I dunno Pavel, lots of medieval types wrote the equivalent
of checks to build those cathedrals and have masses sung,
after a lifetime spent doing not so good stuff.
I saw her, but I can't remember her name. Why do you ask?
no particular reason. was just flipping through the channels and saw the last minute of her statement. imagined her shopping at the mall, and being texted by a staffer that she was supposed to be on the Hill.
I've been telling my family in Vegas this for at least 6 years. Construction was the second largest employer behind tourism, and accounted for an even larger percentage of employment in terms of wages. Oh, and it was the construction jobs that drew all the young families, too.
Unfortunately they crammed 20 years development into 5 and now have nothing to do for at least a decade. Next up, the Great American Ghost Town.
Unfortunately they crammed 20 years development into 5 and now have nothing to do for at least a decade. Next up, the Great American Ghost Town.
Don't you think that the casinos can keep going? As far as I know, traffic is way down but they are still very much in business after some massive write-downs.
And I'm wondering when/if it will make sense to buy something there. I've looked at commercial rents, and they are still pretty high. So clearly there need to be some additional BKs and repos, after which there should be some bargains, assuming that Vegas doesn't just dry up and blow away.
since i live in las vegas i'll give you guys daily updates on the goings on until i inevitably die of thirst. i'll give you guys a preview now:
july 4 2011 -- gasp! throat so parched... i never saw this coming... gasp
everybody...dead! all around me...dead! three day weekend...wasted!!!
The investors in all the new space in Las Vegas are going to lose their shirts along with most of the skin on their backs. But gaming itself, after the bad debts get written off, is a cash machine.
It's not so long ago that CNBC was breathlessly reporting that the world had run out of available construction cranes
That was probably 2007, mid 2008?
If I wanted to kill Las Vegas I'd just arrange for them to pay market rates on electricity. I don't know if it has shown up yet in data but I get the sense of gambling and "resort leisure" both suffering from consumer fatigue. Gambling having become pervasive lacks some of its appeal. $3 gas and Indian gaming aren't helping much either. In fact I'd say favorable tax structures relative to California is the only thing keeping the sand from burying the city.
I can see the point of playing poker with friends. Or,
if you are good in Vegas. I see no point at all in gambling
in general since you know you have to lose. The laws
of thermo are bad enough without setting yourself up
to fail too.
Lake Mead water levels have recovered, * Lake Mead Water Levels
Interesting. Maybe this is why the peripheral canal thing is being pushed in the CaLi legislature again. Looks like southern CaLi will be needing some water soon.
If I wanted to kill Las Vegas I'd just arrange for them to pay market rates on electricity.....
...I don't know........10-cents per kilowatt seems about right to me.......70 mile trip into and out of LV last week was a cakewalk......and we lunched at this place called "Wendy's"........a sight for sore pallets.
well if LV's power usage drops, transmission fees would increase to maintain revenue to pay for capital costs and maintenance. such is the danger of boom-bust development with respect to infrastructure
If I wanted to kill Las Vegas I'd just arrange for them to pay market rates on electricity.
A federal court several years ago forced WA and OR to charge market rates to consumers for federally generated elec. power at the Bonneville power project on the Columbia River. The rate increase hurt, but wasn't fatal.
The Boulder/Hoover dam runs 24/7 because Las Vegas sucks electrons all through the night (esp. at night!) when all those lights on outdoor signs and inside casinos are blazing - using water through the dam that could be used for domestic and agricultural use.
If Nevada is getting elec. power below market rates, that subsidy should be removed. Colorado river water is very scarce and should not be used to make Las Vegas into the gaudyest city in the world.
What are things going to be like in Vegas when California finally implodes?
Depends what the "implosion" looks like. Most government "implosions" are as uneventful as airlines going bankrupt. The planes still fly, some "stakeholders' get wiped out, life goes on.
So , are at risk behaviors now the responsibilty of the proles to eradicate...ie; can i go poor water in the face of a smoker, or take food from the morbidly obese, or take candy bars and beer away from the diabetic, skateboards away from tweeners, parachutes away from the type-A's, etcc...
very good question. Should at risk behaviors be covered. On its face, no. Perhaps coverage should require a waver to be signed that defines such behaviors, much like those that define voiding auto coverage.
We were going out to look at a potential doomstead today. It went under contract before we could get there.
I saw another one. It had 23 acres, stables, and a machine shop! It was under contract when we called. Somehow I don't think we are the only ones looking for doomsteads
i advise against that liz. you should stay in front of your computer as much as possible to stay ahead of the cannibalistic nightmare (aka the future) heading straight for us all. my advise: instead of vacationing buy sardines and canned beans.
"The Boulder/Hoover dam runs 24/7 because Las Vegas sucks electrons all through the night (esp. at night!) when all those lights on outdoor signs and inside casinos are blazing - using water through the dam that could be used for domestic and agricultural use."
Jim, SOMEBODY here has to use it (electricity)......it can't be "shipped" elsewhere without a ton of line-loss..........as far as water, it IS being used downstream.......hence the generators getting their "workout"......
Yes and no. Yes, LV will always be the destination for gaming, but no, not all of the casinos they have are going to survive.
There's not a lot of growth in gaming; the newest casinos just tend to kill off the oldest ones. The whales from Asia are diverting to Macau these days, too.
The problem in LV isn't gaming though, it's everything else. Again, outside of gaming the economy was based entirely upon growth itself -- virtually no manufacturing, tech, biotech, ag, etc. Even mining is a relatively tiny employer.
Gaming itself cannot support the city that LV is now, even in better times. As Dawg likes to say, "critical mass" has not been achieved.
Barring a major influx of business fleeing surrounding states, a minimum 50% of Vegas has no reason to exist. Perhaps the shakeout will bring RRE down far enough to make it the world's largest retirement community. Who knows. Meanwhile, those young families will leave, and when they leave the landscape will change dramatically.
The key to LV is federal tax dollars. Good thing Harry Reid is majority leader. They would never have gotten the high speed line to LA without his push.
The key to LV is federal tax dollars. Good thing Harry Reid is majority leader. They would never have gotten the high speed line to LA without his push.
Once Reid is gone, they can open up the nuclear waste dump and charge good money for storage...
And after about 10 years, Nevada could site a fuel recycling plant and start selling reactor fuel.
If you out far enough you can find some, at least to me, nice deals. Most of them are renovated too. I think America had its entire housing stock redone between 2002 - 2006
That tv show was produced within walking distance of where I grew up,
and there was a boy in my class who danced there named Douglas
Considine who I liked, but would have never given me a second glance.
ll - my mother went to her 65th or so high school class reunion. She knew that the boy she used to have a crush on in high school was going to be there, and he was with his wife (my mother was a widow). She still felt special about him after all those years. And it appeared he still didn't have the same feelings for her.
All that fighting with Honda car salemen strained
my brain. We left. (what price would it take you to buy this
car today? I dunno, what's your price? One Zillion. But
it's not our best price. So what's your best price? I won't
tell you because you aren't promising to buy today. Etc,
etc.)
Stimulus funds could fund Foxborough pedestrian bridge - The Boston Globe (to connect 2 parking lots for Patriots games)
• Excellent choice for proceeding quickly and not displacing private investment
• Worst choice for generating any kind of return on investment
• Indeterminate choice for avoiding graft
Been wondering... isn't FL one of those states where you can buy someone's property tax liability and then take their property if they don't pay up with interest within a certain period?
I finished writing another installment in my story about life after the crash. Here is a sample:
Between the ruins of factory buildings I saw a freshly cultivated field. Glod only knows what kind of chemicals had leeched into the soil from whatever industry had been there. They probably knew that too. It was a trade off, be able to defend the crops from the walls of the old factory buildings and maybe get cancer, or plant them further out, and probably lose them to someone else.
Hoover Dam, completed in 1935 to regulate the river and form Lake Mead, wouldn’t be able to produce electricity for the 750,000 people it supplies in Los Angeles [if the level drops to 1050]. Currently the lake is at about 1,100 feet. Only 50 more feet to go before disaster.
.........they've already tried to raid our County for water.........result: no dice.
Hey, combine my "world's largest retirement community" with sm_landlord's nuke waste storage and you have the best of both worlds -- a bunch of sick old folks with free radiation therapy. Howz dat 4 pozitiv?
You pay for the tax certificate and get a nice rate of interest.
After about 3 years you can apply for a deed, and you can
bid the amount of your tax certificate. . . but it's for a relatively
small amount of money, so if the property is at all desireable,
you will get outbid (unless you bid more than the amount you've
paid for the certif + interest). And then there's the issue of quieting
title. . . This was a hot issue a few years ago, when I did it for a
(then) very expensive lot. The owner fought like the devil and
later I found out the back story--I could write a novel about the
whole thing--and the bottom line is that the case should have
been a no brainer (and the owner got a LOT of money), but
the courts were becoming more and more reluctant to grant
a contested quiet title suit, no matter how well the county did
its job in notifying delinquent owners.
Then happened and the new owner lost his job and
the lot is sitting there vacant, worth half what he bid, and the
old owner walked away with far more money that if he'd paid
the damn taxes.
"Once Reid is gone, they can open up the nuclear waste dump and charge good money for storage"...[and] "combine my "world's largest retirement community"
.
.......once they pay us a royalty for growing a "third eye" is when I and the other cranky vets will get out of the way of the dozers and put away our blunderbusses, knives, pitchforks, and oxygen concentrators........
By Kelly Dunleavy
Published: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 2:04 PM PST
Though the state government said it would be taking nearly 8 percent of local property taxes at the end of the calendar year to balance the state budget, towns across California may have found a way around that grab.
The state is legally allowed to borrow money from local property taxes, with the stipulation that it pay back the money with interest within three years and that the state cannot borrow money again until it is paid back.
Every Marin town other than Ross and a number of public agencies have opted, instead of waiting for the funds to be taken and repaid in three years, to enroll in a securitization bond program that would sell the state’s IOUs to private investors and transfer the funds from that sale directly to the towns and agencies. Towns would receive exactly as much as they would lose and would not then have to wait for the state to pay them back. California Communities, a joint powers authority created by the League of Cities and the California State Association of Counties, is backing the bond effort, while the state agreed to cover the costs of issuing the bonds.
You REALLY have to be careful. The tax sale doesn't eliminate muni liens
tho it does eliminate mtges and owners rights. You have to know that the
county noticed all possible interests. My client who used to bid on these things
would often reject them because they would have 35k to 100k in liens, including
those 50 dollar a day ones. Sometimes they will foregive them, sometimes they
won't. In a couple of years, who knows? The banks may start abandoning
property, and if so, things will get interesting. But so far, the banks are paying
up and I think that any failure to pay taxes by banks will be an oversight.
Rob Dawg
Are we going to see Oxnard's streets be torn up?
Either by citizens trying to stimy creditors or by the creditors trying to extort the citizens?
That would make for a really compelling 200 second bit on the international tv news cycle
I really want to see push come to shove in that situation. Having a network of city streets is as good as no collateral at all
You can't toll or guard it
Oxnard could easily just do the eminent domain thing, but they would still need some money to pay the new market value for it
Optics of the dispute would be terrible if collateral was ever brought into play
Big deal if their credit rating is hurt
what do they need to borrow for now? the rat race is over
I think there was some disagreement between her and the hubby so they bought an Accord
funny. insightful because it made me question who would ever name a car accord
also heard a country song today that mentioned getting a bank loan for a chrysler. when ford goes down, it will be really hard on country music writers
........I'd even trade in one of my old F-350 dually crew cabs for a Tesla...........maybe even throw in a couple cows and the Mrs to boot.....hehehehe.......they'd end up burying me in it.......wouldn't be able to separate the flesh from the melted composite.....
I made sure to bring with me a printout showing the dealer cost (taking into account all incentives) of the base model and each specific option I wanted.
I offered a few hundred above dealer cost. Always agree on the price before discussing trade in value or financing.
I was amazed at the outright lying I met or stupidity (knowing nothing about what they were selling)
But we finally met an older salesman who agreed very quickly to our offer.
OT, but they are still fighting this out at 10pm on a Saturday Night in DC???
"We're confident we're going to have the votes later today," House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said on MSNBC.
"House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Friday that he expects the House will finish debate on the overhaul bill by 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. Eastern Saturday and proceed to a vote"
"A final vote was expected before midnight Eastern time. No Republicans were expected to support the bill. "
"Pelosi could afford few dissenters when the vote occurs. For Pelosi to secure the 218 votes needed for passage, no more than 40 Democrats could vote against the bill."
...........I guess it comes down to no more than 40 Democrats saying NO.
I guess it comes down to no more than 40 Democrats saying NO.
They won't vote if they don't have the numbers. No way they want a "Barry does Copenhagen" moment again, not on the centerpiece legislation of his administration.
I guess it comes down to no more than 40 Democrats saying NO.
It'll be interesting to hear the stories they spin for their dumbasses if they lose this vote. Many of the true believers are losing some of their optimism (hope).
P.S. - I believe the Patriots crosswalk was the intended target.
Oh, that's less then I imagined.
I figured someone had been clever and come up with a theory that these IOU bonds would be bought by the , who'd then trade them for treasuries from the fed. A bit of a back-door bailout without downright advertising that Obama was going to pick up the tab for every state with a budget shortfall.
Sad that we are bought and sold by Tax whores. Vote for my costly bill and I will vote for your costly bill. The taxpayer can't do a dam thing about it.
In the Senate too? (I'm not following it that closely. Personally I want it because I'm not planning on being able to work in about 5 years, so I need something to get me to Medicare, but I don't care one way or the other all that much)
Sad that we are bought and sold by Tax whores. Vote for my costly bill and I will vote for your costly bill. The taxpayer can't do a dam thing about it.
It's how a one Party system has too work. This should have been addressed 50 years ago. Too late to worry about it now.
Why is someone from Maryland getting an ad for a motel in Pueblo, Colorado? Last time we drove through was 1982 and I saw no reason to go back. Bring back the gold coin ad!
Yes, but it wasn't. I have TERRIBLE teeth. My mouth was made a mess in 1969. After repair, I never went back to a service dentist. Needless to say, tooth decay doesn't wait for phobias. Paying for a dentist in the 21st century requires a dental-care plan, UNLESS, you pay cash and don't need a receipt. Dentists will then underbid each other AND THEMSELVES for the same work every time. That's how healthcare would work as well. Have the patient pay for the service (whether they are reimbursed one way, another, or not), and any extra goes in the PATIENTS' pocket - then, you'll have clinics, medical centers, and Dr. Offices making deals galore.
I don't think we've seen the fall-out in health-care that this will initiate if it becomes law. It'll just be another spout to allow Congress' control over $1+-trillion. Does ANYONE here really believe Congress can make health-care BETTER?
Jim, SOMEBODY here has to use it (electricity)......it can't be "shipped" elsewhere without a ton of line-loss..........as far as water, it IS being used downstream.......hence the generators getting their "workout"......
You don't understand how hydro power works BSR. It is the greenist power because it is instant on/off. The generators only run when peak demand is needed (typically in mid-day through early evening), and the rest of the time water is NOT sent through the generators. Hydro power is peak power. The amount needed for consumption use is much lower than needed to turn the generators, so the water not needed off-peak is stored, not spilled.
I like Pueblo, but I think Walsenburg is neat in it's own way.
YMMV, but I kind of like small town southwest towns. They are comfortable like an old boot.
Everybody knows everybody, and they all sort of roughly rub along.
Probably going to spend my last twenty years back out in the country until I have to move to the old folks home. YouTube - The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) - Main Title
Planting beans and talking to my saints.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Does ANYONE here really believe Congress can make health-care BETTER?
No. I just want in on the existing scam. The US - and life in general - is about running a scam or being in on one.
The current health insurance system works fine IF you have access to it. I won't in about 5 years. So, I want the same government insurance scam that Medicare has right now, for myself in 5 years. I no longer care what's "right". I'm more mature than that. I only care about getting in on the scams being run. When I'm dead, the puritans can "fix the system".
Yes, not good for up-river migrating fish, unless good fish ladders are provided. Hydro and fish can be compatible, but only on large rivers (not streams, small rivers)
Generally old dams are not fish-friendly, and Oregon (and other places) are removing the bad kind of dams. All dams are not created equal.
what part of "accounting gimmicks" don't you understand
I wonder what the value of those bonds might be if--the day after they were issued--someone from the fed poked their heads out of their holes and casually mentioned that state bonds, or securities containing state bonds, will never be eligible for TARP or TALF?
someone from the fed poked their heads out of their holes and casually mentioned that state bonds, or securities containing state bonds, will never be eligible for TARP or TALF?
Okay, time to explain to folks how Hoover Damn works- 20 percent of the power quietly flows to Arizona for use in pumping water to the CAP cities. Now we also get a chunk of the water from the dam at Parker. Further, excess power is sold in Arizona. Hoover Dam's remaining power goes to Las Vegas, and California, especially pumping water from the Sierras, and the Colorado River.
Further, looking at the upper colorado basin, the water shortage has abated, but the water has not been sent through the system. http://www.powerauthority.org/documents/power%20operations/2009/08.pdf
Page 10 shows the feeder system is running nearly full, and Lake Powell is rising, and as the water is sent through, Mead will start rising again. If this is a wet winter, they will have a problem in the upper basin, they will have to do early releases without running the water through the powerhouses, which costs them money. This crisis is mostly manufactured when you look at the upper basin. Now with a large early wet snowfall, the question is how much more snow they will get. If they get a huge snowpack they will be selling power cheap in Utah and Colorado all winter.
Powell is admittedly huge, but it too can fill rapidly given an El Nino condition.
Sorry, you're right, I'm being a scenery snob. I lived in another part of the state and Pueblo was a little hot, dry,and industrial for my taste. by the way, did you ever try a hamburger place in Walsenburg called the Wagon Wheel?
I've never understood why the fish ladder concept isn't used everywhere. Is it just the water loss doesn't make the dam cost effective?
Old dams without good fish ladders would require essentially a rebuild (and they are very costly). Fish ladders require very little water to be effective (whether or not the generation diversion is being run during peak power or not run in off-peak.
My guess as well. But unless it's explicit somewhere that I haven't seen, it would be absolutely necessary to prevent states from simply issuing long-dated IOU's and laundering them through the to the fed. Because--guaranteed--if the can pull off securitizing these IOUs with California, their suited minions would be hopping on 49 jets the following day to make the same pitch to the other states. And the federal reserve/treasury/Obama is left holding another very heavy bag.
Drove past, wasn't hungry at the time. Bought a pound of fresh cherries and drove to Cuesta.
Spitting pits and enjoying the ride. Camped out in some far out campground east of their. Spent the next couple of days in Taos and Santa Fe before heading home. Part of my graduation vacation.
The current health insurance system works fine IF you have access to it.
That is the illusion that insurance companies want you to believe in. By definition the incidence of catastrophic loss is limited. Most of us will generally have a positive experience with an insurance company because our losses are small enough for them cover without a problem. Their math is simple= cost of litigating plus cost customer acquisition is it greater or less than the claim. BTW this is true whether we are talking auto, home health , D &O etc. This applies not only to the small guys but also the big boys. I have yet to meet somebody who had a large insurance claim settled in full without litigation.
The one thing that I do welcome in the Obama plan is that it will eliminate life time caps. It is the one thing that I worry most about.
Old dams without good fish ladders would require essentially a rebuild
It does seem that the environmentalists are going to have to decide between dams and nukes, at some point, if they want to eliminate coal. In Sacramento, there was supposed to have been a very large dam built just upriver from the city. I hike allot in the area that would have been flooded. The development interests - and their congressional whores - were big supporters of the dam. I think its permanently dead now.
And the federal reserve/treasure/Obama is left holding another very heavy bag
Don't confuse people's roles. The Federal Reserve smokes cigars in their air-conditioned indoor tennis courts. Obama gets free rides in the helicopter. YOU hold the bag.
Citizen Allen- pretty good summary. It helps to make the trip to Powell to get a sense of the magnitude. After the visit had to change my mind about Phoenix and LV running out of water. Glen Canyon doesn't produce that much electricity it is mainly a water dam.
However, the one thing that did strike me is that but for our socialist federal government the folks in that part of the country would not be able to complain since they probably would not have been able to live there. This rugged individualism is such a load of BS.
Don't confuse people's roles. The Federal Reserve smokes cigars in their air-conditioned indoor tennis courts. Obama gets free rides in the helicopter. YOU hold the bag.
I'm Canadian, so I don't hold the bag directly. But since 70% of our country's exports and a similar portion of our imports trade with you, anything that gives you heartburn will give us an ulcer. I'm very keen to monitor what's going on down there.
I like Peter Schiff, but ignore his suggestion to invest in Canadian currency. Unless China shows up tomorrow with a stellar deal to buy our commodities and manufacturing output, we're in pretty much the same boat as you.
EDIT: But I really did appreciate your rhetorical flourish there. I'm filing that in the 'plagiarize for later use' drawer in my brain.
That is the illusion that insurance companies want you to believe in
Well, I'm basing it on my current employer AND a guy who recently had a massive heart attack, was in the hospital for 4 months, is now back at work and paid $2k. My zombie has good benefits. But, if he leaves he might not get coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
So, personally, I'd be happy with (say) as 250k life time max and Medicare (like) coverage. I just don't want to get wiped out because of a one-time event.
But, as you say, this is about keeping the insurance industry in business.
We did an interesting analysis this morning. We compared what you'd get for a monthly payment if you bought a $250,000 home in August '07, with an 80% mortgage at 6.6%, vs. buying the same home in August '09.
**The monthly payment drops by 42%. **
The reduction comes
67% from the reduction in price,
25% from the lower interest rates (5.1%) and
8% from the tax credit (assumed to reduce your mortgage).
You got it, most of that water is actually burned off in low return ag along the Colorado, in the Imperial Valley, and in Mexico. The amount used for people is still relatively small as a share. Growing cotton with that water is about the stupidest thing possible, yet it has been done for years.
One of the most interesting facts is that a square mile of cotton takes far more water than a square mile of houses with desert landscaping, and the recovery from the sewage system pushes it to far out of whack.
Take the stupid waste from ag away, and you can double the Southwest and still be comfortable in water reserves.
Nobody likes to explore boring things like aquifer recharge, but we do it, and in larger and larger refill projects.
The evil hand of government fixing the problems we made starting 100 years ago.
Someday this war's gonna end...
MOst health insurance companies have a $2MM life time cap and I worry about that - just to be clear are we talking individual payment or what the insurance company pays?
Actually all the effort in low flow toilets is a load of BS for everybody except those folks who live by the ocean. We get all of our water from a lake and the sewage after it is treated flows back into the lake. Low flow toilets might help in the amount of water that is treated but doesn't save any water.
Actually after traveling up there it is clear to me that before LV and Phoenix run our of water they will shut down agriculture- well as long as we have a semblance of democracy. For a doomer like me that was a pretty disappointing conclusion to arrive at
MOst health insurance companies have a $2MM life time cap and I worry about that
Sorry, I'm confusing terms.
I'm more worried about what I pay. If I were "king", I'd want my realm to provide me with a $250k life-time deductible and no life-time cap (plus dental).
Edit: The 250k is my minimum, obviously. I'd take a Zero$ deductible, but I would accept $250k.
not sure it would take democracy to determine of ag or LV would be saved. Only which group would pay the politicians more. LV would win because of that.
It does seem that the environmentalists are going to have to decide between dams and nukes, at some point, if they want to eliminate coal.
We can and should have some of both. Nuke power is great baseline power (24/7) - in fact they are cost -effective only if run full out all the time (PG&E's Diablo Canyon runs 80% of the time)). Hydro is peak power at its best, but huge river blockages to create lakes is part of the past, not future.
Incidentally, pumped hydro is an even better deal. PG&E Helms project uses baseline power at night to pump water uphill into a reservoir, and then that water is released as needed for peak power during the day. It is like using night power (cheap) to recharge car batteries for daytime use in a hybrid car.
What needed was a fully integrated energy plan. Electric cars to take advantage of renewable energy which can never be part of base load. Smart grids with flexible pricing. What we needed was the equivalent of the moon landing. Something only the government could have done since no private investors would have been willing to take the risk that multiple technologies would be developed simultaneously.
yes it is one of the elements of insurance reform that insurance companies can no longer have a life time cap. Even if the government has to provide the reinsurance for it the benefit in terms of peace of mind is worth the very small cost.
my guess he will be changing parties pretty soon. His was the seat held by Jefferson and he won it pretty much the same way as Owen won NY-23. There were two democrats who split the vote.
yes it is one of the elements of insurance reform that insurance companies can no longer have a life time cap.
Interesting. Well, I hope something passes. Time is running out for me, my brain can't keep up with the IT stuff so I figure in 5 years I'll be another part time ex-IT geek. This is fine with me, I've got the saving to retire now, but the lack of health insurance is too risky.
The vote tonight is a side show. It is now impossible to get a bill through both houses. I think the Democrats may have known this for a couple weeks- at least since the public option made its reappearance. I think the game plan since has been to let the Blue Dogs vote against it in the House, let the farther left in the House vote for a bill palatable to them and take a partial victory, and then let the Senate Republicans with Lieberman, and whatever other Democrats want to join them, filibuster it to death in the Senate. There is simply no way the Democrats will pass anything of substance with the divisions they face. To know this, all you have to do is to witness what it took to get a 220-215 vote in the House.
This is the maximum the Democrats could salvage from the debacle of the last 4 months- everyone gets a vote they can live with and take to their constituents, and the Senate Republicans can always be blamed for the defeat (along with Joe Lieberman).
everyone gets a vote they can live with and take to their constituents, and the Senate Republicans can always be blamed for the defeat (along with Joe Lieberman).
Came home a couple of weeks ago to a flyer on my door letting me know I'd had a new smart meter installed. Didn't think much of it until this morning when I decided to figure out the need for this new tech on my home. The good part was the use of the stimulus funds to install the meter ($500 per meter) under the aegis of the development of the new smart grid. The bad part was I couldn't find any reason for the money spent on the smart meter that couldn't have been accomplished through policy and conservation programs. Hmmmmm Follow the money. Lo and behold PGE customers are freaking out due to the doubling of bills due to energy usage during peak hours of 2pm-7pm. Seems PGE can now vary rates by time and charge a higher rate if you chose to use energy in an appliance like your AC when it is 107 degrees outside. Add in privacy concerns and the ability to switch off your electricity remotely and you have some serious "what if" scenarios pop up. Rolling brown outs can now be better targeted for demand, industry, hospitals, and hell why not, influence of voter concentration or special interest considerations. Should the future hold limited energy you can effectively shut down entire areas at will. How great would it be to live in a neighborhood where you get 4 hours of electricity a day?
Too paranoid? Probably, but the reasoning is sound. File it under health insurance reform benefiting private insurance corporations and banking reform benefiting TBTF. Great system huh?
Yalncey, I hope it is stopped in the Senate, but look at Democrats who voted yea in tight districts. Why wouldnt they get killed in 2010? They are still gonna get killed. People won't forget about it 12 months.
Sweeping Health Care Plan Passes House WASHINGTON — Handing President Obama a hard-fought victory, the House narrowly approved a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system on Saturday, advancing legislation that the Democrats said could be their defining social policy achievement.
After a daylong clash with Republicans over what has been a Democratic goal for decades, lawmakers voted 220 to 215 to approve a plan that would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years and that Democrats said would provide relief to Americans struggling to buy or hold on to health insurance.
...
Democrats were forced to make major concessions on insurance coverage for abortions to attract the final votes to secure passage, a wrenching compromise for the numerous abortion-rights advocates in their ranks. They hope to make changes to that amendment during negotiations with the Senate, which will now become the main battleground in the health care fight as Democrats there ready their own bill for what is likely to be extensive floor debate.
Democrats say the measure — paid for through new fees and taxes, along with cuts in Medicare — would extend coverage to 36 million people now without insurance and would create a government health insurance program. It would end insurance company practices like not covering pre-existing conditions or dropping people when they become ill.
The successful vote came after Mr. Obama traveled to Capitol Hill just before noon Saturday to make a personal appeal for lawmakers to “answer the call of history” and support the bill.
You have to remember, this vote may well not hurt those who took the greatest risk tonight if the Senate filibusters it down. With that out of the way, the economy will dominate next year's election. Actually passing a bill and having it signed is what would add to their miseries next November- I just don't see how it is possible.
There was face to be saved by Pelosi. She, I think, had two alternatives: either withdraw the bill completely/put up a bill that gets voted down in the House, or try to save face by using her margin in the House to, at least, get a bill passed by the House and let the Senate kill it. In my opinion, she made the right political choice, at least when viewed from her position. Her most vulnerable members voted no, her other members got to vote for a bill with as much as could be hoped for, and she got to wash her hands of the responsibility- she got her victory. Practically any other bill would lose more votes on the right, or on the left. There is no bill that could make it through the Senate that would be able to win a second vote in the House, or vice versa.
The big difference is that the new plan will be financed through taxes on very rich.
From WSJ: To finance the overhaul, individuals who earn more than $500,000 a year or families making $1 million or more annually would pay a new 5.4% tax on top of existing income taxes.
"and the recovery from the sewage system pushes it to far out of whack."
What % (if any) water could be saved by individual homes utilizing greywater? I know we are one of few to use it (greywater = water collected from sinks, washers, showers and bathtubs) on the garden and fruit trees.
The successful vote came after Mr. Obama traveled to Capitol Hill just before noon Saturday to make a personal appeal for lawmakers to “answer the call of history” and support the bill.
Like I said, can't have another "Barry does Copenhagen" moment.
I'll be bold enough to disagree with those who say the Senate won't pass a bill, or that a conference bill uniting Sen./House won't pass.
The Senate will pass a bill, even if they can't break a filibuster. They will pass a bill under 'reconciliation' (which takes only an actual majority (50). Then that bill will go to conference and emerge as the final conference bill, which can't be filibustered in the Senate and will most likely pass both houses by slim majorities. Obama will sign, for sure.
Recall that Clinton's budget bill in 1994 was passed only with Al Gores VP vote, and folks said it would be the end of the world for Dems and the nation. Well, we got rising average incomes, more jobs, a reduction in the national debt, and budget surpluses (that Bush II threw away because he and Greenspawn said it would wreak the financial industry if we didn't have debt.)
Take the long view. We are past due on health insurance reform. It may finally happen, containing much good and some dumb features. The GOP said Medicare would lead to immediate socialism in 1965. It didn't happen, and those served like the program (although the GOP still wants to recast it as a private program and thereby destroy it).
Improbably things sometimes happen. As Churchill said with wisdom, the USA wil try all the things that don't work first, and finally obtain a good result at the end.
Yancey, I don't dispute anything you said, but do you remember the McCain Feingold Campaign Finance Bill? It was passed in the House, nobody thought it would pass the Senate, it did, no one thought Bush would sign it, he did, and finally everyone thought the Supreme court would overturn it, and they didn't. Its a terrible law. The idea of this bad law passing on the House side, and adding over 1.4 trillion to the deficit is so sad. I am on Medicare, so it will affect me and my wife. Do you know where I can buy a used pacemaker, something with low miles, used by a little old lady?
40 years to go from the most successful democratic Republic to what we have tonight qualifies as immediately.
You are going to formally refuse Medicare, right? It would be untypically hypocritical to accept Medicare personally while denouncing it publicly. Isn't that so?
Will get fooled again...
'Bait and switch' is very common now in political strategies, political sales pitches and 'promises'...believe in 'Change now'...'public option is reform', banking bailouts are to save the economy, 'endless' wars will save the world from 'terrorism', etc.
Just keep believing...
The budget bill in 93 was clearly qualified for reconciliation; there is no way to do this with the healthcare bill as a whole piece without making a complete mockery of the process itself. The Democrats will not do this since they know they won't always be in control. The same Mutual Assured Destruction kept Republicans from corrupting Senate rules when face with filibusters of appeals court judges in 2003-2005.
And, there are so many ways for the Republicans to tie up the bill if Reid tries this, that it won't pass before 2011. The bill is dead. It has been dead since September. All we are seeing is maneuvers to save face and political capital.
Should have pushed for universal healthcare back in the 1960s, the federal finances would have been a lot healthier now
US business would be better off also.
Ford and GM spend $1300.00 per car on health costs. Japan and Germany pays $300.00. A thousand dollar penalty right off the top.
Plus they have healthier workers, as the health care is better.
There was no popular resistance to McCain Feingold. In fact, the public is largely willing to restrict campaign spending and speech as long as it thinks no one is trying to restrict their speech. Most people are just not politically active. That isn't the case to the present bill. This makes all the difference in the world.
And, by the way, it looks like the Supreme Court is having significant second thoughts about its previous decision.
You are going to formally refuse Medicare, right? It would be untypically hypocritical to accept Medicare personally while denouncing it publicly. Isn't that so?
That cheap sophomoric debating trick is unworthy of a response. Nice change of subject and dimunition to a discussion of personalities.
That cheap sophomoric debating trick is unworthy of a response. Nice change of subject and dimunition to a discussion of personalities.
I did not discuss your personality. And I didn't change the subject. Folks here complain that the FIRE guys talk about competition and freedom, while doing what they want in private. Is this issue any different? Talk the talk, walk the walk.
I'm in the "pass everything and anything" mode now. I figure it's the quickest way to bring the entire system down.
This one is special. Upending 17% of the economy regardless of outcome is not undoable and cannot be done incrementally. Can't wait to see med school applications for the fall.
I'm in the "pass everything and anything" mode now. I figure it's the quickest way to bring the entire system down.
That is why I supported the Bush Presidency-- no faster way to put this puppy in the ditch!
(I must admit, Bush exceeded my wildest expectations)
The dems are a slow death. Let us get it over with, so we can start solving real issues.
Hmm, might need to review the medical tourism investment pitch I heard recently...
C
All you need is a passport, a couple of grand, and a ticket.
I recommend Thailand or Peru.
Peru has all those harvard educated physicians for you to access.
No need to put up with a system that forces you to buy a defective product, which the US health care system is, and will be.
Forgive me adornosghost, I'm a little slow tonight. Define "He".
Good point, as George was just a front guy to give simple stories and myths to the sheeple to help them be secure in a frightening world that was making little sense.
George represented a group of elite's on the right who had lost power in the 90's, and wanted to continue the casino game and upward transfer of wealth that accelerated started during the Reagan years.
I have had experience with the hospitals in Bangkok and they are first rate.
I had a colonoscopy for about 450 dollars, the same procedure in NYC was
quoted by the specialist doctor I visited who charged me 450 for the visit
at around 2,300.
It really sucks to be uninsured in the USA which during a number of years I have
been...
getting a bit too old for that, the numbers catch up...
Duke - yep, living in Asia will give you a relationship with your GI specialist like you never previously imagined (!) I've seen or experienced excellent med in Beijing, Ha Noi, HK, and Bangkok, so I'm still only lukewarm about the idea getting punted around for more. They know how to ramp a price in HK, mind.
yes, there's about the same range of hospitals as hotels in HK, and if you must have the nice office, the pretty receptionist who speaks good English, it'll cost you. But on those occasions when I've thrown myself at the mercy of "the system", I've learned you can get decent, basic care for a pittance. Would still favor BKK for anything to do with me nether regions, and I don't really know why . . . .
I've also experienced the hospitals in Vietnam both public and private. was bottled in the back of the head
with two Heinekan bottles the second of which split my head open requiring 10 stitches, visited the ER in
Ho Chi Minh City which looked like that scene of the war dead and wounded in Gone with the Wind...
I was happy to get injected with a brand new syringe, but I was real nervous about the surgeon's tools.
Mises's solution follows logically from his warnings. You can't fix what's broken by breaking it yet again. Stop the credit gavage. Stop inflating. Don't encourage consumption, but rather encourage saving and the repayment of debt. Let all the lame businesses fail—no bailouts. (You see where I'm going with this.) The distortions must be removed or else the precipice from which the system will inevitably fall will simply grow higher and higher.
interestingly I knew two young French doctors from Montpelier who did an internship in Hanoi at a public hospital..
Vietnamese doctors don't believe in using pain medication in post-op, they think that the pain is part of the healing process
and they'd tell me stories of patients screaming in pain a day or two after surgery begging for meds but not getting them...
what they would get is the doctor yelling at them for being weak...
Likewise, but I haven't bought or sold since sub $500, went in substantially then, and that's burgeoned into what I'd call a respectable hedge. I'd like to see some across the board forced delveraging before I buy again. Was hearing you and rich all along, but not really listening.
"Moreover, when we combine the monthly change in the number of Unemployed, with the number Not in the Labor Force, we might consider the result to be a proxy for the actual 'change' in the underlying labor market situation ... in which case, October's figure of 817,000 represents the fourth LARGEST yet, behind last month's (September's) second largest figure of 1,021,000 ... for a two-month combined figure of 1.838 million, in newly Unemployed, or no longer 'in' the Labor Force ...
One of these days the commentariat might cite vintage doomsters that first steered them into naked emperor spotting. I am in Bill Bonner's debt, as well as the old crew at Whiskey and Gunpowder. Oh, also occasional visits to Crazy Uncle Gary (North).
Guess Mauldin emerged from that last branch, but only recently got off the opiates....
just reading some French news online because that's what I do when there's no new worthwhile content in the english sphere
occurred to me that Bernanke should use the reverse translation of green light: green fire
"We are seeing green fires for investment all over the economy. Top to bottom, the economy is burning bright green and not red or even yellow"
I owe much to John Talbott. His book on the housing bubble put me onto Prudent Bear, and from there on I linked to everything. Even at this date I still feel light years ahead of the crowd, even here (although there are quite a lot of the commentariat that truly get it).
Interesting thing about Mauldin is that he provided me with extremely bearish info while not necessarily intending to.
btw -- sounding like there has been a 180° turn for Afghanistan post-election there. In Canada word is that withdrawal will occur as planned in 2011, no more extensions, and no more hinting at staying to do training as a compromise. Also hearing similar things from Britain. Germany and Italy also seem to be giving up their restricted missions in the north. No better from France, Netherlands, or Poland. Haven't heard much about a 40,000 surge from America lately, have heard much more about crimped budgets Federally and through proxies like the UN. Don't know the latest on diplomacy with Pakistan and India about the matter, other than it is more active which could mean anything.
Interesting point, Anak. I guess mine was experience through the Asia crisis and hanging out with China doomers, then reading Stiglitz, then work on debt relief. Some clown made a comment during an especially ballbusting phase of one debt workout negotiation that at least we wouldn't have to do it again; this was the last shot, problem solved, glorious financial hereafter on earth beckoned. I just about fell off my chair. Forget when exactly that was, mid 2005 or so.
For me the original "AHA!" moment came with the arrival of the housing bubble to SoCal in 2002, and so soon after dot-bomb. I'm like -- "this can't be happening again". My suspicions led me to do some reading, which put me into the contrarian websites, and off to the races I went. Didn't take long before I was seriously into physical PMs.
Counterpointer
just thought you might have some sense as to the sustainability or fragility of that relationship among the network of interested stakeholders
The bill passed by a vote of 220 to 215, with all Republicans except Louisiana's Joseph Cao and 39 Democrats voting against the proposed legislation. Democrats, who hold 258 seat, had needed 218 votes to pass the bill.
Send them to New Orleans. They still need them
And then there's that whole "heavy-water-usage-in-the-middle of the desert" thingy. That's gonna leave a mark.
I dunno Pavel, lots of medieval types wrote the equivalent
of checks to build those cathedrals and have masses sung,
after a lifetime spent doing not so good stuff.
They weren't native to the area anyway. They were introduced by men and disrupted the natural ecosystem severely.
And that top 10 things in great. I am jealous of Neil and
his
Everybody reading CR?
I saw her, but I can't remember her name. Why do you ask?
no particular reason. was just flipping through the channels and saw the last minute of her statement. imagined her shopping at the mall, and being texted by a staffer that she was supposed to be on the Hill.
I've been telling my family in Vegas this for at least 6 years. Construction was the second largest employer behind tourism, and accounted for an even larger percentage of employment in terms of wages. Oh, and it was the construction jobs that drew all the young families, too.
Unfortunately they crammed 20 years development into 5 and now have nothing to do for at least a decade. Next up, the Great American Ghost Town.
Is gambling revenue still way down?
ida crashing into new orleans... that would be ultimate insult to injury.
The cone of uncertainty of Ida is very, very, very large.
The max intensity is predicted to be only a cat 1.
Most likely it will be pushed east over Florida and
dump a whole bunch of rain on us. Which is perfectly
ok.
If it did hit New Orleans and NO couldn't endure a cat
1 at this point, it should just be abandoned.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Don't you think that the casinos can keep going? As far as I know, traffic is way down but they are still very much in business after some massive write-downs.
And I'm wondering when/if it will make sense to buy something there. I've looked at commercial rents, and they are still pretty high. So clearly there need to be some additional BKs and repos, after which there should be some bargains, assuming that Vegas doesn't just dry up and blow away.
It will be awhile before anyone takes on an $8 billion project like city center. MGM really took a hit with that one.
lawyerliz wrote:
something tells me NO would handle a cat 1 just fine.
i'm out of here for a bit. l8r.
Wonder if sand will cover and uncover Las V like the
Sphinx, and future generations will wonder what the
heck we thought we were doing.
Also on the endangered species list is Venture Capital and Small business loans.
since i live in las vegas i'll give you guys daily updates on the goings on until i inevitably die of thirst. i'll give you guys a preview now:
july 4 2011 -- gasp! throat so parched... i never saw this coming... gasp
everybody...dead! all around me...dead! three day weekend...wasted!!!
I would stay through a cat 1 or 2, and I do expect
NO would do ok.
Tim waiting for 2012 wrote:
They are just hibernating.
Sneering, just have a
lawyerliz wrote:
NO has flooding problems when they get 4 inches of rain. That hardly happens in a cat 1, right?
ll -- we mostly drink gin here but beer works when that runs out.
The investors in all the new space in Las Vegas are going to lose their shirts along with most of the skin on their backs. But gaming itself, after the bad debts get written off, is a cash machine.
No, only 3 inches. . . .
It's not so long ago that CNBC was breathlessly reporting that the world had run out of available construction cranes
That was probably 2007, mid 2008?
No :gin: icon.
ll -- only 3 inches
what are you talking about? and what do you mean "only" 3 inches?
edit: oh...rain in vegas. yea, of course.
Yancey Ward
the interesting question is what will happen to state taxation
Lake Mead water levels have recovered, * Lake Mead Water Levels
/snark
If I wanted to kill Las Vegas I'd just arrange for them to pay market rates on electricity. I don't know if it has shown up yet in data but I get the sense of gambling and "resort leisure" both suffering from consumer fatigue. Gambling having become pervasive lacks some of its appeal. $3 gas and Indian gaming aren't helping much either. In fact I'd say favorable tax structures relative to California is the only thing keeping the sand from burying the city.
But it's a dry heat.
The Seminoles introduced Blackjack.
The legislature hasn't approved it.
The Seminoles did not close down the tables
and it has been many moons now.
Slowly recovering to 1929 levels.
I can see the point of playing poker with friends. Or,
if you are good in Vegas. I see no point at all in gambling
in general since you know you have to lose. The laws
of thermo are bad enough without setting yourself up
to fail too.
much of the land (not all of it!) west of the mississippi is arid. i'll die of thirst with the people of texas! whoo-hoo
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Interesting. Maybe this is why the peripheral canal thing is being pushed in the CaLi legislature again. Looks like southern CaLi will be needing some water soon.
...I don't know........10-cents per kilowatt seems about right to me.......70 mile trip into and out of LV last week was a cakewalk......and we lunched at this place called "Wendy's"........a sight for sore pallets.
Not as long as there is:
and 
s to fly them in.
In-N-Out so much better than Wendy's!
well if LV's power usage drops, transmission fees would increase to maintain revenue to pay for capital costs and maintenance. such is the danger of boom-bust development with respect to infrastructure
What are things going to be like in Vegas when California finally implodes?
Rob Dawg wrote:
A federal court several years ago forced WA and OR to charge market rates to consumers for federally generated elec. power at the Bonneville power project on the Columbia River. The rate increase hurt, but wasn't fatal.
The Boulder/Hoover dam runs 24/7 because Las Vegas sucks electrons all through the night (esp. at night!) when all those lights on outdoor signs and inside casinos are blazing - using water through the dam that could be used for domestic and agricultural use.
If Nevada is getting elec. power below market rates, that subsidy should be removed. Colorado river water is very scarce and should not be used to make Las Vegas into the gaudyest city in the world.
Oxtail wrote:
Depends what the "implosion" looks like. Most government "implosions" are as uneventful as airlines going bankrupt. The planes still fly, some "stakeholders' get wiped out, life goes on.
They are probably using those cranes to build the $8 billion high-speed rail between los angles and las vegas.
So , are at risk behaviors now the responsibilty of the proles to eradicate...ie; can i go poor water in the face of a smoker, or take food from the morbidly obese, or take candy bars and beer away from the diabetic, skateboards away from tweeners, parachutes away from the type-A's, etcc...
very good question. Should at risk behaviors be covered. On its face, no. Perhaps coverage should require a waver to be signed that defines such behaviors, much like those that define voiding auto coverage.
Maybe I should go see LV while it is still there.
REBear wrote:
Maybe Hu would like to buy a train to compete with Warren's train set.
We were going out to look at a potential doomstead today. It went under contract before we could get there.
I saw another one. It had 23 acres, stables, and a machine shop! It was under contract when we called. Somehow I don't think we are the only ones looking for doomsteads
You could sign a back-up contract. Rare, but
possible.
Not east Texas...take a look at an aerial, east Texas is wet...
i advise against that liz. you should stay in front of your computer as much as possible to stay ahead of the cannibalistic nightmare (aka the future) heading straight for us all. my advise: instead of vacationing buy sardines and canned beans.
vacationing is so frivolous and unsophisticated anyways
cannibalism is a ways off... financial cannibalism, on the other hand...
Sigh. All this talk about great places for the future. Why, I remember when they used to sing songs about this place.
Jim, SOMEBODY here has to use it (electricity)......it can't be "shipped" elsewhere without a ton of line-loss..........as far as water, it IS being used downstream.......hence the generators getting their "workout"......
sneering nihilist wrote:
Which means, live for the moment. Go to LV. There will be a cannibalistic themed night-club there, so you won't miss that either.
Rob Dawg wrote:
People ruin everything. Hawaii was nice once too.
I got a collapsing bank ad. I think they are catching on the the allure of BFF.
sm_landlord wrote:
Yes and no. Yes, LV will always be the destination for gaming, but no, not all of the casinos they have are going to survive.
There's not a lot of growth in gaming; the newest casinos just tend to kill off the oldest ones. The whales from Asia are diverting to Macau these days, too.
The problem in LV isn't gaming though, it's everything else. Again, outside of gaming the economy was based entirely upon growth itself -- virtually no manufacturing, tech, biotech, ag, etc. Even mining is a relatively tiny employer.
Gaming itself cannot support the city that LV is now, even in better times. As Dawg likes to say, "critical mass" has not been achieved.
Barring a major influx of business fleeing surrounding states, a minimum 50% of Vegas has no reason to exist. Perhaps the shakeout will bring RRE down far enough to make it the world's largest retirement community. Who knows. Meanwhile, those young families will leave, and when they leave the landscape will change dramatically.
If anyone ever sang a song about Baltimore, I
don't know about it. We sang those Cali songs
instead.
If we can hold this train wreck on the tracks for another 18 months, I think I can get through anything.
not really cannibals, but close enuf
Bite and other Las Vegas Shows at LasVegas.com
TJ and The Bear wrote:
They make the inflatable space station in LV. That promises to be a growth industry.
lawyerliz wrote:
Have you never seen a baseball or football game? "And the rockets red glare ..."
volker the viking wrote:
That's only 1.5 more stimulus plans. Shouldn't be a problem.
Rajesh wrote:
That song is about Disneyland, everybody knows that. Micky's birthday.
That was about fort McHenry, not Balto, but your point is well taken.
lawyerliz wrote:
Forget the National Anthem Liz? Anyway, Woody Guthrie sang "Baltimore to Washington." Includes a gambling and economic depression theme.
1812 . . . Balto's high point.
Well, maybe Poe.
the key to LV is water
Water usage, treatment brings increased power consumption - Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009 | 2 a.m. - Las Vegas Sun
Las Vegas Consumption Extravagance | mapawatt
Never heard the Guthrie song.
lawyerliz wrote:
He considered himself a Bostonian.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Who needs LV when you have DOW and NASD?
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
The key to LV is federal tax dollars. Good thing Harry Reid is majority leader. They would never have gotten the high speed line to LA without his push.
We consider him a Baltimoron.
Hence, Ravens.
And we had Mencken.
And Johnny Unitas.
And we had Nancy Pelosi's father. . . .
Rajesh wrote:
Once Reid is gone, they can open up the nuclear waste dump and charge good money for storage...
And after about 10 years, Nevada could site a fuel recycling plant and start selling reactor fuel.
They just need to think positively.
nova - unbelievable about your doomed steads.
I guess not everyone is unemployed.
And Don Schula, who followed us to Miami.
(sp?)
No songs about Baltimore? Ever seen "Hairspray"?
DIPLOMATIC MEMO; Money Fights Are Brewing at the United Nations as Its Budget Season Heats Up - NY Times
Definitely, Poe.
If you out far enough you can find some, at least to me, nice deals. Most of them are renovated too. I think America had its entire housing stock redone between 2002 - 2006
Ok, Ok, I guess I'm very dull this evening.
That tv show was produced within walking distance of where I grew up,
and there was a boy in my class who danced there named Douglas
Considine who I liked, but would have never given me a second glance.
Good Morning, Baltimore.
ll - my mother went to her 65th or so high school class reunion. She knew that the boy she used to have a crush on in high school was going to be there, and he was with his wife (my mother was a widow). She still felt special about him after all those years. And it appeared he still didn't have the same feelings for her.
Anak beat me to it.
All that fighting with Honda car salemen strained
my brain. We left. (what price would it take you to buy this
car today? I dunno, what's your price? One Zillion. But
it's not our best price. So what's your best price? I won't
tell you because you aren't promising to buy today. Etc,
etc.)
So that dance show was, like, real? With Waters you never know.
I'll go off to make breakfast now, thinking of LL in poofy hair and pointy eyeglasses!
Stimulus funds could fund Foxborough pedestrian bridge - The Boston Globe (to connect 2 parking lots for Patriots games)
• Excellent choice for proceeding quickly and not displacing private investment
• Worst choice for generating any kind of return on investment
• Indeterminate choice for avoiding graft
Ohhhh, I did have poofy hair and pointy glasses!!!
Also, pointy shoes that really hurt.
But Douglas wouldn't interest me any more.
And yes, the show was really real, and I watched it.
Frankly, I don't remember the Civil rights part, tho
I think it happened.
And I love Waters, 'cause the fat girl got the cute guy.
I had a Polish friend who looked a lot like the Rickie
Lake version.
liz,
Been wondering... isn't FL one of those states where you can buy someone's property tax liability and then take their property if they don't pay up with interest within a certain period?
sm_landlord wrote:
Sounds like they will also radiate light and love with that plan.
Worst choice for generating any kind of return on investment
how many people would it take being hit in a crosswalk for the pedestrian bridge to pay for itself?
I finished writing another installment in my story about life after the crash. Here is a sample:
Between the ruins of factory buildings I saw a freshly cultivated field. Glod only knows what kind of chemicals had leeched into the soil from whatever industry had been there. They probably knew that too. It was a trade off, be able to defend the crops from the walls of the old factory buildings and maybe get cancer, or plant them further out, and probably lose them to someone else.
more? American Apocalypse
.........they've already tried to raid our County for water.........result: no dice.
how many people would it take being hit in a crosswalk for the pedestrian bridge to pay for itself?
Around here it depends on what color they are.
nova wrote:
More like adding to the
Loop.
Hey, combine my "world's largest retirement community" with sm_landlord's nuke waste storage and you have the best of both worlds -- a bunch of sick old folks with free radiation therapy. Howz dat 4 pozitiv?
Howz dat 4 pozitiv?
Yeah, hair loss won't be such a big deal
Sorta. It's like a mortgage foreclosure.
You pay for the tax certificate and get a nice rate of interest.
After about 3 years you can apply for a deed, and you can
bid the amount of your tax certificate. . . but it's for a relatively
small amount of money, so if the property is at all desireable,
you will get outbid (unless you bid more than the amount you've
paid for the certif + interest). And then there's the issue of quieting
title. . . This was a hot issue a few years ago, when I did it for a
(then) very expensive lot. The owner fought like the devil and
later I found out the back story--I could write a novel about the
whole thing--and the bottom line is that the case should have
been a no brainer (and the owner got a LOT of money), but
the courts were becoming more and more reluctant to grant
a contested quiet title suit, no matter how well the county did
its job in notifying delinquent owners.
Then
happened and the new owner lost his job and
the lot is sitting there vacant, worth half what he bid, and the
old owner walked away with far more money that if he'd paid
the damn taxes.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Radiating with intelligence. Even if they got too much radiation, how much damage can a geriatric 85 yo Hulk cause?
nova wrote:
Saves money on haircuts!
Don't mess with 85 yr olds, my mom is 85 due to
be 86 on the 18th.
Grandma and Grandpa would be more in demand. They would make great Christmas lights in the yard.
lawyerliz wrote:
Sooooo... do you think there's opportunities there going forward, or are you avoiding them altogether?
.
.......once they pay us a royalty for growing a "third eye" is when I and the other cranky vets will get out of the way of the dozers and put away our blunderbusses, knives, pitchforks, and oxygen concentrators........
nova wrote:
LOL!
Nothing beats the "stimulus" money going to Oxnard for a desalination plant. [Completed on 2007]
OT-California doom
http://www.marinscope.com/articles/2009/11/06/twin_cities_times/news/doc4af1da182b8dc190375482.txt
Read this and had a serious WTF moment.
Towns find way around state money grab
By Kelly Dunleavy
Published: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 2:04 PM PST
Though the state government said it would be taking nearly 8 percent of local property taxes at the end of the calendar year to balance the state budget, towns across California may have found a way around that grab.
The state is legally allowed to borrow money from local property taxes, with the stipulation that it pay back the money with interest within three years and that the state cannot borrow money again until it is paid back.
Every Marin town other than Ross and a number of public agencies have opted, instead of waiting for the funds to be taken and repaid in three years, to enroll in a securitization bond program that would sell the state’s IOUs to private investors and transfer the funds from that sale directly to the towns and agencies. Towns would receive exactly as much as they would lose and would not then have to wait for the state to pay them back. California Communities, a joint powers authority created by the League of Cities and the California State Association of Counties, is backing the bond effort, while the state agreed to cover the costs of issuing the bonds.
Someone please explain why this makes any sense.
FW
Rob Dawg wrote:
I think that crosswalk for Patriot games is a close second, and probably will get used more.
FUBAR and WASS LLC wrote:
Dawg-win's Rule
You REALLY have to be careful. The tax sale doesn't eliminate muni liens
tho it does eliminate mtges and owners rights. You have to know that the
county noticed all possible interests. My client who used to bid on these things
would often reject them because they would have 35k to 100k in liens, including
those 50 dollar a day ones. Sometimes they will foregive them, sometimes they
won't. In a couple of years, who knows? The banks may start abandoning
property, and if so, things will get interesting. But so far, the banks are paying
up and I think that any failure to pay taxes by banks will be an oversight.
yagij wrote:
Someone please explain why this makes and sense.
Dawg-win's Rule
Sorry.
I'll have to look up Daug-win in the Calvinball handbook.
are we spinning 'round in circles here??
FUBAR and WASS LLC wrote:
Check the glossary. Not sure if it has been published in the latest edition of Calvinball For Dummies yet.
I've got a bridge in Foxborough to sell ya...
99% chance this ends up on the Fed's balance sheet.
Crosswalk might save a bit of gas.
Rob Dawg
Are we going to see Oxnard's streets be torn up?
Either by citizens trying to stimy creditors or by the creditors trying to extort the citizens?
That would make for a really compelling 200 second bit on the international tv news cycle
+10
I hate that s##T
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
What kind of news agency has 200 seconds to spare on a news story? Where can I watch such news: The Daily Show?
Thanks for the info, liz!
I really want to see push come to shove in that situation. Having a network of city streets is as good as no collateral at all
You can't toll or guard it
Oxnard could easily just do the eminent domain thing, but they would still need some money to pay the new market value for it
Optics of the dispute would be terrible if collateral was ever brought into play
Big deal if their credit rating is hurt
what do they need to borrow for now? the rat race is over
LL,
Did you look for the percentage of parts US or import window sticker?
.....did Liz say what kinda car she bought???
Don't think she bought, just spent time arguing with a Honda dealer.
I think there was some disagreement between her and the hubby so they bought an Accord
nova wrote:
funny. insightful because it made me question who would ever name a car accord
also heard a country song today that mentioned getting a bank loan for a chrysler. when ford goes down, it will be really hard on country music writers
..........with a disagreement involved, you always opt-up.....like an electric Tesla maybe
don't they have an Enterprise used car lot in Florida?
Liz stated "All that fighting with Honda car salemen strained my brain. We left." which makes me think no sale.
Probably right. I just wanted to use Accord
Last thread she said he bought a car but didn't say what kind.
http://www.enterprisecarsales.com
You are correct -- she said " The hub has saved the world!! He bought a car. " on the last thread.
Must've been at a different dealership.
EHP,
I think Country music will be where the protest songs start showing up this time around
nova - for shame, I was figuring it'd be Miley Cyrus
The sales tone of car dealers sure can be different.
Found an Accord for her.
Page Not Available
........I'd even trade in one of my old F-350 dually crew cabs for a Tesla...........maybe even throw in a couple cows and the Mrs to boot.....hehehehe.......they'd end up burying me in it.......wouldn't be able to separate the flesh from the melted composite.....
My cash for clunkers got taken back
had all my clothes in the trunk
living at my friends Zack
thank you jeebus, he had an extra bunk
oh mr president please help us out
we are are proud people here in the country
but we need a hand not a hand out
We bought a Toyota Rav4 5 years ago.
I made sure to bring with me a printout showing the dealer cost (taking into account all incentives) of the base model and each specific option I wanted.
I offered a few hundred above dealer cost. Always agree on the price before discussing trade in value or financing.
I was amazed at the outright lying I met or stupidity (knowing nothing about what they were selling)
But we finally met an older salesman who agreed very quickly to our offer.
When I'm serious I exchange pleasantries and then say "let me speak to your manager". They'll get down to brass tacks immediately.
token bull wrote:
What ends up on the Fed's balance sheet? The IOU bonds?
I'm having difficulty following thread arcs today...
noob goldberg wrote:
No worries. Nothing to see here.
.
P.S. - I believe the Patriots crosswalk was the intended target.
OT, but they are still fighting this out at 10pm on a Saturday Night in DC???
...........I guess it comes down to no more than 40 Democrats saying NO.
Black Star Ranch wrote:
They won't vote if they don't have the numbers. No way they want a "Barry does Copenhagen" moment again, not on the centerpiece legislation of his administration.
Black Star Ranch wrote:
It'll be interesting to hear the stories they spin for their dumbasses if they lose this vote. Many of the true believers are losing some of their optimism (hope).
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
It's a done deal.
yagij wrote:
Oh, that's less
then I imagined.
I figured someone had been clever and come up with a theory that these IOU bonds would be bought by the
, who'd then trade them for treasuries from the fed. A bit of a back-door bailout without downright advertising that Obama was going to pick up the tab for every state with a budget shortfall.
Spunkmeyer wrote:
Has Terry chimed in today? He's in the loop, or at least within eavesdropping distance of the loop.
Sad that we are bought and sold by Tax whores. Vote for my costly bill and I will vote for your costly bill. The taxpayer can't do a dam thing about it.
Spunkmeyer wrote:
In the Senate too? (I'm not following it that closely. Personally I want it because I'm not planning on being able to work in about 5 years, so I need something to get me to Medicare, but I don't care one way or the other all that much)
Lobbyist Ben Dover wrote:
It's how a one Party system has too work. This should have been addressed 50 years ago. Too late to worry about it now.
IMO Dems are testing water. Senate will vote next year only if public opinion is not harsh after House vote.
Why is someone from Maryland getting an ad for a motel in Pueblo, Colorado? Last time we drove through was 1982 and I saw no reason to go back. Bring back the gold coin ad!
"This should have been addressed 50 years ago."
Yes, but it wasn't. I have TERRIBLE teeth. My mouth was made a mess in 1969. After repair, I never went back to a service dentist. Needless to say, tooth decay doesn't wait for phobias. Paying for a dentist in the 21st century requires a dental-care plan, UNLESS, you pay cash and don't need a receipt. Dentists will then underbid each other AND THEMSELVES for the same work every time. That's how healthcare would work as well. Have the patient pay for the service (whether they are reimbursed one way, another, or not), and any extra goes in the PATIENTS' pocket - then, you'll have clinics, medical centers, and Dr. Offices making deals galore.
I don't think we've seen the fall-out in health-care that this will initiate if it becomes law. It'll just be another spout to allow Congress' control over $1+-trillion. Does ANYONE here really believe Congress can make health-care BETTER?
Black Star Ranch wrote:
You don't understand how hydro power works BSR. It is the greenist power because it is instant on/off. The generators only run when peak demand is needed (typically in mid-day through early evening), and the rest of the time water is NOT sent through the generators. Hydro power is peak power. The amount needed for consumption use is much lower than needed to turn the generators, so the water not needed off-peak is stored, not spilled.
I like Pueblo, but I think Walsenburg is neat in it's own way.
YMMV, but I kind of like small town southwest towns. They are comfortable like an old boot.
Everybody knows everybody, and they all sort of roughly rub along.
Probably going to spend my last twenty years back out in the country until I have to move to the old folks home.
YouTube - The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) - Main Title
Planting beans and talking to my saints.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Black Star Ranch wrote:
No. I just want in on the existing scam. The US - and life in general - is about running a scam or being in on one.
The current health insurance system works fine IF you have access to it. I won't in about 5 years. So, I want the same government insurance scam that Medicare has right now, for myself in 5 years. I no longer care what's "right". I'm more mature than that. I only care about getting in on the scams being run. When I'm dead, the puritans can "fix the system".
Thanx, Jim.........I assumed ALL the water leaving the dam went past the generators.
FUBAR and WASS LLC wrote:
what part of "accounting gimmicks" don't you understand
JimPortlandOR wrote:
Greenest if you're not a Salmon.
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
Then it's pink.
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
Yes, not good for up-river migrating fish, unless good fish ladders are provided. Hydro and fish can be compatible, but only on large rivers (not streams, small rivers)
Generally old dams are not fish-friendly, and Oregon (and other places) are removing the bad kind of dams. All dams are not created equal.
crazyv wrote:
I wonder what the value of those bonds might be if--the day after they were issued--someone from the fed poked their heads out of their holes and casually mentioned that state bonds, or securities containing state bonds, will never be eligible for TARP or TALF?
JimPortlandOR wrote:
I've never understood why the fish ladder concept isn't used everywhere. Is it just the water loss doesn't make the dam cost effective?
noob goldberg wrote:
Kaboom?
Okay, time to explain to folks how Hoover Damn works- 20 percent of the power quietly flows to Arizona for use in pumping water to the CAP cities. Now we also get a chunk of the water from the dam at Parker. Further, excess power is sold in Arizona. Hoover Dam's remaining power goes to Las Vegas, and California, especially pumping water from the Sierras, and the Colorado River.
Further, looking at the upper colorado basin, the water shortage has abated, but the water has not been sent through the system.
http://www.powerauthority.org/documents/power%20operations/2009/08.pdf
Page 10 shows the feeder system is running nearly full, and Lake Powell is rising, and as the water is sent through, Mead will start rising again. If this is a wet winter, they will have a problem in the upper basin, they will have to do early releases without running the water through the powerhouses, which costs them money. This crisis is mostly manufactured when you look at the upper basin. Now with a large early wet snowfall, the question is how much more snow they will get. If they get a huge snowpack they will be selling power cheap in Utah and Colorado all winter.
Powell is admittedly huge, but it too can fill rapidly given an El Nino condition.
Droughts come and go in the west, and rapidly.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Sorry, you're right, I'm being a scenery snob. I lived in another part of the state and Pueblo was a little hot, dry,and industrial for my taste. by the way, did you ever try a hamburger place in Walsenburg called the Wagon Wheel?
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
Old dams without good fish ladders would require essentially a rebuild (and they are very costly). Fish ladders require very little water to be effective (whether or not the generation diversion is being run during peak power or not run in off-peak.
crazyv wrote:
My guess as well. But unless it's explicit somewhere that I haven't seen, it would be absolutely necessary to prevent states from simply issuing long-dated IOU's and laundering them through the
to the fed. Because--guaranteed--if the 
can pull off securitizing these IOUs with California, their suited minions would be hopping on 49 jets the following day to make the same pitch to the other states. And the federal reserve/treasury/Obama is left holding another very heavy bag.
Drove past, wasn't hungry at the time. Bought a pound of fresh cherries and drove to Cuesta.
Spitting pits and enjoying the ride. Camped out in some far out campground east of their. Spent the next couple of days in Taos and Santa Fe before heading home. Part of my graduation vacation.
Someday this war's gonna end...
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
That is the illusion that insurance companies want you to believe in. By definition the incidence of catastrophic loss is limited. Most of us will generally have a positive experience with an insurance company because our losses are small enough for them cover without a problem. Their math is simple= cost of litigating plus cost customer acquisition is it greater or less than the claim. BTW this is true whether we are talking auto, home health , D &O etc. This applies not only to the small guys but also the big boys. I have yet to meet somebody who had a large insurance claim settled in full without litigation.
The one thing that I do welcome in the Obama plan is that it will eliminate life time caps. It is the one thing that I worry most about.
JimPortlandOR wrote:
It does seem that the environmentalists are going to have to decide between dams and nukes, at some point, if they want to eliminate coal. In Sacramento, there was supposed to have been a very large dam built just upriver from the city. I hike allot in the area that would have been flooded. The development interests - and their congressional whores - were big supporters of the dam. I think its permanently dead now.
noob goldberg wrote:
Don't confuse people's roles. The Federal Reserve smokes cigars in their air-conditioned indoor tennis courts. Obama gets free rides in the helicopter. YOU hold the bag.
Citizen Allen- pretty good summary. It helps to make the trip to Powell to get a sense of the magnitude. After the visit had to change my mind about Phoenix and LV running out of water. Glen Canyon doesn't produce that much electricity it is mainly a water dam.
However, the one thing that did strike me is that but for our socialist federal government the folks in that part of the country would not be able to complain since they probably would not have been able to live there. This rugged individualism is such a load of BS.
Plantagenet wrote:
I'm Canadian, so I don't hold the bag directly. But since 70% of our country's exports and a similar portion of our imports trade with you, anything that gives you heartburn will give us an ulcer. I'm very keen to monitor what's going on down there.
I like Peter Schiff, but ignore his suggestion to invest in Canadian currency. Unless China shows up tomorrow with a stellar deal to buy our commodities and manufacturing output, we're in pretty much the same boat as you.
EDIT: But I really did appreciate your rhetorical flourish there. I'm filing that in the 'plagiarize for later use' drawer in my brain.
OT the tribes of wall street part 3 no sensationalism just explaining how deals get done.
Tribes of Wall Street, pt. 3 « Mind on Money
crazyv wrote:
Well, I'm basing it on my current employer AND a guy who recently had a massive heart attack, was in the hospital for 4 months, is now back at work and paid $2k. My zombie has good benefits. But, if he leaves he might not get coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
So, personally, I'd be happy with (say) as 250k life time max and Medicare (like) coverage. I just don't want to get wiped out because of a one-time event.
But, as you say, this is about keeping the insurance industry in business.
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
All you want is 250k total life time max?
From forbes.com
We did an interesting analysis this morning. We compared what you'd get for a monthly payment if you bought a $250,000 home in August '07, with an 80% mortgage at 6.6%, vs. buying the same home in August '09.
**The monthly payment drops by 42%. **
The reduction comes
67% from the reduction in price,
25% from the lower interest rates (5.1%) and
8% from the tax credit (assumed to reduce your mortgage).
You got it, most of that water is actually burned off in low return ag along the Colorado, in the Imperial Valley, and in Mexico. The amount used for people is still relatively small as a share. Growing cotton with that water is about the stupidest thing possible, yet it has been done for years.
One of the most interesting facts is that a square mile of cotton takes far more water than a square mile of houses with desert landscaping, and the recovery from the sewage system pushes it to far out of whack.
Take the stupid waste from ag away, and you can double the Southwest and still be comfortable in water reserves.
Nobody likes to explore boring things like aquifer recharge, but we do it, and in larger and larger refill projects.
The evil hand of government fixing the problems we made starting 100 years ago.
Someday this war's gonna end...
crazyv wrote:
Sure, what's so crazy about that. I know a Swiss couple, they don't have any concept of the life-time max thing. Nobody get "wiped out".
MOst health insurance companies have a $2MM life time cap and I worry about that - just to be clear are we talking individual payment or what the insurance company pays?
Citizen AllenM wrote:
Actually all the effort in low flow toilets is a load of BS for everybody except those folks who live by the ocean. We get all of our water from a lake and the sewage after it is treated flows back into the lake. Low flow toilets might help in the amount of water that is treated but doesn't save any water.
Actually after traveling up there it is clear to me that before LV and Phoenix run our of water they will shut down agriculture- well as long as we have a semblance of democracy. For a doomer like me that was a pretty disappointing conclusion to arrive at
anybody watching CSPAN?
6 votes away from the health care bill.
crazyv wrote:
Sorry, I'm confusing terms.
I'm more worried about what I pay. If I were "king", I'd want my realm to provide me with a $250k life-time deductible and no life-time cap (plus dental).
Edit: The 250k is my minimum, obviously. I'd take a Zero$ deductible, but I would accept $250k.
218 votes to pass house bill - done unless someone changes mind
crazyv wrote:
not sure it would take democracy to determine of ag or LV would be saved. Only which group would pay the politicians more. LV would win because of that.
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
We can and should have some of both. Nuke power is great baseline power (24/7) - in fact they are cost -effective only if run full out all the time (PG&E's Diablo Canyon runs 80% of the time)). Hydro is peak power at its best, but huge river blockages to create lakes is part of the past, not future.
Incidentally, pumped hydro is an even better deal. PG&E Helms project uses baseline power at night to pump water uphill into a reservoir, and then that water is released as needed for peak power during the day. It is like using night power (cheap) to recharge car batteries for daytime use in a hybrid car.
I wonder who the single republican Yea vote was?
Looks like a done deal in the House.
1 republican votes yea.
well you might be getting part of that - no life time cap but sadly no dental
Jo Cao
R-LA
the lone republican.
Winning touchdown in the last seconds for the House Dems. By two votes.
crazyv wrote:
You mean in the proposed government plan?
What needed was a fully integrated energy plan. Electric cars to take advantage of renewable energy which can never be part of base load. Smart grids with flexible pricing. What we needed was the equivalent of the moon landing. Something only the government could have done since no private investors would have been willing to take the risk that multiple technologies would be developed simultaneously.
yes it is one of the elements of insurance reform that insurance companies can no longer have a life time cap. Even if the government has to provide the reinsurance for it the benefit in terms of peace of mind is worth the very small cost.
bANK fAILURE wrote:
my guess he will be changing parties pretty soon. His was the seat held by Jefferson and he won it pretty much the same way as Owen won NY-23. There were two democrats who split the vote.
crazyv wrote:
Interesting. Well, I hope something passes. Time is running out for me, my brain can't keep up with the IT stuff so I figure in 5 years I'll be another part time ex-IT geek. This is fine with me, I've got the saving to retire now, but the lack of health insurance is too risky.
Lets wildly speculate on how many hedge fund insider trading arrests occur next week?
Im callin the early +/- 4
The vote tonight is a side show. It is now impossible to get a bill through both houses. I think the Democrats may have known this for a couple weeks- at least since the public option made its reappearance. I think the game plan since has been to let the Blue Dogs vote against it in the House, let the farther left in the House vote for a bill palatable to them and take a partial victory, and then let the Senate Republicans with Lieberman, and whatever other Democrats want to join them, filibuster it to death in the Senate. There is simply no way the Democrats will pass anything of substance with the divisions they face. To know this, all you have to do is to witness what it took to get a 220-215 vote in the House.
This is the maximum the Democrats could salvage from the debacle of the last 4 months- everyone gets a vote they can live with and take to their constituents, and the Senate Republicans can always be blamed for the defeat (along with Joe Lieberman).
bANK fAILURE wrote:
HA! sounds like a good pole question.
Yancey Ward wrote:
Sounds reasonable. And, typically scummy.
wow, now we get the hear Nancy the snake next.
Electricity, rates and doom...
Came home a couple of weeks ago to a flyer on my door letting me know I'd had a new smart meter installed. Didn't think much of it until this morning when I decided to figure out the need for this new tech on my home. The good part was the use of the stimulus funds to install the meter ($500 per meter) under the aegis of the development of the new smart grid. The bad part was I couldn't find any reason for the money spent on the smart meter that couldn't have been accomplished through policy and conservation programs. Hmmmmm Follow the money. Lo and behold PGE customers are freaking out due to the doubling of bills due to energy usage during peak hours of 2pm-7pm. Seems PGE can now vary rates by time and charge a higher rate if you chose to use energy in an appliance like your AC when it is 107 degrees outside. Add in privacy concerns and the ability to switch off your electricity remotely and you have some serious "what if" scenarios pop up. Rolling brown outs can now be better targeted for demand, industry, hospitals, and hell why not, influence of voter concentration or special interest considerations. Should the future hold limited energy you can effectively shut down entire areas at will. How great would it be to live in a neighborhood where you get 4 hours of electricity a day?
Too paranoid? Probably, but the reasoning is sound. File it under health insurance reform benefiting private insurance corporations and banking reform benefiting TBTF. Great system huh?
that recognition of the Kingdom of Jordan.
right under the rug.
adjorn
Gin and Tonics on deck.
Yalncey, I hope it is stopped in the Senate, but look at Democrats who voted yea in tight districts. Why wouldnt they get killed in 2010? They are still gonna get killed. People won't forget about it 12 months.
... and I reserve the balance of my time ~
Can we now focus on the financial reform?
Sweeping Health Care Plan Passes House
WASHINGTON — Handing President Obama a hard-fought victory, the House narrowly approved a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system on Saturday, advancing legislation that the Democrats said could be their defining social policy achievement.
After a daylong clash with Republicans over what has been a Democratic goal for decades, lawmakers voted 220 to 215 to approve a plan that would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years and that Democrats said would provide relief to Americans struggling to buy or hold on to health insurance.
...
Democrats were forced to make major concessions on insurance coverage for abortions to attract the final votes to secure passage, a wrenching compromise for the numerous abortion-rights advocates in their ranks. They hope to make changes to that amendment during negotiations with the Senate, which will now become the main battleground in the health care fight as Democrats there ready their own bill for what is likely to be extensive floor debate.
Democrats say the measure — paid for through new fees and taxes, along with cuts in Medicare — would extend coverage to 36 million people now without insurance and would create a government health insurance program. It would end insurance company practices like not covering pre-existing conditions or dropping people when they become ill.
The successful vote came after Mr. Obama traveled to Capitol Hill just before noon Saturday to make a personal appeal for lawmakers to “answer the call of history” and support the bill.
MrM wrote:
Just like Medicare Part D where the CBO estimated the 10-year cost of the drug provisions at $394 billion for the period 2004 to 2013.
Lefty,
You have to remember, this vote may well not hurt those who took the greatest risk tonight if the Senate filibusters it down. With that out of the way, the economy will dominate next year's election. Actually passing a bill and having it signed is what would add to their miseries next November- I just don't see how it is possible.
There was face to be saved by Pelosi. She, I think, had two alternatives: either withdraw the bill completely/put up a bill that gets voted down in the House, or try to save face by using her margin in the House to, at least, get a bill passed by the House and let the Senate kill it. In my opinion, she made the right political choice, at least when viewed from her position. Her most vulnerable members voted no, her other members got to vote for a bill with as much as could be hoped for, and she got to wash her hands of the responsibility- she got her victory. Practically any other bill would lose more votes on the right, or on the left. There is no bill that could make it through the Senate that would be able to win a second vote in the House, or vice versa.
Just like Medicare Part D
The big difference is that the new plan will be financed through taxes on very rich.
From WSJ:
To finance the overhaul, individuals who earn more than $500,000 a year or families making $1 million or more annually would pay a new 5.4% tax on top of existing income taxes.
AllenM.......re.
What % (if any) water could be saved by individual homes utilizing greywater? I know we are one of few to use it (greywater = water collected from sinks, washers, showers and bathtubs) on the garden and fruit trees.
The successful vote came after Mr. Obama traveled to Capitol Hill just before noon Saturday to make a personal appeal for lawmakers to “answer the call of history” and support the bill.
Like I said, can't have another "Barry does Copenhagen" moment.
TJ wrote:
"Like I said, can't have another "Barry does Copenhagen" moment."
Yea, but the try..they try.
I'll be bold enough to disagree with those who say the Senate won't pass a bill, or that a conference bill uniting Sen./House won't pass.
The Senate will pass a bill, even if they can't break a filibuster. They will pass a bill under 'reconciliation' (which takes only an actual majority (50). Then that bill will go to conference and emerge as the final conference bill, which can't be filibustered in the Senate and will most likely pass both houses by slim majorities. Obama will sign, for sure.
Recall that Clinton's budget bill in 1994 was passed only with Al Gores VP vote, and folks said it would be the end of the world for Dems and the nation. Well, we got rising average incomes, more jobs, a reduction in the national debt, and budget surpluses (that Bush II threw away because he and Greenspawn said it would wreak the financial industry if we didn't have debt.)
Take the long view. We are past due on health insurance reform. It may finally happen, containing much good and some dumb features. The GOP said Medicare would lead to immediate socialism in 1965. It didn't happen, and those served like the program (although the GOP still wants to recast it as a private program and thereby destroy it).
Improbably things sometimes happen. As Churchill said with wisdom, the USA wil try all the things that don't work first, and finally obtain a good result at the end.
Yancey, I don't dispute anything you said, but do you remember the McCain Feingold Campaign Finance Bill? It was passed in the House, nobody thought it would pass the Senate, it did, no one thought Bush would sign it, he did, and finally everyone thought the Supreme court would overturn it, and they didn't. Its a terrible law. The idea of this bad law passing on the House side, and adding over 1.4 trillion to the deficit is so sad. I am on Medicare, so it will affect me and my wife. Do you know where I can buy a used pacemaker, something with low miles, used by a little old lady?
.
.....I hear India has a few "gently used" models.....
Baltimore by Randy Newman.
Not quite California Dreaming, is it?
JimPortlandOR wrote:
40 years to go from the most successful democratic Republic to what we have tonight qualifies as immediately.
Rob Dawg wrote:
You are going to formally refuse Medicare, right? It would be untypically hypocritical to accept Medicare personally while denouncing it publicly. Isn't that so?
Will get fooled again...
'Bait and switch' is very common now in political strategies, political sales pitches and 'promises'...believe in 'Change now'...'public option is reform', banking bailouts are to save the economy, 'endless' wars will save the world from 'terrorism', etc.
Just keep believing...
40 years to go from the most successful democratic Republic to what we have tonight qualifies as immediately.
Not quick enough.
Should have pushed for universal healthcare back in the 1960s, the federal finances would have been a lot healthier now
JimPortlandOR wrote:
Not at all, since we've already paid for it. It's not like they're giving us an "opt out" complete with a refund plus interest.
Jim,
The budget bill in 93 was clearly qualified for reconciliation; there is no way to do this with the healthcare bill as a whole piece without making a complete mockery of the process itself. The Democrats will not do this since they know they won't always be in control. The same Mutual Assured Destruction kept Republicans from corrupting Senate rules when face with filibusters of appeals court judges in 2003-2005.
And, there are so many ways for the Republicans to tie up the bill if Reid tries this, that it won't pass before 2011. The bill is dead. It has been dead since September. All we are seeing is maneuvers to save face and political capital.
MrM wrote:
IMO we could've gotten a better plan then and worked out any issues by now.
.....with THAT I need sleep...........Adios.
MrM wrote:
US business would be better off also.
Ford and GM spend $1300.00 per car on health costs. Japan and Germany pays $300.00. A thousand dollar penalty right off the top.
Plus they have healthier workers, as the health care is better.
Lefty,
There was no popular resistance to McCain Feingold. In fact, the public is largely willing to restrict campaign spending and speech as long as it thinks no one is trying to restrict their speech. Most people are just not politically active. That isn't the case to the present bill. This makes all the difference in the world.
And, by the way, it looks like the Supreme Court is having significant second thoughts about its previous decision.
BTW, in case you haven't heard...
I'm in the "pass everything and anything" mode now. I figure it's the quickest way to bring the entire system down.
JimPortlandOR wrote:
That cheap sophomoric debating trick is unworthy of a response. Nice change of subject and dimunition to a discussion of personalities.
Rob Dawg wrote:
I did not discuss your personality. And I didn't change the subject. Folks here complain that the FIRE guys talk about competition and freedom, while doing what they want in private. Is this issue any different? Talk the talk, walk the walk.
TJ, methinks that Berneke&Co are way ahead of you.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
This one is special. Upending 17% of the economy regardless of outcome is not undoable and cannot be done incrementally. Can't wait to see med school applications for the fall.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
That is why I supported the Bush Presidency-- no faster way to put this puppy in the ditch!
(I must admit, Bush exceeded my wildest expectations)
The dems are a slow death. Let us get it over with, so we can start solving real issues.
JimPortlandOR wrote:
You did and that's why you are getting defensive now. Move on.
Hmm, might need to review the medical tourism investment pitch I heard recently...
C
Rob Dawg wrote:
I didn't.
May I respectfully ask how?
Counterpointer wrote:
All you need is a passport, a couple of grand, and a ticket.
I recommend Thailand or Peru.
Peru has all those harvard educated physicians for you to access.
No need to put up with a system that forces you to buy a defective product, which the US health care system is, and will be.
Blackwaterwannabe wrote:
I can answer that -- doubling the debt, Patriot Act, etc.
Blackwaterwannabe wrote:
He drove this country into the ground faster that my wildest dreams, and looted the treasury, and transfered wealth to his social class.
Impressive!
US business would be better off also.
Amen to that
Forgive me adornosghost, I'm a little slow tonight. Define "He".
JimPortlandOR wrote:
Sadly, you did:
"You are going to formally refuse Medicare, right? It would be untypically hypocritical..."
It happens. It is uncommon to get called on it and rarer still that when caught to deny but you've proven it does happen.
How many Americans have passports? Might have to market to rich Asians instead.
C
/some of you guys will appreciate the animation:
Wonkette : House Votes To Kill Your Grandmother & All Christians, 220-215
Blackwaterwannabe wrote:
Yeah, he didn't do it alone. Still, he does hold the last (and most important vote). Can't happen without him.
Black Star Ranch, Do you have a name, and , do I have to pay for shipping?
I guess we have a P.O. now?
Couldn't happen without any of them, which includes our bribed Congress/Delegates and Senate.
But then, it's Sat night , why get depressed?
Blackwaterwannabe wrote:
It's Sat. Night, and I'm on HCN?
Blackwaterwannabe wrote:
Good point, as George was just a front guy to give simple stories and myths to the sheeple to help them be secure in a frightening world that was making little sense.
George represented a group of elite's on the right who had lost power in the 90's, and wanted to continue the casino game and upward transfer of wealth that accelerated started during the Reagan years.
Yea, but Publisher's Clearing House might call you..
Blackwaterwannabe wrote:
"Depressed", not "Delusional"
Wanna bet?
YouTube - Bobby Bare-Streets of Baltimore.
YouTube - Frank Zappa - What´s new in Baltimore? - 1988 Lund
Commodities Technical Analysis | Russia may buy remaining 203 tonnes of IMF gold | 08 November 2009 | www.commodityonline.com
Russia's Central Bank has bought 180 tonnes since June 2006, and another Russian agency just said it will hold off selling 50 tonnes this year.
REBear wrote:
WOOHOO!!!
I have had experience with the hospitals in Bangkok and they are first rate.
I had a colonoscopy for about 450 dollars, the same procedure in NYC was
quoted by the specialist doctor I visited who charged me 450 for the visit
at around 2,300.
It really sucks to be uninsured in the USA which during a number of years I have
been...
getting a bit too old for that, the numbers catch up...
The Next Bubble: Gold | zero hedge
Duke - yep, living in Asia will give you a relationship with your GI specialist like you never previously imagined (!) I've seen or experienced excellent med in Beijing, Ha Noi, HK, and Bangkok, so I'm still only lukewarm about the idea getting punted around for more. They know how to ramp a price in HK, mind.
C
Counterpointer wrote:
yes, there's about the same range of hospitals as hotels in HK, and if you must have the nice office, the pretty receptionist who speaks good English, it'll cost you. But on those occasions when I've thrown myself at the mercy of "the system", I've learned you can get decent, basic care for a pittance. Would still favor BKK for anything to do with me nether regions, and I don't really know why . . . .
I've also experienced the hospitals in Vietnam both public and private. was bottled in the back of the head
with two Heinekan bottles the second of which split my head open requiring 10 stitches, visited the ER in
Ho Chi Minh City which looked like that scene of the war dead and wounded in Gone with the Wind...
I was happy to get injected with a brand new syringe, but I was real nervous about the surgeon's tools.
Mises: The Man Who Predicted the Depression | zero hedge
Mises's solution follows logically from his warnings. You can't fix what's broken by breaking it yet again. Stop the credit gavage. Stop inflating. Don't encourage consumption, but rather encourage saving and the repayment of debt. Let all the lame businesses fail—no bailouts. (You see where I'm going with this.) The distortions must be removed or else the precipice from which the system will inevitably fall will simply grow higher and higher.
interestingly I knew two young French doctors from Montpelier who did an internship in Hanoi at a public hospital..
Vietnamese doctors don't believe in using pain medication in post-op, they think that the pain is part of the healing process
and they'd tell me stories of patients screaming in pain a day or two after surgery begging for meds but not getting them...
what they would get is the doctor yelling at them for being weak...
TJ and The Bear wrote:
What is this "fall" in which he is referring? Anti-Humpty Dumpty: To Big To Fall?
the precipice from which the system will inevitably fall will simply grow higher and higher
Is that better?
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Fish gotta fly, birds gotta swim.
Per Mises I also remember something about the only remedy being total breakdown, and little moderation in the run up.
But gold at these levels? I know I'm too emotionally wedded to my cost basis, but I do expect some weak hand shakeouts. Don't you?
Anak wrote:
Things never advance in a straight line. Heck, I see weak hands bowing themselves out all the time, but I'm in it for the long haul.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Shall we call it the Jenga Principle? The only way the game works is to make the tower taller and taller 'til someone gets unlucky?
To a politician, absolutely. As long as the game continues, they're in it.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Once the game is over, what exactly will they do?
They don't think that far ahead; not really sure they can, or would even want to.
Flip the board?
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Likewise, but I haven't bought or sold since sub $500, went in substantially then, and that's burgeoned into what I'd call a respectable hedge. I'd like to see some across the board forced delveraging before I buy again. Was hearing you and rich all along, but not really listening.
Anak wrote:
You too, eh?
From Mauldin's latest newsletter:
"Moreover, when we combine the monthly change in the number of Unemployed, with the number Not in the Labor Force, we might consider the result to be a proxy for the actual 'change' in the underlying labor market situation ... in which case, October's figure of 817,000 represents the fourth LARGEST yet, behind last month's (September's) second largest figure of 1,021,000 ... for a two-month combined figure of 1.838 million, in newly Unemployed, or no longer 'in' the Labor Force ...
One of these days the commentariat might cite vintage doomsters that first steered them into naked emperor spotting. I am in Bill Bonner's debt, as well as the old crew at Whiskey and Gunpowder. Oh, also occasional visits to Crazy Uncle Gary (North).
Guess Mauldin emerged from that last branch, but only recently got off the opiates....
But now, C-R-ian for the digestive process.
just reading some French news online because that's what I do when there's no new worthwhile content in the english sphere
occurred to me that Bernanke should use the reverse translation of green light: green fire
"We are seeing green fires for investment all over the economy. Top to bottom, the economy is burning bright green and not red or even yellow"
Anak,
I owe much to John Talbott. His book on the housing bubble put me onto Prudent Bear, and from there on I linked to everything. Even at this date I still feel light years ahead of the crowd, even here (although there are quite a lot of the commentariat that truly get it).
Interesting thing about Mauldin is that he provided me with extremely bearish info while not necessarily intending to.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Yeah, come to think about it, he did. I largely missed it at the time.
Good for you that you could grasp the content, not the (lack of ) histrionics.
Time for a hike afore it gets dark....
btw -- sounding like there has been a 180° turn for Afghanistan post-election there. In Canada word is that withdrawal will occur as planned in 2011, no more extensions, and no more hinting at staying to do training as a compromise. Also hearing similar things from Britain. Germany and Italy also seem to be giving up their restricted missions in the north. No better from France, Netherlands, or Poland. Haven't heard much about a 40,000 surge from America lately, have heard much more about crimped budgets Federally and through proxies like the UN. Don't know the latest on diplomacy with Pakistan and India about the matter, other than it is more active which could mean anything.
Interesting point, Anak. I guess mine was experience through the Asia crisis and hanging out with China doomers, then reading Stiglitz, then work on debt relief. Some clown made a comment during an especially ballbusting phase of one debt workout negotiation that at least we wouldn't have to do it again; this was the last shot, problem solved, glorious financial hereafter on earth beckoned. I just about fell off my chair. Forget when exactly that was, mid 2005 or so.
C
C,
For me the original "AHA!" moment came with the arrival of the housing bubble to SoCal in 2002, and so soon after dot-bomb. I'm like -- "this can't be happening again". My suspicions led me to do some reading, which put me into the contrarian websites, and off to the races I went. Didn't take long before I was seriously into physical PMs.
Hard to believe it's over six years later.
C
you have anything to say about Pakistan's IMF borrowing?
EHP - that they're lucky to get a damned red cent?
C
Counterpointer
just thought you might have some sense as to the sustainability or fragility of that relationship among the network of interested stakeholders
I'll only go so far as to say that I believe that those whom you have in mind have it as a pressing question.
Relationships are complex:
YouTube - LIGHTNING HOPKINS " SHOTGUN BLUES "
C
good blues compilation, Night on the Delta, Amazon.com: Night on the Delta: Bukka White Son House, Memphis Minnie Robert Johnson, Lightnin' Hopkins Leadbelly, Big Joe Williams Skip James, Mance Lipscomb Mississippi John Hurt, Peter Kern, Taj Mahal Chris Whitley, Neal Pattman, Preston Fulp Guitar Ga
I didn't see anyone mention the US healthcare bill actually passing, so just in case, CBC News - World - U.S. House narrowly passes health-care bill