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TxDOT to Cease Operations by Sept. 2010
Topic Started: Jun 3 2009, 10:02 AM (540 Views)
zzLyly
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I'm not sure how this happened, whether there was some earlier established law to shut it down, or what, but the Texas Department of Transportation is scheduled to be shut down by September 1st, 2010.

Dallas Morning News
Quote:
 
Local officials are no more sure than anyone else in Texas on what to make of Monday night's meltdown in Austin, in which lawmakers managed to schedule the state Transportation Department for termination by 2010.

"You ask me where we stand in terms of transportation in the state of Texas? I can't tell you. I don't know," said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

The Transportation Department issued a statement to say it isn't going anywhere, yet.

"The Texas Department of Transportation is open for business," said spokesman Chris Lippincott.

"TxDOT staff is working with the Texas Transportation Commission and the Office of the Governor to identify options for the department following the adjournment of the 81st legislative session, but we remain focused on our mission. We will keep Texas moving."

By Monday night, lawmakers had killed a bill that would have overhauled TxDOT and were poised to pass a safety measure that would have continued it as is for two years. That bill died, too, and without it, the department must cease operations by Sept. 1, 2010, according to the state "sunset law."

Not even the department's fiercest detractors in the Legislature want that to happen. After all, its 14,000 employees maintain tens of thousands of highway miles across Texas, and it spends billions each year to build more.
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aramil
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That's pretty hilarious... yet really bad for Texas. Can the Governor schedule a lame duck legislative session or something?
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Recon
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What is going on in Texas? I know it’s hard to vote for reductions and cutbacks however you can’t allow the department to face the wall. Many states have serious fiscal problems but they will need to cut, cut, cut. Just like Arnie wanted to but it got voted down.

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2009/06/01/38281

"Hegar said if the bill does not pass, it would mean no new highway projects for the next two years since a $2 billion highway bond program is contingent on passage of the sunset legislation.

Carona said he was threatening the filibuster because, as written, the bill deleted the use of local option taxes to fund transportation projects."


[align=center]Head of State (President): Moncef Marzouki (Congress for the Republic)
Head of Government (Prime Minister): Hamadi Jebali (Ennahda)
Population: 10.6 Million (2012 est.)
GDP (Real): $44bn (2012 est.)
Organizations: Arab League (AL), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), African Union (AU), International Criminal Court (ICC), International Monetary Fund (IMF,) Non Aligned Movement (NAM), United Nations (UN) & World Trade Organisation (WTO).
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zzLyly
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Well, the thing is not that we don't have the money (we do, but cuts are always favorable), it's that somehow, they've scheduled for it to be shut down. It can continue operating as normal until September, then has 12 months to pull up and pull out of anything it's doing.

Governor Perry says he's seeing what he can do to simply avoid the whole mess of it, but it's most likely that he's going to call a special session to make them work things out.
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United States [Recon
 
,03 Jun 2009 11.07.20] What is going on in Texas? I know it’s hard to vote for reductions and cutbacks however you can’t allow the department to face the wall. Many states have serious fiscal problems but they will need to cut, cut, cut. Just like Arnie wanted to but it got voted down.

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2009/06/01/38281

"Hegar said if the bill does not pass, it would mean no new highway projects for the next two years since a $2 billion highway bond program is contingent on passage of the sunset legislation.

Carona said he was threatening the filibuster because, as written, the bill deleted the use of local option taxes to fund transportation projects."

Or come up with revenue in other ways. Delaware's legalizing sports betting and trying to turn it into a major source of revenue.

Not that it'll cover the $800 million deficit.
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aramil
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Palestinian Authority [Lyly
 
,03 Jun 2009 10.24.05] Well, the thing is not that we don't have the money (we do, but cuts are always favorable), it's that somehow, they've scheduled for it to be shut down. It can continue operating as normal until September, then has 12 months to pull up and pull out of anything it's doing.

Governor Perry says he's seeing what he can do to simply avoid the whole mess of it, but it's most likely that he's going to call a special session to make them work things out.

That's the same guy who talked about secession...
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Organizations: UN, APEC, ASEAN+3, SCO, BRIC
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zzLyly
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No he didn't. He quoted Sam Houston, "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression." Hardly a secessionist statement.
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lolTexas
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Speaking of sunset provisions, Christie wants to bring that to NJ
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Mexico (Hubris)
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Palestinian Authority [Lyly
 
,03 Jun 2009 20.29.04] No he didn't. He quoted Sam Houston, "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression." Hardly a secessionist statement.

No, but he did say this "We might oughta consider secession."

The Governor, that is - and I think it was in lieu of the whole Amendment 10 Movement/Tea Party/Stimulus crap.

Though, he sternly says he meant it in a joking manner.
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Germany [Schwerpunkt
 
,03 Jun 2009 19.55.13]
United States [Recon
 
,03 Jun 2009 11.07.20] What is going on in Texas? I know it’s hard to vote for reductions and cutbacks however you can’t allow the department to face the wall. Many states have serious fiscal problems but they will need to cut, cut, cut. Just like Arnie wanted to but it got voted down.

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2009/06/01/38281

"Hegar said if the bill does not pass, it would mean no new highway projects for the next two years since a $2 billion highway bond program is contingent on passage of the sunset legislation.

Carona said he was threatening the filibuster because, as written, the bill deleted the use of local option taxes to fund transportation projects."

Or come up with revenue in other ways. Delaware's legalizing sports betting and trying to turn it into a major source of revenue.

Not that it'll cover the $800 million deficit.

Legalise pot, prostitution and gambling. Stop having referendums every time you need a tax rise. That sounds great on paper however its rubbish in reality. Well for the state government. Tax rises are not good in a recession however if it keeps open the schools it’s needed.

Just keep laundering money! Delaware has a record of US businesses avoid taxes and money laundering.
[align=center]Head of State (President): Moncef Marzouki (Congress for the Republic)
Head of Government (Prime Minister): Hamadi Jebali (Ennahda)
Population: 10.6 Million (2012 est.)
GDP (Real): $44bn (2012 est.)
Organizations: Arab League (AL), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), African Union (AU), International Criminal Court (ICC), International Monetary Fund (IMF,) Non Aligned Movement (NAM), United Nations (UN) & World Trade Organisation (WTO).
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zzmorty
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,04 Jun 2009 18.09.28] Legalise pot, prostitution and gambling. Stop having referendums every time you need a tax rise. That sounds great on paper however its rubbish in reality. Well for the state government. Tax rises are not good in a recession however if it keeps open the schools it’s needed.

I like the legalize ideas, but the only trouble with referendums for tax hikes is that people actually vote in favor of them (which absolutely astounds me). Tax increases aren't good ever, especially in a recession.

There's about a million things the average state government can cut before it has to cut money for schools. Though, there are a bunch of sensible reforms in schools that would reduce the costs significantly (like privatizing transportation, janitorial work, and food service to start).
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Mexico (Hubris)
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The idea about legalizing would be that the Government needs money in such a pinch that they're willing to regulate the lesser of all evils.

I mean, kick ass - Legal marijuana, but what's the age gonna be.. no, shit really.. I just now thought of that.. lol..

The rest of my point is actually fairly well forgotten.
I'm actually intrigued on reading about the most realistic legalization tactic now.

>.>
Yup.
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United States [Sel]
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Our taxes are too low. I say spike em.
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zzmorty
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,04 Jun 2009 22.04.13] Our taxes are too low. I say spike em.

I don't understand why you think that.

@Hubris: I'd prefer legalization without regulation, and if the state was looking to save money, that'd be the route they'd want to go too. A huge majority of the arrests for non-violent drug crime is from marijuana, so cutting that means less cost for prisons, police forces, courts, etc. Plus the court system would be less backed up and so on.
Trying to regulate would just lead to huge new bureaucracies to deal with that. Just legalize and start working on the campaign to legalize all the other drugs.
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Estonia [Morty
 
,05 Jun 2009 12.14.24]
Israel [Sel Appa
 
,04 Jun 2009 22.04.13] Our taxes are too low. I say spike em.

I don't understand why you think that.

@Hubris: I'd prefer legalization without regulation, and if the state was looking to save money, that'd be the route they'd want to go too. A huge majority of the arrests for non-violent drug crime is from marijuana, so cutting that means less cost for prisons, police forces, courts, etc. Plus the court system would be less backed up and so on.
Trying to regulate would just lead to huge new bureaucracies to deal with that. Just legalize and start working on the campaign to legalize all the other drugs.

Marijuana I get. You still would need safety on the ingredients. If someone died because of smoking legal marijuana that would be unacceptable. The state could just add on a 5% Sales Tax and there. If the UK legalised drugs and regulated them safely they could save £10 billion per year. In a recession that’s priceless. More cops who can focus on real crime etc.

For prostitution and gambling, regulation is a must. However I guess having both legalised would hurt organised crime. Allow a union to be formed for prostitutes with testing and benefits. For Gambling you could have advice for Gamblers anonymous etc
[align=center]Head of State (President): Moncef Marzouki (Congress for the Republic)
Head of Government (Prime Minister): Hamadi Jebali (Ennahda)
Population: 10.6 Million (2012 est.)
GDP (Real): $44bn (2012 est.)
Organizations: Arab League (AL), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), African Union (AU), International Criminal Court (ICC), International Monetary Fund (IMF,) Non Aligned Movement (NAM), United Nations (UN) & World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Strained Relations/War: Saudi Arabia, Libya and Israel /None

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zzLyly
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04 Jun 2009 18.09.28
...There are a bunch of sensible reforms in schools that would reduce the costs significantly (like privatizing transportation, janitorial work, and food service to start).

^ This.

I read a few months ago that the City of Chicago* was allowing privatization of certain functions to reduce cost. The idea is that a certain company is granted the job for a few years, then they evaluate that performance and see if anyone else can do better.

(*- I think)
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zzmorty
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,05 Jun 2009 13.22.16] Marijuana I get. You still would need safety on the ingredients. If someone died because of smoking legal marijuana that would be unacceptable. The state could just add on a 5% Sales Tax and there. If the UK legalised drugs and regulated them safely they could save £10 billion per year. In a recession that’s priceless. More cops who can focus on real crime etc.

For prostitution and gambling, regulation is a must. However I guess having both legalised would hurt organised crime. Allow a union to be formed for prostitutes with testing and benefits. For Gambling you could have advice for Gamblers anonymous etc

You don't "need" government regulation of ingredient safety. There are other, better ways to do it - ways less susceptible to bribery, political influencing, etc. Market testing agencies that certify safety already exist in a number of industries, one of the more famous being Underwriters Laboratories that tests a plethora of different things.

But I don't think there's a massive need for regulation of marijuana to begin with. If its being sold by reputable businesses (as it would be if it was legalized), then they have every incentive all on their own to make sure they are selling safe products. If someone died from their products, who's going to buy from them after that? Competitors could destroy them in advertising, consumer groups would throw them under the bus, etc.

I have a rather negative view of taxes, though with legalization the price of marijuana would fall so much that a 5% sales tax would be rather trivial. It's more the worry that they'll increase it to the moon, as they are doing with cigarettes and occasionally do with liquor, that concerns me from the outset.

I doubt, too, that much real regulation needs to go into either prostitution or gambling. I could see some sort of argument from a public health perspective for the former, but still I would favor market alternatives, but certainly not the latter. Gambling addiction may be a problem, but it's not a huge problem, and in any case could be solved by non-governmental organizations.
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United States [Sel]
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Estonia [Morty
 
,05 Jun 2009 12.14.24]
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,04 Jun 2009 22.04.13] Our taxes are too low. I say spike em.

I don't understand why you think that.

I would like the 47 million people who are not as fortunate as me to be able to see a doctor when they are sick. I would like my half-sister to not suffer all day when she could be getting help. I would like my friend to not have to guess whether she's seriously sick or just has a stomach flu. I would like everyone in this country to not have to choose between work and praying their child doesn't die of a preventable illness.

I would like every last person in this country to be able to go to college so they can get a good job, so we can have more engineers and scientists. I would like to see more schools built and see them not have to worry about if they can afford a new teacher or if they can have a field trip to the zoo this year.

I want to live like people in Canada, Sweden, Finland, Britain, Germany, France, Cuba, Netherlands, and so on and I want everyone in this country to have the same. I want everyone to not have to worry about if they can "afford to get sick".
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zzmorty
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Israel [Sel Appa
 
,06 Jun 2009 23.31.43] I would like the 47 million people who are not as fortunate as me to be able to see a doctor when they are sick. I would like my half-sister to not suffer all day when she could be getting help. I would like my friend to not have to guess whether she's seriously sick or just has a stomach flu. I would like everyone in this country to not have to choose between work and praying their child doesn't die of a preventable illness.

I assume that with higher taxes your plan is to nationalize healthcare, a la most European countries. I would like our healthcare system fixed too. But doing more of what screwed it up and on a larger scale doesn't seem like the solution to me.

There is almost no industry in the United States as weighed down with regulation and government intervention than healthcare. People who talk about us having a "free market healthcare system" are either ignorant or evil.

John Stossel has done some excellent reporting on how idiotic, fascistic, and government-controlled our healthcare system is, and about the benefits of a free market in healthcare. "Sick in America" A Swedish economist, Stefan Karlsson, has a nice little "Myths and Facts" blog entry about the US healthcare system: http://stefanmikarlsson.blogspot.com/2007/...ealth-care.html

It's really the classic case of interventionism. One intervention leads to unintended consequences, which then presents politicians with a choice - eliminate the initial intervention or intervene again to deal with the new problem? You can guess which one they choose almost every time. So then that new intervention leads to more unintended consequences and we intervene again. And so on, and so forth, down the path to socialism.

Better, I would argue, to go the other way. Back to free markets. It might be hard to imagine what a free market in healthcare would look like, since in the modern world we haven't any. But all the normal economic reasoning applies - free markets provide increasing quality, decreasing prices, more competition, more innovation, etc. And, of course, less taxes. Which means more money in everyone's pockets to go out and buy health insurance, which will be considerably cheaper and better structured than in the current system, for themselves.

I'm not worried about people who would be unable to afford health insurance under a free market system, either, even discounting the fact that it will be far fewer than under any fascist or socialist system. Here's why: almost everyone I've ever talked about liberalizing healthcare with is extremely concerned with the plight of the poor and elderly. "Even if your system provides lower prices, what about those who still can't afford it?!" Charity. The fact that so many people are concerned with the plight of these people is superb evidence that they will be cared for and that people won't allow the sick to languish in the streets. And considering everyone will have more money (remember less taxes and lower prices...), they will be perfectly able to generously donate to provide health insurance for the few who will be unable to afford it.

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I would like every last person in this country to be able to go to college so they can get a good job, so we can have more engineers and scientists.


That's a horrible idea, and even the most basic economics would show why. As demand increases, what happens to the price? If you think the costs of a college education are high now, just wait until it is "free" (I imagine that's what you are proposing?) and everyone goes to college. The problem right now is that far too many people are going to college. To clarify, lots of people are going to college and paying huge sums of money to learn things that are totally worthless to their future careers.

There are precious few careers that truly require college. Doctors, okay. Teachers, fine. Engineers, good. But there are tons of careers that having a college degree makes no sense for, and time would be better spent in a vocational institution or learning through on-the-job experience and/or as an apprentice. Most people simply aren't suited for the types of careers you want to push them in to - their comparative advantage lies elsewhere.

Charles Murray wrote a great opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal regarding this issue: http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110009535

When more people go to college, it also cheapens the college experience. Unless we have an extremely hierarchical system of colleges, sort of as we do now with Ivy League type vs. state universities vs. community colleges, then this simply won't work.

And when you have the necessary hierarchy to accommodate even the worst students, the type who barely slid by in high school (even with the dreadfully low standards of modern high schools), then the new low-end college degrees will become nothing more than what the high school degree is now. There was a time when high school degrees meant something - a time before we tried to shove every square peg through round holes and more kids sensibly dropped out when the continued education was of no use to them.

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I would like to see more schools built and see them not have to worry about if they can afford a new teacher or if they can have a field trip to the zoo this year.


We've tried the "throw money at the problem" approach for decades. It's gotten worse, and worse. We've had to continually lower standards just to get kids through.

Why? Socialist schools, just like socialist factories, just like socialist grocery stores, just like socialist anythings, do not respond to consumer demands - they respond to political pressure. So what dominates? Unions that care a heck of a lot more about their membership than they do about children. Petty battles that rage in school boards and PTAs over issues of curriculum (evolution vs. ID, sex education, etc), prayer in school, and so on.

It's time to go back to before we adopted the Prussian system here in America (you can see John Taylor Gatto's "Against School" on this). Before Horace Mann and his ilk took over. I'm sure you know that public schools have always been a tool for indoctrination - that's the reason they were introduced. Who was one of the first advocates of public schools? Martin Luther. He wanted to wipe out Catholicism. In America, what was the driving force behind public schools? Anti-Catholics who wanted to eliminate parochial schools and Protestantize the Catholics in America (indeed, in some areas, you were required to be a member of a Protestant church to become a teacher).

School can be done better, and should be done better. But the answer isn't more of the same. Again, I'd check out John Stossel's ideas on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw

Quote:
 
I want everyone in this country to have the same.


So you would support the poor getting poorer, so long as the currently-rich were brought down to the same level of poverty? Even John Rawls wouldn't support that dictum.

Of course, even if you did want that, the government wouldn't be the way to do it. In the Fraiser Institute's study of economic freedom around the world, they found a significant correlation between nations which have lots of economic freedom and nations which have the smallest rich-poor gap. The largest rich-poor gaps come in the countries with the least economic freedom. Socialist nations do not "eliminate class" - they exacerbate them. Freedom has been the best leveler throughout the history of the world.
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Schwerpunkt
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That 'Against School' article is interesting, Morty. Good find.
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zzcrackzilla
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Right now, we have some of the easiest colleges to get into - and the most expensive. Other countries that have cheaper, or free college have a difficult battery of tests you have to pass in order to get accepted into the college, and if you can't pass them, you're out of luck.

That way not everyone gets into college. But right now, alot of our colleges are just farming money from insane prices. The University of washington hikes their prices every single year, and we know damned good and well that they're not hurting for money in the slightest.

And about charity - Everyone likes to say they want to help the poor, but nobody is willing to pay for it. They want someone else to do it for them, to pay for it, to do everything but take the credit. That's how our society is. So no, they wouldn't be cared for.

What needs to happen first is we need to crack down on the insurance industry. It's a complete scam as it stands now, charging insane prices and looking for any excuse to drop someone or deny their coverage. That needs to change, and if it really is going to stay privatized, we need to remove laws requiring you to have any kind of insurance (Car insurance comes to mind here. It's required by law to have it, but they're not required to give it... or be reasonable with their costs).
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zzskylar
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,07 Jun 2009 14.01.22] That 'Against School' article is interesting, Morty. Good find.

+2
I'm amused easily by childish things.
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Schwerpunkt
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I like how my car insurance, over about two years, costs more than my car did. I especially got jewed because of the young white male demographic -- shouldn't that be illegal?

As far as colleges go, take a state college over a private college any day. Class as the local community college cost about $125-150 per credit hour (so, at most, $400 for an average three hour class), whereas my friend who goes to Penn State (Delaware County campus) easily pays three times that. For the same education. He even uses the same book from time to time.

Logic(tm).
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zzmaikeru
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Yeah, but who's more likely to get a job? Someone with a degree from a community college or someone with a degree from Penn State?

I'll take Penn State.
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Not really a valid comparison. The purpose of a community college is an AS to leapfrog you two years into a 4 year school while saving money. Around here, that 4 year school would be University of Delaware.

Besides, jobs don't really discriminate based on GPA or where you got your degree until the competition for the position is fierce. So even in your hypothetical, it'd come down to related experience.
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Mexico (Hubris)
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feh, insurance should really be based on personal record.

i understand a higher premium if your a first time buyer (as in you just got your own car, and your license, et cetera) but it should go to a reasonable amount after the first 6 months/12 months.

mine was understandably high because i actually had a car accident at 16 (just about three years ago now), however since then i've been a very safe driver/haven't even gotten a ticket.

so yeah - it's sort of hypocritical against society, seeing as everyone wants equal opportunity and have everyone treated fairly and the same, however just because you're a young white male suddenly qualifies you for eternal jewdom on your insurance policy isn't really right.

and i feel like i'm typing like a retard today, so yeah. :3

ANYWAY!

(fixes typing)

I believe Community Colleges are a much better choice over State/Private Universities/Colleges. Why? Because they're much cheaper, they're just as easily accepted at most places of employment now a days, and you can get a 4 year degree by average in just 2 years. They're also great for short term flings, like certificates and such - and most State Universities will accept the credit you gain at a CC today as well.

Why spend the extra limb and go the extra mile? My best friend is like this.. he thinks he HAS to go to our State Uni (UNL), over the Local CC (Southeast Community College/SCC) because he thinks it makes it "more important", and him a better person.

feh - but yeah, I believe CC's are great.. and..

random stuff inserted here!
Such as...

The Hangover.. fucking great movie.
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zzmorty
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,07 Jun 2009 14.55.09] And about charity - Everyone likes to say they want to help the poor, but nobody is willing to pay for it. They want someone else to do it for them, to pay for it, to do everything but take the credit. That's how our society is. So no, they wouldn't be cared for.

That's not really accurate - Americans give billions to charity every year, even though half their income is confiscated by the government, even though the government already is spending billions on social programs. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect substantial increases if those two barriers to charity dropped out.

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What needs to happen first is we need to crack down on the insurance industry. It's a complete scam as it stands now, charging insane prices and looking for any excuse to drop someone or deny their coverage.


Part of the problem is that we've regulated health insurance to death as it is. They are required to insure a bunch of things which are, strictly speaking, not insurable. Insurance can only deal with accidents - things which you have control over cannot be insured. For example, your house burning down can be insured against. But you burning down your house cannot be insured against.

Another problem is that most people get insurance through their employers, not themselves. That's because of significant tax advantages that system has. But it locks people into jobs and disconnects insurance companies from their customers - meaning they are less responsive to consumer desires.

The last big problem with insurance companies is that they are not allowed to discriminate as they should. Not so much discriminate in racial terms (though, to some extent this is useful, such as when insuring against sickle-cell anemia or other racially-influenced risks), but discriminate in terms of what sort of people are grouped together. If you work in a cubicle, you would not want to pool your personal injury risk with a professional football player. But that sort of thing is largely required under the current system.
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