Tag Archives: North Carolina

Do You Hate Insurance Companies?

Posted on February 5, 2010 | 1 comment

So does this guy:

Think you’re fed up with the red tape in health insurance?

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Posted in Economics, Health Care, Politics: National

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Parents Support Current Assignments

Posted on February 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

The school board here in Wake County was elected recently with a pretty strong message from the public: We Don’t Like the Way Things Are!

With 4 seats up for grabs, a new coalition was formed.  Joining Ron Margiota are 4 new board members.  And they have two agendas:

1.  End Year Round Schools.

2.  End the Diversity program.

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Posted in Education, Politics: North Carolina

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Where Will They Go When We Become They

Posted on February 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

So, you can usually tell what someone’s priorities are by watching how they spend their “stuff”.  This could be money.  Watch how they spend their money and you’ll see where they put their priority.  It could be time.  Watch how they spend their time and you can tell what they think is important.  Further, it could be “fantasy points”.  Watch how someone allocates resources to win fantasy baseball and you’ll see what they feel is critical.

People tend to “spend” what they have, time or money, on things that they think are best for them.  This should neither be new or controversial.  In fact,, acknowledging this fact can help us to better build or economic models.

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Posted in Health Care, Politics: International, Politics: National

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Wherein Pino Shades Purple

Posted on January 6, 2010 | Leave a comment

I am beginning to feel that I am slightly less red than I thought.  And with the New Year tried to talk myself into coming out.  That resolution is turning out to be harder than I thought.  See, I am convinced that both parties are flawed and am often dismayed that by claiming allegiance to one side or the other locks you into the whole bill of goods of either.  So, with that said, there are several {many} times when I think the right, or at least far right, has it wrong.  And when I am discussing or commenting, I always feel that if I come to defend the more liberal or “Democrat”‘ish view, I will be defending ALL of the policies of the Left.  And somehow that seems worse than letting the Right get a free pass.

Maybe I can try harder and allow my trend toward the Purple shine.

So, without further ado, I wanna say that I think this is good news:

The American Law Institute, the organization that provided the framework for our current capital punishment system, has washed its hands of the whole sorry mess. Abandoning the death penalty was necessary “‘in light of the current intractable institutional and structural obstacles to ensuring a minimally adequate system for administering capital punishment.’” In other words, we don’t have a fair system, and we’re not ever gonna get one. Better to stick a fork in it than to keep pretending it will ever be workable.

Now, to be clear.  I firmly and absolutely feel that there are things that members of our tribe can do that should result in death.  When your actions are so egregious that the survival of all of us is risked, you have, in essence, self selected out.  This is not punishment or deterrence.  It’s just you can’t be part of us any longer.

With that said, our current system of laws and courts, as good as it is, simply can not and will not apply the death penalty fairly.  As such, it just can’t be part of us any longer.

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Posted in Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina

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HealthCare: Price vs. Cost

Posted on January 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

I wish that I could say that I said it.  But I didn’t; Mr. Munger did:

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Right now, our attempts at reform are doomed by a law of accounting physics: Insurance can’t cost less than the health care it insures.

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Consider: I have car insurance. But my insurance doesn’t pay for oil changes.

Instead, I go down to the Happy Lube, without an appointment, get a diagnosis of the needs of my car, and choose services based on a price list published online. Some of these services are complex, and require large expensive machines and equipment. But I don’t have to pay a separate bill, or go wait in another line, at another office or lab.

…

… compare it to car insurance, for two people. Imagine neither of us has to pay for our car repairs, from accidents or engine wear. We can go to the garage as often as we like, and get whatever service we want, for free. The car repair shop can charge our insurance whatever they want, because insurance pays everything. An oil change would bill out at $600; an alignment would bill our insurance $2,200, with another $800 tacked on to pay for micro-digital wheel axis imaging.

Of course, the services aren’t really free. At the end of every year, we sum the total repair costs for both people, and each of us pays half of that total.

The cost of that free car care would be enormous, because of all the unnecessary and overly expensive charges. Of course, the government could subsidize the final bill; would that help? The answer is no, for two clear reasons.

First, having the government (meaning taxpayers) subsidize the total would do nothing to reduce the runaway cost increases. Buyers won’t shop around if they don’t know or care about real costs. Subsidies mean I don’t pay if I spend, and I don’t save if I’m frugal.

Second, let’s expand the example from two people (each paying half) to 300 million people getting free care (but paying an equal share of total costs). We have met the public option, and it is us! Once we are all paying ourselves, there is no one else to hit up to help with the costs. We are simply taking each person’s money in taxes, then giving some of it back in subsidies. There is no saving, even to individuals.

Just good stuff.

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Posted in Economics, Health Care, Politics: North Carolina

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Tarheel Red Favorite

Posted on January 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

I really enjoy reading and listening to Mike Munger.  Mr. Munger is a professor of economics and chair of the Political Science department at Duke University.  He was also the Libertarian candidate for Governor of North Carolina in 2008.  Further, I LOVE reading reason.com.

Mixing the two is always good pleasure:

…will they burn the castle of the Al Franken monster in Congress, or will they join Sarah Palin and her populist following and simply go RINO (Republican In Name Only) hunting? The point is that we could be heading toward 1994 all over again. Or toward 1964. The tea leaves are there for the reading. Either way, it should be interesting.

Interesting indeed.  And a worthy read.

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Posted in Politics: North Carolina

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Right But Wrong

Posted on December 26, 2009 | Leave a comment

Governor Bev Purdue is right to object to the new trend in Carolina’s largest school districts; Neighborhood schools and the end of busing.

Raleigh, N.C. — As Wake County and other school districts across North Carolina shift away from busing students to achieve socio-economic diversity, Gov. Beverly Perdue and other officials fear the districts will become racially segregated.

“It’s the most troublesome thing I think that’s happened,” Perdue said of the push toward neighborhood schools from Goldsboro to Charlotte.

I think that she’s right, but for the wrong reasons.  See, I don’t think that white kids learn better than non-white kids.  Or that black kids learn less well than non-black kids.  I think that kids that come from poor families learn less well than kids that come from wealthy families.  In fact, excepting the Hallmark worthy story of the little school that could, the over whelming evidence suggests that academic success trends with income.

What it does not trend with is race.

No doubt the Governor is correct when she senses something wrong with the folks who are clamoring for neighborhood schools.  These are the folks who have been able to manipulate the system, in a very subtle way, such that the schools they attend are the best of the best.  But she has to be careful on how she debates those folks; race won’t get it done.

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Government Preventing Entire Class of People From Buying a Home

Posted on December 26, 2009 | 1 comment

The State of North Carolina claims that it is serving the people.  It claims that by relieving my money from, well, from me, they are helping other people in need.  Never mind for a second that I already help people in need through my various charity giving and other activities.  Or that the people I help are people that I think need help.  Or that, in any case, this decision on what to do with my money should be mine to make.  The State is helping an entire class of citizens, or so they claim:

Raleigh, N.C. — A program launched a year ago has helped more than 2,500 North Carolina homeowners avoid foreclosure, officials said Monday.

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Birdsong will now receive mortgage assistance, including payments for property taxes and homeowner’s insurance for at least the next nine months and could benefit for as long as two years.

That’s one way of looking at it.  The other way, of course, is to look at it this way:

Raleigh, N.C. — A program launched a year ago has prevented more than 2,500 potential North Carolina homeowners from attaining affordable housing, officials said Monday.

…

Their goal of home ownership has been prevented because select citizens will now receive mortgage assistance, including payments for property taxes and homeowner’s insurance for at least the next nine months and could benefit for as long as two years.

But serious.  I’m sure that all the people who are in danger of losing their homes are good, hard-working people who almost certainly bought a home that was within their means and needs.  Right?  No?

She said she’s most relieved that her three children will be able to spend the holidays at home.

“Each one of them has their own room. They’re like, ‘It’s mine,'” said Birdsong, a widow. “I wouldn’t want to take that from them. They’ve had enough problems already.”

So, a single mother with one revenue stream over reaches, buys a FOUR BEDROOM HOME surprisingly finds herself in a financial pinch.  And because of that, the government takes my money, thereby preventing me from giving to who I think is deserving, props up this family and keeps what would otherwise become a more affordable home from falling into the hands of more responsible home owners?  Unbelievable.

For the record, I grew up in a house that had TWO bedrooms.  Sure, after a bit we added a bedroom, but that was when my family grew from 3 to 6.  That’s 2 rooms for 4 kids.  If only I could have had my own room.

Merry Christmas.

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Posted in Economics, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina

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I Never Thought I Would Say This

Posted on December 15, 2009 | Leave a comment

You should have to have a license to be a parent.

There, I said it.  I never, EVER, thought I would say that.

Before I was as conservative as I am today, I was left of center in my college days.  Hell, I even drove to Mexico to build houses for folks who were trying to get into the country.  Though I admit even my liberal self had limits.  The YMCA group I went down there with actually wanted to smuggle an immigrant to Minnesota.  I vetoed that plan.

I digress.

You need a license to drive.  To catch a fish and check out a book.  But anyone can be a parent:

A 22-year-old North Carolina woman who put her toddler in boiling water and burned his foot with a cigarette has been sentenced to prison.

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Prosecutors said Rich put her son in a pan of boiling water in October 2008 as punishment because he was constipated. He was treated for third-degree burns on his bottom. He had a cigarette burn on his left foot and other injuries.

Serious.  Miss Rich has no business being responsible for another life.

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Posted in Politics: North Carolina

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Jerk-Ass Radio Show Host

Posted on December 15, 2009 | 1 comment

Brad and Britt.  Man, ya gotta love ’em.  I mean, even when you hate ’em, you gotta hand it to ’em.

This morning they are talking about health care legislation and Joe Lieberman.  I guess Joe is to the Democrats as Snowe is to the Republicans.  Anyway, that’s what they were talking about.

Then, during a break, Neil Boortz came on and pitched his show; a quick 15 second bit advertising his show at 10:00.  During his bit, he made mention that this health care legislation was “Government takeover of health care.”

Heh.  Brad went nuts.  He lashed out in his typical 2 octaves above normal voice and began ranting and raving.  Finally, he ended with the comment that “this is not government takeover of health care, I don’t care what a jerk-ass radio talk show host says.”

Stay classy guys, stay classy.

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Posted in Health Care, Politics: North Carolina

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