^Change we can believe in!

Rand Paul, who made an effort last week to hold up the Patriot Act passage, calls for arrest and deportation of people who attend radical political rallies.

 

Libertarianism!

Rand Paul, who made an effort last week to hold up the Patriot Act passage, calls for arrest and deportation of people who attend radical political rallies.

 

Libertarianism!

18% of GOP primary voters believe the Rapture will happen within their lifetimes.

 

18% of GOP primary voters believe the Rapture will happen within their lifetimes.

I'm sure just as many believe in the Easter Bunny, that's not an astounding figure.

18% of GOP primary voters believe the Rapture will happen within their lifetimes.

I would have thought a $100 million ad campaign 2 weeks ago would have pushed that higher.

This brought a smile to my face.

If a key provision of the new health care reform law had been in effect last year, Hoosiers buying individual health insurance would have been refunded $30 million.

 

Indiana Insurance Commissioner Stephen Robertson worried that amount of revenue loss could chase insurers from the Indiana market, leaving consumers fewer options. So he asked for a waiver that would delay implementation of the new rule. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is considering Indiana’s request.

 

The estimated refund amounts were calculated for Robertson’s agency this month, based on health insurers' most recent annual filings, to see how close insurers were to meeting new guidelines that require them to spend at least 80 percent of premium revenue on medical bills.

 

Only 19 of the 63 companies writing individual health insurance policies in Indiana have been meeting the 80-percent standard. The other 44 companies in the state would have to give rebate checks to their consumers to make up the difference between what they actually spent on medical care and the 80-percent threshold.

 

Those 44 companies cover 94 percent of the nearly 200,000 Hoosiers covered by individual health insurance.

 

The state’s behemoth, Indianapolis-based Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, is fairly close to the mark, spending 76.6 percent of premiums on medical bills. At that rate, it would have to refund a total of $9.3 million to the nearly 115,000 people it covers under individual policies. Those refunds would amount to about $81.50 per person.

I would have thought a $100 million ad campaign 2 weeks ago would have pushed that higher.

 

I'm sure a higher percentage believe in the Rapture in general, but that's millions of people who believe the world will literally end within a few decades.

I'm sure a higher percentage believe in the Rapture in general, but that's millions of people who believe the world will literally end within a few decades.

What percentage thought it was going to end 2 weekends ago?

http://www.someecards.com/2011/06/02/sarah...ely-insults-her

 

 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/02/9...ere?via=siderec

 

LOL LOL LOL

 

What the f*** is she talking about? I'm having a hard time wading through that rambling to figure out which parts are wrong (the whole Paul Revere story is just a myth/legend anyway but that's another story)

A new working paper from the IMF shows that the rest of the developed world receives a much higher share of their tax revenue from "Pollution taxes" than the U.S. does. Effectively, its cheaper to pollute in the U.S. than it is anywhere else in the OECD.

 

A new working paper from the IMF shows that the rest of the developed world receives a much higher share of their tax revenue from "Pollution taxes" than the U.S. does. Effectively, its cheaper to pollute in the U.S. than it is anywhere else in the OECD.

 

That is pretty misleading to include only taxes, and not fines and fees paid for the exact same thing.

That is pretty misleading to include only taxes, and not fines and fees paid for the exact same thing.

Do you really think those are large enough to even show up on that graph? 3% of revenue in the U.S. is mostly reflecting things like the gasoline tax. An extra 1% of total revenue would require ~$20 billion a year to be raised in fines and fees.

Do you really think those are large enough to even show up on that graph? 3% of revenue in the U.S. is mostly reflecting things like the gasoline tax. An extra 1% of total revenue would require ~$20 billion a year to be raised in fines and fees.

 

I would guess they are actually.

I would guess they are actually.

In 2010, the EPA assessed a total of $41 million in fines, down from $96 million in 2009. Where else should I be looking for this money?

In 2010, the EPA assessed a total of $41 million in fines, down from $96 million in 2009. Where else should I be looking for this money?

 

I forget the EPA is the only one passing fines and assessing fees

I forget the EPA is the only one passing fines and assessing fees

For pollution?

Seriously, where else should I look? You're claiming that there are tens of billions of dollars in fines for pollution out there that I have no idea where they're at.

State EPA's?

State EPA's?

Yes, plus US EPA... not sure of any others that would be significant.

 

Yes, plus US EPA... not sure of any others that would be significant.

 

Balta already cited that negligible figure.

Balta already cited that negligible figure.

After wasting more of my time than I want to admit tallying them up myself from legal settlement reports, the California EPA has collected ~$450,000 in fines for air pollution in 2011 so far.

After wasting more of my time than I want to admit tallying them up myself from legal settlement reports, the California EPA has collected ~$450,000 in fines for air pollution in 2011 so far.

 

No wonder businesses are fleeing Fascifornia

 

More funny/sad when you combine this with the negative effective tax rate in the uber-repressive, highest-rate-in-the-developed-world US!

Edited June 3, 201114 yr by StrangeSox

No wonder businesses are fleeing Fascifornia

 

More funny/sad when you combine this with the negative effective tax rate in the uber-repressive, highest-rate-in-the-developed-world US!

The game with "fines" has always been to use your connections/lobbyists to make sure that the fine is smaller than the amount you saved by breaking the law in the first place. That way, your business still comes out ahead by paying the $20k fine for polluting whatever, someone else picks up the tab in the healthcare or cleanup costs, and the local DA/EPA/whatever gets good press by having the local papers run the "company X will pay a $20k fine" article in the local paper.