are y'all better off than you were 4 years ago ?

[RHRanch]

soo...he has 65 employees, and doesn't provide health insurance for any of them?


and the poor get free health care now, in the form of emergency room visits. It just happens to be the most expensive form of health care - for everyone else paying for it.

A link to a description of the health care reform: http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/28/smallbusiness/supreme-court-health-reform/index.htm

You know, last time I went to the emergency room it wasn't free to me, and I am poorer than heck... I had a huge bill to pay, so on top of my health problem I also had the burden of paying back a massive medical bill. Just sayin'

 

[rufus]

Wrong China only holds about 8% of our debt and holds less then it did a year ago. They haven't been investing in our debt for years.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/04/who-do-owe-most-that-16-trillion-to-hint-it-isnt-china/

Interesting reading. http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt

 

[MamaRoo]

Quote: I wish I had hard numbers on this, I'm just drawing from memory from a conference I went to. I recall that some small portion is, or rather, can be picked up by federal aid, some by state, more by county, and a chunk by essentially private donation (through charities and such). If you hadn't paid, or petitioned for assistance you may have gotten more paid off.

My niece had a huge bill from a bad femur break and a big surgery. She paid some very small amount of the hospital bill, the rest of it was written off to charity care which she petitioned for. The ambulance bill was not removed at all and she was given a payment plan of something like $25 a month for several years.

Also, many hospitals will reduce the bill so you can pay it. What they charge is determined by committee, not by what it costs.

 

[Peep_Show]

I'll say that I am more dissatisfied than I was four years ago, which seems to be the state of the nation. Is anybody ever happy with administration?

 

[hemet dennis]

Interesting reading. http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt

So as you can see 8% isn't that much and it is getting less all the time. Japan has almost as much of our debt as China.

 

[rikithemonk]

I'll say that I am more dissatisfied than I was four years ago, which seems to be the state of the nation. Is anybody ever happy with administration?

You guys are narrowing it down too much. Stop thinking in terms of administrations. The last several administrations have been both repubs and dems. Both have been exactly the same when it came to getting us where we are right now. Both parties are the exact same. Both are responsible for the mess we are in right now.

Both need to be fired.

Both need to be shown the door.

How much longer are we going to bounce back and forth every four years? Going from repub to dem, to repub to dem, to repub to dem. That's what we've been doing. Thinking; "Well these guys lied and didn't fix it, maybe the other guys will fix it this time." They never do. They don't listen to us anymore and haven't for a very long time.

Riki

 

[jackson41]

Am I better off than I was 4 years ago? Hard to say, We lost our family business, put 6 people out of work, lost our house, now live in the woods at a cabin without running water or indoor plumbing!
However we have our health, our kids have their health, Grandkids are doing great!

We are much more self sufficient raising our own food. Enjoying Bird watching and critter watching.
So, I guess it's all about perspective and expectations, but Obama won't get my vote!

 

[chickened]

With all due respect, chickened, you are the one who doesn't understand. Telling China to pound sand is not going to help us in any way. Read the link I posted to hemet dennis about tarriffs.

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/10/24/how-congress-should-deal-with-china/

Here is one idea that would get China's attention.

 

[rufus]

So as you can see 8% isn't that much and it is getting less all the time. Japan has almost as much of our debt as China.

We are talking foreign held debt here. I get .2125 per cent held by China when I do the calculation and rounding.

 

[hemet dennis]

Because the Chinese are the source of a lot of our credit. If the US cannot roll over its debt, it will have to deal with the problem. That means they will monetize the debt. The treasury will sell worthless bonds to the fed, and then fed will give worthless currency to the US government. This is the road to hyper inflation. The bills will get paid, but the money will be worthless. And so will your savings.

Luckily, the Chinese hold so much of our currency that they cannot dump it all on the market at once. They have to let it out slowly so that they get some value for it. Ever wonder where all the gold being bought up is going? What about all of the scrap metal that is disappearing? Things of value are heading to the Middle East and Far East.

What happens when money loses value? Stores hold back merchandise because they know that it will cost them more to restock the shelves than what they can get off of the current stock. The same holds true for all other economic activity. Inflation and hyper inflation can kill an economy. No matter how much the government drops into those food stamp accounts, the recipients won't be able to buy any thing. Then we will be in a real pickle.

Sorry but I don't see where you said foreign held debt.

But all foreign debt is less then a third of our overall debt. So I don't think that 20% of about 30% is a great amount. And not enough that we need to treat them with kid gloves. We are in a trade war with China now, but we are fighting with both hands tied behind our back. Even those great tire tariffs that were put in place with such fanfare have been allowed to expire quietly.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/us-china-tires-obama_n_1908903.html