No Kidding

From the AP:

Obama's Big Wins on Bills May Not Help Democrats

...After winning a landmark health care overhaul earlier this year, Obama now stands on the brink of seeing Congress approve the most far-reaching overhaul of Wall Street regulations since the 1930s. Democrats aim to put it on his desk by July 4.

Yet with the economy still wobbly and the stock market retreating, Americans remain nervous about the possibility of a double-dip recession. They have seen few concrete benefits yet from the slow-to-unfold health care law. Likewise, it may be some time before Obama can point to results from the advancing legislation to rewrite the rules that govern Wall Street.

And speaking of health care reform:

Study Points to Health Law’s Penalties

By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON — About one-third of employers subject to major requirements of the new health care law may face tax penalties because they offer health insurance that could be considered unaffordable to some employees, a new study says.

The study, by Mercer, one of the nation’s largest employee benefit consulting concerns, is based on a survey of nearly 3,000 employers.

It suggests that a little-noticed provision of the law could affect far more employers than Congress had assumed. 

...

As they study the law, employers are discovering another provision that got much less attention. If a company offers coverage but requires any full-time employees to pay premiums that amount to more than 9.5 percent of their household income, the coverage is deemed unaffordable, and the employer may have to pay a penalty.

A goal of the law, pushed through Congress by President Obama and Democratic leaders with no Republican support, is to give all Americans access to affordable insurance.

The Mercer survey found that one-third of employers had some workers for whom coverage might be “unaffordable,” meaning that the workers’ share of premiums — in the absence of federal assistance — would consume more than 9.5 percent of their household income.

Since it is household income, if a spouse loses his job at a different firm, the employed spouse may subject her employer to penalties.

MORE:  From Rasmussen:

Health Care Law

63% Favor Repeal of National Health Care Plan

Support for repeal of the new national health care plan has jumped to its highest level ever. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% of U.S. voters now favor repeal of the plan passed by congressional Democrats and signed into law by President Obama in March.

Obama's theory of democracy is that the people don't know what they want but deserve to get it - good and hard.  On to November!

Comments

[Lest old acquaintance be forgot.]

Hmmm. Enough ugly surprises in the health bill that we can be blaming Obama for at least half a century.
======================

[Jane]

OT: ( and so soon)

Our president has decided to unilaterally announce US secret missile tests and satellite launches in the hope that other regimes will do the same.

[Obama didn't kill him like he's killing everything else.]

Martin Gardner died on Saturday.
===========

[Pagar]

Jane, I think that is known as not much Hope and a lot of Change.

[narciso]

I was struck upon reflection, how totally useless the Obama administration, is, with
Salazar's atatement, repeating the 'boot on the neck of BP" how about yelling at the oil,
that will make it stop. This is keeping with a whole series of crisis, from Times Square
to the Euro collapse, to the North Korean brouhaha, they have nothing to contribute

[Janet]

LUN "Senate Dems to give federal commission say over legal immigrant workers"

Why do we even have a Congress? We should have direct elections for commissions.

[Jane]

Daddy's latest: Travels with Daddy – Bejing Part 1 is up at You Too. And if you haven't seen Caro's video or Portugal, scroll down. You do not want to miss it.

[Captain Hate]

Why do we even have a Congress? We should have direct elections for commissions.

Where are the Repukes on this? Where's McLame "naming names"? Where's Linseed Grahamnesty? How can you be an opposition party when you don't oppose anything? We know where Michael Steele is: Earning suck-up points for stabbing Rand Paul.

[anduril]

Have you seen this man?

A few weeks ago Clarice sneeringly asked, how's that Dubai investigation going. I was able to point to additional developments at that time, and today's WSJ details additional, possibly significant, developments: U.A.E. Seeks Briton in Hamas Official's Death. Here are the new developments, excerpted from the longer article:

DUBAI—Officials in the United Arab Emirates have issued an arrest warrant for a British man they are seeking in a probe of the January killing here of a top Hamas official, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The new warrant brings the suspect tally in the case to 33 and adds what Dubai officials believe is the first suspect operating without an alias to the list. Since the January killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room, police here have released a series of details about more than two dozen suspects, who officials say used forged or fraudulently issued passports to plan and carry out the killing.

However, Dubai officials believe the new suspect used his real passport, which could make it easier for international authorities to find him, according to the person familiar with the situation.

...

On Monday, Australia's government said it ordered the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat over the use of fake passports in the assassination. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said a police investigation left no doubt Israeli intelligence services had been behind the forgery of four Australian passports used by suspects in the case.

In March, the U.K. also expelled an Israeli diplomat after accusing Israel of forging British passports related to the case. Israeli officials have said there is no evidence to implicate Israel.

Acting on an arrest warrant filed by Dubai prosecutors, Interpol, the international police agency, recently posted a public notice seeking British national Christopher Lockwood, 62 years old. An Interpol spokesman declined to comment about the notice, which is published on Interpol's website. The notice said Mr. Lockwood was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

U.K. police have been cooperating with Dubai police, and the two agencies believe Mr. Lockwood isn't in Britain but could be traveling in Europe, according to the person familiar with the situation.

[Janet]

It's like the Dems set up all these commissions so that they still have power when they are voted out of office. We can never get rid of the rot.
The EPA is rotten and they are making our energy laws. Career employees in the Justice Dept., State Dept., CIA, ... make it impossible for a Rep. administration to ever really change anything.
A Rep. admin. seems like it spends 3/4 of their time in office fighting leaks and lawsuits...so little ever gets done.
Rumsfeld tried to bypass the rot, and he got demonized.

[narciso]

That fellow looks like John Howard, I'm sure
Captain Renault (I mean Thamim) wouldn't make
an elemental mistake like that,

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 18 at Raz today; 44-55 overall. Sixty-three percent now favor repeal of Obamacare--highest yet.

[anduril]

Last sentence from Michael Barone's article today:

I think voters are demanding a specific plan to roll back Democrats' spending. Republicans need to supply it.

[anduril]

Um--last TWO sentences.

[Danube of Thought]

I love this one:

If a company offers coverage but requires any full-time employees to pay premiums that amount to more than 9.5 percent of their household income, the coverage is deemed unaffordable, and the employer may have to pay a penalty.

For openers, that means every employer is going to have to know every employee's household income.

[anduril]

So Joe Sestak has never heard of misprision of a felony?

"It's interesting. I was asked a question about something that happened months earlier, and I felt that I should answer it honestly, and that's all I had to say about it." Sestak said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Anybody else has to decide on what they will say upon their role. That's their responsibility."

Not very public spirited, that. The GOPers need to hammer on this.

[Where's that SEIU gang when we need it?]

Yep, felony suspicions abound. With our free press and our non partisan Justice Department, what's the chance of the rule of law prevailing in this matter?
================

[Ranger]

Minus 18 at Raz today; 44-55 overall. Sixty-three percent now favor repeal of Obamacare--highest yet.

Posted by: Danube of Thought | May 24, 2010 at 09:36 AM

Now just imagine what will happen when 1/3rd of the employers in the country that now offer health coverage send out letters to their employees notifying them that they should begin planning to buy their own coverage on the public exchages in 2014 when Obama Care goes into full effect.

Hopefully those letters will start arriving in peoples mailboxes in mid October.

[narciso]

Boy, Nancy, was right, you had to pass the bill in order to find what was in it, reading
it before hand was too much inconvenience

[Porchlight]

For openers, that means every employer is going to have to know every employee's household income.

Holy cow, good catch. And how is the employer supposed to get/verify this information? Tax return? What if the employee has a spouse or partner with whom he/she shares expenses, but files taxes separately? Or what if a husband and wife are both employed but the husband carries the wife and kids on his insurance - will both employers still be subject to the 9.5 percent rule?

[Rob Crawford]

For openers, that means every employer is going to have to know every employee's household income.

And God help you if one spouse is in a profession with irregular cash flow, like real estate, etc.

[Captain Hate]

Goddamn this worthless software. I've tried posting the following link twice as the best reap-what-you-sow item I'm likely to see in a long time and both times it went to cyber hell, whilc the link stayed in the box.

http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2010/05/massachusetts-democrat-rear-ended-by.html

[Clarice]

My husband's been screaming about that provision from the very beginning. His firm provides very generous health benefits to all employees..Some support staff earn less than the $80+ K that is the benchmark for eligibility for subsidized insurance and may choose to take that which would force the firm to pay a fine for every employee on top of the insurance and private health benefits plan it pays for.

63% want it repealed YEAH--serves O right for letting Pelosi and Reid write and push thru this monstrosity. Outside of academia, details matter, dummy.

[Ranger]

For openers, that means every employer is going to have to know every employee's household income.

Well, given all the uncertainties involved here, I think the empoyer's only course of action is to simply drop health coverage. At this point it looks like the administrative cost of figuring out if you are going to be eligable for a fine, combined with the uncertainty of the issue of "household income" makes maintaining helth insurance as a benifit completely untenable. Add to that the option of a defined annual cost (the standard fine for not providing insurance) and this become a no brainer for any company in this situation.

Over 80% were happy with their health insurance. It now looks like between a 1/3rd and 1/2 of those people will lose it. I don't see how Obama rides that to re-election in 2012.

[Old Lurker]

"Clarice" and "Sneeringly" should never appear together.

Please get over this infantile thing you have against her and leave us out of it. FWIW, she has nothing but nice things to say about you in private, so this abuse you heap on her is unseemly.

[Clarice]

Ranger, I think you're right. And there will be no way those dropped can expect decent medical service because we haven't in place enough doctors and facilities to treat them.

OL..You were missed.Welcome back.

[Old Lurker]

"For openers, that means every employer is going to have to know every employee's household income."

And for seconds, that forces an employer to de-link the Cost of a service from the Price they charge for it. That can only lead to their having to drop coverage altogether.

[Investing minds want to know.]

What does 'conviction sell' mean as opposed to just 'sell' and does this really mean a buy signal for Jeffries, since the advice is from GS?
==========

[Porchlight]

I don't see how Obama rides that to re-election in 2012.

Possibly that 1/3 to 1/2 of employees won't yet know in 2012 that their coverage will be disappearing. That's the only thing I can think of that they're banking on.

Or else he'll say that any problems with the system are the GOP's fault because they obstructed the "good" bill that the Dems really wanted to pass.

[narciso]

They're going to have dump it, like Endicott Steel ( a "Wall Street" reference)

[A falling tide sucks the bereft out to sea.]

The really sad thing about the late great American health system was that it did a really great job with enough money sloshing around in it that the uninsured functionally received better health care than in many places with socialized medicine. Now, all will receive a lower standard of care, and it will cost a lot more. This is ultimately most damaging to the poor.
==========================

[Old Lurker]

Thanks Clarice.

Daughter 2's graduation from Columbia last week was a major accomplishment since she studied as time permitted while dancing & touring full time as a professional ballet dancer. Provides new meaning to burning the candle at both ends.

In his shortened remarks because of the pouring rain, the President of the University asked graduates for three things: To never lose sight of the less fortunate among us, to reject the thoughts of those opposing the the broad consensus of scientists who are certain man is causing ruinous global warming, and finally, to open their minds beyond the simplistic ideas of some who believe the Constitution means only what is written therein.

Ah...the Ivy League.

[Clarice]

I know how proud you are of your daughter's accomplishments OL. Interesting that even before all these ruinous details are getting wide publication, the voters instinctively understand what the Congress didn't--

[La Nina is cooling us, folks; for how long even kim doesn't know.]

Ah, yes, the late, great, AGW. I called it a 'precious conceit of the Western elite' two years ago.
===============

[narciso]

Arlen has not yet finished being a pain in the keester, with the help of Jerrold Nadler,
in the LUN

[Porchlight]

Congratulations OL on your daughter's graduation!

[Captain Hate]

Congrats OL; Hatette #2 graduated from Columbia also but it's #1 that pursued dancing in NYC (mostly at off-off-Broadway settings). David Stern spoke at the graduation so it was empty platitudes.

[Rick Ballard]

OL,

We mustn't forget that the employer will (probably) increase the employee's pay by the net cost of the insurance. The employee (assuming a 28% bracket) will receive 57¢ (100-15SS-28INC) with which to purchase an individual policy to replace $1 worth of group coverage.

Not a bad deal for Leviathan - they increase their take by 43¢ and receive a wholly illusory statistical bump from an "increase in average income".

[So don't worry about the box of previous threads; I know you're just calling for assistance.]

When you have a cell in your head in which to imprison others, it's tempting for we free ones to stick a foot in it periodically, just to rile up the guards.
==============

[Gesundheit.]

Quick Anduril, your man's behind the nearest box of Kleenex. Look slippy 'cuz he's travelin' on.
=========

[Clarice]

Speaking of AGW Ed Lasky has a good article at PJM on Maurice Strong and his role in the international AGW gang of thieves.

[Ranger]

We mustn't forget that the employer will (probably) increase the employee's pay by the net cost of the insurance.

Given the state of the labor market, I doubt that. I have a feeling the employer will be tempted to say "be glad you have a job" and move on. Some employers may provide a mosest increast in pay, but with such high unemployment becoming a structural feature of the economy under Obamanomics, I don't see any market reason for employers to raise wages.

[Yet Another Lurker]

Martin Gardner died on Saturday.
===========

Kim --

I live in Gardner's former home in New York. We have many wonderful Gardner treasures, but one not-so-great legacy.

As you probably know, he came from a family of Oklahoma wildcatters, and he Believed in Oil. He had a 1,500 gallon oil tank put into our suburban Westchester front yard (underground). The eco-Nazies who routinely make our lives a living hell have instituted a County law that all tanks over 800 gallons must be inspected for leakage ($500 a pop) yearly.

To make a long story short (kind of) we decided to have out tank extracted while we still passing inspections, and during the dig up, one of the workers spotted oil. We were in the cruel hands of the Westchester EPA within 15 minutes -- our entire front yard roped off like a toxic waste dump for six months. The entire ordeal cost us $20,000 out of pocket (no insurance coverage, natch).

Ironically, we sold our house on Saturday -- the same day of his death.

[Sue]

My very liberal Obama supporting daughter was upset last week because their health insurance company was auditing employees and needed copies of their tax returns. She was curious as to why they need a copy of their (all of the employees, btw, not just theirs) form 1040. I told her I had no idea why they needed it. Now I know. Can't wait to explain it is because of Obama.

[Captain Hate]

Sue, Hatette #1 was a big Obama-shill and in my recent conversations with her the bloom is decidedly off the rose...

[Old Lurker]

Thanks guys.

Cap'n, I think we found before that you and I have sat in the same seats in the same dumpy theaters.

Rick, I go away for a week and you let the truth come out about the Euro? Next thing we know and you will be questioning why our debt driven government is different from...Greece's?

And did I see in the NYT (it was free with the room) that others agree with Rick on the soundness, or lack thereof, of economic data coming out of China?

Geeze I missed you all!

Well...most of you.

[Old Lurker]

"The entire ordeal cost us $20,000 out of pocket (no insurance coverage, natch)."

You got off cheap, Cuz. My pal very close to you just paid twice that to get his house through closing when his tank was found to be leaking.

[Clarice]

Nice to know everyone's kids are growing up.

Next, I want to see what kind of dip there is in alumni giving--hope it cuts into the academic salaries because the all supported this nitwit. (It's already hitting the luxury retailers who advertised in those glossy pro-Obama mags like vanity Fair.)

[Ignatz]

--What does 'conviction sell' mean as opposed to just 'sell' --

Well since it's GS, it usually means if you follow their advice you're going to jail but they aren't.

[Danube of Thought]

And his Katrina is just getting started...

[Ignatz]

--Geeze I missed you all!

Well...most of you.--

I'm afraid without my sponsor here I fell off the shunning wagon and went in for a bit of troll binging in your absence, OL.
Back to square one I guess;
hi I'm Ignatz and I'm a troll feeder.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Congrats, OL.

Kim, a "convicted short" is a short seller who is so convinced of a stock's imminent demise that they view any up tick in prices as an enormous selling opportunity.

And totally don't believe any good news about the company.

[A most evil man.]

Great, great story, YAL. Clarice, I've asked if Maurice Strong is in China advising them about climate or if he is there with them advising him about his rights.
===============

[Old Lurker]

Heh Iggy. We love you anyway.

[Danube of Thought]

When the revolution comes, retired public-sector pensioners had better run for their lives.

[centralcal]

Congratulations OL and daughter #2. We sure missed you around here. Need someone to keep Iggy in line and on the wagon - lol!

[Old Lurker]

Clarice, file this away for your next Lead Paint story. From my inbox of work avoided last week:

As happens from time to time, a tenant in one of my pre 1978 shopping centers came to work to find his the glass in his painted wooden door smashed.

As then always happens, he called the Landlord hoping I would pay to fix it.

As my formula response to that question, he was invited to read Sec 32.b of his Lease making all such glass breakage the responsibility of Tenant, not the Landlord.

Replacing door glass usually costs <$500.

Because of the new EPA regs on Lead Paint, I encouraged him to also read Sec 65.g which requires all work undertaken by Tenant to be in full compliance with all Fed, State and Local laws, and to include that paragraph in his work order with the contractor.

Replacing the glass, and obtaining the Lead Paint certification, cost him $2,350.

[How about Investment Technology?]

Heh, Goldman shorting Jeffries sounds like good news.
=================

[PDinDetroit]

DoT - I thought the name of one of the pensioners was quite interesting: James Hunderfund.

Perfect name for a "trust-fund kiddie"

[jimmyk]

And his Katrina is just getting started...

Of course it should be, but there seems to an MSM agreement to praise Obama to the skies over his magnificent handling of the spill. If I see one more article talking about the contrast between Obama and the oil spill versus Bush and Katrina (unless it favors Bush), I'm going to puke. What has Obama done other than bash BP?

Like Tom Friedman referring to "the dishonest conservative critique that the gulf oil spill is somehow Obama’s Katrina and that he is displaying the same kind of incompetence that George W. Bush did after that hurricane. To the contrary, Obama’s team has done a good job coordinating the cleanup so far. The president has been on top of it from the start."

Yeah, right on top of it. He fit it in between his golf and morning basketball games. But this is the new mantra of the MSM.

[Porchlight]

Next, I want to see what kind of dip there is in alumni giving

We are definitely experiencing this at my alma mater, as well as staffing cuts in the alumni gifts office. I have the same reaction - screw them, they all voted for this - but unfortunately I'm in charge of the class gift and reunion planning this next fiscal year. :( Oh well, after that I'm off the hook.

[PDinDetroit]

It certainly appears the the world is getting ready to explode in violence again. LUN.

We got it now President Zero. South Korea defending itself is good, Israel defending itself is bad.

[Old Lurker]

Thanks C'Cal.

Porch, do I see in a quick scan of last week that I missed out on an energetic discussion of the difference of the role of the Pope in the Catholic Church, and the Archbishop of Cantebury in the Anglican Communion? Darn. Would have enjoyed joining in.

My Episcopal Bishop has FINALLY announced his retirement, and the Rector of my local parish is well aware of my horn-locking with this most liberal of liberal Episcopal bishops. Leaving church yesterday, my Rector's comment was "I know how pleased you were, OL, to hear of the retirement and I'll bet you think we can do no worse. Well trust me, we can do much much worse..."

[Clarice]

OL, the more carp like that hits the taxpayer the better it is for us. It's like the plan to kill drop edge cribs because 32 kids over a ten year period were killed--probably because the parents failed to properly install them or to check them. Those cribs are essential to the backs of the babies' caretakers, will force the destruction of tens of thousands of old cribs and will probably do little to protect babies' health because the same sorts of people will still be using the improperly installed and checked older cribs.
It will cost everyone else with babies a lot of money though.

[Jane]

When the revolution comes, retired public-sector pensioners had better run for their lives.

Anything we can do to speed that up?

WElcome back OL. And congrats to all the graduates - it's a tough time for that.

[Janet]

OL 11:54 post - Moral safety for the next generation...no big deal.
Clarice 11:54 post - Physical safety for the next generation...taken to absurd levels.

[Rick Ballard]

Ranger,

It's a very interesting question as to whether employers, in aggregate, will substitute a wage increase for the benefit cut. You may well be right that at the lower skill level ($15-$20 per hour) the result will be as you describe.

Will the employers catch the blunt of the anger or the income and job killing Democrats?

[Old Lurker]

So true, Clarice.

I pay XXXX to provide dumpsters for my tenants. Have for years. The tenants reimburse me though the pass-through expense sections of their leases.

I have no idea where the dumpsters go to get emptied.

This year my county required that all such dumpsters be diverted to the dump they control, and that we pay the higher fees charged by the County masters.

The County Board thinks they just stuck it again to rich landlords, when in fact each pizza and haircut now has to cost more so the tenants can pay me, and my 20% admin fee for serving as middle man in collecting yet another tax for the county.

I wrote a form letter for the tenants to hand out to customers so they can see these hidden costs of paying for county "services".

[Captain Hate]

my Rector's comment was "I know how pleased you were, OL, to hear of the retirement and I'll bet you think we can do no worse. Well trust me, we can do much much worse..."

Maybe I'm missing some nuance here but that sounds like a "love it or shove it" admonishment. TBH, I don't know how any conservative can not feel unwelcome in what the Episcopal church has turned into.

[Clarice]

I wrote to my nanny aka city councilwoman this weekend and noticed on her website that she has 4 aides we are paying four--4 aides to dream up more taxes and agita for her charges. Her latest was an attempt to charge a 1 cent tax on all sugar sweetened colas..

In the meantime as you well know no essential city services are being properly overseen and the regulatory bureaucracy on b.s. is expanding .

[Porchlight]

OL, I thought of you last week. I just dipped my toe into those waters that other commenters were more ably navigating; I'm sure you would have added greatly to the discussion.

Think there's any chance the retiring bishop might be replaced with someone more conservative? They have to know that all the growth in the ECUSA is in the more conservative-leaning parishes.

[jimmyk]

OL 11:54 post - Moral safety for the next generation...no big deal.
Clarice 11:54 post - Physical safety for the next generation...taken to absurd levels.

Personal responsibility in the next generation...zero.

To echo Clarice's point: No matter how "safe" you force people to make their products, you still are going to have some small percentage of dummies who are going to cause accidents, the same ones for whom we now have warnings like "Don't iron clothes while wearing them."

[Janet]

I'll bet you think we can do no worse. Well trust me, we can do much much worse..."

My parents little Lutheran Church in Kingsville had a minister once that the congregation would regularly pray for her salvation! They would invite her to their Bible studies.
Now she was very interested in social service type things, but had very little interest in the Bible or Jesus. She should have worked for United Way, or Habitat for Humanity instead of going into the ministry.

[Porchlight]

Clarice,

Funny you mention the cribs. Our seven year old drop-side crib is in pristine condition except that the drop side is stuck in the down position (cheap plastic hardware couldn't stand up to 7 years of use). All it needs is a simple hardware replacement but I don't have the time or the skills and my husband is traveling for work most weekends.

anyway the upshot is that because of the liability issues with these things, no one will undertake to repair them. If you google "crib repair" all you get is links to horror stories about babies dying in dropside cribs (almost all of which were not repaired at all, duct taped together or badly installed in the first place).

So now we have a beautiful crib that is 90% functional but may have to be discarded and replaced.

[Janet]

yeah jimmyk...it's almost as if we no longer have the word "accident" in the English language. Someone/something must always be blamed. Kinda sad...

[Rick Ballard]

"Next thing we know and you will be questioning why our debt driven government is different from...Greece's?"

OL,

Nah. We have the benefit of Uncle Ben's printing presses running at Warp XII. CA, IL and NY = Greece. Cubed.

I wonder if Geithner's begging in Beijing will be enough to keep China from acknowledging that they can't afford to even paint the facade? The pseudo-Keynesian panic button is getting worn out around the world. There should be some marvelous buying opportunities available by the end of the summer.

[matt]

there was a very funny, obscene video posted on a friend's facebook page of an African American guy going off on Calderon and then Obama on any number of things.

He called for a march on DC, noting that if the Rev. Louis Farrakhan can claim he was kidnapped by a flying saucer who told him to organize the 1,000,000 man march and that he in fact got somewhere close to that number in DC, it should be no problem for the decent people of this country to do better.

I really think the political set and bureaucrats need to see some righteous anger in order to begin to comprehend the damage they have wrought.

As they say in Northern Ireland, it's marching season.

[jimmyk]

We have the benefit of Uncle Ben's printing presses running at Warp XII. CA, IL and NY = Greece. Cubed.

Plus we have great minds like Krugman saying that we're not doing enough Keynesian style stimulus. Because, after all, that's the only reason everything done so far hasn't worked. Though of course, it has worked, since we'd be in even worse shape without it. Or something like that.

[Old Lurker]

Porch "Think there's any chance the retiring bishop might be replaced with someone more conservative?"

Zero.

You are still saving a seat for me in your Anglican Church, aren't you?

And I agree with you, too, Cap'n. ECUSA has not much use for conservatives (except, that is, to help their boards run efficiently and to donate money.)

[Old Lurker]

Not having individual printing presses with Euro plates is why the poor countries will bring back their drachmas and lire (it is so much easier to print than to comply with good governance demands of foreigners), and why rich countries will dust off their marks.

[Pofarmer]

So now we have a beautiful crib that is 90% functional but may have to be discarded and replaced.

Zip Ties. Heavy duty. We ran into the same thing. Zip tied the crib rail up with heavy duty zip ties and worked just fine through the last 2 kids.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Po-

Zip ties are also a handy babysitting tool for little brothers.

Or so I've heard...

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I haven't been around much these last few months, but seeing the comments about graduations (congrats to all), I thought I would chime in.

My Granddaughter graduates from high school this week, finishing with a nice round 4.0 and 3rd in her class. After 3 years of planning and dreaming of New York City and Julliard as her next stop, she has done a complete 180 and has decided that she really wants to go into early childhood development and become a teacher and to stay closer to home to attend college in Florida. She has been accepted at several schools, but hasn't committed yet to which one will be lucky to get her.

As for me, as of May 1st, I am back in the land of having healthcare coverage. My first trip to the doctor resulted in being sent to the Imaging Lab for several different xrays and to the Lab for a battery of bloodwork tests. The xrays show that my pain is being caused by two compression fractures in my lower spine, but other than that, I'm very healthy.

I see my orthopod on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of having a relatively new procedure called Balloon Kyphoplasty. Thru a minimally invasive procedure they insert a balloon into the compressed vertebrae, pump it up and then remove the balloon and pump bone cement into the void, thereby expanding the compression and making the vertebrae stronger as well.

We are still struggling financially, but as of Monday last, my son is finally back on a full 40 hour a week schedule with his job. This after 3 months of being on call only. My d-i-l is still out of work, but got the notice that she has been approved for unemployment starting this week. She is also applying for job retraining and hopes to be able to go to school. A friend of mine has her own manicure/pedicure business where her clientèle are all housebound shutins and elderly women in nursing homes. She wants my d-i-l to join her if she can get the proper licenses necessary. Diane, my friend, started her business thru word of mouth after volunteering at a Senior Center and has built it up to include contracts with nursing homes and even an Alzheimer's facility. She told us that the nurses say these women, some who have trouble remembering their own name, never forget their nail appts. and that the appts. become the highlight of their week and, in addition, just getting their nails done spurs them on to take more interest in their overall appearance. I'm encouraging this course of action for Penny. I know she will be really good with the elderly patients. I remember how thrilled my Mother was when Penny would just polish her nails. She used to say that it made her feel like she was still a woman and all day she would show off her newly polished nails.

I won't go so far as to say life is good, my own pain prevents me from being there, but life is getting better and with that there is now hope again.

[Manuel Transmission]

Kim (and the other lurker), I have a beef about guys like Gardner, although I know nothing about him personally. My beef is that there is a certain sniffiness that gets conveyed in rags like SciAm that make me puke! They are sooo sure of their view of how the universe works that a degree in math sometimes brings out. Math is just a Crescent wrench. Nothing was ever conceived out of thin air that had much to do with math. The math may help justify a discovery, but the spark came from some place that does not exist in their narrow little world. Bah!

[Melinda Romanoff]

MT-

Spouse often says "I don't get it." when I say math is the source of the ripples on the pond of ideas.

I did learn the physics of the "teapot effect" in SciAm, though.

[matt]

Melinda;

what do you think the effect will be in December when the markets sell off prior to the capital gains tax increase?

Will this be evident in the October time frame? Perhaps the Repubs should be mentioning this as well.

[BobDenver]

I think it was 1/1/88 that we last had a capital gains tax increase. Every profitable small business in creation was sold in December of 1987. (That won't be an issue this time.) Then, economic activity just flat-out stalled, IIRC.

[Melinda Romanoff]

matt-

I actually think the sell off started, in earnest, after the '08 election and was part of the carry through to the March '09 lows. Also participating were the naked shorters who would cover at the end of each day. But it started back then by the "safe" money.

Just my opinion, FWIW.

[Ignatz]

Glad things are a little better Sara.
Our daughter turns 18 on June 3rd and graduates with a 4.2 GPA (she earned a little extra GPA with college prep classes or some such). She had one C in her freshman year when she kind of fell through the cracks while her mom was coming back from the dead via chemo.
Was going to go to Biola but has decided to do the JC thing for a year or two first, which is the smart thing to do anyway, IMO as the check writer.

[Ignatz]

--Then, economic activity just flat-out stalled, IIRC.--

BobD,
The new tax treatment of "passive" activities was also a killer as I recall.

[Danube of Thought]

Fabulous YouTube video on the Sestak felony event. Maybe this thing will get some legs.

[Old Lurker]

Mel "Zip ties are also a handy babysitting tool for little brothers.

Or so I've heard..."

Works on wives too.

Once.

:-)

[Danube of Thought]

WSJ on the sheer lunacy of the coming cap gains rate hike.

[Clarice]

Glad things are picking up, Sara.

[Jane]

Nice to see you Sara.

[Porchlight]

Hi Sara, it's good to see you.

Zip tied the crib rail up with heavy duty zip ties and worked just fine through the last 2 kids.

Great idea except ours is stuck in the down position, which is not a problem with an infant, but will be an issue once he gets to be a certain size. But thanks - I am going to get out the zip ties just in case.

[Old Lurker]

Those of us in real estate (and with huge negative capital accounts subject to cap gains tax just to get back to zero) saw the handwriting on the wall with the 2006 elections. As the bubble was on the rise, and we did not think 15% tax rates and 5% Cap Rates, not to mention free money, would survive for long, we headed for the exits with all holdings that fit those parameters. Have not regretted it once since.

[Old Lurker]

Welcome back Sara.

[peter]

Ignatz, Old Lurker, Porchlight, Clarice. You guys are my buds. What a beautiful group here. I'm appreciative.

oh, and btw "Outside of academia, details matter, dummy."
was quite funny.