BC Teachers have voted 87% to escalate the strike...

[Mash]

Good Lord, are you people STILL flogging this?

bobsticks now brings totally irrelavent issues in after I demolished his previous assertions.... and yes, bob, my suggestiuon of your taking the LSAT still stands.

Well, lets let the Repubicans win the 2012 elections in the USA and then these US Patriots will wonder why they are becomming really poor at an ever increasing rate.

I remember when my wife & I were sitting in her former doctor's office c2005 and two physican's assistants were discussing another female patient who spent 8 days in the local hospital.... and received a bill for $90,000 which her insurance company then refused to pay. Pre-existing medical conditions help to get insurance companies out of paying a medical claim in the USA time & time again.

Do you have a spare $90,000 sitting around? You better, because the Repubicans will not help you. Do we? Oh, yes, and quite a bit more. So, do you?

[bobsticks]

bobsticks now brings totally irrelavent issues in after I demolished his previous assertions.

Are they "irrelavent" because they don't fit into your tidy, little worldview or are they irrelevant because they address results and consequence beyond your anecdotal evidence?

... and yes, bob, my suggestiuon of your taking the LSAT still stands.

You can continue to say that but it does nothing to support your rather hazy assertions. I find it startling that a man as clearly accomplished as yourself cannot or refuses to think geometrically.

Well, lets let the Repubicans win the 2012 elections in the USA and then these US Patriots will wonder why they are becomming really poor at an ever increasing rate.

This isn't about Democrats and Republicans and it will continue to not be about Democrats and Republicans no matter how many times you insist. But, I get it...you've memorized the talking points.

I'll say it again: A person can be for Universal Healthcare and not support either Romney or President Obama's propositions...because they're bad bills.

I remember when my wife & I were sitting in her former doctor's office c2005 and two physican's assistants were discussing another female patient who spent 8 days in the local hospital.... and received a bill for $90,000 which her insurance company then refused to pay.

Hey look, more anecdotal evidence...and this time anecdotal-by-proxy.

Pre-existing medical conditions help to get insurance companies out of paying a medical claim in the USA time & time again.

Absolutely correct and all this bill does is pass the cost on from you to me.

Do you have a spare $90,000 sitting around? You better, because the Repubicans will not help you. Do we? Oh, yes, and quite a bit more. So, do you?

I do but I'm I'm afraid I won't after you and your kind do the tax and spend long shuffle.

[E-Stat]

Are they...

Ditto on really all points...

[Mash]

Thanks for calling out my typo, bobby... People wwho dwell on such things are always great thinkers.

And your comments are irrelevant simply because they are irrelevant. As you will one day learn.

Either way, we are FULLY covered, and I suspect that neither you, nor E-S, are fully covered. Nor do you understand.... yet. But you will. Yes, you will.

[E-Stat]

Either way, we are FULLY covered, and I suspect that neither you, nor E-S, are fully covered.

Fully covered. From all points of the universe. Is that a liberal wet dream?

Nor do you understand.... yet. But you will. Yes, you will.

I'm visualizing Peter Lorre thrashing his hands together as I hear the words...

[RGA]

I didn't realize it was this bad

"28 year ago a house cost a family about 1.6 times their annual income. Now families are looking at a multiple of six."

"the average Canadian worker's take-home pay has only risen about 25 per cent in the past 28 years. The average Canadian makes about $48,300 a year and the average annual after-tax family income in this country is about $60,000." Nick Packard, 9, attacks Milton Bradley for unfair Game of Life | Daily Buzz - Yahoo! News Canada

People argue over democrats and republicans and conservatives versus lefties.

I tend to look at things over long terms. Who has been in power the longest over the last 30 years.

[Mash]

These are amusing and yet rather poor attempts at sarcasm.....

We have a lot of people here who refuse to wear seatbelts as they see seatbelts as intrusions on their personal liberty. And on average we have a wreck a week wherein an unbelted vehicle occupant is ejected from the vehicle. None of these ejectees have been found alive. Many occupants who were belted in were found alive and then transported to hospital.

So what you choose to believe is irrelevant except that your beliefs may cause you to not survive.

We have many people here who do not have medical insurance and then they do not pay their hospital bill(s). This non-payment shortfall is then tacked onto other peoples' bills. So a routine abdominal surgery combined with a 4-day hospital stay typically results in a bill of around $43,000. If you are the payer and lack proper insurance and also have assets, the hospital will try very hard to collect.

Sooner or later everybody wins the unfortunate event lottery.

Yes, E-S, we are fully covered. The only wet dream is yours.

[Mash]

House prices are driven upward by people who buy a monthly payment rather than focussing on what a house should cost. And these people will sign up for the highest payment they can swing.

Then both husband & wife work, and they spend every penny. Which makes them more vulnerable than a single-earner family when a downturn occurs.

Contractors also play the perceived value & status games, which a lot of people seem to find irresistable.

I always used a Pugh Matrix when looking at houses, and I could not get my daughter interested in using one for house-hunting.... until one of her friends was learning about Pugh Matricies in class.

[bobsticks]

This is such a transparent abdication of responsibility by an entire generation...

[Feanor]

House prices are driven upward by people who buy a monthly payment rather than focussing on what a house should cost. And these people will sign up for the highest payment they can swing.

Then both husband & wife work, and they spend every penny. Which makes them more vulnerable than a single-earner family when a downturn occurs.

Contractors also play the perceived value & status games, which a lot of people seem to find irresistable.

I always used a Pugh Matrix when looking at houses, and I could not get my daughter interested in using one for house-hunting.... until one of her friends was learning about Pugh Matricies in class.

High house prices were fostered by easy credit, including subprime mortgages, and low mortgage rates.

The Federal Reserve under Alan Greenspan dictated ever lower interest rates since 2001 and he himself actively encourage homeowners to borrow against the equity in their homes. It was all done to simulated consumer demand and hence sustain an economy where real incomes were declining. It was patently a desperate measure. For a while it looked OK because in flation looked low by conventional measures such as the CPI. But in reality a vast financial asset bubble was bening created that burst in 2007-08.

Alan Greenspan, long-time Ayn Rand disciple, eventually conceded he was a fool to believe that self-interest would keep big players from harming themselves let alone the nation and the world economy.

[Mash]

I'm afraid I have NO idea what you are referring to, bs.

How old are you, anyway? Are you young, will you always have perfect health, and are you generally bullet-proof?

If Obamacare bothers you so much (but you did not specifically indicate this) then I presume you will also forgo Social Security and Medicare (?). The latter two are just more evil universal mandate programs.... wait, maybe you are already paying in? You better stop that, then.

But I sense that one day (assuming you are in the USA) that you will be mighty glad to have Social Security and Medicare. But, then again, maybe not..............

[Mash]

Subprime came later in life, Feanor. The housing party was well underway by then. But the punch bowl needed a good spike to keep the party hot, and subprime did this nicely.

(Example: House prices were hot from c1975 to c1990. Can you believe price increases of more than 3.1X?)

[bobsticks]

I'm afraid I have NO idea what you are referring to, bs.

Mmhmm...

How old are you, anyway? Are you young, will you always have perfect health, and are you generally bullet-proof?

41; perfect health though that doesn't matter since I'll have no options on my coverage; history has shown that I am indeed not bullet-proof.

If Obamacare bothers you so much (but you did not specifically indicate this) then I presume you will also forgo Social Security and Medicare (?).

I presume that one or both will be unavailable by the time I'm eligible...so do the Social Security Trustees and the U.S. Treasury.

The latter two are just more evil universal mandate programs.... wait, maybe you are already paying in? You better stop that, then.

I think the phrase "75-year open group unfunded obligation" is a better phrase..."actuarially unsound and irresponsible Ponzi scheme" is even better...

But I sense that one day (assuming you are in the USA) that you will be mighty glad to have Social Security and Medicare. But, then again, maybe not..............

That's a big assumption but it's a possibility. In the meantime I keep the following close to my heart:

Social Security is the largest source of income for most elderly Americans today, but Social Security was never intended to be your only source of income when you retire. You also will need other savings, investments, pensions or retirement accounts to make sure you have enough money to live comfortably when you retire.

If only more of the Boomers had...

[Mash]

Ponzi and the like are inappropriately harsh, bs. Bernie Madoff is Ponzi.

SS and Medicare will be there for you... unless Romney gets in and converts everything to Romneycare.

THEN you will be truely sorry. And I mean Truely Sorry.

[bobsticks]

Whelp...here we go...

...and, hey, the market was down and every single Insurance Co. was in the red. I wonder how they'll respond?

[RGA]

I know Canada has issues and Americans hate Obama for trying to change medicare but I still maintain that America would be better off adopting Canada's medical program - it would work better in the States than in Canada due to higher localized population where the Canadian system falters due to a lack of population and huge cost of transporting people to where the doctors are.

Further, there would be controlled salaries so they don't get out of control and people don't have to pay huge premiums for HMOs that wind up saying NO to you when you actually need the specialized care.

Canada's average income (even after taxes) is 30% greater than the average American's income.

Consider the shift since 2005

Special Canada Day Report: How Canada stole the American Dream | Macleans.ca - Canada - Features