Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Regards,
OW
How about:
1) the insured paying extra to pay for the uninsured who don't pay.
2) $50K+ annual malpractice for each doctor. I wonder what the typical hospital pays on top of that.
3) better medical technology. Or would you prefer your doctors to give up the NMR and such?
4) the cost to process billing paperwork? just think how much of your $125 office visit money went to writing the bill, cubmitting it, having the insurance process it, the bookkeeping. Now multiply that by several billion. A cash system instead of insuranc ewould be much less costly!
So push your union to get rid of health care, have GM pay you extra cash ($10K per year for a family?), and pay your medical bills in cash.
That would have the two fold advantage to give people a chance to save money and the Health Care providers would not have a strangle hold. You can buy a catastrophic health insurance policy for a fraction of these full pay plans.
How much would I have in the bank if I had the money paid for my health care over my 46 year career?
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-11-23-cars-trucks-delinquent-loans_N.ht- - m
5 Myths About Our Ailing Health-Care System (Washington Post).
Substitute "GM" for "employer" in the next myth quote:
"Even when your employer offers coverage, he isn't reaching into his own pocket to cover you and your fellow employees; he's reaching into your pocket, paying you lower wages than he would if he didn't have to pay for your health insurance."
Take the higher wages, take some more in taxes out of that to pay for government health care, get GM out of the health care business. Doable?
(and don't ask me to foot my bills without coverage - insurance has paid out about $35,000 in our household this year and about half that in the previous year).
Regards,
OW
So that's 52,500 for 2 years, or 26,250 per year average. From your article:
"All told, the average family of four is coughing up $29,000 a year for health care through taxes, lower wages and out-of-pocket medical expenses."
I spent about $100 last year, and maybe $500 covered on a poor dental plan. The fact is insurance is just like a warrnaty service. Give them a $1 and you'll get about $0.80 back.
They could never give you all the money back as they have to pay for salaries, buildings, mail and communications, managers and accountants and earn a profit. So what sort of product/service do you get from insurance? You pay for a system that takes your $, takes its expenses and profits, you then have to convince and fight (in many cases) that you have a valid claim; all to get back part of what you gave them.
It sounds a lot more efficient to keep my money in the 1st place, and have these people and businesses actually do something PRODUCTIVE - like fix potholes.
I've had astronomical bills this year on the health front. More than what I make. Were it not for the insurance I wouldn't be here.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I should probably take collision off the older cars.
Evidently Warren Buffet is a big Geico shareholder, too. I liked how solid the company sounded like in this bad economy and that there was even a chance my rates could be lowered eventually, so I took the bait and signed up for the little gecko-branded company.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
No, that is on a state by state basis though I think most states require liability. Here in NH it is not illegal to drive without insurance. If you're an adult you also don't need to wear a seatbelt.
Try a "Travelers Insurance" agent. For me they are a few hundred dollars cheaper than GEICO, or AAA. I have liability, uninsured, collison, and comprehensive on an '05 Jag X-Type and an '07 Mazdaspeed6 for a total of slightly < $1,000 / year.
Advertising is not free, so I imagine GEICO has fairly high costs just for the advertising; that you're paying for.
So, if GEICO pulls any fast ones I'll try Traveler's car insurance. Every person's car insurance needs and limits are very personal, however, so I think at this pont in time after shopping around that I'm in good hands.
Good grief-another car insurer's advertising slogan. :sick:
Ooooh-someone has put a logo over my face. Hee-hee. I absolutely love that GEICO commercial with the Aunt Jemima bottle-lady on it!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
GEICO pulled a real fast one on every policy holder in Alaska back in the 1970s. Left us all scrambling for insurance. I would never give them the chance to do that again. I have used Farmers for nearly 30 years and check periodically for lower rates. I will keep them as long as they are competitive. I have had about 4 claims with ex and kids. Never raised my rates. My new Sequoia is the lowest insurance rates in recent memory. It is lower than my GMC PU was. It was a lot more expensive vehicle also. Must have better IIHS ratings.
In this case that would be Boston's Celtic's. I am pleased to see that the Oklahoma City Thunder is 1-13 and they just fired their head coach P.J.Carleisimo.
Nobody steals my favorite sports team and just slyly gets away with it with no repercussions, gentlemen. Clay Bennett is a thief and a liar both, at the same time. The NFL and some bought-off ref's caused Seattle's Seahawk's to lose Super Bowl 40 on Feb.6, 2006. And the Steelers were handed the Super Bowl, because it "looked better for the NFL and America in general." Besides we have bets to collect on! I've never seen a bigger falsity ever than Super Bowl 40.
And Howard Schultz is just a businessman. BTW-Starbuck's has closed 250 stores, along with Circuit City closing 250 stores?
What will car insurance companies do to react to these horrors? Raise our rates? I lose respect for America's shady businessmen who will do anything to cover their own rear ends, at taxpayer and purchaser expense. Not only that, I lose cash, too.
A bright spot are these lower ghastly rates. When gas hits $1.00/gal for 87 RUG, I'll stop calling gasoline ghastly. :mad:
Hey, man, have you seen my write-ups on the 2010 Pininfarina-Bollore B0 on several of these threads? That is the best all-electric I have seen on the net yet. I may be interested in the fall of 2010. Once again, I'll have to convince my wife of the worthiness of buying this rig. It sounds like the complete package. Warranty and pricing will either push me away from it or make me even more interested in buying one. It's as cute as a snug bug-in-a-rug, too.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
However, they are not sending very many over here. They are setting up a true "niche" market over in the U.S. Probably concentrating on France, the UK, Germany, and Eastern Europe, as well as Brazil, Argentina, China, Russia, etc.
I'm gonna be all over this one like "white on rice" however. Our '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS would be hard to trade in and I'm not gonna trade it if Pininfarina-Bollore "dealers", whether it be ZAP or whomever deals with the Italian-French exporter, plays hard ball and won't give me good value for my Lancer GTS.
I could consider just keeping the Lancer and buying the little electric squirtplug, but that won't happen in reality. What we might do is wait until 2013 and see how the little cars perform before considering a purchase.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/198700.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061810/
"The 1967 James Coburn starred in the film, In Like Flint. This was a sequel to the 1966 Our Man Flint and presumably the screenwriters, on the lookout for another 'Flint' phrase, opted for a play on 'In like Flynn'. There's now some confusion between the two phrases and some use 'In like Flint' as if it were synonymous with 'In like Flynn'."
GM, Tiger Woods Part Ways
It drives the cost up for EVERYONE'S plane ticket.
Back in college, There were people who were converting small cars to electric and also doing regenerative braking and so on. A decade before anyone else thought about it. Now, true, the school that I went to had an alternative energy program, but most of this was and still is 100 year old technology.
There were races held during the 90s in California for electric vehicles and the record was a modified CRX that had a nearly 200 mile range at 60mph on a test track. Nothing fancy, just good engineering.
60 miles? That's a joke. Seriously. Whomever came up with that design needs to have a slap upside their head and told to actually try. I know GM management is buying it, but it's worthless. Even the RAV-4 EV did better than that, and it was a heavy thing for its size.
http://www.evalbum.com/775
1981 technology. 100 miles on a test track and lead acid batteries, no less. Just swapping to NiMh batteries alone would give it enough range to beat the Volt. And, if you notice, no regenerative anything, no high-end computer modules(8 bit voltage controller and a multimeter for a gauge!), no aerodynamics(it's shaped like a brick for goodness sake!), and a fraction of the cost.($7995 in 1981) Adjusted for inflation, that's still WAY under $40K.(25K to be exact)
GM fails.
General Motors was the Great American Company. But by clinging to the attributes that made it an icon, GM drove itself to ruin.
Very interesting story.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/21/magazines/fortune/taylor_generalmotors.fortune/i- ndex.htm?source=yahoo_quote
I was in the audience at GM's Tech Center in Warren, Mich., on the day in October 1999 when GM revealed the production version of the Pontiac Aztek to the press for the first time. The company was positioning it as a "lifestyle support vehicle" that was the "most versatile vehicle on the planet." With our curiosity piqued, we watched drapes pulled off - and the room went strangely silent. The Aztek bristled with gills, creases, roof racks, and plastic cladding - and that was the good news.
A toxic mix of overreach by market research, compromises by manufacturing, and pound-foolish accounting by finance had resulted in a vehicle that appealed to practically no one. Within weeks the Aztek would be judged one of the ugliest cars of all time. Creating vehicles that people want to buy is the most fundamental mission of any auto company, and GM had failed with the Aztek.
GM has built one too many Azteks to be given a reprieve.
We'll probably see more reductions in corporate sponsorships in professional sports.
Wonder what might be in store for NASCAR. :lemon:
I watched a little bit of a race on TV somewhere recently. I could not tell a Ford from a Chevy from a Toyota. I am not what you would call a fan. I am sure they can tell. Last time I was interested in racing you could tell them apart. It was REAL advertising for the winners. I lost interest by the mid 1960s. I don't think anyone will really care if there are no GM cars running. It is more the drivers now than the cars.
I notice Citigroup is going ahead with the new stadium deal with the Mets (I think it's the Mets).
Reality Check?
Get her a login on Edmunds as well as C & D, R &T, CR, etc. subscriptions. She needs to see the light. Let her learn the truth about GM models vs Honda, Toyota. Do not keep her in the dark. Maybe she will turn you around.
What if she doesn't demand, but just asks nicely? :P
Was that the western that had him carrying around dynamite and blowing things up? And, also a number of disgusting close-up shots of characters chewing food?
Have not seen any news regarding GM support for NASCAR in event of Chapter 7 or 11. Here and there watch only snipets of NASCAR races. They are so boring.
Would have to guess that only part of a Chevy NASCAR racer that is Chevy/GM is the engine block. The carburators, yes carburators, are probably some aftermarket race car specialty design. The other part of the race car that is Chevy/GM is the painted logo of their brand on the car and a lookalike/resemblance of a Chevy grille.
If GM and Ford, Chrysler fail, then perhaps all engine blocks for NASCAR would be supplied by Toyota. This would be similar to IRL/Indy series where Honda supplies all engines to the race car teams.
I think it is what Toyota is doing to GM. GM has a long history of destroying the competition. Now it is their turn to have the gun pointed at them.
I lost interest in racing when AJ Foyt and his gang started using regulations to win and killed all innovation. I was a big fan of the Parnelli Jones turbine car. The others could not keep up so they made it impossible to run them. So now all you have a clone cars. Nothing interesting left. Kind of like the Domestics.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Well then, that makes your previous comment irrelevant doesn't it. It's like me telling you I'll buy you the GM care of your dreams if I win the lottery! BTW, I don't play the lottery! LOL!!!
Just jabbin ya Lemko
Hopefully she would trust Edmunds. Ask her to get a logon and then join these forums to talk about GM. What does she truly think about GM?
That sounds like my wife. Yet she has never owned a Domestic car. Her dad loved buying old Caddies and she hated them. When she saved enough to buy her first car it was a Mercedes diesel. Her second car she bought in 1989 and still driving it, an LS400 Lexus. Yet she will look at every tag and only buy made in USA cloths. Impossible to buy USA made shoes anymore. Quality is important. I don't think the Domestics have kept up with the rest of the World on building cars. Her deceased husband was a car nut and had mostly Porsche cars and his favorite a 1967 Shelby Mustang.
Not much of a chance of her logging onto Edmunds. She's not the die-hard car nut I am.