nora22000

So they don't like Nancy (wah, wah) and they can't play by the rules!

I hope they all LOSE in the primaries!

. . . of the high cost of providing health insurance in the US?

Lots of plant closings, like NUMMI in Fremont, CA, are because foreign companies can open plants in Canada or Mexico far cheaper because they don't have to pay for health insurance.

But worldwide, most corporations don't consider the US as a place to do business because we saddle the companies with huge health plan costs. Did you know about this part of the health insurance debate?

. . . of the high cost of providing health insurance in the US?

Lots of plant closings, like NUMMI in Fremont, CA, are because foreign companies can open plants in Canada or Mexico far cheaper because they don't have to pay for health insurance.

But worldwide, most corporations don't consider the US as a place to do business because we saddle the companies with huge health plan costs. Did you know about this part of the health insurance debate?

The health insurance industry spends $1.4 million per day assuring legislators that their health plans are wonderful, and that Americans love their health insurance. Yet 76% of Americans favor reform to include a Public Plan.

So, the real questions is, do you like your insurance? What you pay? Do you know if there are hidden caps, exclusions, or deductibles that make it more expensive?

How could you find out? Could you call your insurance company and ask them what you're covered for, and what could send you into bankruptcy? (62% of all bankruptcies in the US are due to inadequate health insurance.)

It looks like having a bunch of kids and letting them raise themselves doesn't work, even for the governor of Alaska.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090312/ap_on_re_us/br...

Your comments?

It seems that the price of gas came under control as soon as it was clear that the Bush administration (and Cheney's evil oil empire) was over and that Obama was sure to win. Do you think these things are relalted?

I read this article and thought there might be a relationship. http://www.financialpost.com/most-popular/story.ht...

How about a ten-year requirement that total compensation at any firm required to collect payroll taxes not exceed 14 times the rank-and-file rate?

This would create a ripple effect improving the economy immediately and for the moderate term.

. . . trying to get away with it?

He's trying to keep from losing his $7 million apartment and other assets worth $17 million and $26 million. Why isn't this crook UNDER the jail by now?

Read this and comment: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090303/ap_on_bi_ge/ma...

. . . . of kid-glove treatment for a major criminal? This Stanford not only defrauded thousands of US investors but is destabilizing whole governments in Central America! Yet, he's only asked to surrender his passport! What is going on???

SEC spokesman Kevin Callahan said that Stanford and his two co-defendants, James Davis, SIB's chief financial officer, and Laura Pendergest-Holt, chief investment officer of a Stanford affiliate, had surrendered their passports in keeping with a judge's order.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090221/bs_nm/us_stanf...

On Thursday the FBI tracked Stanford down in Fredericksburg, about 50 miles south of Washington, to serve him with court papers, but a day later Stanford was nowhere to be seen in the historic Virginia town.

What do you think?

. . . or just plain racist?

How can you apologize and lash out at the same time? I don't think this is an apology at all; I think Murdoch should donate $1 billion to the United ***** College Fund, for starters. Now THAT would be an apology!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_on_re_us/ny...

. . . was the guy just trying to do his job?

Read this article and decide whether strict regulation isn't appropriate for every sector of the financial services industry. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_on_bi_ge/st...

Stanford systematically turned his employees into con men, imo. Don't you think this level of deception goes far beyond any concept of 'buyer beware' or free trade?

. . . or what? Madoff is confined to his cushy Manhattan apartment with an electronic ankle bracelet accused of $50 BILLION in stolen funds from investors. Is there some reason he shouldn't be in jail? Who wrote these crazy rules, anyway?

Read this and give your comments. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_on_bi_ge/ma...

It looks like the vitriol of the congressional Republicans doesn't mean a thing to several influential Republican governors. Read this article and tell me what you think.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/us/politics/17re...

On c-span yesterday, Republican after Republican got up and said that tax cuts (read: for those making $250,000 or more) would somehow magically fix the economy and the mess financial executives have made. For the 300 million or so of the rest of us, the only Republicans brave enough to vote their conscience were Snow, Collins and Specter.

Don't we need to send a message to the other, lobbyist-owned senators?

I just saw a group of Native American Indians on c-span talking about things like the Redskins and Chiefs. Would it make sense to give federally recognized tribes control over such images so that they could communicate the original meanings? Tell me your thoughts!

One of the tax cuts recommended by Republicans (but not included so far in the legislation) would eliminate income tax on unemployment benefits for the next 5 years. I think this is a SPLENDID idea! What do you think?

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc418.html

Here's an excerpt from an article about Sully's Katie Couric interview:

'How to focus. Couric asked Sullenberger if he said a prayer in the cockpit, while trying to bring Flight 1549 down safely. Basically, he said no. Thank God! Nothing against the Almighty, but if I had been on that plane, I’d want the pilot to be flying it, not praying over it.

Couric’s question might have seemed reasonable out in TVland, but once again, it makes high-level professionalism sound like the equivalent of divine intervention. It isn’t. Sullenberger was commanding a jet that had no thrust and was rapidly sinking back to earth. First he had to find a place to land, then he had to make sure the landing didn’t rip the jet apart. It was a demanding challenge that required fast, methodical problem-solving. “My focus was so intently on the landing, I thought of nothing else,” Sullenberger said. That’s what we ought to expect of a pilot in such a situation. And that’s what we got. For once, the system worked.'

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/flowchart/2009/2/9/wha...

Isn't it great that he was honest and didn't pander to the religious among us? Just think of all the Muslims studying the Koran for years and years instead of learning something of value to themselves, others or the planet; imagine what could happen if all of us aspired to be a little more like Sully when we grow up. What do you think?

Read this article: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/flowchart/2009/1/28/le...

Perhaps there's no value added in financial services. The US is only the latest country to experience havoc at the hands of the financial industry; rapacious greed and lack of ethics prevail and the enticements used to hire and retain these people seem like a net negative. Do you think that compensation experts should be disallowed by requiring only pay and benefits as given to the rank and file in finance the same way that healthcare benefits are distributed?

After reading a story showing how executives in the banking industry 'front' to prove they're successful by financing extravagant lifestyles solely from their employer's pay and perks, I began to wonder why we've let them fool themselves and us for so long. Read the article:

'http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/fashion/08halfmi...

Traditionally, when someone in finance is successful and shows it via conspicuous consumption, the implication is that they earn so much from their own investments or from family money that they can easily afford the lifestyle that inspires confidence in their customers. (Warren Buffett comes to mind here.)

Nobody seriously wants to invest with a no-class chump extended beyond their means, living from paycheck to bonus, trolling for club memberships and grubbing around the bottom of the barrel for customers to earn a few more employer-given perks.

Does this article pull the mask off? Are we looking behind the curtain to see the small, wizened wizard here? Are these no-talent yes men fawning and faking it to get the goodies?

It certainly seems that i's not okay to pray when challenged by difficult situations. Is it better to prepare ahead of time and think through it carefully, quickly, as it happens so that there is a chance for flawless execution? Do heroes pray? Or calmly think and act instead?

'Sullenberger, a former Air Force fighter pilot who has flown commercial planes for nearly three decades, said he knew he had to touch down with the wings level and the nose slightly up, and "at a descent rate that was survivable."

"Did you, at any point, pray?" CBS' Katie Couric asked.

"I would imagine somebody in back was taking care of that for me while I was flying the airplane," he said.'