Interesting. I wonder whether it was an Adobe app, and the disappearance part of their ongoing feud? My S.O. got the system update, and likes it a lot overall. He hasn't mentioned the disappearance of the reader, but I'll ask. Some of the "swipe" feature upgrades are really quite nice.
OTOH, the latest AppleTV update was a disaster, and, without prior warning, getting it to work afterward required plugging it in directly to the PC hosting iTunes, and then re-entering all of your network credentials, iTune account credentials, Netflix, Hulu, etc.
Again, it's a product I would recommend overall - AS LONG AS YOU ARE SOMEWHAT TECH-SAVVY. When it works, it's fantastic, but has frequent "quirks" that require jumping through hoops to fix, and worse, figuring out (on your own) what it is you need to do. That's annoying, but OK for us, and my son is getting one, but my parents would have thrown it against the wall long ago.
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Charlie, it just shows you how out of touch Wall Street and it's analysts are with the real world of making money on Main street. The stock is still below where it was when the company had its press conference re the new phones. But now we know there is incredible demand and that first weekend sales were 9mln phones, as much as double some of the analyst estimates and higher than even the most bullish calls. Heck they beat Munsters estimate by 50%. This just shows you the problem with investing. Do you buy a stock on a dumb decision for business and profits but one that goes in the direction of Wall St analysts? None of whom have a clue about running even a small business. Or do you buy on a smart decision that mints money, in some cases makes more in a day or two than Wall street darlings make in a decade, but goes against the analysts desires. Apple will now come in at the high end of its September quarter earnings estimate per their SEC filing today, which really means they will come in higher than that. Incredibly over the weekend I read the BS coming from analysts as they got the feeling they had forecasted very erroneously. One went as far as to say that Apple creates a supply chain problem so that it can have long lines as a marketing gimmick. This makes about as much sense as saying a dollar equals 3 quarters. Apple is going to deny itself of cash and revenue at the end of a quarter for marketing purposes?? If that's the case then Apple just blew away estimates of sales while creating a supply chain shortage. It is incredible how stupid some of the analysts are but the problem investors face is these stooges are what hedge funds use for their trades and those trades determine market value and in most cases they are incredibly far removed from the real world of Main street.
This is going to sound sacrilgious coming from me but I am seriously considering a diesel GL on my next go round of trucks. Getting 26-28mpg in a truck that big is very engaging.
I highly recommend the move to diesel. Not just for the mileage. The EPA is likely to up the ethanol content in gas. That will lower the MPG further. Also unknown issues that auto makers may not want to cover under warranty. I love my diesel Touareg. Just took a trip with lots of Los Angeles stop n go traffic. 28.4 MPG. My Sequoia would have given me maybe 15 MPG. And the Touareg is much faster than the V8 Sequoia. 0-60 6.9 seconds. I test drove the ML350 Bluetec and liked it a lot also. The GL diesel is near impossible to get here in So CA. Adding a premium over MSRP.
I have always thought, no, known, that diesel is the way to go in the big SUVs. Makes perfect sense.
Too bad we can't get a diesel in the LX. That said, my wife is averaging a little over 14 mpg around town on all her short trips, which is pretty good for that truck. About the only time I get to drive it is to the gas station to fill it up and it really is a joy to drive.
I am also looking at the BMW 535d. The Mercedes comes only with the four hundred plus hp. And the Porsche costs twenty thousand more for the plug in model....which is not sensible :-). I would have liked to try the plug in though.
I would get the 400s, but I am not waiting any more years. The Audi has been and still is a very good car, but I have kept it so long that I have forgotten the fun of getting a new car.....Tony
I rode in the Panamera recently. I wouldn't take that vs an S-class unless someone put a gun to my head. And this is the 2013 S-class I'm talking about. The new 2014 model looks and sounds even greater.
MB does 4-6 month lease forgiveness on ordering new GL's and usually does real good lease deals as winter winds down in February. I will probably custom order a blue-tec GL in palladium with the designo porcelain interior and the black wood (not piano black but I think it's the anthrite). I'm also totally sold on the multi contour seats and the distronic plus packages and the harmon kardon radio is outstanding. I'll probably order this in December or January. The designo interior (I have both designo exterior and interior on the SL) is fantastic and it adds an 8 week wait to the truck. But I have plenty of time as my lease runs thru June. I absolutely love the GL. It's an S-class in truck form. I've gotten better mileage than I expected on my MB vehicles. The truck gets me around 17mpg locally and 19-20 on the highway. The S gets me about 20 locally and up to 30 on long highway trips (25-27 on the more routine trips) and the SL gets me about 20-22 locally and 27-30 on the highway. I've not taken it on a real long highway trip (say to DC or Boston) but I'd bet it would get 30 on an open trip.
GL Bluetec flies off the lot here too, I don't think my dealer ever has more than one sitting around. They'll do a "pull forward" lease break on every model - I stopped by my local dealer yesterday to see if they had an E250 yet, and the salesman I dealt with when I bought my car mentioned what I wanted to do next - under 8 months into my car.
The GL is a classy beast and the updated model is much more premium looking than the first one, IMO.
A strange thing the house and senate can`t seem to govern....Just apparently care about the news coverage and being in the spotlight......Don`t expect anything to come out of this but brinksmanship...:-) Tony
Twice in the last week House Republicans have voted unanimously to fund the U.S. government.
If national polls are to be believed, those House Republicans are doing exactly what America wants. A majority of Americans oppose a government shutdown. And a majority oppose Obamacare.
Who, then, is preventing the government from being funded?
Harry Reid and Barack Obama. Neither will accept any continuing resolution that does not contain Obamacare
Harry Reid and Barack Obama. Neither will accept any continuing resolution that does not contain Obamacare
While I'm sure Obamacare has a lot of problems, anything is worth a try given how screwed up things are right now.
This bill was passed by both houses of Congress. It is law. And the Republicans are holding up FUNDING OF THE GOVERNMENT because they don't like the law.
If you don't like the law, then get the votes and change it. Don't shut down the government. Despicable.
All of this from the campaigner who was going to give a bipartisan government and the most transparent government ever. Instead we get a bill passed improperly written in the Senate rather than the House and we get untruths about all facets of ObamaCare.
And thanks to the AARP and the drug industry for their parts in passing the bill that "we have to pass it so we can find out what's in it." Do we really call these overpaid leaders our government? Term limits are needed: 12 years and out.
Interestingly, the futures were up according to the early morning radio I heard. Maybe the concept of slowing spending increases is a positive for the economy. What a concept.
I analyze these things as they're reported on the mainstream media alphabet networks by switching the parties. If the Senate were Republican and obstinately refusing to negotiate along with the President (Pres. Bush, e.g.) against a Democrat House, how would the media be reporting this lack of movement? How would they have reported the lack of a Constitutionally-mandated budget from the Senate for 5 years? We know how they negatively reported the 3 previous terms of a Republican president.
The good thing that is resulting because of the extreme liberal bias of the so called main street media...is that they are no longer the main street media. They have been slowly committing suicide for the past several years, as most people have realized that you can't believe them.
The big liberal newspapers are already done, and the alphabet networks won't be far behind. Hopefully something more fair and balanced will replace our dying main street news sources.
Shutdown of the Federal government and Obamacare glitches do not seem to be having much effect on the Market place. Guns, Google, Amazon and Apple all doing well. No apocalypse buying of Gold and Silver.
Please make note that there is a big difference between a government shutdown (which is what we have today) and not extending the debt limit (which is reached on 10/17/2013 or so..).
A few government hacks take the day off without pay...no big deal.
Mess with the "full faith and credit" of the US Government? That will be a big deal...
>Mess with the "full faith and credit" of the US Government? That will be a big deal...
I heard our fearless leader preaching at us on the radio on my trip home from the dentist a few minutes ago. As if printing extra money to make our currency worth less and increasing our debt by trillions hasn't already affected the "full faith and credit" of the US government already.
There's a self-righteousness in the whole idea of spend, spend, spend and then raise the debt ceiling all without passing a budget from the Senate as per the Constitution that bothers me. And for fearless leader to say that it won't affect anything to raise the limit--it won't spend another dime and then says it's CONGRESS who is responsible for all this spending and his hands are clean. It's like the high school teacher preaching about good behavior and character when people know he's playing hanky panky with some of the young ladies on his sports team he coaches. Ssssssh.
Certainly the president has influence, but it IS in fact the Congress that controls spending. All spending has gone through Congress. And it's also their fault that we have shut down.
While I'm sure Obamacare has a lot of problems, anything is worth a try given how screwed up things are right now.
Nobody's arguing that healthcare reform was due. The problem is that most of the time when our bureaucratic inefficient incompetent federal government controls things, they become a nightmare. The GOP, on their part, has screwed up by not outlining an alternative plan.
This bill was passed by both houses of Congress. It is law. And the Republicans are holding up FUNDING OF THE GOVERNMENT because they don't like the law.
Not just the GOP, but most Americans don't like the law. And, none of these members of Congress actually read the law.
If you don't like the law, then get the votes and change it. Don't shut down the government. Despicable.
The Democrats hold the majority, so changing it is next to impossible. Either Reid will say any fiscally responsible bills passed by the GOP are "dead on arrival" for a Senate vote, or the President will veto them. The GOP's attempts to reverse the law have therefore been by tying it to spending cuts directly or indirectly in hopes of lowering our obscene out-of-control debt.
What's really "despicable" is that the Obamacare touted by the Democrats doesn't affect them since Congress has excluded themselves from it applying to them, and they keep their "Cadillac" health plans. Now that's hypocracy.
That all being said, neither the GOP or Dems. ALONE are responsible for this mess, it's BOTH.
When Obama is whispering in Reid's ear to not deal with the house. Makes you wonder if the Democrats want to negotiate or if they are gambling on the 2014 election. I personally think Obamacare will self destruct. So think the GOP is screwing up by bothering with it.
When Obama is whispering in Reid's ear to not deal with the house. Makes you wonder if the Democrats want to negotiate or if they are gambling on the 2014 election. I personally think Obamacare will self destruct. So think the GOP is screwing up by bothering with it.
I agree that Obamacare will have problems. But I see some good and some bad. Laws can be changed, so let it play out and then tune it from there. Our existing health care is *also* slowly self-destructing. I'm the sort of person that when plan A isn't working, try plan B, even if it's not nearly perfect. Because then you can modify B to plan C. But doing nothing is no solution at all.
Interesting that the market is actually up today. Perhaps we're all excited that the government is partially gone for a day?
Seems business as usual. Post Office was open. They delivered my mail. Good thing that is sort of private. Maybe we should think about the rest becoming privatized.
"If you don't like the law, then get the votes and change it. Don't shut down the government. Despicable.
The Democrats hold the majority, so changing it is next to impossible. Either Reid will say any fiscally responsible bills passed by the GOP are "dead on arrival" for a Senate vote, or the President will veto them. The GOP's attempts to reverse the law have therefore been by tying it to spending cuts directly or indirectly in hopes of lowering our obscene out-of-control debt."
In the words of the liberal woman from California with more facelifts than I can count on my fingers - the great Nancy Pelosi - who probably has never read anything - "we need to pass the health care law to see what's in it". That still boggles my mind. To say that in public has to be the dumbest comment from any member of Congress in history. Can you imagine what the MSM would have said in the newspapers if a republican had said that about the bill especially if it was republican created. The NY Times would have had that on the front page with damming comments for a week and then shifted it to op ed for months. Instead they barely reported it because it came from the Dems.
NYC is in great shape right now thanks to having two of the most competent mayors in its history. Wait to Bill de Blasio is done once he gets elected and runs his term. The place is going to look like a wrecking ball hit it. It'll be like going to the movies and seeing a triple feature of The Godfather, Gone wit the Wind and then closing it out with the Keystone Cops.
Every other first world nation has some kind of national/socialized medicine - maybe it's time to work with the boogeyman instead of fighting it, as IMO,there's no turning back now. It's here, and in some form or other, it's going to stay. Fiscally responsible GOP seems like an oxymoron given the past 30 years of history.
The markets haven't crashed because of it, either.
NYC will probably be fine so long as dirty offshore money keeps piling in, and should-be-hanged FIRE criminals are still based there. Just watch out for biker gangs full of cops.
There's an article online at the LA Times which basically states that this has been months in the planning - the GOP doesn't have the votes to change the law (it is the LAW), so they are holding the entire government hostage, and causing the furlough of hundreds of thousands of workers. Nice.
I can believe it is planned. The Dems are going to capitalize on it when this is all over, too - just wait and see. With do-nothings like Boehner doing, well, nothing, and useless turds like Randy Neugebauer lecturing low level workers about being "ashamed", this is going to work very well for some elections.
It's a law. It's done. The rest of the developed world does it, those who directly compete with the US and win do it. Time to move forward and modify it if it is unworkable - but it's not going to vanish.
There's a saying, where an "=" sign goes between presidential names. So, Obama=Bush=Clinton=Bush=Reagan=Carter=Ford and so on. Same old crap, nothing improves in terms of quality or ethics.
Did anyone with functioning brain cells believe there would be transparency? I hope not. In a lobbyist-controlled system, the idea is insane.
But the markets haven't crashed, maybe our financial leaders know full well that it doesn't really matter who is elected.
>doesn't have the votes to change the law (it is the LAW)
There are LAWS that have been changed. Social security has been changed. Segregation LAWS have been changed. Laws have been changed to allow Right to Work. Tax rate laws have been changed. Laws on what stock trading companies could do allowed to go into various other kinds of business, and then fail or receive taxpayer money--another law change in the bailouts.
It makes a nice mantra for the low information voter to hear that "It's the LAW," but laws are passed by Congress and LAWS are changeable.
I just heard a call on a radio show about finances from a husband saying his wife urged him to change jobs despite the good benefits at his current job. She believed that if a new job didn't offer health insurance, the ObamaCare would be FREE, so they'd save money. She believed the impression they tried to present about the UCA: free. Nobody pays for it, nobody. Not taxpayer, not buyer. Free. Low information voter. LMAO
It makes a nice mantra for the low information voter to hear that "It's the LAW," but laws are passed by Congress and LAWS are changeable.
I think you missed my point. Of course Congress can change the law. The problem is that there aren't enough votes to change this law in Congress, so the ultra right side of the Republican party have planned in advance to scuttle the entire budgeting process to try and defeat this law through unorthodox means.
In fact, I've read that even if it came up for a vote in the House, the funding would still pass. Yet Boehner won't even let that vote take place. That is planned torpedoing of the Federal Government because they're not happy that the *normal rules* aren't letting them get their way. And it is going to hurt the entire country. I guess it's a good strategy to keep the ultra-right wing happy. Just don't go looking for moderate votes because a lot of those voters are going to be P.O.'d.
Of course they're trying to blame it on Obama. Yet the budgetary and funding process, per the Constitution, is entirely the job of Congress. And they have failed to execute.
Since Obamacare became law, Obama has changed it 5 or 6 times. Handed out passes to his friends, delayed business signing up for a year, gave subsidies to congress and their stooges, etc, etc.
If he can change it on a whim, congress can certainly make legitimate changes. It is part of their job description.
There are some good things about the law, the problem is that once it is up and running it is truly going to break the bank. SS was very low cost and affordable at first and look at it now. Obamacare is costing a fortune already. What will the costs be in a few years?
There is another part of Congress called the Senate. And presidents have the responsibility to be leaders, not stone statues. They, in the past, have negotiated with Congress, both houses, to get what they want. Intransigence for the sake of politics is not what the President should be about.
He has made 14 changes to Obamacare. The House even negotiated with themselves to present a bill that only delays individual implementation for a year rather than not funding the UCA at all right now.
Also, in the past separate bills have been passed to fund various parts of government. That was fine to fund the soldiers this time, but separate bills is not good enough to fund the other necessary parts of government. Intransigence over in the Senate?
Of course the media is the 3rd house and they are "compliant" to the liberal side to use Obama's term for them in the past.
Most of the blame belongs on Obama. He tells the brain dead Democrat stooges in the Senate what he wants and they follow goose step to his sick drum beat. I see his numbers falling faster than Congress during this debacle. It is a political gamble and I am betting the voters with brains will end the stalemate by giving the GOP the senate in 2014. No way they will lose the House. So that is the only way to break the log jam. Should be fun.
I am happy to be out of the market. Just not sure where to invest right now.
Boehner has even said he is willing to go to default over this. Useless. The donkeys are going to capitalize the hell out of this in the next big election, just wait. Lots of sound bites to exploit. And when when idiots like that Texan mouth off...have fun.
If pro is the opposite of con, what's the opposite of progress?
I wonder if reversing some of the trickle down nonsense forced upon the nation over the past 30 years combined with cutting off a few external black holes could help.
Of course, changing the gifts given to a few would probably crash the markets, poor babies wouldn't get to have it as great as any time since Gatsby.
There are some good things about the law, the problem is that once it is up and running it is truly going to break the bank. SS was very low cost and affordable at first and look at it now. Obamacare is costing a fortune already. What will the costs be in a few years?
You bring up some good points. I don't particularly like huge government programs and pretty much agree with much of what you say. Yet we accept primary education funded by the government. And already, about half of health care is funded by the government (Medicare, etc). I suspect the big health companies are worried about the impacts on their profits, which does relate to the stock market and investing. However we can't really predict the mix of outcomes that this law will have. All I know is that the old system is a mess and an embarrassment and is *also* causing huge financial drains. So nothing to find appealing there.
I feel that doing something with some positives is better because at least there are changes being made. Certainly tweaks and changes can continue to occur. Yet if our old system is so good, why aren't ANY of the other countries trying to copy it?
I was on a vacation in the Caribbean a few years ago and there was a German couple on a tour with us. We managed to talk a bit. They were taking two weeks on this trip, while we were taking only one (they have legally mandated six weeks/year vacation). And of course they can't go bankrupt due to HC costs. And their life expectancy is better than ours. I was actually kind of embarrassed for the US as compared to their society.
There was an article on another site that suggested that due to the ACA there might be a boost in the economy in the area of startups (which affects stock market and investing ). The feeling was there are a lot of entrepreneurs who don't end up starting businesses, because of the HC availability issue tied to employment at a company. The feeling was that with the ACA and access to health plans, this might help cause boosts in the economy.
But we'll never know if the diehards try to kill this law. And in the meantime the US is a big embarrassment due to our dysfunctional government.
The feeling was that with the ACA and access to health plans, this might help cause boosts in the economy.
I think that kind of feeling is very easy to refute with the facts. The facts are employers are putting millions of people on part time to avoid paying for their ACA premiums. The cost to employers over most of the USA is much higher with ACA than many of their old employer paid plans. Even government workers are being put on part time to avoid ACA. Why would most of the jobs created over the last 3 years be part time if NOT for the fear of paying $thousands more per year in HC benefits. This might have worked in a booming economy. Tacking another $1.8 trillion onto the budget to fund ACA, at this time, seems crazy to me. Not a chance this would help improve the job creation. When a person wanting something made can get online, send a plan via email to a manufacturer in Hong Kong and have a sample back in 24 hours and production going in less than a week. Why would they consider setting up a factory in our current economy?
The prez and Lew tried to talk down the markets over the weekend. In the past presidents have tried to minimize the effects of these partial slowdowns in the government spending instead of trying to make everything as bad as possible for a group for the political effect it might have.
One or both threw in that they might stop social security checks (not likely) so as to "scare" the social security set. I guess it's better than admitting to running our wheelchairs off the cliff with us older folk in them with all the reductions in my Medicare to help pay for UCA.
Also the economy already has shown continuing weakness, so I suppose blaming the opposite party for market drops would help reduce the blame on the controlling party for 5 years for this slow sortof a recovery.
I have a pretty long-term outlook/horizon, so I don't know if this is the time to sell... But, I've been sitting on a nice little chunk of rollover pension cash from my wife's buyout, that I was hesitant to put into the market at this level. At least all at once.... but, some time next week, I expect I'll get the chance to buy in at a lower price, and I'm getting ready for it...
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OTOH, the latest AppleTV update was a disaster, and, without prior warning, getting it to work afterward required plugging it in directly to the PC hosting iTunes, and then re-entering all of your network credentials, iTune account credentials, Netflix, Hulu, etc.
Again, it's a product I would recommend overall - AS LONG AS YOU ARE SOMEWHAT TECH-SAVVY. When it works, it's fantastic, but has frequent "quirks" that require jumping through hoops to fix, and worse, figuring out (on your own) what it is you need to do. That's annoying, but OK for us, and my son is getting one, but my parents would have thrown it against the wall long ago.
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Too bad we can't get a diesel in the LX. That said, my wife is averaging a little over 14 mpg around town on all her short trips, which is pretty good for that truck. About the only time I get to drive it is to the gas station to fill it up and it really is a joy to drive.
Good post on Apple.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
I would get the 400s, but I am not waiting any more years. The Audi has been and still is a very good car, but I have kept it so long that I have forgotten the fun of getting a new car.....Tony
It's a Porsche - everything is an overpriced option....
The GL is a classy beast and the updated model is much more premium looking than the first one, IMO.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
If national polls are to be believed, those House Republicans are doing exactly what America wants. A majority of Americans oppose a government shutdown. And a majority oppose Obamacare.
Who, then, is preventing the government from being funded?
Harry Reid and Barack Obama. Neither will accept any continuing resolution that does not contain Obamacare
http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/the-beltway-lies-of-the-obamacare-war/#XXqsiktim8QL0z- w2.99
It would be nice if some day it was about the good of the country more than the good of each congressman's particular party.
While I'm sure Obamacare has a lot of problems, anything is worth a try given how screwed up things are right now.
This bill was passed by both houses of Congress. It is law. And the Republicans are holding up FUNDING OF THE GOVERNMENT because they don't like the law.
If you don't like the law, then get the votes and change it. Don't shut down the government. Despicable.
All of this from the campaigner who was going to give a bipartisan government and the most transparent government ever. Instead we get a bill passed improperly written in the Senate rather than the House and we get untruths about all facets of ObamaCare.
And thanks to the AARP and the drug industry for their parts in passing the bill that "we have to pass it so we can find out what's in it." Do we really call these overpaid leaders our government? Term limits are needed: 12 years and out.
Interestingly, the futures were up according to the early morning radio I heard. Maybe the concept of slowing spending increases is a positive for the economy. What a concept.
I analyze these things as they're reported on the mainstream media alphabet networks by switching the parties. If the Senate were Republican and obstinately refusing to negotiate along with the President (Pres. Bush, e.g.) against a Democrat House, how would the media be reporting this lack of movement? How would they have reported the lack of a Constitutionally-mandated budget from the Senate for 5 years? We know how they negatively reported the 3 previous terms of a Republican president.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The big liberal newspapers are already done, and the alphabet networks won't be far behind. Hopefully something more fair and balanced will replace our dying main street news sources.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
A few government hacks take the day off without pay...no big deal.
Mess with the "full faith and credit" of the US Government? That will be a big deal...
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I heard our fearless leader preaching at us on the radio on my trip home from the dentist a few minutes ago. As if printing extra money to make our currency worth less and increasing our debt by trillions hasn't already affected the "full faith and credit" of the US government already.
There's a self-righteousness in the whole idea of spend, spend, spend and then raise the debt ceiling all without passing a budget from the Senate as per the Constitution that bothers me. And for fearless leader to say that it won't affect anything to raise the limit--it won't spend another dime and then says it's CONGRESS who is responsible for all this spending and his hands are clean. It's like the high school teacher preaching about good behavior and character when people know he's playing hanky panky with some of the young ladies on his sports team he coaches. Ssssssh.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Nobody's arguing that healthcare reform was due. The problem is that most of the time when our bureaucratic inefficient incompetent federal government controls things, they become a nightmare. The GOP, on their part, has screwed up by not outlining an alternative plan.
This bill was passed by both houses of Congress. It is law. And the Republicans are holding up FUNDING OF THE GOVERNMENT because they don't like the law.
Not just the GOP, but most Americans don't like the law. And, none of these members of Congress actually read the law.
If you don't like the law, then get the votes and change it. Don't shut down the government. Despicable.
The Democrats hold the majority, so changing it is next to impossible. Either Reid will say any fiscally responsible bills passed by the GOP are "dead on arrival" for a Senate vote, or the President will veto them. The GOP's attempts to reverse the law have therefore been by tying it to spending cuts directly or indirectly in hopes of lowering our obscene out-of-control debt.
What's really "despicable" is that the Obamacare touted by the Democrats doesn't affect them since Congress has excluded themselves from it applying to them, and they keep their "Cadillac" health plans. Now that's hypocracy.
That all being said, neither the GOP or Dems. ALONE are responsible for this mess, it's BOTH.
"Regular" Americans are the pawns.
I agree that Obamacare will have problems. But I see some good and some bad. Laws can be changed, so let it play out and then tune it from there. Our existing health care is *also* slowly self-destructing. I'm the sort of person that when plan A isn't working, try plan B, even if it's not nearly perfect. Because then you can modify B to plan C. But doing nothing is no solution at all.
Interesting that the market is actually up today. Perhaps we're all excited that the government is partially gone for a day?
Tesla stock tumbles after Model S catches fire
http://news.yahoo.com/tesla-stock-tumbles-model-catches-fire-210456370--finance.- html
If the legend is sexier than the truth - report the legend.
Fire is sexier than some wonk crunching numbers.
The Democrats hold the majority, so changing it is next to impossible. Either Reid will say any fiscally responsible bills passed by the GOP are "dead on arrival" for a Senate vote, or the President will veto them. The GOP's attempts to reverse the law have therefore been by tying it to spending cuts directly or indirectly in hopes of lowering our obscene out-of-control debt."
In the words of the liberal woman from California with more facelifts than I can count on my fingers - the great Nancy Pelosi - who probably has never read anything - "we need to pass the health care law to see what's in it". That still boggles my mind. To say that in public has to be the dumbest comment from any member of Congress in history. Can you imagine what the MSM would have said in the newspapers if a republican had said that about the bill especially if it was republican created. The NY Times would have had that on the front page with damming comments for a week and then shifted it to op ed for months. Instead they barely reported it because it came from the Dems.
NYC is in great shape right now thanks to having two of the most competent mayors in its history. Wait to Bill de Blasio is done once he gets elected and runs his term. The place is going to look like a wrecking ball hit it. It'll be like going to the movies and seeing a triple feature of The Godfather, Gone wit the Wind and then closing it out with the Keystone Cops.
The markets haven't crashed because of it, either.
NYC will probably be fine so long as dirty offshore money keeps piling in, and should-be-hanged FIRE criminals are still based there. Just watch out for biker gangs full of cops.
NYT reporter: Obama admin “most closed, control-freak administration I’ve ever covered”
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/10/05/nyt-reporter-obama-admin-most-closed-contr- ol-freak-administration-ive-ever-covered/
It's a law. It's done. The rest of the developed world does it, those who directly compete with the US and win do it. Time to move forward and modify it if it is unworkable - but it's not going to vanish.
Did anyone with functioning brain cells believe there would be transparency? I hope not. In a lobbyist-controlled system, the idea is insane.
But the markets haven't crashed, maybe our financial leaders know full well that it doesn't really matter who is elected.
There are LAWS that have been changed. Social security has been changed. Segregation LAWS have been changed. Laws have been changed to allow Right to Work. Tax rate laws have been changed. Laws on what stock trading companies could do allowed to go into various other kinds of business, and then fail or receive taxpayer money--another law change in the bailouts.
It makes a nice mantra for the low information voter to hear that "It's the LAW," but laws are passed by Congress and LAWS are changeable.
I just heard a call on a radio show about finances from a husband saying his wife urged him to change jobs despite the good benefits at his current job. She believed that if a new job didn't offer health insurance, the ObamaCare would be FREE, so they'd save money. She believed the impression they tried to present about the UCA: free. Nobody pays for it, nobody. Not taxpayer, not buyer. Free. Low information voter. LMAO
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I think you missed my point. Of course Congress can change the law. The problem is that there aren't enough votes to change this law in Congress, so the ultra right side of the Republican party have planned in advance to scuttle the entire budgeting process to try and defeat this law through unorthodox means.
In fact, I've read that even if it came up for a vote in the House, the funding would still pass. Yet Boehner won't even let that vote take place. That is planned torpedoing of the Federal Government because they're not happy that the *normal rules* aren't letting them get their way. And it is going to hurt the entire country. I guess it's a good strategy to keep the ultra-right wing happy. Just don't go looking for moderate votes because a lot of those voters are going to be P.O.'d.
Of course they're trying to blame it on Obama. Yet the budgetary and funding process, per the Constitution, is entirely the job of Congress. And they have failed to execute.
If he can change it on a whim, congress can certainly make legitimate changes. It is part of their job description.
There are some good things about the law, the problem is that once it is up and running it is truly going to break the bank. SS was very low cost and affordable at first and look at it now. Obamacare is costing a fortune already. What will the costs be in a few years?
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
There is another part of Congress called the Senate.
And presidents have the responsibility to be leaders, not stone statues. They, in the past, have negotiated with Congress, both houses, to get what they want. Intransigence for the sake of politics is not what the President should be about.
He has made 14 changes to Obamacare. The House even negotiated with themselves to present a bill that only delays individual implementation for a year rather than not funding the UCA at all right now.
Also, in the past separate bills have been passed to fund various parts of government. That was fine to fund the soldiers this time, but separate bills is not good enough to fund the other necessary parts of government. Intransigence over in the Senate?
Of course the media is the 3rd house and they are "compliant" to the liberal side to use Obama's term for them in the past.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I am happy to be out of the market. Just not sure where to invest right now.
If pro is the opposite of con, what's the opposite of progress?
Of course, changing the gifts given to a few would probably crash the markets, poor babies wouldn't get to have it as great as any time since Gatsby.
You bring up some good points. I don't particularly like huge government programs and pretty much agree with much of what you say. Yet we accept primary education funded by the government. And already, about half of health care is funded by the government (Medicare, etc). I suspect the big health companies are worried about the impacts on their profits, which does relate to the stock market and investing. However we can't really predict the mix of outcomes that this law will have. All I know is that the old system is a mess and an embarrassment and is *also* causing huge financial drains. So nothing to find appealing there.
I feel that doing something with some positives is better because at least there are changes being made. Certainly tweaks and changes can continue to occur. Yet if our old system is so good, why aren't ANY of the other countries trying to copy it?
I was on a vacation in the Caribbean a few years ago and there was a German couple on a tour with us. We managed to talk a bit. They were taking two weeks on this trip, while we were taking only one (they have legally mandated six weeks/year vacation). And of course they can't go bankrupt due to HC costs. And their life expectancy is better than ours. I was actually kind of embarrassed for the US as compared to their society.
There was an article on another site that suggested that due to the ACA there might be a boost in the economy in the area of startups (which affects stock market and investing
But we'll never know if the diehards try to kill this law. And in the meantime the US is a big embarrassment due to our dysfunctional government.
I think that kind of feeling is very easy to refute with the facts. The facts are employers are putting millions of people on part time to avoid paying for their ACA premiums. The cost to employers over most of the USA is much higher with ACA than many of their old employer paid plans. Even government workers are being put on part time to avoid ACA. Why would most of the jobs created over the last 3 years be part time if NOT for the fear of paying $thousands more per year in HC benefits. This might have worked in a booming economy. Tacking another $1.8 trillion onto the budget to fund ACA, at this time, seems crazy to me. Not a chance this would help improve the job creation. When a person wanting something made can get online, send a plan via email to a manufacturer in Hong Kong and have a sample back in 24 hours and production going in less than a week. Why would they consider setting up a factory in our current economy?
One or both threw in that they might stop social security checks (not likely) so as to "scare" the social security set. I guess it's better than admitting to running our wheelchairs off the cliff with us older folk in them with all the reductions in my Medicare to help pay for UCA.
Also the economy already has shown continuing weakness, so I suppose blaming the opposite party for market drops would help reduce the blame on the controlling party for 5 years for this slow sortof a recovery.
Time to sell?
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I'm in the same position with a 401k contribution for my son from what he earned in the summer job.
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