jcd11235

Apparently, you don't quite understand what the word infrastructure means. Perhaps a result of not having enough formal education? Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Why am I not surprised that the libertarian Cato Institute and the Jewish Policy Center favor private healthcare, available to everyone that can afford it? From the Cato Institute: The mission of the Cato Institute is to increase the understanding of public policies based on the principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and peace. The Institute will use the most effective means to originate, advocate, promote, and disseminate applicable policy proposals that create free, open, and civil societies in the United States and throughout the world. From the Jewish Policy Center: Domestically, the JPC also believes that Jewish Americans must break with the past. The JPC supports smaller government, lower taxes, free trade, and other issues. In other words, both organizations have agendas inconsistent with universal healthcare, biasing their published conclusions. Here is an enlightening paper,The U.S. Health Care System: Best in the World, or Just the Most Expensive?, from the Bureau of Labor Education at the University of Maine. (Sorry, no excerpts, file is copy protected.) Here are some highlights: The US has the most expensive healthcare system in the world, both per capita and as a percentage of GDP. In 1994, administration expenses accounted for 34%, 24.5%, and 22.9% of total dollars spent on healthcare in for profit, non-profit private, and public hospitals, respectively. The US and South Africa are the only two countries in the developed world that do not provide healthcare for their citizens. In 1996, the US ranked 26th among industrialized countries for infant mortality. Among high income OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development), the US ranks 24th for disability adjusted life expectancy. The US ranked lowest for all OECD countries for Fairness in Financing. The World Health Organization ranked the US 37th in the world for performance. From Quality and Price Transparency as an Element of State Health Reform the NationalGovernors Association: The opaque nature of the U.S. health care system’s third-party payment structure contributes to patient disengagement, dysfunctional health care markets, and a disconnect between price and quality of health care. Health care spending represents 16 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—a far greater share than in any other industrialized nation. On a per-capita basis, Americans spend $5,635 for health care—53 percent more than citizens in any other country. Yet, the United States does not enjoy higher levels of health care quality than its lower spending counterparts. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Considering the vast majority of my professors have more experience working in their respective fields than they have teaching, I don't put much stock in that old saying. I suspect it originated from someone who understood their field just well enough to do their job, but not well enough to explain it to someone else. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

I see. So, you believe that everyone should have to hire their own private police and firefighters if they find themselves in need of those services, correct? Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Agreed. The same can be said of health care. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

It doesn't speak highly of her understanding of economics if she thinks decreasing revenue while increasing spending is a smart thing to do. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

It says more about the repercussions of so many Americans taking pride in their ignorance, considering those with formal educations "elitist." -------------------------------------------------------- and remember the "formal eduacaters" are left leaning. If that is true, it would be consistent with my assertion. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

It says more about the repercussions of so many Americans taking pride in their ignorance, considering those with formal educations "elitist." Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Greed is the motivating force of capitalism. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

The US has the most expensive health care, per capita, in the world. Our quality of healthcare is nowhere near the top of the list among developed nations. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Considering the results of the 2000 and 2004 elections, it would appear so. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Add this one to my list..... Also add Social Security reform.....Why should I pay into a system that I have NO CHANCE of ever getting anything out of. Why would you say you have no chance of receiving any benefits? Social Security is a very long way away from not being able to pay out benefits. Even if nothing is done to fix SS, full benefits will be paid until 2041. From 2041 until 2081, 75% benefits can be paid, with 70% benefits paid after that. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

I can. Lower taxes and less government spending does not imply that taxpayers retain more money after paying for necessities (e.g. food, rent/mortgage, fuel, healthcare, etc.). That would be like saying that the minimum value of f(x) is always at x=0. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

If that's the case, it seems like it would have been better for everybody if we had skipped the invasion completely and gone straight to having Bush hitch a ride on a fighter jet to an aircraft carrier parked just offshore. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

So, you're okay with Bush's policies, as long as they are implemented by someone else? Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

So, it's a good thing when Palin effectively increases taxes for businesses, but a bad thing when Obama proposes "eliminating special tax breaks for oil and gas companies" ("including repealing special expensing rules, foreign tax credit benefits, and manufacturing deductions for oil and gas firms"). Perhaps you can explain the consistency in your position, because it certainly isn't obvious. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Debate in science is generally limited to testing alternative hypotheses, then subjecting the work (and data) to peer review and independent attempts to reproduce results. Those who have actively and publicly refused to recognize the reality of the anthropogenic component of global warming have largely not taken such steps. No one is being "muzzled;" anyone is free to test alternative hypotheses. However, rhetoric does not substitute for such testing. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

The stock may well currently be undervalued. Stockholder confidence is low, motivating shareholders to sell off their stock, driving the price down. While mortgage backed securities are common, the investors who purchase them typically have no desire to directly enter the real estate market with their investment. They want the mortgage payments, not the houses. In AIG's case, houses don't pay insurance benefits. Furthermore, in the current housing market, houses are not exactly easy to liquidate, especially while minimizing losses from the sales. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

The Fannie and Freddie bailouts are similar loans. Current stockholders will assume more risk than taxpayers. From NPR: Paulson said the rescue effort was "structured very carefully to protect the taxpayers." If taxpayer dollars are used for the purchase of preferred stock, then "first losses will be borne by the existing shareholders," he said. But if the housing market continues to deteriorate, taxpayers could be on the hook. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that a bailout of Fannie and Freddie could cost from $0 to $100 billion, with the most likely amount being $25 billion. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

In the mortgage sector, sub-prime mortgages have motivated misrepresentation of risk of the securities backed by those mortgages. Many would argue that there needs to be more oversight/regulation of rating agencies. Personally, I agree. I suspect we will see, within the next year or two, new legislation for rating agencies analogous to Sarbanes-Oxley. Unfortunately, the consumers/taxpayers will end up assuming the costs associated with the misguided investments (regardless of who was responsible for the misguidance) whether the government bails out companies or not, via taxes or price increases. At least with a government bailout, there is a reasonable chance that the government will ultimately profit from their investment when they eventually sell their shares of the companies they bailed out. If insurance risks are assessed incorrectly, either the policy holders or the policy issuers (and their reinsurers) benefit, depending on the nature of the error. Insurance companies transfer much of their risk to reinsurers, and reinsurers often retransfer much of that risk to other reinsurers, a process known as retrocession. That spreads the risk pretty well, as long as insurance companies do not inadvertently reassume their own risk as retrocessionaires. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Agreed. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. If they purchased securities with good ratings (representing low risk), but those ratings were not correctly assigned, then the securities were misrepresented. If such was the case (which is very likely), then the rating organization is more responsible than AIG. For the record, I don't like insurance companies. However, I'd prefer to look at what happened objectively, rather than reflexively blame AIG because they are an insurance company. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Damn skippy. Why are the architects of this fiasco not in jail? I can't help but wonder how the mortgage backed securities were represented when sold to AIG. Were they sold as high risk securities, or were they sold as low risk (i.e. not sub-prime) investments? If the latter is the case, then AIG are essentially victims of fraud. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

They currently aren't required to do so for heterosexual marriages. I don't see why that would need to change. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

But think of all of the new bridges BASE jumpers will have access to. Won't somebody think of the BASE jumpers? Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

I remember Terry Gross interviewed Chong on Fresh Air. IIRC, the bongs water pipes, intended for tobacco use only, were from his son's company, but they carried Tommy Chong's name. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!