Meet Ms. Ding Bat. It's pretty clear that this person is a total ding dong. Of course, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they still have slaves on the east coast.
So on November, 2008 did this Mensa member vote for The One or The Maverick?
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Cash for Clunkers - a post mortem
Doug Ross with an excellent piece on the cash for clunker debacle.
This particular clip from Edmunds is what caught my eye.....
3. Independent economists generally agree with Edmunds.com’s analysis of the program. For example, on November 2, Freakonomics author Steven Levitt blogged about the topic for nytimes.com “Cash for Clunkers mostly just turned out to be a gift from the government to people who happened to be in the market for a new car at the right time... It is relatively easy to move around the timing of when someone purchases a durable good, but much harder to affect whether they buy a durable good or not."
I can attest that I've had three people who bought cars under the program who would have been buying cars soon and all had the financial capability of paying. Once again, life's winners get the break, life's losers continued to be losers with the spike in used car prices; also detailed in the piece.
From the racist tea party camp
This article from one Clarence Page...........
President Barack Obama's election has inspired a record number of African-American candidates to run for Congress this year. What's surprising is that they're running as Republicans.
Life in "Progress" State - California Edition
From the Golden Shower State of California, where there hasn't been a conservative in state government since the gold rush............
You mean the creative accounting techniques that landed Jeff Skilling in prison? Yet here we just call that bidness as usual.
What so "progressive" about a 500 BILLION dollar ponzi scheme?
More.....
The state of California's real unfunded pension debt clocks in at more than $500 billion, nearly eight times greater than officially reported.
That's the finding from a study released Monday by Stanford University's public policy program, confirming a recent report with similar, stunning findings from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.
To put that number in perspective, it's almost seven times greater than all the outstanding voter-approved state general obligation bonds in California.
Why should Californians care? Because this year's unfunded pension liability is next year's budget cut to important programs. For a glimpse of California's budgetary future, look no further than the $5.5 billion diverted this year from higher education, transit, parks and other programs in order to pay just a tiny bit toward current unfunded pension and healthcare promises. That figure is set to triple within 10 years and -- absent reform -- to continue to grow, crowding out funding for many programs vital to the overwhelming majority of Californians.
How did we get here? The answer is simple: For decades -- and without voter consent -- state leaders have been issuing billions of dollars of debt in the form of unfunded pension and healthcare promises, then gaming accounting rules in order to understate the size of those promises.
You mean the creative accounting techniques that landed Jeff Skilling in prison? Yet here we just call that bidness as usual.
What so "progressive" about a 500 BILLION dollar ponzi scheme?
More.....
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
April 15th coming soon
If you haven't already generously tipped and/or hugged your tax preparer yet, your time is running out.
If you are a taxpaying tea bagger (as opposed to democrats who are generally on the receiving end of a good tea bagging), you are more then welcome to join me for a few free drinks at Cindy's Friendly Tavern at about 6:00, (April 15th).
Just like the urologist in Florida, if you voted for Obama, you are not welcome. The people at this gathering have already paid for your beer, cigarettes, lottery tickets, and soon, healthcare.
Call it my little way of giving back to the people who actually fund this country.
See you there.
If you are a taxpaying tea bagger (as opposed to democrats who are generally on the receiving end of a good tea bagging), you are more then welcome to join me for a few free drinks at Cindy's Friendly Tavern at about 6:00, (April 15th).
Just like the urologist in Florida, if you voted for Obama, you are not welcome. The people at this gathering have already paid for your beer, cigarettes, lottery tickets, and soon, healthcare.
Call it my little way of giving back to the people who actually fund this country.
See you there.
How I'm going Galt
I never carry a lot of cash on me. First, it seems like every time I get a $100 out of the ATM the next day I'm wondering what happened to $70.
Second, since I like to keep track of where I'm spending my money I find a debit card forces me to itemize where my spending goes.
Third, it kind of holds me accountable with Mrs. Gekko since she gets the bank statement and sees all my pizza, beer and stripper charges.
Finally, it's always bugged me that a large segment of democrats in this country are made up of people in the tip industry. They're always so liberal except when it comes to actually paying taxes on that tip income. As a result, if I pay with a card, the company has to keep the paper trail on the tips.
But over the weekend I decided that the only way to kill the beast, aka government, is to starve it. As a result I decided that I'm no longer going to worry if Joe Blow pays his taxes or not. In fact, I hope he doesn't. Just because I'm in a profession that requires that I pay my taxes in full doesn't mean I need to police the rest of the world to make sure they do. So I'm no longer going to worry about other's tax liability.
So from here on out, when the Gekko's start doing anything it's going to be cash. When we get things done to the house, I'll start asking for a quote and then the "cash price".
I'll leave it up to those people to pay their taxes accordingly.
The other thing I intend to do is quit paying quarterly taxes. As a self employed individual, I am required to pay quarterly estimates. If you don't pay estimates, you could be subjected to estimated penalties. But I think I'm kind of tired of paying taxes to governments that take their jolly ass time to give you your money back (or in some states, refund your money back at all).
I'm still kicking around some others ideas of "Going Galt" that will zap the government of our money. If you have any ideas, please feel free to note them in the comment section.
Second, since I like to keep track of where I'm spending my money I find a debit card forces me to itemize where my spending goes.
Third, it kind of holds me accountable with Mrs. Gekko since she gets the bank statement and sees all my pizza, beer and stripper charges.
Finally, it's always bugged me that a large segment of democrats in this country are made up of people in the tip industry. They're always so liberal except when it comes to actually paying taxes on that tip income. As a result, if I pay with a card, the company has to keep the paper trail on the tips.
But over the weekend I decided that the only way to kill the beast, aka government, is to starve it. As a result I decided that I'm no longer going to worry if Joe Blow pays his taxes or not. In fact, I hope he doesn't. Just because I'm in a profession that requires that I pay my taxes in full doesn't mean I need to police the rest of the world to make sure they do. So I'm no longer going to worry about other's tax liability.
So from here on out, when the Gekko's start doing anything it's going to be cash. When we get things done to the house, I'll start asking for a quote and then the "cash price".
I'll leave it up to those people to pay their taxes accordingly.
The other thing I intend to do is quit paying quarterly taxes. As a self employed individual, I am required to pay quarterly estimates. If you don't pay estimates, you could be subjected to estimated penalties. But I think I'm kind of tired of paying taxes to governments that take their jolly ass time to give you your money back (or in some states, refund your money back at all).
I'm still kicking around some others ideas of "Going Galt" that will zap the government of our money. If you have any ideas, please feel free to note them in the comment section.
Monday, April 05, 2010
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Life in "Progress" City
For your average Redville dweller, you know hunting season to begin in October/November when the deer are scrambling for mating season.
Inside of "Progress" City, hunting season begins the first weekend of spring and runs through the first frost. The only difference is the target gets to shoot back.........
Inside of "Progress" City, hunting season begins the first weekend of spring and runs through the first frost. The only difference is the target gets to shoot back.........
A dozen preschool children scampered across the street, one tailing the other, as they headed into an educational center.Some peered over at the line of young and old, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Ramone Jackson's face as they waited Thursday to get inside the New Prospect Baptist Church, where Jackson lay in a coffin.
Jackson grew up here in Over-the-Rhine. He also died here at the age of 20.
Jackson was the city's 14th homicide victim of the year when he was gunned down March 23. Witnesses told police the shooter was between the ages of 13 and 15. Jackson was shot in the head.
Over a 10-day period, starting on March 18, eight black men, mostly young, were gunned down and killed. Of those cases, only one arrest has been made.
Many in the long line noticed the kids. They shook their heads.
Children shouldn't see this, said Abdul Bilal, a Cincinnati street worker, hired by the city to promote nonviolence, provide counseling and cool heads at wakes and funerals, which are sometimes heated events.
But they do.
What's so "Progressive" about intraracial genocide?
Saturday, April 03, 2010
The price for leisure time
So what does squeezing doctors for a few bucks here and there mean for health care issues for the poor.......
More.....
By chance, the electronic version of Pediatrics also arrived yesterday. It includes a depressingly clarifying essay "Has leisure time become Medicaid's new competitor?" by Indiana professor Samuel S. Flint. Flint briefly describes the ways that states have induced the past generation of pediatricians to take Medicaid patients:Historically, state Medicaid programs have counted on the immutable economics of private practice. The vast majority of practice overhead costs are fixed (e.g., nonphysician personnel, rent, malpractice insurance premiums), but the marginal cost of treating each child is minimal. Consequently, it makes economic sense for physicians to accept some patients with Medicaid, because Medicaid fees for an otherwise unused appointment exceed low marginal treatment costs.
The problem with this strategy is that it is predicated on the notion that leisure time has little value, and that is changing, particularly among young physicians.
That's standard fare, but what gets interesting is Flint's effort to put dollars-and-cents numbers behind the argument. He notes that 38% of pediatric residents sought (and 21% accepted) a part-time position as a first job. This proportion surprised me. At least partly, it reflects the striking gender mix across the medical profession. Almost 70 percent of pediatric residents are women. Many pediatricians are working mothers, whose job schedules must accommodate work-family balance concerns.
Anyway, Flint calculated that such part-time positions would shorten doctors' annual work output by 2,094 visits, while reducing income by about $34,000. Doing the long division, Flint finds that pediatricians willing to work part-time vote with their feet to forego about $18.50 per visit.
You can pretty much guess what comes next.
This value ($18.50) exceeds the Medicaid payment for a brief office visit (Current Procedural Terminology [CPT] code: 99212) in Indiana and subsequent newborn care (CPT 99433) in New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania. It is greater than the Medicaid reimbursement for an emergency visit (CPT code: 99282) in 5 states, a subsequent hospital visit (CPT code: 99231) in 7 states, performing a venipuncture for a child under the age of 3 (CPT code: 36400) in 21 states, performing an arterial puncture (CPT code: 36600) in 16 states, reading a chest radiograph (CPT code: 71010) in 20 states, and performing developmental testing (CPT code: 96110) in all but 9 states.
Although the phobic in me would happily skip that arterial puncture, this overall pattern isn't healthy. We want pediatricians to regard children on Medicaid as desirable, paying customers. Right now, these kids are often viewed as charity cases for whom a pittance will be paid--late—after a load of paperwork is done. Not surprisingly, health economists and clinical researchers document the large proportion of doctors who won't take Medicaid. More disturbing than the implicit tiering of American medical care is the evidence that Medicaid patients receive lower-quality care. Sandra Decker documented, for example, that doctors devote less time and attention to Medicaid patients. Low Medicaid reimbursement has also been linked with higher infant mortality.
More.....
Liberalism - hurting the one's you love
I have said repeatedly that I'm not a conservative for myself. The Gekko's will always have a way to be in the top percentiles of wealth/income in this country. We both have educations and connections to always make money.
I'm a conservative for the little guy. The guy who cannot outsource the additional burdens (expenses) in life.
Now it's fashionable for liberals to claim that the rich don't pay enough (although none will tell me what's fair for a guy making $250,000). But I would offer that the rich never have paid taxes and never will.
Why? Because they have resources to pass the costs onto to others that can't.
Let's use my business as an example. Let's say the feds placed a mega tax (call it health care) on computer software that costs my software providers millions in extra taxes. What do the software companies do?
1) They could reduce their cost of production. Given the additional costs across the industry more and more competitive pressure will be placed on companies to reduce costs. What better way to reduce costs than to send the programming off to an Indian company; thus costing hard working American programmers their jobs.
2) They could pass along the costs to their customers. Since all American companies will be in the same boat, no one wins a competitive advantage if, say, all the software companies do an across the board 10% increase.
3) They could eat the taxes and the owners will make less. That's hilarious. Why would you do that if you can do 1 or 2? By the way, when is the last time in recorded history someone voluntarily did more work for less money?
Let's assume they increase the costs of their software and Gordon's software costs go up $3,000 a year...... what will Gordon do?
Basically, Gordon has the same three choices above.
I can tell you that Gordon will increase his prices because he's not making less money to do the same thing and since he's not going to let his workers work harder for less he's not going to reduce their wages.
Now, let's assume that as a result of my costs increases, I increase my fees by $10 a tax return.
Does that $10.00 mean more to a single mom making $20,000 a year or a guy making $400,000 a year?
In addition, maybe the guy making $400,000 decides that my fee increase is too high and decides to do his return on the latest Tim Geithner's edition of Turbo Tax because he's smart enough to do it and he's a got a nice PC to do the work on; something the woman making $20,000 a year doesn't have at her disposal.
If you don't think this happens in real life; think again. I actually went through this exercise with an elderly client and showed her the costs incurred on a special form I had to download for her.
I am still mystified by the number of people foolish enough to believe in the "science" of global warming but somehow still dumbfounded by this concept.
Maybe I can't light a bulb out there.
I'm a conservative for the little guy. The guy who cannot outsource the additional burdens (expenses) in life.
Now it's fashionable for liberals to claim that the rich don't pay enough (although none will tell me what's fair for a guy making $250,000). But I would offer that the rich never have paid taxes and never will.
Why? Because they have resources to pass the costs onto to others that can't.
Let's use my business as an example. Let's say the feds placed a mega tax (call it health care) on computer software that costs my software providers millions in extra taxes. What do the software companies do?
1) They could reduce their cost of production. Given the additional costs across the industry more and more competitive pressure will be placed on companies to reduce costs. What better way to reduce costs than to send the programming off to an Indian company; thus costing hard working American programmers their jobs.
2) They could pass along the costs to their customers. Since all American companies will be in the same boat, no one wins a competitive advantage if, say, all the software companies do an across the board 10% increase.
3) They could eat the taxes and the owners will make less. That's hilarious. Why would you do that if you can do 1 or 2? By the way, when is the last time in recorded history someone voluntarily did more work for less money?
Let's assume they increase the costs of their software and Gordon's software costs go up $3,000 a year...... what will Gordon do?
Basically, Gordon has the same three choices above.
I can tell you that Gordon will increase his prices because he's not making less money to do the same thing and since he's not going to let his workers work harder for less he's not going to reduce their wages.
Now, let's assume that as a result of my costs increases, I increase my fees by $10 a tax return.
Does that $10.00 mean more to a single mom making $20,000 a year or a guy making $400,000 a year?
In addition, maybe the guy making $400,000 decides that my fee increase is too high and decides to do his return on the latest Tim Geithner's edition of Turbo Tax because he's smart enough to do it and he's a got a nice PC to do the work on; something the woman making $20,000 a year doesn't have at her disposal.
If you don't think this happens in real life; think again. I actually went through this exercise with an elderly client and showed her the costs incurred on a special form I had to download for her.
I am still mystified by the number of people foolish enough to believe in the "science" of global warming but somehow still dumbfounded by this concept.
Maybe I can't light a bulb out there.
She's a regular Sarah Silverman
Carol Shea Porter ripping off some funnies like how the health care bill is good for the deficit.
We completed the census
Apparently in addition to the Gekko's we also have a assortment of ten relatives who moved in during the past year. There would have been more if there was space for more.
That should make up for the other census we weren't counted in.
That should make up for the other census we weren't counted in.
False but true
Over at American Thinker, Jack Cashill breaks down the timeline of the alleged racial epitaphs being throw towards the Congressional Black Caucus.
It appears the stories were seeded to various liberal blogs before the members actually went outside.
Read the story here.
It appears the stories were seeded to various liberal blogs before the members actually went outside.
Read the story here.
Friday, April 02, 2010
Ed Koch, racist
I never knew that Ed Koch was a racist until I read this piece critical of our first black president.........
Former New York Mayor Ed Koch expressed disappointment in President Obama on Thursday for his treatment of Israel after it announced it would continue construction in East Jerusalem – the section of the holy city claimed by the Palestinians.
"I have been a supporter of President Obama and went to Florida for him, urged Jews all over the country to vote for him saying that he would be just as good as John McCain on the security of Israel. I don't think it's true anymore," Koch told Fox News' Neil Cavuto.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got a chilly reception at the White House last week after Israel announced plans to build 1,600 new apartments for Jews in East Jerusalem during a visit from Vice President Biden. The announcement drew sharp condemnations from Washington and calls to cancel the construction plans – requests that Netanyahu says he will not heed.
Koch said he believes Obama "orchestrated" what happened in Israel.
"What they did is they wanted to make Israel into a pariah," he said. "It's outrageous in my judgment. "
WOW! This guy must hang around with Tea Partiers sporting a Nazi arm band.
Four more years of Bush
They all told me that if I voted for John McCain we'd have four more years of secret wiretapping....... and they we're right............
More......
San Francisco attorney Jon Eisenberg thinks he's learned a thing or two about Barack Obama over the past 15 months. Eisenberg, who won a landmark decision against the government in Northern California's U.S. District Court Wednesday on a wiretapping case, says that when it comes to violating civil liberties in the name of national security, the present occupant of the White House is just as bad as -- or "even worse" than -- his predecessor.
"The Obama Administration stepped right into the shoes of the Bush Administration, on national security generally and on this case in particular," Eisenberg said, referring to the lawsuit brought by his clients, an Oregon branch of an Islamic charity and two American lawyers. The plaintiffs argued successfully before federal Judge Vaughn Walker that their conversations were illegally wiretapped under the Bush Administration's secret surveillance program.
Just as significant as the ruling, however, may be what the case demonstrates about the Obama Justice Department's approach to surveillance of suspected terrorists. Eisenberg told SF Weekly that government lawyers working for Obama had been "more strident" than those working for Bush, refusing to let him see important federal documents related to the case even after he was approved for a top-secret security clearance.
"Even though I have the security clearance, I don't have the 'need to know,' so I can't see anything," Eisenberg said. "This is Obama. Obama! Mr. Transparency! Mr. Change! It's exactly what Bush would have done."
More......
What party are they?
If you've read or watched any news the past week, you've no doubt heard about the cult in Ohio and Michigan who are apparently right wing, Christian militia types.
Or are they?
Or are they?
Most of the indicted militia members accused of being anti-government extremists have active voting records, a check with area voter registration offices showed yesterday.More.....One is a registered Democrat, and the party affiliations of the rest could not be determined.
Jacob J. Ward, 33, of Huron, Ohio, voted as a Democrat in the 2004 and 2008 primary elections, and in 10 other elections since 2000.
Global Warming challenge update
The month of March came in like a lion and out like a lamb, in terms of temperature.
The average high for the month was 55.5 degrees vs. an historical high of 53.9
The average low was 35.6 versus an historical low of 33.8.
That breaks a three consecutive month cool streak and brings the score to
Cool 4
Warm 2
The average high for the month was 55.5 degrees vs. an historical high of 53.9
The average low was 35.6 versus an historical low of 33.8.
That breaks a three consecutive month cool streak and brings the score to
Cool 4
Warm 2
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Liberalism = Projection
Liberals should know about ranting racist comments coming from tea partiers given that their spamming those very comments on conservative blogs.
Ace of Spades with details........
More....
Ace of Spades with details........
Then you have this little story about a Union boss indicted for corruption. His offense?Yesterday, after I pointed out Yglesias' no-harm no-foul attitude towards the n-word, a few of his readers, having not commented upon the inappropriateness of the word all day, finally got angry about it... accusing conservatives of planting the slur on the site.
Odd that they didn't seem bothered by the word at all until the finally came up with a conspiracy theory by which to blame it on conservatives.
And they go on to prove their racial tolerance bona fides by reprinting the comment on our site. It's not been Tollbusted to something else, but yeah, originally it was a reprint of the Yglesias bon mot.
And how do I know it was an Yglesias reader? Well, I know it wasn't one of mine: a search for the unique hashmark used to differentiate all commenters' IPs demonstrates that the hash in question has never before appeared on the site. Since I haven't noticed the dispute being picked up by any other big sites, I'm wondering where else this new unwelcome commenter may have come from.
Stay classy, Matthew Yglesias and Matthew Yglesias' racist readers.
BTW: This from a post about Michael Steele, posted late yesterday even as one of his commenters had first-posted the n-word about Steele and it remained up all day long:
I mean, I love accusing conservatives of being motivated by racism...Emphasis in original.
Oh, My: This Yglesias reader also posted this in the top headlines thread:
162 Michael Steele is a house nig! What's the difference between Sarah Palin's mouth and Sarah Palin's c**t? Retarded shit only came out of her c**t once.Posted by: Paulie Carbone at April 01, 2010 10:51 AM (KK69A)
I redacted the c-word. Paulie Carbone didn't.
A union official is accused of selling out his own members - getting a corrupt contractor to build his Manhattan bar by letting him hire nonunion workers on other jobs.
Brian Hayes, a business agent for Local 608 of the carpenters union, allegedly took thousands in cash, free labor and materials to build McGarry's on Ninth Ave. in Manhattan, prosecutors and union sources said.
In exchange, Hayes let the contractor pay employees at his work sites below minimum wage and off the books, and run a Bronx job without a union shop steward, officials charged.
"He's a hardworking guy who's been unjustly accused," said Hayes' lawyer James Froccaro, who declined to elaborate.
A state liquor license lists Hayes as the vice president of a bar at the address of McGarry's. Workers at the popular Irish pub declined to comment.
Hayes is one of nine union big shots, including carpenters union boss Michael Forde, indicted last summer on bribery and racketeering charges.
Obama allows drilling
Here are a few more of the places the Obamunists have cleared for drilling.
1) The LA Coliseum
2) The shower in our spare bathroom
3) The Hocking River
4) Gary Indiana
5) Taxpayers
6) Topeka Kansas
We'll let you know when they clear a place that actually has oil.
1) The LA Coliseum
2) The shower in our spare bathroom
3) The Hocking River
4) Gary Indiana
5) Taxpayers
6) Topeka Kansas
We'll let you know when they clear a place that actually has oil.
Why I'm a conservative? #44
Because when the government warns us of the upcoming apocalypse they're either lying or too incompetent to know anything for sure.
Case in point. Remember H1N1? Just last summer we were being warned of flu deaths rivaling the 1918 flu.
What happened? Little to nothing.
But Gordon, that's because of the government's response to the risk and all the immunizations given to the public.
I've never heard of a vaccine that it killed off a strain of flu when it wasn't even administered like the 130 million doses that went unused...........
Case in point. Remember H1N1? Just last summer we were being warned of flu deaths rivaling the 1918 flu.
What happened? Little to nothing.
But Gordon, that's because of the government's response to the risk and all the immunizations given to the public.
I've never heard of a vaccine that it killed off a strain of flu when it wasn't even administered like the 130 million doses that went unused...........
Despite months of dire warnings and millions in taxpayer dollars, less than half of the 229 million doses of H1N1 vaccine the government bought to fight the pandemic have been administered -- leaving an estimated 71.5 million doses that must be discarded if they are not used before they expire.
Between 81 million and 91 million doses of swine flu vaccine were injected into peoples' arms or squirted up their noses through the end of February, according to federal officials, leaving about 138 million doses unused. An estimated 60 million of those will be donated to poor countries or saved for possible future use. But doses already in vials and syringes will be thrown away if not used before their expiration dates pass.
The prospect of millions of doses of the once-precious vaccine being discarded is the latest twist in the $1.6 billion program -- the most ambitious immunization campaign in U.S. history. The government-led effort produced a vaccine in record time, but unexpected production problems delayed delivery of the bulk of supplies until after the second wave of infections had peaked, leaving millions anxious and frustrated as they scrambled for the shots and nasal sprays.
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