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Business owners object to plan to remove billboards

WATERBURY -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell describes her recent order to remove billboards from state property as a move to beautify the state and enrich the driving experience.But advertising companies see her war on billboards as the latest blow to the state's business climate.Connecticut would lose $1.3 million annually in lease payments and permit fees from billboards, said Stephen E. Hebert, president of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Connecticut. He noted that there are 18 percent fewer billboards in the state today than there were five years ago. . more

Credit crunch hits developers

QUEENSLAND'S property development industry has a severe case of the jitters, with more than 30 per cent wiped off the value of property stocks since Christmas and several billion dollars worth of building projects likely to stall.

A crisis in confidence triggered by the global credit squeeze has already claimed two companies, financier MFS and Sunshine Coast builder Real Property Constructions.

But analysts are predicting the worst is yet to come – with 40 per cent of developments set to be mothballed, leaving tradesmen, suppliers and investors in the lurch.

Gold Coast-based property financier City Pacific has also been rocked by the crash, with shares falling to 89¢ recently, compared with $4.80 a year ago. On Friday, City Pacific shares closed at $1.25. more

(AFX UK Focus) 2008-04-01 01:24 GMT: Japanese business confidence falls on worry about stronger yen

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Business sentiment among large Japanese manufacturers deteriorated during the first quarter as executives worried about a stronger yen, a weakening U.S. economy and rising oil prices, a central bank survey showed on Tuesday.

The diffusion index for big manufacturers fell to 11 in March from 19 in December, according to the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey. Economists had expected the index to come in at 13, on average, based on a poll by Thomson Financial News.

The companies surveyed assume the U.S. dollar will average 115.17 yen in the year ended March 31, compared to the previous forecast of 116.07 yen in December.

The BoJ gave the following results of its business confidence survey for the first quarter, compared with results of the December poll:

Large manufacturers - plus 11 vs plus 19
Large non-manufacturers - plus 12 vs plus 16
Mid-sized manufacturers - plus 5 vs plus 10
Mid-sized non-manufacturers - minus 3 vs plus 2
Small-sized manufacturers - minus 6 vs plus 2
Small-sized non-manufacturers - minus 15 vs minus 12

The BoJ also issued the following forecasts for June:
Large manufacturers - plus 7
Large non-manufacturers - plus 13
Mid-sized manufacturers - minus 1
Mid-sized non-manufacturers - minus 6
Small-sized manufacturers - minus 9
Small-sized non-manufacturers - minus 21

($1 = 99.70 yen)

yasuhiko.seki@thomson.com

yas/ms

SABEW Announces Winners in its 13th Annual Best in Business Journalism Contest

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers has named the winners in its 13th annual Best in Business Journalism contest, recognizing top publications and the best business news reporting during 2007.

SABEW started the contest in 1995 to help set standards and recognize role models for outstanding business journalism. It has grown steadily since then. Categories for magazines and online sites were added this year. A record 842 entries were submitted for work in 2007 by daily newspapers, business weeklies, magazines, wire services and news Websites.

The awards will be presented Sunday, April 27, in Baltimore during SABEW's 45 annual conference.

(The judges' comments for all winners will be posted soon on www.sabew.org. Additional information about the conference and SABEW is available on the site as well.)

The winners listed by contest, category and in alphabetical order by publication or organization:

. more

Latest Business Insurance Lead News

Generac prices stock at $15 to $17 a share - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Town of Genesee-based maker of portable power products also said its sales rose slightly in 2009, and estimated it would report operating income of $94 million to $99 million for the year. The preliminary results were included in an updated ...

Snowplow maker Douglas Dynamics to go public - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The offering was disclosed in a prospectus filed as stock markets closed for business Friday afternoon. Douglas describes itself as "the North American leader in the design, manufacture and sale of snow and ice control equipment for light trucks ...

Friday Talking Points (109) -- Obama Enters Lions' Den, Bells Cat - Democratic Underground.com

As I sit down to write today's column... oh, excuse me... someone's at the door. Phone problems? No, we're not having any phone problems, sorry. Tests? Well, OK, I guess you can run a test or two. Sorry, where was I? Oh, right, today's column. Well ...

Capitals win 9th straight, 4-1 over Panthers - Fresno Bee

The Washington Capitals on Wednesday signed center David Steckel to a three-year contract extension and agreed to a two- year deal with defenseman Tyler Sloan. Steckel, 27, has two goals and three assists in 42 games this season. He leads the league ...

President Obama Q&A session with House GOP - Full Video & Transcript - DAILY KOS

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Please, everybody be seated. Thank you. Thank you, John, for the gracious introduction. To Mike and Eric, thank you for hosting me. Thank you to all of you for receiving me. It is wonderful to ...

Talk of change - Bismarck Tribune

It is more constructive to be civil...As far as the Court decision...I agree that it does open floodgates, however, I also think that it was true to the law that the justices have to adhere to. It is up to Congress to pass laws that pass ...

E-mail this story - Joplin Globe

Globe/T. Rob Brown Joey Ballard, of Joplin, adjusts a bumper on Friday while repairing a vehicle at Snodgrass Collision Center. Several area employers say they need work, not tax credits, in order to create jobs. Published January 29, 2010 09:52 pm ...

Clem's Chronicles: OBAMA AND THE HOUSE GOP/ECONOMIC GROWTH/TOYOTA - ABC News Blogs

OBAMA/HOUSE GOP -Today an extraordinary example of just how difficult “bi-partisanship” will be to implement in the DC political world. The House GOP was gathered today in Baltimore, and President Obama dropped by for an on-camera chat. Jake ...

You may not like the candidates for Florida governor, but don't expect ... - St. Petersburg Times

On a day when a Quinnipiac poll gave him a 10-point lead over Sink, the attorney general identified three challenges: property taxes, property insurance and water ... Two exceptions were voting for a Reagan tax increase and against the Martin Luther ...

Points, Imada tied for lead at Torrey - Forbes

SAN DIEGO -- D.A. Points saved his best golf for the tougher course Friday at Torrey Pines and wound up in a share of the lead with Ryuji Imada in the Farmers Insurance Open. Points avoided a shaky start with a series of good par saves, then finished ...

Resolved Question: How is it fair that non-union workers have to pay a tax when union workers do not?

WASHINGTON - The White House reached a tentative agreement with union leaders early Thursday to tax high-cost insurance plans, officials said, removing one of the major stumbling blocks in the way of a final compromise on comprehensive health care legislation sought by President Barack Obama. Complete details of the tentative deal were not immediately available, although the White House was expected to present it to senior lawmakers later in the day. Union leaders were also returning to the White House. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., who led the opposition to the tax in the House, said the agreement involves several measures that would ease its impact. Among them: excluding the value of dental and vision benefits in applying the tax, as well as raising the $23,000 threshold at which it would take effect for families. Union officials are also pushing to provide that anyone who makes $200,000 or less would be excluded from the health plan benefits tax, a concession that would benefit employees who are not unionized as well. http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/business/20100114_ap_apsourcestentativedealonhealthbilltax.html more

Resolved Question: How can I get my life going in the right direction, and not be depressed any more?

My life thus far has not been so great in more ways than one and before you keep reading I am warning you that I am going to vent the major points of bad in my life. I am not one of these people who go around telling everyone my business just to get their sympathy and the only person that I have ever told these things is my boyfriend. I just want other peoples onions because I don't have many people I can talk to and I am completely tired of the way life is going right now. So, here I go. For a starters my childhood was kinda messed up with my dad cheating on my mom, my mom constantly threatening suicide because of it, and me raising my 4 younger brothers and sisters. It got so bad the younger 2 called me mom, which didn't leave much time for normal teenager stuff like sleepovers, movies, dates, and dances.My parents never even taught me how to drive, and wouldn't let me take up a part time job to help out with bills. I got in a serious relationship at an early age and dated the guy for 3 years, he gave me a promise ring and very shortly after broke up with me because he had cheated on me for the last 6 months of our relationship. After a period of being very depressed and anti social through a random string of events I met the love of my life. I took things very slow this time and learned form the mistakes of my past relationships, and my parents. I got a job and my boyfriend would give me rides to and from it. I was happy for a bit cause I could finally have some of the things I needed. Well, one day while I was at work my mom decided that I didn't want to be a part of the family anymore because I had got a job and wasn't home to babysit 24-7 and she threw all my stuff out on the lawn. So halfway through senior year I was homeless. My boyfriend found me somewhere to live and had to quit school so I could get a full time job to pay the bills. Mind you I still don't have a car or licenses, because i have never been taught and I don't have the money for a car. Time goes on and I move in with some of my friends, all was fine for a while I even forgave my parents for kicking me out " mainly because I wanted to see my siblings again". Then I lost my job, and couldn't find another one for about six months, during thos six months I was super depressed didn't leave the house, and drank allot. I couldn't stand the fact my boyfriend was having to work 2 full time jobs to support us and he didn't even live with me at the time so we didn't even get to see each other much. So, I took the only job that was hiring Burger King, that was a great mistake, I got treated like shit there, people that I went to school with would come in and make fun of me because they were in collage and I had dropped out and now worked at BK. I only made enough money to pay my bills so the only meals I got were at work, and that lead to me gaining weight. I couldn't even get the days off i needed to get my ged. My boyfriend noticed how un happy I was and told me to quit, get my ged, and find a better job and that he would move in and take care of us until then I quit, he moved in , and I got my Ged, and my permit so I could learn how to drive. Then stuff at home started to mess up. One of my roommates moved out because of all the shit we had to deal with my other roommate. Our house had become a party house for everyone in town, and stuff got broke constantly, stolen, and loud music would be playing till 5 am when my boyfriend has to be at work by 6:30am. I had stopped drinking because of how annoying it got. Plus people had come to the conclusion that because i didn't have a job and I cleaned the house that i had to clean up after all the party's by myself. I felt like my roommates mother and every random drunk person in towns. I can't kick him out because his mom owns the house we live in and thats the only reason my rent is cheap and me and my bf can afford it, but my roommate doesn't have to pay anything to live there even tho we have to pay lot rent too because his mom doesn't own the land. I have even stopped cleaning the house just to see if he would at some point give and clean but he let the house go for almost 2 months, so while he was gone to a festival me and my bf cleaned the entire house and replaced all the things drunk people had broken. When he came home all he said was this is different. Not one thank you, and he doesn't help us buy household necessity's like, dish detergent, trash bags, paper towels, or help haul off the trash. It has been 8months since I quit BK, and I am still looking for a job, I got one at a jaguar repair shop as a office assistant but they had to file for bankruptcy and I lost my job, just when I got a car and insurance so I could get my licenses. It's seems like every time I get a step ahead I have to take 2 back and for some reason my boyfriend has stuck by me through all of this and we have been together for 3 years now. But I am 21 years old and I can't drive myself any where, or pay my o more

Voting Question: Family of 3 Survival?

I have currently just finished my first trimester of being pregnant. I am a lead cook for Aramark, but the business with which we serve out of is closing down in February. I have been offered to transfer to a further location, but will not be able to do this because the new location is too far away and nearly all my pay would go towards paying gas. So, come February, I will be quitting. This is good in a way because I would like to stay home with the baby when he is born this June. But here's another problem: my husband has a fairly good job and his pay is just too much to get any assistance. So you name it, be it food stamps or leap or whatever, he makes just within $50 to $100 too much. In addition, I can't apply for unemployment because if you refuse a transfer or quit, you can't get unemployment. My husband and I have a mortgage of $1,000/month and a car payment of $600/month. He makes roughly 27,000. I have recently started "playing" the Grocery Game online to see if that helps us save on money. I have no problem getting another job now, but with the economy as it is especially where we live I have concern that I won't be able to find another job. In addition, if I quit again when baby is born, and stay unemployed, will we a family of 3 with a newborn survive? Give me your best money-saving tips. PS, once I'm on my husband's insurance that will add $350 a month we must pay, and when baby is born, we will be paying around $500 a months for insurance. How do we survive? more

Resolved Question: Chiropractor suing me for unpaid office balance from 12/2004 in California..?

Isn't the statute of limitations in California 4 years for open accounts and written contracts? Wouldn't this case just be thrown out of small claims court due to statute of limitations of 4 years in California? Through a county records search I have also found this chiropractor to have filed over 60 small claims suits in the last 10 years, is that a common occurrence for chiropractors? This only makes me think of how many other people he has harassed unjustly that have just settled with him over the years without taking it to the courts. Why does a chiropractor allow for office balances to accrue and not just bill patient either monthly or as a cash patient for each visit? Wouldn't the best business practice be just to make patients pay for each visit? Suing them for the balance when they were intentionally left in the dark about their situation with regards to if either the insurance company would be responsible or the patient? In my case, and I am sure most of the other cases this chiropractor has been involved in had to do with a 3rd party insurance company. I was being treated for injuries from a car accident in which I was a passenger. I was informed that the insurance would cover my visits and also was never informed when my insurance coverage had been used up, which would then lead to the disputed office balance. It seems as if this chiropractor has a made a habit of taking insurance claim patients, using up their allotted insurance monies, intentionally misrepresenting to the patients that the coverage has not run out, then 3-4 months after your last visit he sends a bill for the previous visits not covered by the insurance claim, followed by a filing in small claims court. In my case he sent me a bill 3-4 months after my last visit for visits which began 10 months prior. Never once did he send me a bill after any visit to his office, his tactics are deceptive and unethical. It is clear to me that I am solely responsible for knowing how much the chiropractor was charging and how much of the insurance claim monies was still available but what he did, does, and continues to do is unethical and a waste of taxpayer money. Any thoughts and experience in this field would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. more

Resolved Question: I have a chiropractor suing me for an alleged unpaid office balance from 12-2004....?

Resolved Question: Why do many people think that it is a good idea to treat the symptoms and ignore the cause of the problem?

I have noticed that many people (especially politicians) believe in treating the symptoms of a problem rather than the underlying causes. This doesn't make any logical sense. For example, the bank bailout and the stimulus. The economy went into a downturn last year. Rather than look at what caused the problem, the politicians in Washington decided to treat the symptoms. If the banks are failing, according to this view, we do not need to ask why the banks are failing, but rather the government ought to hand out tax dollars to the banks to keep them in business. The stimulus was very similar. Rather than looking into why jobs are disappearing, the Democratic Party (only 3 Republicans voted for the stimulus, all in the Senate; 1 is now a Democrat and the other 2 are considered "RINOs," so it is fair to say that the Stimulus is Democrat legislation) decided to just have the government create more public sector jobs, ignoring the fact that creating more public sector jobs reduces the amount of money in the private sector (as the public sector consumes wealth created by the private sector; the only public sector jobs that turn a profit are the jobs of football and men's basketball coach at major universities), thus reducing the amount of private sector jobs. The Democratic Party's health care legislation is another example of treating the symptom rather than the problem. Millions of Americans are uninsured, so the Democratic Party decided to pass legislation forcing them to purchase health insurance (and increasing the cost of health insurance for the young and/or healthy portion of the "uninsured" by restricting price "discrimination"). This legislation will increase the cost of health insurance for most of the people currently "uninsured," people who mostly have chosen voluntarily not to purchase health insurance and instead to fulfill other needs or wants that are higher on their value scale. Another famous example of treating the symptom and ignoring the cause is the response to the events of 9/11. Rather than asking why the Islamic "terrorists" (of course, one person's "terrorist" is another person's "freedom fighter") attacked us (might it have had something to do with the fact that our country's foreign policy has been pro-Israel for decades and that American military were stationed in Middle Eastern countries?), the Bush administration and both Democrats and Republicans in Congress decided to respond with a large-scale revenge attack, including an attack on Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 and which was run by a secular government that was hostile to al-Qaeda (many people want an attack on Iran as well, even though Iran's Shiite religious government is hostile to the fundamentalist Sunnis that make up al-Qaeda). Does it really make sense for a victim of a crime to go to the ghetto and indiscriminately break windows and burn down homes, hoping to get revenge on the criminal? Wouldn't that just lead to more problems in the future? Why do many people fail to look for the underlying causes of a problem and instead try to go after the symptoms? Why do many people strongly believe in ignoring that which is unseen and instead focusing on the illusions that are seen? more

Resolved Question: What do u think of the London Times' write up of the Health Insurance bill's impact on the political landscape?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6968494.ece Here's part of it: "Yet it was clear last week, as the president flew off to Hawaii for his Christmas break, that while the Clintons put defeat behind them and cruised to two full terms in the White House, Obama may never recover from a victory that has demolished his bipartisan aspirations and which his critics have already judged pyrrhic. It was a bizarre feature of the US healthcare debate that the longer it went on and the closer it came to a successful outcome, the lower Obama sank in opinion polls. By the time the last $100m incentives had been dished out to wavering Democratic senators last week, Obama was languishing at his lowest approval ratings of the year, with one poll showing that only 32% of Americans still think the healthcare plan is a “good” idea. For the president who had swept through successive primary and general election campaigns last year promising to change the way Washington did business — and pledging to usher in a new age of bipartisan co-operation — there was no easy explanation for the cynical political dealmaking that ultimately secured the Democratic majority, but which may leave permanent scars on his stumbling administration. Amid the 2,000 pages of small print added to the Senate’s healthcare bill are all manner of promises and pay-offs to senators protecting the special interests of their home states. Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who has led his party’s discussions of the bill, defended the deals with wavering senators as “the art of compromise ... that’s what legislation is all about”. Yet the Democrats’ need to secure the votes of every one of the party’s 58 senators and two independents to foil Republican filibusters provoked a public display of such naked opportunism that senators on both sides of the aisle became alarmed by the message they were sending to voters. "What do you think?George, they are pretty widely known facts.Donna, the Times isn't typically concerned with that, why should they be this once? more

Resolved Question: How can I go about getting healthcare if current new legislation passes?

I am a 30 year old single mother of two, with a work from home business in internet marketing that is doing better and better as time goes by, but I am far, far from rich. In fact, for my household size, I am barely above the poverty level, and back into it on bad months. I made the mistake of not buying health insurance for myself, and came down with gallbladder disease (needs to be removed). For those that know, this can be one of the most painful afflictions to have, and over time can lead to serious pancreatic problems. I had to go to the emergency room, and am now stuck with a 4k bill, and I have some pills that will ease oncoming attacks, but I need to get this taken care of, and can't afford to pay for it out of pocket. I am not eligible for aid, and my credit is not good enough for the hospital to finance it. I have done a lot of research. I know that I can get what's called "group insurance", if I add someone else to my business, but they can deny me for up to a year for a pre-existing condition, and who knows how much the payments/deductible are going to be. My saving grace might be the new healthcare legislation, and it may not, sorry but I just can't totally comprehend all the noise that's out there about it. I do know that they are pushing for legislation by Christmas. The point of what I'm trying to ask is, if this legislation gets passed, will I be able to get affordable healthcare coverage, and for this pre-existing condition? If so, are there any experts out there that can point me in the right direction of where to start once this takes place? This is a very painful condition that I would like to get care for ASAP, if possible. If I could get a heads up on where to begin, I would be that much closer. I do understand that this legislation might not even go into full effect immediately, and I was under the impression previously that it would take 5-10 years for this healthcare overhaul to really happen, for the people. I honestly have resigned myself to have to just live with it, and hope that I can go to the emergency room and have an emergency operation should my pancreatic duct become obstructed etc. unless I can earn enough money to pay for the procedure out of pocket. Thank you very kindly in advance. more

Resolved Question: Can someone explain whats going through the minds of democratic senators in health reform?

Listen to me, I just need to know whats going on here. They want universal health care coverage that covers almost anyone so everyone can have insurance and nobody has to die from poverty. I've seen this and it looks good, however they aren't taking into consideration many things. 1. They often compare what our health care system would be like compared to frances health care system. The French are successful because they have 3x more doctors per person then america does, along with the fact that they have lower rates of obesity, and other health issues. They say if it works for them it will work for us.... Thats a big conclusion coming from a small statement. 2. Canada has a crappy health care system, its very ineffective and the sad thing is they still are healthier then the average american. Along with that they have caps on pharmaceutical drugs which allows the cost of medicine to stay down lowering the total cost of coverage. 3. If we look at all the benefiting factors there will be a huge amount of people that will suddenly be storming hospitals, and this will add to the already huge GND. I don't have statistics for anyone, but from the fact that the benefiting factors in america are worse then those in Canada which are already terrible so any logical person can conclude that this reform is going to be a catastrophe. Where are they going to get the money for this cash guzzler? Well originally they thought they could just move some money around (30% or so of our total budget) to make room for this bill. Then they realize "oh snap, we don't have that much money to move around" So they try and sugar coat it to get it passed by saying they have ways to get the money (China) but not they are saying the one thing that president obama said he would not do, that they would target a specific class to get the money. They are proposing to get the money by increasing taxes on doctors by 21% in order to pay for this. They justify it by saying that doctors will get more business so it will even out. Not at all, not at all. With Medicade and Medicare doctors only end up recieving about 15% of the total bill, the rest goes to other places (IRS) when privatized insurance gives about 85% of the money to the doctors which they then lose 40% of that 85% to taxes. This universal health care package will be about even with medicare/cade. So if anyone can do the statistics you'll realize that the soon to be increase in taxes along with the 21% increase in taxes, along with the 15-85% will mean doctors lose alot of money a year. Not to mention that the % of coverages similar to medicare will increase. Why I even bring this up you may ask, why am i so concerned about the overly rich wealthy doctors? 1. Ones of obamas oaths was that he would not raise taxes on any one class/profession. what is he doing now, we're having alot of change, the change is driving us straight into the ground. 2. You probably already realize by my writing that I'm 14 years old, well heres the situation with both of my parents. They are both doctors, my mom now has a brain tumor in her temperal lobe i think it is and it could kill her. She has been out of work for about a year so my dad has had to work 65-70 hours a week in order to compensate for it. Hes worked hard his entire life and what they are about to try and do will destroy our family. (he has a huge amount of debt as it is from student loans, the house payment (we don't own really fancy stuff or a big house) and many other things. He has not been able to put into his retirement for over a year. This could end up killing him if he has to work anymore then what he is right now, which is kind of ironic because in order to save the people that now have the universal health care coverage, his heart is now giving out because he has to compensate for his losses. I would like to be a doctor someday as well, I'm smart enough but theres no way I'm going into medicine if this gets passed. Money is one of the leading factors of why people go into medicine (second only to being able to save peoples lives and making a difference) The amount of doctors will decrease over the next few years if this is to happen which will cause a higher demand for doctors, because more people will need doctors to satisfy their healthcare coverage. This will cause a stalemate in the already losing battle our economy is fighting. So if anyone actually reads this far, why are politicians so stupid?no democrats gonna step up and explain? I don't even have all my facts rights intentionally and noones going to say anything? more

Resolved Question: Do I have a case? Will hiring a lawyer make a difference to the insurance co?

In a nutshell: I am threatening to sue an accountant and investor regarding a real estate deal between the investor and I that went bad. I wrote an initial letter (not shown) threatening a lawsuit which they turned over to their insurance agent. The insurance agent then wrote me requesting information (her letter is on the bottom). I then wrote the insurance agent a more detailed letter which I have not sent but appears below. I'm wondering about the following: A. Is this worth putting my time into? Do I have a case, or even if I don't, might the insurance agent, or the parties settle out of court to avoid a costly court case? Important note: There are lots of e-mails, but we never signed a written agreement between us regarding the profits of the house and what I should get (see below). B. Can I file the case in any state, or does it have to be Texas? (the two parties live and signed in California), I myself was overseas the whole time. C. Would hiring a lawyer (not really cost effective for this small amount) make a difference? Here is the letter: Dear Ms. Sanchez, I am writing this letter to explain the circumstances regarding my claim. Mr. Murray Marks and Mr. Ron Glass approached me in 2008 about using my name and credit history to help them to draw some further cash out a property located at 7017 Tocken Court, Corpus Christi, Texas, 78414. Apparently, they were both in serious financial trouble. Mr. Glass and Mr. Marks have been financial partners for many years together, and have vast experience in the area of real estate and own numerous properties. In this particular deal, Mr. Marks acted as the accountant. Mr. Glass acted as the investor who sold me the property. Both Mr. Glass and Mr. Marks were also partners in this deal as well. For example, Mr. Glass bought this house from a business connection, Scott Cohen, who then sold it to Murray Marks, who then turned around and sold it back to Mr. Glass. They were both investors in the LLC that they formed and were working together. They are in constant communication even up to the present. I am 51 years old, but I have never owned a home in the U.S. I have been a permanent resident of a Middle Eastern country since 1994, and know nothing about the real estate industry in the U.S. I have never been to Texas and had no motivation to own a home there, especially one with no equity in it, and especially at this point in my life when I am in serious financial difficulties and have been threatened by my creditors with prison over here. I initially entered into this agreement with both Mr. Glass and Mr. Marks because they were my friends, their advanced ages led me to respect them both, and they had huge experience in real estate. In addition, they told me that they would split 50% of the proceeds from the profit on the house with me to help me out of my own financial situation. They also said that they would set up a fund to take care of the mortgage payments and that we would split any problems that might arise such as repairs. Both Mr. Glass and Mr. Marks instructed me to advance money towards the house. This was supposed to be for repairs and the loan paperwork for the house, as well as to help settle the financial difficulties of Mr. Glass. Both assured me that, when the house was sold, they would return the money I had advanced to Mr. Glass. This amounted to about 8,000 dollars as is documented in e-mails between the three of us. Mr. Marks and I calculated the correct amount and were more or less in agreement; however, Mr. Glass refused to acknowledge that any money was owed. He gave me verbal reasons for this in e-mail, but none were based on any records, bank statements, or bills that could be verified. In contrast, all of the funds that I forwarded to him were documented, and the financial records of Mr. Marks and Mr. Glass will bear this out if they would open these records and e-mails for inspection. In terms of how I was harmed, first, and as was stated above, Mr. Glass never returned any of the money to me that I had advanced him for the home or as loans. Second I have incurred losses due to having to shoulder the mortgage from this house on my own, after Mr. Glass and Mr. Marks had said that they would set up a fund to ensure that there would be money for monthly payments. Third, Mr. Glass and Mr. Marks promised me that I would get 50% of any of the profits on the sale of this house after they had the house independently re-appraised. Mr. Marks never signed a letter of engagement with me, but he acted as my financial advisor. In reality of fact, he acted as my representative, as well as Mr. Glasses. He represented himself as my accountant and explained that the deal would actually be to all of our benefit and that he would oversee the whole transaction. Mr. Glass, for his part, also advised me on other financial matters as well. Throughout this real estat more

Resolved Question: Why is Barack Obama considered a man of the people?

when he's taken so much money from Big, Big Business? It seems that at least some conservatives, libertarians and a few leftists (such as Counterpunch's Pam Martens) (1, 2) were on the real story with Obama - those of us who noted Geoge Soros' and Warren Buffett's generosity to his Presidential campaign, or that Obama got more money from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae than any other Member of Congress. Interestingly, executives and employees of Wall Street law firms and lobbyists were Obama's largest donors, among them Jack Abramoff's Greenberg Traurig ($70,000). When the investment banks and bankers peel off the big bucks to get you into office and keep you there, and send major executives (like Perseus Group's Jim Johnson - Soros owns Perseus Group) to help you run your campaign, it's not because they like your speaking style. It's because they expect you to share the nation's wealth with THEM somewhere down the line. To quote Pam Martens (back in March, 2008): "We are asked to believe that those white executives at all the biggest Wall Street firms, which rank in the top 20 donors to the Obama presidential campaign, after failing to achieve more than 3.5 per cent black stockbrokers over 30 years, now want a black populist president because they crave a level playing field for the American people. The number one industry supporting the Obama presidential bid, according to the widely respected, nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, is "lawyers/law firms" (most on Wall Street's payroll), giving a total of $11,246,596. They say: "Other leading presidential candidates are taking money from lawyers/law firms/lobbyists, but Senator Obama is the only one rallying with the populist cry that he isn't." This presents three unique credibility problems for the yes-we-can, little-choo-choo-that-could campaign: (1) these are not just "lawyers/law firms"; the vast majority of these firms are also registered lobbyists at the Federal level; (2) Senator Obama has made it a core tenet of his campaign platform that the way he is gong to bring the country hope and change is not taking money from federal lobbyists; and (3) with the past seven ignoble years of lies and distortions fresh in the minds of voters, building a candidacy based on half-truths is not a sustainable strategy to secure the west wing from the right wing. Yes, the other leading presidential candidates are taking money from lawyers/law firms/lobbyists, but Senator Obama is the only one rallying with the populist cry that he isn't. That makes it not only a legitimate but a necessary line of inquiry.... ...Why do Wall Street and the corporate law firms think they will find a President Obama to be accommodating? As the Black Agenda Report notes, "Evidently, the giant insurance companies, the airlines, oil companies, Wall Street, military contractors and others had closely examined and vetted Barack Obama and found him pleasing." Pardon the Joel Chandler Harris analogy, but Barack Obama was Big Business' Briar Patch - they pleaded faintly for the American people not to elect a guy who they found perfectly willing to accept their money in great big lots. What the Democratic Party accuses John McCain and Joe Lieberman of being, Obama IS. Sources: 1) http://www.counterpunch.org/martens05052008.html 2) http://carolynbaker.net/site/content/view/360/ more

Resolved Question: How is anyone still supporting BHO and his audacity of debt?

Read the last paragraph if you read nothing else. At least someone in America isn't feeling a credit squeeze: Uncle Sam. This week Congress will vote to raise the national debt ceiling by nearly $2 trillion, to a total of $14 trillion. In this economy, everyone de-leverages except government. It's a sign of how deep the fiscal pathologies run in this Congress that $2 trillion will buy the federal government only one year before it has to seek another debt hike—conveniently timed to come after the midterm elections. Since Democrats began running Congress again in 2007, the federal debt limit has climbed by 39%. The new hike will lift the borrowing cap by another 15%. There is surely bipartisan blame for this government debt boom. George W. Bush approved gigantic spending increases for Medicare and bailouts. He also sponsored the first ineffective "stimulus" in February 2008—consisting of $168 billion in tax rebates and spending that depleted federal revenues in return for no economic lift. Democrats ridiculed Mr. Bush as "the most fiscally irresponsible President in history," but then they saw him and raised. They took an $800 billion deficit and made it $1.4 trillion in 2009 and perhaps that high again in 2010. In 10 months they have approved more than $1 trillion in spending that has saved union public jobs but has done little to assist private job creation. Still to come is the multitrillion-dollar health bill and another $100 billion to $200 billion "jobs" bill. We've never obsessed over the budget deficit, because the true cost of government is the amount it spends, not the amount it borrows. Milton Friedman used to say that the nation would be far better off with a budget half the current size but with larger deficits. Mr. Obama and his allies in Congress have done the opposite: They have increased the budget by 50% and financed the spending with IOUs. Our concern is that the Administration and Congress view this debt as a way to force a permanently higher tax base for decades to come. The liberal grand strategy is to use their accidentally large majorities this year to pass new entitlements that start small but will explode in future years. U.S. creditors will then demand higher taxes—taking income taxes back to their pre-Reagan rates and adding a value-added tax too. This would expand federal spending as a share of GDP to as much as 30% from the pre-crisis 20%. Remember the 1980s and 1990s when liberals said they worried about the debt? We now know they were faking it. When the Gipper chopped income and business tax rates by roughly 25% and then authorized a military build-up, Democrats and their favorite economists predicted doom for a decade. The late Paul Samuelson, the revered dean of the neo-Keynesians, expressed the prevailing view in those days when he called the Reagan deficits "an all-consuming evil." But wait: Those "evil" Reagan deficits averaged less than $200 billion a year, or about one-quarter as large in real terms as today's deficit. The national debt held by the public reached its peak in the Reagan years at 40.9%, and hit 49.2% in 1995. This year debt will hit 61% of GDP, heading to 68% soon even by the White House's optimistic estimates. Our view is that there is good and bad public borrowing. In the 1980s federal deficits financed a military buildup that ended the Cold War (leading to an annual peace dividend in the 1990s of 3% of GDP), as well as tax cuts that ended the stagflation of the 1970s and began 25 years of prosperity. Those were high return investments. Today's debt has financed . . . what exactly? The TARP money did undergird the financial system for a time and is now being repaid. But most of the rest has been spent on a political wish list of public programs ranging from unemployment insurance to wind turbines to tax credits for golf carts. Borrowing for such low return purposes makes America poorer in the long run. By the way, today's spending and debt totals don't account for the higher debt-servicing costs that are sure to come. The President's own budget office forecasts that annual interest payments by 2019 will be $774 billion, which will be more than the federal government will spend that year on national defense, education, transportation—in fact, all nondefense discretionary programs. Democrats want to pass the debt limit increase as a stowaway on the defense funding bill, hoping that few will notice while pledging to reduce spending at some future date. Republicans ought to force a long and careful debate that educates the public. Ultimately, the U.S. government has to pay its bills and the debt limit bill will have to pass. But debt limit votes are one of the few times historically when taxpayer advocates have leverage on Capitol Hill. Republicans and Democrats who care should use it to discuss genuine ways to put Washington on a renewed and tighter spending regime. "Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices more

Resolved Question: Trapped in a small business I want no part of...help.?

I'm a female, 42, w/ kids grown & in college. My husband talked me into quitting my job back in June to start a small business with a couple of our acquaintances. I really didn't want to get involved in a small business because I'm having some fairly major health problems (both mental and physical). What's happened is that I'm no stuck in a position to where I'm the one who suddenly owes taxes and a lot of money to several people and businesses. I can';t deal with the stress of all the money I owe, I'm barely making $300 a month and I can't pay my "business partners." Due to the recession, there are no other jobs to go to. I started out spending $8,000 to get this business started, borrowed another $20,000 to keep it going, It barely pays for itself after 6 months and I'm unable to pay my bills. My lowest-paid employee makes more money than I do. I can't deal with the stress. I do not qualify for Medicaid in my state because on paper I make too much money. The social workers look at the large amounts of money run through my business account and I'm instantly denied. They're not accountants and they don't understand that I'm paying out as much as I'm taking in. I'm supposed to be paying for workmans comp and other business-related insurance, and I haven't been, simply because we do not have enough cash inflow to pay for it. My business partners and my husband essentially tell me the following: "Quit complaining, do your job and in a year or two it will get better." My husband and my partners refuse to see that I've gotten to the point where I'm tired of working for almost no pay at all. They are doing the same, but they also have other sources of income. I do not. My husband, who is spear-heading this whole thing refuses to admit that the business is not going to take off like he'd hoped, and he yells at me every time I talk about trying to find another job somewhere else, even if it's at a fast-food joint. After all, some money is better than no money at all. He refuses to see the what the stress of this is doing to me. My partners have threatened to sue me if I left the company to find another job. My company owes one of them about $3,000, plus her wages for the last 6 months, and I owe the other around $5,000, plus his wages for the last 4 months. No one has considered the fact that I personally put up $20,000 in this, plus my own wages (at current avg of $15.00 per hour) for the entire 6 months. I can't leave, and I've become a slave to this company, to my business partners and to my husband. I've grown so resentful of my husband over forcing me into this that I can barely stand the sight of him, and our marriage is now a joke. We can't be around each other more than 5 minutes before we argue to the point where we're throwing stuff at each other. I've come to the conclusion that my 17-yr marriage has been killed by this business - along with a lot of other "little things" that have added up over the years. I have female-related health problems that desperately need attention, and I can't afford medical care. Along with these, my mental stability is crumbling by the day. I have problems with extreme depresson and anxiety, and my OCD (which had been dealt with for several years) has now come roaring back. I find myself sitting in a near-catatonic state, crying for no particular reason. I have tried to figure a way out of this situation and there is no way out without being sued for what little I have left. Oh, and I can't just leave - my husband and I have moved in with my mother, whose health is declining rapidly. We needed a place to stay and she needed help around the house. I can't just walk off and leave her. She can barely manage to get dressed in the morning, and can't walk far because she has breathing problems and is on oxygen. So, what it boils down to is that I want out of this situation, but I can't figure a way out. Like a rat trapped in a maze with no exit, I'm going slowly crazy. I can't talk about this with anyone, as no one will listen to me. I have no money to pay a lawyer, and free legal aid says that I have to get on a year-long waiting list. I have to file taxes soon, and can't afford a professional to help me. As each day passes, I try to find some reason to get out of bed and keep working, to keep the business alive long enough to start generating enough to pay me and my business partners. I'm so very, very tired and I'm options, save for one. I don't want to go "that" route, but like all roads somehow lead to Rome, all lines of exit lead to that one. Unless there's a miracle about to happen to me in the very near future, my husband will soon be looking for another graphic designer to exploit for free labor. Any thoughts? If not, I certainly hope your life is going a lot better than mine. My advice: if you want to start a small business in the U.S. - DON'T. At least not right now. Wait until things get better economically. And, never, EVER go into business with yourMore details on my business: I'm the publisher and editor of a small weekly magazine in the southwest U.S. Our circulation is currently 15,000 - 20,000, home-delivered weekly. I wear several hats there - graphics/page design, maintain a web page (it's cheesy, but it's there), handle client issues and share AR & AP duties with one of my business partners. I also deliver one on the paper routes myself because we had to lay off 4 of our carriers to make ends meet. The publications (we have 2 right now, the other is a monthly w/ 50K circ) are barely paying the print & operation costs. It's growing, but far slower that I thought they would. Even the main newspaper in town is going under as well. Everyone in publishing is hurting due to the recession. I'm not in bankruptcy yet, but it's looming nigh...Thanks for your replies - I'm not sure how to answer on this thing, (more used to "blog" message boards than this). The reasons my partners have flung the lawsuit threats at me is that without me the paper will die. Not one of them is capable of stepping into my position and taking over, and they can't afford to hire anyone to replace me. If I quit, they're out of their money. *The wages haven't been "paid" per se, but they consider all the time they're working there by the hour with a dollar amount, assigning a dollar value to the time they've put in. I didn't know I had the option to simply leave, but then again, I owe money to advertisers (about $15,000) if I stopped publishing tomorrow. My husband (he handles ad sales) says that if I quit, he'll fight me for my controlling share of the company. Community property and all that... more

Resolved Question: CONSERVATIVES, do you like the idea of splitting the USA with us LIBERALS?

The more I think about it the more I like it. Let's divide the US into Liberals and Conservatives. We've become like a party of hikers stranded on a mountain slope. Half want to stay put and wait for rescue, and the other half want to get as far back down the slope as they can. Both sides could be right, both are willing to stake their lives on their ideas, and both are ready to kill the other side for resisting what must be done. So, let's split up. The Liberals get the Northeast and both coasts: the blue states. If we get all the blue states from 2008, that includes New Mexico, Colorado, and Florida. Also, Hawaii. I'd throw in Florida for the Conservatives just to sweeten the pot. I suggest we name ourselves the Social Democratic States of America. The SDSA. The Conservatives get the big center of the country and the gulf coast states. And Alaska. I suggest you call yourselves the Christian Confederation of America. The CCA. During the partition there will be some messy splits, and a lot of dramatic exoduses and ethnic cleansing. Most of the city of Austin will be Liberals trapped far behind enemy lines, in the very Capital city of the Christian Confederacy! They will have to evacuate to North Carolina. Conversely, the entire population of Western Michigan will have to make a run for Missouri. A lot of Wall Street guys will be flying their private jets one - way to Dallas, while a lot of Liberal millionaires will say goodbye to their Montana ranches forever. We have to split the federal debt and each pay off half, because both Rep. and Dems have borrowed all that money. Right now national debt is 12.9 trillion. A little less than half of that added up during the administration of Pres. George W. Bush (sorry, just had to point it out). The Christian Confederation will eliminate income and business taxes, but they still have to find a way to pay back $6.5 trillion without that revenue. Take State revenues in Texas, the capital of the CCA. They make $21 million a year in sales tax and $26 million in income tax. Without income, sales tax will go to around 20%. Then, to pay make their federal debt payments, they may have to double that, maybe to 40% sales tax. Also, a lot of that is Social Security, which red - staters have been paying all their lives. I don't know if you're going to just tell all those would - be retirees that their money is gone, or pay them all back their money in one lump sum (in which case you'll have to borrow trillions more) or keep paying Social Security, but that's pretty Socialist. Meanwhile, in the SDSA, taxes will be roughly like those in Western Europe. Most will pay 25%. The wealthiest pay a lot more income tax than now, up to 50% in the $1 million/ year income bracket. However, no one will have any medical, prescription, or education expenses. We each get half of the military, because we both paid for it. So we each have enough nukes to keep us from invading each other. Social Democratic States of America SDSA all blue states; northeast and coastal states. Multicultural, secular, republic, dedicated to ideals of mutual tolerance, freedom, and human rights. Member and foremost donor to United Nations. Signatory to all major international treaties on human rights, disarmament, and environment. Secretary of Science and Technology is a cabinet position. Congressional Office of Science is established to review policy proposals. Science research receives high levels of funding, technology progresses. Open immigration, open guest worker passes. Guest workers put downward pressures on wages for labor. High income tax. Most Americans pay 25% federal income tax. Over 50% for those earning over $1,000,000/ year.. Single payer health care for all. No medical expenses for covered services for citizens. Some procedures deemed unproven, cosmetic, or futile, not covered. Entrepreneurs and businesses pay nothing for employee medical insurance. Free public college education for any who pass entrance exams. Few energy reserves. Large fuel imports. Intensive investment in renewable energy and later generation nuclear reactors. Military spending reduced to a level needed to defend SDSA territory, plus expeditionary forces for UN. Strong ties with Europe and Asia lead to increased trade and financial investment. Blue states had average incomes about $10,000 higher than red states at time of partition. High educational achievement, international trade and investment, and technological innovation, lead to increasing household incomes. Women choose when and if to start families. Homosexuals granted full marriage rights Christian Confederacy of America CCA All red states; south, central, and gulf coast states. Christian confederacy of states. Dedicated to Jesus Christ, to freedom, and to the heritage of America. All non - Christian citizens and houses of worship are required to register with local govern more

Resolved Question: Should we "Go Cheney" on climate change?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/opinion/09friedman.html?em=&pagewanted=print December 9, 2009 OP-ED COLUMNIST Going Cheney on Climate By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN In 2006, Ron Suskind published “The One Percent Doctrine,” a book about the U.S. war on terrorists after 9/11. The title was drawn from an assessment by then-Vice President Dick Cheney, who, in the face of concerns that a Pakistani scientist was offering nuclear-weapons expertise to Al Qaeda, reportedly declared: “If there’s a 1% chance that Pakistani scientists are helping Al Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response.” Cheney contended that the U.S. had to confront a very new type of threat: a “low-probability, high-impact event.” Soon after Suskind’s book came out, the legal scholar Cass Sunstein, who then was at the University of Chicago, pointed out that Mr. Cheney seemed to be endorsing the same “precautionary principle” that also animated environmentalists. Sunstein wrote in his blog: “According to the Precautionary Principle, it is appropriate to respond aggressively to low-probability, high-impact events — such as climate change. Indeed, another vice president — Al Gore — can be understood to be arguing for a precautionary principle for climate change (though he believes that the chance of disaster is well over 1 percent).” Of course, Mr. Cheney would never accept that analogy. Indeed, many of the same people who defend Mr. Cheney’s One Percent Doctrine on nukes tell us not to worry at all about catastrophic global warming, where the odds are, in fact, a lot higher than 1 percent, if we stick to business as usual. That is unfortunate, because Cheney’s instinct is precisely the right framework with which to think about the climate issue — and this whole “climategate” controversy as well. “Climategate” was triggered on Nov. 17 when an unidentified person hacked into the e-mails and data files of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, one of the leading climate science centers in the world — and then posted them on the Internet. In a few instances, they revealed some leading climatologists seemingly massaging data to show more global warming and excluding contradictory research. Frankly, I found it very disappointing to read a leading climate scientist writing that he used a “trick” to “hide” a putative decline in temperatures or was keeping contradictory research from getting a proper hearing. Yes, the climate-denier community, funded by big oil, has published all sorts of bogus science for years — and the world never made a fuss. That, though, is no excuse for serious climatologists not adhering to the highest scientific standards at all times. That said, be serious: The evidence that our planet, since the Industrial Revolution, has been on a broad warming trend outside the normal variation patterns — with periodic micro-cooling phases — has been documented by a variety of independent research centers. As this paper just reported: “Despite recent fluctuations in global temperature year to year, which fueled claims of global cooling, a sustained global warming trend shows no signs of ending, according to new analysis by the World Meteorological Organization made public on Tuesday. The decade of the 2000s is very likely the warmest decade in the modern record.” This is not complicated. We know that our planet is enveloped in a blanket of greenhouse gases that keep the Earth at a comfortable temperature. As we pump more carbon-dioxide and other greenhouse gases into that blanket from cars, buildings, agriculture, forests and industry, more heat gets trapped. What we don’t know, because the climate system is so complex, is what other factors might over time compensate for that man-driven warming, or how rapidly temperatures might rise, melt more ice and raise sea levels. It’s all a game of odds. We’ve never been here before. We just know two things: one, the CO2 we put into the atmosphere stays there for many years, so it is “irreversible” in real-time (barring some feat of geo-engineering); and two, that CO2 buildup has the potential to unleash “catastrophic” warming. When I see a problem that has even a 1 percent probability of occurring and is “irreversible” and potentially “catastrophic,” I buy insurance. That is what taking climate change seriously is all about. If we prepare for climate change by building a clean-power economy, but climate change turns out to be a hoax, what would be the result? Well, during a transition period, we would have higher energy prices. But gradually we would be driving battery-powered electric cars and powering more and more of our homes and factories with wind, solar, nuclear and second-generation biofuels. We would be much less dependent on oil dictators who have drawn a bull’s-eye on our backs; our trade deficit would improve; the dollar would strengthen; and the air we breathe would be cleaner. more

Voting Question: Woman empowerment a mirage!?

Now days there is only one thing which is being discussed too much i.e. woman empowerment. Actually woman are being fooled by both government and corporate sector. Half of the world's population is constituted by women, which before this empowerment song was under the control of the men psychology (it is even today also but a old wine in bottle is there and people are not able to identify it). The business class realized it very well that unless this half is tapped in home the business will not flourish and they with the help of media and government started to make such policies that let the other sex come out of the home. They with the government's help changed the mind set of society. They induced influential people of the society to say things which provoked women to come out of home. They were aware that the demand of the men are limited and it is only women who can lead the growth of business. Women who are working out there are just being sexually exploited by the male colleagues, (whether they are in corporate sector or in film industry they are just being used as item of pleasure) now days they are using their sexuality as a means to get promotion, in insurance sector the girl agents offer sexual favour to their clients to sell policies AND CLAIMING THEIR SELVES TO BE INDEPENDENT & DEVELOPED. If you will do a research you will just find that in name of empowerment the fairer sex is just sexually exploited and media and government under the pressure and other favours are presenting the thing in such a fashion to the general public that instead of revealing the truth they are creating a mirage of development of women. Our forefathers were well aware of this fact that if the women is going out side then she will just be sexually exploited and nothing else will happen with them. But now days women are being paid for their favours and because of this they do not say any thing and are letting the things happen to them. THIS IS A FACT WHETHER ANY BODY ACCEPTS IT OR NOT, if they are not accepting it, then it is just because of the fact that their mindset has been changed by the those people who are exploiting women. more

Resolved Question: Hi, is this a scam email I received?

I'm pretty sure this is a scam since I don't have any idea how they know I'm a finance and accounting major, and never gave my email address out to anyone, but I'm having a hard time figuring out just exactly what the scam is since they aren't asking me for any personal information, even in follow up emails. anyway, this is what the email says: fromJovita Bernat <jovitabernat0531@hotmail.com> tog**************@gmail.com (I blocked my email out) dateWed, Dec 2, 2009 at 4:32 AM subjectEntry level position at MF GMBH is available now mailed-byhotmail.com hide details 4:32 AM (6 hours ago) MF Group GmBH has a new enty level job opening in the Accounting Department. (No previous accounting experience is required). We are the largest Insurance Company in Europe with a successful long term commitment history. About the Job: We are looking for career oriented individual to join our accounting staff. This position is entry level and will be in our financial reporting and operations accounting areas. Candidate will handle various accounting responsibilities, including: perform data entry of journal entries, assist in performing financial transactions, assist with month�end, quarter-end and year-end financial reports, monitor and review transaction details, perform other duties as assigned. About us: Ag Int. is an independent, private, owner-managed company since 1993. Our headquarters are in Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 1993, we now have a global network of subsidiaries and offices around the world. Ag Int. has ended the year 2008 with USD3.22 billion in assets under management. The company provides unmatched convenience in Europe and the United States, serving more than 130.000 consumer and business clients. We take a global approach to our core businesses of general and life insurance. The diversity of our portfolio, both geographically and by line of business, is key to our strategy. We offer a comprehensive range of general and life insurance products and services for individuals, small businesses, commercial enterprises, mid-sized and large corporations and multinational companies. Our customers are some of the world's largest industrial, c ommercial and professional service firms, insurance companies, and financial institutions. They trust us for our superior financial security, risk expertise, and service excellence. They value our fundamental strength � our capital and our people. We aspire to become the leading global insurance group in our chosen markets, and to consistently deliver top-tier results for our shareholders. By so doing, we will create strong relationships with our customers, agents and brokers, and provide rewarding opportunities for our employees. What we offer: Full/Part time employment Compensation 45.000 � 55.000 USD + 13th salary An excellent growth platform and a great working environment Zero cost health insurance, matching 401(k) Annual Partnership Exchange Programs Free Regular Seminars What are we looking for: Must be US citizen or legal alien authorized to work in the US High School degree (college degree is a plus) Experience in Accounting/Bookkeeping is a plus Must be willing to work overtime during certain parts of our month-end process Ability to handle multiple tasks within a strict timeframe Must have strong communication skills and customer service background Should be able to work independently in a team environment MS Office System Skills Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster. This company will appreciate your contributions and you will be valued for your dedication. AG Int. Is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from qualified women, minority and disabled candidates. To Learn more about this position please contact Human Resources Department representative by replying to this E-Mail: alex.nuberg@gmail.com . Your request will be forwarded directly to a Recruitment Officer. more

Voting Question: New construction handyman business, Need filing and organization help?

So I started a little handyman business. I got my general contractor's license, insurance and bond and am getting a fair amount of work. I like it but don't like having to sit down at the computer for too long of a time doing paperwork. I've got a makeshift filing system, all paper with folders, cabinet etc. I use MS Office Pro programs like Outlook for email/calendar etc and Word for all documents for bids, invoices, letterheads etc. I'm looking for the best and most efficient ways of dealing with all the administrative duties associated with running a small construction business. I wanna use technology as much as I can to help me keep track of receipts, invoices, job leads, etc. I know I need Quick Books or a program similar but not sure how much that program alone will help me when keeping track of everything. Should I keep a handwritten ledger of all transactions (fuel, materials, tools, withdrawals etc) or is there a program I can use to do that? Any help is much appreciated. I'd like to hear from people who have or currently is running a business but input from anyone is appreciated. Links to .doc templates, or reference sites welcomed. more

Resolved Question: Will the coming tsunami of inflation destroy the nation's future?

The central economic crisis of the next five years may not be the greed-induced worldwide depression in which we are now mired. Indeed, it may well be the rampant global inflation the politicians’ response to that depression will inevitably trigger. Depressions, or recessions, come and go. But inflation has the potential to stick around for decades. Look at the horrific increase in the money supply caused by the TARP bailout. Not even counting the coming stimulus package, the money supply has risen from $600 billion in 2000 to $800 billion in 2007. This year, it has risen from $800 billion to $1.7 trillion! (Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) We can all probably now agree that the current depression was induced by a combination of a political willingness to let business make money by making loans they shouldn’t have and of business’ alacrity in walking through that open door in search of mind-numbing profits. But we seem to be collectively blind to the likelihood that the same political tendency to give out goodies and spare us pain is now leading the government to borrow so much and so increase the money supply that inflation will be the consequence. After all, it was the political desire to bring good news to voters that led government to make it possible for people to buy homes they could not afford and kids to go to colleges they couldn’t pay for and families to buy cars that were too costly and businesses to survive off debt long after they ceased to turn a profit. Now it is the same desire to get re-elected that is leading politicians to offer a trillion-dollar stimulus package to voters and a bailout to banks, insurance firms and car companies. Eventually, we will all feel the pain when inflation sets in. Then, government will have no choice but to induce a deep recession akin to that which Paul Volker created in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s to cool off the inflation Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon set in motion by running up huge deficits to pay for the Vietnam War. So Barack Obama and the Democrats are selling soothing syrup to their political base at a price of massive inflation and agony in the future. What Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in his first inaugural address holds doubly true today: “Faced by failure of credit, they have proposed only the lending of more money.” Democrats have, of course, always been willing to tolerate a certain level of inflation to hold down joblessness, while Republicans have usually placed an absolute priority on fighting inflation. But the lengths to which the Democrats are now going to spare us immediate pain and the implications of a doubling of the money supply in one year are beyond rational calculus. It is hard to believe that any administration, set of economists or political party could be this irresponsible or so focused on the next election that they are literally willing to mortgage much of the next decade to win it. Part of the huge deficit, of course, comes from a political calculation, also breathtaking in its cynicism. Obama and the Democrats are seeking a $500 refundable tax credit on the payroll tax for each American. This credit will assure that a majority of Americans pay no net taxes at all to the federal government, but, instead, can look forward to a refund. Right now, 70 percent of all federal revenues and 85 percent of all personal income taxes are paid by the top 25 percent of the nation (those with household incomes over $65,000 a year). Under Obama’s proposal, virtually all of the revenues will be paid by this group. Once the anesthetic of tax exemption desensitizes the majority of American voters to tax increases, the surgery of extracting massively increased amounts from the upper-income groups will become politically feasible.All credit to "thecitizen.com". more

Resolved Question: On a scale of 1 to 10: How upset will Americans be when they realize how bad TARP screwed them over?

In essence Timmy Geithner set up a program that paid top price for toxic (worthless) assets (with tax payer money). Who was the beneficiary of this?? Goldman Sachs --- Turbo Timmy's former employer. Coincidence?? Or a sign that the govt. has reached a tipping point with regards to massive corruption?? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/16/aig-bailout-government-ov_n_359919.html A brutal report issued Monday by a government watchdog holds Timothy Geithner -- then the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and now the nation's Treasury Secretary -- responsible for overpayments that put billions of extra tax dollars in the coffers of major Wall Street firms, most notably Goldman Sachs. The authoritative new narrative describes how, while bailing out insurance giant AIG last fall, a team led by Geithner failed nearly every step of the way. Instead of bargaining with AIG's numerous counterparties to resolve its billions of dollars in souring derivatives contracts, Geithner's team ended up paying top dollar for toxic assets -- "an amount far above their market value at the time," the report notes. "There is no question that the effect of FRBNY's decisions -- indeed, the very design of the federal assistance to AIG -- was that tens of billions of dollars of Government money was funneled inexorably and directly to AIG's counterparties," the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program said. Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Wachovia got full value for their derivatives contracts with AIG, and taxpayers got the bill. In total, $27.1 billion of public money was transferred to companies that did business with AIG.oh yeah - 1 = not upset 10 = very upsetsarika........Yes, that's because there is a very big rat. It's called the Federal Reserve. more

Resolved Question: how many lies has the RNC told about health care reform?

how many lies has the RNC told about healthcare reform? (http://www.newsweek.com/id/214254/output… The Five Biggest Lies in the Health Care Debate By Sharon Begley | NEWSWEEK Published Aug 29, 2009 From the magazine issue dated Sep 7, 2009 To the credit of opponents of health-care reform, the lies and exaggerations they're spreading are not made up out of whole cloth—which makes the misinformation that much more credible. Instead, because opponents demand that everyone within earshot (or e-mail range) look, say, "at page 425 of the House bill!," the lies take on a patina of credibility. Take the claim in one chain e-mail that the government will have electronic access to everyone's bank account, implying that the Feds will rob you blind. The 1,017-page bill passed by the House Ways and Means Committee does call for electronic fund transfers—but from insurers to doctors and other providers. There is zero provision to include patients in any such system. Five other myths that won't die: You'll have no choice in what health benefits you receive. The myth that a "health choices commissioner" will decide what benefits you get seems to have originated in a July 19 post at blog.flecksoflife.com, whose homepage features an image of Obama looking like Heath Ledger's Joker. In fact, the House bill sets up a health-care exchange—essentially a list of private insurers and one government plan—where people who do not have health insurance through their employer or some other source (including small businesses) can shop for a plan, much as seniors shop for a drug plan under Medicare part D. The government will indeed require that participating plans not refuse people with preexisting conditions and offer at least minimum coverage, just as it does now with employer-provided insurance plans and part D. The requirements will be floors, not ceilings, however, in that the feds will have no say in how generous private insurance can beNo chemo for older Medicare patients. The threat that Medicare will give cancer patients over 70 only end-of-life counseling and not chemotherapy—as a nurse at a hospital told a roomful of chemo patients, including the uncle of a NEWSWEEK reporter—has zero basis in fact. It's just a vicious form of the rationing scare. The House bill does not use the word "ration." Nor does it call for cost-effectiveness research, much less implementation—the idea that "it isn't cost-effective to give a 90-year-old a hip replacement." The general claim that care will be rationed under health-care reform is less a lie and more of a non-disprovable projection (as is Howard Dean's assertion that health-care reform will not lead to rationing, ever). What we can say is that there is de facto rationing under the current system, by both Medicare and private insurance. No plan covers everything, but coverage decisions "are now made in opaque ways by insurance companies," says Dr. Donald Berwick of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. A related myth is that health-care reform will be financed through $500 billion in Medicare cuts. This refers to proposed decreases in Medicare increases. That is, spending is on track to reach $803 billion in 2019 from today's $422 billion, and that would be dialed back. Even the $560 billion in reductions (which would be spread over 10 years and come from reducing payments to private Medicare advantage plans, reducing annual increases in payments to hospitals and other providers, and improving care so seniors are not readmitted to a hospital) is misleading: the House bill also gives Medicare $340 billion more over a decade. The money would pay docs more for office visits, eliminate copays and deductibles for preventive care, and help close the "doughnut hole" in the Medicare drug benefit, explains Medicare expert Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Illegal immigrants will get free health insurance. The House bill doesn't give anyone free health care (though under a 1986 law illegals who can't pay do get free emergency care now, courtesy of all us premium paying customers or of hospitals that have to eat the cost). Will they be eligible for subsidies to buy health insurance? The House bill says that "individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States" will not be allowed to receive subsidies. The claim that taxpayers will wind up subsidizing health insurance for illegal immigrants has its origins in the defeat of an amendment, offered in July by Republican Rep. Dean Heller of Nevada, to require those enrolling in a public plan or seeking subsidies to purchase private insurance to have their citizenship verified. Flecksoflife.com claimed on July 19 that "HC [health care] will be provided 2 all non US citizens, illegal or otherwise." Rep. Steve King of Iowa spread the claim in a USA Today op-ed on Aug. 20, calling the explicit prohibition on such coverage "functionally meaningless" absent mandatory citizenship checks, and it's now gone viral. Can more

Resolved Question: how many lie has the RNC told about healthcare reform?

(http://www.newsweek.com/id/214254/output/print) The Five Biggest Lies in the Health Care Debate By Sharon Begley | NEWSWEEK Published Aug 29, 2009 From the magazine issue dated Sep 7, 2009 To the credit of opponents of health-care reform, the lies and exaggerations they're spreading are not made up out of whole cloth—which makes the misinformation that much more credible. Instead, because opponents demand that everyone within earshot (or e-mail range) look, say, "at page 425 of the House bill!," the lies take on a patina of credibility. Take the claim in one chain e-mail that the government will have electronic access to everyone's bank account, implying that the Feds will rob you blind. The 1,017-page bill passed by the House Ways and Means Committee does call for electronic fund transfers—but from insurers to doctors and other providers. There is zero provision to include patients in any such system. Five other myths that won't die: You'll have no choice in what health benefits you receive. The myth that a "health choices commissioner" will decide what benefits you get seems to have originated in a July 19 post at blog.flecksoflife.com, whose homepage features an image of Obama looking like Heath Ledger's Joker. In fact, the House bill sets up a health-care exchange—essentially a list of private insurers and one government plan—where people who do not have health insurance through their employer or some other source (including small businesses) can shop for a plan, much as seniors shop for a drug plan under Medicare part D. The government will indeed require that participating plans not refuse people with preexisting conditions and offer at least minimum coverage, just as it does now with employer-provided insurance plans and part D. The requirements will be floors, not ceilings, however, in that the feds will have no say in how generous private insurance can beNo chemo for older Medicare patients. The threat that Medicare will give cancer patients over 70 only end-of-life counseling and not chemotherapy—as a nurse at a hospital told a roomful of chemo patients, including the uncle of a NEWSWEEK reporter—has zero basis in fact. It's just a vicious form of the rationing scare. The House bill does not use the word "ration." Nor does it call for cost-effectiveness research, much less implementation—the idea that "it isn't cost-effective to give a 90-year-old a hip replacement." The general claim that care will be rationed under health-care reform is less a lie and more of a non-disprovable projection (as is Howard Dean's assertion that health-care reform will not lead to rationing, ever). What we can say is that there is de facto rationing under the current system, by both Medicare and private insurance. No plan covers everything, but coverage decisions "are now made in opaque ways by insurance companies," says Dr. Donald Berwick of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. A related myth is that health-care reform will be financed through $500 billion in Medicare cuts. This refers to proposed decreases in Medicare increases. That is, spending is on track to reach $803 billion in 2019 from today's $422 billion, and that would be dialed back. Even the $560 billion in reductions (which would be spread over 10 years and come from reducing payments to private Medicare advantage plans, reducing annual increases in payments to hospitals and other providers, and improving care so seniors are not readmitted to a hospital) is misleading: the House bill also gives Medicare $340 billion more over a decade. The money would pay docs more for office visits, eliminate copays and deductibles for preventive care, and help close the "doughnut hole" in the Medicare drug benefit, explains Medicare expert Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Illegal immigrants will get free health insurance. The House bill doesn't give anyone free health care (though under a 1986 law illegals who can't pay do get free emergency care now, courtesy of all us premium paying customers or of hospitals that have to eat the cost). Will they be eligible for subsidies to buy health insurance? The House bill says that "individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States" will not be allowed to receive subsidies. The claim that taxpayers will wind up subsidizing health insurance for illegal immigrants has its origins in the defeat of an amendment, offered in July by Republican Rep. Dean Heller of Nevada, to require those enrolling in a public plan or seeking subsidies to purchase private insurance to have their citizenship verified. Flecksoflife.com claimed on July 19 that "HC [health care] will be provided 2 all non US citizens, illegal or otherwise." Rep. Steve King of Iowa spread the claim in a USA Today op-ed on Aug. 20, calling the explicit prohibition on such coverage "functionally meaningless" absent mandatory citizenship checks, and it's now gone viral. Can we say that none of the estimated 11.9 million illega more

Resolved Question: Is this a true statement?

Is this a true statement?: "The health reform bill provides a public option. You have a choice of either buying the public option or keeping your current insurance plan. However.......... There is a policy in the bill that makes it mandatory to buy some kind of health insurance. Those who are too poor to afford insurance will be provided free health insurance through subsidies. Poverty alone will qualify for free health insurance. Those who don't want to buy insurance out of the principal that their health is their business.............will be subject to criminal punishment.....which will begin with fines......and may lead up to prison on the grounds of tax evasion." more

Resolved Question: Résumé help much appreciated?

Would appreciate comments/criticism on my résumé. The format is amazing on Word, and I'm not interested in changing it - only the content. Thanks! Wesley D. N****** (423) 525-**** cell ♦ (706) 259-**** home ♦ ***********@gmail.com ___________________________________Education___________________________________ Overview B.S., Business Management, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia 3.23 GPA December 2009 Major Course Experience (selected) Microcomputer Applications Skills Learned: Working knowledge of the intricacies of MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and MS Access. Perfected the ability to effectively use MS Word, Excel, and Access in a business setting in order to maintain simplicity while escalating the business; through effective PowerPoint presentations, integration of Excel into accounting projects and webpage design. Applied Projects: Developed and maintained worksheets throughout the semester detailing various business calculations used in our text. Regularly integrated data from one application to another. Small Business Entrepreneurship Skills Learned: Learned to analyze the steps involved in formulating and managing a small business within a dynamic environment. Applied Projects: Wrote a full business plan focusing on areas such as idea conception, feasibility, planning, financing, legalities, marketing, operations, and management. __________________________________Experience___________________________________ Orders and Inventory Manager, Value Carpets, ********, Georgia 2008 – 2009 Controlled inventory, and managed order compilation Worked and oversaw order logistics, personally assessing and analyzing to ensure product and inventory efficiency for buyers such as Bass Pro Shops, Inc. Gained valuable analytical experience and problem solving skills under the direct supervision of the companies vice president/owner Teleservices Representative, Publishers Circulation Fulfillment, *********, Florida 2007 – 2008 Assigned responsibilities with the nation’s #1 circulated newspaper—The New York Times Provided excellent customer service by meeting current customer needs Generated new contacts and qualified leads Consistently produced sales above the national average Teleservices Representative, Choicepoint Precision Marketing, *********, Florida 2006 – 2007 Assigned responsibilities with the nation’s largest insurance leads force—Choicepoint Generated new contacts and qualified leads for Auto, Home, and Life insurance Consistently produced sales above the national average _________________________________Extra curricular________________________________ Professional Owned and operated a family business for three years. Applied a variety of managerial skills including personnel, financial, inventory, and customer service oversight Personal President/Treasurer of College Beta Kappa Delta Collegian (a student group of 80+ people) 1 year Active in community outreach programs Master Clubs(similar to Awana), Relay for Life, Adopt-a-Highway more

Resolved Question: Will the Public Option be subjected to anti-trust regulations?

When it crowds out private insurers by having implicit government backing (like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and cost-controls that undercut market-based insurance rates offered by private insurers?When Blue Cross Blue Shield members goes bankrupt or out of business, will it be propped up as well, or will everyone or will all their insurees have to seek insurance with the only remaining option, the public one? This is why the Democrats in Congress are 10,000 times smarter than the people who voted them in, because they're sensible enough to know that the health care bill will lead to single payer and they have no qualms about lying. more

Resolved Question: Where are all the illegal apologists now illegal goes on shooting spree four people dead is their a revolving?

Where are all the illegal apologists now illegal goes on shooting spree four people dead is their a revolving door at the border ? And people want our borders wide open so anybody can come & go as part of their basic human rights with no immigration status check due to racial profiling?A man accused of murdering four people in Mount Airy Sunday was in the U.S. illegally and had been deported previously, an official with a federal agency confirmed Friday. Marcos Chavez Gonzalez, 26, of 146 Southridge Road, re-entered the country after his deportation, according to Barbara Gonzalez of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. In reacting to this disclosure Friday afternoon, Mount Airy Police Chief Dale Watson indicated that it makes the circumstances behind Sunday’s fatal shootings all the more disturbing. “It’s just very troublesome that he was deported at one point and then did get access back into our country,” Watson said of the alleged murderer and his illegal immigration status. The police chief added that the ability of such individuals to re-enter the U.S. is a major problem for law enforcement in trying to keep communities safe. “It has the potential to create issues like we’re dealing with today,” Watson said in reference to the suspect’s alleged murder of the four victims using a high-powered assault rifle. They were shot in the parking lot of two Worth Street businesses, Wood’s TV Inc. and Chilton Insurance Group Inc. Watson said Friday that city police still have not arrived at a motive for the crime, despite numerous contacts with witnesses to the shootings and others linked to those involved. Several possibilities are being investigating, including one that the deaths resulted from a love affair gone bad, with authorities saying they do not believe it was a random event. After the incident, Marcos Chavez Gonzalez fled to Henry County, Va., where he was arrested at a Super 8 motel early Monday. The convicted felon subsequently was returned to North Carolina and is being held without privilege of bond on four counts of first-degree murder. Gonzalez was imprisoned after a 2002 conviction in Surry County for kidnapping a minor and a probation violation, with the felony kidnapping violation requiring him to register as a sex offender. He was released in January 2007 after a total of nearly five years behind bars. A detainer was issued for Gonzalez following his imprisonment, which is filed in cases in which some other agency seeks to take custody of an inmate upon his or her release from the North Carolina prison system. “In this case, it was a request from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement),” said Keith Acree, director of public affairs for the state penal department. “The feds had an interest in him as part of a deportation case,” Acree explained. Barbara Gonzalez, who handles ICE activities in North Carolina, said that Marcos Gonzalez was in fact deported after his release from prison, only to illegally re-enter the country. “ICE has lodged a detainer against Mr. Gonzalez” for immigration violations, she added Friday of his present status. If the illegal immigrant were to receive a prison sentence in North Carolina for the latest crime, under the new detainer “we will reinstate his prior removal once he is transferred into our custody,” the ICE official said. Assuming such an incarceration occurs, “he will be turned over to ICE custody upon the completion of his prison term,” she added. Those killed Sunday included brothers Javier Manuel Martinez, 21, and Juan Manuel Martinez, 26; their cousin, Victor Alfonso Martinez-Jimemiz, 22; and Marcos Oviedo Aguilar, 22, a friend of the three. All lived in the Mount Airy-Surry County area. http://www.mtairynews.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Murder+suspect+here+illegally%20&id=4368945-Murder+suspect+here+illegally&instance=home_news_lead more

Resolved Question: does anyone NOT see this coming?

ok... the government owns the banks (not the taxpayers)... the governmenet owns GM motors (not the tax payer)... now obama is saying that he would take a look at a bailout for the newspapers..... now "net neutrality".... now.... if there is going to be a "public option" or whatever the heck they wanna call it, people ARE going to take the cheaper "public option". therefor putting the private and employer based insurance out of business. leading to, and yes you guessed it, government run healthcare!?!?!?! please correct me if i am wrong. inform me if i have missed something.i am armed, i have a place to go and i have tought my family as i was tought to take care of ourselves if need be. and i dont mean in an insane way. i mean, be self reliant, follow the laws , and live life happily. fight with in reason and peacefully for what you belive in. please people, make yourselves heard, in a peaceful way , if you do it in a raving lunatic way, youre gonna cause trouble. be heard, be peaceful about it. there is too much violence as it is. speak your mind.why do i NOT want government healthcare??? omg more

Resolved Question: I find it appalling that anyone could say things of this kind about my "president" 0bama. How about you?

Now's the Time to Stop the Abomination of Obamacare Janice Shaw Crouse Wednesday, October 28, 2009 http://townhall.com/columnists/JaniceShawCrouse/2009/10/28/nows_the_time_to_stop_the_abomination_of_obamacare We’re down to the wire with ObamaCare. The big-government-loving left is determined to push through a bill before the end of the year that contains who knows what — with the only certainty being that members of Congress won’t be subject to its limits on care. After promising bipartisanship and sunshine in the deliberations, Democrats are shaping the bill behind closed doors. In the face of an overwhelming lack of public support and dire budget-deficit ramifications, the left, like the snake oil peddlers of old, is selling ObamaCare with quackery and the President’s oft-repeated and patently false claim that “if you’ve got health insurance, you like your doctors, you like your plan, you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan.” The media campaigns of today’s slick-talking politicians harken back to the entertaining road shows where deceiving people and leaving before the deception became obvious was an effective way to fleece the public. Today’s radical politicians are determined to promote and pass their disastrous health care reform before the public learns the details and then delay implementation until some time after the 2012 election when Obama, at least, will be politically safe from the public’s wrath. Oh, the deception! Let me count the ways! For starters: the reality of mandates, rationing, taxpayer funded abortion, opposition from physicians, the prohibitive cost, the lack of competition between private and public insurance … the list could go on and on. It’s easy to get the facts at websites like ours — www.cwfa.org. But it’s not easy to get it from the nightly news or the morning papers. Nor can you get the truth from those promoting ObamaCare — but I repeat myself. Congressional GOP members describe the plans that are on the table as socialized medicine. They point out that government-run health care would drive private insurers out of business. Even Democratic members privately admit that their plans don’t offer enough choices and will hurt Americans who already have insurance through their employers. The estimates of additional costs to individual American families run into the thousands of dollars. In fact, in spite of repeated denials by those pushing legislation through Congress right now, government-run insurance policies would provide the type of shortage-plagued service now available in Canada and England — not exactly what Americans want. Remember the major selling point for ObamaCare? It was supposed to provide insurance for those who don’t currently have insurance. However, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shot down that deception; CBO’s estimate was that when fully implemented, the proposed plan — counting both the number who would gain insurance less the number who would lose coverage through their employer — would only increase the number of insured by about 16 million (only about 35 percent of the 46 million uninsured in 2009) at a cost of an additional $1 trillion in the deficit over the 2010-2019 period. Now is the time for dissenting, well-informed voices to be heard. If the current ideas become law, it will irrevocably change our health care system as we know it. It will lead to higher costs, rationing of health care, the funding of elective abortions, and will drive pro-life doctors out of the profession. Was this the change that people voted for in 2008? People from around the world come to the United States for the best health care, and that top-quality health care, now available to the vast majority of Americans, is endangered. It is reprehensible that politicians are working behind closed doors to devise schemes to push ObamaCare through quickly without public approval. They are willing to totally ignore the millions of Americans who are concerned that it will trample our beliefs and values. Congress needs to hear our voices; we must speak out now. With public disapproval getting more open, and the outcry against ObamaCare spreading so rapidly, Congress is getting pretty desperate; and the backroom tactics are getting more bare-knuckled. The Christian Medical Association (CMA, www.cmda.org) revealed this week that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) reportedly offered money to physicians who would drop their opposition to ObamaCare. He reportedly promised national medical groups that the Senate would stop medical cuts to doctor payments for 10 years in return for physicians’ support for ObamaCare. Remember presidential candidate Barack Obama’s talk about “affordable” health care coverage? More and more people are learning the reality about the hefty price tag of Obama’s health care bill. A report from Price Waterhouse Coopers confirms that health care reform measures will be prohibitively expensive — more

Voting Question: Isn't the ONLY reason our healthcare is broken because there is too much overuse and underpayment by Medicare?

Why does OBAMA and PELOSI claim that insurance is the problem when private insurance customers are the only ones who are self-sufficient regarding their healthcare costs? Do insurance companies provide a useful way for middle class families to pool risk to make unexpected catastrophic healthcare expenses affordable? Why are OBAMA & PELOSI trying to destroy middle class access to these services by forcing a new business model that makes the costs much higher? If there is a problem with insurance, isn't it only because congress has not made simple common sense improvements like increasing access to healthcare plans across state lines, allowing for bigger pools of risk and lower costs? Or how about detaching insurance purchases from employment by providing consumers with same tax break that employers get it so that it is portable and consumers can bring it from job to job without risk of discontinued coverage? If OBAMA & PELOSI are going to mandate we purchase it, why not limit the mandate to the minimum needed like states do for car insurance. High deductible catastrophic insurance would be all that is necessary to limit ones healthcare liability cost to the government. Food for thought: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/opinion/19douthat.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1255953965-9Aprmyn5UvZKJTawyQbugw http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/10/02/destroying_private_health_insurance_98556.html Here is what we can look forward to if we keep letting Nancy Pelosi trick us into single-payer socialized medicine: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6156076/Daughter-claims-father-wrongly-placed-on-controversial-NHS-end-of-life-scheme.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1211950/Premature-baby-left-die-doctors-mother-gives-birth-just-days-22-week-care-limit.html http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6823345.ece http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6879553.ece Lowering price on healthcare increases demand. Increased demand leads to higher costs, until all resources are used up and government officials appointed by people like Nancy Pelosi will ration care!!! Is anyone as scared as I am about where this nation is going?http://www.thepublicinterest.com/archives/2001winter/article1.htmlKen it doesn't work anywhere! Germany is trying desperately to break away from its healthcare entitlement---but its like getting toothpaste back in the tube. once you've created the world's biggest bureacracy, it becomes a beast that wants to insert a microchip in your brain and control you!!! more

Resolved Question: Was this sent to the wrong person?

I gotten an email that landed in my junk mail. Read below Special Situation Report‏ From: karina montesinos olivares (karina_cool_9@hotmail.com) You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as safe Sent:October 19, 2009 6:07:49 AM To:dancin_dan@hotmail.co.uk Successful companies aren't born, they're made - and they have to work their way from humble beginnings and through the ranks just like everyone else. When it comes to our microcap stock investing, I'm in it to win and win big � and that means the goal is never to hit less than a few 10-baggers in every microcap bull cycle. This week we've identified one microcap stock that is on its way to changing the game in its respective market, The Wyncrest Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets: WNCG - News), an innovative a niche insurance consortium. The company has six planned acquisitions that could catapult the company�s revenues to $50,000,000.00 in 2010! The stock is currently trading at $0.05 and our near term target is $0.43. Load up on WNCG before all the trend chasers... and cash out while short traders continue tripping over themselves. Watch for big swings upward and momentum trading in WNCG as the stock continues to gain momentum and trade under the radar of the Wall Street traders. WNCG is also in negotiations with several acquisition targets developed over an ongoing two-year campaign to find distressed agencies and consolidate contract assets under one lower cost platform. Through its Wyncrest Offshore Services Division, the Company is expanding into the growing offshore insurance and reinsurance market by offering a variety of services and products, including a liability program for helicopter flight training schools and non-owner helicopter pilots, and a line of Warranty Service Policies operating as a controlled foreign corporation. Royalty income is expected from licensing insurance products patented under a new category of business methods, a strategy taken only by a few in a new class of small innovative insurance companies leading the industry! Don�t let this super gem slip through your hands. - BUY that dancin_dan@hotmail.co.uk isnt my email but is close to mine (dancin_danny@hotmail.com) so my question is, why was this sent to me? I sent the other dan guy an email and never said it was not delivered (failure email never came up as it usually does when the email address is wrong so this email does exist.) more

Resolved Question: Isn't it funny when the King Of Smoke and Mirrors criticizes others for using "smoke and mirror" tactics?

So after coordinating one of the biggest and most costly corporate advertising campaigns in recent memory in support of his healthcare "reform" bill, Obama has the balls to not only say others are using "smoke and mirror" tactics, but his chief advisor is out criticizing Fox News claiming they're illegitimate because they only express their point of view. WTF is wrong with this guy?? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/17/obama-weekly-radio-addres_n_324648.html "The history is clear: For decades rising health care costs have unleashed havoc on families, businesses and the economy," the president said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. "And for decades, whenever we have tried to reform the system, the insurance companies have done everything in their considerable power to stop us." "It's smoke and mirrors," the president added. "It's bogus. And it's all too familiar. Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, 'Take one of these, and call us in a decade.' Well, not this time." http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28397.html At a meeting last April with corporate lobbyists, aides to President Barack Obama and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) helped set in motion a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign, primarily financed by industry groups, that has played a key role in bolstering public support for health care reform. The role Baucus’s chief of staff, Jon Selib, and deputy White House chief of staff Jim Messina played in launching the groups was part of a successful effort by Democrats to enlist traditional enemies of health care reform to their side. No quid pro quo was involved, they insist, as do the lobbyists themselves. ....................“What you’ve had was the Senate and the White House sitting down and cutting deals with special interests,” he said. “I don’t think that’s quite what the American people signed up for when the Obama campaign said that they were going to limit the influence of special interests in this White House.” Criticism — from the left and the right — of the PhRMA deal and the coalitions became more pointed after it was revealed in August that the coalitions were paying two firms with close ties to the White House to cut ads: AKPD Message and Media, which was founded by White House senior adviser David Axelrod, still owes him $2 million and employs one of his sons — and GMMB. Liberals contended drug companies were being let off the hook. And congressional Republicans distributed talking points asserting the PhRMA deal raised “serious questions as to whether the drug lobby is helping to bankroll a multimillion-dollar severance package for one of the president’s senior advisers.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/18/axelrod-emanuel-criticize_n_325097.html White House senior adviser David Axelrod and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel continued the Obama administration's criticism of Fox News during their interviews this morning on ABC and CNN, respectively. Both Axelrod and Emanuel cautioned that one of their main concerns is that other news organizations not follow Fox's lead in coverage, which the White House does not see as 'fair and balanced.'bleached..........If you think Fox News is propaganda for the right (some of it is), then surely you feel the same way about MSNBC with regards to the left's propaganda, RIGHT??dbc........Who is "he"?? more

Resolved Question: Can someone here please critique my resume... be honest, not mean?

okay........ I'm not getting any responses from my resume....... what do I need to change or reword..... it is only 2 pages when printed.... OBJECTIVE: Seek a challenging Administrative Support / Office position where I can implement my current skills and knowledge while contributing to the success of the company. QUALIFICATIONS: Knowledgeable in several different areas of an office setting and general administrative duties including: * Excellent customer service skills. * Efficient and reliable communication with staff, supervisors and clients. * Ability to work with minimal supervision or in a team environment. * Processing of client information, including insurance and billing inquires. * Scheduling of appointments. * Filing and maintaining office and client records. * Ordering supplies for office and clients. * Resolving inter office disputes. * Answer client calls and dispatched couriers according to priority of call and courier location. * Performed follow-up on dispatches with clients. * Excellent time management and organizational skills and the ability to multi-task. * In-depth ability to think and act quickly, calmly in a stressful or emergency situation. * Demonstrates particular attention to detail, procedures and confidentiality. * Ability to train new employees in office procedures. * Immense ability to learn job-related material. * General understanding of computer technology. * General office knowledge including but not limited to: keyboarding, 10-key, data entry, filing, customer relations, multi-line phone skills, faxing, copying, ordering supplies and the ability to operate and troubleshoot most types of office equipment. EMPLOYMENT: REAL ESTATE AGENT / REALTOR August 2004 * Successfully works with home buyers and sellers to profitably list and sell homes ensuring positive experience for everyone involved. Additional areas of expertise include: Contract Negotiations, Pricing & Proposals, Business Development, Market & Competitive Analysis, Consultative/Solution Selling, Customer Acquisition Strategies. HSRH HOSPITAL – Relief CPhT May 2000 / August 2004 * Computer data entry of patient admissions, physician orders, charges, credits, medication administration records, and ordering of drugs and supplies. * Fill, label and prepare medication for dispensing to nursing carts. * Pre-packing of bulk medications, maintain controlled narcotics and audit narcotics and medication stock. * Receiving medication, stocking shelves and checking and pulling outdates. * Knowledge of aseptic technique and IV preparation. * Fill nursing carts and inspection of crash carts. * Perform and maintain inventory control and workload records. * Maintain patient medical records. RTYH COLLEGE – Instructor January 1998 / August 2004 * Instructor for Phlebotomy Certification, Basic Phlebotomy, and Phlebotomy for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals. * Develop curriculum, syllabi, course outline, lesson plans, and course material for phlebotomy courses. * Coordinated and conducted phlebotomy lectures. * Developed and administered phlebotomy exams. * Instructor for Driver Safety / Defensive Driving Course through the T.E.A. QDL - PSC Relief Group Lead Phlebotomist / Office Supervisor February 1996 – February 2002 * Managed day-to-day supervision of lab operation and personnel. * Proper collection of blood and urine samples for testing. * Responsible for scheduling, evaluations and training of staff. * Resolve technical and personnel problems. * Received calls from clients, dispatched couriers according to location & priority of call. * Follow-up with clients and couriers on all calls and dispatches. * Recognized operational problems / errors and initiates corrective action. * Computer data entry of patient information, orders and testing results. * Performed inventory and ordering of supplies for office and clients. * Handled general office duties including answering multi-line phones, billing inquiries, customer service, filing, faxing, and general office duties. * Scheduling patients for testing procedures. * Processed and filed paperwork of patient’s insurance / Medicare / Medicaid. * Maintained a safe and clean environment. EDUCATION: BTHG COLLEGE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT: Real Estate Curriculum MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Medical Curriculum more

Resolved Question: Why is my future employer calling my previous employers?

an very well known medical center has given me a job as a lead secretary, they've sent me paperwork, gave me a start wage, and have told me to come in friday to go over the paperwork (direct deposit, taxes, insurance, etc.). My dad (he's a former boss) as well as my current boss , BOTH said an Indian man with a hard accent to understand, called them. My boss missed his call but listened to the voice mail. My dad said the person asked when I worked for him...MY DAD TOLD THEM THE WRONG DATE!! My dad said I worked last year, but my resume says 2005-2007. Hopefully the person is smart and can realize we both have the same last name and that it's a family business, and my time there may have fluctuated. AM I SCRWED?!? Why are they calling my previous employers when they already told me I got the job? Shouldn't they have done this before having me take 2 drug tests and fill out paperwork?!? I really need this job, and I'm feeling paranoid about all of this mess! more

Resolved Question: Is my wife right? (Part time Job + Full Time Job)?

So recently my wife and I have been thinking about going on vacation for our anniversary in 3 months. She and I have been looking at the Bahamas, Jamaica, and other sunny Caribbean locales. I only make enough money to pay the mortgage, HOA, Insurance, and some of the other necessary bills. I therefore don't have a lot of disposable income. My wife knows this, and when she brought up the vacation and various costs associated and using phrases like, "we'll save $XXX if we buy now" I assumed she was offering to pay for it. She makes about 85% of what I make and so I figured she could afford it. Therefore, I kept looking and helped her find deals. Then when it came time to pay for the trip, she takes her check card and types in half the amount, then she looks at me and says, "okay now you pay your half ($450)". I told I didn't have it, and wouldn't anytime soon. Then she tells me that, "a real man would go out and get a part time job to pay for the whole thing" and "you're just lazy like soooo many other Americans, you people don't make sacrifices." (BTW- my wife is East European and we've been married over 5 years) I already work 50 hours a week, and we have a toddler. I spend about 5 hours a week at the gym, and 5 hours a week with my friends. The rest of the time I am with either my wife or our daughter, or both. She insists that everything is my fault because I'm lazy and refuse to get an extra job to pay for vacations, a nicer car, or finishing my master's degree. Honestly, I don't know what to do. Should I get a part time job and never see my wife and daughter? (I'd be working nights and weekends of course, cause I have a 9-5) If I should get a part time job, can you guys give me some ideas or leads. I have looked at the following: Free Lance writing Valet Parking Night Retail Night Re-stock Cabbie Parking attendant Weekend Restaurant General Radio Work I have 2 years experience in Radio, 10 years experience in business writing, and 7 years in retail (high school and college). more

Resolved Question: Is $53K a year a decent salary in Phoenix, AZ?

I'm a 32 year old who works very hard. I have a bachelor's in business, and I work in sales. My gross is $53k a year, but my take home after taxes, 401k, insurance, etc. is about 2800 a month. I am single and renting. I'm trying to save for a house. After bills are paid and I save $1,000 a month for a house, I don't have so much left over for entertainment and all, which leads me to the question-what if I DID have a $1000 a month mortgage payment ($1000 a month doesn't get much house these days, it's bare minimum if you don't want to be in the ghetto or 1.5 hours from work), and a kid? I'd go bankrupt! So that leads me to the question, what is a decent, livable wage these days for a family and be able to afford a decent midsize car, go on vacation, etc..? A lot of people at my work in my same position have a second house! I can't even afford one! more

Resolved Question: Cheap ways to get starting small business name out in publics eye without steatching my wallet?

Grass-roots insurance company looking to get leads, but lead lists are so expensive. Whats free, or cheap ways to get people to come to me while interested in my product. or cheap ways to find quality leads. In Pensacola Fl. more

Resolved Question: Can we build on the Draconian Baucus Bill, and put a real Health Care reform legislation together?

This here is a slippery slope fellow Health Care reform supporters... that Bill is worse than what we have now.. mandating coverages for a Private Industry is actually going to feed the Health Insurance industry even more than they already are... and there is minimum pricing constraints... in other words the Baukus Bill is everything the Nay Sayers predicted it would be and suddenly we've got support for it by the "Moderates" ??????? WTF... to my way of thinking thats a huge step BACKWARDS! SINGLE PAYER OR ELSE !!!! We have really got to get involved now folks because things will get worse behind this bill and the left will end up holding the bag... we've been led into this..by our desire to create a fair system that would provide for everyone, we are being corralled into a corner behind a "democratic" bill that isn't what the Left wants at all... but because Max Baucus is a lobbycrat in democrat clothing this will be egg on the face of liberals... it's a win win win win for big business and a total Loss for the people How do we correct the tide on this one ?Max Baucus is a Ringer and I'm starting to think so is the prez... this Bill is a Turd more

Resolved Question: i have a question in economics about demand ? thnk u?

1.The "law of demand" refers to the fact that, other things remaining the same, when the price of a good rises; (6.67 points) the demand curve shifts rightward there is movement down along the demand curve to a larger quantity demanded the demand curve shifts leftward there is movement up along the demand curve to a smaller quantity demanded 2.Which of the following describes the law of demand; (6.67 points) your income increases, you'll buy more hamburgers the price of gas falls, the quantity demanded of gas increases the quantity demanded of bread increases, the price of bread falls the price of peanut butter increases, the quantity of bread falls 3.A change in quantity demanded is shown as a; (6.67 points) movement toward the demand curve leftward shift of the demand curve rightward shift of the demand curve movement along the demand curve 4.Your colege requires that starting this year, every business student must bring a laptop to school. The requirement; (6.67 points) decreases the quantity demanded of laptops increases the supply of laptops increases the demand for laptops increases the quantity demanded of laptops 5.The price of cotton clothing falls. As a result, (6.67 points) the demand for cotton clothing increases the quantity demanded of cotton clothing decreases the demand for cotton clothing decreases the quantity demanded of cotton clothing increases 6.The American Dairy Association starts a highly successful advertising campaign that makes most people want to drink more milk. As a result, (6.67 points) the price of milk falls to encourage people to drink more milk the demand for milk is not affected the quantity demanded of milk increases the demand for milk increases 7.The demand curve slopes _______ because as the price increases, the quantity demanded ______. (6.67 points) upward;decreases downward;increases downward;decreases upward; increases 8.A change in some factor that affects buying plans, other than the price of the good or service, leads to; (6.67 points) a change in the demand for the good or service no effect unless the price of the good or service also changes a change in the quantity of the good or service demanded None of the above are correct because only changes in the price change the demand for a product 9.Consumers regard Dell computers and Gateway computers as substitutes. If the price of Dell computers decreases, the (6.67 points) supply of Dell computers increases demand for Dell computers increases demand for Gateway computers decreases demand for Gateway computers increases 10.Which of the following causes an increase in the demand for a good or service; (6.67 points) an increase in the price of a substitute good or service an increase in the price of the good or service a fall in the price of the good or service a smaller number of consumers wanting to buy the good or service 11.Car insurance and cars are complements. If the price of car insurance increases, the (6.67 points) quantity of cars demanded decreases demand for cars decreases quantity of cars demanded increases demand for cars increases 12.Soda and hot dogs or complements for one another. If a shortage of carbonated water leads to an increase in the price of soda, then the; (6.67 points) quantity of hot dogs demanded decreases quantity of hot dogs demanded increases demand for hot dogs decreases demand for hot dogs increases 13.Water bottlers announce that next month the price of bottled water will rise by 25%. Which of the following occurs immediately (6.67 points) the demand for bottled water increases the quantity of bottled water demanded increases the demand for bottled water decreases the quantity of bottled water demanded decreases 14.Consider the market for cell phones. Which of the following shifts the demand curve leftward (6.67 points) studies show using cell phones causes brain cancer an increase in the services provided by cell phones, such as text messaging a decrease in the price of cell phones a decrease in the quantity demanded of cell phones 15.Which of the following is true (6.62 points) if the price of a substitute rises, the demand curve shifts leftward an increase in population will cause the demand curve to shift leftward for an inferior good, when income rises, the demand curve shifts leftward if people expect the price of a good will rise in the future, the demand curve shifts leftward 16. more

Resolved Question: How many of you still want social health care?

Look at all these problems with government run health-care....please tell me you do not want obamacare after reading this!!! 1.There isn't a single government agency or division that runs efficiently; do we really want an organization that developed the U.S. Tax Code handling something as complex as health care? 2."Free" health care isn't really free since we must pay for it with taxes; expenses for health care would have to be paid for with higher taxes or spending cuts in other areas such as defense, education, etc. 3.Profit motives, competition, and individual ingenuity have always led to greater cost control and effectiveness. 4.Government-controlled health care would lead to a decrease in patient flexibility. 5.Patients aren't likely to curb their drug costs and doctor visits if health care is free; thus, total costs will be several times what they are now. 6.Just because Americans are uninsured doesn't mean they can't receive health care; nonprofits and government-run hospitals provide services to those who don't have insurance, and it is illegal to refuse emergency medical service because of a lack of insurance. 7.Government-mandated procedures will likely reduce doctor flexibility and lead to poor patient care. 8.Healthy people who take care of themselves will have to pay for the burden of those who smoke, are obese, etc. 9.A long, painful transition will have to take place involving lost insurance industry jobs, business closures, and new patient record creation. 10.Loss of private practice options and possible reduced pay may dissuade many would-be doctors from pursuing the profession. 11.Malpractice lawsuit costs, which are already sky-high, could further explode since universal care may expose the government to legal liability, and the possibility to sue someone with deep pockets usually invites more lawsuits. 12.Government is more likely to pass additional restrictions or increase taxes on smoking, fast food, etc., leading to a further loss of personal freedoms. 13.Patient confidentiality is likely to be compromised since centralized health information will likely be maintained by the government. 14.Health care equipment, drugs, and services may end up being rationed by the government. In other words, politics, lifestyle of patients, and philosophical differences of those in power, could determine who gets what. 15.Patients may be subjected to extremely long waits for treatment. 16.Like social security, any government benefit eventually is taken as a "right" by the public, meaning that it's politically near impossible to remove or curtail it later on when costs get out of control. i found this at http://www.balancedpolitics.org/universal_health_care.htm there are 7 pros and 16 cons so the cons out number the pros! how can anyone still want government run health-care??? how?? more

Resolved Question: The term "Tea baggers" is a hate filled derogatory slur based on nasty sexual reference, is it defamatory?

rhetoric which is in fact hate speech against a group of people? Isn't it used as a small minded derogatory slur against one group because another is intolerant and hateful about what they stand for? I know, the hate group who uses it will give a dishonest derogatory response about what they stand for, lie about where they came from, how they comport themselves, and give disinformation about who is behind the movement ... isn't that exactly how Jews were treated by the Nazi Movement? They justified their rhetoric with more dishonest defamation about the subject of their political targeting. The KKK, (founded by the same political party as those who really don't like the Tea Party Protesters) did the same to the black race using much the same small minded tactics. The fact is the Tea party protectors started up while Bush was president because they didn't like trillions spent on bail outs. They felt that the free market economy should be allowed to work, and businesses that don't work should fail. That to prop up bad businesses and put the burden on tax payers to do it is not only a bad idea on the surface, but also incentivizes bad business practices and taking from the people through the government to support those bad, unsound practices that can't sustain themselves. They know that in a free market economy where taxes and government intervention is kept to a minimum the GDP rises and more tax revenue is available to the government, it's happened that way every time taxes have been reduced on the producers in this country They also look at what happens when the Feds overstep, as in the dept of education leading to more money and more money being poured into a bad school system creating parasitic teachers Unions with less focus on the children's education and more on how to grab all that can be grabbed from the public coffers. Just one example, there are many. The Tea parties have nothing to do with race, at least not with those who started them. A few idiots slip in to everything, but that's not what opposition to Obama is all about except for a tiny fringe. It's about wanting to keep our constitution intact. Our economy strong, and the federal government out of our lives as defined in the Constitution because government controls lead to one thing, corruption and massive amounts stealing from the public as does access to any huge pool of cash. If you allow it, the thieves will come in droves, it's their nature, and unfortunately right now it pretty much drives government. According to Martin Luther King, (a man most democrats pretend to respect, but obviously many don't have any respect his message, so it shows the pretension of respect to be a lie) You don't judge a man by the color of his skin, but the content of his character. By the very meaning in his statement, this principal transcends color. It applies to any group, race, religion, political, sex, whatever, because it's not about any special groups we must respect, it's about any group, it's about any individual. No individual is more important than another individual when it comes to respect. No group either because it's all part of the same principal. Obama proposes massive spending and a government take over of many industries. I know he said he doesn't, but the actions speak louder than the words that lie to us. I know they lie, because I know they lied in most instances in the past. Public will be given time to read bills? LOL! Congress isn't even getting time to read the bills. It goes on and on. Laws broken to give his supporters car companies, billions of dollars as in George Soros, Acorn, Al Gore, Unions, Hamas gave him campaign contributions, anything that is Gaza is Hamas, they run the government, nothing goes to Gaza that doesn't go to Hamas, and no one in Gaza has money except it's controlled by Hamas, so it's a fact he got contributions from Hamas and gave a billion to Hamas. There is plenty to be upset about with Obama. How does race enter into it? It doesn't matter what race he is. The same type of people didn't like Carter either, or Clinton before he lost the Congress and made his show of a big shift. The Tea Party movement is not about race, it's not about a party, and it's sure as heck not about big corporations starting something. Obama's bought off most of the big corporations and interests, at our expense. Drug industry by pushing out their patent time so generics take longer, AARP by giving them a monopoly on add on insurances exempting them from high taxes imposed on others, much of the insurance industry, Trial lawyers by opening up a whole new area of fertile potential for them, AMA with a huge contribution to the organization (but he is opposed by nearly 80% of actual doctors) and there is more but that's enough off the top of my head. The big government interests and the filthy rich behind entertainment industry and media are smearing the Tea Party Movement with lies and defamation. Do you realThe big government interests and the filthy rich behind entertainment industry and media are smearing the Tea Party Movement with lies and defamation. Do you really want to be with those types? Allow yourself to be turned into a bigoted tool of the fascist interests out to make out riches stolen from the tax payer for themselves at your expense? Or those who are protesting that? Who do you really want to be? What do you really stand for? more

Resolved Question: I have a question about what kind of loan I need and how to get it.?

Ok, I have 2 things I need to accomplish with this loan... My fiancee and I have a truck that she co-signed for her sister; well, her sister got in a bad car wreck and she lost her job. She, obviously, can't pay her car note and we got stuck with it. We owe about $15,500 for the truck and CarMax said they would give us $13,000 for it. Ergo, we need $2,500 to pay it off. We don't need or want a truck and we do not want to pay anymore $350 car notes and $150 in insurance, so we just want to get rid of it and take the loss. Also we have about $5,000 in credit card dept that we, don't have to, but would like to consolidate. (PLEASE DO NOT SUGGEST SELLING THE TRUCK... WE HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING AND 8 MONTHS LATER WE STILL CAN'T FIND ANYONE TO BUY IT.) Basically, I want a loan for around $8,000 so that we can take care of these two things. I have a 740 credit score and plenty of established credit, and I am having trouble understanding why no one will loan anything. Atm I am a full time student with a full time job as a lead sales associate at Sports Authority and I make alone about $1,500 a month after taxes; however, with my fiance's job we pull in close to $3,000 a month. The people at the banks are being extremely rude, and I am not understanding why. Half the time they refuse to even fill out a loan application and the other half they are completely indifferent and don't try to offer alternatives or suggest anything. I even had one guy say that It is easier to pay 4 credit cards off than one loan. I said even if I had a 12% interest rate if I pay $800 a month on an $8,000 loan it would be done within the year, and he said, "no it wouldn't because you wouldn't pay that much a month." Needless to say I won't be taking ANY Business back with Bancorpsouth... I just really need to know what kind of loan to ask for and what I need to say to these people. Any help would be great! Thanks, GrantOh, and I also asked for a consolidation loan with using my car as coladeral, and the guy said that they could not use my 2001 mustang that is paid off for coladeral, because it is "American made" and older that 5 years old... Way to punish those of us who support the American Economy, by buying American made cars...I know banks aren't lending... But I am confused why, because the fed is buying treasury bonds so that more money is printed so that more money can be loaned... Not to mention all these bail outs that we are paying for... I am not stupid, I just don't understand why only people with a ton of money who don't need loans are the only ones who can get loans. more

Resolved Question: Republicans and Blue Democrats reject all public option plans?

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE58S58G20090929?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday rejected including a government-run "public" insurance option, which is backed by President Barack Obama, in its sweeping healthcare reform bill. The panel voted 15-8 against a government-run insurance plan in the first of what is expected to be several battles in Congress over the public option, one of the most contentious issues in the raging U.S. debate over healthcare reform. Obama has made reforming the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system his top domestic priority. Five Democrats joined all the panel Republicans in opposing inclusion of the government-run option in the bill. The issue is expected to be raised again in the full Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate Finance plan by Democratic Chairman Max Baucus is the only healthcare bill pending in Congress that does not have a public insurance plan, which Obama and other backers say would boost competition for insurers. Republican critics said the public option would devastate the private insurance industry and ultimately lead to a government takeover of the sector. Democratic Senator John Rockefeller, who offered an amendment to insert a public option, said the approach would give the public more choices and force the insurance industry to compete. "Who comes first, the insurance companies or the American people?" he asked. Senator Charles Grassley, the senior Republican on the panel, said the public option would represent a first step toward what he said was the eventual goal of Democrats -- a complete government-run health insurance system. "A government-run plan will ultimately drive private insurers out of business," Grassley said. "If you support government bureaucrats, not doctors, making decisions, you should support this amendment." This only leaves Baucus's plan, what are your thoughts on this update, predictable? joyful? sad? Fill me in. more

Voting Question: What do you think of this US Healthcare alternative?

An alternative to the socialized medicine the President wants Pillar #1: Access to Coverage for All Americans Makes the purchase of health care financially feasible for all – Extends the income tax deduction (above the line) on health care premiums to those who purchase coverage in the non-group / individual market. And, there is an advanceable, refundable tax credit (on a sliding scale) for low-income individuals to purchase coverage in the non-group / individual market. Covers pre-existing conditions – Grants states incentives to establish high-risk / reinsurance pools. Federal block grants for qualified pools are expanded. Protects employer-sponsored insurance – Individuals can be automatically enrolled in an employer-sponsored plan. Small businesses are given tax incentives for adoption of auto-enrollment. Shines sunlight on health plans – Establishes health plan and provider portals in each state, and these portals act to supply greater information rather than acting as a purchasing mechanism. Pillar #2: Coverage is Truly Owned by the Patient Grants greater choice and portability – Gives patients the power to own and control their own health care coverage by allowing for a defined contribution in employer-sponsored plans. This also gives employers more flexibility in the benefits offered. Expands the individual market – Creates pooling mechanisms such as association health plans and individual membership accounts. Individuals are also allowed to shop for health insurance across state lines. Reforms the safety net – Medicaid and SCHIP beneficiaries are given the option of a voucher to purchase private insurance. And states must cover 90% of those below 200% of the federal poverty level before they can expand eligibility levels under Medicaid and SCHIP. Pillar #3: Improve the Health Care Delivery Structure Institutes doctor-led quality measures – Nothing suggested by the Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research can be finalized unless done in consultation with and approved by medical specialty societies. It also establishes performance-based quality measures endorsed by the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement (PCPI) and physician specialty organizations. Reimburses physicians to ensure continuity of care – Rebases the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) and establishes two separate conversion factors (baskets) for primary care and all other services. Promotes healthier lifestyles – Allows for employers to offer discounts for healthy habits through wellness and prevention programs. Pillar #4: Rein in Out-of-Control Costs . Reforms the medical liability system – Establishes administrative health care tribunals, also known as health courts, in each state, and adds affirmative defense through provider established best practice measures. It also encourages the speedy resolution of claims and caps non-economic damages. Pays for the plan – The cost of the plan is completely offset through decreasing defensive medicine, savings from health care efficiencies (reduce DSHHell no I'm suprised how many commies reside on Y!A. more

Resolved Question: When people claim that "less government regulation" is the key to health care reform...?

What do they think about government regulations that prevent companies from dropping sick patients simply for costing too much? Shouldn't these regulations be INCREASED? How can anyone possibly think that insurance companies should be allowed to do this? Don't get me wrong, I like Capitilism as much as anyone. But unchecked Capitalism is just as bad is Socialism, as it leads to things like this: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-insure9nov09,0,3065397,full.story?coll=la-home-center Less government regulation would just lead Insurance comapnies to do anything they cna do to get profits, which often times includes letting people die. more

Resolved Question: Is it fair for those who don't want or need health insurance be forced to buy it?

Let's say that you're single, unemployed (as, apparently, at least 10% of Americans are as of Sept 2009), have some money in the bank (i.e., enough to live on, comfortably, including being able to buy some frills, such as the occasional designer coffee, having regular internet and cell phone services, being able to rent movies, buy gas for your economy car, etc, etc), and are in reasonably good health, and haven't been to or need a physician, dentist, etc. Given the above, in Massachusetts, where health insurance is mandatory, just as automobile insurance is (except, of course, that you have the choice of not owning a car), you would be required to pay nearly ***$5,000*** per year (as of 2008) for mandatory health insurance, and, if you don't buy into a health insurance plan, you would be penalized via your State income taxes, which proves that their health plan is little more than a punitive, direct, tax, as would be the US National Health Plan, should it come to that). And, yet,there has been no decrease in Medicaid or Medicare spending (why would either be needed if the poor will be "given" health care while the wealthy pay for it? (and, don't kid yourself: the amount that goes into the system, State or nationalized or not, won't pay a fraction of the medical costs, which will continue to rise as the number of people who demand to get their fair share of services rises while, proportionally, the number of physicians, care givers, pharmacists, etc, decreases, which means that taxes and health care plan rates would have to increase). The rich don't need a health plan. Most middle income individuals and families would rather see a doctor when they have to, not because they feel obligated to get their money's worth under a forced plan. And the poor will either abuse the system or be abused by it (i.e., insurance companies and physicians taking bigger cuts, kick-backs, etc). So, given the above, the vast majority of Americans don't require (or, arguably, want) a mandatory health insurance plan. What we need is a guarantee of low-cost medical services, elimination of waste, redundancy, unnecessary procedures, etc, and improved health education, so that people learn how to take better care of themselves. In the history of the USA as a united republic, no department, function, or "business", run by or taken over by the government, State or Federal, has ever improved or been profitable, as evidenced by numerous State bankruptcies and even the Fed having to shut down on occasion. On the contrary, the increased gov't presence has, more than not, led to waste at taxpayer expense. Our government, both State and Federal, are run by wealthy politicians (who, BTW, have health insurance and can afford it), who have no clue how the average person lives, and, yet, they are positive they know what's best for us. So, given the above, do you think it's fair for those who don't want or need health insurance to be forced to buy it? Your thoughts? more

Voting Question: What happened to FDIC that kids called Feds Dig In Cash? Was the money lost, strayed or stolen outright?

FDIC weighs extraordinary steps, including loans from banks, to shore up insurance fund * By Daniel Wagner, APey Business Writer * On Tuesday September 22, 2009, 5:09 pm EDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is weighing several costly -- and never-before-used -- options as it struggles to shore up the dwindling fund that insures bank deposits. The agency is considering borrowing billions from healthy banks. Alternatively, it may impose a special fee on the banking industry. Each option carries risk: Drawing money from healthy banks would take dollars out of the private sector, making that money unavailable for investment in the weak economy. But charging the whole industry a fee to replenish the fund could push weaker banks toward failure. A third option -- borrowing from the Treasury -- is politically unpalatable, since it would resemble another taxpayer-financed bailout. A fourth option would be to have banks pay their regular insurance premiums early. But this idea wouldn't solve the fund's long-term cash needs. "The bottom line is, there's no good solution," said Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with the research firm Concept Capital. "This is a fight over which option is least bad." The FDIC is expected to propose a solution, possibly combining two or more of the options, at a board meeting next week. Bank failures since the financial crisis struck have drained the fund to its lowest level since 1992, at the peak of the savings-and-loan crisis. The fund insures deposit bank accounts of up to $250,000. Officials have approached big, healthy banks about making loans to the agency, said two industry officials familiar with the conversations, who requested anonymity because the plans are still evolving. Doing so would help the agency avoid tapping a $100 billion credit line with the Treasury -- something FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair is reluctant to do. But taking billions from large, healthy banks would remove that money from the private sector and prevent it from being invested. That could slow an economic recovery, analysts said. Industry and government officials said Tuesday that plan was still on the table. But FDIC spokesman Andrew Gray downplayed its likelihood, saying, "It's an option, but it's not being given serious consideration." The FDIC also could levy a special emergency fee on the industry. That would allow the healthiest banks to keep more capital for investment. But it could drive shakier banks toward failure -- further depleting the fund. Losses on commercial real estate and other loans are causing multiple bank failures each week. Banks already have paid one extra fee this year. And Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan, who holds one of the FDIC board's five votes, has cautioned against saddling them with another. Discussing the option last week, Bair acknowledged, "We don't want to stress the industry too much at this time, when they're still in the process of recovery." Bair also said then that the agency might collect banks' regular insurance premiums early to infuse the fund with cash. An exemption would likely be provided for banks that are too weak to pay in advance. This plan would solve the fund's immediate cash needs. But Seiberg called it "a one-time gimmick" that would merely delay another special assessment. Because the FDIC expects bank failures to cost the fund around $70 billion through 2013, a short-term boost may not be the answer, Seiberg said. The banking industry and lobbyists oppose another fee. They also want Bair to avoid tapping the Treasury credit line, because it would lead to higher insurance premiums for banks as the FDIC repays the money. In a letter Monday to Bair, American Bankers Association CEO Ed Yingling endorsed borrowing from the banks or collecting regular premiums early as alternatives to charging another fee. The special fee imposed earlier this year is hurting banks, already stressed from depressed income and increased loan losses, Yingling said. Another one "may do more harm than good," he said. One advantage of having big banks lend to the insurance fund would be to give healthy banks a safe harbor for their money and limit their risk-taking, said Daniel Alpert, managing director of the investment bank Westwood Capital LLC in New York. It also would let the industry's strongest players -- which still rely on FDIC loan guarantees and other emergency subsidies -- help weaker banks avoid paying another fee, he said. "Lots of banks are going to require more capital, and (Bair is) trying to rob from the rich and give to the poor," said Alpert, who supports the plan as a creative way to avoid another bailout. Bair's priorities for the industry are different from the Treasury's, analysts said. She is focused on stabilizing the many banks still at risk of failure. Such collapses could further deplete the insurance fund. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geith more

Resolved Question: Baucus has insurance co investigated for causing fear but he's NOT investigated for $500 billion Medicare cut?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090921/ap_on_go_ot/us_health_care_overhaul_medicare Why can a congressman censor a company for scaring people, but he can't be censored when he scares people? He said, "It would cut Medicare and Medicaid spending by about $500 billion over 10 years, but Baucus says that would lead to greater efficiency, not reduced benefits." That's scary, as he has not given the detailed plan how it would create greater efficiency. The public believes Baucus is lying as well, with a Gallup survey just this week saying that 60% believe the Democrats’ “reform” plans can’t be accomplished without tax hikes or hurting the quality of care. The truth is, Baucus was first to be accused of scaring people, by Investor's Business Daily when he said, "...every day, 14,000 Americans lose their coverage." The article does the math and said, "A little math shows this is just a scare statistic." http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=337562347635294 more

Resolved Question: Custody Battle over a pick up truck..Please help?

5 years ago I became good friends with this man. We were such good friends, we ended up going into business together (everything was verbal). We ended up buying two semi's together. We both are truck drivers, so we split a lot of costs together, such as phone bills, credit cards, etc. We even had a joint account in which we paid our bills out of. We purchased a 2001 GMC pick up truck and both agreed to paying half. I didn't have excellent credit and he did. So they put the truck in his name leaving me as the beneficiary. But all along he always told me it was my pick up and that he didn't even want it.He told me, my family as well as the co workers where we worked. The truck was bought in GA (tagged & insured). It has been garaged in NC at my residence since it was bought in in Sept/05. We both paid on this truck out of our joint account. Last July/08 he suffered a major stroke. The stoke basically left him paralyzed, meaning he could not move. They call it "a corpse with living eyes". He knows your there and he can acknowledge what your saying. He can shake his head up and down to answer your questions. He also has emotions such as laughing and crying. At the time when this happened, I was his only family/friend. We never discussed "what if". I tried but he always said "don't worry, it'll be taken care of". Well no one expected this and I still cry and mourn everyday since this happened. It's been over a year now and I can't seem to get past this. But anyway, back to my problem. Being desperate, I was constantly going through his wallet many times trying to find out something, anything that would lead me to someone he was kin too. One day, something told me to go through it again. I found this phone # from MA. I called and asked if anyone at that residence was in anyway kinned to my friend. And was told no. Then I found this address, I contacted the Police Department and asked if they could send an officer out to the residence. Well they did and I found out he had 3 daughters. I spoke to them and they so happy and seemed so grateful for me contacting them. I had to break the bad news and they said that their father had disappeared out of their lives 8 years ago and they were expecting a phone call like this to come in one day. Well two of the daughters drove from MA to AR. It was a huge family reunion with alot of tears. I told them everything their father was into from the time I've known him. We eventually had to sell his truck in order to have him transported to MA so the family could tend to him and reunite after all of these years. I told them the situation about the pick up and they told me that I could have it. They also asked their father on two different occasions if he wanted me to have it. He shook his head yes on both times. One time I was in the room and the other time I wasn't. They daughters assured me that they would send me the title when they received it. I continued paying on it and one day, one of the daughters called me and told me to stop paying on it that the insurance kicked in and was going to pay for it. And as soon as they got the title, they would mail it to me. Within 3 months I received a phone call from one of the daughters wanting the pick up. In all due respect, I agreed to drive the truck up to MA with no questions asked. I told them if I can raise the money, I would see them on or about the 3rd week in January. I was a truck driver, so home time is unpredictable. But just so happen, I was going to be home and had all intentions of making the trip at my expense. All of the sudden, I get this nasty message from one of the daughters threatening to contact the police and report it stolen, etc, etc. Well this infuriated me. I called her back and told her she could come get it her D*** self. She mixed up the dates somehow but by that time I was pissed. This is in January, and here it is Sept, almost Oct and I still have the truck. Every time I call and leave a message, they ignore me and won't return my calls. Since January, I do not know how my friend is doing or where he is at. I am so depressed and I'm afraid he might think the worst of me. I have no idea what has been said about me. Since they took him to MA they have not given up any information on his where abouts, or a valid address. He could be deceased and I wouldn't even know. I'd like to punch them in the mouth and now I can understand why their father disappeared out of their lives 8 years ago. I thought I was doing the right thing at the time and knowing what's happened, I regret it. And I will always hate myself for it because I never realized just how much he meant to me until this happened. I love him and I miss him terribly. And I'd do anything to have him back. Okay. I'm sorry for this being so long. No one can get Power of Attorney of him because he's technically in his right mind and can handle his affairs, even though he can't move, talk or anything else......go figure. I know he wanted me to have thistruck. What can I do about it? Do I have any rights?the truck will be paid off in Sept/09 - and as far as I know the disability insurance is still paying on it because it isn't in "repo" status.Correction: Sept/10 it will be paid forCorrection: Sept/10 it will be paid foropps, didn't mean to repeat it twice more

Resolved Question: Why is Health care reform linked to communism in the US ?

I've been watching this debate about the health care overhaul since the very beginning; and what I seem to perceive is that people are relating mistakingly this reform to a sort of communism.Meaning giving insurance coverage to everybody based on the notion of community asset, a necessity that is everybody's need. First I believe all american have the right to live healthy. Since nobody is exempt to become sick one day or the other, then people should be free without a worry in mind to see a doctor whenever their health seems in peril. The way business is conducted today in a medical field, bothers if not threatens people's lives. Why ? because seeing a doctor with or without health insurance always leaves bitterness of debt that sometimes leads people to bankruptcy. that's one fact. The other is more often you see a doctor for legitimate health reasons, more you can expect your insurance to go up. Now, one can't pretend to live in freedom when constantly one trades one's life or health for debts. That's not freedom, that's slavery because your daily living would become working to pay debts. Yet the constitution talks about promoting the general welfare, how come the US reaches that purpose while members of congress and others who supposedly serve the people have the best health insurance and the poorest get to worry about their treatment? it's unfair thus for Justice reasons this need to be fixed, because power doesn't give you the right to ignore others who have elected you at that level. One judges a leader by his capacity and approach to solve his people issues. And I believe health care is one, because everything we do in life are conditioned by our health status. Health is not one of those commercial goods, because trading health is trading life. However I understand that people trying to make money over others people miseries, or misfortunes but that pursuit of profit should not leave people with the choice to die for whatever cost requires their disease treatment that they can't afford. and we all know that losing people is not profitable. So we all should be paying for that health care as a society unit concern.why a taxpayer should be paying the congressman health care while he can't afford his own ? more

Resolved Question: People, people, will you please read this?

This is for liberals and conservatives alike, yes, and we are more alike than different.We are all true Americans who think the same about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Yes, we need help with medical costs and insurance companies and we agree on that, but this bill that is so disputed goes far beyond the pale of just helping the folks. We are headed toward a communist society under the guidance of Rahm Emanuel and other. The are using the Alinskey playbook. The communist party in this country was recreated in 1972. Liberals are no communists and have yet to realize that Obama is not a liberal but a communist and proud of it. We have all been tricked because we are a good hearted people and therefore we don't judge others that harshly, but we have been taken for a ride by this administration. Now being called a communist is not an insult to someone who espouses it's policies, but it's a demon to Americans who value their individual liberties. I know how it is to be poor and wish to see the fat cats fall and have a national healthcare solution. But now I see it's all wrong and it has less to do with healthcare than total of control on industry and the individual. We can do better that this. Please believe me. Look at the folks who did the bidding of ACORN, and when they were caught, ACORN said it was just those individuals that committed crimes on their ouw behest. ACORN got them all fired up and basically got them all fired up and probably never informed them of any laws or prohibitions knowing that if any were found guilty, they would be left to suffer the consequences on their own. You see the devilish stunts that are being pulled, and please don't say how many Bush killed in Iraq, if you truly believe that, then I won't argue, but this is something entirely different. Yes, Bush did wiretapping and made it harder to get on airplanes, but we are facing total control. One of Obama's Czars wants to completely redo our agriculture program because it is too controlled by big business. She wants the people to have more control, meaning the goverment will let people from collectives, causing food shortages and price increases. We have it pretty good now with our food supply, but here comes this adminisration and wants to fix what isn't even close to being broken. The only way communism can take hold is with disasters. I don't believe the banking debacle happened on it's own, that was the first distaster. Now all of a sudden there are tons of uninsured and we are facing a medical crisis in this country. What, that's a blatant lie. The poor get Medicaid, all hospitals have to treat in the emergency room anyone regardless of ability to pay, and most people are happy with their insurance. Yes, but it does need fixing, and I'm the first to agree with that, but not this emergency ungodly overhaul that few understand. I suppose with cap and trade the next crisis will be a shortage of natural gas, electricity and petroleum. Another created crisis because we have plenty of these resources available to us including nuclear, but the administration wants none of it. So we will suffer under the hands of Washington. This will eventually lead to our fall, internationally, we already have become but a cipher. more