DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven decline in January
Submitted by
CalculatedRisk on Mon, 03/22/2010 - 5:48am (378 comments)
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on this great news.
It's the snow. Right? Or maybe Greece?
EDIT: And Tom Stone, please tell me about your mosquito bite
Snowmaggedon strikes again!
Josap wrote (
)
The ICHIP plan here (Illinois) allows me to buy BC/BS at about 50% over the "prevailing market rate". We're paying about $1100/month for me and my wife.
There's no state or fed money involved.... Illinois extracts a levy against every insurer who writes in the state to make up the shortfall. It's a great program..... there's no way I could be self-employed without it.
When gas hit $4.gal, we learned new habits.
The new habit saved money.
So we could pay higher prices for food.
Shortage of snow tires since the $5 china tax?
It's the snow. Right? Or maybe Greece?
i think we had a shorter january this year.
Fed activity down, tax revenue down, miles driven decline....
Yeah, this is a recovery all right !?!
Eric wrote:
Mine, alone would be that or a bit more. With very high deductable, low life time cap etc.
Perhaps it is because everyone was so careful with their choices of Christmas presents that nobody drove to the store to return them this year?
noob goldberg, snow will be blamed in February, but there was nothing special about this January - except for high gasoline prices and a sluggish economy.
best wishes
One of the girls from work who was dropped last month by BC BS has been fighting breast cancer for a couple of years. She had to buy an individual policy but of course the surgeries she still needs can't be done until after her first year of having the policy. She said the new policy is costing her 700 bucks a month.
CalculatedRisk wrote:
How important of a variable do you consider miles driven? I know you are waiting for signs of demand destruction due to high prices, but do you think these numbers reflect declines in real economic activity, or just high oil prices?
EDIT: Although I laughed pretty hard at Basel's explanation.
My view of health insurance isn't great.
You pay the preimums.
You get sick.
You can't work, don't get paid.
You can't cover your preimums.
Your insurnace is canceled. (possibly denied)
You have to pay the med bills anyway.
Not such a good deal.
Western equine encephalitis.
Comrade Kristina wrote:
What is the percent of insure cost to income?
Looks like the Fed's trillion dollar MBS re-inflation is starting to unwind the economy as well. Looking for the largest effects in those places where the money flowed first, and where the underlying deflation has not abated (e.g. banks with gaping holes where the cash-flowing "assets" on their balance sheets ought to be). Feed the new $$ to a bunch of speculators and of course all speculative assets inflate - at the ongoing expense of the productive economy, unfortunately...
Hayek: The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle, Can We Still Avoid Inflation?
OT
OP-ED COLUMNIST; Fear Strikes Out - NY Times
"
And on the other side, here’s what Newt Gingrich, the Republican former speaker of the House — a man celebrated by many in his party as an intellectual leader — had to say: If Democrats pass health reform, “They will have destroyed their party much as Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years” by passing civil rights legislation.
"
I realized late that this struggle is NOT about economics or cost, it is about race relations and civil liberties. Nothing self destructs as does hate.
noob goldberg wrote:
Yes.
The export of $$ to the petroleum producers implies a reduction of $$ available for "real economic activity" in the domestic arena.
It also leads to increased financial speculation (assuming the petroleum producers are less likely to spend their marginal $$ on "real economic activity" and more likely to stick it in an "investment" fund).
She's a "manager" at the package store. I would guess she might be making 10-12 bucks an hour. So somewhere around 35-40% of income.
It will be interesting to see what the final tally on lawyerliz's stay in the hospital adds (the big number) up to...
Half of my relatives are in Canada, and they would have received the same standards of care or better, if any of them caught a curb the wrong way.
..for nothing
I wonder what percentage of income people would be willing / able to pay?
10% shouldn't be too much of a hardship, at least for those concidered middle class.
I will see if I can find the % for single payer countries.
Another number that can't beat last year's TEOTWAWKI number.
I skimmed through O's speeches and remarks and tomorrow is the first anniversary of 'glimmers of hope' (Might not be first usage by him or his administration but the first I could find transcripted). Maybe I'm crazy but after a year of
and population growth shouldn't it be a little better rather than WORSE?
Remarks by the president after Economic Daily Briefing, 3-23-09 | The White House
Lobbyist Ben Dover wrote:
Speaking of China:
Air Pollution Hits Record High in Hong Kong
HONG KONG — Air pollution in Hong Kong, one of the perpetual banes of living and working in the Asian financial hub, skyrocketed to record levels on Monday, triggering an official government warning to avoid outdoor activities and physical exertion.
Drought spreading across China
Severe drought is continuing to plague southwest China, and is spreading to other parts of the country. These are the worst conditions the region has ever seen in a century. The government is calling on people to use water sparingly.
China is not even remotely survivable.
Found Germany.
Coalition officials meeting in Berlin backed Social Democrat (SPD) Health Minister Ulla Schmidt's plan to raise the healthcare contribution level to 15.5 percent of gross wages from around 14.92 percent.
As a counter measure, the unemployment benefit levy will drop to 2.8 percent from 3.3 percent, said Volker Kauder, parliamentary group leader of the conservatives (CDU/CSU), who share power with the SPD.
German coalition agrees hike in healthcare tax
| Reuters
Sounds like a better deal than 40% of your pre tax earnings...In my coworkers case between payroll tax and her insurance half of her pay is gone and she hasn't paid for rent, fuel, food or anything else.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
And your relatives in Canada will live 2 years longer than us Third World Americans, and have a much lower infant mortality rate. It must be the bad health care.
Italy health care tax.
Funding is based on a regressive payroll tax. The tax starts at 10.6% of income for the first €20,660 and drops to 4.6% of income between €20,51 and €77,480. The rest of the funding comes from federal and regional general taxation (i.e.: income and value-added taxes).
Healthcare Economist · Health Care Around the World: Italy
Tom Stone wrote:
Mad Horse disease?
Govenment on drugs: though Republican congressmen now reliably vote against Democrats' big-government spending schemes, not long ago they were very happy to spend on Bush's policies | New American, The | Find Articles at BNET
Now I know why China has decided to take some good old American Pork. Just needs a few details worked out.
The more dollars bankers get in bonuses the fewer dollars left to pay doctors, hospitals, unemployment benefits, or premiums.
It's that simple.
Comrade Kristina wrote:
Is the cancer policy $700 a month or a generic health plan $700 a month? IIRC, the family plans I've carried over the last few years or more have in total cost in the range of $1000 or more per month. $8400 per year for a self financed plan is not bad. Of course, we have already have universal health care here, so it may take awhile for y;all to catch up down there
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
The more dollars bankers get in bonuses the fewer dollars left to pay doctors, hospitals, unemployment benefits, or premiums.
Starve the healthcare BEAST! Feed the bankers!
Feed a financial fever, starve a cold?
This is not a family plan, it is her individual plan. I'm not sure what her plan covers. My bosses new plan was going to be over 800 dollars a month just for her. Luckily she was able to get on her husbands plan from his work. Here in Florida we have a 25% uninsured population. Which is scary considering how high a percentage of seniors we have here that ARE covered with Medicare. I would guess about a 40 uninsured rate for the actual working population not covered by medicare.
Yup,there was an epidemic when I was a kid.
josap wrote:
My daughter has an MRI bill from a year ago for $4,000 over which she has been fighting her insurance company to pay. Meanwhile, she studied abroad in Italy, and began to have trouble with the same knee. She went to the Italian doctor around the corner from where she lived, he recommended an MRI, and he got on the phone and made several calls. Finally, he apologized to her and said, "I'm sorry, the cheapest price I can find for an MRI for you is 200 Euro. Let's just admit you to the hospital--that way, it will be free."
I remember an epidemic back in the 70's of the Eastern version. I had horses at the time and they were very strict on Coggins testing.
What have you done for insurance coverage?
adornosghost wrote:
gasp, still here, snort.
The last couple days have been the worst I've seen in 13 years in HK. Outside, my eyes were stinging w/in a 3 minute walk. I did yank the children straight out of school when the bell rang today. No rugby.
Nothing compared to Beijing dust storms, which happen every March to one degree or another.....
beijing dust storm - Google Search
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
What have you done for insurance coverage?
I love the logic of fining the uninsured. The first year they take $95. The next year it's $325. Then, $625. They could just keep increasing the amount of money that they take from you because you don't have enough money to afford to buy coverage. Eventually, you'll be poor from paying the fine you're paying because you can't afford to buy insurance, and then you get free coverage.
Lawyerliz wonders what the tab to us will be too. Supposedly the tab to me for the rehab place is zero, unless I get me hairs cut or toes done--and I may do that
We hadn't reached our deductables fot the year, so we well certainly pay something. I don't expect the out of pocket will be more than a couple thousand.'
I think the bill to blue cross/shield will be fairly staggering.
Pain has decreased. Pain after Perkocet is close to zero--tho I am more groggy
after taking it thanI was when the pain was intense. Can go much longer without it.
On the other hand my vehicle milex in the last 9-10 days has gone 'way done and I
haven't stimulated the economy by shopping!
"What have you done for insurance coverage?"
Worked, saved, and pay for mine.
The more I learn about other countries, the more I think I need to move.
in this country on many levels.
The 50 yr old to 64 yr old group is really getting
But as I still need to earn a living, have to figure out how that works.
Anak wrote:
That is like LA in the late 70's/early 80's. What is the main source of HK's air pollution, factories or autos?
Lobbyist Ben Dover wrote:
Hopefully the wacko wingnuts of the Republican party are correct, and this is the first step towards a socialist healthcare system. Imagine that, a healthcare system that delivers much more and costs a whole lot less. Models on view all over the capitalist, freedom loving, industrialized world.
adornosghost wrote:
And yet the USDA is currently forecasting ~2% increase in Chinese wheat production...
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
I'm sure the insurance companies and big pharma, are ecstatic.
Healthcare - Google Finance
I think I may have heard of this Stupak dude,is his last name shakur?
adornosghost wrote:
"What have you done for insurance coverage?"
Try JD for this one. Not my line.
Blackhalo wrote:
I'm sure the insurance companies and big pharma, are ecstatic.
Alas, Catch-22 and Atlas Shrugged never painted us as quite that dumb.
SNAFU wrote:
Anyone remember "smog days" in the late 60s and early 70s in Southern California? The neat thing was that we would get out of school early--the bad thing--we couldn't see Mt. Baldy.
Question for the Gulag Hockeypelagoians...
It's quite common for the waiting rooms of our hospital emergency rooms to be chock-a-block full of people, standing room only in many instances~
This can happen anytime, but it's more predominant at night, when cheaper medical clinics tend to be closed.
Is there ever a pile-up of banged-up human beans like that, up over?
SNAFU wrote:
all of the above, plus power generation. And this time of year, loess from thousands of miles away.
* Wind blown dust originating from the arid deserts of Mongolia and China is a well-known springtime meteorological phenomenon throughout East Asia. In fact, "yellow sand" meteorological conditions are sufficiently common to have acquired local names: Huangsha in China, Whangsa in Korea, and Kosa in Japan.
* Suspended clouds of Asian dust can move across the Pacific in elevated layers (3-11 km agl) and can reach the U.S. in as little as 4-6 days.
* The dust clouds finally dissipate when the particles are removed from the atmosphere by dry and wet removal processes. Gravitational settling of large particles (>10 m m) occurs near the source within the first day of transport. Wet removal occurs sporadically throughout the 5-10 day lifetime of the remaining smaller size dust particles.
* Dust from large deserts that is transported in this manner can be a vital nutrient source for both the oceans and terrestrial ecosystems. Iron in the minerals composing this desert dust will be a vital nutrient in oceanic regions that are deficient in iron. Furthermore, research has shown that the canopy (top layers) of much of the Central and South America rain forest derives much of its nutrient supply from dust that is transported over the Atlantic from the Sahara Desert in northern Africa. Saharan dust occasionally reaches the state of Florida, causing a characteristic high-altitude haziness that obscures the Sun.
Asian Dust Clouds - Page 1
Some interesting satellite photos of Gobi dust storms at this site.
energyecon wrote:
I believe most wheat production is further North. But China is merely the last great industrial power, and is a environmental wreck.
The last time my brother was there on business, the sky was green during his entire trip.
Pearl wrote:
Upland in the sixties when the Kaiser steel mill was full operation! YUK!
Just as I expected. The market is reacting incredibly negatively (especially healthcare companies) to worries over the impact of this new healthcare bill.
3.7 billion less vehicle miles? That's about 180 million less gallons of gasoline. That is good for planet earth, bad for oil exporters.
Good morning commentariat
ers. 
The VMT trend has been in place since the early 1990s when I first analyzed it. Overlaying the decline in people entering driving age and the peaking of the trend for people to drive longer is the long known VMT:GDP correlation. We'll probably see flat VMT even in a legitimate recovery.
Anak wrote:
This is an important source for Amazon nutrients.
Lobbyist Ben Dover wrote:
I did the 60s in Covina! We were neighbors!
I grew up in the SGV, and couldn't see the San Gabriels whatsoever on many a day from my perch 25 miles away in the 1960's...
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Okay--then you and I were REALLY neighbors!
Anak wrote:
Thanks!
Lobbyist Ben Dover wrote:
I spent part of my youth in Glendora, at the base of the foothills, and skied and hiked Baldy frequently (for you Easterners, Baldy is a mountain in LA County over 10,000 feet, much higher than your highest mountain on the East Coast, Mt. Washington). It would fade in the haze in the 60's and 70's.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Same in Phx.
When I took my mom to the emergency room is was packed with ambulance arrivals every few minutes. This was a weekday early evening. Wait time was at least an hour to see triage, then more waiting for any care. As mom was about to pass out, they at least put her on oxegen when i insisted they do something NOW.
U.S. Stocks Extend Gains as Health-Care Shares Lead Advance - Bloomberg.com
Uh-oh.
And this will be the next explanation as the narcos extend their activity across the border:
*Traffic jams are nothing new in Mexico’s largest cities, but drug traffickers intent on frustrating the authorities have added them as a new weapon to their arsenal, blocking city streets and creating long lines of frustrated motorists, law enforcement officials said. The center of the action last week was the bustling commercial city of Monterrey, where the authorities said criminals commandeered dozens of tractor-trailer trucks and other vehicles on Thursday and Friday to block more than 30 streets and highways. The blockades, called narcobloqueos by the Mexican news media, resulted in traffic chaos, with the trucks parked horizontally across highways and vehicles jammed up behind them. *
How do you say "failed state" in Spanish?
...remember the dairies all over the place, drive-through moo?
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
Thats what 30 million new customers will do for you!
I don't know - gas demand over the last four weeks per the last crude inventories report
http://ir.eia.gov/wpsr/wpsr.txt
is up 1.3% from last year.
I am bitterly clinging to hope! It was not good in January, but has been slowly improving.
I also follow gas and refinery margins, and those have been so low lately that I think crude energy is overvalued. The US still uses about twice the oil that China does, so even a huge expansion in Chinese demand can't overcome the impact of the last few years in the US.
And it may be me, but I expect the US consumer to be trending to more fuel-efficient vehicles for a long time to come.
MaxedOutMama wrote:
Assuming that consumer has a job, has cash, and/or has a credit score sufficient to purchase said vehicles, right?
.
(Note: That trifecta isn't coming into the local dealership on a steady basis.)
4shzl wrote:
El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúncula
adornosghost wrote:
Just quoting the site cited there, but I find it fascinating that we're all huffing each others slipstream. And that the breathable atmosphere is the thinnest of skins on our onion surrounded by a lifeless void.
Rob Dawg wrote:
"Mexico" would be simpler?
Which is silliness considering the mandate won't go into effect until 2014.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
You didn't read Catch-22 that closely. Milo Minderbinder contracts with the Germans to bomb his own US airfield.. lots of hand wringing, Congressional investigations... until he discloses how much money he made, can pay all survivor's debts, etc. In other words, anything under Capitalism is ok, if you make money at it.
Comrade Kristina wrote:
But with current mark-to-market rules, you can book revenue now, without having any costs!!!!!!11!!!
Oh idunno, the drugees some very smart and organized. Maybe the Mexican govt could sue for peace if they'd take over--ok say the water sewer system and run it effectively for some years.
4shzl wrote:
Oh, for an icon...
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
I loved drive-thru dairies! There was a great one on Citrus that had plaster statues. Hey--we grew up in suffocating smog and we turned out okay.....oh.....wait. Hmmmmm--maybe we ought to take this whole smog thing more seriously. Growing up in smog apparently causes blog addiction in mid-life.
Comrade Kristina wrote:
I love that aspect of the "reform". It pushed out a chunk of it past 2 more election cycles.
the idea of single payer; 
of this bill.
.
yagij wrote:
Out of sight, out of mind. When the border wars spill over into North Tijuana (San Diego) then maybe 'Merikans will care what we've done to our neighbors. Until then we've got our domestic problems.
Sardonic wrote:
This IS great news... even my ex is voicing her concern over how much we both drive, saying 'it's not sustainable... what are we going to do in the future?" Peakinese, or just concerned mom?
Rob Dawg wrote:
"Domestic problems" doesn't mean what you think it means...
.
From what I can tell, Detroit may be a paradigm of goodness as this snowball continues down the hill...
energyecon wrote:
Isn't the majority of their wheat grown in North East China and/or Manchuria?
Comrade Kristina wrote:
And the odds of more instability and chaos very significant, as equilibrium will be harder and harder to maintain.
This is a sign of a collapsing system.
It is good some strategy is in place, as this may be harder to accomplish as complexity decreases, and wealth wanes.
Cinco-X wrote:
Just wait until some UG99 "accidentally" turns up in their bread basket. Makes the "manipulator" thing seem rather harmless by comparison!
Rob Dawg wrote:
Very nice! Hardly anyone knows the full name of the place.
adornosghost wrote:
Thats what 30 million new regulatory captured customers will do for you!
I thought the insurers were now forced to put 85% of revenues into care...
Pump and dump.
Rob Dawg wrote:
Mebbe a little sooner than that -- like when Mexico becomes a net oil importer.
Yes. Northeast but few places in China are immune to drought:
China Drought April 2009
edit: old drought data, but map has wheat distribution map by province . . . .
OT market question: there seems to be considerable upward bias on Mondays and on the first market day of each month. How much of this can be explained by 401(k) money buying in on the first market day after payday? When do those deductions reach the funds and how long does it typically take the fund manager to deploy them?
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
Insurance companies are second only to banks in terms of manipulating the numbers, I'm there there are more than a few loopholes to drive a semi full of windfall profits through.
yossarian wrote:
You didn't read Catch-22 that closely. Milo Minderbinder contracts with the Germans to bomb his own US airfield
Yep. Cash for clunkers comes to mind. But making people pay money because they can't pay money is in a class all its own.
Mom and dad were solid pack-a-day smokers like everybody else, including during pregnancy, so I like to say I got a head start~
yossarian wrote:
The river provided a source of water and food for the Gabrielino Indians for hundreds of years prior to the arrival of the Spanish. The Gabrielinos were hunters and gatherers who lived primarily off the fish, small mammals and acorns from the abundant oak trees along the river's path. There were at least 45 Gabrielino villages located near the Los Angeles River, concentrated in the San Fernando Valley, and Elysian Valley in what is present day Glendale. In 1769, Gaspar de Portolà during his 1769 expedition of Alta California named it El Río de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Ángeles de Porciúncula, so translated: The River of Our Lady Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula. It was referred to as the Porciuncula River.
Wiki link
High UE means less commuting, living in extended families because you lost your house means less weekend driving, moving to an apartment usually means you're closer to your urban job, more entertainment possibilities (netflix over blockbuster) means more stay at home time. The drop from 2007 was related to price--now it's about lifestyle changes. I forgot to mention that more people work out of the house.
4shzl wrote:
Setting aside which will happen first.
It won't be much longer before the nationalization cycle plays out in Estados Unidos Mexicanos. How many times have we seen this? They need corporate management of their petroleum resources. The longer they delay, the more onerous the terms will be.
Rob Dawg wrote:
Obviously my point. Dawg, I think you know how I feel about this protection for a revenue stream for group of Insurance Elite's who are bleeding us all for their benefit.
Yossarian,
Milo Minderbinder was THE quintessential capitalist genius -- A velocity-based ponzi scheme -- truly a thing of beauty:
Seven-cent Maltese eggs cost the sellers in Malta four and one-quarter cents each to procure. Milo actually buys the eggs from himself in Malta, which means that as a seller there he is making two and three-quarter cents each egg. After he resells the seven-cent eggs to the mess halls for five cents each, he is still making a three-quarter cent profit per egg.
However, it turns out that Milo's Maltese eggs are actually one-cent Sicilian eggs which he has secretly shipped to Malta to drive up their value, yielding him another three and one-quarter cents profit per egg.
In short: in all these dealings, where Milo is the producer, consumer, and middleman (twice), he can afford a two cent per-egg loss, because overall the syndicate is making six cents revenue per egg. And everyone has a share.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Yeah. Greatest Generation my @#*!
LA was a complete backwater to SF in the 1850's and later...
It was derisively nicknamed "Los Diablos" so lawless of a place it was way back when
4shzl wrote:
This will happen sooner than most realize. Cantarell is history, and was the cash cow for the Mexican Economy.
This should get interesting fast.
Here comes the double dip. With sprinkles.
Rob Dawg wrote:
My bet for the most likely successful "bidder" for the management contract: USMC. Paging Jack Pershing . . .
Hackman wrote:
Milo Minderbinder was THE quintessential capitalist genius -- A velocity-based ponzi scheme -- truly a thing of beauty:
You could sell other things rated 'AAA' than eggs that really weren't 'AAA' eggs at all... the scheme could work just fine. Now just imagine you could do this with stuff that had almost no production cost at all!
4shzl wrote:
Its the 2010s. Get with the times! Xe, not USMC.
Mama always said ya never know whatcha' gonna get in a box of chocolates:
From NYT: Student Loan Bill Poised to Pass in Health Vote
Nothing like the smell of
therapy
in the morning
Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalmed
...and yet, like Russia was, Mexico is much better set up for collapse than we are.
The horse is still used for transportation all over Mexico, and people are used to living a simple lifestyle.
yagij wrote:
yagij wrote:
Pershing was an Army General anyway....
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
I heard Gomer Pile is working for Xe, pulling down $125k plus bennies
rps wrote:
LOL. +1
Since my last comments here on the subject, I've privately sold my 1990 model Japanese car (172,000 miles, one owner, all maintenance records) and privately bought a 2003 Japanese car (77,000 miles, one owner, all maintenance records) The old car likely still had another 60k on the original engine, easy (didn't burn a drop of oil between 3k mile oil changes), but I needed something with a bigger trunk and if I'd driven it any longer, I wouldn't have been able to sell it for the $1,200 I got for it.
The new car gets worse mileage than the old one, but then, it has about double the HP. I figure it's my last gasp at something really fun before oil prices go up. For my next car, I'd really like to import a used luxury diesel wagon from Europe.
CR and I disagree about future new auto sales -- he says sales have to go up because people need new cars, I say they can't go up (much) because people can't afford new cars. It'd be nice to see a graph of miles driven versus employment.
It doesn't belong there of course, but hooray. Suggests that the power of the bigpig banks is fading a bit.
7 Stressors Sapping the Middle Class - Rick Newman (usnews.com)
4shzl wrote:
There will not be much easily available oil left, and most deep and expensive.
Arthur Miller's" All My Sons"-just business.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Ciudad de México, México, D.F. (Mexico City) is 9 million people at 7,000 per square mile.
Los Angeles Metro Area by comparison is half that density.
They are as far from subsistence sustainability practices as anyplace on earth.
Cinco-X wrote:
Tinfoil aspect aside, if UG99 turns up in India or China, we may all see what
really is 24/7 on the blogosphere.
josap wrote:
When we are told that health care spending consumes 17% of GDP and that is bad- the obvious question is why? Would we be complaining if leisure activities consume 17% of GDP? We have to acknowledge one of two possibilities-
people expect that good health is the normal and therefore regard any spending on health care as unusual. Or that people don't believe that they are getting good value for their money or it is a combination of both events.
yagij wrote:
Monocultures eventually get taken out, as they lack resilience that complexity brings to systems.
It will happen, it always does,
I'm toying with the idea of buying something near new or new, but love the idea that you are what you drive, and my jalopy practically screams that i'm one of them, another broke American with an old car that's got a few dents and other incedentals, an untouchable.
adornosghost wrote:
Pure capitalism.
Overall the syndicate is making six cents per egg, because it is the producer, consumer, and middleman (sometimes at least twice). Where have we seen this before?
The holy celibates' views on abortion and birth control (until recently) don't help much.
adornosghost wrote:
did anybody catch the Jamie Oliver show on ABC? Channeling Jas Jain never a better example of "born and bred American dopes"
Ikeep forgetting what that is.
adornosghost wrote:
Who knew that living in a country with too much corn would be a good thing. We'll have diabetes from the lack of sugar via HFCS, but we won't starve...
.
lawyerliz wrote:
Stem rust - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
yagij wrote:
On the brighter side, we may be able to boost our grain exports and maybe even wrangle a little consideration on the exchange rate issue as well. After all, a stronger Yuan would make Chinese wheat purchases easier on the peasants there.....
yagij wrote:
I linked a page yesterday that claimed that HFC had been linked to liver scarring.
Aside from post office vending machines, you never see Sacagawea or Presidential dollar coins in your daily travels i'd assume, right?
They are mostly in Ecuador, which has a dollar-denominated economy.
Each of those dollar coins costs around a dime to make, and the other 90 cents is pure profit-seignorage.
How'd would you like to be in the business where other countries use your money, and you get to make the money on the money?
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
The 2006 Civic EX turns 100k this week. Needs new tires but otherwise feels new. Private party used Kelly Blue Book says 80% what we paid new on the lot.
Cinco-X wrote:
After all, a stronger Yuan would make Chinese wheat purchases easier on the peasants there.....
Let them eat squid-cake.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
As long as they aren't standing outside our American compound when we say it, then I agree!
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
In 1985 I drove a eight year old wisconsin honda, swisscheesed by rust, west down I-10, bright yellow plates proclaiming my alien origin, but intent on the Cali dream.
Left in three months via Tom Bradley after giving the car to a Chinese friend for parts.
lawyerliz wrote:
Swine Flu for wheat.
The law regarding pre-existing conditions is quite easy and been in effect for several years. Once you have 18 months of medical coverage, you can NEVER be charged a new waiting period for pre-existing conditions unless you go without coverage more than 63 days. This law made it much easier for folks to switch jobs without worrying about pre-existing conditions. Uninsured is mostly made up of kids that just graduated school or folks that lost their job and were not personally prepared to pay their insurance while job hunting. Other uninsureds are mostly folks that have their priorities mixed-up. The new Health Reform thing isn't going to help much. The new 'government approved" coverage means much less choice, and higher premiums will be guaranteed. The loss of high deductible plans w health savings account is especially socialist. The new 'insurance co-operative" model was tried in five states in the late 90's and was completely worthless. Yet they are doing it again. Essentially all you are getting is a guaranteed rate hike, increased taxes, and reduced benefit plan choice.
my jalopy practically screams that i'm one of them
Way back in the dark ages before I was married, my intended drove a really old Civic with holes in the floorboards and a rubber band wrapped from the stereo knob to the ignition key to keep the key in the "on" position. He even offered that car to a carless friend in need and she took one look at it and said - no thanks. Anyway, when he dumped that car for a shiny new one I was devastated. In that car I felt I identified with the poor and lowly of this planet (not that I wasn't one of them). Round about way - I do know how you feel. Don't get rid of it.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
I suspect that they'd love that, but they'd still need a source of carbs....
Rob Dawg wrote:
More like plague if you believe the reports...
Former Idealist wrote:
Like poor diabetic children who would rather have food than insulin. It's just a matter of priorities. If there is anything I can't stand--it's poor sick kids with screwed-up priorities.
Former Idealist wrote:
I have no delusion that universal health care is expensive, but this death by 1000 insurance markups is insanity in action.
Former Idealist wrote:
I call complete bullshit.
Affordable Quality Health Care for the Rest of Us
Former Idealist wrote:
Link? (or better yet, legal code cite?)
I've heard tell (via an ex-pat in Thailand) that the USD is pretty much the native currency in Laos (even as far as being dispensed by ATMs).
Cinco-X wrote:
"We are at the cusp of rapid and severely disruptive changes. From now on the risk of entering a collapse must be considered significant and rising. The challenge is not about how we introduce energy infrastructure to maintain the viability of the systems we depend upon, rather it is how we deal with the consequences of not having the energy and other resources to maintain those same systems. Appeals towards localism, transition initiatives, organic food and renewable energy production, however laudable and necessary, are totally out of scale to what is approaching.
There is no solution, though there are some paths that are better and wiser than others. This is a societal issue, there is no ‘other’ to blame, but the responsibility belongs to us all. What we require is rapid emergency planning coupled with a plan for longer-term adaptation."
Pearl wrote:
If there is anything I can't stand--it's poor sick kids with screwed-up priorities.
Pearl, you can safely ignore them... they just made bad choices in life. (Such as not winning the womb lottery)
Former Idealist wrote:
Doesn't that presume you can find coverage you can afford in those 63 days?
The Lorax wrote:
Former Idealist wrote:
This administration has been trying Keynesianism again decades after it was discredited, and you're surprised that they're trying this again? The problem was that they didn't go far enough last time, and this time it will be different......
For now my chariot and I are on the best of terms, it wants a can of oil a month to soothe it's leaking valves, and it gets me to where it is I want to go, but i've warned it that it better not do something that will cost a grandido to fix, or it's curtains for certain.
I drive cars for a very long time. It's nice when the are new, but Ilike the almost junker stage where you simply don't care if you get another ding.
lawyerliz wrote:
My Passant is reaching that stage.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
This one bad "choice" does not prevent them from making better choices now.
Cheaper to insure, and you can drop the collision coverage and not care. Cheaper property taxes if your state taxes your auto. And if you're really smart, you can put away payments every month for a newer one.
JP wrote:
as with so many of the laws the detail is in the fine print. For people who have lost their jobs keeping up with the payments even under COBRA can be very difficult. So it is really quite easy to fall out of the system. This is really a simple question that has been over thought. Do we believe that some level of health care is what a civilized society provides to all its citizens or do we believe that health care is another commodity on par with tooth past or a trip to Disney world. If you can pay for it you get it if not you are out of luck. Once we answer that question we can then have the conversation on how we deliver the basic level of care.
Cinco-X wrote:
Which is exactly how Swine Flu was characterized as well. Potentially very serious is not the same as actually very serious.
JD, they are in the Baltimore light rail ticket machines. Put in a $20 for a $1.60 ride, and get back a pound or so of coins
JD - If she's unfaithful, you have to move on.
But nothing says faithfulness and fidelity more than an old Civic. Lucky those who find her.
adornosghost wrote:
Hmmm.... the President has not even signed it into law, and you already have the statistics!? Interesting, but not altogether surprising....
Former Idealist wrote:
Food or insurance.
Housing or insurance.
Child care or insurance.
Car repairs or insurance.
Many people don't earn enough or have an employer who earns enough to pay for health insurance.
"Once you have 18 months of medical coverage, you can NEVER be charged a new waiting period for pre-existing conditions unless you go without coverage more than 63 days."
that's only true if you are getting your new insurance coverage through a large company plan where they can't deny due to pre existing condition.
If you're applying for private health insurance it doesn't matter how long you were covered for previously. You can and will be denied coverage.
So the market is green because Healthcare companies are going to get another 30 million customers.
Am I right to assume that--if this bill was defeated--the market would be green again because businesses and consumers wouldn't be forced to buy into an insurance program and would therefore have that money to spend on consumption?
I love Calvinball markets.
adornosghost wrote:
I forget. was that the deforestation of the Northeast until coal or was it NYC hip deep in manure before cars or...?
crazyv wrote:
I'm wondering more about the initial statement in general, not the corner cases. I'd love to know that pre-existing conditions cannot be reasons for denial by fed statute.
I ask again: Link or cite?
Rob Dawg wrote:
Plague (disease) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I don't think that swine flu was ever characterized this bad......
Cinco-X wrote:
This one bad "choice" does not prevent them from making better choices now.
Son, you're seven now, you've been in school for almost two years already and it's time you started making some tough choices for yourself.
When I broke my ankle in the '80s, I was changing jobs and was uninsured, so I went to a "doc in a box" for treatment. He said I could go to rehab and they would make me do the exercises that I needed to heal, or he could show me the exercises to do but that I probably wouldn't do them. He was partially right, I did about 80% of the exercises for about 80% of the time. Everything worked out OK.
Final cost for the broken ankle, xrays, 2 casts, etc, $490.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Yeah--if those little brats wanted health care coverage--they should have been born in a different country. If there's another thing I can't stand, it's poor, sick children who don't plan well.
In the 10 years dollar coins have been minted, i've never received one in change on the west coast. There have been times when i've seen them in cash registers, but unless I asked for them, they just stayed there.
Noob, I think it's better just to say "the market is green". The reason is extraneous bullshit nowadays.
adornosghost wrote:
My '98 CR-V is still going strong...
poic wrote:
not accurate at least where I live- if you were insured you can't be denied coverage by any insurance company period.
Don't ruin it for him poic, he was on a roll. It is much easier to blame it on the uninsured. How many millions have been unemployed for a year or more now? They should have had a couple years worth of wages saved up in preparation for this. That should be easy enough at 9 bucks an hour.
poic wrote:
There are "underwritten" states and non-underwritten states.
I'm dying to hear that preexisting conditions cannot be used for denial in both types of states, as Former Idealist said above.
So the market is green because Healthcare companies are going to get another 30 million customers.
Remember, it's Monday. (Amateur day, so they say.)
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_APmrYvpA45s/S2dMYoPYeXI/AAAAAAAAGWo/7M44UQ3Ac1A/s1600-h/2%5B2%5D.png
Pearl wrote:
Yeah--if those little brats wanted health care coverage--they should have been born in a different country. If there's another thing I can't stand, it's poor, sick children who don't plan well.
Well, you know we could just sort of, uh, let nature take its course... It's what would happen to mewling infants left alone in the wild, after all.
What does an insurance cooperative have to do with Keynesianism?
Are credit unions a complete disaster? They are coops, too.
Cinco-X wrote:
We will not get those results with the current private system.
I was going on stats from the rest of the first world, you know, the ones that live longer?
Of course, the current bill is probably a lobbyists wet dream, and a corp whore gravy train.
JP wrote:
No, I think you are reading the precious post wrong. You can be denied new insurance for pre-existing conditions, but if you maintain coverage ( can find someone willing to cover you and can afford the payments ) they can't deny the claim if you have continuous coverage.
It's one of those things that sounds good at the time, but ends up being totally screwy in practice because no insurer will touch you in those 63 days or charge an arm and a leg in premiums.
Soylent Green is babies?
Outsider wrote:
I know, but this had some pretty big news over the weekend, which has been known to make Monday red, on occasion. I'm just surprised the market took it in stride.
Rob Dawg wrote:
In this book:
Amazon.com: The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses (9781603580816): Eliot Coleman: Books
The author describes how Parisians use their vast supply of horse manure to grow local vegetables throughout the Winter, using the manure first as a source of heat and then subsequently as a source of fertilizer. I find it fascinating....
I wonder how many $30,000/year for 20 years AIDS patients are in those 30 million?
Declining US demand is not a new story. In recent years, we have seen falling consumption in developed countries like the US, while consumption in developing countries, e.g., "Chindia," has risen, even as annual oil prices rose at 20%/year from 1998 to 2008.
Based on our model and recent case histories, the current slow decline in global net oil exports will accelerate with time, and IMO, the US is going to be forced to make do with a declining share of a falling volume of global net oil exports.
Jeffrey J. Brown
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Yup; you need to eat apples instead of fruit roll-ups for your own good....
Sorry I should have stated that I live in California. They can deny coverage for something as minor as bad gas here.
Comrade Kristina wrote:
How do you get a baby into a bowl?
A: Blender.
How do you get it out?
A: Chips.
Rob Dawg wrote:
Being unable to feed 2.1+ billion people is bad no matter how you measure it. If only that problem would stay in Asia...
Be warned, you have now been put on the list of those who hate america.
I'm just surprised the market took it in stride.
I guess the weekend events were not devastating to the movers and shakers.
:bad news for us:
The healthcare is a right argument is now mute.
The choice of can you pay for health insurance or do you want to pay for it no longer exists. The IRS will enforce required coverage of only the government approved plan. All those freeloaders no longer have a choice, they HAVE to buy government approved coverage.
It's not a right to health care! It's fines and imprisonment if you don't "contribute" your fair share!
Done deal.
JP wrote:
Frequently Asked Questions about Portability of Health Coverage and HIPAA
I wonder if not treating them would be better for your kids.
The Lorax wrote:
I read this: Once you have 18 months of medical coverage, you can NEVER be charged a new waiting period for pre-existing conditions unless you go without coverage more than 63 days.
My experience is that 1. Switching jobs with continuous and long-term medical coverage caused us waiting periods for both preexisting conditions, and of all things, 2. pregnancy costs.
I am dying to know that law. Seriously.
Comrade Kristina wrote:
Soylent Green is babies?
No, that would be inhuman. It's not ALL babies. Just the, you know, less fit ones... The babies that built a shelter for themselves and found a serviceable weapon would probably be fine. They would be the stronger, smarter, more aggressive babies.
I thought the answer was a straw not chips.
Comrade Kristina wrote:
Soylent Green is poor, sick, irresponsible babies. And they're ruining everything!
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
How do you want your Death: with or without AIDS?
Outsider wrote:
It is a gravy train to them, paid by us. What is not to celebrate?
adornosghost wrote:
Of course; the premise assumes Americans have a common ethnic and cultural society like that of Europe, which is of course, not the case...
+1000
Thanks RIF and Pearl, I was worried for a minute there but you guys 'splained it pretty well.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
The only time I get them in change from a postage machine. I see a number of vending machines won't take them.
Same thing just happened to my coworker when we got dropped. They won't cover anything pre existing (her breast cancer) for the first year. I'm in Florida. She was NOT without coverage for 63 days.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
And the babies with Nuclear Weapons would be the most fit of all, and deserve it!
That is why Iranian babies will be superior shortly.
If someone is paying the 30k then no difference;it just might come out of another pocket.
if they are taking no drugs now, Iguess they will live longer.
The Lorax wrote:
Precious post?! It wasn't that good IMNSHO.....
Poic, if your plan covers gas, they pay. If you are applying for coverage and had at least 18 months prior coverage without more than 63 days without coverage, pre-exisitng conditions are covered by you new plan. Federal law, doesn't matter where you live. Uninsured people certainly have lots of excuses! Sorry about the gas.
Cinco-X wrote:
/me shoots typist.
Former Idealist wrote:
Whatever.
The Republicans refused to compromise even when Democrats wavered and practically begged them to. It was largely thought that non-compromise would stress the Democrats and have them reconsider the entire bill. So a smaller bill than the one that passed was turned back. While Republicans tried to destroy Obama's legislative agenda, the Democrats did what they had to do to prevent that and passed a bill that included universal health care..
Republicans have only themselves to blame, but they never will. They'll win some seats in November and will misinterpret that as vindication then continue to make certain that Obama gets re-elected. .
JP wrote:
Title 1 of HIPAA. But it only applies to creditable coverage, which essentially means employer-provided group coverage. If you're coming from or moving to an individual plan you are not protected.
Gee, if we cut into some of the big pharma
profit margin maybe the cost of AIDS drugs would go down.
I suppose free condoms and testing are just more stupid "other peoples' money" programs.
Rob Dawg wrote:
People who move from Mexico city to LA are impressed with the light traffic and low pollution here.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Couldn't they put themselves up for adoption? Or sell their virginity on craigslist? America's full of choices....
You might want to tell Cigna here in Florida because that is simply not the case.
Cinco-X wrote:
Too bad apples are so much more expensive than Fruit Roll-Ups--especially at the only neighborhood market within walking distance of your home. And fruit that is purchased at 12:01 am on the first of the month when the WIC card works again goes bad before 30 days--Fruit Roll-Ups don't.
Yep. From your link:
Specifically, the law says that a preexisting condition exclusion can be imposed on a condition only if medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment was recommended or received during the 6 months prior to your enrollment date in the plan.
If you get any sort of chronic condition, and you receive treatment, you will never have that covered again. So plan on never changing jobs.
And if you get sick right after changing jobs? (say heart trouble or cancer) Again, you had the condition before you changed jobs, so it was pre-existing. Those costs are yours.
(btw: It also reminded me about pregnancy. If you get pregnant too soon after switching jobs, or even before switching if the insurer can argue that it was after, then you will be paying all pregnancy costs out of pocket.)
And this is for continuous coverage! All you do is change jobs to invoke it.
The Lorax wrote:
You probably weren't paying for his/her health insurance anyway, so it was only a matter of time....
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
OPM is the best kind.
.
The Great Society => The Great Bust in only ~50 years!
Under HIPAA, a plan is allowed to look back only 6 months for a condition that was present before the start of coverage in a group health plan. Specifically, the law says that a preexisting condition exclusion can be imposed on a condition only if medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment was recommended or received during the 6 months prior to your enrollment date in the plan.
So if your new employer has a 90 day wait for insurance, you are screwed. Passed the 63 day time frame. More employers are making new hires wait 90 to 180 days to be covered.
If you have seen a doc for your condition within 6 months you are screwed.
Yalt wrote:
And this is the only First World country that anyone would even have to think about this .
It is seamless everywhere else.
Did I mention they live longer, and it costs half as much?
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
I suppose free condoms and testing are just more stupid "other peoples' money" programs.
We already gave pharma and insurance a taste of sweet regulatory capture... wait till they discover the broken window model!
Yalt wrote:
Yep. Most startups for example.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Effexor anyone?
Former Idealist,
simply not true in California.
I applied for private insurance while on Cobra. I had over 5 years of continuous coverage prior to Cobra and was denied. Private health insurance Is regularly denied in California.
Pearl wrote:
Taking a long walk would be good for them too, but continually making excuses for them isn't.....
Yalt, my coworker was dropped back in February (our whole company was) She has bought her own policy with Cigna now but they will not cover anything related to her breast cancer for one year. Cigna wouldn't break the law? Would they?
JP. The law states that pregnancy is NOT a pre-existing condition in the group market. I sense some confusion between a waiting period for pre-exisitng conditions vs. a probationary period before coverage becomes effective at a new job. The longest probationary period allowed is 90 days. Therefore, you would need to pay at least one month of Cobra from your prior job to maintain coverage for pre-existing condiions.
adornosghost wrote:
Why go looking for statistical information when we already learned everything there is to know thanks to Nixon's failed attempt at wage and price controls?
josap wrote:
There should be some good details here:
FAQs For Employees About COBRA Continuation Health Coverage
Yalt wrote:
And this has what to do with health care?
Nixon? Bad dream----
JP wrote:
other than COBRA to the best of my knowledge there is no federal law governing pre-existing conditions or any other aspect of health insurance. What exists out there is a matter of state laws- that was the whole point of passing the insurance reform aspects of the new Federal Law. So what applies to you until the new provisions kick in is what is the law in your state.
The Lorax wrote:
It might help reduce the confusion if we stick to the technical terms "declined" for refusing to write coverage and "denied" for refusing to pay a claim.
/anal
JP wrote:
from the link
So if it's a group plan covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) then they can not deny the claim legally.
So no free AIDS testing?
No public health education programs?
No free condoms?
How'd that work out in Africa?
poic wrote:
It's often beneficial to try and get insurance through an organization; one used to be able to get group insurance through the IEEE, and I've heard that you could sometimes do it through the chamber of Commerce, but that may have changed since I last investigated the situation in the mid-'90s.
Former Idealist wrote:
Well, I guess our plan is not "the group market".
Edit: Also, there was no waiting period. No gap of any kind.
4shzl shouldnt it be usa.paging jack pershing wasnt he general in army?
They do not have to accept you for INDIVIDUAL coverage! However, if they do accept you, the prior coverage rule applies. Most states have guaranteed issue coverage for small groups, down to one person in a group...a great and often overlooked option by self-employed folks...guaranteed acceptance, no waiting period, and rates aren't bad.
gabyjan wrote:
My bad.
adornosghost wrote:
Also a proponent of universal health care....
JP wrote:
Isn't pregnancy specifically excluded from HIPAA protection?
Cinco-X wrote:
Making excuses for them? You're right. The three and four year olds in my special needs preschool classes really should have tried harder to eat a balanced diet and exercise more. And I was enabling them by bringing breakfast for them every morning.They probably would have learned better if only they had been hungrier.
Yalt wrote:
Yes it's in the link: Former Idealist intimated that it applies only to group insurance. I'm looking up individual.
I will tell you that it was an issue when I switched.
Some people keep introducing other people into the equation, and it's getting damned tiresome.
They will overcome has never been anybody's favorite song.
Joining the thread late, but has anyone tried to link reduced miles to better gas mileage via C4C?
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
Honestly, keeping AIDS contained is great public policy through any of the things you suggested. As a means of spending the public purse, I'm rather "blah" about it. The fact is that we cannot save everyone, and because of that fact, tough decisions should be made. They won't be made because we still hope that everyone is equal and everyone should be protected.
Pearl wrote:
And the real tragedy of the commons is the fact that they will more than likely end up with a poor education ( probably through no fault of you ) and end up doing the same horrible things to their children because they can't afford anything better.
Former Idealist wrote:
While that may be the "law", it isn't the reality.
So on your 3rd day of work at the new job, you can just quit if you don't like the wait time.
adornosghost wrote:
Nixon's megalomania "proved" for all eternity that any attempt to control prices by law will spectacularly fail. So by extension any law which intervenes in the market must be Economically unsound. You know, trickle-down voodoo deregulation as political ideology.
Comrade Kristina wrote:
The law only applies to group plans. She bought her own policy so it does not apply.
It was a useful law for those relatively well-off folks who never had to worry about lengthy periods of unemployment or about working for a firm with no health benefits. I suppose the rest don't really matter....
Hubby was promised health insurance after 60 days at his new job. That was last April. Still waiting for that coverage...
Comrade Kristina wrote:
Maybe it got lost in the mail. Did you ask them to resend it?
"Most states have guaranteed issue coverage for small groups, down to one person in a group...a great and often overlooked option by self-employed folks...guaranteed acceptance, no waiting period, and rates aren't bad."
I looked into this back around 2001.
My two options were HIPAA or independent software contracting through an umbrella organization that offered healthcare that I paid 100% for.
Both ran approx. $1000 individual/$1500 family.
Hahahaha yagij, it must have been lost with the promised "evaluation and raise after 60 days"....
adornosghost wrote:
Snarky reference to a post in the prior thread. Sorry....
yagij wrote:
Free condoms? A blood test? What is that, .1% of a year's Wall Street bonuses? Please. That's not a tough decision. If you don't see the need for spending public money to control infectious disease epidemics you're living in some other Century.
Pearl wrote:
Why is it that a poor state like AL can have breakfast at school for poor kids, and your state can't?
Pearl wrote:
And I was enabling them by bringing breakfast for them every morning.They probably would have learned better if only they had been hungrier.
Real future capitalists would get a couple of the stronger kids and shake down weaker ones for their lunch money. Alternately many of the poor children could band together and take from the few rich ones. They tend not to be as tough or streetwise. There are a lot of political options for these kids if they'd just think outside the box a bit.
Ralph Cramdown wrote:
I know a lot of households have 3-4 cars and 2-3 drivers (I know one with 2 and 6). Mom and Dad both have cars, the kid has a car, there may be an "extra" vehicle for recreation. My point is that the inventory of lightly used vehicles in private hands is large, even after C4C, and it is quite possible for this inventory to shrink without new production. As in, instead of passing on the six-year-old VW to junior and buying something new, you keep the VW and junior drives a scooter or does without.
Health Insurance Legislation Qs
1. When is it expected to come into effect? I suppose not until next year, after the election
2. How will it work for the existing army of part-time/temp/contract workers who do not receive benefits, but do work regularly? Will they buy their own insurance, or will employers have a new category of plan
3. How will it work for the uninsured but full-time workers?
I'm glad that former idealist admits his/her ideal are former.
I'm a lawyer and I don't know the details of that stuff. When you put in unresonably COMPLICATED STUFF LIKE THAT, it is the sign of a con.
When the hub got supposedly incurable lymphoma , at 33 he had just graduated law school and had a good job witha private law firm. Didn't take it cause of the pre existing thing; so stayed at the hurricane center for another few years.
Then he got a job with the state atty's office, which covered any recurrence--which never happened. Then back with the feds again.
I sometimes wonder if they would throw it at him after all these years if medicare etc hadn't prempted the question. (33 yrs)
Rb.. The politics of healthcare are well known. Dems want Universal government thingy, elephants want free market solutions. They are both wrong, and right. Too bad we don't have political middle ground which is probably why we don't have a middle class anymore.
Cinco-X wrote:
I wasn't teaching at a "poor" school. Socio-economically disadvantaged Special Needs Preschoolers are sometimes shuffled into the more advantaged areas, for various reasons. But I have been to poorer schools where breakfast was provided--it's a very good thing. (Well--not good from the standpoint of "taste," but good from the standpoint of a full belly to start the day on versus an empty belly!)
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
That is why you have a state and municipality that is different from my own. If spending other people's money isn't a tough decision for you, then so be it. Deficit spending may not bother you either. Your state, your right.
.
I said it made great public policy, but I don't see a way to pay for them along with everyone else who is sick, diseased, and/or disabled. My point was that not everyone can be saved/protected/served. You get your AIDS policy but who are you going to leave out?
yagij wrote:
Scandinavians pretty much manage it, or close. It's a matter of priorities. Ours is maintaining an empire than benefits the wealthy few.
Pearl? Say what? Hungry special needs students? I have a special needs child. What is your point?
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
No no no. Not when they had a teacher who did that for them! Just kidding. Sort of.
Other than ticket vending machines, dollar coins are pretty much unused.
I've got some rolls in the safe as additional ballast and emergency USD supply, and have wondered how easily they would be accepted for large purchases. I imagine it would be on par with paying in pennies.
Flowers losing scent due to climate change
Bob Dobbs wrote:
Agreed. We get rid of our MIC machine and provide health care to all. Works for me, but since I live in this century (as opposed to what yogi was implying), I don't have those resources freed up to take care of AIDS patients as easily as I would like.
.
At some point, the (over-)spending of OPM has got to end good, bad, or otherwise.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Is that where Rumsfeld ended up?
The Classification of Economic Activity
http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/working_papers/09-18.pdf
Pearl wrote:
I doubt that; essentially that's what you've helped elect BHO to do.
REI is a successful coop as well, and I get checks from them every year. Spend way to much there at times, but have to get out of the city every once in a while.
Cinco-X wrote:
for the love of god, not the flowers
Cinco-X wrote:
You mean take from the middle-class and give to the rich?
The Constitution says my State can not refuse AIDS carriers from your State, so my problem is your problem.
California said the Okies carried disease, but the Supreme Court said TS. The Constitution also allows any banker to move his dollar bonus to a State that considers it his god-given property right, and the Fed controls the dollar supply. So my State can get gamed.
So in essence those people screaming "Kill the Bill" were actually screaming "Kill the hungry special needs babies"?
Non OPEC oil production hits wall:
Non-OPEC Oil Production Hits the Wall | Energy Bulletin
Blackhalo wrote:
Close: Hoover Institute, at least for a while.
Cinco-X wrote:
And, did we get it?
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Here's a breakdown, though I know many of you don' t like the WSJ:
What's in the Health-Care Bill - WSJ.com
How apropos...
Pearl wrote:
like pizza? The Jamie Oliver program that I saw yesterday on ABC regarding Huntington WV was ...trying to find the right words revolting when I saw what they were feeding kids in school. I found the reaction of the people even more interesting- despite statistics showing that they were the unhealthiest city in the unhealthiest state. Deny the statistics deny the problem reassert we are number one.
you forgot to add "wave pompoms and go shopping"
adornosghost wrote:
If last night's vote is any indication, then the answer is yes.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Reuters summary of bill's effect vs year: FACTBOX-US healthcare bill would provide immediate benefits
| Reuters
Note that it was dated 19th, I don't know what final horse trading occurred.
NOTE TO CR:
Can you please set up a separate healthcare thread so people can post all-healthcare-all-the-time on that thread?
I've heard enough about healthcare to last me a lifetime (or deathtime). I wish we could move on to something else.
As I say to my kids before they roll their eyes at me:
move-on-dot-org
(pining away for anything, even the Greece-obsessed threads)
Cinco-X wrote:
Nope, still private and for profit.
We won't get the increased life span and reduced costs until we join the rest of the First World.
Thanks Cinco-X and JP
Poic, we all agree health insurance is too damn expensive. We are paying for it with our premiums, with our income taxes, with our medicare taxes, with our state income taxes, with our property taxes..ete. We got government healthcare for kids, we got it for old folks, we got for Veterens disabled and poor people. Our system is stupid and expensive but Obama couldn't be troubled with the details and just wants to say he did something! Fact is the Feds have been transferring the costs of Medicare and Medicaid to private business for years as a means of forcing universal coverage. Creeping Socialism but who cares.
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
Not really. If your state's constitution says it wants to provide health care for all, then it really is your problem. Sounds more like my untreated problem is your problem.
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In all honesty, I don't think we are on opposing sides in this issue. I think we both agreed that we are being gamed from TPTB to think of each other as adversaries when they are really the people who should be in the cross-hairs.
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Free up spending in other areas (road construction, pensions, education, administration salaries) for good public policy (ala your AIDS prevention methods) and I'd be on board. I'm just against additional spending, not rerouting of existing resources.