Plane crash? Let the wild speculation begin

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

See what I mean about election wild cards? I wonder who’s going to get those votes:

A libertarian candidate running in the Iowa Senate race has been killed in a small plane crash, according to the Dubuque Telegraph Herald.

Doug Butzier, a physician at a Dubuque-area hospital, was killed after crashing the plane near Key West, Iowa, according to the report.

He was one of four third-party candidates on the ballot in the closely-watched Iowa Senate race between Bruce Braley and Joni Ernst.

A recent Des Moines Register poll showed Braley with 46 percent to Ernst’s 47 percent. Three percent of respondents chose “someone else.”

14 people made more than the food stamp budget for 50 million people

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

Because they’re job creators and it’s God’s will, of course:

For the second year in a row, America’s richest 14 individuals made more from their annual investments than the $80 billion provided for people in need of food. Nearly half of the food-deprived are children. Perversely, the food stamp program was CUT because of a lack of federal funding.

In a testament to the inability — or unwillingness — of Congress to do anything about the incessant upward re-distribution of America’s wealth, the richest 14 Americans increased their wealth from $507 billion to $589 billion in ONE YEAR from their investment earnings. As stated by Forbes, “All together the 400 wealthiest Americans are worth a staggering $2.29 trillion, up $270 billion from a year ago.”

The Richest 14 Made Enough Money to Hire Two Million Pre-School Teachers or Emergency Medical Technicians

Billions of dollars of wealth, derived from years of American productivity, have been transferred to a few financially savvy and well-connected individuals who have spent a generation shaping trading rules and tax laws to their own advantage. It’s so inexplicably one-sided that the 2013 investment earnings of the richest 1% of Americans ($1.8 trillion) was more than the entire budget for Social Security ($860 billion), Medicare ($524 billion), and Medicaid ($304 billion).

Why Does So Little of Our National Wealth Go to Feed People or Provide Jobs?

The fruits of American productivity go to the richest Americans, who can afford to hold onto their fortunes, defer taxes indefinitely, and then pay a smaller capital gains rate when they eventually decide to cash in. Worse yet, they can stash their winnings overseas, tax-free. It is estimated that $7.6 trillion of personal wealth is hidden in tax havens. That means, stunningly, that $1 of every $12 of worldwide wealth is hidden in a haven.

Via Patrick Rooney.

Gee, I wonder what we should do about this

~ susie ~ 5 Comments

At a doctor's office! Now, someone tell me why I should not like a doctor's office? :-/ Or be scared! ?
Vote for Republicans to show our dissatisfaction, or vote for Democrats, who might actually try to increase funding and shrink the deductibles?

WASHINGTON (AP) — They have health insurance, but still no peace of mind. Overall, 1 in 4 privately insured adults say they doubt they could pay for a major unexpected illness or injury.

A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research may help explain why President Barack Obama faces such strong headwinds in trying to persuade the public that his health care law is holding down costs.

The survey found the biggest financial worries among people with so-called high-deductible plans that require patients to pay a big chunk of their medical bills each year before insurance kicks in.

Such plans already represented a growing share of employer-sponsored coverage. Now, they’re also the mainstay of the new health insurance exchanges created by Obama’s law.

Edward Frank of Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania, said he bought a plan with a $6,000 deductible last year through HealthCare.gov. That’s in the high range, since deductibles for popular silver plans on the insurance exchanges average about $3,100 — still a lot.

“Unless you get desperately ill and in the hospital for weeks, it’s going to cost you more to have this plan and pay the premiums than to pay the bill just outright,” said Frank, who ended up paying $4,000 of his own money for treatment of shoulder pain.

“The deductibles are so high, you don’t get much of anything out of it,” said Frank, who is in 50s and looking for a new job.

Holy shit

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

I wonder if any other companies are doing this. This is really shocking:

Los Angeles • The nation’s second-largest chain of rent-to-own furniture and appliance stores has agreed to pay $28.4 million to settle a case in which it allegedly violated California’s consumer protection and privacy laws, state Attorney General Kamala Harris said Monday.

Aaron’s Inc. overcharged customers, omitted important contract disclosures and installed software that could track the keystrokes of people who rented computers and even activate webcams or microphones to record users, according to a complaint filed by Harris’ office.

Last year, Aaron’s settled a case with the Federal Trade Commission over spyware installed on computers.

Aaron’s has about 75 stores in California, as well as 23 in Utah cities from St. George to Logan. It rents couches, appliances, electronics and other household merchandise.

“Aaron’s concealed its illegal privacy and business practices from customers in a deceptive attempt to avoid California’s robust consumer protection laws and increase its profits,” Harris said.

Those practices included charging a 10 percent “service plus” fee and improper late fees, according to the complaint.

You must be kidding

~ susie ~ 5 Comments

Jimmy John's RECON 2013

Judges won’t uphold crazily restrictive non-competes like this, so I imagine Jimmy John’s just wants to make workers think they have no other options. Joke’s on them — I’ll bet most workers sign it without reading it:

If you’re considering working at a Jimmy John’s sandwich shop, you may want to read the fine print on your job application.

A Jimmy John’s employment agreement provided to The Huffington Post includes a “non-competition” clause that’s surprising in its breadth. Noncompete agreements are typically reserved for managers or employees who could clearly exploit a business’s inside information by jumping to a competitor. But at Jimmy John’s, the agreement apparently applies to low-wage sandwich makers and delivery drivers, too.

By signing the covenant, the worker agrees not to work at one of the sandwich chain’s competitors for a period of two years following employment at Jimmy John’s. But the company’s definition of a “competitor” goes far beyond the Subways and Potbellys of the world. It encompasses any business that’s near a Jimmy John’s location and that derives a mere 10 percent of its revenue from sandwiches….

It isn’t clear what sort of trade secrets a low-wage sandwich artist might be privy to that would warrant such a contract. A Jimmy John’s spokeswoman said the company wouldn’t comment.