I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
Two in a row?
howdy, mer.
We locked in at 5 point something for 15 years. We were never among the cool kids.
=
The Pope smokes dope.
Hey wt.
These stories are grim.
Jeebus fookin' Christ on a cracker!
Welcome to Bush's "Ownership Society".
I think the feudal land barrons had more ethics.
WT,
Your photoshop skills are at about "the Generals" level. Kudos.
"Being self-employed, they had no health insurance."
how does one logically and necessarily lead to the other? They can afford an extra 2k a month for their mortgage, but can't afford health insurance?
It sucks that they are in this bind, but it seems as though their woes were preventable.
=
Well thank jeebus we fixed up the bankruptcy code just in time to make sure that these people are truly and permanently fucked.
Attaturk,
multi grazie! I was especially proud of Cardinal "Fang".
Morning, housing enthusiasts.
In a bit of tragic irony, traumatic brain injury, the signature would of the Iraqi Occupation
oops, would=wound
Cardinal Biggles was a no-brainer.
non manufacturing, non service industies are on the way out, didn't you get the memo ?? financial services (pushing money around) now accounts for 20% of the nations gdp
love live jpmorganchase, they didn't even need smedley
"You know, I was living the American dream," Anthony Stewart says. "I had savings, stocks, was living in a nice home in a very nice community, and I always paid my bills.
"Now, I'm wiped out."
Thanks, Chimpy, for destroying another family.
If we could get it, and that's a big if considering my history with breast cancer, private health insurance for Mr. QL and myself would around $1500/month. I suspect for a family with young children it would be even higher.
We were very careful over the years, and Mr. QL at 61 is retired. We can afford having me retire as well, except for the health insurance. So I'm toiling away, while Mr. QL waits for me to vest. Sucks.
Yeah, Atrios, but they are the little people so it doesn't really matter.
financial services (pushing money around) now accounts for 20% of the nations gdp
that explains NYC's housing market.
Well, when Steelcase laid off thousands of employees 3 - 4 years back (yes, since Bush has been in office) - before all of the talk of the housing bubble bursting - I could see it coming.
My sister lost a lovely home. When you go from close to a six digit income to nothing, and you can't find a job because you're a specialist in a special payroll computer system, you lose everything.
The saddest part was that she and my dad had just refinished her basement with glass blocks and cool lighting and like that so that she could have a special area in her home set up to do Reiki massage. When blood, sweat, and tears are involved, it's even more difficult.
Cardinal Biggles was a no-brainer.
watertiger
Oh, that was just perfect, Watertiger. Thanks.
Now sit in the Comfy Chair while I get out the Soft Pillows.
This post is mostly about the need for national health insurance.
Sadly, in Bush's America only he gets away with "not anticipating" something.
That's a terrible story, but perhaps having another child when you have no health insurance and are in a precarious financial situation wasn't a terribly good idea.
health insurance? what's that?
Now sit in the Comfy Chair while I get out the Soft Pillows.
Oooh, thank you!
[/old woman]
Okay, my bad back and I are going to the office for a bit.
Later non-litigators.
I think it's also worth noting that the Resmuglicans killed the opportunity to bring healthcare coverage to all Americans, which would have saved this family's home and dignity.
A modest middle class family losing their home because they couldn't afford health insurance or the medical bills that ensued when they didn't have it is just plainly morally wrong.
It's their own fault for not being born rich.
That's a terrible story, but perhaps having another child when you have no health insurance and are in a precarious financial situation wasn't a terribly good idea.
Mike D
I wonder how many of the "Greatest Generation" had health insurance.
That's a terrible story, but perhaps having another child when you have no health insurance and are in a precarious financial situation wasn't a terribly good idea.
Mike D
But before I go, as I was saying...
Sadly, in Bush's America only he gets away with "not anticipating" something.
Attaturk
Later non-litigators.
Ach. The life of a litigator.
Multiply this story by hundreds of thousands in the coming months as fewer and fewer people have health insurance.
Will it take the destruction of so many families to finally get folks to understand why a single payor system is both desireable and necessary?
The other really bad thing about my sister losing her house:
She never recovered from it. She still cries about it, and it has completely eroded her self esteem because she considers herself a failure.
And, of course, she is still without health insurance.
"Being self-employed, they had no health insurance."
how does one logically and necessarily lead to the other? They can afford an extra 2k a month for their mortgage, but can't afford health insurance?
I thought the same thing. seems as if they took a gamble and lost
Will it take the destruction of so many families to finally get folks to understand why a single payor system is both desireable and necessary?
"AACK! Government too big! Government too big! LALALALA, I can't heeeeeear you!"
[/Typical Republican]
Oh, and good morning, rational people.
Warning: I am grumpy because I am not at the New Mexico fair with all those wonderful Atriots.
Bushboy & the Goopers know that we can't afford national healthcare.
Doncha' know there's a waronterror going on and on and on and on......
Predatory lenders are scum; the lowest of the low. I would have blown off the hospital, offered to pay them $100 a month forever, but that's just me.
Seventeen grand. How many yacht payments is that?
I guess that "We Are a Christian Nation" thing only goes so far.
I got my mortgage at 7 1/4 about 10 years ago. I've never been tempted to refi, because the total loan amount is relatively small and the closing costs of a refi would eat up the payment savings for at least 5 years.
Unless I wanted to cash out equity, which I don't. My house has tripled in 'value' since I bought it, but it's not any kind of worthwhile value increase to me. If I were to sell the house, I would have to pay at least the sale price to get decent living quarters somewhere else.
Bushboy & the Chin want to nuke Iran
Thinking, "Better do it while we can!"
at obscene cost
Iraq's been lost
But we'll do Iran on the "economy" plan!!!
That's a terrible story, but perhaps having another child when you have no health insurance and are in a precarious financial situation wasn't a terribly good idea.
Mike D
If it wasn't another child, there could have just as easily been a serious accident or illness to another family member that could have easily been even more finanically devastating.
The point is that these people didn't have health insurance when they needed it because they couldn't afford it, and when medical bills and creditors were threatening to take what little they had, they got snookered into signing a predatory lending agreement. That's what's put them in this situation - it's really not another kid.
I shouldn't go on with the anecdotes, but my God, this administration has had such a negative effect on so many people. I know another woman, who was let go from my Company in 2002 when they had one of their bazillion rounds of Black Fridays. She had been working for years - good insurance, all of that. Well, she and her husband couldn't get good jobs for quite some time. They had one son. When the husband finally got a decent job, they had another child (who is now about a year old). Well, anyway, she had this mole on her face that started to grow after she lost her job. Now that they have insurance, she just had it checked out. It's malignant melanoma. Problem is, it's in her lymph nodes - so it's spread. And that's not a good thing with melanoma. The poor girl has lost 60 pounds and looks like a hollow shell of the woman I once knew.
They waited because they had no insurance, but they waited too long.
I guess that "We Are a Christian Nation" thing only goes so far.
That's now becoming code for "We can fuck you in God's Name."
how does one logically and necessarily lead to the other? They can afford an extra 2k a month for their mortgage, but can't afford health insurance?
Actually, they can't. If they could, this wouldn't be a story.
To wax political in the midst of this sad, but all too typical story; it was not mentioned who Anthony and Kerry selected for President in 2000 and 2004. I have a fleeting suspicion that they voted Bush-Cheney against their own interests and now have some buyer's remourse.
Fixed rate? Sure it's fixed for the first two years.
Then you can refinance again, when the rates go down.
afternoon moonbats 
As to the greatest generation and health insurance, if you want the kind of medicine they had back in the 1940's at 1940's prices, you can still get it.
I am not sure what to think about national health insurance. Its an issue where we won't get information without spin. I think I'm kind of for it but having some experience in my own family with doctors wanting to do open heart surgery on my 85 year old mother who has Alzheimers makes me wary.
The family in this story had so many other financial problems. They were living way beyond their means. I'd like to know who they voted for because a lot of times, these are just the people who see themselves as entrepreneurial Rush Limbaugh/love GW Republicans until they get in big trouble and then someone is supposed to help them get back to living "the American dream" of spending beyond your means.
they got snookered into signing a predatory lending agreement. That's what's put them in this situation - it's really not another kid.
Stinky |
Exactly right, Stinky. And those predatory lending practices got the green light approval after Alan Greenspan suggested that such "creative" mortgage instruments were the way to go.
I wonder how many of the "Greatest Generation" had health insurance.
Prior to insurance policies being common people negotiated with their doctors about the price of services. Now you're handed a bill based on how much the insurance companies will pay not your ability to pay and you're expected to pony up the money.
I'm so sorry about your sister, Vicki. It must be devastating to lose your house.
One of my best friends has cancer in the liver. Her husband had been laid off and was out of work for a couple years, but *lucklily*(if you can call anything about getting cancer lucky) he had just gotten a new job with health insurance before she was diagnosed. If not, I shudder to think what would have happened.
I guess that "We Are a Christian Nation" thing only goes so far.
Uncle Smokes
Jesus expects people to be rich (how else are they going to help build megachurches?), and if people aren't, they obviously just don't love Jesus enough, which means they're going to Hell anyway, so why bother with people Jesus doesn't see fit to reward in this life or in His heavenly kingdom?
[/wingnut Jesus Freak]
Saying that America is a democracy is like saying that by entering a Las Vegas casino you can become a millionaire.
The truth is that the political system is in the hands of the corporatocracy. They own and operate it.
If and when a decent person get's into a position of power, it's a function of dumb luck (or they had their own resources).
And people wonder why their favorite group (white Americans, native-born Americans, Christians, educated women etc.) don't reproduce in sufficient numbers to keep the brown hordes at bay.
"AACK! Government too big! Government too big! LALALALA, I can't heeeeeear you!"
[/Typical Republican]
watertiger
Perhaps they really meant that goverment was too big in the wrong areas. Universal healthcare would make goverment too big in the butt--you know, that sturdy, yet cushiony thing we sit on that keeps us from falling over. They have no problem with government being too big in the head--that thing which eats everything in sight and spews out horridly bad ideas.
Republicans: Fat Heads and Bony Butts, and heading straight down to the floor.
At this point, frankly, you'd have to be a complete idiot not to support socialized health insurance. Period.
Donald Trump: "I started out with a lousy eight million, and look where I am today."
That's now becoming code for "We can fuck you in God's Name."
Supreme Commander Thor
"If you are doing business with a religious son-of-a-bitch, get it in writing. His word isn't worth shit--not with the good Lord telling him how to fuck you on the deal."
-- William S. Burroughs, "Words of Advice to Young People"
At this point, frankly, you'd have to be a complete idiot not to support socialized health insurance. Period.
Moe Szyslak, employed
Well, if my mother is any indication, socialized health insurance for the elderly (Medicare) works just fine.
At this point, frankly, you'd have to be a complete idiot not to support socialized health insurance. Period.
36% worship Bush. I'd say those people wouldn't support socialized health insurance even if you told them the alternitive was the death of their family members.
That Pope Ratz, a political shill...
Pope Said to Be Upset Muslims Offended
By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer
1 hour ago
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI is "extremely upset" that Muslims have been offended by some of his words in a recent speech in Germany, the Vatican said Saturday.
The new Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said the pope's position on Islam is unmistakably in line with Vatican teaching that the church "esteems Muslims, who adore the only God."
Thus, the pope is "extremely upset that some portions of his speech were able to sound offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers and have been interpreted in a way that does not at all correspond to his intentions," Bertone said in a statement.
You know, Pope, you should know better than anyone that if you don't want to anger someone, don't fucking say something stupid.
At this point, frankly, you'd have to be a complete idiot not to support socialized health insurance. Period.
Moe Szyslak, employed
Double true.
First time poster from Plum P country here. I never really understood the reason why so many people in the States, when universal healthcare is mentionned go round and round screaming "But, but it's anti-american!" Or use the ever-useful Donald Sutherland's body snatcher finger pointing and utter "Commie!" at the top of their lungs.
I mean, what's so wrong about being able to go to the hospital, and not exit poorer than when you came in?
Warning: I am grumpy because I am not at the New Mexico fair with all those wonderful Atriots.
Diane C. Barking-Mad |
me too. [stamps foot]
I also thought prepayment penalties were illegal, but maybe I'm thinking of a state law?
Donald Trump: "I started out with a lousy eight million, and look where I am today."
Yeah, how's that TV thing workin' for ya?
Okay, I'm off to the farmers market. Best colors of the year are going on right now.
Laters. Hopefully, I can post a picture of that incredible cock hanging out at my best friend's house.
What is most frustrating is that the Goopers prove over and over and over that they are clearly the enemies of the people, and then the people elect Goopers to the Congress and the WH because the Goopers spend more money on ads lying about their opposition and scaring the bejesus out of voters.
Methinks it is not a prescription for a successful country.
Their original mortgage was $3,000/month. Lets be clear: this is a luxury home that these people are living in. No, I'm not for government programs that take money from someone else to keep them in that house.
That's a terrible story, but perhaps having another child when you have no health insurance and are in a precarious financial situation wasn't a terribly good idea.
Mike D
Why, that smacks of family planning! Planning parenthood! We can't have that!
I would have blown off the hospital, offered to pay them $100 a month forever
Probably wouldn't stop them from eventually suing anyway, getting a judgment, recording an abstract on the house, followed by bank levies and wage garnishments to the tune of 25% of gross...
The bankruptcy bill has made a lot of collectors much bolder...
If you live in a family where the main breadwinner is self-employed, another family member needs to find a way to work 12 hours a week at Walmart or Star Market to get the minimum health insurance deal.
That's about the only way to make it work without taking on enormous risk in this crazy system.
Thus, the pope is "extremely upset that some portions of his speech were able to sound offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers and have been interpreted in a way that does not at all correspond to his intentions," Bertone said in a statement.
Pope Macaca!
Welcome Deltones! You in Quebec?
Their original mortgage was $3,000/month. Lets be clear: this is a luxury home that these people are living in. No, I'm not for government programs that take money from someone else to keep them in that house.
Karla
Um, where are you from? I hate to tell you this, but there are many places in this country where a $3,000-a-month mortgage isn't buying you "luxury."
I guess we've got the opposite of concern trolls on this thread. "Don't give a damn about their fellow man" trolls.
Can anyone can think of a pithier phrase to describe them?
I mean, what's so wrong about being able to go to the hospital, and not exit poorer than when you came in?
Well, I just received the first part of my bill for my surgery last week.
For the first time in the history of my employment, I have an out of pocket deductible for hospital procedures, etc. I suppose I'm still pretty lucky that it's only a few hundred bucks, and that I'm healthy, and that my insurance payment is only about $ 100 every two weeks.
But gosh, in previous years, we were better cared for. I gave birth - no out of pocket expenses. I broke both ankles and was in the hospital for five days, with surgery - and I didn't pay a farkin' dime - not even for the ambu-cab to take me home and two and from doctor's appointments, or for the medical bed they delivered to my house, the wheelchair...all that.
Like I say, I know I'm one of the fortunate ones, but it still isn't what it was.
Probably wouldn't stop them from eventually suing anyway, getting a judgment, recording an abstract on the house, followed by bank levies and wage garnishments to the tune of 25% of gross...
Not to mention that hospitals have the ability to convert their recievables into income by selling them off to aggressive collection companies.
Thus, the pope is "extremely upset that some portions of his speech were able to sound offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers and have been interpreted in a way that does not at all correspond to his intentions," Bertone said in a statement.
Pope Macaca!
watertiger
Time to hold an "ethnic mass" for the cameras...
I don't know why people are so harsh on these people. Yeah, they did stupid stuff - they're aware of that - but we all do stupid stuff. Sometimes those decisions snowball and sometimes they don't.
And whatever stupids they did, they're victims of a system where people often can't get health insurance and where predatory lenders are allowed to operate.
I'm not denying these people agency - they made choices they shouldn't have - but that doesn't mean there aren't serious problems with the system.
Lets be clear: this is a luxury home that these people are living in.
Whatever. Who are you to judge? You don't know their circumstances. The way I read it, they made an unwise decision wrt to how to handle expenses, but should they be punished for that decision? I think not. I think they should be educated on making better choices.
The Boston Globe has been doing a series of stories about how emboldened and outrageous bill collectors have become.
In many instances they bill people with the same names as someone else, who actually ran up the charges but can't be found.
They then hound the namesake to pay the bills (plus interest of course), even to the point of dragging them into court!!!
Welcome to the Gooper dystopia.
Health Insurance: Well, we want to blame the evil insurance companies and their bought and paid for politicians don't we?
How about we look at the delivery systems that limit health care? Why can't we build enough medical schools so that there isn't a chronic shortage of doctors? Wouldn't it be something if doctors had to actually compete for business by offering their services at a discount?
When I had my surgery on my eye the operating room they used (should say HE used) was booked from six AM to 12 PM. They did surgeries every twenty-five minutes or so. Figure about 15-20 surgeries at a couple of grand a pop. Why should this doctor be receiving more in a morning of surgery than I make (as a teacher) in a year?
Questions without answers. The healthcare delivery system is still controlled and manipulated to make certain that those at the top make the most money possible for the least amount of work.
Fuck 'em.
Since when did Wal-mart start offering health insurance to someone working 12 hrs a week?
More to the point: Dude's self-employed. His credit score drops on that basis alone. Can't get the absolute lowest interest rate on his mortgage to begin with. So they probably were getting jacked by the initial mortgate.
Their original mortgage was $3,000/month. Lets be clear: this is a luxury home that these people are living in. No, I'm not for government programs that take money from someone else to keep them in that house.
Karla
Karla, in the NY Metro area, $3000/month pays the mortgage on a modest 2-3 bedroom home on a 60x100 plot. If you're lucky.
Atrios, I love you, man. You're compassionate, which is a trait that far too many people lack these days.
And I'm always accused, even by my best friend, of being too understanding of people's situations. Of course, I laugh under my breath, because she's supporting a lazy husband who has a bitter disposition and won't work. His $ 600 a month pot habit is draining her finances, and she makes quite a bit of money. Yet she stays with him. It's kind of ironic when people start telling you how you should react to someone when they can't see the Mack Truck obstructing the view right in front of them.
"Being self-employed, they had no health insurance."
how does one logically and necessarily lead to the other? They can afford an extra 2k a month for their mortgage, but can't afford health insurance?
I thought the same thing. seems as if they took a gamble and lost
Ditto that. In spite of a tragic situation, these folks frankly aren't compelling poster children; a single income family in a new subdivision with a 3K mortgage and savings has to have at least a catastrophic insurance plan on board, if only for their kids.
However, I'll bet they're entirely typical. You're going to see a bunch of other relatively comfortable families hit the fan in the next five years because they didn't get their priorities right when doing their monthly budgeting.
More to the point: Dude's self-employed. His credit score drops on that basis alone. Can't get the absolute lowest interest rate on his mortgage to begin with. So they probably were getting jacked by the initial mortgate.
smittyw, now 38
And yet, we celebrate the risk-takers. Most of whom fail, which is what makes it a risk.
And no bankruptcy to fall back on, courtesy of the Democrats as well as the Republicans.
ql, it helps to know that you also are distressed by not being Albuquerque.
I'm not denying these people agency - they made choices they shouldn't have - but that doesn't mean there aren't serious problems with the system.
Atrios
In a land dominated by aggressive financial interests, why is how to handle money not taught in school?
I know the cynical answer involves lucrative fleecing of sheep, but I'm serious. Wouldn't raising generations who were smart with money be in the national interest?
Learning from your parents often does not work. My parents were lousy with money, and I've carried on the tradition.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, a $3,000-a-month mortgage won't buy you a trailer.
I'm not denying these people agency - they made choices they shouldn't have - but that doesn't mean there aren't serious problems with the system.
Atrios
Yes, having that third child was outrageous of them. Absolutely unreasonable. On that basis alone they should be thrown out on the street and their property divided amongst the Godly.
Eh?
Yeah, they did stupid stuff
Yeah. Had a kid and tried to pay their bills. Idiots.
Why should this doctor be receiving more in a morning of surgery than I make (as a teacher) in a year?
Nurses must be underpaid though, 'cause a lot of them are appearing in porn flicks.
how does one logically and necessarily lead to the other? They can afford an extra 2k a month for their mortgage, but can't afford health insurance?
Again, people speaking from ignorance. Have you priced health insurance on the individual market? It's more expensive than the payroll deduction on your pay stub. A lot more. Twice, three times as much. Maybe you should do that first before shooting your mouth off.
OT: Jowell joins condemnation of 'stick-thin' catwalk models
Pressure intensified on the organisers of London fashion week yesterday as the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, warned of the dangers of girls starving themselves to emulate waif-like supermodels.
Amid growing calls from politicians and activists for London to follow the ground-breaking restrictions imposed by the organisers of last week's Madrid fashion week - where "unhealthily thin" models were prevented from appearing - Ms Jowell intervened in a personal capacity to raise what she described as an issue of "major concern".
Pope Macaca.
Bizarre Holy?
Smitty,
"Well, if you can't afford the housing in [fill in overheated real estate market location here], then you shouldn't live there."
[/idiot]
how does one logically and necessarily lead to the other? They can afford an extra 2k a month for their mortgage, but can't afford health insurance?
Somebody hasn't priced health insurance recently.... A family of five, including a plan that covers pregnancy and delivery's gonna run in the neighbourhood of $1500-2000/month. And that'll be with a deductible of around $5000.
Unless someone's lucky enough to be in New Mexico or Hawaii....
Hey Dr., you're supposed to be in Albergueque. Whacha doing here?
And, probably that $3,000 a month mortgage is less than rent would be for a family of five.
Bizarre Holy?
Oh, touche!!!
"Well, if you can't afford the housing in [fill in overheated real estate market location here], then you shouldn't live there."
I'm sure that's coming next.
Red staters just don't get it. Real estate actually costs a lot more where they don't live.
Nurses must be underpaid though, 'cause a lot of them are appearing in porn flicks.
Well, who put the rn in porn?
Thanks to Bushboy we've been "pertected from terrists," got real good tax cuts and fought off those who want to bring about that damn socialized medicine.
Now if Bushboy & the Goopers can only keep control of the Congress in November, we can get rid of that pesky Social Security thingy!!!!
warning: angry rant:
i guess i'm feeling a little schadenfreude here. i could sit here and tell you stories of all the poor, black and brown people who were my neighbors in chicago, who were complete passed over by the "good times" of the 90s and suffer even more greatly today. home ownership? give me a break. health insurance? hah. i knew one family who lived in a two bedroom apt where their slumlord landlord was too busy hustling with their rent money to pay the water bill, so they had running water for 2 out of 3 days. move, you say? well, that takes things like a huge security deposit, not something you've got lying around when you make the minimum wage. which of course, was the going pay rate in the area, it's not like good jobs exist in the 'hood even for those who manage to get a good education, which of course is a minority.
the horror everyone feels at this particular example is natural, but i often wonder where that same feeling was as the american working class was decimated over the last three decades, turning once good neighborhoods into slums and reducing honest people to poverty or forcing the to turn to the underground economy. forgive me for saying it, but it seems to me that most white folks couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the destruction of the minority working class when something could've been done about, and have spent a lot of time demonizing the poor for the crime of turning to things like the drug trade to live.
now something similar is happening to the mostly white middle class, and the nasty part of me says, welcome to the bottom, you can suck it with the rest of us. i hope you're happy with the politicians you elected, who promised you wealth and hapiness by filling the jails with black and brown men and pouring all the state's resources into communities far away from where colored folks live. how's that working out for you?
they made an unwise decision wrt to how to handle expenses, but should they be punished for that decision?
That's a hell of a punishment, too. These people are going to be really screwed for a really long time. They may never get back to where they were.
OTOH, when someone like Bush fucks up, like he did with Arbusto and Harken Energy, his rich daddy and friends come and bail his sorry ass out.
OT: Terror plot suspect admits he talked of blowing up Parliament
A 24-year-old former university student accused of plotting to carry out terror attacks in Britain has admitted talking about blowing up the Houses of Parliament.
Omar Khyam, who is one of seven men charged with conspiring to build a huge fertiliser bomb, told a jury at the Old Bailey yesterday that he discussed dropping a bomb on MPs during Prime Minister's Questions.
But the self-confessed al-Qa'ida sympathiser from Crawley, West Sussex, said his comments were "just talk" and that there was no plan to carry out an attack.
Lime Ricky,
I appreciate the humor but you are right: the doctors have managed to keep most of the resources for themselves.
I really feel strongly that every major university should have its own medical school. What would the harm be if we had more than we needed so that people could see the doctor when they wanted to rather than needed to?
In Michigan there are three medical schools - I believe. The University of Michigan, Michigan State, and Wayne State. Yet there are huge numbers of "major" universities that could have a medical school. Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Michigan Tech (and it would be wonderful to get some healthcare to the barely existing poor of the upper UP) Northern Michigan, Lake Superior State College and on and on.
(And that is not even counting private institutions.)
More homeless! Thanks, Bushies!!!
Nurses must be underpaid though, 'cause a lot of them are appearing in porn flicks.
Lime Rickey
Those aren't real nurses, they just play one on TV!
Good morning.
I got sick when I was temping.
Stayed in the hospital for 5 days.
I'll be paying that debt off for the rest of my life.
My sisters had to go to one of those mortgage companies for a loan to fix up the house my parents left us and I'm afraid they're getting gamed too.
One of them told me they got approved 3 weeks ago and haven't heard another thing from them.
A $3,000/month mortgage is a $600,000 home. What were the two "fancy" cars they thought they deserved?
I have to feel confident that I'm not advocating raising taxes on people who have to drive cabs or clean hotel rooms to support more government programs that benefit people like this couple so disproportionately and I'm not confident.
Medicine costs money. If you want to deliver your child yourself, you can do that but people want the best care and it costs money.
Hey Dr., you're supposed to be in Albergueque. Whacha doing here?
ql in ny
Hiding biscuits for Arthur, and then heading out the door.
Adios, machacas!
.
Muslim world protests at Pope's 'derogatory' Mohamed comments
Pope Benedict XVI has ignited a firestorm of protest from Muslims around the world in reaction to his citation of negative remarks about the Prophet Mohamed and the purported Muslim tendency to convert infidels by force. Many of the world's senior Islamic figures joined in the protest, including clerics and politicians from Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
The most severe criticism came from Pakistan, where the parliament unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the Pope for making what it called "derogatory" comments about Islam and seeking an apology from him.
CD, I have witnessed this as well. But we are good at not seeing, you know?
"Ditto that. In spite of a tragic situation, these folks frankly aren't compelling poster children; a single income family in a new subdivision with a 3K mortgage and savings has to have at least a catastrophic insurance plan on board, if only for their kids."
don't mean to sound cold hearted, but i agree. they would have been better off with a 2-3k mortgage and living in a not so nice subdivision. and if they couldn't afford health insurance, it was irresponsible to bring kids into the picture.
I have to feel confident that I'm not advocating raising taxes on people who have to drive cabs or clean hotel rooms to support more government programs that benefit people like this couple so disproportionately and I'm not confident.
Your premise is that socialized health insurance will raise taxes. It won't.
I don't think it *is* a single income family-- looks like she does child care out of the home. That gets to be weird, too- I know that a so-so job sometimes doesn't make up for what day care can cost.
That damn Greenspan- ending up like Mussolini would be appropriate...
I'm sure that's coming next.
It's already here. I had a "conversation" with a dunderheaded Republican (and yes, he was in finance) once in which he scolded me for fucking up the real estate market (?) in NYC by living in a rent-stabilized apartment. "If you can't afford the market rates then you shouldn't live in Manhattan," quoth he.
A $3,000/month mortgage is a $600,000 home. What were the two "fancy" cars they thought they deserved?
I have to feel confident that I'm not advocating raising taxes on people who have to drive cabs or clean hotel rooms to support more government programs that benefit people like this couple so disproportionately and I'm not confident.
Medicine costs money. If you want to deliver your child yourself, you can do that but people want the best care and it costs money.
Karla
Um, interest? You forgot to include the interest. Now I know I'm not dealing with the sharpest tool in the drawer.
BTW, $600,000 buys you a shack in the Bay Area. Guessing you're from Oklahoma, where $600,000 buys a mansion.
Welcome Deltones! You in Quebec?
Moe Szyslak
Thanks and yeah, from Quebec City, but living in Montreal. I've been lurking on this blog for about a year. Learn something new every day
Um, where are you from? I hate to tell you this, but there are many places in this country where a $3,000-a-month mortgage isn't buying you "luxury."
smittyw, now 38
Exactly what I thought when I read that bit of nonsense...
A $3,000/month mortgage is a $600,000 home. What were the two "fancy" cars they thought they deserved?
In the NY metro area $600,000 buys you a starter home. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.
Right you are, Moe. Paul Krugman has been pointing out for years how a rational, not-for-profit single-payer health system would SAVE money.
millions and millions.
yeah, karl, keep sending idiot son out there to speak about the magic of home ownership and the american dream. read thru hbb and note the staggering increases of foreclosures in every region across the country.
this is one way to replenish the dwindling ranks of enlistees -- wanna bet a scheme to forego past mortgage debt isn't part of an enlistment package soon.
over here Blair is trying to privatise the NHS through the back door.
this whole thing about being 'competitve' for the sake of it, it is killing the NHS and is preventing doctors and nurses doing their jobs.
and we all remeber how well privtatsing the railways went (snort, chuckle).
and the scandal that is PPP/PFI.
I had a discussion about this with my dad last night. I told him that on the basis of my income, the amount of house I could afford was $125,000. This did not include the property taxes, insurance and homeowners assn fee, and it was being conservative (2.5 times income). So I rent.
Let's just say that unless you want to live in a shack (or a very bad condo conversion in a not-so-good neighborhood), you're not going to find a house in Phoenix for $125,000. Hell, there are mobile homes going for lots more than that.
I have a coworker whose wife just had their first child. They got married a year ago and moved into a $350,000 house. That's how much close-in houses are going for. I know they aren't pulling down, even with both of them working, $140K a year (before taxes) in income. What that means is that she has to go back to work in 3 months and they have to put their boy in daycare because they need her income in a bad way. As it was, my coworker took exactly one day off from work before coming back because they couldn't afford him being off any more than that.
And the other thing that blew my mind was that not only did they get a loan for the $350K house, but at closing they also took out a home equity loan. My coworker told me that he had to have it as an ARM for one day and then he could convert it to fixed (probably for yet another fee).
Unbelievable. I'll stay renting, thanks.
Keep a watch on Karla while I go for a bike ride. I'm sure she's about to say something even stupider in a couple of minutes.
No class Chimpy -- it must clash with a fundraiser
Secretary Don Evans will attend the funeral services held for Governor Ann Richards at the University of Texas Frank Erwin Center on Monday, September 18, on behalf of President and Mrs. Bush.
As a lifelong Texan, Secretary Evans had the highest regard for the Governor, and he appreciated her tireless efforts on behalf of the state and her zest for life that endeared her to the entire country.
The President regrets being unable to attend her funeral, and he and Mrs. Bush send their deepest condolences to the Governor's family.
Those aren't real nurses, they just play one on TV!
Rudy
They give a lot of TLC, which is part of a nurse's job.
Uncle Smokes is right, people are not born knowing how to handle money. They need to be taught.
Can somebody ask the pope if he will denounce Germans throughout recent history in the same way he denounced Islam?
The nexus between the Goopers and the MSM creates the headlock on public perception.
Until or unless we have more people on the MSM like Keith Olbermann, the Goopers will continue to prevail and all people will suffer.
The Goopers don't care if you're white, black, brown or polka-dot. They are equal opportunity enslavers.
WT - Anytime you want to move to let me know. I'll divorce Mr. QL and marry you, so I can get on the lease and take over your apartment. 
The President regrets being unable to attend her funeral, and he and Mrs. Bush send their deepest condolences to the Governor's family.
i'm sure Ann Richards' family is just fine with that.
No class Chimpy -- it must clash with a fundraiser
Fundraiser, hell. Ann would pop up out of her casket and eat his brains if that asshole showed.
Medicine costs money. If you want to deliver your child yourself, you can do that but people want the best care and it costs money.
Karla
ah, the old 'raise my taxes' canard. here's an idea: instead of spending what will approach a trillion dollars in the sands of iraq, mortgaged with significant intrests from our children's future, how about we spend some of that money on health insurance? the pentagon recently announced it "couldn't account" for two trillion it was given, perhaps we could lavish that amount on a slightly more responsible agency in charge of providing health care to all americans.
you're already paying for it, you dolt. it's time to demand you got something for your money, instead of halliburton.
Can somebody ask the pope if he will denounce Germans throughout recent history in the same way he denounced Islam?
Hey, that guy that started all that WWII shit--Austrian. Germans just went along for the ride.
So they get a pass.
At this point, frankly, you'd have to be a complete idiot not to support socialized health insurance. Period.
Complete idiots, we got. By the millions.
Sigh.
.
OT: Campbell says chancellor is to blame for Labour's 'authoritarian' policies
· Lib Dem leader accuses Brown over tax credits
· Snub follows suggestion of closer party ties
Sir Menzies Campbell has blamed Gordon Brown for the government's heavy-handedness and warned that Mr Brown's centralising approach is unlikely to change if he becomes prime minister.
Speaking to the Guardian ahead of his first conference as Liberal Democrat leader, which opens in Brighton tomorrow, Sir Menzies accused the chancellor of failing to take responsibility for policy which had ended up wrecking the lives of poor families.
His comments are striking not only because he is on good terms with the chancellor, who holds the neighbouring constituency, but because Mr Brown hinted last week that as Labour leader he would seek to work with other parties.
WT - Anytime you want to move to let me know. I'll divorce Mr. QL and marry you, so I can get on the lease and take over your apartment.
Deal!
Karla, Canadian governments pay less per capita on health insurance than do American governments. You pay for socialized health insurance already, you just don't get it.
Vulgar Libertarianism, Neoliberalism, and Corporate Welfare: A Compendium of Posts
I really feel strongly that every major university should have its own medical school. What would the harm be if we had more than we needed so that people could see the doctor when they wanted to rather than needed to?
DWD, Castro has been working on that problem by offering free scholarships to poor/minority students in Cuban medical schools. Which are very good, by the way.
The President regrets being unable to attend her funeral, and he and Mrs. Bush send their deepest condolences to the Governor's family.
i'm sure Ann Richards' family is just fine with that.
watertiger
You'd almost think she had died in Iraq.
.
Farmers market, here I come. Later, taters.
And this is utterly, completely OT, but I just received two separate emails offering discounted tickets to see:
1. Joan Rivers
2. Donny Osmond
Who's in?!
now something similar is happening to the mostly white middle class, and the nasty part of me says, welcome to the bottom, you can suck it with the rest of us. i hope you're happy with the politicians you elected, who promised you wealth and hapiness by filling the jails with black and brown men and pouring all the state's resources into communities far away from where colored folks live. how's that working out for you?
chicago dyke
Right between the eyes.
"Permanent underclass? What permanent underclass?! I see nothing, nothing, nothing!"
The unfortunate part is the only way such things get discussed is in the frame of "angry white males."
This is kind of delusional that families any where in this country have to pay $3,000 a month for a place to live.
MoDo's on a "Tear W a new One" roll this mornin'.
Sample:
Whenever W. does something legally sketchy and morally ambiguous — from pre-emptive war to spying to torturing — he claims he’s doing it to protect Americans from terrorists. But there’s a more visceral agenda: Vice and Rummy have persuaded W. he will not carry a big stick if bound by Lilliputian legalities, tiresome checks and balances and Kumbaya international conventions. Rather than being alarmed at their battiness, the president naďvely admires what he sees as bravado.
And he yells, too.
you're already paying for it, you dolt. it's time to demand you got something for your money, instead of halliburton.
chicago dyke |
Once again, chicago dyke is right on target.
sad but true stories of the american dream flushing down the toilet
1. Joan Rivers
2. Donny Osmond
Who's in?!
Is Marie Osmond gonna be there?
As a self-employed person myself, there are two things you guys should remember about this case:
1)You can look at the costs of health care and say hey, I can deal with that. Turn around three years later and wham! They can be VASTLY higher than they were last time you looked. Health care costs are not only high, they're increasing at a dizzying rate.
2) If you've been looking at the costs that people with insurance have been paying--"Oh, I went in and it cost $3,000"--you're in for a nasty shock if you go in without insurance. The fees are much higher. MUCH higher.
I'm paying far more than my mortgage for my health insurance, and I've got a $10,000 deductible. It's purely and simply a 'don't lose the house' policy.
And every year I tremble a bit when I get the letter from the insurance company, wondering how far it's going to shoot up this time.
This is kind of delusional that families any where in this country have to pay $3,000 a month for a place to live.
I have absolutely no idea what this means.
.
A $3,000/month mortgage is a $600,000 home. What were the two "fancy" cars they thought they deserved?
Go to a real estate Web site and check out what a $600k home looks like in Seattle.
It suddenly occurs to me that the downfall of the Democratic party began with the death of FDR on April 12, 1945.
Too bad he couldn't live another 100 years, he'd still be president and we'd all be a hell of a lot better off!!!
This is kind of delusional that families any where in this country have to pay $3,000 a month for a place to live.
Ah, here it comes..."if you can't afford to live there, move!"
1. Joan Rivers
2. Donny Osmond
Who's in?!
watertiger
Only if they're appearing together, just to hear Joan tell Donny to "grow up."
1. Joan Rivers
2. Donny Osmond
You're now obligated to take ql in ny as your date.
OT: Hoon demands Blair quits ahead of elections in May
A formerly loyal Blairite minister reignited the dispute over the departure date for Tony Blair yesterday by calling for him to quit early in the New Year for the sake of the party.
Geoff Hoon, the minister for Europe, broke the uneasy truce that had been agreed between Gordon Brown and Mr Blair after the backstabbing last week by calling for Mr Blair to quit before the local elections in May.
Ah, here it comes..."if you can't afford to live there, move!"
Their biggest mistake was not investing in tofu.
Go to a real estate Web site and check out what a $600k home looks like in Seattle.
Or within twenty miles of Washington, DC. Or in Glendale, California. Or Anywhere in greater Boston. Or in Chicago.
Don't even talk to me about New York.
.
This is kind of delusional that families any where in this country have to pay $3,000 a month for a place to live.
Karla
Well now we know what we're dealing with. Facts will not, not, get in Karla's way.
This is kind of delusional that families any where in this country have to pay $3,000 a month for a place to live.
Karla
She did it before I could get out the door.
Is San Francisco in the United States? I think it is.
I'm paying far more than my mortgage for my health insurance, and I've got a $10,000 deductible. It's purely and simply a 'don't lose the house' policy.
My health insurance(for me and spouse) is about 1/3 of my take home pay. The only reason I can pay it is that I paid off my mortgage.
1. Joan Rivers
2. Donny Osmond
Who's in?!
watertiger
or
A root canal without novacaine . . . .
decisions decisions decisions
my area the south west is now considered the most expensive area to live in England.
Plus Karla keeps forgetting to calcute interest!
Listen: At 0% interest (which would put bankers out of business if they charged it) a $600,000 house equals a $2,500 monthly mortgage. Over 20 years, interest can be as much as principal, depending on how much you put down and how much the interest rate is. So would you get it through your very thick skull that a $3,000 mortgage does not equal a $600,000 house!
Thank you!
I hear a new national refrain:
Live in fear of terraists.
Live in fear of getting sick.
Live in fear of losing the house.
Watch TV.
You're now obligated to take ql in ny as your date.
spinoza
Any day. We'll invite ChiDy and make it a threesome.
[this coming from a heterosexual, married, old lady]
You're now obligated to take ql in ny as your date.
spinoza
Any day. We'll invite ChiDy and make it a threesome.
[this coming from a heterosexual, married, old lady]
Moonbootica, is your area near Cornwall? That's where I've always wanted to visit.
A root canal without novacaine . . . .
decisions decisions decisions
DWD
The last vestige of healthcare for seniors has been Medicare.
Bushboy & the Goopers have fed Medicare the poison pill of their "prescription bill," which should wreck this successful program, thanks to the fact that Medicare has been legally prohibited from subjecting drug company costs to the bidding process - like the VA and every other government agency.
This is kind of delusional that families any where in this country have to pay $3,000 a month for a place to live.
i don't know about having to, versus being ignorant about financing and WANTING to keep up with the joneses.
i saw the end of a 'flip this house' segment, the home was in Watts, CA - that Watts of riot fame...it looked like an ordinary, barred up windows, home in the getto...after minor renovations, they were told they could get $450,000 for the house...
the left coast is esspensive (and i live in CT!)
I am not buying that you folks really think that all the 5 person families in Seattle, New York Metro, San Francisco and every other expensive housing market are paying $3,000/month for the roof over their heads?
You are upset about a (probably) white family that thinks of itself as "middle class" and they're so good and worthy and a portrait of the American dream. There are plenty of American families - the majority - that don't get into this kind of credit trouble because they never thought they deserved this high flying kind of American dream; they always thought they had to live within the confines of what they could earn.
And about universal health insurance: that would be terrific if we could restructure the system so that it covers everyone and costs the same as the country is spending now. But politics is the art of the possible and we have the recent example of Mrs. Clinton's plan not even being introduced as a bill in a Democratic controlled Congress. Steps toward universal healthcare are going to be incremental and what could be/should be is not an excuse for people being irresponsible. Why is that so hard? Its really not hard.
I guess we're at the point that there is no middle class.
There is the working class and the management class.
And ne'er the twain shall meet.
ql- don't forget that vets get spectacular rates and guarantees for home loans. my grandfather managed all the VA properties in detroit, and it's one of the best deals going if you want to buy a house.
so yeah: bursting housing market = more meat for the grinder of bush's war.
The Dems have so many issues to plaster corporate teevee with, what the fuck are they waiting for?
Plus Karla keeps forgetting to calcute interest!
Listen: At 0% interest (which would put bankers out of business if they charged it) a $600,000 house equals a $2,500 monthly mortgage. Over 20 years, interest can be as much as principal, depending on how much you put down and how much the interest rate is. So would you get it through your very thick skull that a $3,000 mortgage does not equal a $600,000 house!
Thank you!
smittyw, now 38 | Homepage | 09.16.06 - 10:02 am | #
If you figure mebbe $700 bucks per 100K on a 30 year at market rates these days, the mortgage was probably north of 400K. It's a far cry from a mansion, but in Colorado it's probably not a shack, either.
Note in this story the combination of a lack of national health care along w/ evil lending practices. The new bankruptcy bill ensures a triple whammy. It's sick that we treat our citizens like this.
You're now obligated to take ql in ny as your date.
spinoza
Any day. We'll invite ChiDy and make it a threesome.
[this coming from a heterosexual, married, old lady]
ql in ny
I'll chaperone.
[this coming from a "theoretical" homosexual, who's been so long without that he's a virtual eunuch--perfect for the job!]
From DK at Josh's:
CNN anchor Tony Harris: "We have to take the president at his word when he says that the problem with Common Article 3, which prohibits outrages against personal dignity, is that it is unclear. And we can't have our interrogators trying to get information that we need to protect this country under a bit of language here that is this vague. We can do better than this."
Sieg Heil, y'all!
Hoon demands Blair quits ahead of elections in May
Poor Tony. He hitched his wagon to the Chimpy and was driven over the cliff.
i saw the end of a 'flip this house' segment
Can you imagine buying a house, then discovering that it was featured on a segment of "flip this house"? I am almost always horrified at how they paint and plaster over problems, ignore infrastructure, etc. However, I am considering starting a new show called "flip this troll". In the first segment, dith re-emerges as Barry Manilow's stud muffin.
Islamospinach.
In the first segment, dith re-emerges as Barry Manilow's stud muffin.
In a tattered neligee of pride, no doubt.
We have to take the president at his word
It's gotten us this far...
But politics is the art of the possible and we have the recent example of Mrs. Clinton's plan not even being introduced as a bill in a Democratic controlled Congress.
Wow, I cannot even begin to understand how a reasonably well-educated and informed person could come up with that statement.
smitty,
so now these folks have NO downpayment, too?
Why don't we all just chip in and pay off their mortgage or their hospital bills? There must be a hundred of us on this thread. Any takers to help Anthony and his family out at, say $500 for each of us?
No, we don't want to do that though all of us could afford to.
I am not buying that you folks really think that all the 5 person families in Seattle, New York Metro, San Francisco and every other expensive housing market are paying $3,000/month for the roof over their heads?
Again, Karla, you become very tiresome. If you bought 15 years ago, no. But if you've bought in the last five years, yes. I bought a house in D.C. in 2002, and was paying on the order of $2,800 a month, which we could afford. It was no mansion. It was larger than other houses we could have purchased, because of some of the choices we made. But many would be on the edge at that price. D.C.'s not even one of the top five most expensive markets.
The entire system is designed to exploit the vulnerable from the predatory medical system to the predatory banking system.
Just keep voting for the rethugs, folks.
And the GOP is on the side of the lenders.
Right there, that should be enough reason for most Americans to vote Dem.
It's an issue waiting to happen, Dems. All you've got to do is say the obvious: the GOP has made it easier for lenders to pull this sort of stuff. We'll pass laws to keep people from being thrown out of their houses as a result of these sorts of lending abuses, and we'll pass laws to keep it from happening again.
We should be able to run against this sorta shit for the next 20 years, even if we fixed all the problems on 1/21/07.
Karin | Homepage | 09.16.06 - 10:02 am | #
I live in the county of Wiltshire, which is on the way to Cornwall
For the last 2 yrs, our health insurance has increased $1,200 a year (self-insured). Monthly insurance payment is about $150 more than our mortgage payment.
My final lament before leaving:
Everything Bushboy has done has turned to shit and yet there are some, (i.e., Adam Nagourney of the NYTimes), who say that the Goopers have a chance to keep control of the Congress in November because they have more money and a better turn-out-the-vote organization.
Which means that the 37% that stick with the depraved moron regardless how egregious his blunders, actually turn out and vote, while most of the 60% who disapprove of Bushboy, must have "other priorities" on election day!
Hint: On election day there is no "other priority" than voting Goopers out of office!!!
perhaps we should introduce Karla to LFoD?
No, we don't want to do that though all of us could afford to.
Assume much, Karla?
I'm doing all right with property and mortgage issues (sold my property in Montana and have a new fixed rate mortgage at 6.25% for my property here) but had to pay a $60K hospital bill due to an illness while uninsured this last winter. That was an ouchy situation in all ways!
The entire system is designed to exploit the vulnerable from the predatory medical system to the predatory banking system.
Just keep voting for the rethugs, folks.
i dont see schumer and biden out front saying this....it pisses me off that dems cannot frame practically any debate
i guess it's because you can spell that i'm talking to someone of such obvious ignorance karla, but you obviously have no effing clue about the costs of urban markets. there is literally no such thing as a house inside the city limits of chicago that goes for less than 200K these days, unless you're talking about a burned out hulk in a war zone in the deep hood. and as for poor folks who rent: well, that's me, and i was lucky to have student housing for most of my years there, in which i paid the wholly reasonable sum of 750$/mo for a 14x20' room. on the south side.
you have no idea what it takes to make in an urban market, and before you jump on the "well, move" bandwagon, let me remind you that moving takes money, and many working families in urban areas are barely getting by, living paycheck to paycheck, and often going in to debt weekly as prices for things like food and gas rise.
...i'll stop now, because your ignorance is just pissing me off.
those born and raised in Devizes are known as Moonrakers.
so now these folks have NO downpayment, too?
Why don't we all just chip in and pay off their mortgage or their hospital bills? There must be a hundred of us on this thread. Any takers to help Anthony and his family out at, say $500 for each of us?
No, we don't want to do that though all of us could afford to.
Karla
Even at 20 percent down, interest can constitute a huge chunk of the amortized payments over 20 years. Interest can consume virtually all of thepayments through the first five years of a typical loan.
Your purposeful ignorance is astounding.
The President regrets being unable to attend her funeral, and he and Mrs. Bush send their deepest condolences to the Governor's family.
i'm sure Ann Richards' family is just fine with that.
There will be a slight change in the funeral arrangements however: She will now no longer be laid to rest face down with the "Kiss my ass you raging halfwit" sign on the casket."
The President regrets being unable to attend her funeral, and he and Mrs. Bush send their deepest condolences to the Governor's family.
i'm sure Ann Richards' family is just fine with that.
There will be a slight change in the funeral arrangements however: She will now no longer be laid to rest face down with the "Kiss my ass you raging halfwit" sign on the casket."
Karla is hell-bent on missing the point.
Predatory lending practices + skyrocketing health care costs = foreclosure and bankruptcy
For middle class people. Not the working poor, not the "welfare queens," the middle class, upon which this country was built, thus creating an even greater division among the rich and the poor.
Thanks to the Republicans.
And we can't have our interrogators trying to get information that we need to protect this country under a bit of language here that is this vague. We can do better than this."
Sieg Heil, y'all!
plantsman, lowercase
Oh yeah!
The WATB-in-Chief has made it clear that if the Senate doesn't give him what he wants he's taking the ball and going home.
Good!
those born and raised in Devizes are known as Moonrakers.
Cool, why?
" Steps toward universal healthcare are going to be incremental and what could be/should be is not an excuse for people being irresponsible"
I am not sure who you mean is irresponsible here. If you mean the US gov that allows predatory banking, predatory medical system, and no bankruptcy for private people, I'll vote for that. Every business and corporation can and does file bankruptcy all the time???????? Where is the irresponsibility?
Hint: On election day there is no "other priority" than voting Goopers out of office!!!
Rudy
..spot-on: dem voters are notoriously unpredictble - i have ALWAYS though this was the reason we lost elections...i mean dems are populists, MORE people are poor than are rich, but MANy poor people don't believe in voting...ask a few and you will see
i know atrios and all the candidates ask for contributions, but OUR base does not reliably get out and vote...i think this issue is bigger than financing the campaigns!
i guess it's because you can spell that i'm talking to someone of such obvious ignorance karla, but you obviously have no effing clue about the costs of urban markets. there is literally no such thing as a house inside the city limits of chicago that goes for less than 200K these days,
Hell, if you can find a decent condo for under 200K consider yourself blessed...
In the first segment, dith re-emerges as Barry Manilow's stud muffin.
In a tattered neligee of pride, no doubt.
plantsman,
Now that's almost as funny as Karla!
No, we don't want to do that though all of us could afford to.
Karla |
speak for yourself, you stupid slash. why don't you take your blather bullshit and go to hell.
Me and my wife went all over town
And everywhere we went people turned us down
Lord, in a bourgeois town
It's a bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
Home of the brave, land of the free
I don't wanna be mistreated by no bourgeoisie
Lord, in a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
-- Leadbelly, "The Bourgeois Blues"
Hell, if you can find a decent condo for under 200K consider yourself blessed...
200K won't get you anything within 15 miles of NYC.
Registered nurses are in pitifully short supply these days, are delegated ever more responsibilities, and are well paid. Nursing schools with direct passage into employment might be a good idea, too.
I agree with virtually everyone on this question. Yes, we have to make some decisions. Some of these decisions will be unpopular (in my case, my quality of health care would take a significant hit if we were to go universal - but so be it.) I think people borrowed too much money with the idea that their wages and the property's value would increase. I also believe that we, as a society, encourged them to do so.
So, what is the answer: NOT voting Republican to start with. Demanding that Democrats like Biden and Stabenow start acting like Democrats would also be nice. (Still finding it hard to stomach that my senator voted FOR that heinous bankruptcy bill)
Beyond that. dunno.
those born and raised in Devizes are known as Moonrakers.
Cool, why?
Because they formed a cult that's hellbent on world domination and plan to launch their plan from a space station?
so now these folks have NO downpayment, too?
Do you own a home? Do you know what it is to come up with the recommended 20 percent down payment? On any home?
you have no idea what it takes to make in an urban market, and before you jump on the "well, move" bandwagon, let me remind you that moving takes money, and many working families in urban areas are barely getting by, living paycheck to paycheck, and often going in to debt weekly as prices for things like food and gas rise.
Plus, no point in moving to a cheap housing area with no jobs. There's a reason why cheap housing areas are so cheap. I'm sure homes in Flint are going for a song.
plantsman, lowercase | Homepage | 09.16.06 - 10:16 am | #
according to an old yarn, smugglers used to hide their smuggled goods (like alcholic beverages) in a pond called The Crammer, and during the night they would move it from there.
when any officals came by and asked what they were doing they claimed they were raking for cheese, as the moon would be reflected on the Crammer and so the offical would assume you were simple.
hence Moonraker, means you might seem simple but actually your crafty.
"i dont see schumer and biden out front saying this....it pisses me off that dems cannot frame practically any debate"
Why should they say anything? The thugs are totally in charge. They aren't even allowed a room in the building to have a meeting, aren't allowed on television, when are they doing to frame anything in a debate as they are entirely muzzled.
Why don't we all just chip in and pay off their mortgage or their hospital bills? There must be a hundred of us on this thread. Any takers to help Anthony and his family out at, say $500 for each of us?
No, we don't want to do that though all of us could afford to.
No, individual charity loses the economies of scale we could achieve if we had a socially-conscious, truly compassionate and constructic government. THAT'S how we can collectively help Anthony _et al_.
Bitch.
smitty,
Did you ever hear of renting? I live in New Jersey, a very nice area of New Jersey, about an hour from Manhattan via NJ transit and the apartments in my town go for $1,000/month for a 2 bedroom. My mother lived in those apartments and they were not fancy but they were clean and decent. There are families with 3 kids living in those apartments and they are good people and they feel OK about their lives. The parents sleep on the pull out couch - as my own did when I was a child and we lived in Astoria, Queens in the 50's - to give the kids the bedrooms. And its not misery.
If you can't afford a $600,000 house, you don't commit yourself to one. And in this case, its not a health crisis but the birth of a child that put them in a bind. They couldn't look 4 years out to whether they could deal with the birth of a child and pay their bills?
Yes, of course, America can do better for families and I'm all for sensible efforts in that direction.
Dude, that's a freakin' nightmare story. Makes me rethink having another kid.
America's Least Wanted
Lovely tale, Moon.
Chimpy: "Mah Mammy and Pappy came to Texas with nary a dime to thar names. Now Ah own a ranch with a private lake stocked with seven-pound perch. Who sez ya cain't pull yerself up by yer own bootstraps?"
Karla is hell-bent on missing the point.
Predatory lending practices + skyrocketing health care costs = foreclosure and bankruptcy
For middle class people. Not the working poor, not the "welfare queens," the middle class, upon which this country was built, thus creating an even greater division among the rich and the poor.
Thanks to the Republicans.
watertiger
It's the "ownership society". Now the banks and creditors will own your home, and your dignity.
Sounds really great, until it's your pound of flesh they come after.
If a Pope shits in the woods, and there's no one around to hear it...
200K won't get you anything within 15 miles of NYC.
Make that 40 or 50 miles.
Did you ever hear of renting?
Yeah, that's a great long-term plan. Give all your money away to a landlord. But hey, that's what your Ownership Society's all about, innit? Rich folks make money off the toil of others, who then can never afford to own anything themselves. Bravo.
If you're an Illinois resident and a single parent or struggling two-parent family you can get low-cost health insurance through a state sponsored program. The web site says Illinois is the first to offer this. Maybe other states will follow suit.
Some private insurers like Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois also offer kids-only coverage for low premiums and low (or no) deductibles. Routine vaccinations are 100% covered, and prescription med coverage is part of the package.
This of course isn't the answer for everyone, but at least there are some options out there to help people insure their children without breaking the bank.
Next maybe Karla can lecture us on how real feminists aren't pretty with nice boobs.
speak for yourself, you stupid slash. why don't you take your blather bullshit and go to hell.
chicago dyke
Hey now. Don't get your drawers in an uproar over a silly little troll. It's way too nice out for that.
When I was teaching in Brooklyn, without exception, every student had both parents working. Some families had the father working two jobs and the mom one. All to afford the house. In the meantime, the kids had hardly any time with their parents at all. We really do have to figure in what is being lost in this crazy economy.
Nursing schools with direct passage into employment might be a good idea, too.
There are several such in Chicago. Problem is, many hospitals simply won't pay shit, and don't want to adjust their hours/shifts policies to allow for the fact that a lot of the grads are going to be working moms.
The upside is, there is no way to export a nursing job to Indonesia so eventually economic pressure will make them bend.
that's it, i'm ignoring it. it's obviously just here to raise the collective blood pressure of a group of otherwise intelligent people who understand complex topics.
And in this case, its not a health crisis but the birth of a child that put them in a bind. They couldn't look 4 years out to whether they could deal with the birth of a child and pay their bills?
Well, obviously, the woman should have been sterilized. Or had an abortion.
[/sarcasm]
Rethugs and Libertarians become liberal when they lose their jobs and health insurance. Until then they live in the fantasy world that "They" work hard and are "Responsible" so they identify with the assholes.
"i dont see schumer and biden out front saying this....it pisses me off that dems cannot frame practically any debate"
Why should they say anything? The thugs are totally in charge. They aren't even allowed a room in the building to have a meeting, aren't allowed on television, when are they doing to frame anything in a debate as they are entirely muzzled.
Francis
my sarcasm is that those 2 morons are always on teevee for the dems: do you see dennis kucinich in front of a mic? and when they are in front of a mic, they say meaningless shit framed poorly...i guess i am just mad that the few folks who get a chance to talk, waste it!
Did you ever hear of renting?
And when your rent is doubled because all of the people who've been forced out of their homes thanks to skyrocketing health care costs and predatory lending prices now are coming to your neighborhood, seeking the affordable rents? Then what, dear?
If you're an Illinois resident and a single parent or struggling two-parent family you can get low-cost health insurance through a state sponsored program. The web site says Illinois is the first to offer this. Maybe other states will follow suit.
Vermont passed what practically amounts to universal healthcare (goal is 96% coverage) this year.
Karla - you just don't get it, do you?
You're in here screeching about how you don't want to pay for other people's health care, completely oblivious to the fact that you're already doing just that.
How do you think doctors and hospitals cover the expense of indigent patients who can't or don't pay? You think they just give the care for free, and that's the end of it? Don't be silly.
The medical establishment makes up for those who don't pay by charging more to those who do pay - this means your insurance company. Your insurance company, in turn, covers the higher costs charged by hospitals and doctors by raising your premium. So, if you pay ALL of your premium, it's coming directly out of your pocket. If your employer pays part or all (I'd like to know who pays all of their employees' premiums these days) of your premium, it comes out of your pocket in the form of lower wages. You don't get raises, etc. And as the cycle repeats, year after year, what you end up with is a system in which all services are outrageously overpriced, because some people (a growing number, we should add, that now comprises some 20% of Americans) can't afford to pay them.
So you're paying more for less. And you think this is a good solution, because you foolishly believe that it frees you from having to pay for the layabouts who can't afford insurance - when in fact, those layabouts' inability to pay has led to your out-of-pocket cost being much higher than it would be if we simply made sure that everyone was covered.
See, this is the problem with buying into Republican propaganda - it short-circuits your brain and prevents you from using your common sense to see what's really going on.
Enjoy those rising premiums, sister. At least you can be happy in the knowledge that even though it's costing you more, someone is being punished by losing everything. Which, by the way, is another component of Republican propaganda and unfortunately, the one that is most appealing to many people.
Yes, of course, America can do better for families and I'm all for sensible efforts in that direction.
Translation: Die quieter!
Karla, your story is interesting; but the entire American system is weighted toward making folks desire and strive for what they can't afford. Having a child becomes a health emergency if it's too expensive, while it should be a routine part of family medical care. People are not educated to plan 4 years in advance for a pregnancy; and some people ( like myself ) have a debilitating medical event they could not have forseen that changes the rest of their lives in an instant. Have a heart, for heaven's sake!
that's it, i'm ignoring it. it's obviously just here to raise the collective blood pressure of a group of otherwise intelligent people who understand complex topics.
True, Karla is nothing but a republican whore!
As to whether renting is not a "great long term plan," thats just it: this particular family goes through life not planning. Buying a house you can't afford if the woman becomes pregnant is a worse plan than staying in an apartment. We can't agree on that????
Vermont passed what practically amounts to universal healthcare (goal is 96% coverage) this year.
I'd like to rent a room in your house, please.
As someone who grew up on Section 8 all I have to say is, what CD said.
Did you ever hear of renting?
And when your rent is doubled because all of the people who've been forced out of their homes thanks to skyrocketing health care costs and predatory lending prices now are coming to your neighborhood, seeking the affordable rents? Then what, dear?
watertiger
Or when your landlord decides to go co-op and gives you 30 days to pack up your life and get the fuck out.
"The upside is, there is no way to export a nursing job to Indonesia so eventually economic pressure will make them bend."
They are however importing all kinds of nurses (and doctors who are taking the jobs of the American Nurses) from the Phillipines, India, etc., etc., so I don't think economic pressure is going to do anything. Nursing has become a nightmare almost where the docs do little and most responsibility rests with the nurses. Not nice.
prices = practices, of course.
Simels regrets, yadda yadda yadda.
I'm off. The sun shines for the first time in days.
Have a heart, for heaven's sake!
Sorry, giving Republicans hearts is elective surgery and far too expensive under our system.
If you can't afford a $600,000 house, you don't commit yourself to one. And in this case, its not a health crisis but the birth of a child that put them in a bind. They couldn't look 4 years out to whether they could deal with the birth of a child and pay their bills?
Don't turn the discussion. You are asserting that they were living in luxury. I will tell you that there are many places in this country where they were not, even if we assumed that your bollocks calculations of $3,000 a month mortgage equaling a $600,000 house is correct. And, again, I'm not sure a $1,000-a-month apartment in your area of New Jersey equals an exactly optimal living arrangement for this person. What I know of New York area real esate prices suggests to me that if there are $1,000-a-month two-bedroom apartments, you live a long distance out--probably an hour or more from the city. That raises other issues--child care costs, transportation costs, and opportunity cost that you might not think matter, but do, when a person considers housing choice.
Affordable housing is a huge, underreported and underdebated crisis in America. There are a myriad of issued that go into it that I don't feel like talking about right now. The choices faced by this particular couple are completely emblematic of the question, and I think it would be helpful if people wouldn't immediately pass judgment on others on whom the affordable housing crisis forces some very hard choices.
Thanks. I'm going for my bike ride now. Please try to be less willfully ignorant in the future.
Also what Moe said, anyone who doesn't support socialized health care is a total fucknozzle of the highest order.
As to whether renting is not a "great long term plan," thats just it: this particular family goes through life not planning. Buying a house you can't afford if the woman becomes pregnant is a worse plan than staying in an apartment. We can't agree on that????
Karla
How old are you, Karla? Do you even have a fucking clue about life? I'd say it's pretty evident you don't know shit.
If your credit is bad you can't even rent an apartment these days and it is really easy to have a bad credit card debt especially for medical bills. The country is in a meltdown because our institutions are collapsing with the weight of unrestrained capitalism--education--public transportation--medicine. They are sucking us dry.
justice bought justice blind out of sight out of mind
they will be dismissed if they try to resist
a wage is a chain taken on with consent
why own slaves when it is cheaper to rent
no one sees the poverty watching winners on tv
wishing in a well that is dug down to hell
we toss in our coins hoping we too can join
the masters of our fate
but we are too late
[Gotta do stuff 'n' things 'n' whatnot. Y'all take care of your good selves, and go easy the ignorant commenters--they are an essential asset to prop up our predatory economy. Thar's gold in them thar blinders!]
Vermont passed what practically amounts to universal healthcare (goal is 96% coverage) this year.
I'd like to rent a room in your house, please.
watertiger
CT and MA are also on the verge on universal healthcare...most the dem candidates are running with it on their platform - go newengland!
i'm sorry ql, but this is a topic near and dear to my heart. i won't go into the details, but i'm about a inch away from homelessness myself, thanks to being bankrupted by my ex, my field being destroyed by bush's war, crushing student loans that i can't escape, and persistant underemployment thanks to republican budget priorities that divert money for education to the war machine, which i happened to be qualified to work in at a very high paying rate but i can't because i'm queer.
so fuck moralizing know it alls who come here and presume to lecture us or anyone else about "bad choices." i didn't ask for or deserve any of the shit that put me into this situation, but i'm certainly not going to be lectured about it by morons who don't have the first clue about what is at issue.
Next maybe Karla can lecture us on how real feminists aren't pretty with nice boobs.
NTodd,
yuppers. That was the story that got my blood boiling this morning. What the fuck. Can't be pretty and well rounded (and proud of it) and a feminist too.
BTW - Just so you know. WT and I are now an item. We're dating.
CT and MA are also on the verge on universal healthcare
(gives thanks for Mass citizenship)
Illinois is not the first. NJ has free health insurance for children whose parents have low or no income. Your assets don't weigh into it, so if you are a middle class homeowner who has no income due to job loss, you can get your kids in the program.
It's called NJ FamilyCare
Does it really cost $17,000 to have a baby in the hospital these days? Surely, there must have been complications involved with this pregnancy.
BTW - Just so you know. WT and I are now an item. We're dating.
ql in ny
Well, it's seems I sucked at being a chaperone.
Pope Ratzi seems to have plenty of Gold around, doesn't he?
mer - I'm pretty sure it can cost that for a complication-free delivery.
OT: Sarkozy pension initiative provokes rail strike threat
French rail unions are planning to strike next month against a pensions reform suggested by one of the leading candidates in next year's presidential elections.
The "pre-emptive strike" - or industrial action against a proposal not yet made - has become a regular weapon in the armoury of unions in the French state sector in recent years. This is the first time, however, that unions have threatened to strike to influence a political campaign.
The issue at stake is a deeply sensitive one: the retirement and pension advantages enjoyed by railwaymen, state utility workers, and some other sectors of the work-force, including farmers, soldiers and MPs.
Karla, you know, the rich shouldn't be the only ones who are allowed to have houses and babies--not in my country. If the rich could just enslave the poor to work all the time and not have anything for themselves, I suspect you would be happy. That is what is happening. I hope you have the opportunity in your lifetime to lose your way of making a living and not have healthcare. You may be more aware at that time and you might become a real human being.
How old are you, Karla? Do you even have a fucking clue about life? I'd say it's pretty evident you don't know shit.
About halfway through "We The Living" I'd guess.
And "Atlas Shrugged" beckons from the night stand, but it's sooo big...
Isn't the federal program for child health care that Karin mentions the one the Texans wouldn't implement when W was Governor?
The other part, being irresponsible by having a child. I would hope that this country never reaches the point where we tell a pregnant woman that she should not have the child because she can't afford it. If we start doing that, we may as well pack up and move to China.
Shoot. 2 Tylenol cost me $18 in hospital. Anything goes!
way OT: I think I might of found a pretty good laptop to replace my old one - FUJITSU SIEMEN AMILO 7320G, only Ł399.
The problem is a person and their family can be responsible planners, and still have unforeseeable changes in the housing and work marketplace, destroy all of these careful plans. Making housing un-payable, and the job you thought (and all of your advisors thought) was a sure thing, so that all of your certifications, diplomas worthless. So yes people can find themselves in a financial hardplace through no fault of their own.
As to me being a "republican whore," I honestly think I'm the one here with a better appreciation of the priorities for the vast majority of American families. I have a niece who just bought a $110,000 home near Albany, NY. Its a small, hundred year old house. She has 2 small children; its a one income family. The most important thing they can do for their children is to NOT live beyond their means so that the family has the stability of staying in that home.
But, thats how people with their heads screwed on right always think and they don't have to have genius IQs to know that.
As to health insurance, if the Democrats take over both houses of Congress and the Presidency, there will be no magic wand waved to institute universal single payer healthcare. A realistic person looks at the history and the practicalities and thats just how it is. Incremental progress but a very long ways to go before theres a single payer healthcare system in the US. Theres no point in just being angry about it.
plantsman, it's a NJ state program, not federal. As is NJ's low cost prescription drug program for seniors.
About halfway through "We The Living" I'd guess.
And "Atlas Shrugged" beckons from the night stand, but it's sooo big...
Very well said, driftglass!
This story reminds me so much of Michael Moores movie Bowling for Columbine.
The scene where the 6 year old boy shoots and kills a classmate with a hand gun. People wanted to prosecute the 6 year old as an adult. People knew just what kind of deadbeat low life the single mother was.
Then Moore reveals that she had been kicked off the welfare rolls with the new welfare to work program in her state. The end result was she was working two jobs at a mall, she rode a bus two hours each way to work and because of that she was not around her child much of the time.
Then it gets worse, she loses her home because even though she is working two jobs she cannot afford rent so she has to move in with her brother, who unknown to her has a hand gun in his bedroom. Which the child finds when no one is around and takes to school and kills a little girl with.
The mother played by the rules, worked her ass off and lost everything. So many people were terribly affected in this long string of events that could have been avoided if such heartless, compassionless legislation was not passed and put into law.
FUJITSU SIEMEN AMILO 7320G, only Ł399.
Moonbootica, Opera Buff
Buy British.
Moonbatica, the leninolgy pope-shits-in-the-woods post was a keyboard wrecker!
"Dear Everyone, what the fuck do I know about reason and religious tolerance? I'm sitting on a mountain of unholy riches accrued through global conquests, and I'm still raking it in from worshippers all over the world thanks to European colonialism. ... We failed every moral test from the Nazi holocaust to AIDS, and now we're going to fuck it up again. Seriously, ... Contritely Yours, the Pope."
Have we had a troll point out that the freedom of choice, and freedom from government coercion enjoyed by the Stewarts far exceeds any temporary money problems they have?
I would be dissapointed if it hasnt't.
I likes my beer cold and my nonsense arrant...
"This is the first time, however, that unions have threatened to strike to influence a political campaign."
May the Goddess bless them. Here in murika the people think unions are the tool of the Stalinist Communist Party. (Dum Fuckers)
BTW - Just so you know. WT and I are now an item. We're dating.
ql in ny
and while i don't date, i am helping out with the more complicated stuff. ladies, it's time for our next lesson. shall we use the ben wa balls or the showerhead this time?
/is it too early for pr0n?/
Current debate on Fux News -- since oil prices are down, do oil companies need more tax breaks?
The reason so many states have gotten on the "let's insure all the kids" bandwagon is that it's a good campaign slogan for politicians. They love to be able to say "look what we've done for the kids!"
The problem is, a health care crisis for the parents is far more threatening to the family than a health care crisis faced by one of the kids. If Dad gets sick and has no insurance (or in most families, if Mom does), EVERYTHING is immediately at stake, because not only is there the health crisis to deal with, there's the loss of half or all of the family income.
So we provide coverage to the one group that allows the politicians the most warm-n-fuzzy mileage, rather than the group for which health care is most important.
The other part, being irresponsible by having a child.
It is funny that a significant component of Karla's argument is once again about restricting somebody's decisions re: reproduction.
I honestly think I'm the one here with a better appreciation of the priorities for the vast majority of American families.
Then you are honestly wrong.
The problem is a person and their family can be responsible planners, and still have unforeseeable changes in the housing and work marketplace, destroy all of these careful plans.
Yeah, but modern Conservatives just don't believe that which is why it's pointless to talk to them. They have a very Old Testament view of the world: Perform every single ritual and sacrifice perfectly every single time and God will not punish you.
So if you fail, you must have doen something -- even some tiny thing -- wrong and therefore deserve God's wrath. So fuck off and die quietly sinner.
Call the eugenecists! We've found Karla, the Uebermensch!
/is it too early for pr0n?/
It is never too early...
"Theres no point in just being angry about it."
You must be kidding. I have to wonder what makes you angry???I'll bet I know--paying out good money in taxes for poor people.
Something wrong with you.
I honestly think I'm the one here with a better appreciation of the priorities for the vast majority of American families.
Hardly. Maybe in bubbleville, but that's about it.
Moonbatica, the leninolgy pope-shits-in-the-woods post was a keyboard wrecker!
True dat!
To be honest, I'm not sure if Muslims should be protesting or rolling on the floor laughing at this guy talking about 'reason'. He believes a wafer and Ribena transubstantiates in the Eucharist into the body of Christ. The fuck does he know about reason? Yes, Catholicism for Enlightenment! Bring back Giordano Bruno and Francis Bacon, all is forgiven!
CT and MA are also on the verge on universal healthcare
(gives thanks for Mass citizenship)
BlakNo1
As do I, BlakNo1, every single day.
Sounds like this guy bought the optimistic crap about being able to own a mansion and raise a family on a good salary with little trouble--the American Dream, the same dream a lot of people are told is very achievable with just some elbow grease and a willingness to work.
It's untrue, and a lot of the people who understand this tend to be angry, manipulative, selfish, or some combination thereof. The posters in some of the threads attached to this story are examples of this viciously individualist mindset.
Anthony made a bad gamble by not picking up some kind of health insurance, but I suspect he is one of several million people who had no real financial education and has been muddling along like a lot of other people. The struggles of the working class are now creeping upward, and I suspect this kind of story is far more widespread than anyone is willing to admit.
As to universal health insurance, it's interesting that several states and cities are progressing towards doing this while the feds are not. It must be possible, except that the US is lacking the heart and will to do this on a national scale.
The mother played by the rules, worked her ass off and lost everything. So many people were terribly affected in this long string of events that could have been avoided if such heartless, compassionless legislation was not passed and put into law.
Oh, but 90s "welfare reform" was a good thing!!![/totalsarcasm] Hooray for the end of the "era of big government"!!!
execute the DLC
no, really. you'll feel that way.
Financial tip - invest in St. Joseph statuary.
“Spurred by slower sales, homeowners and their Realtors are turning to a Roman Catholic tradition of burying a small statue of St. Joseph in yards of properties for sale.”
Sudan and lurid morality tales for young imperialists.
As do I, BlakNo1, every single day.
I'm crossing my fingers for a good outcome this Tuesday. Anyone but Reilly!!
Welcome to the club, Andy and Kerry. Too damn bad you couldn't just go Chapter 7 like me, Enron and the airlines.
Michel Bauwens: P2P as Organizing Principle for the Physical Economy?
David Sirota:
Want to Know Why Joe Is On the Ropes? Read On.
The Lieberman campaign today issued a hysterical screed saying that Joe’s missing more than 300 Senate votes is “relatively small number of votes” to miss, despite the fact that such a whopping number puts him among the Congresses most absent members, and gives him an attendance record that’s worse than what he vehemently critcized in his original run for the U.S. Senate in 1988. Also funny in the Lieberman screed is the fact that they come right out and are forced to acknowledge that Lieberman was holding an event for himself to granstand about how he supposedly brings money back to Connecticut at the very same time he was skipping a tie-breaking vote that could have brought back tens of millions of dollars of homeland security funding to Connecticut. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when they went on record trying to spin his absence on this crucial tie-breaking vote as some sort of virtuous act of self-sacrifice. Right, because a career politician holding a press conference to pat himself on the back is really such hard work…
OMG - this is how it's done! Kudos, David Sirota!! (read the whole piece and links, too!!)
"Does it really cost $17,000 to have a baby in the hospital these days? Surely, there must have been complications involved with this pregnancy."
I was in the hospital twice last year for three days each. Just the hospital bill alone for each stay was over $50 thousand dollars. Nobody can afford medical care in this country.
So, Moonbootica, is that laptop soon to be yours, or is it more of a wish?
The outrages and obscenities continue on an hourly basis these days.
We already have (or had, the Republicans are fucking it up) a single-payer health plan that was the envy of the world.
Medicare.
All they had to do was drop the "over 65" rule and it would have worked for everybody.
But now with the prescription plan that Bushito put in with the help of "Doctor" Frist it's all fucked up.
Call the eugenecists! We've found Karla, the Uebermensch!
plantsman, lowercase
Don't know about mensch, but Übermiskayt, Übershlemil, or Übermeshugine could work, though.
[Oh, now I'm just being nasty. I've gotta schlep outta here.]
plantsman, lowercase | Homepage | 09.16.06 - 10:54 am | #
well i hope so, cause it cheaper than fixing my current one (the chassi needs to be completly replaced along with the casting round the TV screen and that can cost up to and beyond Ł700).
my dad is away in France at the moment, so if he rings today I shall bring this up.
Here is one very small bit of progress, the pope eating crow.
"Pope 'sorry' for offence to Islam
Pope Benedict XVI in Freising, southern Germany
The Vatican said the Pope's remarks had been misinterpreted
Pope Benedict XVI has said he is sorry that a speech in which he referred to Islam has offended Muslims."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europ...ope/
5351988.stm
"Does it really cost $17,000 to have a baby in the hospital these days? Surely, there must have been complications involved with this pregnancy."
...and many hospitals are 'non-profit' - here in the insurance state, i see many mcmansions in the towns surrounding cigna and the hartford and aetna and travellers...hmmm - who is making the money?
my dad is away in France at the moment, so if he rings today I shall bring this up.
Good Luck!
"We already have (or had, the Republicans are fucking it up) a single-payer health plan that was the envy of the world.
Medicare."
Yes, I guess you have read that they are planning to increase the cost about 30 percent.
OT: After a quiet first year as pontiff, God's Rottweiler shows his teeth
Pope believes his church should take tougher line on Islam
The anniversary of Pope Benedict's election in the spring focused a question that had been forming in the minds of Vatican-watchers throughout his first 12 months: "What happened to God's Rottweiler?"
As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - the Vatican ministry that once ran the Inquisition - Joseph Ratzinger had done a fine job for Pope John Paul of intimidating the thinkers of the Roman Catholic church into sullen conformity.
But since he emerged on to the balcony of St Peter's basilica after his election in April 2005, the guard dog seemed to have become a pussycat - a benign old gent with a harmless taste for anachronistic headgear and a habit of boring his audiences with abstruse theological discourse.
The German commentator Wolfgang Cooper had cautioned before Benedict's election that the new Pope was an academic who "prefers intellectual discussions". And, indeed, by the time the papal jet touched down near Munich last Saturday, Karol Wojtyla's snappy soundbites were no more than a fond recollection in the collective memory of the Vatican press corps.
Good Lord another one. I recently came out of bankruptcy. It was the hardest thing to do. I try. But I lost a job that paid me 6k a year more than this one and it affected our family. My husband is 100% disabled, so my income is it. I lost my home to foreclosure last year. One of my husband's extended illnesses lasted about 2 years. Those two years about killed us. Thank goodness the kids have all grown and left the house or we'd really be in trouble. I work full time, play by the rules, have no felonies, DWI's and such. Why does this have to happen to us?
I shudder at thinking about the Million Dollar McMansions and the adjustable rate mortgages they might have. Heh Heh Heh!
Does one of those umbrella policies you can buy to attach onto your homeowner's insurance cover such a situation? They are only about $300-500 per year and provide a million dollars. Do you have to maintain primary health coverage as well for them to work?
Wow, Colin Powell, finally found his balls.
"Bush fights rebels over tribunals
The measures are vital tools to protect the US, the president says
US President George W Bush has urged Congress to back his proposals on the treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Mr Bush told reporters at a hastily arranged press conference that his controversial plans were essential for the protection of the United States.
He was speaking a day after four key Republican senators rebelled, backing an alternative draft proposal.
The dispute centres on what evidence against them detainees can see and what interrogation methods are allowed.
The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that Mr Bush did not by himself have the authority to order detainees tried by military tribunal, as the administration had been planning.
The June verdict forced the White House to press Congress to pass a law governing the proposed trials.
But the Bush proposal has run into resistance from several top members of his own party, including ex-Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Mr Powell said in a letter made public on Thursday that the proposed
changes could put US troops at risk. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ameri...cas/
5350270.stm
"Pope believes his church should take tougher line on Islam"
Dumbass!!
Hi W00t!
Why does this have to happen to us?
Prevailing Conservative theory is that you must be a bad person.
I suspect he is one of several million people who had no real financial education and has been muddling along like a lot of other people.
If people did have more financial savvy, they'd figure out how the Resmuglicans were out to fuck the middle class.
Colin Powell finally found his balls:
"Bush fights rebels over tribunals George W Bush
The measures are vital tools to protect the US, the president says US President George W Bush has urged Congress to back his proposals on the treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees. Mr Bush told reporters at a hastily arranged press conference that his controversial plans were essential for the protection of the United States.He was speaking a day after four key Republican senators rebelled, backing an alternative draft proposal. The dispute centres on what evidence against them detainees can see and what interrogation methods are allowed. The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that Mr Bush did not by himself have the authority to order detainees tried by military tribunal, as the administration had been planning. The June verdict forced the White House to press Congress to pass a law governing the proposed trials. But the Bush proposal has run into resistance from several top members of his own party, including ex-Secretary of State Colin Powell. Mr Powell said in a letter made public on Thursday that the proposed changes could put US troops at risk."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ameri...cas/
5350270.stm
wŇÓ†!
"Why does this have to happen to us?"
Obviously you are irresponsible.
Unfortunately now nobody can go into bankruptcy except corporate crooks.
"Pope believes his church should take tougher line on Islam"
Battle of Tours II: This Time It's New-Cue-Ler!
Rasmussen has W down another point today. Such a bounce!
Are there ANY Democrats left at the Democratic Leadership Council? First Lieberman, now THIS:
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has always denied it, but CBS 2 has learned the details of a secret meeting, involving the mayor, to discuss a possible run for the White House. […]
CBS 2 has learned the details of a private dinner for the mayor that was held at an apartment building on Manhattan's Upper East Side last month. There, he spent the evening in serious discussions about the viability of a White House run.
Sources told CBS 2 Bloomberg brought three deputy mayors with him, and proceeded to talk through every angle of a presidential run. By the end, the group had zeroed in on his running as an independent in 2008. And, the sources said, he seemed intrigued.
The dinner was held at the home of Michael Steinhardt, a legendary Wall Street hedge fund manager and a Bloomberg friend. He brought along Al From, head of the Democratic Leadership Council, which played a part in Bill Clinton's rise to power in 1992.
Sources said the man who put Bloomberg together with Steinhardt and From was New York City Schools Commissioner Joel Klein.
execute the DLC
no, really. you'll feel that way.
chicago dyke
Bloomberg has as much chance of becoming president as I do.
The labels I learned in school were, wrong, it seems, like Republicans being for states' rights, with states being the "laboratories" for new ideas. Now it's Democratic states implementing health coverage and carbon taxes, ideas that really make the most sense being done on the federal level but can't wait for a regime change.
Spain buys up coast to halt concrete creep
Spain's socialist government has begun protecting vulnerable spots on the country's overdeveloped coastline, by forcing owners to sell threatened land to the state at market prices.
In a move that imitates the purchase of Amazon rainforest and other threatened areas by charities, the government is issuing expropriation orders while negotiating prices with 50 landowners on Spain's concrete-threatened coast. A fighting fund of €60m (Ł40m) has been set aside, which the government hopes to use to buy 8,000 hectares (19,800 acres) of land. Among the first areas to be bought is a campsite on cliffs above a pristine beach in the northern region of Asturias.
Spain buys up coast to halt concrete creep
Spain's socialist government has begun protecting vulnerable spots on the country's overdeveloped coastline, by forcing owners to sell threatened land to the state at market prices.
In a move that imitates the purchase of Amazon rainforest and other threatened areas by charities, the government is issuing expropriation orders while negotiating prices with 50 landowners on Spain's concrete-threatened coast. A fighting fund of €60m (Ł40m) has been set aside, which the government hopes to use to buy 8,000 hectares (19,800 acres) of land. Among the first areas to be bought is a campsite on cliffs above a pristine beach in the northern region of Asturias.
Bloomberg's voice alone is intolerable.
The dinner was held at the home of Michael Steinhardt, a legendary Wall Street hedge fund manager and a Bloomberg friend. He brought along Al From, head of the Democratic Leadership Council, which played a part in Bill Clinton's rise to power in 1992.
And people wonder why some view both major parties as interchangeable.
I see dumb people.
On a certain level people being trapped in debt was a goal to be achieved, and now it has been. Last years bankruptsy bill was the exclaimation point. This is the culmination of 30 plus years of effort by the financial elites. Walter Wristin, perhaps the most important figure in modern finance said it best, "Our goal isn't to help our clients save more. Our goal is to help them spend more.
It is underappreciated that the explosion of credit, and its obverse, debt, is the result of computer and communication technology. The trading of debt and perhaps more importantly debt derivatives has sprung from technology. So far it appears there is no limit to the amount of credit the system can generate.
Things which would have been impossible two decades ago now happen without comment. Last months US trade deficit was $68 billion. The national savings rate is now negative 1.5% So what? What matters is that liquidity in the financial sphere is abundant. Spreads on junky credit are ultra low. Equities are boyant. Trillions of dollars are being pooled to take public companies private.
Everyone knows that if there is a crisis the Fed will bail us out of it. Meanwhile new debt slaves are minted evey day.
chicago dyke -
right on target - except that (living in Maine) I know that you don't have to be a person of color to be stuck, economically. But - if you are white, and that poor, you are suspected of being "trash". Of course you can always get some kind of high-interest credit in order to live (and have health problems) beyond your means. So that's all your fault as well, as new bankruptcy laws will remind you.
I was talking with a friend the other day about social injustice and said, recalling the power of his words and his presence, we need someone like Martin Luther King, Jr. He wasn't a politician, she reminded me. Then I remembered -not only that - he was an actual "Christian". Wow, those were the days...
How did that whole civil rights thing get going, anyway? We need a similar movement for justice at this time.
This thread still going on?
I'm off to take pics of the rooster. Can't wait to post them,
Sad to say, the old farmers market is winding down. Very few cucumbers this week. The corn is tough. Cantelope is gone. And no blackberries! *Sniff.
Still lots of other good stuff. I walked away with produce for the week for under $ 20. Not bad, not bad at all.
" I would have blown off the hospital, offered to pay them $100 a month forever, but that's just me."
They would take you in front of the judge and he could tell you that you need to give them your IRA, inheritance, property and anything else you have. I don't think they mess around with $100 a month anymore.
I see dumb people.
I see uneducated people.
right on target - except that (living in Maine) I know that you don't have to be a person of color to be stuck, economically.
Indeed, I grew up on Section 8 in a single-parent home and I'm as pasty as it gets.
...But...but, our local rag says inflation is under control, no recession
consumer confidence is up, fuel prices are down, and surely the Dow will set a new alltime high just prior to the election?
Hi Vicki! Can't wait to see those rooster shots!
if anybody out there can contact WGG or GWPDA this am, could you please tell them I sent email to WGG giving him my cell phone number so we could meet up at the state fair today?
I'm about to drive a friend down to the airport, and was planning to head on over to the state fair, but haven't been able to be in on the pre-planning due to crappy computer connections and a whirlwind month of work and play.
I just didn't want to miss GWPDA buying a dozen types of green chile preparations in the Made in New Mexico pavillion. or the sheep to shawl exhibit.
thanks
I see people who have never posted here before tossing out the typical libertarian litany of bullshit.
local rag says...
Who owns it?
Hi plantsman!
Time to go shoot me some cock!
I'll be back later, with promises of cock and bull (dog).
Heh.
Methodist Ladies Pies! Wish I could be there in NM too!
...and many hospitals are 'non-profit' - here in the insurance state, i see many mcmansions in the towns surrounding cigna and the hartford and aetna and travellers...hmmm - who is making the money?
mogwai | 09.16.06 - 10:58 am | #
If, by "nonprofit" you mean "hemmorhaging money at an alarming rate," you're exactly right.
I can't believe the commenters in this thread who find reasons to second-guess the Stewart's situation. What mindless, ignorant, empathy-disabled cretins. What bloody, stupid, yuppie wankers.
The fact is, we live in Ratfuck Natiion. I'm 61 and haven't had health insurance for six years. It can be done, but it's a gamble. I also don't own a home and have outrageous credit card debt from the last few years of chaos. Go ahead and criticize ME, I dare you. But don't go looking for sympathy when the Clampdown falls on you.
Actually, I'd probably give you some. I'm just an old softie. But please try to rise above your feelings and understand that we're ALL GUILTY for enabling this mess!!! Everyone who sat by happy and complacent while their housing "investments" grew without insisting on societal changes that spread the wealth is part of the problem, not the solution. We're all together in this sinking boat, and we ought to act like it.
anya- i didn't mean to imply that white people aren't among the ranks of the poor. sorry if i did. in fact, iirc, there are more white folks on welfare than any other racial group.
i grew up in the country, we were the only black family in the county, and i know rural poor. it's only that recently i've been an urban dweller, and poverty + racism, forgive me for saying, makes it worse for minorities who are impoverished. but not by much these days, i recently saw the county of my birth and it looks like a third world country in some places, and with meth sweeping the land, as dangerous and gang controlled as any urban hood.
Time to go shoot me some cock!
Vicki
And I thought Lorena Bobbitt was mean.
No wonder you're not gettin' any
It must cost a lot to heat and light a McMansion. I'm glad I studied Wright and the Usonian movement in college.
It is underappreciated that the explosion of credit, and its obverse, debt, is the result of computer and communication technology. The trading of debt and perhaps more importantly debt derivatives has sprung from technology. So far it appears there is no limit to the amount of credit the system can generate.
And it is all artificial--we dreamed up all of this credit, all of these money-moving schemes. The only real things around are the resources being pulled out of the ground, and the ground itself we live on and grow food from. Everything else is made up, given value by sheer will.
Just as some people are telling this guy that a house is just a house, this system is just a system--we built it, and we can change it if it's not working.
I was talking with a friend the other day about social injustice and said, recalling the power of his words and his presence, we need someone like Martin Luther King, Jr.
Indeed, the final 3 years of MLKjr.'s life are rarely discussed, because he moved from a race analysis to a class analysis. He started talking about a project to start a tent city on the Washington Mall as part of a social justice campaign.
"Our goal isn't to help our clients save more. Our goal is to help them spend more.
"
Like aphids being stroked by ants.
I signed my first fixed rate at 9.5% and closed at 13%, in 1983 of the Reagan Reaction and ranch dressing revolution..
Asturas? Gods, that's a beautiful part of Spain, my favorite so far...
they even have their own speicies of bagpipes.
think I'll just hang around the pie ladies or the sheep to shawl building and see if I can spot em.
have a good one folks!
later tonight, I so want to talk about feminists with breasts and the women who hate them.
"Our goal isn't to help our clients save more. Our goal is to help them spend more.
"
Like aphids being "milked" by ants.
Rasmussen has W down another point today. Such a bounce!
plantsman, lowercase
probably taken before yesterday's performance, too! He's freaking out that he'll be charge with human rights violations - he and rummy and abu gonzales should have thought about that before they started they OK'd their shameful "interrogation" practices. Rummy was consulted on some of the torture during the interrogation - he should be charged for war crimes.
I'd love to see this:
from billmon's archives
Indeed, the final 3 years of MLKjr.'s life are rarely discussed, because he moved from a race analysis to a class analysis.
That, and he came out against the war, part in parcel of his social justice ideas.
forgive me for saying, makes it worse for minorities who are impoverished.
Amazing to me that this even needs to be stated. Times have changed somewhat, but not a whole bunch. last hired, first fired.
I've been waiting for Maureen Dowd to get into Bushworld form. She finally did it, with Awake and Scream.
Lee Siegel, one more time.
That's why the call them mortgages, loans on drop-dead terms. Usury.
wŇÓ†
That is terrible!
Juan del Llano
Excellent post. You hit it dead nuts on.
ciao for now
What's wrong is that he did it as a commentator on himself, using it to launch personal attacks on his named critics (see how Ezra Klein got dragged into it, for example). But he goes on --
BINGO!
Maybe the answer to our problems is to take every CEO on the planet and make them live on a Fry Cook's salary for a year.
And those major stock holders the CEO is so beholden to, well, let them spend a year doing day labor.
ciao, Moonbootica!
I'm childless, and have never faced the question-- except for an ugly incident, many moons ago, when the girl I was seeing claimed to be pregnant, then claimed to have had an abortion and/or miscarriage. It turned out to be a ploy to test my emotional commitment.
However, apart from Karla's economic perspective, I'm curious about the suggestion by ql and NTodd that the decision to reproduce shouldn't be subject to financial calculation, or constrained by financial considerations.
This pushes my childless, and possibly misanthropic, buttons. A while back, I visited a progressive Christian organization that is about as far from Amerikan fundamentalism as it gets. But when the speaker turned to the subject of families, he offered the traditional Catholic perspective: children are God's gift and God's delight-- a blessing; don't deny or artificially prevent an act of love from producing a child out of selfish fear or worry that one can't "afford" a child economically; the blessing of progeny will always prevail over the quotidian concerns of resources: in short, "God" really will provide.
This was linked to the familiar ethic of the superior virtues of being poor but happy, as opposed to rich in material possessions but sterile, etc.
Everyone has gotten understandably exasperated with Karla's Judge Judy-style proclamations, but I have a problem with the notion of reproducing first, and asking questions later.
(And if there's a new thread, I shall shriek like a deranged loon and repost...)
Will Bill Ford be staked down, naked and covered with honey, on a nest of Fire Ants; for his malfeasance at Ford? Hell, no.
His is among the heart- rending stories being told often in Colorado these days. Good-intentioned people are unwittingly getting in over their heads with home mortgages or they're outright being fleeced by the unscrupulous at mortgage-signing time.
Seems to me this was the money graf of the story. In the case of the Stewarts it looks like a combination of the two factors.
Ntodd--
Turn on Playhouse Disney RIGHT FUCKING NOW.
The Little Einsteins are flying through Vermont!
I can see your house.
HICA!
.
Catholic perspective: children are God's gift and God's delight-- a blessing; don't deny or artificially prevent an act of love from producing a child out of selfish fear or worry that one can't "afford" a child economically; the blessing of progeny will always prevail over the quotidian concerns of resources: in short, "God" really will provide.
Yeah. Just ask Frank McCourt's mother.
Sorry, late to the party -- catching up on threads.
I'm a little surprised that Franken would take Lanny Davis to task on that stuff. Franken seems very plugged in with those sorts of people.
Anyway, kudos to Franken.
"Pope believes his church should take tougher line on Islam"
Battle of Tours II: This Time It's New-Cue-Ler!
Paging Charles Martel
Everyone has gotten understandably exasperated with Karla's Judge Judy-style proclamations, but I have a problem with the notion of reproducing first, and asking questions later.
Karla's profession of familial infallibility is what made me retch. Our society teaches many that
"God will provide" so damn the torpedoes, let's make love. And people do not receive financial education as part of a standard curiculum, when it is a life necessity.
"Will Bill Ford be staked down, naked and covered with honey, on a nest of Fire Ants; for his malfeasance at Ford? Hell, no.
plantsman, lowercase"
Well, it would be an attention grabber. I know that some CEO's and similar are good people and do fine work, but this culture over the last twenty years or so has moved the position from a cog in the company to a stance of royalty. And considering the track record of so many of the golden wonders, why do we place such weight and consideration on them?
Aw, shit. Now the Little Einsteins are flying through Mexico.
Odd - the press is spinning the trenches in Baghdad as "defensive security". Bullshit. They are getting ready for the big civil war. Trench warfare coming soon ...
wŇÓ†: Aw, shit. Now the Little Einsteins are flying through Mexico.
I feel like I just beamed off the starship, myself.
.
Odd - the press is spinning the trenches in Baghdad as "defensive security". Bullshit. They are getting ready for the big civil war. Trench warfare coming soon ...
Funny, I saw a headline somewhere this morning that the US had "Forbidden" the trenches.
Stewart should have done like this guy. Would have cut down on a lotof the cost
I note with interest that Karla never bothered responding to my observation that she's a tool who's already paying for health care for the uninsured.
but I have a problem with the notion of reproducing first, and asking questions later.
Two points. At certain stages of my life I wanted a baby more than anything else in the world. Humans are kind of hard wired, especially women, to want babies.
Secondly, mistakes happen. while money is a consideration, it should never be the only reason for aborting.
plantsman: Funny, I saw a headline somewhere this morning that the US had "Forbidden" the trenches.
Mmmmmmm... forbidden trenches... argrghgh [salivating, Homer-style]
"Trench warfare coming soon ..."
Nonsense. It is obvious that they are planning to fill the trenches with a flammable liquid and when things are the bleakest they will ignite it to repel the attacking barbarians.
Doesn't anyone ever watch old movies anymore?
I note with interest that Karla never bothered responding to my observation that she's a tool who's already paying for health care for the uninsured.
Don't bother her: she's busy working on her Four Year Plan whilst snacking on tofu.
Nonsense. It is obvious that they are planning to fill the trenches with a flammable liquid and when things are the bleakest they will ignite it to repel the attacking barbarians.
There are no more Amirites.
Who is Karla, more importantly, why do I care?
It is obvious that they are planning to fill the trenches with a flammable liquid and when things are the bleakest they will ignite it to repel the attacking barbarians.
Didn't they do this as US Forces approached Baghdad?
NTodd: Don't bother her: she's busy working on her Four Year Plan whilst snacking on tofu.
How's her forbidden-ditch digging?
.
Somewhere Richard Nixon puts down his pitchfork and coal shovel and smiles
Just for JP:
Eat Pussy. Not Spinach.
******KARMA ALERT******
Dog chews passport of dragon lady US Attorney that prosecuted Tommy Chong stranding her in Europe.
http://post-gazette.com/pg/06259...9/722361-
85.stm
Hee. Hee. Hee.
Didn't they do this as US Forces approached Baghdad?
No, they didn't. There was speculation that they would. Either that or set the oil wells on fire. Never happened.
I'm waiting for the argument that digging ditches around Baghdad is a good sign.
The IRS is investigating whether All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena violated the federal tax code when its former rector, Rev. George F. Regas, delivered an anti-war sermon on the eve of the last presidential election.
What about all those fundy churches that handed out lists of whom to vote for?
"However, apart from Karla's economic perspective, I'm curious about the suggestion by ql and NTodd that the decision to reproduce shouldn't be subject to financial calculation, or constrained by financial considerations.
This pushes my childless, and possibly misanthropic, buttons."
amen.
"I'm waiting for the argument that digging ditches around Baghdad is a good sign.
Rmj"
The economy is booming, it creates jobs, people will have money to spend, the middle class will rise again.
Good enough?
Karin, not to quibble, but I'm certain I remember firey oil-filled trenches emitting black smoke early in the war. Anyone?
Nonsense. It is obvious that they are planning to fill the trenches with a flammable liquid [...]
Actually, they will transport innocuous liquids and gels to the location, and transform them into powerful explosives in the trenches.
This is the same technology that was perfected for use by terrorists to create explosives in aircraft lavatories, writ large! And here we fleered and scorned the US/GB hegemony when it sought to suppress this vile and infamous engine of destruction!
plantsman: Eat Pussy. Not Spinach.
That's been my long-standing policy, yes. Unfortunately, both have been off the menu far too long...
.
"God will provide" so damn the torpedoes, let's make love. And people do not receive financial education as part of a standard curiculum, when it is a life necessity.
plantsman, lowercase
What? And have them lose faith in God? Or worse yet, realize how badly they're getting screwed?
Financial education, indeed! All they need to know is: "Free market good! Socialism bad!"
Anything else just encourages the terrorists.
"oil-filled trenches emitting black smoke early in the war. Anyone?"
Actually, you know, I sort of remember that in a vague way too.
The economy is booming, it creates jobs, people will have money to spend, the middle class will rise again.
Good enough?
EkCenTriK
Because everyone can afford a shovel, and they all have labor to perform!
Hey! Presto!
Good morning, all -- Kurt Vonnegut, who may be the last sane man standing, is using his puckered asshole asterick as a personalized postage stamp these days. Just thought I'd pass that on . . .
"Because everyone can afford a shovel, and they all have labor to perform!
Hey! Presto!
Rmj, Street Credentialed "
My god, the Bush administration hasn't snapped you up yet?
Rmj: Hey! Presto!
Yes?
.
Registered nurses are in pitifully short supply these days, are delegated ever more responsibilities, and are well paid. Nursing schools with direct passage into employment might be a good idea, too.
"The upside is, there is no way to export a nursing job to Indonesia so eventually economic pressure will make them bend."
Well-paid? Sorry, i am an RN, admittedly in a low economy area, and my after tax net is about $24K/year. ( That ought to startle some of the lawyers on this board.) Nursing school grads do have jobs waiting when they get out, and said jobs burn them out and gone from the start. Much of the shortage is from the fact that the nurses burn out or move away from direct patient care to survive. The responsibility part is true.
And, there may be no way to export the nursing job, but the import of nurses is going on daily. The Phillipines is the #1 source right now.
when the little nursing students come through, i always ask them "Have you ever considered prostitution? The pay's better, you set your own hours, and you get enormously more respect." They always laugh at my foolishness - never dreaming that i'm dead serious in all particulars......
-
Then again, the ditches in Fallujah were for mass graves.
Thanks, ql.
I do understand that life isn't an exact science.
And now, must tear myself away for breffix. Back shortly.
I'm certain I remember firey oil-filled trenches emitting black smoke early in the war. Anyone?
Those were not so much obstacles as smoke screens from aerial vehicles.
I want to know when those creepy bat-wing guys are going to show up outside the flaming trench and skeletonize the guerillas.
"I want to know when those creepy bat-wing guys are going to show up outside the flaming trench and skeletonize the guerillas.
wŇÓ†"
Beast Master right?
Kurt Vonnegut has nothing on this guy
The trenches are being spun as "defense against suicide bombers" by creating security choke points where everyone will be checked - hence a good thing in the view of the press.
Ohmygod, wŇÓ†, that's genius!
I'm waiting for the argument that digging ditches around Baghdad is a good sign.
Because of we don't build them there, we'll have to build them here.
Here is the WaPo trenches are good news article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
wp...6091501232.html
I'm waiting for the argument that digging ditches around Baghdad is a good sign.
The Iraqi Army will dig up as soon as we dig down.
Or something.
I'm waiting for the argument that digging ditches around Baghdad is a good sign.
good place to throw all the dead bodies
Think i said this last night: the entrenching of Baghdad is the return of the Vietnam era 'Firebase' plan, where the military tries to reduce casualties from the insurgents by withdrawing to fortified, vetted areas. It does create more security inside the wire - and concedes all the country outside the wire as "Indian Country". It is a siege mentality that indicates you're losing and trying to hang on. See any good Vietnam histories to learn more.
-
I'm waiting for the argument that digging ditches around Baghdad is a good sign.
Rmj
About as sound an idea as building a double wall along the Mexican-US Border.
We will be doing both, to the tune of leventy-seven brazilian dollars per mile.
Trenches around Baghdad can't be good for Democrats this fall. Up next, more missing white women.
you know, I have a short term (6mo) insurance policy with BCBS for myself and son for $175 a month.
National Association of Self Employed
offers a really good policy that is tax deductible (including OTC meds) for very good rates. Check them out at www.nase.org
I got that old dienbein flu.
WMD = Weapons of Mass Ditches!
I'm waiting for the argument that digging ditches around Baghdad is a good sign.
Yes, it shows we're marching right back to 2GW, which is what SecDef Petain is much more comfortable with...
Wow. The comments look really odd in Firefox.
Sigh...When you create a choke point you create a perfect target for suicide bombers.
Beast Master right?
EkCenTriK
Hells yeah.
That movie kicks ass on so many levels.
For instance, we learned that two ferrets can pwn your ass even if you're a 20th-level evil cleric.
wŇÓ† -- Obscenely funny.
.
BTW, not to go back on topic or anything, but did anybody observe to Karla that if the Stewarts are the proverbial canary in the mine, that means not only will they be screwed by the bubble bursting, but so will our entire economy?
(I'm just too lazy to read the whole damned thread.)
The Big Dog pays his respects to Richards:
Click on Photo Gallery "Ann Richards remembered for more photos of Clinton and Richards' children escorting Richards' casket into the Rotunda.
http://www.statesman.com/hp/cont...page/
index.html
How are trenches around the city going to stop insurgent attacks and suicide bombings? There are 7 million Iraqis living in Baghdad, among them a lot of Sunni insurgents, members of the Mahdi army, Shia death squads, etc. Or are we going to throw them all out?
National Association of Self Employed
offers a really good policy
Second.
Next we hear a report of a Giant Wood Horse given to the city of Baghdad as a gift. Fox News will have a reporter covering the ceremony receiving the gift and Hannity will talk of the progress being made as exampled by this goodwill gesture from the insurgents.
Then Brad Pitt will make a horrible movie of the whole thing.
Sigh...When you create a choke point you create a perfect target for suicide bombers.
Clearly that's part of the plan...
I see people who have never posted here before tossing out the typical libertarian litany of bullshit.
Funny how that works, isn't it?
Sigh...When you create a choke point you create a perfect target for suicide bombers.
klyde
Shhh! We're hoping the terrarists won't figure that out.
Well, it's still morning here on the west coast... time for some Saturday Morning Cartoons!
"For instance, we learned that two ferrets can pwn your ass even if you're a 20th-level evil cleric.
wŇÓ†"
Shhh! We're hoping the terrarists won't figure that out.
Nonono! We're hoping they DO figger it out. See, more will flock to Baghdad, thus making it even easier to fight them over there than to fight them over here. It's brilliant!
I was in the hospital twice last year for three days each. Just the hospital bill alone for each stay was over $50 thousand dollars. Nobody can afford medical care in this country.
Oleander
50 grand each stay huh? What happened to the Hypocratic Oath "Thou shall do no harm to thy patient's bank account"?
Probably got lost in all the paperwork.
"It is a siege mentality that indicates you're losing and trying to hang on. See any good Vietnam histories to learn more."
Sure looks like it. I feel sorry for our troops and the general populace. They are now being locked into a meat grinder.
Damn! The Guardian had an article about lefty bloggers and their meeting with Clinton this week, and forgot to mention Eschaton! Link
Burning trenches in Iraq.
http://thumbsnap.com/v/ojhoefMW.jpg
And 1 or 2 corrupt 0r bribed patrols at a checkpoint lets all the munitions through anyway.
It's brilliant!
Of course! How silly of me! Now we know the real reason we invaded Iraq. It was to dig ditches around Baghdad!
and forgot to mention Eschaton!
They scart of this place!
Oh, sure, Curly -- be awake all damned morning, and the minute I sit in the one spot in the condo where I can get some radio reception, you want to sleep at my feet...! Damn you, cat!
.
i'd take a link to the trenches if anyone's got one.
I guess you're right, plantsman, there were some trenches set on fire, but not in the massive way that some people predicted.
Above, Chidy. WaPo article and photo link.
Brandy Ayers is a National Treasure
"Remember the world as it was on Sept. 10, 2001? A world of peace and prosperity, mostly hassle-free airports, a placid Middle East, where Saddam Hussein sulked in a Baghdad palace — his vision of Iraq dominating the Arab world stunted by America and her many friends.
That world seems scarcely recognizable today. From the moment we left Afghanistan behind and lunged pointlessly into Iraq, President Bush began to build a record of ineptitude, brick by brick — on a historic scale. He has done nothing right in the field of foreign and national security policies. He has offended old friends, put intolerable strains on our armed forces and NATO as well, and roiled the Middle East, spawning more terrorists.
Now Bush asks us to believe that the misbegotten war in Iraq is equivalent to the threat of Nazism in World War II. “The war we fight today is more than a military conflict,” he told an invited crowd in Salt Lake City. “It is the ideological struggle of the 21st century.” Add that to the list of explanations for invading Iraq unprovoked. First Iraq threatened the world with doomsday weapons — maybe nukes that the CIA couldn't find — then we were there to democratize the Middle East, now we're fighting to keep a tide of Islamic fascism from our shores. If we don't “stay the course” of fighting, dying, spending until the last terrorist dog dies in a Baghdad ditch, the president says, “we will face the terrorists in the streets of our own cities.”
This latest fantasy — terrorists marching down Broadway and Peachtree — is so absurd that Bush has lost the last stitch of credibility. He stands before us nakedly unbelievable. Public opinion now draws a clear line of distinction between the war in Iraq and the long, long struggle against terrorism, not on a battlefield but in the sewers of Europe and the caves of Pakistan.
Have you heard about the massive effort to prepare for the real fight against terrorism: urgent Islamic language schools for CIA agents and special-ops troops, and the vast regional program to change the curriculum of madrasas to prepare Arab youth for the modern world?
Neither have I.
That, and the list of Sept. 10 problems and possibilities sits there, untouched. Jobs, once plentiful, are now exported. Wages have stagnated, and millions lacking insurance dread the possibility of sickness.
There is a two-pronged war on terrorism to be planned and financed. And the whole Sept. 10 agenda is still there, awaiting attention of a new leadership that will inherit a gigantic debt."
plants reads my mind...
Damn! The Guardian had an article about lefty bloggers and their meeting with Clinton this week, and forgot to mention Eschaton! Link
Karin | Ho
i'm sure i wasn't the only person to notice the amazingly white nature of that little gathering.
"Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man."
-- Gen. George S. Patton
Well, the sun came out, so it's time for me to go.
Over a two-hour lunch of southern chicken, sweet potato fries, cornbread and cherry cake
Let's not forget to tell GWPDA what the bloggers had for their lunch with Clinton.
Those pics of Clinton Paying his repsects to Ann Richards were awesome.
*sigh*
Agreed, Karin. After the massive oil fires in Kuwait in Desert Storm, most anything seems puny.
ChiDyke:
Is this what you're looking for?
i'm sure i wasn't the only person to notice the amazingly white nature of that little gathering.
I did my part to keep the whitiness down by staying away.
And yet, no love.
chidyke-Atrios said yesterday that some bloggers of color were invited, but couldn't make it for one reason or another.
i'm sure i wasn't the only person to notice the amazingly white nature of that little gathering.
Do you think it was intentional?
i'd take a link to the trenches if anyone's got one.
chicago dyke
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news...-home-
headlines
Atrios said yesterday that some bloggers of color were invited, but couldn't make it for one reason or another.
Thanks.
I just returned from strolling the beaches in Asturias and Galicia. Astoundingly beautiful area. The Spanish government is carefully protecting this national treasure.
i'm sure i wasn't the only person to notice the amazingly white nature of that little gathering. chicago dyke
I really wish you had been there, if for no other reason than to enjoy your evisceration of Althouse when she criticized your breasts.
i>Those pics of Clinton Paying his repsects to Ann Richards were awesome.
The one of standing on the steps with just the four adult children tore me up- the emotion on all their faces as they look out of the frame and the way they are standing.
From jac's link:
The trench will be implemented in the third phase of the three-step security plan launched June 15 by the Iraqi government, he said. In the first phase, extra checkpoints were set up around the city, but the rate of killings only increased.
i'm sure i wasn't the only person to notice the amazingly white nature of that little gathering.
I did my part to keep the whitiness down by staying away.
And yet, no love.
driftglass
I got a call, but they said I was such a white, white man that they'd have to remove 5 white male bloggers from the list just to make up for me.
So I took the hint and declined the invitation.
The defensive plan would be a huge and difficult undertaking. Baghdad's circumference runs to roughly 100 miles, most reconstruction projects are languishing unfinished or not begun because of security concerns, and the government is still struggling to assert its authority in the capital.
Shortened periods of electrical power, little food and drinking water, but they have to build trenches which will have questionable success.
What a bunch of dumbasses.
Usury is teh sin.
I think what makes many Dems and the few sane Republicans left so cautious is their fear that Bush will allow another attack to happen if he doesn't get his way. Then he'll point his finger and shout "it's their fault" at those who stood in his way.
The guy will do anything to protect himself, anything.
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i'm sure i wasn't the only person to notice the amazingly white nature of that little gathering.
Firedoglake mentions that more were invited, but not all could change their schedules immediately to come to this first meeting.
And one other post on this long thread.
The guy's self-employed. That makes it impossible to do the financial planning you can do with a salary. And it makes it odious to talk about "You should have thought about that..."
At some point, you have your own business, you've got a nice nest egg, business is good and growing--at some point, you make the jump to home ownership. Believe me, you don't do it lightly.
The point should be made that even if you don't suffer business reverses, even if your company is still growing, it's gotten a LOT worse VERY quickly for people in this country.
And some reading comprehension: that $17,000 is AFTER they sold everything else. Refer to my post on the penalty for the uninsured.
This is not just the middle class: this is the entrepreneuur, the GOP's allefed Golden Boys. If we're going to thrive as a country, it's got to be a place where people can afford to take chances, strike out on their own, start new ventures.
This is not just a tragedy for decent, hard working people. This is destroying our competitiveness as a nation.
Digby nails it:
The political crisis in America today is not betwen the Left and the Right, but between a numerically small but extremely dangerous, very wealthy, well-connected, and powerful cabal of extreme rightwing radicals and the rest of the country.
And then there are the wackos within Baghdad.
And then there are the wackos within Baghdad.
Just what I was thinking.
i'm sure i wasn't the only person to notice the amazingly white nature of that little gathering.
There was only one color at that meeting: green.
1. Joan Rivers
2. Donny Osmond
Who's in?!
watertiger
Seeing Joan Rivers would be a little like going to Lenin's Tomb
http://www.timesunion.com/AspSto...ANY&
BCCode=HOME
Article of FBI agent's testimony of how informant was set up to get incriminating info on two Muslims in Albany.
Second day of testimony:
http://timesunion.com/AspStories...sdate=9/16/
2006
To be continued....
Shortened periods of electrical power, little food and drinking water, but they have to build trenches which will have questionable success.
Halliburton in Baghdad, same as Halliburton in New Orleans : a contract to fix something that requires skilled labor doesn't get done.
One that can be 'subcontracted' super-cheap to desperate guys off the street with shovels, at high-high-high rakeoff, WILL get done.
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Firedoglake mentions that more were invited, but not all could change their schedules immediately to come to this first meeting.
First meeting? There will be more? I better get teh blogging.
Maybe later.
Yay! eXistenZ is ready for me to pick up at the Richland Branch! I'm 2nd on the lost for The Princess Bride, and #199 of 206 on Syriana, heh.
.
Purely Medeval...the moat and parapet.
If they really want to keep them out they will circumvallate Baghdad. After all it worked for Caesar, one of the worlds great imperialists.
WHOOHOO! My bonus Star Wars DVDs arrived. Gonna go immerse myself in 1977...
If you've never seen Ever After JP, put it on your list.
If they really want to keep them out they will circumvallate Baghdad.
Nah, those guys are too anti-Semetic for that.
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Halliburton in Baghdad, same as Halliburton in New Orleans : a contract to fix something that requires skilled labor doesn't get done.
Iraq had the skilled labor since they certainly had electricity and drinking water and a standard of living begore Bush went in and blew it all to hell.
It's criminal what we've done to those people.
Via Greenwald, more lies from that sack of shit Specter...
You'd be crazy not to go to a meeting with the former POS. Why wouldn't you, even if you had to spend the first hour screaming at him about the telecommunications act or the tax breaks he gave to revitalize the American arms industry.
ChiDy--Here's article with US denying "trenches," just use of obstacles to manage traffic....
If you've never seen Ever After JP, put it on your list.
It's a good un.
WHOOHOO! My bonus Star Wars DVDs arrived. Gonna go immerse myself in 1977...
NTodd, CT's Next Macaca
Just as long as Sam doesn't start talking to you.
From Greenwald:
But once a copy of Specter's became available that week, it turned out that Specter's bill did contain the very blanket amnesty provision which he falsely denied on national television he was offering. As I wrote at the time, the Post and the ACLU were completely correct and Specter -- in order to make his bill seem less draconian than it really was -- simply lied about what his own bill said (that express amnesty provision was thereafter removed from the bill, though the effect of the current Specter bill might be the same).
Bad, bad, lying Arlen.
plantsman: If you've never seen Ever After JP, put it on your list.
Smirching the catalog now...
.
If you've never seen Ever After JP, put it on your list.
It's a good un.
NTodd, CT's Next Macaca
Well, any movie where Leonardo Da Vinci says: "I shall go down in history as the man who opened a door!" is guaranteed to be a good time.
Love that film.
thanks for the links, goodfolk.
yeah, sure atrios says colorful bloggers were invited, but does my phone ring? clinton knows i'm not so busy these days, but that bastard never calls. hmph.
and who in the hell is althouse and when did i show her my tits?
ChiDy--Here's article with US denying "trenches," just use of obstacles to manage traffic....
And it's called "Operation Dry Run for the US/Mexico Border".
Iraq had the skilled labor since they certainly had electricity and drinking water and a standard of living begore Bush went in and blew it all to hell.
O my friend, do you think those people would be allowed near the reconstruction projects? Not only are they not Halliburton employees, they used to work for - *gasp!* - Saddam Hussein!! And rumor has it, they are brown and, and even - Muslim!!!
Nope can't afford the 'security risk' of allowing the former Baghdad Public Works department back on the job. And after all this time, they can't allow the P.R. risk of having the locals succeed at restoring services that the mighty US Govn't has not succeeded in restoring yet.....
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Ooh ohh! If we're going to do recommendations, get 3-Iron by Kim Ki-duk. It was probably the best movie I saw last year.
daniel pearl's killers set free.
when did i show her my tits?
You didn't; she sneaked a peek.
New sheets where I fucked up first comment.
Hi and good morning. Am waiting for darling WGG to swing by and pick up for Eschafair here in Albuquerque, where it's gorgeous. Diane, picked up a wonderful tortoise card for you yesterday at Acamo Pueblo. Hope we see llamas somewhere, seems Sittenpretty really wanted llamas at the Fair. And we loved Chaco Canyon, this is a great time.
On insurance; seems on CNNN a report this a.m. featured a lady with a fatal illness who is having a mock wedding but can't marrythe fella of her dreams as it would cancel her insurance. Love, romance, ....we are so screwed.
Banks, insurance companys, hospitals and now the gov't (through our educational sytem and bankruptcy laws) have set up a near perfect minefield of debt.
Well, any movie where Leonardo Da Vinci says: "I shall go down in history as the man who opened a door!" is guaranteed to be a good time.
Amen. Nice quirky stuff. And Drew!
WHOOHOO! My bonus Star Wars DVDs arrived.
Grumble mumble goddam Lucas nonanamorphic razzenfrtzen...
daniel pearl's killers set free.
chicago dyke
Will the media cover this latest outrage? I've never been satisfied with what we've been told about what happened to Pearl.
.
"If you can't afford the market rates then you shouldn't live in Manhattan," quoth he.
watertiger | 09.16.06 - 9:43 am
When I first moved out to NJ, I was shocked to learn most of the ocean beach access had daily fees (or longer passes). When I mentioned this to a Republican, he said it was necessary to limit the poor from Newark and Trenton from going there and "spoiling" the beaches.
Wow.
Classism and racism go together like a horse and carriage.
"Being self-employed, they had no health insurance."
how does one logically and necessarily lead to the other? They can afford an extra 2k a month for their mortgage, but can't afford health insurance?
My first thought, too. that ARM took them from the frying pan into the fire, but come on, dude, you have a successful auto repair bidness, and can afford a #3K house note, and you don't have insurance for your wife and kids? Where were your priorities?
impeasheets.
Banks, insurance companys, hospitals and now the gov't (through our educational sytem and bankruptcy laws) have set up a near perfect minefield of debt.
Lumpenprolitariot
Actually more of a goldmine. For them. Unfortunately, some of us end up on the heap of tailings...
" I would have blown off the hospital, offered to pay them $100 a month forever, but that's just me."
They would take you in front of the judge and he could tell you that you need to give them your IRA, inheritance, property and anything else you have. I don't think they mess around with $100 a month anymore.
$3000 a month at the bottom of the interest rate curve indicates that this family bought more house than he could afford. The payments cited indicate a house in the $600,000 neighborhood.
While I sympathize with him and his plight, there's no substitute for frugality and common sense. Given the way the market's going to crumble next year, the guy might be best off by mailing his keys to the bank.
"How did that whole civil rights thing get going, anyway? We need a similar movement for justice at this time."
Yes, I think it has to start with the women and their determined effort to stop wars for the sake of justice for the people. They need to stop listening to their rethug husbands and fathers and find their own consciences. Surely everybody knows if they think about it that we shouldn't be blowing up people just to enrich the wealthy.
Hi and good morning. Am waiting for darling WGG to swing by and pick up for Eschafair here in Albuquerque, where it's gorgeous. Diane, picked up a wonderful tortoise card for you yesterday at Acamo Pueblo. Hope we see llamas somewhere, seems Sittenpretty really wanted llamas at the Fair. And we loved Chaco Canyon, this is a great time.
Ruth
I've been grumpy all morning at not being able to join you folks, but you just made me feel a whole lot better.
Thanks, Ruth!
Hey, Tubs, do you think responsible lending practices would have helped here? I am sure the banks were fighting in the streets to loan money to them. Maybe if the rethugs had not corporatized every smidgeon of the educational system, people would be able to figure that out because they could read and would read the small print or at least hire a lawyer to protect themselves. Who would think we would need a lawyer to borrow some money? The country is in meltdown for everybody but the wealthy and powerful and if that doesn't include you, your time will come.
"The political crisis in America today is not betwen the Left and the Right, but between a numerically small but extremely dangerous, very wealthy, well-connected, and powerful cabal of extreme rightwing radicals and the rest of the country."
There are about 800 of them and not only to they totally run this country, hold our futures in their hands, but are on the way to controlling the whole world.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060.../
iraq_trench_dc
Did I leave out the link? How rinky-dink.
US says not really trenches, just obstacles. Well, maybe a few trenches....but not a moat.
Diane, will say hi to all for you. And will send your card later this week. Email address pls.
Would the auto mechanic and his wife not have asked their parents for help to hold onto the house before having to give the keys to the bank? They probably owe money to their parents, too. They should give up the house and stop piling on more debt.
So we provide coverage to the one group that allows the politicians the most warm-n-fuzzy mileage, rather than the group for which health care is most important.
Jennifer | Homepage | 09.16.06 - 10:43 am | #
I'm not sure if this post is a response to my earlier one. I do support universal healthcare.
To those of us struggling parents, of which I am one, healthcare for kids is important and not merely a warm fuzzy.
After my layoff in the wake of 9/11, I struggled for nearly four years with unemployment and underemployment until I finally switched careers. In the meantime I paid for my child's healthcare out of pocket. Those years sucked shit.
I don't shed tears over this and don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me, but vaccines are expensive, pediatric visits are expensive, and antibiotics are expensive.
I appreciate that I have insurance coverage options for my child. I would not have known about them if someone hadn't told me, so the only purpose of my post was to inform, not to leave out other groups who also need affordable coverage.
Treat the house like a business. And any businessperson with a lick of sense would mail the housekeys back to the bank and walk.
"His $ 600 a month pot habit is draining her finances, and she makes quite a bit of money."
He needs a better dealer. Pot's not that expensive these days.
You know Atrios...there was a blogger, made up a bunch of shit.....all bloggers suck? that is your rationale for mortgage brokers. Damn, you sound liek g dubs. If a broker keeps raising rates and shit, they are shady. just like in any other business. People are fucking shady. But you pull one personal story and all loan officers suck? No chance. I take offense because i am a loan officer and i have a lot of respect for what i do. I don't f people around. You are not going to build any career by f ing people around on a constant basis. This may not fit with your speel, but you know what, people f up their own stuff. you take this example and insinuate this is how it is. all mortgage brokers are scheisters. Your example shows that these people got the shaft. how many people do you think the Kerry's are gonna tell to go to this mortgage co? zilch. what a great way to build a business? Damn, you got a couple hundred grand to buy a house in cash? then you will get a mortgage. it doesn't mean all mortgage companys suck. That is bs....Ok, i just refinanced a woman and paid off her ch. 13 bankruptcy. saving her $400 a month. im shady?
That is bs....Ok, i just refinanced a woman and paid off her ch. 13 bankruptcy. saving her $400 a month. im shady?
Devin Kelley | 09.16.06 - 3:09 pm | #
no you are just phony
Wow, that was enough thread to weave an ell of cloth...so here's some more.
In order to fulfill my dream of owning a house in an area where my kids could get a decent education and have a fairly carefree childhood, I took the cushion I built up over 10 years, along with money my husband earned modeling as a child (that his mother finally gave him...), and moved to the middle of nowhere. There are things about urban living that I miss -- a lot. But I have a nice old house, big enough to not run into each other every time we turn around but small enough to heat affordably. My kids walk to and from school (and all over town to see friends). In the city, the only places I could afford to live were too dangerous for them to play unsupervised. I have a garden and room to throw a frisbee. I have a porch and strangers wave when they drive by. Some of my friends who come to visit are freaked out by how much nothing there is here, but it works for us for now.
I make $15K less than I did in the city, but my life is not as expensive. We no longer get fast food (none around) and we very rarely impulse shop because it takes 30 minutes to get to the store and you just KNOW that the impulse will be gone by the time you get there.
I chose to buy a house that had a selling price close to its actual value in an area that is not as affected by fluctuations in the housing market. What that means is that my house won't skyrocket in value like it would on the coast. But it won't drop like a stone, either.
Not to defend Karla here, but there ARE sometimes choices for people. Not always, and not everyone is willing or able to take the risks I took or make the sacrifices I made. This is not idyllic, but it's affordable. It's worth it to me to make less because my benefits are unbelievably good. Good enough for me to stay underemployed for years. And since my husband has chronic medical problems, both the insurance through work and a house I could hold onto if he can't work is very important to me.
That we don't have universal health care and do have a crappy bankruptcy bill that ensures that one catastrophic event will fuck you forever is completely wrong. That it takes sob stories from the white middle class to make people take notice is even more wrong. People who think it's tragic only when it happens to them or theirs are the most wrong of all.
Oh, and chidyke - I hear ya on the meth problem. It's gonna be a damned shame when folks finally wake up to the fact that a huge chunk of the rural poor are sad ass junkies who aren't likely to live into their 50s (or 40s, a lot of times). So much easier to demonize those drugs when they're hot in an urban market, isn't it? Poor GOP. How are they going to face this problem when the users (and manufacturers) are all laid off factory workers and the small town cops don't do squat about it because they can't afford to keep or prosecute these guys due to budget cuts? It's going to get ugly if the spotlight ever shines on this, but I get the feeling it won't.
That's insane.
Well, here's irony, I think. I can afford to pay for private health insurance. I have begged and pleaded with Blue Cross/Blue Shield and their ilk. But they won't take my money because I'm on meds for clinical depression. I see my doctor every six months for check-ups, which I pay for out-of-pocket.
I've never been hospitalized for it and have no other physical problems. I haven't even caught a cold since I can remember.
Another thought is that we not only don't teach people how to do the math anymore, but we don't teach them basic life skills, like learning to bargain.
My wife and I shopped loans almost till we dropped for our refi, located a nice rate with 5 year lock. We bargained down the base rate by a half point, got it in writing, then informed the bank after the ink was dry that we intended to pay the loan off in 5 years (so much for rosy dreams of getting a nice fat profit when the ARM kicks in).
We'll have our house free and clear come January. We didn't buy new cars, go on cruises or eat out, putting every single extra cent we had toward paying the principal down.
When I saw what passed for loans during the last 3 or 4 years, I thought people were nuts. The media keeps telling people that they can "have it all" and the poor saps believe it.
In the country where I live, it's the law here that everyone participate in the national health scheme, whether they are self-employed, unemployed or even just a "foreigner" like myself. Once a person has been in the country for four months, that individual must register. As it is, I get health, dental and labor insurance for about US$30 a month. Now am I living in the richest and greatest country in the world? Nope, not anymore. I left a long time ago. Am I living in your run-of-the-mill Western country that has national health because common sense dictates such a program is of more use to the population than a state-of-the-art military capable of kicking the crap out of Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and North Korea at the same time? Not even close! I'm living in Taiwan, a country that isn't even a country in the eyes of many, including the United Nations.
Here's my little story. We're going to have a baby. The delivery is going to cost about NT$2,000 (US $50). Every time we visit the obstetrics clinic, we pay NT$150 (five bucks). Now compare that to my American friend who lives in Reno, Nevada. He paid US$14,000 for his daughter five years ago because he didn't (and still does not) have insurance.
Now get this: He actually flew back to Taiwan with his Taiwanese wife just so that he could afford the birth of his son. Luckily, he was still living in Taiwan when his first son was born.
I read the article. The family lives in CO, where a $400k house pretty luxurious (as of when they would have purchased).
And $3k/mo rent would get you a veritable palace.
The injustice here is that our laws permitted them to be taken for that adjustable ride.
Having a $400k house in CO in the early 2000's was a choice.
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