patrick.net

Heraclitusstudent says

There is a lot of money because the fed created it

I don't know. More accurate to say a lot of credit available (to some) because the fed created it.

Most wealth that comes from invested capital is simply due to the concept of exponential growth. This can be contrasted with the wealth that accumalates to labor which doesn't cover enough over the cost of living to allow most people to accumulate all that much in a short life time.

The fed is like a catalyst for wealth creation, but it is a two edged sword. Back in 1981, when the fed was pushing hard in the other direction, double digit bond yields were a great boon to those who already had capital and were looking for something to do with it.

The policies now which create money that goes on the books of the fed or on to bank balance sheets are not directly inflationary. But making leverage cheap does help asset prices get bid up.

marcus says

The fed is like a catalyst for wealth creation,

The Fed does not create wealth, it transfers wealth from the middle-class to the uber-wealthy by levitating stocks and other assets with exorbitant valuations and bringing inflation that the wages cannot match, while creating a massive balance sheet of debt that is nothing but a forward promise on future labor from future wage slaves, aka the children, who are getting fucked over without having any say in it.

Call it Crazy says

Strategist says

Call it Crazy says

jazz music says

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/18/1293043/-Rush-Limbaugh-Is-In-Ruins-Bad-News-Coming-From-Every-Direction-Including-The-Right?detail=email#

Daily Kos.... enough said...

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

Happy Easter!

Aren't you supposed to be in church?

There's church in Hell???

I told you you're in the wrong place.

Ceffer says

The worst thing you could do to him is drive chopsticks into his ears so he
can't hear himself talk anymore.

He already took care of that for us, thanks to his doctor shopping of "legal" drugs.

I figure he lost 1/500 decibel of hearing for every time he uttered the phrase, "Long haired, dope smoking, maggot infested hippies." This calculation led me to finally consider the possibility that maybe, just maybe, there is a god after all.

Funny how Rush bothers some liberals.

The media is liberal with the exception of Murdoch ones: WSJ, Fox, NYPost. Everything else is liberal.

Talk radio is not liberal.

What I can't figure out is how Rush makes any money, since the ads on the radio are generally for weird companies you haven't heard of, dog vitamins, computer backup, identity protection, etc.

"..notorious REALTOR Kim Jong Un.."

Now that's funny.

So, now WS dumps the tech band wagon is getting into slumlordship? or they figured RE is the best investment?

clambo says

What I can't figure out is how Rush makes any money....

It's like payola: groups sponsored by the Koch brothers use that $ to pay him for favorable mentions during his show.

APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says

HEY YOU says

"..notorious REALTOR Kim Jong Un.."

Now that's funny.

Oh, you think I am making this up?

Link! Link! Link!

Sadly, the inability actually to use their Obamneycare policies is unlikely to cure patients of their delusional support for the legislation.

But but but... they were on line first.
curious2 says

Sadly, the inability actually to use their Obamneycare policies is unlikely to cure patients of their delusional support for the legislation.

They'll be cured if they get to see a Doctor then get the bill.

CaptainShuddup says

But but but... they were on line first.

If you're referring to the California provider lists, they were pulled offline when too many people figured out the providers didn't actually take the insurance.

This happens in medicaid too...before we had a black president. Not a new problem

JH says

This happens in medicaid too...before we had a black president. Not a new problem

I really don't understand what you are trying to say with that comment?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N54gSI4Aft0

The American Healthcare system is a joke and sinking. If you have any regard for your health or finances, just avoid insurance and spend your hard-earned money on education about self-healthcare.
Is that still legal?

Good advise.
If you pay off your balances in full each month, the freebies and rebates from credit cards can easily add up to hundreds of dollars each year.
If you carry balances, you are in danger of trapping yourself in a never ending cycle of high cost and high interest.
If you can't control your spending, blame yourself, not the bank or the mall.

I use my CC's all the time. At the end of the billing cycle, they are all paid off. My latest score: 807.

Call it Crazy says

I don't know HOW you could have listened to this website.... I still haven't found the audio controls on the pages....

Well, didn't listen to this site but still comes to this site every single day. I wonder why?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-purchase_rationalization

What moron doesn't pay off their balance every month???

Call it Crazy says

Credit card companies, which attract new customers with zero percent teaser rates and more rewards, have raised rates while their costs remain historically low, industry observers say.

I get them all the time.
I'll use one pay it off in 18 months, but by then another company sends me another 0percent offer, so I've never ever, had to actually use one after the 0% introductory teaser rate expires.

Which truth be told, if it wasn't 0% we would never use put anywhere near what we put on it, or use it for the things we purchase with them.

In fact, I've always been against them, but my wife is the manager, comptroller, accountant, and she's the one that recommends I use this card or that card, when I buy things like new computers, or other electronics.

BUT you really need to be careful, and for reasons these bank cheerleader fluff pieces never mention.

One stern word of advice though, well two actually.

1) You better pay the damn thing off before that 0% introductory period ends. It's not because you'll be stuck paying that higher percent interest, but because you'll be stuck by the micro writing in the agreement, and their abusive unaccountable twisted logic accounting, that you agreed to.

2) Don't use ANY CARD drawn by that same back during that period. NONE!!!! If you're using a Best Buy buy now, and no interest for 18 or 24 months, on Citi bank.

Then do not use any other Citi Bank cards that you have, also do NOT buy another product at Best Buy until you've fully paid of the first item.

Trust me on this, or 19 months later when you think it was all paid, you'll be hit hundreds of dollars($400ish) on a $1200 purchase.

When you call up, the lady on the other side, will keep trying to confuse you, to justify charging you full interest of those 18months on that $1200 purchase, by keep referencing "Other Promotions".

What promotion, lady, I just used the card, I get two separate bills for those Citi bank bills, one is from Best Buy and the other is a regular Citi bank card. I don't get two best buy bills for each purchase.

Also if you use you Store credit card after your initial purchase say some months later, then use it again. The bank will bill you separately so that you will think they are separate. Pay off the first one in full, but have that $79 hard drive on the other, that you didn't pay off yet. Then you'll get that hefty bill after the 18 months expired.

I had to spend hours on the phone with Citi and Best Buy to work that abuse out. After hours of getting no where, I asked for Best Buy senior account manager, then asked her to look at our Best buy purchasing history, (From that rewards points card, not the credit card) my Wife will use a coupon or a rewards card to buy anything. I hate them because I don't like my purchases being tracked. But thanks to my Wife's miser ways, I was able to convince that person, that almost every electroic device our house hold has bought for the last 20 years has come from Best Buy, and I will be taking it to HHGregg, so they finally reversed that $400.

My take away, is 0% Credit cards are trickier, than regular worded Credit cards. And with new CFPB rules, they can do what ever they want, just as long as it's written in their rules. Even if those rules leaves a lot to be assumed by the consumer, who will be dead wrong if they take those agreements by face value.

Oh and get this, another account representative called up to collect the $400 again a few weeks later. Because it seems that that last person that claimed they took care of it, left .38 cents on the balance. Boy did I go ballistic, it didn't take as long to work it out. I just informed him, that I recorded my last phone call, and my next call would be to the CFPB.

Which that stopped him in his tracks. Like I said, they are free to do what ever they want, just as long they don't agree to something. Then that's where they can get in serious trouble.

No now I remember how they confused the two introductory purchases at different times.

In December of last year, we knew the introductory period was expiring in January on a Laptop I bought my wife last year.
So my Wife and I called up, and asked for a settlement to pay off the Best Buy card in full.

They told us $650. We paid it and thought that was that. Then in February we THEN got that bill with the $400 interest on it. That's when we called livid, because we just called and settled a few months before.
Well that's when the lady started getting Cute with "This promotion" and "That promotion". So when we called to settle up, the first lady on picked on promotion, and intentionally left the other behind. Because there is no language in any of CFPB legislation that prevents that kind of dishonest behavior.

This is sill on top of them calling us back again for interest left on that .38 what I thought was the second and final settlement.

On second thought, I think I'll go back to cash only for all of my purchases.

zzyzzx says

What moron doesn't pay off their balance every month???

Those that can't afford to,,?

Why do you assume they are morons?

I have not paid a single cent of interest in my life to credit card companies. Pay off balance in full every month. Get 1% back in cash outs when I choose to do that. Unfortunately even with all that, I feel that merchants raise prices because the fact that people are willing to use credit cards artificially increases the affordability matrix of customers. I believe that for example if restaurants would not accept credit cards that going out to eat would be at least 20% cheaper. So even if someone pays off their balance in full every month, there are still certain unavoidable costs that are baked into the price. The ultimate problem is the id-oriented hedonistic "customer" who is either unwilling to accept the reality of what they can/cannot afford or is unwilling to delay gratification.

That's private insurance for you.

Gotta love those $5000 deductibles. They're laughing all the way to the bank, a big subsidy for minimal service.

Theodor Hertzl actually loathed the idea of putting Israel in Palestine.

He griped about the heat, filth, and lack of good Bavarian Beer when he visited Jerusalem. He wanted somewhere in Europe, or at least South America.

Nor was Hertzl the architect of the Arab Transfer policy, he was long since gone.

Homeboy says

What do they call people who practice "self healthcare"?

What do they call the state licensees that "practice" "medicine"?
Wrong…..half the fucking time.
http://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2013/07/26/mayo-clinic-146-common-practices-we-should-reconsider

I think Rush is an absolute moron with no self control - what kind of dumbass manages to get fired from espn nfl gameday show 1 week in because they lack elementary level of self control to not make QB performance a racial issue?

errc says

Why do you assume they are morons?

Because they are voluntarily paying extra on every purchase they make with their cards.

For the longest time I didn't use credit cards.

I was using a debit card instead, and cash when possible.

Now I have a credit card because I figure at some point I will need a credit score. I have automatic payment at the end of the month. And a credit card with automatic payment is not like a debit card because... you know, character matters.

Credit scores are clearly not a reflection of your capacity to pay. (otherwise for example not having had any debt should give me a perfect credit score, and revenues would be considered).
Credit scores are clearly used to herd the public into certain behaviors. They make sure you do borrow some money even if you don't need to.

People who use credit cards for the cash-back ignore that they pay extra for the privilege. Granted they would pay it anyway in most cases, but if most people were refusing to use credit cards because of this, you probably wouldn't have to pay.
How much is 2% of every dollar spent in America? Isn't that a lot for plastic cards?

Even with automatic payments, I still have to deal with annual fees and the like.
And this is still condoning a business model that is highly immoral as described in the original post.

I plan to close this card account in a few years.

Old practitioner's adage: "Always prescribe a new drug during its first two years on the market, while it still works."

Just wait until the last SSRI patent expires and some "new and improved" placebo gets patented, the PhRMA-paid medical journals will gush with how great they are compared to those old and lousy SSRIs. Even Homefool might acknowledge it then.

Its not like this really matters anyway. As pointed out in the article and as we all know, practically the entire AM dial is SATURATED with right-winger loudmouths and their entirely formulaic shows. These shows differ little from each other: Just start talking about a topic- any topic- and blame it all on "Liberals" and whatnot. And if not AM, well the most popular Cable news network is also right leaning.

The notion that the media is liberal is just another bullshit thing these right wing talk show hosts say as a catch phrase.

So even if Rush retires, there's a zillion other guys just like him eager to step up and do perhaps one of the easiest jobs ever.

Call it Crazy says

“Yeah, I sign it. I got it. But where’s my doctor?

Sue them for breach of contract.

thunderlips11 says

That's private insurance for you.

Gotta love those $5000 deductibles. They're laughing all the way to the bank, a big subsidy for minimal service.

You are welcome to purchase insurance with minimal or no deductibles. But you'll have to pay for it. It's called risk management.

curious2 says

I really don't understand what you are trying to say with that comment?

From the article but not quoted in OP:

More than 3 million Californians are newly insured. At the same time, a third of our primary care doctors are set to retire.

This is a systemic problem much bigger than the assholes in Washington, and it's been going on for years.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/lots-of-new-patients-too-few-doctors/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/07/why-is-it-so-difficult-to-get-an-appointment-with-your-doctor.html

http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/it-s-hard-to-see-your-doctor-is-that-obamacare-s-fault-20140124

zzyzzx says

errc says

Why do you assume they are morons?

Because they are voluntarily paying extra on every purchase they make with their cards.

To the tune of 21% or more. It is moronic.

JH says

curious2 says

I really don't understand what you are trying to say with that comment?

From the article but not quoted in OP

Thanks, I appreciate the clarification, and I was already aware of those problems. What I didn't understand was the other part of your comment, which seemed a distraction.

Heraclitusstudent says

Sue them for breach of contract.

LOL - in California, the exchange website requires you to waive your right to sue. You can arbitrate, but the industry hires the arbitrator. And, have you actually read those insurance contracts? They run more than 100 pages, mostly loopholes for the insurer. Good luck with your suit.

Call it Crazy says

Why Are You Charging On Credit Cards Again?

If managed carefully, the rewards are great. Why pay cash when I can get 50k bonus miles for spending money I was already going to spend, cancel the card, and get a new one in 18 months. Cycle through the different cards (get the bonus, then cancel), and every penny I ever spend is earning me bonus rewards (i.e., beyond the standard 1% rewards).

curious2 says

What I didn't understand was the other part of your comment, which seemed a distraction.

hahaha, well, i'm sick of certain health care issues being blamed suddenly on aca, when in reality the problems are much deeper. I am for 100% socialist or 100% free market health care. We are in a slimy middle ground, and the aca only secured that position.

My second comment...well...it was a distraction...but not the first patnet distraction you've ever read i'm sure...yes, meaningless to an intelligent discussion of course...just frustration stemming from the first part of my comment.