Getting ready for the New Normal

KLook wrote:

the most evident one for me is that U.S. citizens desire to pay a low price for the products we purchase as a whole.

If it is only US citizens then explain the hordes of Canadians that go so far as to charter buses to shop in Maine. And I hear is is the same at all border crossings.

Kevin

I was linking our desire for low priced items to that of items manufactured outside of the U.S....If those items were made here in the U.S....we all know they would be significantly more pricey. And your are absolutely correct on Canadians coming to the U.S. on not just "spending sprees", everyday good: milk, chicken, turkey, cereal and gasoline are the most common items, as the price for those things in Canada are nearly double.

Rick 386 wrote:

Want to straighten out this whole mess ??? Start with the insurance industry !!!!!

Rick

Sorry Rick but the right place to start is with the Pa state legislature. The governor recommends the commissioner and then the legislature votes to approve or not approve. Don't like what they do? Vote out the legislature and vote in whomever will do what you want them to do. That's the American system. We vote in people to do our bidding. As I said before right now I am on the minority side. I don't want the government be it state or federal telling me how I am supposed to live.

Pastor Larry

Lisa, I just keep responding to YOUR posts. I don't understand why you are taking general statements on the concept of grandiosity so personally. Remember, you posted the examples. Not me or Bob. My biggest point is my not buying the gloom & doom you are projecting. I get the feeling from your last post that you are insinuating that either Bob or myself are thinking you are stupid--I don't see that anywhere. We did apparently go to different reading schools. I'm just hanging out waiting for my coal delivery to get here so I can report on Blaschak quality & take some sizing pix PS--the election is a done deal, our guy lost. Maybe for better, maybe for worse--I do know I'm not going to project a bunch of negativism over it. I'll make my voice heard & see what happens. PS, that would be motorCYCLES--a one shot expenditure

Question from Fred: "Here's a question for you, why would one post on a public forum & then get all bent out of shape when someone responds apparently not up to their standards or expectations? Just curious."

Reply: Because it is a public forum regulated by the moderators you get to say what you want, everyone else gets to say what they want. Just because you say it doesn't mean it's the rule and the same applies to me. If you don't like what I say you have the right to get upset, just like if you say what I don't like I have the right to not agree.

Here you go, a list of how the fiscal cliff would effect you and your taxes, listed by state.
http://taxfoundation.org/article/how-wo ... each-state

mozz wrote:Here you go, a list of how the fiscal cliff would effect you and your taxes, listed by state.
http://taxfoundation.org/article/how-wo ... each-state

Look on the bright side. In a couple years when they re-enact it it will feel great.

mozz wrote:Here you go, a list of how the fiscal cliff would effect you and your taxes, listed by state.
http://taxfoundation.org/article/how-wo ... each-state

That's more like what I though Mozz. Thanks for posting that chart.

Northern Maine wrote:, as the price for those things in Canada are nearly double.

Gotta pay for that "free health care" somehow right?

Getting the increase while they can.......


Got our letter from Couldn'tCareLess BCBS today explaining how lucky we are to have them as a health insurance carrier and to let us know that our rates were going to go up starting in January. Mine increased by 39%....yes that is correct and not a typo.....thirty-nine percent. My spouse & kid are on a separate plan and that went up 13%. Total cost for the year is $10,696. That amount is by far the largest expense we have and well over 10% of our income. At least we are self employed and can deduct some of that from the income side of the ledger.

titleist1 wrote:Getting the increase while they can.......


. That amount is by far the largest expense we have and well over 10% of our income. At least we are self employed and can deduct some of that from the income side of the ledger.

That's looking on the bright side.

Northern Maine wrote:

KLook wrote:

the most evident one for me is that U.S. citizens desire to pay a low price for the products we purchase as a whole.

If it is only US citizens then explain the hordes of Canadians that go so far as to charter buses to shop in Maine. And I hear is is the same at all border crossings.

Kevin

I was linking our desire for low priced items to that of items manufactured outside of the U.S....If those items were made here in the U.S....we all know they would be significantly more pricey. And your are absolutely correct on Canadians coming to the U.S. on not just "spending sprees", everyday good: milk, chicken, turkey, cereal and gasoline are the most common items, as the price for those things in Canada are nearly double.

Well with the Loony in a 1 for 1 ratio with the dollar, outside of the VAT, their costs arent that much more than ours. Groceries are pretty similar now on a lot of things. Though that same VAT does give them universal healthcare so it probably balances out when you think about it (and the cost of having to import a ton of food considering Canadia is a barren northern wasteland 8 months of the year).

Even though I am not a fan of our current bloated healthcare system, sometimes that socialized medicine isn't all that it is cracked up to be either.....

i worked for a healthcare data exchange software company about 18 years ago. this was in the near dark ages and we were setting up the first real time database lookup services and electronic claim / remittances between the healthcare providers and payers. One of my chores was to review the remit files as the were received and I noticed quite a few payments coming from across our northern border. I was curious about it and asked a Canadian co-worker. He said it was a pretty well known practice that his fellow Canadians would come down on "vacation" and all of a sudden need surgery or some other medical service that they were on a waiting list for back up north. don't know if it is still prevalent, but i saw it consistently through 1997 when i left that company.

A close friend of ours that is Irish and lives over here since marrying was back home in Ireland visiting family about 5 years ago (husband had stayed here for that trip). She got up one night to use the facilities and being unfamiliar with the house layout fell down a flight of steps in the dark. She broke a vertebrae in her neck and ended up in a halo. She was on a 4 month waiting list for corrective surgery until her husband flew over with documented proof from their insurance carrier that the provider would be paid for surgery expenses. She was operated on two days later.

Seems to me that there would be some middle ground between the socialized medical services and the outrageous costs with our current system.

titleist1 wrote:Getting the increase while they can.......


Got our letter from Couldn'tCareLess BCBS today explaining how lucky we are to have them as a health insurance carrier and to let us know that our rates were going to go up starting in January. Mine increased by 39%....yes that is correct and not a typo.....thirty-nine percent. My spouse & kid are on a separate plan and that went up 13%. Total cost for the year is $10,696. That amount is by far the largest expense we have and well over 10% of our income. At least we are self employed and can deduct some of that from the income side of the ledger.

I would shop that around a bit before taking their word on how great they are and how lucky you are to be able to pay them so much money. I had a similar situation with an insurence company that used scare tactics with me and I ended up giving them the boot and actually saving some money. Can't hurt to look and maybe you already have but if not do it.

Seems to me that there would be some middle ground between the socialized medical services and the outrageous costs with our current system.

There definitely are and should be.

The downside you mentioned sucks...the downside to our system was worse (Oh, you dont have insurance or you've met your lifetime cap? Sucks to be you).

No system is perfect.

This doesn't seem so bad. I'd like to try Qliance out in WA but the government won't let me.



http://qliance.com/