In case you missed it Allentown property owners are about to get hosed in 2018.
Video of the meeting can be found HERE Fees Were Discussed At 22:24 Minute Mark
Call it a "fee" or by any other name-- it's still a tax. Anyone who believes for one minute school property taxes aren't going to reflect these increased costs to the ASD are delusional. I realize a bunch of other cities have already taken advantage of this new way of raising revenue. But to my way of thinking storm water drainage should always be part of the city budget. Itemizing city expenses like they are some bill from the hospital stinks.
How long before we start charging extra fees for specific streets swept by machines, extra for pickups on tree lined streets, repaving and a host of others I can think of?
Once we start divvying up city services--once considered the overall costs of running a city--we begin down a never ending slippery slope. This is all about politicians being able to claim they haven't raised taxes when in fact they did. I call bullshit on this kind of nonsense. This is a tax increase--plain and simple.
'Philly.com' joined the ranks of 'The Morning Call' and dozens of others who limit their views per month. Nearly every site I visit imposes popups blocking my view of their articles. In each case I "refresh" my browser and erase cookies. If that doesn't take care of the problem I leave--it's not worth it to me. Who knows what these popups do when you click on them.
Today I've been confronted with something entirely new. Norton Antivirus (which I pay for) has begun trolling me with popups for their products--even when I'm not on the internet.
I get at least four telephone calls per day. Unless I recognize the caller I let the answer machine handle it. 100% of the time they disconnect.
When I watch TV they too do a whole bunch of popups and overlays on top of what I'm watching. Cable news channels are the worst. On top of their chyrons and crawls sometimes these take up 30% of the screen. Not to mention five or six bloviators in a box.
More and more YouTube posters are self promoting or pushing some product they are being paid to hype.
I'm going to try and put this nicely as I can-- stick it up your ass-- I'm not interested. This is something I felt the need to get off my chest.
The Politics Of course I'm 100% certain it'll never get to the floor on either side of the capital dome for consideration. Hell it's lucky if committee members would even allow it to be brought up in their meetings. It's far more likely to end up in the no-can-do pile gathering dust in a closet somewhere. That said-- for some time now conservatives accused liberals of having no plan for healthcare. That the Democratic party is in disarray. Ought to be interesting to see just how true that is.
There are 192 Democrats in the House. Another 44 in the Senate plus two more Independents who caucus with the Democrats. Just what if Senator Sanders is able to round up a hundred or so who were willing to publicly support such a bill. Sure they may not be able to pry it out of committee, but it could make the upcoming election very interesting.
Is It Practical Financially? Well if it's done right I think so. The first argument right out of the box goes something like this--"I don't want to be forced to pay for someone else". Here's a flash-- we already do. What do they think, hospitals and aging homes provide services for free? No they get reimbursed from somewhere. Guess were that is. Us in the form of higher premiums and co pays.
The biggest problem we have right now is workers are getting hit three ways. One through reduced wages because companies factor in their medical costs. The second paying higher premiums and co pays for those who refuse to buy insurance then stiff the system once the bills become to high. The third is all workers are already paying through wage deductions for Medicare without getting any it's benefits until they're 65-- if they make it that far. Otherwise they don't get diddly squat.
One of the biggest faults with Medicare is it only covers those 65 years old and up. Obviously a very unsound business practice by any measure. Imagine if you will instead bringing in three times more mostly healthy middle aged and younger people contributing into the program. Imagine those employers who provide healthcare being relieved of such a burden. In most cases they could provide increased pay to cover an employees increased Medicare deduction (if there were to be one). Companies might even be able to pocket a little bit of extra loot left over for themselves.
I'd even go far as to bet for many people what they spend on co pays alone totals up more then what Medicare would cost. Possibly even some left over to get supplemental coverage.
Dem Is Just My Opinions Them and a buck won't get you a cup of coffee. However I still think it's worth our time to take a serious look into it. We haven't done it before. The idea has been tossed around like a political football for years. Let some of our congress members hash it out and see what kind of bill they can come up with. Then run it past the CBO. No harm no foul. If critics want to shut Bernie up for once and all this would be the way to go about it. Course on the other hand-- just what if?
Republicans had their chance to come up with a better plan then Obamacare and failed to either improve it or eliminate it. Would it be so crazy to consider Bernie Sanders may be onto something. Why not--- congress wasted the last 8 years--what's 1 more?
Generally speaking it may be so in the medical, pharmaceutical, scientific community, electronic design industries. Overall I dispute this oft repeated mantra for several reasons. Here's why. Summarizing Upon graduating in 1966 none us knew how to build a Mack truck, assemble Bell telephones or make steel in Bethlehem. These companies took us on fulltime teaching us the "skills" needed. They didn't hide behind the excuses when hiring. I'm certain many will argue greater skills are required then back then. Perhaps so for some occupations. But for most of today's jobs (like back then) consist of repetitive tasks which require less "experience" and "skills" then companies are willing to admit just so they can increase their profit margins.
This constant berating of American workers' skills is a disingenuous talking point. Anyone applying for such a job is best off avoiding such a company. Those who act like they are doing a favor hiring someone are not to be trusted. Do yourself a favor, walk away. Find another willing to invest their time training. It's a partnership. Companies need good workers as much as good workers need them. To think otherwise is a fallacy.
First off-- let me explain this response comes from a thick headed curmudgeon who is in no way an expert. Take it for what it's worth.
(1) Ain't no way I'm going to pay for anything these guys screwed up. If some thief steals my ID from them and takes them for a ride why should I be on the hook? This puts victims in an impossible situation. How are we suppose to come up with evidence for something that never occurred? This whole thing throws justice on it's rear. Guilty until proved innocent is totally unacceptable.
(2) If you think I'm going to sign up with you guys for protection you've gotta be nuts. You couldn't even protect yourselves with my information Why should I trust you with even more?
(3) If Equifax and other agencies really cared they'd "freeze" everyone's credit applications on their own. Why should we have to? All future applications should be "frozen" until they come up with a better way of verifying them. It's not that hard. When it comes to in-person, online mortgage/credit applications and the IRS nobody gets nothing till they FAX, email photocopies or mail various documents only they have in their possession. Crooks may have information, but in no way have hard documentation.
(4) Receivers of Social Security shouldn't feel threatened if the SS administration takes the time to mail or call beneficiaries before making changes to their direct deposits. Will they?
(5) Everyone is assuming the hackers were after money. Just what if it were a foreign country looking to screw with our elections instead? They could change elections registrations to a different party or unregistered them completely. Thus making a certain select group ineligible to vote. Then there are those who cast votes via absentee ballot. Ever think of that possibility?
No Such Thing As Being Hack Proof The DNC, pentagon, email, social media accounts and dozens of banking sites have been hacked proving there's no such thing as being 100% secure. The best we hope it doesn't screw with our finances and proof of ownership. About all we can do is-- (1) Insist on paper documentation whenever possible. (2) Not allow companies to force us to prove our innocence through no fault of our own. (3) Deal in cash whenever possible. (4) Check online our voter registrations, financial accounts and all the others challenging them whenever something seems fishy.
Most importantly, we shouldn't allow any company or government agency to get away with putting the burden of proof for our innocence on us because of their screw ups.
Course if ya wanna take more main stream advice and views then my own check out 'Forbes" on "How To Protect Yourself. They're far less curmudgeon.
In case I didn't give you enough to worry about...
Katrina and Sandy came years apart. Irma & Harvey came within days of each other. Already bankrupt Puerto Rico faces a crisis worse then before the storm. The Caribbean islands so too will face a crisis whose economies depend almost entirely on tourists. Every week about eight cruise ships carrying 2,000 or more passengers ply the waters between the Caribbean islands along with their hundreds of onboard workers on each. Dozens more of airplane flights bringing guests into the islands. I consider myself fortunate to have visited these islands in the Caribbean. By doing so I realize how fragile their economics are. How dependant their people are on visitors who expect quality accommodations. Much the same goes with tourist visitors in those previously hit by hurricanes in our own country.
We'd all like to believe somehow it'll work out and everything will be as it was before. History proves otherwise. So many lives impacted will be changed forever. No matter how you slice it, once a hurricane hits things are never the same again.
