty. Of course, if too many healthy people go this route, the government will just increase the penalty.
Keep pushing your socialist BS Rio… keep trying to convince us that the government isn’t completely screwing up healthcare in this country and ripping us off at the same time, all to “cover poor people”.
By the way, how incompetent is the government if they can’t produce a simple calculator like this with 2-3 years of planning, when others can put it together in a couple of weeks?
You can’t see the difference between what the government site is supposed to do and a simple calculator that doesn’t sign up people in anything? You equate the two?
Health insurance cost to them will be $2,500 per year, no subsidy, or they can pay a $775 fine. What decision do you think they’re going to make?
I lived it. When I was in my 20’s and self-employed, I paid out of pocket for health-insurance for my me and my spouse. I started buying health-insurance at around 24. And I faced no potential IRS fine. So what decision do you think I think most are going to make?
$2760 per year for a single, healthy 20-something non-smoker. Add in the co-pays and deductibles ….about $3700 annually
And? Your point? That’s about what that type of quality insurance would have cost last year. No?
Like insurance before the ACA didn’t have those types co-pays and deductibles? Where? I had private health insurance in California for 20 years and ALWAYS had high co-pays and deductibles.
Is this like new stuff to you?
The website was designed to shop for and buy insurance.
A shopping site where you can’t easily even see the price without going through a massive sign-up process is, let’s face it, stupid.
“I lived it. When I was in my 20’s and self-employed, I paid out of pocket for health-insurance for my me and my spouse. I started buying health-insurance at around 24. And I faced no potential IRS fine. So what decision do you think I think most are going to make?”
You apparently aren’t most people, since there are so many young folks who are uninsured.
This is my understanding of the problem with the site.
They don’t want to tell people who are eligible for subsidies what the unsubsidized price is because that might scare them off.
They don’t want to tell people what the subsidized price will be without checking to make sure they aren’t lying about their income.
So, in order to get the quote, you have to set up an account, put in the identity and income information, wait for the income/identity information to be confirmed by querying a couple of databases and only THEN do you get the information.
Not sure why they didn’t set it up to take your self reported income and tell you what the cost would be IF your income number is correct an then have you go through the database queries to confirm. Also not sure why they didn’t set it up to display information saying $X is the full cost of this plan, but if you make $y a year, your cost will be $z (and then put in a few more examples so people could get an idea of what they are dealing with). It is possible that some ergonomics people told them the displays would be too complicated for people to understand. However, that is my understanding of the primary problem.
That and only building two weeks of final testing into the product. 6 months should have been the minimum. A year would have been better - starting with a bare bones system (set up account, confirm info, spit out results all using fake data) and then building up to a nicer system that made the input and output pretty.
6 months minimum especially since they needed to coordinate with third-party systems (the insurance companies), and multiple other government agencies.
Yes, it’s complicated. That’s what you get with a complicated law.
And they had the time to get this done.
I’d be SHOCKED, if their “tech surge” results in a “fixed” website in time to only have a 6-week delay in the mandate.
“They don’t want to tell people who are eligible for subsidies what the unsubsidized price is because that might scare them off.”
The Covered California site that we’re directed to lists the unsubsidized price, the amount of the subsidy and the final cost to the buyer for all plans. Don’t know why they would do it differently. I mean, the reasons you gave are plausible, but you’d think that the states who have their own site for this would still use the federal site as a template. I suppose they could have gotten a sneak peak at it and said, “hey, this sucks, let’s do it differently”.
The problem is they were creating something entirely new that never existed before. I mean, think of it, a shopping website. Whoever heard of such a thing? If only there were some other entities who had created something like this before that could be used as a model or a template.
If someone is making 50k a year, chances are they already get insurance through their employer.
Also true, which make the $31k per year guy who doesn’t get a subsidy, but is required to buy $2,500 per year insurance, that much more applicable. ($15 per hour lucky duck)
They paid 660 million for a website, and it was done poorly.
You just have to be stupid to do that.
Washington DC really has no clue about modern technology or science.
True story, I saw a letter that looked like a form letter from the IRS probably about 10 years ago. In the letter, it had a calculation…the arithmetic was off by $9, when it dawned on me (my mom was a bookkeeper, so she was always finding $9 mistakes)…it was a transposition of two numbers.
This form letter was hand-typed. HAND TYPED! There was not a machine creating the letter…if there was, there would be no transposition.
Government contractors vs. Poland: contractors are on the losing side (Reuters)
Positively un-American
Fascinating…Poland actually expected the contractors to deliver what they said they could deliver for the price they said they could do it for.
Amazing isn’t it?
How dare they?
“That left companies with a choice: Take a risk and bid on incomplete information, or walk away.”
In that case, “walk away” is always the right answer.
But they didn’t. They assumed the good old boy system would take care of them. Poland don’t play that, apparently.
Thanks for posting!
Merkel looks none to pleased upon discovering she, too, is subject to U.S. wiretaps.
Richard Nixon must be having quite the belly laugh from wherever he went in the afterlife.
“The usual method does not involve actual cash transfers but rather the transfer of assets from the balance sheet of one state-owned entity to another.”
Does this pretty well capture how the Fed used $40 bn a month in MBS purchase to lift the burden of underwater MBS off bank balance sheets?
Denver Post - What will Mitt Romney hide behind the bookcase door at his new farmhouse?
“Architectural drawings for his soon-to-be constructed 5,900 square-foot home in Holladay, Utah, call for a “hidden door” masked as a bookshelf that swings out into a study.
The door will lead to a cabinet-lined room 11 feet in length that plans say will be used for “office storage”. Spot the provocative detail in the middle on the blueprint close-up below.
The drawings, obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune through a public records request, detail what builders dub “a new farmhouse” for the Romneys sporting vertical wood siding, wood shutters and sliding barn doors.
Plans call for multiple lawns and terraces, a fountain, a fire pit and a gazebo, along with an outdoor spa accessible from the master bathroom.
A Romney spokesman declined to comment.”
What will he hide? His 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th wives, LOLZ
Speaking of Denver Post:
——
Apartment rents in metro Denver continue to rise despite more availability
By Howard Pankratz, The Denver Post; 10/24/2013 08:42:18 AM MDT
While the apartment vacancy rate in the Denver metro area rose during the third quarter, the average rent in metro Denver rose to $1,048, increasing 6.3 percent, or $62, from 2012’s third-quarter average rent of $986.
…The average rent rose in all counties measured, with the largest increases found in Douglas and Jefferson counties where average rents grew year-over-year by 9.0 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively.
…”We’ll start to feel the impact of new units on rent in 2014,” said Rocky Sundling, regional manager for Greystar Partners. “But even then, vacancies will generally continue to be hard to find because we’ll still have the population to fill the units.”
———–
More units doesn’t mean that rent will go down. Rent will just stop going up.
As I mentioned above, the pretty young things won’t stop moving here.
A recent Denver Post piece noted that Denver is the number one destination city for millenials.
The gentrification in my south Denver nabe over the past three years has been considerable and noticeable.
I’m not glued to this place, but if I do leave to escape the traffic and smog, I don’t know where I would go…
A recent Denver Post piece noted that Denver is the number one destination city for millenials.
Crosses Denver off my list.
A recent Denver Post piece noted that Denver is the number one destination city for millenials.
Did the Denver Post actually go into whether this was good thing for the current population, or did they mostly crow about how this must mean the city is so wonderful?
My coworkers all have stars in their eyes and yammer incessantly at lunchtime about their “equity” and how great the Denver housing market is.
Do you tell them sell and take the profit now?
If they sell, it’s only to trade up.
And they feel no need to take the profit now, as they firmly believe that their suburban tract homes in Westminster, Broomfield, Highlands Ranch and other managerial class communities will be worth a fortune when they retire and will fund their retirements.
I gave up lecturing to them. They just roll their eyes and resume yammering about their growing equity.
hasn’t co had more re boom/busts than any other state?
learning center
hasn’t co had more re boom/busts than any other state?
It is a boom and bust state, mostly because of oil. That said, we didn’t fare as badly as other states did when the bubble popped last time.
Also, the coworkers, who are mostly young pups, believe that the last bust was an aberration, a one time event. Now they believe that the sky is the limit.
Also, the coworkers, who are mostly young pups, believe that the last bust was an aberration, a one time event.
Is this the bursting of the housing bubble that you’re talking about? They must be very young pups if they can’t remember 2008.
…or 2002 or 1989 for that matter.
Why do you eat lunch with these jerkoffs?
That would be pretty cool…easily accessible, and hidden storage inside the house–for mine, I need to go into the garage.
“The usual method does not involve actual cash transfers but rather the transfer of assets from the balance sheet of one state-owned entity to another.”
That could never happen here in the U.S.
ft dot com
Markets Insight
October 24, 2013 6:04 am
China conjures up new ‘bad bank’ magic trick
By Henny Sender
Solution to prospect of growing bad debts is same as in the past
Beijing is authorising the establishment of a second batch of so-called bad banks, this time at the provincial level, as it continues its slow move towards more financial deregulation.
This time around the incentive is to prepare for any nasty side-effects as interest rate controls are gradually relaxed. Those include a rise in the cost of capital for already cash-strapped Chinese companies as well as the possible risk of accidents in Chinese banks that have not had to worry about asset liability management in the past.
The purpose is also to deal with a new round of bad debts following the stimulus programme adopted in the wake of the global financial crisis.
That programme, with a price tag of between Rmb1.1tn and Rmb4tn depending on the calculation used, contributed to overcapacity in sectors including cement and steel, infrastructure projects whose viability is questionable, and sprawling apartment blocks in towns that may one day need them but not today.
The solution to the prospect of growing bad debts is the same as in the past. That is to say, socialise the debt through the creation of a new generation of asset management companies, which will take the banks’ problem loans at a price that is not transparent using money whose ultimate source is not clear.
The usual method does not involve actual cash transfers but rather the transfer of assets from the balance sheet of one state-owned entity to another. But it remains to be seen how long China can engage in such transfers and other financial sleight of hand.
…
It’s all about maintaining faith in the logical construct that is the currency.
Everyone knows that government printing presses can print as many dollars or yuan as they want.
The question is, “How much restraint will they exercise when they print, and exactly how will the cash be injected into the system?”
If they just started printing to goose the economy, or save certain banks or financial companies, the logical construct which gives currency its value would dissipate, leaving elaborate slips of paper. Hence, the theater.
Last time I checked, interest rates were negative at short maturities.
The Fed Versus the People
By Matthew C. Klein Oct 22, 2013 1:46 PM PT
I’ve previously argued that most Americans aren’t saving enough to live comfortably in retirement, and that the Federal Reserve might be making this situation worse. A new report from the consumer financial services company Bankrate shows that many Americans have been holding back their spending because of an even bigger problem: insufficient savings to cover short-term emergencies.
In June, it found, 27 percent of Americans had no money available in a bank or money-market account, while just 24 percent of Americans had enough to cover six months of expenses. According to Greg McBride, the firm’s senior financial analyst, these numbers have barely changed since the recovery began.
Yet many at the Fed feel that Americans are being too cautious and should be forced to own risky assets and increase their borrowing. This tension is probably making monetary stimulus less effective. Fiscal policy could help.
Charles Evans, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, recently explained how he and many economists think about this problem. In his telling, there is always some set of interest rates that guarantees full employment and stable prices. Evans thinks that interest rates are currently above the levels needed for full employment. For him, rates would ideally be “negative at shorter maturities.”
…
I’d rather go hunting with Dick Cheney than driving with Ted Kennedy
Wall Street Journal - Judge Orders Retrial for Kennedy Family Member:
“A Connecticut Superior Court judge ordered a new trial Wednesday for Michael Skakel, the Kennedy family member convicted in 2002 of murdering his neighbor in 1975.
The case drew notoriety because the killing of Martha Moxley went unsolved for a quarter century, it happened in the wealthy New York City suburb of Greenwich, Conn., and Mr. Skakel is the nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy and the late Robert F. Kennedy.
Ms. Moxley was found beaten to death in her family’s Greenwich backyard with a golf club that belonged to the Skakel family.”
Forward
paging jeff, paging jeff. Please comment!
Obama should give him a pardon and a cabinet post, LOLZ
Lazy sensationalistic reporting - he is not a “Kennedy family member” but otherwise nobody would care about the story.
“he is not a “Kennedy family member”
You had better tell Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a cousin of Skakel’s that so he stops telling the world that his murderer cousin isn’t a murderer.
8 hr ago |By Dave Collins of Associated Press
With a new trial ordered for Michael Skakel, who is serving time in the 1975 slaying of a neighbor, a defense lawyer said he will seek his release from prison on bond.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a cousin of Skakel’s who has long insisted Skakel did not commit the crime, said on NBC’s “Today” show on Thursday that the ruling was correct.
“His one crime was that he had a very, very poor representation,” he said. “If he gets another trial, he’s got good lawyers now and there’s no way in the world that he will be convicted.”
http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/kennedy-cousin-skakel-wins-new-trial-in-1975-death - -
RFK Jr. Among Supporters Of Skakel Parole
Kennedy says cousin now lives a life “directed by God”
Michael Skakel is also planning to submit to the parole board work he did…
October 23, 2012|By ALAINE GRIFFIN, agriffin@courant.com, The Hartford Courant
WATERBURY — — Michael Skakel has helped alcoholics get sober, taught English to inmates and worked from behind bars on maintaining a relationship with his son, according to letters in favor of his parole, including one from cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
http://articles.courant.com/2012-10-23/news/hc-skakel-parole-file-20121022_1_dorthy-moxley-michael-skakel-martha-moxley - 46k -
“Ms. Moxley was found beaten to death in her family’s Greenwich backyard with a golf club that belonged to the Skakel family.”
Which at that point Michael Skakel’s story was he had not seen Martha after she left his house. It was only years later when DNA testing became available that the innocent (according to RFK Jr.) Michael Skakel changed his story to… After she left our house, I climbed a tree outside of Martha’s bedroom window and snapped off (to cover the tracks of any possible Michael Skakel DNA that may have been preserved from the crime scene) and that was the last time I saw her.
“A Connecticut Superior Court judge ordered a new trial Wednesday for Michael Skakel, the Kennedy family member convicted in 2002 of murdering his neighbor in 1975.”
I would expect nothing less from that state. If anyone talks or reports about this are they going to be prosecuted by the Connecticut State police and the Feds too?
the most transparent administration in history
Wall Street Journal: “Germany said it believed that U.S. intelligence agenciesmay be spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone, an intrusion that could escalate the international furor over U.S. data surveillance and complicate Washington’s relationship with one of its staunchest allies.”
Forward
“…the U.S. may be spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone.”
MAY be spying?
Lol, is there any doubt?
Lol, is there any doubt ??
Think it through…What is there to be gained ?? What is there to be lost ?? Personally, I think there is zero chance that our government ran agency has hacked into her cell phone…A private hacker trying to implicate our agency ?? Possibly…
I found someone to sell my Golden Gate Bridge.
“Think it through … What is there to be gained??”
Uh, information?
“What is there to be lost??”
Nothing if you’re not caught.
It should be assumed by everyone that their cell phone calls CAN be monitored and it should be assumed by those who have power that their cell phone calls WILL be monitored.
It’s not as if the technology to do so doesn’t already exist.
Hacking cell phones is so crude when you can see what’s coming. I’m sure Apple or Google would love to scan your brain and sell the results to the highest bidder.
Mind-reading Technology Speeds Ahead
By scanning blogs of brain activity, scientists may be able to decode people’s thoughts, dreams and intentions
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=mind-reading-technology-speeds-ahead
“companies are starting to pursue brain decoding for a few applications, such as market research and lie detection”
It’s what technology wants.
Skynet!
Worse.
1984.
This fits perfectly with the story above.
“U.S. Internet users are not as concerned about the government’s having access to suspects’ home computers or email accounts as they were in 2000.”
http://www.gallup.com/poll/165569/internet-users-less-concerned-gov-snooping.aspx
It seems the addiction to being ‘connected’ is worth more than privacy.
In a related item:
Twitter will IPO with a market value between 10-15 billion.
Do the WTs understand that Ted Cruz is the very antithesis of someone who cares about their best interests?
Let’s review:
Princeton, Harvard Law, Harvard MBA wife, TX solicitor general, Biglaw partner, and to top it off he’s on HIS WIFE’S GOLDMAN SACHS HEALTH PLAN that would have a premium of ~2200/month if he paid for it out of pocket. Yes, 2200/month.
LOL, poors. It’s funny that the first people who figured Ted Cruz out are the ones who have things in common with him whereas all the 2Bananas of the world still rally around this tool.
They know the whole world is trying to screw them over. They generally end up with a choice between someone who says it straight out and someone who tries to say what they want to hear. Which would you choose in their position? Anyone who might actually represent them will just get Palin’ed in the media and they’ll never even get a chance to vote for him/her.
It’s one thing if that was the case, but quite another when they so vociferously support a guy that they know deep down does not represent them, he represents rich people, big business, and the idea that borders don’t matter because corporations run everything.
I actually think they don’t know he’s lying. How do you explain not just 2Banana but lots of these people who will stop at nothing to support someone who loathes them deep down.
If I were a social conservative tea party voter, I would think god, guns and bread would be my top priorities. Honestly 2 out of 3 ain’t so bad.
I actually think they don’t know he’s lying. How do you explain not just 2Banana but lots of these people who will stop at nothing to support someone who loathes them deep down.
Well, the dumb ones don’t know they’re being lied to, which I realize some people think is all of them. But there is a whole tier of them who suspect or know, but it’s their team…it’s the best choice they’re going to be given so they go with it.
I think that it would be interesting to have a poll of white people who are below the poverty line. It could turn out that only a very small portion of them vote Republican.
I think that a lot of these Tea Party people would probably be better described as working class rather than poor. Maybe they look at the two parties and see one that is dedicated to interests of the poor and the other looking out for the rich. Since they’re neither rich nor poor, they vote based on non-economic issues, such as religion and guns.
I also think that many folks have a simple answer to the question of why some Americans are rich and others are poor. Their answer is that some people are smart and industrious and others are lazy and irresponsible. So anything that could be called redistirubution would be immoral.
I think that a lot of these Tea Party people would probably be better described as working class rather than poor. Maybe they look at the two parties and see one that is dedicated to interests of the poor and the other looking out for the rich. Since they’re neither rich nor poor, they vote based on non-economic issues, such as religion and guns.
Of course. And anybody who wants their vote needs to at least understand and take into account why they care about guns and religion, even if the person looking for their vote doesn’t. Rs do a much better job of that than Ds. I honestly wish the Ds would do better and get that voting block back into play so that the Rs weren’t able to take them for granted. As soon as a party gets to take you for granted you get nothing from them unless you are paying the bills.
Forgot to add… Ted Cruz has a birth cert issued by (drumroll) CANADA. He was delivered by a doctor that is part of the national health system. Single payer.
It never stops with this guy. He’s perfect.
To be fair to him, he cried really hard after finding himself in NHS hospital. Not the parents, the doctors/nurses or anyone in the room had any clue why the baby cruz was crying on about….
My understanding is that Canada, unlike the UK, doesn’t have a “National Health System” where healthcare facilities are owned and run by the government, but rather they have private healthcare providers and a single payer insurance system.
Canada doesn’t have a National Health Service like Britain does. The docs and hospitals are private. The health insurance is single payer but done by each province.
Not sure if people are resopnding to me. I didn’t specify who owns the hospitals or practices, just that they certainly have a national system. Which, as you say, is run at the province level.
I can’t get enough of this Cruz guy. You just know he goes home and scrubs himself with Brillo pads after rubbing elbows with Palin and the tea people. Yet they love him and go batshit at Chris Christie for not being on their “team”. In reality, look it up, Christie is actually the one working for them. He’s against federal control over their lives, indifferent on social issues (but again doesn’t want Washington or SCOTUS dictating), and fiscally sound. He has real law enforcement credentials and generally knows WTF he’s talking about. He’d never read Dr. Seuss to block debate on a bill, which by itself makes him better than Cruz.
I agree he’s better than Cruz from what I’ve heard about Cruz so far. But he doesn’t strike me as trustworthy on the 2nd Amendment, which if true makes him a non-starter in my part of the world.
That’s part of my point, if people take an absolutist view of the 2nd Amm, it knocks out a number of candidates who could run well nationally. Christie has been in favor of background checks and a ban on assault weapons like was passed in the Clinton admin. Just another reason he won’t be nominated. Especially since, as I’ve posted here in the past, the GOP delegate formula means the south determines the nominee.
‘the south determines the nominee’
Currently, unelected east coast elites run the show.
‘Goldwater once told members of the press that he sometimes thought the country would be better off if the entire Eastern Seaboard were sawed off and floated out to sea.’
Sure, the northeast + SF/SV + LA buy them off once they’re in place.
But when it comes to the policies a nominee must campaign for on the trail, it’s dictated by the best bang for the buck & the number of delegates you need to lock up the nom. The GOP nomination is usually locked up early and it’s usually southern delegates that result in the lock. I can’t remember a time where that wasn’t the case (probably not in my lifetime, but maybe Reagan?)
BTW, never forget - the guys who actually fund the tea party live in NYC (Koch Brothers), DC, or similar places.
East Coaster Mitt Romney was the last Republican nominee, so I think your doom scenarios are a bit unfounded. I think Republicans pick the ‘best’ guy they have eventually. If Christie is the best, he’ll get the nomination. I don’t think the southern contingent forced Romney to be someone he wasn’t either once he was nominated. He’s a big boy, he made that choice for himself of which groups to pander to. He simply chose poorly.
That’s part of my point, if people take an absolutist view of the 2nd Amm, it knocks out a number of candidates who could run well nationally.
If you’re a 2A die hard it does you no good to win nationally with someone who is still going to sell you out. Losing the ability to defend yourself is a one time shot, once it’s gone you have no means to get it back.
BTW, never forget - the guys who actually fund the tea party live in NYC (Koch Brothers), DC, or similar places.
There are probably some oil billionaires who live in the suburbs of Houston (or somewhere in TX or OK) who are also involved.
But, yeah, it’s those big money people who are very important for both parties. In terms of the presidential elections, some people call the fundraising the first primary. First a candidate has to raise a ton of dough. Then they go and compete in Iowa and New Hampshire.
That brings up another point, Joe. Those first two states are very important for both parties and they’re both outside of the South.
This is the moment our movement was built for
Washington Post: “The Obama administration said Wednesday night that it will give Americans who buy health insurance through the new online marketplaces an extra six weeks to obtain coverage before they incur a penalty.
The announcement means that those who buy coverage through the exchange will have until March 31 to sign up for a plan, according to an official with the Department of Health and Human Services.”
Forward
What happens if your individual policy has been canceled like mine on Jan1.
“You can keep your doctor”, “You can keep your plan”, says the Liar in Chief.
Why was it cancelled?
The company I had, along with several others has declined to write policies in NH. The only choice now is Blue Cross Blue Shield,
and they suck. I had them before. There is no choice, either take them or go without.
Lots of good philosophy on money and work and free time…
http://www.raptitude.com/2010/07/your-lifestyle-has-already-been-designed/
This is beyond excellent, thank you for posting this.
Big business will work you 40 hours a week plus IF THEY CAN MAKE MONEY OFF YOUR LABOR otherwise no job 4 U
And if they can make money off 40 hours a week why not 60 hours a week.
They do. It’s called “Salary”.
I see far too many middle mgmt types who think working 60+ hours is the real way to get ahead, little realizing they are killing themselves and right when they are going to need that costly medical help just as their kids start college, the company is going to kick them to the curb with an aircraft carrier catapult.
Not to mention making the rest of us miserable.
Pretty much dead on.
Because the future belongs to Lucky Ducky
Washington Post: “A majority of Americans with 401(k)-type savings accounts are accumulating debt faster than they are setting aside money for retirement, further undermining the nation’s troubled system for old-age saving, a new report has found.
Three in five workers with defined contribution accounts are “debt savers,” according to the report released Thursday, meaning their increasing mortgages, credit card balances and installment loans are outpacing the amount of money they are able to save for retirement.
The amount of money that households nearing retirement are dedicating to pay down debts has increased 69 percent over the past two decades, the report said. Households headed by people ages 55 to 64 now spend 22 cents of each dollar to pay off old loans — about the same percentage as younger people, the report found.
The problem is not confined to the poorest Americans, many of whom have no retirement savings. Most of the people with accounts who are accumulating debt faster than retirement savings are older than 40, college educated and earning more than $50,000 a year, the report said.”
Washington Post: “A majority of Americans with 401(k)-type savings accounts are accumulating debt faster than they are setting aside money for retirement, further undermining the nation’s troubled system for old-age saving, a new report has found.
That’s a good news, right? I mean the whole fiasco about debt celiling proved that most of us wanted more debts. The debts have to be owened by someone…so finally we have people actually going into more debts, so what’s the problem?
I fail to understand the disconnect here.
Washington Post: “A majority of Americans with 401(k)-type savings accounts are accumulating debt faster than they are setting aside money for retirement, further undermining the nation’s troubled system for old-age saving, a new report has found.
That’s definitely the trend I was noticing when trying to live in any class of housing being gamed. Moved to the trailer park and the problem went away. I’d like a garage, though…hopefully something changes eventually and I can move on up again without getting juiced like a turnip.
Aren’t 401Ks excluded from bankruptcy? I thought the 2005 bankruptcy reform exempted up to $1M in 401Ks. If so, then squirrelling away money in a 401K while running up debt makes sense.
That’s what I am doing. I also sit on cash…wish there was a way to move that to 401k as well.
You might be able to use some other retirement vehicle, like an IRA or Roth.
Oct. 23, 2013, 1:13 p.m. EDT
Shutdown outflows show dangers in money funds
Commentary: A wakeup call for regulators and industry leaders
By Michael Casey
Money market funds were among the biggest victims of the standoff in Washington, bearing the brunt of the disruption in short-term Treasury bills and suffering the biggest exodus from investors in two years.
That should be a wakeup call for regulators and industry leaders, who have only succeeded with partial reform of the industry since its near-implosion in 2008.
Regulators have worried ever since about the vulnerability of the $2.6 trillion money-market fund industry to an impetuous, swift-footed investor base. That’s because they provide much of the crucial lending that allows government agencies and companies to finance payroll and other short-term obligation. Back in 2008, the collapse of Lehman Brothers sent investors fleeing and prompted Reserve Primary Fund’s net asset value to drop below $1 a share — the dreaded “breaking the buck” moment. The turmoil forced the Federal Reserve to step in to support the market.
But for all the hand-wringing that ensued, very little has been accomplished.
Some rule changes were introduced in 2010 that boosted money-market funds’ holdings of the most liquid securities and limited their investments in lower-quality instruments.
But broad, structural reform has been restrained by infighting within the Securities Exchange Commission and the industry. That’s a worry.
A new bout of panic in the money market “is for now the most plausible scenario for how we have another 2008 crisis,” says John C. Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School. The fundamental problem, he says, is that the funds’ investments are inextricably linked; if one is compelled to dump assets to address a funding shortfall, the declining prices creates problems for other funds.
…
No defense contractor left behind
Washington Post: “General Dynamics and Northrup Grumman, two of the country’s largest defense contractors, reported improved profits in the most recent quarter on Wednesday, despite sales declines that they attributed to slowing government spending.”
Job cuts?
Look at this last huge protest I worked on… here is the public page:
http://www.netcentsii.com/
Look at the news item from last week. After TWO rounds of bidding and TWO rounds of protests (something like 35 protests in total at GAO) .. the Air Force just gave up. They awarded a contract to EVERY private contractor who bid.
Not a joke, go read the NETCENTS site…
LOLz for days.
“But you can always fire a private contractor” - 2Ban, who knows nothing about how gov procurement works.
More Hope and Change from the Food Stamp President
Linked from Drudge: “In the fourth quarter of 2011, 49.2 percent of Americans received benefits from one or more government programs, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.
In total, the Census Bureau estimated, 151,014,000 Americans out of a population then estimated to be 306,804,000 received benefits from one or more government programs during the last three months of 2011.”
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
I’d love to see what the breakdown is for these 151M cheese consumers, considering that foodstamp recipients are under 50M. I’m guessing that they are including:
Foodstamps.
SS and Medicare recipients
People on SS disability
College students receiving subsidized loans and grants
K-12 kids, since their schools get federal grants
I won’t count Medicaid or Section 8 recipients as the are most likely already in the foodstamp headcount.
I don’t see those groups above adding up to 151M people. Can anyone think of any other programs that cover millions that don’t overlap with the above mentioned groups?
I already though of another group: Those receiving unemployment, though technically that is insurance, paid for by employers, at least for the first 26 weeks.
I don’t see those groups above adding up to 151M people. Can anyone think of any other programs that cover millions that don’t overlap with the above mentioned groups?”
Home Mortgage interest deduction
So Drudge is including those who “get to keep their hard earned money” via tax deductions as welfare recipients?
no probably not
WIC.
S-CHIP
All verterans benefits including any patient receiving care at any VA hospital and anyone receiving a military pension.
Everyone who is part of a family that qualifies for even a few bucks of the Earned Income Tax Credit or the additional child tax credit (these are the ones that are refundable meaning you can get money beyond what reduces your income tax liability to zero).
“All” k-12 kids probably aren’t included.
But wouldn’t all those groups, except the veterans, overlap with Foodstamp recipients?
Of course Veterans don’t see their benefits as a handout, do they?
Of course Veterans don’t see their benefits as a handout, do they?
Of course not, but ask one and they can probably make some pretty good points as to why. I wonder if we’ll have a national conversation at some point about benefits that were earned, such as VA and SS, versus others that were not.
If you don’t want to give veterans benefits, stop promising them as a part of their compensation when recruiting them.
I don’t know what the SNAP cut off is, but you can be in the EITC up to a very reasonable salary. Also, you get EITC automatically, just by getting your taxes done at H&R block or on-line free file or whatever. You have to apply for SNAP benefits. I’m sure there are plenty who qualify who don’t ever apply.
Total could include federal civilian retirees as well.
I’m not saying it’s a 100% overlap, but I’ll bet it’s not trivial.
Well, 10 million here and 10 million there and eventually you get to 151 million.
My broke friends get the EITC, additional child tax credit, Medicaid and SNAP, but they could make a lot more money and still get a little EITC. Again, I’m not sure where the SNAP cut off is. They were definitely below poverty level for a family of 4 last year when you don’t include the money from their tax return. Even with the tax return money, they aren’t that much over it.
“All” k-12 kids probably aren’t included.
I wonder if they include every kid who gets a free or discounted school lunch?
That is possible. Maybe even likely, though I hope they don’t include every kid in places where they have just made all the school lunches free because so many kids qualified it wasn’t worth it to assign a cafeteria worker to collect money from the ones who didn’t qualify.
Disaster relief.
Farmers.
Would small business people who get SBA loans count?
Some who receive Medicaid may not receive SNAP, like kidney dialysis patients.
Here is an easy way to stop wasting FS money no meat fish pork over $4.99 lb will be eligible for FS.
Or you can add $40 a month for fresh fruits veggies and use it or lose it each month….
From this article:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/census-49-americans-get-gov-t-benefits-82m-households-medicaid
The 0.1% are doing just fine, thank you
Bloomberg - Hamptons Sales Surge Fuels High-End Home Tear-Downs:
“Hamptons real estate deals are surging, fueling a boom in knockdowns, expansions and quick resales in the beachfront town favored by Wall Street financiers and celebrities. Home purchases in the three months through September jumped 32 percent from a year earlier to 534 … Luxury homes in the Hamptons, the top 10 percent of deals by price, sold for a median of $4.45 million in the third quarter, up 14 percent from a year earlier”
Ted Cruz gets his health insurance from Goldman Sachs
At first glance, Senator Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi Nelson Cruz, seems to be just the sort of person the Tea Party supporters who celebrate her husband’s anti-establishment positions love to hate.
A vegetarian with a Harvard M.B.A., Mrs. Cruz is a managing director at Goldman Sachs, one of the Wall Street firms that helped set off the populist rage that ushered Mr. Cruz into the Senate in 2012
…
“Ted is on my health care plan,” said Mrs. Cruz, who has worked in Goldman’s investment management division for eight years.
Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for the senator, confirmed the coverage, which Goldman said was worth at least $20,000 a year. “The senator is on his wife’s plan, which comes at no cost to the taxpayer and reflects a personal decision about what works best for their family,” she said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/us/politics/a-wife-committed-to-cruzs-ideals-but-a-study-in-contrasts-to-him.html
A liberal economist disputes Cruz’s claim that his health insurance comes at no cost to the taxpayer.
Senator Cruz’s Health Care Plan Costs Taxpayers $8,000 a Year Print
Thursday, 24 October 2013 07:06
A New York Times piece profiling Senator Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi Nelson Cruz, allowed an erroneous comment from the Senator’s staff go uncorrected. The piece noted that Senator Cruz is on his wife’s health care plan which it reported as costing $20,000 a year. It then presented a statement from a spokesperson for Mr. Cruz:
“The senator is on his wife’s plan, which comes at no cost to the taxpayer and reflects a personal decision about what works best for their family.”
The cost of health insurance is tax deductible. Assuming the Cruz’s are in the highest tax bracket, the tax deduction for Senator Cruz’s health care plan would be more than $8,000 a year. This is far larger than the subsidy that most people would receive in the exchanges.
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/senator-cruzs-health-care-plan-costs-taxpayers-8000-a-year
When you’re a Teabagger, it’s only “welfare” when poor black and brown people get it.
Don’t kid yourself, they don’t like po’ white trash gettin’ anything either, and they get their rocks off when some po’ white trash gets wasted by a “person of color”.
Correct. It’s only “welfare” when someone else is the recipient. Otherwise its an “earned” benefit.
I will never get how people see not paying tax on money you earned as a handout. *YOU FRIGGIN EARNED IT*. The government didn’t earn it. Certainly when I am at work from 9 am to 9pm, there isn’t a government worker by my side lending a hand with whatever task I’m on. When I work 14 hour days, there isn’t an extra cost to the 2 times I drive back and forth on the road to get home. But I don’t get to keep the extra 6 hours of pay… uncle sam is right there getting his cut out of my pocket. He actually TAKES MORE with a higher tax rate when I work harder.
“Assuming the Cruz’s are in the highest tax bracket, the tax deduction for Senator Cruz’s health care plan would be more than $8,000 a year.” Well, if you ignore that you can’t deduct the first 7.5% of healthcare expenses, then that might be true… Assuming Cruz plus his wife make at least 250k per year combined, none of that health plan is tax deductible… So thanks for rallying everyone to a lie since Cruz + spouse likely make much more than this.
The first step to fixing healthcare is to make ALL medical expenses 100% tax deductible.
Assuming Cruz plus his wife make at least 250k per year combined, none of that health plan is tax deductible…
It is deductible for the employer who provides it no?
I will never get how people see not paying tax on money you earned as a handout. *YOU FRIGGIN EARNED IT*. The government didn’t earn it. Certainly when I am at work from 9 am to 9pm, there isn’t a government worker by my side lending a hand with whatever task I’m on.
Are you kidding me? The government is by your side. You wouldn’t earn squat without a government providing…well…..government. Heck you might not even be here. What’s the birth-rate, life expectancy and business start-up stats for Somalia? The Constitution and becoming the USA was largely an economic event for economic reasons. Government provides the infrastructure for you earning your paycheck. Every one of them.
It’s so obvious that your “argument” is no argument at all.
It is your inability so see the forest because of all the trees that causes you to miss most of my argument. Where oh where, mind reader of brazil, did I say the government did nothin? Now that I’ve torn that strawman down, where should I go?
somalia… strawman #2 .. come up with a new tactic… strawmen are gettin old, plus, somalia HAS a government…
“Government provides the infrastructure for you earning your paycheck. Every one of them.”
Well why don’t I just pay a 100% tax rate then and just let those benevolent fellows make all my decisions for me.. Gee, can they wipe my butt too? Pretty soon you’ll be telling me government invented DNA, and all life owes its existence to not the laws of nature, but the writings in “Das Kapital”.
well well.. http://taxfoundation.org/article/us-federal-individual-income-tax-rates-history-1913-2013-nominal-and-inflation-adjusted-brackets
Historical record does exist, and shows tax rates have NOT always been this high on individual income… and LORDY OUR COUNTRY SEEMS TO HAVE SURVIVED IT!
In fact, the main reason to reinstate the personal income tax was to pay for war… And it seems we’ve been at war pretty consistently with this continued income tax..
Now lets keep going:
“It is deductible for the employer who provides it no? ”
Well your desk is deductible by your employer too, so I guess we better count that as a tax break that Cruz is getting? Or the ergonomic chair because it doesn’t cause your back to break like a plain wooden stool would? Can’t you just accept that the 8k tax break is spin and actually a lie intended to get you pissed at Cruz?
Also, assume he WAS getting the tax writeoff: can’t you tell the difference between working, building something, and then not being taxed on a portion of your expenses as a different scenario than government taking control over a pile of money and then doling it out to specific vendors to lower the price of a product that you are buying?
Republicans are for many things that I am against… farm subsidies, huge military spending, foreign bases and interventions, anti-american trade agreements like Nafta, Federal reserve crony capitalism to banks, tax shelters for corporations masquerading as help to the general population… BUT keeping a lid on our spending, and keeping the feds out of healthcare are two things I don’t happen to oppose them on…
Now that I’ve torn that strawman down, where should I go? ……..(1) Well why don’t I just pay a 100% tax rate then and just let those benevolent fellows make all my decisions for me.. (2) Gee, can they wipe my butt too? (3) Pretty soon you’ll be telling me government invented DNA, and (4) all life owes its existence to not the laws of nature, (5) but the writings in “Das Kapital”.
Here’s some good advice:
After you falsely accuse someone of a “strawman” to “bolster” your argument, don’t come back with 5 real and ridiculous straw-man “arguments” yourself.
That dog don’t hunt.
Well, if you ignore that you can’t deduct the first 7.5% of healthcare expenses, then that might be true… Assuming Cruz plus his wife make at least 250k per year combined, none of that health plan is tax deductible… So thanks for rallying everyone to a lie since Cruz + spouse likely make much more than this.
You’re missing the point there. The health insurance that Goldman Sachs provides to Cruz’s wife for her family is a form of compensation, but it doesn’t show up at all on her W-2 form. So she pays zero tax on that nice little chunk of her total compensation.
And so this “costs” the government how much? What if she had no healthcare from her company… Well then the government clearly makes more money right? Oh they don’t, because they still collect the same tax on her plain income? So with or without her healthcare plan, at the same salary, the government still makes the same amount of money? Oh I see.
But then at that point, if she bought her OWN healthcare, THEN she would get a deduction and be screwing the government by taking care of herself, right? Oh wait still within 7.5% and no deduction if she buys it on her own.. Wrong again.. drat… guess it IS all just lies…
What if she had no healthcare from her company? You mean what if they cut her compensation by eliminating her health insurance? Well I guess that they would have higher profits and pay more corporation tax, wouldn’t they?
“The first step to fixing healthcare is to make ALL medical expenses 100% tax deductible.”
Won’t our resident free-marketers argue that this will just cause medical expenses to skyrocket?
Personally, I’d rather have publicly provided health care than have to pay out of pocket in January and wait a whole year to get reimbursed on my tax return.
And, no, I won’t overuse the system. Like most people, I do not enjoy going to the doctor.
If one is not taxed on income used to pay interest on a house loan, why should you be taxed on income you are using to save your life? We get constant stories about mean sprited insurance companies not covering 100% on procedures for kids with cancer or something.. guess what.. first 7.5% of the parents income… Uncle Sam be takin’ that money with no tax deduction. What a jerk. Those parents could have paid for that better insurance for their kid if it was deductible. People in favor of the income tax hate children… Think of the children.
Just to be a tad more direct in answering your question :
“Won’t our resident free-marketers argue that this will just cause medical expenses to skyrocket?”
No. Currently employers are able to deduct 100% of “medical expenses” for employees. With 100% deductibility of medical expenses employees would not be tied to their employer as the only source of insurance that is 100% tax deductible. The deduction already exist that might cause market distortion.. This would just be freeing the citizen from control of their healthcare from their employer…
Employers may be able to deduct 100% of medical expenses, but the reality is that most employer provided insurance plans cover less than 100% of employee expenses. So there would be some additional distortion from letting someone deduct 100% of expenses on their tax return.
And I’d still rather have no out of pocket costs than have to wait up to a year to recover the cost in a tax deduction.
If one is not taxed on income used to pay interest on a house loan, why should you be taxed on income you are using to save your life?
I think that most of us who participate on this blog agree that the mortgage interest deduction is a bad policy. We’d like to get rid of it of instead of adding other foolish deductions.
So you’d like to keep people chained to their employer based health compensation to prove… what??? You’re arguing some bizarro libertarian version of deduction that we can have just this much regulation to keep people tied to their employer, but more deductions to allow all medical to be deducted will drive prices too high? Weird..
Darn those facts.
The future belongs to Lucky Ducky, and the future is NOW
Businessweek - More Than Half of Wal-Mart’s Hourly Workers Make Less Than $25,000:
“The statistic, which was listed under the heading “Great job opportunities,” means as many as 525,000 full-time hourly employees earn less than $25,000 a year … a congressional report released in May that calculated how much Walmart workers rely on public assistance … the study found that the 300 employees at one Supercenter in Wisconsin required some $900,000 worth of public assistance a year”
300 employees at one Supercenter in Wisconsin required some $900,000 worth of public assistance a year”
A quick “solution” would be to shut that Supercenter down. How much public assistance would they need if they were unemployed?
The greater question is what should the market wage be for unskilled retail-type labor? It is work that can be done by anyone with just a high-school education (I’m being kind here). That many performing this work need public assistance is more a testament to the inflation caused by the Fed and our financial system than anything else.
At least these people are working…
That many performing this work need public assistance is more a testament to the inflation caused by the Fed and our financial system than anything else.
It could also be because minimum wage (in real terms) has been steadily shrinking for decades.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:History_of_US_federal_minimum_wage_increases.svg
It could also be because minimum wage (in real terms) has been steadily shrinking for decades.
GBY people, GBY.
Greenspan, Bernanke and Yellin.
The inflation story doesn’t make sense. Any inflation that exists is built into the prices at Walmart. If inflation were lower, Walmart would have fewer dollars coming in. They would probably pay their employees less as a result.
The inflation story doesn’t make sense. Any inflation that exists is built into the prices at Walmart. If inflation were lower, Walmart would have fewer dollars coming in. They would probably pay their employees less as a result.
What are you talking about? The majority of poor subsidies are with food, housing, and health care, all of which have experienced massive amounts of inflation over the last 30+ years. The only thing that experienced deflation is the crap Walmart sells…
Some Walmarts have grocery stores within them and some have pharmacies. So Walmart is involved in two of the three sectors you mention.
Also, most of these low-income workers don’t own their own homes. They rent. Rents have not been going up as fast as house prices. That’s one of the ways that we know we’re in a bubble.
You’re not talking about the total inflation rate, which has not been high. You’re talking about the inflation rate of certain goods and services. What would you want the Fed to do? Should they give us deflation so that the cost of food and health care don”t rise as quickly? That wouldn’t be good.
he study found that the 300 employees at one Supercenter in Wisconsin required some $900,000 worth of public assistance a year”
wow 3 government contractors can make that in a year. that’s what you get for working at Walmart when you could work for the government.
Other than the pay is there really a difference
” that’s what you get for working at Walmart when you could work for the government”
Doesn’t it bother you to subsidize Walmart?
the study found that the 300 employees at one Supercenter in Wisconsin required some $900,000 worth of public assistance a year
That’s $3000 a year, per employee. If WalMart paid them just $1.50 more per hour, they wouldn’t need it, would they?
Sounds like you are assuming they are full time. I thought part of the controversy was that they’re probably not being given full time hours just to avoid having to pay them benefits? So perhaps giving them full time hours would also be enough without even having to give them a raise…
That too.
Press 1 for English
Here comes the Shamnesty!
Bloomberg: “A coalition of business groups, religious leaders and agricultural companies has spent much of the year lobbying for legislation. Next week, the Partnership for a New American Economy, an association of mayors and business leaders, is flying in 400 business, religious and technology leaders to make the case for a bill on Capitol Hill. They’re targeting House Republicans from more than 20 states.
Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, the American Farm Bureau, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, FWD.US, an advocacy group co-founded by Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will join them for a rally in urging Republicans to take action.
The Partnership for a New American Economy was formed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.”
How come nobody is urging democrats?
Why would they need to be urged?
They’ve already got 50,000,000 votes from the Shamnestied, their anchor babies, and the tens of millions of other Nuevos Americanos who will come here under “chain migration” family reunification policies (authored by sh*tbag Ted Kennedy) locked up in the bag, thank you.
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
It’s not so bad. Unchecked immigration worked out quite well for the Native Americans… oh wait.
Living rent free
“Foreclosure sounds like the end of the line, but actual eviction can take months or years — even after the bank has repossessed a home.
RealtyTrac estimates that 47% of the nation’s foreclosed homes are currently occupied. The percentage actually tops 60% in some hot housing markets, like Miami and Los Angeles.
Those still living in repossessed homes include both former owners and renters. Either way, their time in the homes is mortgage and rent free.
To arrive at its estimate, RealtyTrac compared its database of foreclosed homes with postal records showing whether mail was still being collected and whether change-of-address forms had been filed.
Even when occupants leave voluntarily, old owners typically take about two months to vacate.
With renters, it can take a year or more. “If someone has a bona fide rental agreement, we have to abide by that,” said Amy Bonitatibus, a spokeswoman for JP Morgan Chase.”
103 year old kick out …….and these people actually get paid to do this
http://watchdog.org/112499/seattle-uses-eminent-domain-turn-parking-lot-parking-lot/
Amazing, ain’t it?
‘China’s central bank added fuel to fears on Thursday it was clamping down on inflation risks as it allowed cash to drain from the financial system for a second straight week, sparking a jump in short-term rates.’
‘The move by the People’s Bank of China (PBC) happened as Beijing stepped up its efforts to counter surging property prices in the capital in an attempt to calm rising discontent over the city’s record-high home prices.’
‘Zhu Haibin, chief China economist at JP Morgan in Hong Kong, argued the tighter conditions were overdue. “That will increase the determination of the PBC for credit normalization, for credit tapering. The policy in the last few years overall has been very loose, with credit growth way higher than nominal GDP,” Zhu said.’
‘Researchers reported the overall cost of living in Greater Boston has increased twice as fast as median homeowner household income since 2005, and three times faster than the median income of renter households.’
‘Mike McDonough, general counsel for the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, told lawmakers homeownership is out of reach for many residents because of the lack of affordable housing.’
“We are seeing people leave this state because of the cost of homes in Massachusetts,” McDonough said.’
‘Buyer frenzy to get in before mortgage rates spike has backfired on, well, the buyers. Many “have been so desperate to buy something that they are bidding each other out,” says Eric Tan, a Los Angeles-based listing agent with Redfin, a national brokerage. Tan says buyers he has worked with have gone to extremes telling him they will match any offers he gets—effectively bidding against themselves—and waiving clauses in contracts that are supposed to protect them.’
‘Still, the hype may not last. Fed up with rising prices, buyers have started retreating in recent weeks, agents say. And sellers in some markets have gotten the timing wrong and are listing now in anticipation that buyer demand has not abated.’
‘For buyers, the main issue is that the math just doesn’t add up. Home price gains are outpacing the rate at which income is rising. While that was often the case during the housing bubble, it was a lot easier to get a mortgage with little or no cash down.’
‘But increased demand for real estate is resulting in price hikes and limited inventory—similar headaches that buyers in Sacramento where encountering by the bay. For-sale listings were difficult to come by during the first half of this year and most homes that hit the market were sold within the same week, says TaLisa Bealum, real-estate broker. While a healthy market would have about six months of inventory to sell, Sacramento had just under one month of listings, she says. That created competition among buyers who were bidding each other up in an effort to snatch what remained of listings, which in turn pushed prices up.’
‘But this momentum has come to a standstill in the last two months and conditions are changing from a seller’s to a buyer’s market: Prices rose too high to a level where buyers became exasperated and pulled back, she says. At the same time, home buyers who had become aware that listings just a few months ago were selling at high prices decided to put their homes up for sale—many of which are now sitting on the market. Bealum says many of these homeowners were previously underwater (meaning that they owed more on their mortgage than their home was worth) but no longer are because of price spikes. They’re eager to sell while they’re still above water so they’re offering concessions like closing cost credits and offering to pay for repairs buyers want.’
Prices are high but can’t sell. We know what comes next.
ever been to Bastin ?- everyone drives like a kamikaze`
more wicked than NYC
Most of southern NH consists mainly of MA transplants.It’s just another big suburb of the Rt. 128 and 495 belt. A lot of people
call them “Ma$$holes” even though just about everyone around here used to be one.
And yes, they drive like $hit.
What type of Federal reserve chairperson will janet yellen be
http://smaulgld.com/janet-yellen-and-the-precious-printing-press/
This is hilarious.. This Australian guy won’t sell to asians because they are “a bunch of crooks”. You MUST watch to the end to find out why the guy isn’t racist, but is right about “a bunch of crooks”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJPTqWtv8IQ
OT why are used cars so high? A car I bought 4 years ago is at par?
Is it still a bleed on effect from “cash for clunkers”? Overall, there is a lower supply of used cars out there, so their prices are higher on average?
correct. it’s the result of another government attempt at price fixing. this time for their crony auto unions.
I thought it was the fact you can refi a used car- how crazy is that
“I thought it was the fact you can refi a used car- how crazy is that”
It would be a bit#h to be upside down on a 2001 Kia.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101140863
Why in the world are they doing this now, when jumbo loan rates are BELOW conforming?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-24/families-blocked-by-investors-from-buying-u-s-homes.html
I guess investors haven’t dialed it back after all…
Liar,
You do realize housing demand is at 1997 levels don’t you?
I vant to live for free.
Real-estate market haunted by ‘vampire’ foreclosures
Vampire foreclosures are homes that have gone through the court proceedings and are bank-owned but are still occupied by their previous owners. Nationwide, 47 percent of bank-owned homes are still occupied by their previous owners.
Just in time for Halloween, RealtyTrac has issued a new report on “vampire” foreclosures.
Vampire foreclosures are defined as homes that have gone through the court proceedings and are bank- owned but are still occupied by their previous owners.
Why would the previous owners still live in them? Because they can, said Daren Blomquist, a vice president at the Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac.
“They are accustomed to living there for free without any consequence,” Blomquist said. “And up until recently, the banks have not had a huge motivation to kick them out because home prices were not increasing and the banks had so many properties they were dealing with.”
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2022069361_vampiretenantsxml.html - 93k -
All they’re doing is just renaming the same old 25 million excess empty houses.
“Nationwide, 47 percent of bank-owned homes are still occupied by their previous owners.”
Damn 47 percent lives rent free in our heads and in reality!
The Fed’s War on Savers is wildly successful!
Posted October 24, 2013
401(k) Savers Go Deeper in Debt
By Hal M. Bundrick
NEW YORK (MainStreet) — One step forward, two steps back. While Americans are saving more for retirement, many are also going even deeper into debt. The treadmill is starting to run in reverse. Over 60% of workers participating in an employer sponsored retirement plan accumulated more debt than they contributed to their retirement savings between 2010 and 2011, according to research conducted by HelloWallet.com.
The study looked at data from the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Census Bureau and found that one in five participants in 401(k) retirement plans particularly added more credit card debt to their family balance sheet than they contributed to retirement savings.
“Through retirement plans and social security taxes, the average 401(k) participant now contributes over 11% of their paycheck to retirement savings every month, yet the typical worker near retirement has only about 2 years of replacement income saved,” says HelloWallet founder and CEO Matt Fellowes. “The growth in household debt is one big reason why retirement readiness is so stubbornly low.”
…
Have we reentered the McCarthy era, or is it that we never left it?
“Spying on the spies”
What a great idea! Perhaps the government could hire another layer of contractors to keep an eye on the NSA spooks?
Spying on the spies, a roundup of NSA news
by Edward Moyer
October 24, 2013 7:33 PM PDT
State Department insider says German chancellor’s reaction to phone tap may be an act; an enterprising tweeter works some spycraft on the NSA; Snowden speaks out; and more.
You should’ve thought of that *before* you started tweeting, my friend. Bwahahahahaha… (see below)
(Credit: Tom Matzzie/Twitter)
The NSA’s bulk collection of what sometimes seems to be just about anything about anybody generates so much news that it requires a bulk approach to keep up with it all. Here’s a brief rundown of some recent surveillance-related tidbits.
Spying on bigwigs is apparently no biggie
Christian Whiton, a former senior adviser at the US State Department, says Germany’s and France’s supposed outrage over NSA spying may well be for show. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was reportedly “livid” about the possibility that her cell phone was tapped by the US, but perhaps that was just to please her public. Whiton tells CNN:
There’s more from Whiton here, and — not to imply that we condone spying on friends (or fail to recognize the various and sundry dangers of mass surveillance) — we’d probably be a little less than shocked to discover that he was right about the kabuki theater. We’ll see.
Tweeter turns tables on NSA
It’s not every day you get to spy on a spy, but former MoveOn.org director Tom Matzzie got his chance Thursday. Matzzie was riding the Acela express train between New York and Washington, DC, when he realized former NSA Director Michael Hayden was sitting near him and giving a phone interview to a reporter “on background” (meaning Hayden didn’t want to be identified).
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What’s good for the tweeter is good for the twit.
On Twitter, Eavesdropper Reveals Former N.S.A. Head’s Train Chat
By ERIC SCHMITT
Published: October 24, 2013
WASHINGTON — It was just a background conversation on the Acela train ride north on Thursday.
Or that’s what Michael V. Hayden, the former head of the National Security Agency, thought as he chatted away with three journalists who called him for comment on the recent reports of N.S.A. eavesdropping on the leaders of France and Germany.
What Mr. Hayden did not realize was that a passenger a few seats away was doing some eavesdropping of his own.
Tom Matzzie, a former Washington director of the political group MoveOn.org, was so intrigued by the tidbits he heard from Mr. Hayden, who is also a former C.I.A. director, that he pulled out his cellphone and started posting Twitter messages.
“Former NSA spy boss Michael Hayden on Acela behind me blabbing ‘on background as a former senior admin official,’ ” Mr. Matzzie wrote. “Sounds defensive.”
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NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US official handed over contacts
• Agency given more than 200 numbers by government official
• NSA encourages departments to share their ‘Rolodexes’
• Surveillance produced ‘little intelligence’, memo acknowledges
James Ball
The Guardian, Thursday 24 October 2013 14.14 EDT
The NSA memo suggests that such surveillance was not isolated as the agency routinely monitors world leaders. Photograph: Guardian
The National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another US government department, according to a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The confidential memo reveals that the NSA encourages senior officials in its “customer” departments, such the White House, State and the Pentagon, to share their “Rolodexes” so the agency can add the phone numbers of leading foreign politicians to their surveillance systems.
The document notes that one unnamed US official handed over 200 numbers, including those of the 35 world leaders, none of whom is named. These were immediately “tasked” for monitoring by the NSA.
The revelation is set to add to mounting diplomatic tensions between the US and its allies, after the German chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday accused the US of tapping her mobile phone.
After Merkel’s allegations became public, White House press secretary Jay Carney issued a statement that said the US “is not monitoring and will not monitor” the German chancellor’s communications. But that failed to quell the row, as officials in Berlin quickly pointed out that the US did not deny monitoring the phone in the past.
The NSA memo obtained by the Guardian suggests that such surveillance was not isolated, as the agency routinely monitors the phone numbers of world leaders – and even asks for the assistance of other US officials to do so.
The memo, dated October 2006 and which was issued to staff in the agency’s Signals Intelligence Directorate (SID), was titled “Customers Can Help SID Obtain Targetable Phone Numbers”.
It begins by setting out an example of how US officials who mixed with world leaders and politicians could help agency surveillance.
“In one recent case,” the memo notes, “a US official provided NSA with 200 phone numbers to 35 world leaders … Despite the fact that the majority is probably available via open source, the PCs [intelligence production centers] have noted 43 previously unknown phone numbers. These numbers plus several others have been tasked.”
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Obama left increasingly isolated as anger builds among key US allies
Merkel the latest to rebuke Washington over NSA spying while US relationships in the Middle East are also unravelling
Dan Roberts and Paul Lewis in Washington
theguardian.com, Thursday 24 October 2013 16.04 EDT
Obama met Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday to reassure him over anxieties around US drone attacks. Photograph: Rex Features
International anger over US government surveillance has combined with a backlash against its current Middle East policy to leave President Obama increasingly isolated from many of his key foreign allies, according to diplomats in Washington.
The furious call that German chancellor Angela Merkel made to the White House on Wednesday to ask if her phone had been tapped was the latest in a string of diplomatic rebukes by allies including France, Brazil and Mexico, all of which have distanced themselves from the US following revelations of spying by the National Security Agency.
But the collapse in trust of the US among its European and South American partners has been matched by an equally rapid deterioration in its relationships with key allies in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia this week joined Israel, Jordan and United Arab Emirates in signalling a shift in its relations with the US over its unhappiness at a perceived policy of rapprochement toward Iran and Syria.
Though the issues are largely unrelated, they have led to a flurry of diplomatic activity from Washington, which is anxious to avoid a more permanent rift in the network of alliances that has been central to its foreign policy since the second world war.
Secretary of state John Kerry has been meeting with Saudi and Israeli leaders in an effort to keep them involved in Middle East peace talks about Palestine and Syria, Obama met Wednesday with Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif to reassure him over separate anxiety over US drone attacks, and the White House has been privately trying to mend fences with world leaders on the surveillance issue.
“The [NSA] revelations have clearly caused tension in our relationships with some countries and we are dealing with that through diplomatic channels,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney on Thursday.
“These are very important relations both economically and for our security, and we will work to maintain the closest possible ties.”
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Obama’s Approval Ratings Plunge in 3 Months of Upheaval
Monday, 21 Oct 2013 05:28 PM
By Cathy Burke
President Barack Obama’s approval rating over the last three months sunk into the third largest drop of his presidency — fueled in part by a contentious 16-day government shutdown, a new poll showed Monday.
Obama’s favorability rating dropped 3 percentage points, to 44.5 percent, between July 20 and Oct. 19, the Gallup polled showed.
The shutdown was the main driver of the ratings dip — as it was for the GOP in general and House Speaker John Boehner in particular, in a CNN survey released Monday.
The quarter surveyed by Gallup included the shutdown that began Oct. 1 and included the eleventh-hour negotiations to increase the debit limit — a time during which Obama’s job approval crashed to as low as 41 percent, the survey noted.
It was the lowest job mark the president had gotten since November 2011, during the last debt-ceiling debate that led to sequestration, The Washington Examiner reported.
The quarter, however, also included the period during which Obama was seeking congressional approval for military action in Syria “something the public did not favor,” the survey noted.
The legislative battles over the federal budget and the Affordable Care Act, as well as the federal debt limit, all “took a toll on the president’s popularity,” the Gallup analysis stated.
Three post-World War II presidents — Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, and Bill Clinton — had significantly higher approval ratings than Obama at the same times in their presidencies, all near 60 percent, the survey noted.
Two presidents had lower averages than Obama during that same presidency time frame: Nixon, during the Watergate investigations, and Lyndon Johnson, attributable mostly to the increasingly unpopular Vietnam War, the survey said.
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