Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
You cannot be serious. The terrorists "hate us for our freedoms" so we fight them by casting the tenets of our Constitution in the trash can? I was hoping that the Patriot Act would have been finally recognized as a surrendering of our values, but…
It seems like I've heard this argument before. No, not "guns don't kill people ....", not that one. Rather, that if a law won't prevent all occurrences of something bad, then let's not consider it. So if background checks won't keep guns out o…
Regarding climate change - that is an existential threat to the US and to the world. Terrorism is, to appropriate a word, inconvenient. It kills individuals, it disrupts, but it doesn't threaten US existence. (Or does one believe the US is that…
One of the goals of ISIS is to foment distrust and hatred between the Muslim world and the west. Demonizing all Muslims because of the actions of a few outliers who have perverted the religion, appears to be playing into the hands of the terrorists …
Would the measures/bill proposed have stopped these shooters?
Would they have cleared their background checks?
Migrants from the Middle East are a problem. American citizens adhering to Islam (born or converted) are the problem. The Par…
Let's remember what the real threat is to the USA and focus on that.
""What President Barack Obama described as the greatest threat to future generations was neither terrorism nor ISIS. It wasn't nuclear weapons in rogue states either.
"No challen…
>> the Onion economic systems comparison table. It’s too bad that the chart was not accompanied by some text. Context matters.
I am so going to post more Onion stuff, just to get such sober and clueless response. This has been a major hoot …
BTW, the new plan is HMO instead of PPO (happily, my doctors and drugs are included in both), Anthem now will only pay 70% of hospitalization up to the maximum individual payment, 100% after (which is $100/year more in the new plan, a figure that …
Ten years ago, I paid $151 a month for a high ded. health plan.
Five years ago I paid about $330 for the same plan.
Next year my rate is over $720 for ACA Cheapo... bronze
Rates seem to have more than doubled every 5 yrs but now with ACA, they wi…
Last year the economists Alan Blinder and Mark Watson circulated a paper comparing economic performance under Democratic and Republican presidents since 1947. Under Democrats, the economy grew, on average, 4.35 percent per year; under Republicans,…
@Dex My bf has a seasonal part-time job as a tax preparer with an accounting firm. No benefits (as a retired automotive engineer, he doesn't need them), but great pay. Only works from Feb through April, with some "on-call" time during other months.…
It's not a question of net worth...if it was, why are so many fabulously wealthy CEOs (eg., Warren Buffett) still working?
They're kings - it is good to be king.
4) Find an easy part-time job that offers healthcare....I will probably do this …
@Dex I don't know all the details of your situation, but I believe Lowe's and Starbucks provide health care benefits to part-time workers. There are probably other companies, as well.
Thanks - that gave me a chuckle and if you knew my net worth …
4. Buy it. Change it. Use it. Drop it#2 - Your application, like IRS filings, is made under penalty of perjury. Up to a $25K civil fine for negligent misrepresentation, and if the government can prove intent, up to $250K civil file. Since the app…
You may be picking one of the more expensive bronze plans. For example, the Kaiser 6000/40%/HSA plan would cost $40 less and possibly also get you larger subsidies because of the HSA component. Here's a more detailed comparison to see how much yo…
This is the BCBS Bronze Pathway X HMO 5500 40 (the 5500 referring to the deductible, the 40 referring to the coinsurance of 40%).
Are you sure about subsidy/premium figures? They look backward to me. I looked in Atlanta, and got your numbers almo…
But I would caution MFO members who are considering a retirement option to be leery of any direct comparisons or to use Dex’s numbers as a guideline. Such comparisons are hugely corrupted by personal living styles and by geographic impacts. My l…
Nothing about gaming the system,
I doubt if there could be. The only metric would be short term policy holders. There isn't a way to find out why they were short term.
Explanation for rate increases?
http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-game-obamacare-1412032995
But it could also be that insurers are underpricing their policies to capture market share. There are few business downsides for insurers to write artificia…
How about these -
http://thefederalist.com/2015/02/16/five-easy-ways-to-game-obamacare/
Five Easy Ways To Game Obamacare
2. Understate Your Income
4. Buy it. Change it. Use it. Drop it
Well before the PPACA came into existence, I received two increases, both more than 30%, in the same year in my private-pay plan, with no change in my health whatsoever (no claims, no meds, nada).
This year (and next) my grandfathered private-pay…
Dex
“If the USA is going the way of reducing hours and increasing vaco;
it should be original e.g. split up the year - 2 people work 1 job - 6 months on and
6 months off or similar.”
You’re joking, right?
Have you ever owned or operated a busine…
(Howard Beale, "Network" -- a movie whose prescience of the future grows more accurate with each passing year)
At the time he was portrayed as a nut - now prophetic - except we have and will continue to take 'it'.
All secondary to the question of quality of life: People (workers) do not deserve less because circumstances combine to make them desperate enough to work for peanuts.
That's not going to change. Think of the USA and the world this way. Throughou…
Don't really have time to dig up more articles...buying a new house! But just wanted y'all to know my premiums went up 25%. Going to shop around when I have time. If anyone finds a GREAT deal, please let us all know! Thanks!
A strange thing happ…
I don't get it. CNBC is not made up of left wingers. Rick Santelli invented the "tea party" for god's sake. RNC is just dumb. This is internal RNC debate. First learn to answer the question that's asked then criticise the questions. Most times a que…
Oo! Oo! Oo! I remember a poem from my youth about a lady from Nantucket!
Stop thinking about $$$ for awhile.
There once was a man from Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
But his daughter, named Nan,
Ran away with a man
And as for t…
Sorry I have no poetry to offer you today. I'll work on it.
@hankSometimes I long for those smoke-filled rooms again.
I hope you mean this in the figurative sense, not literal.
You can have this one:
The Tay Bridge Disaster
BY KNIGHT OF THE WHIT…
And then it's all William Butler Yeats all over again:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed …
The conservative movement ended with Barry Goldwater losing the presidential race.
Also, the term 'conservative movement' is defined as what people want it to be just before they knock it.
The conservative movement was about freedom e.g. civil r…
@Dex I don't recall reading about any studies that project the extinction of our species if humans do not act to reduce the level of global warming. So, I am not aware there is thought to be a "point of no return". My answer to DanHardy's questio…
Here is an answer to your first question from the perspective of the The University of Wales study I posted above. It described the point of no return as involving "A jump in global average temperatures of 1.5°C to 2°C" that "will see the collaps…
