kapkomet

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 04:04 PM) Just haven't gotten to it yet. Seriously, my health care * post and the pharma income statement are some really interesting stuff to debate. I was just messing... you have a real job, I don't.

By the way, I'm hurt, NSS. I've posted some good s*** about health care and pharma a couple of different places and you haven't bitten at all.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 03:20 PM) So my boss was just telling me how he called his bank and wanted to refinance because the interest rate is so low now. He has 6.5%, so like many people he's thinking he can drop off a percentage point or something. He says they called him back and said for a fee of $150 or something like that they will just drop the interest rate down to 5.25%, no adjustments to his balance or the terms of the loan or anything. Has anyone else ever heard of this? That's the first I've heard of it. Because if so, I'm calling my bank ASAP and paying whatever they ask me to pay. That would save me like 300 a month on my mortgage. Also, does the bank lose money doing this? I'm thinking the bank ordinarily just makes off with extra cash in that case since they don't have to give the 1.25% back to the feds, and when they drop the rate they just make whatever they'd normally make before the Fed cuts the rates. Am I wrong? Holy s***. Let me know more about this, can you? Because the day I get a job, I'm calling for the same deal.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 02:32 PM) And since gov't is good at controlling costs, they are the ones who should manage healthcare. Exactly. They'll cut costs by telling us what we can be seen for...

That's QOTM material there.

Wow, GOP gets some credit for that? I'm shocked. I have always said that there are two things Bill Clinton did well. One was deficit, two was the welfare reform he got passed.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 02:15 PM) I'd say it would be nearly impossible to maintain a 69% approval rating for 4 years straight. Really? I mean, he is the messiah. *sigh* I'm even getting bored with my posts.

QUOTE (EvilMisquoter @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 02:02 PM) B.S. in whorticulture in May.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 01:42 PM) Wrong party, wrong direction. But make sure to be aware when it goes up 2 points. I'm sure he'll let us know.

After working in the pharma industry and health care both: * There needs to be price caps on drugs - they shouldn't be able to just raise prices whenever they want to. * There needs to be a complete overhaul of "usual and customary" charges (in conjunction with ...) * There needs to be a revision done on insurance contracts with health care providers because "usual and customary" and contractual adjustments really screw those on self pay * There needs to be a COMPLETE overhaul of tort law to limit liability on frivolous lawsuits, thus reducing malpractice insurance (one of the leading causes of high "usual and customary" charges * Lobbyists need kicked out of Washington... election law is part of the issue too * There needs to be a HUGE audit of insurance companies and complexity of the IDC coding needs to be changed - there's millions wasted on incorrect diagnosis coding I can go on and on... here's a start.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 11:38 AM) By far the biggest key is finding a way to cut the rate of growth of health care expenditures. Health care costs of every variety are growing so much faster than the rate of inflation that it's just going to destroy everything barring a major, successful overhaul. I do agree with you here. I just don't think the government taking it over is the solution to cutting costs without jeapordizing the entire system as we know it (and yes, we both agree that the current system needs to change).

Wow, why didn't AHB post this?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 11:07 AM) It worked great from 2000-2006! You're getting better at the Baltabole...

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 10:37 AM) Except you're the guy next to her. Not today, I'm not. You are.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 10:21 AM) Joke from Loveline: Now that's funny.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 10:32 AM) Actually, that is seperate and apart form the $2T over 10 years. But yes, it is obviously part of his overall effort to halve the deficit. Ah, got it. There probably is redundancy in the government to that much money... it wouldn't surprise me at all.

I haven't read the detail, but I do think that Iraq is a significant part of his "savings".

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 10:09 AM) I figured. But I haven't heard Balta say that, or much like that. I don't think Balta has posted that the markets are evil, or that governments should have that money. I haven't see that at all. Balta has been very clear that he thinks the only thing that can save us is government takeover of (health care, banking, education, whatever to prevent deflationary cycle), while posting every chance he gets about "evil corporations" and their misdeeds. That's a translation that "markets" don't work with "abuses" such as these. I've seen post after post after post citing "expert" after "expert" about this coming from there... and frankly, anyone can sound good for a 500 word essay but totally miss the point. This is NOT a knock about Balta, but I think it's dangerous reading all this s*** and then thinking one knows how all this works. Frankly, Timothy Gietner doesn't get it, yet. And neither does anyone here. But I do think 99.9% of people fail to look at this as a big picture, and it's flat out dangerous.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 07:37 AM) Don't make me break out the lesson on the diminishing marginal return of drinking that my favorite drunken professor taught me... I still love those supply and demand curves.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 09:47 AM) You may be waiting a while. I haven't seen anyone post anything like that. Are you kidding me? That wasn't Kaperbole.

/waits for the capital markets are evil and only governments can save us post.

Semantics. Obama meant to say "perfected the automobile"... but since I'm a HARDCORE GOP'ER, HANG HIM!

BA Accounting MSA Accounting MBA Business Adminstration/Finance CPA Working on my CMA.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 25, 2009 -> 07:24 PM) BA economics Licenced commodities representative (Series 3) studying to get my general securities licence. (Series 7) Certified intro and intermediate options theory. You had a BA and not a BS? I didn't know that.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 25, 2009 -> 07:23 PM) Because clearly, all of this stuff is currently owned by the government. That's why all the banks and investment companies are in such great shape. They didn't buy any of it, it all was bought by the government, and the banks are 100% healthy. I'm so glad we're defended from the government's excesses by these responsible bankers who didn't buy up any of the sub-prime mortgages in the last 5 years, and certainly did not BUY VASTLY MORE OF THEM than the GSE's.