jerryzflies

Renew auto reg online - no problems. Renew Drivers Lic. in person, took all of 10 minutes last time. So, yes, it seems efficient - MUCH more efficient than AT&T renewing my phone/DSL account. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

What is a person with a Bachelors degree doing working half-time as a sales clerk. She put herself in this situation by taking a low paying job when she had the ability to get a higher job to afford the insurance. There was a choice here. She went the risky route of going underemployed to get that degree faster. Also, going for a graduate degree does not automatically erase the "slacker" title. [ In this recession (unlike the previous few) people having degrees are just as likely to lose their jobs as those without degrees. Saying anyone "put themselves in this situation" when over 1/2 million jobs have been lost every month for several months now is just plain silly. White-collar jobs have been among the most severely hit in recent months as the recession spreads throughout the economy. Roughly 180,000 professional and business jobs were lost in February, according to the Labour Department. That compared with a 168,000 drop in manufacturing employment and 104,000 in construction. The number of people with a university degree claiming unemployment insurance in New York has doubled in the last year. By contrast, the number of claimants who had less than a high-school education increased by half as much. “We've never had anything quite like what we are seeing now in terms of the impact [of the recession] on well-educated people,” said James Parrott, chief economist at the New York-based Fiscal Policy Institute. Damian Birkel knows all about being laid off from white-collar positions. He's been laid off four times during his career, including just six months ago. He now runs Professionals in Transition, a non-profit group in Winston-Salem, N.C., that helps unemployed white-collar workers. Attendance at the group's weekly meetings has recently jumped from around 20 to about 100. “It is unbelievable,” he said Friday. He and others noted that many workers have been forced to take part-time jobs to make ends meet. According to the Labour Department, the number of these underemployed people is rising almost as fast as the number of unemployed. The department said Friday the number of “involuntary part-time workers” rose by 3.7 million in the last 12 months. If they were included in the overall unemployment figure, the unemployment rate would increase to 14.8 per cent, the highest since the underemployment figures were first used in 1994. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

There are tangible social differences in culture. Indeed, Japanese execs aren't greedy like ours. Funny how "culture" is always used by the right to excuse poor US comparisons with other nations, whether in gun homicides, life expectancy, infant mortality, and now excessive executive pay. It's also funny how the same people who bemoan UAW workers having higher pay than workers for Toyota and Honda have no problem with the US auto execs raping their companies. PS How are you getting on with the "R" word? Do you believe it yet? If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

First you ask me to enlighten you and give you numbers. When I do, you tell me my experiences are not relevant and that the numbers don't mean anything. Then you attempt to change the subject with tax "underpayments" and the war. If you want me to address the issue, then address it yourself instead of making comparisons to things you feel waste money. We can discuss those on their own merits or lack thereof. Two wrongs don't make a right, but attempting to simply divert the argument in a new direction is a cheap ploy, that is if you really do want to have an honest debate on the topic. The fact is $7.3 BILLION returned to the government in just a 4 year period is an enormous amount of fraud. When the government readily admits that it only catches a small amount of the overall fraud committed each year, that number is more likely 2, 3, or maybe even 4 or 5 times that $73 billion - and that's one stinking program! Now, if the same holds true for Social Security, housing subsidies, s-chip, food stamps, unemployment, and the HUNDREDS of other programs being worked by people (and there's plenty of evidence that it does), the total number must be astounding...no, STAGGERING. Now if you would like to discuss the topic you challenged me on, I'd like to hear your response. If, however, you plan to again trivialize my statements (backed up with stats, mind you), and attempt to take the debate in other directions, don't bother replying. For what it's worth, I'm in no way saying we shouldn't have these programs. They are very important and necessary for those who really need them. However, the fraud in the system is well documented and rampant. THAT's what you wanted me to show you, and I did. $7.3B in a 4 year period! You have some pretty misguided priorities. We wast more than that in Iraq every month. The heroes of the GOP, small business owners, cheat honest taxpayers out of that much every 2 weeks. Cast the beam out of your own eye before worrying about the mote in someone else's eye. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

Please enlighten us with the extent of the problem. How many such people are there "working the system" as opposed to being genuinely in need of assistance, due, for example to being one of the 2.5 million people recently laid off in the Bush recession? WAIT A MINUTE But.... Bush raised the minimum wage.... I thought the party argument was that doing that would NOT cause unemployment?! If you really believe that changing the minimum wage caused the Bush recession, I have some ocean property in Nevada I'd like to sell you. Or do you still deny the "R word, like Republicans did for so long. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

A very US-centric question. This is not a US web site, you know. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

Your personal anecdotes are not relevant to anything. If all you can come up with is $7.3B, that's peanuts compared with the underpayment of taxes by self employed individuals and small business owners ($150Billion according to IRS). I suggest you make your crusade against them instead. It's also peanuts compared with the money wasted on an unnecessary war in Iraq. I can't recall any post of yours complaining about that waste. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

In 2006 Toyota's top 37 executives earned a combined $21.6 million in salary and bonuses, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. U.K. firm Manifest Information Services, which analyzes proxy information, estimates Toyota's top executive, Hiroshi Okuda, earned $903,000 in 2006. At Honda, the top 21 earned $11.1 million, combined in 2006, in salary and bonuses, SEC filings show. Ford's CEO, Alan Mulally, got $27.8 million in salary and bonus in his first few months on the job, including an $18.5 million signing bonus. GM's CEO made $15.7 million in 2007, a year when GM LOST $39BILLION Anyone notice a pattern there? If someone offered you a brand new car, except that it not only failed to run, but caused damage to all around it... wouldn't it be worth more money to get a good one? I'd say that GM would pay double that to a CEO if they could find one that would help them break even. Another $15 mil would be just a drop in the very leaky bucket. Or a total waste of stockholder money. If Honda and Toyota can do very well without paying exorbitant salaries to their execs, why can't US corporations? If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

Define "slacker". How many are there? What is the extent of the "slacker" problem? If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

Which is much more dependent upon lifestyle choices and heredity than medical efficacy. Funny how you always resort to "culture" when data show your preferences for both guns and healthcare lead to poor outcomes compared to other nations. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

you do like your stereotypes (i bet you think all skydivers are death crazed near suiciders - and one joint will turn you into a psycho killer) Not sure who you think I'm stereotyping. If you mean people who work the system for welfare, rent subsidies, free medical treatment, food stamps, etc., etc., then I guess I am. If, however, you think I'm stereo-typing any group other than people who work the system for welfare, rent subsidies, free medical treatment, food stamps, etc., etc., then you would be wrong. Please enlighten us with the extent of the problem. How many such people are there "working the system" as opposed to being genuinely in need of assistance, due, for example to being one of the 2.5 million people recently laid off in the Bush recession? Give us numbers. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

I clicked on your link and found Obama approval UP to 67% Gallup also reported: Slight Increase in U.S. Satisfaction March 5, 2009 Despite continuing economic turmoil, satisfaction with the way things are going in the United States averaged 17% in February of this year, up from 12% in December of last year. AND March 5, 2009 Over the past week, an average of 21% of Americans have been satisfied with the way things are going in the country. While still quite low, these ratings are an improvement from 14% in early February, and from 9% as recently as December People are better pleased and more confident with Obama than they were with Bush. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

Your arguments are so lame it's amazing you aren't embarrassed to make them. What is a worse loss, your life, or your cushy penthouse? Your limbs, or your year end bonus? Your eyesight, or your country club membership? If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

That you prefer cherries over oversight, statistics and facts. /Martin It's not my fault if your own link proves MY point. You say it does. Seems to me that you can cherrypick any point you like out of it. It certainly doesn't prove that universal care systems are inferior. And there's always life expectancy too! If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

There is an amazing sense of entitlement among the ultra-wealthy, as exemplified in this clip: abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7010100 If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

Gallup reports 62% approval this morning. www.gallup.com/Home.aspx How does that compare with your guy on Jan 19th? It must stick in your throat that last November the voters of the US decided that the GOP was not competent to run the White House, the Senate, or the House. anything bad that happened before Obama took office was probably Bill Clinton's fault. Clinton - that reminds me... If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

No, it's sarcasm. The thread is sarcasm. As I stated, I was refering to the the tittle. A little tittle is good for everyone. It keeps us smiling. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

No, it's sarcasm. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

How do you feel about the 50,000 wealthy Americans who stashed their cash in secret Swiss bank accounts? If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

40 - 50 years ago was 1958 - 1968. And I thought engineers were good at 'rithmetic. Or is it your history that sucks? semantics- he makes a good point, just not on your side for once. correct me if i'm wrong but obama was actually around 80% a few weeks ago? when the DOW was around 9K? The economy WAS doing fine from 1958 - 68, JUST LIKE HE SAID. Being 25 years off in your arithmetic is not semantics, it's ERROR. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

Do you have a source for this? Not being snarky, I'd really like to see evidence of this. I know that the Laffer curve predicts a rise in tax revenue with a reduction in tax rate, I've just never seen anyone show that it works in the real world. Thanks. "The 'Laffer Curve' idea that tax cuts would actually increase revenues turned out to deserve the ridicule with which sober economists had greeted it in 1981." James Tobin, Nobel Laureate (Economics). See also www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/69xx/doc6908/12-01-10PercentTaxCut.pdf for a 2005 Congressional Budget Office analysis which concludes that tax cuts do not pay for themselves. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

Good for them! Most of em earned it! The ones the media glorify to make wealthy job-creators appear so evil don't, but the majority do, props! Your definition of "earn" does not correspond with reality. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

1. The proposal does not seek to limit charitable contributions; it seeks to cap the amount of contributions that would be tax-deductible. 2. The proposal does not seek to limit the types of charities contributed-to at all. Just would cap the total amount of tax-deductibility. 3. Thank you, also, for conveniently neglecting to mention that the proposal is opposed by Congressional Democrats, as well. I fail to see why any contributions by anyone should affect the taxes they pay. It takes just as much to run the country whether or not you contribute to your preacher's next Mercedes. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

I'm very concerned about the future of my country and the direction the dems are taking. I guess we'll just have to wait and see won't we. Last November the voters of the country, concerned about the future, voted your lot out. The recession started under the GOP watch, remember. If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

Sweden If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.