Harry Reid just completed his press conference in which he committed to pushing a "public option" through the Senate. What form of public option? The Opt-Out form. What is the Opt-Out form? Let's see what the legislative language says.
Does Reid have the votes to stop a filibuster? He would not say, except he did acknowledge that he does not have a single Republican on board. So he will need every single Democratic Senator to vote for cloture. Reid evaded a question as to whether he had the Democratic votes for cloture to move the bill to the floor.
Reid is sending the bill to the Congressional Budget Office for cost scoring. He will then use that score to lobby Senators, including Republican Olympia Snowe.
In other words, Reid has nothing. Not enough votes for cloture at this point. No cost estimates. Only a hope and a prayer that the CBO score will be favorable, and allow him to move a bill to the floor.
Maurice R. Greenberg, who built the American International Group into an insurance behemoth with an impenetrable maze of on- and offshore companies, is at it again.
Even as he has been lambasting the government for its handling of A.I.G. after its near collapse, Mr. Greenberg has been quietly building up a family of insurance companies that could compete with A.I.G. To fill the ranks of his venture, C.V. Starr & Company, he has been hiring some people he once employed.
Now, Mr. Greenberg may have received some unintended assistance from the United States Treasury. Just last week, the Treasury severely limited pay at A.I.G. and other companies that were bailed out by taxpayers. That may hasten the exodus of A.I.G.’s talent, sending more refugees into Mr. Greenberg’s arms, since C. V. Starr is free to pay whatever it wants.
“Basically, he’s just starting ‘A.I.G. Two’ and raiding people out of ‘A.I.G. One,’ ” said Douglas A. Love, an insurance executive who has also hired A.I.G. talent for his company, Investors Guaranty Fund of Pembroke, Bermuda.
While America generally loves stories of entrepreneurs making a comeback, Mr. Greenberg’s success may be at the expense of taxpayers. People who work in the industry say that if he is already luring A.I.G.’s people, he may soon be siphoning off its business and, therefore, its means to repay its debt to the government.
“To me, it’s just going to be a matter of time before the valuation of what he’s building is greater than the valuation of A.I.G.,” said Andrew J. Barile, an insurance consultant in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
“Basically, he’s just starting ‘A.I.G. Two’ and raiding people out of ‘A.I.G. One,’ ” said Douglas A. Love, an insurance executive who has also hired A.I.G. talent for his company, Investors Guaranty Fund of Pembroke, Bermuda.
While America generally loves stories of entrepreneurs making a comeback, Mr. Greenberg’s success may be at the expense of taxpayers. People who work in the industry say that if he is already luring A.I.G.’s people, he may soon be siphoning off its business and, therefore, its means to repay its debt to the government.
“To me, it’s just going to be a matter of time before the valuation of what he’s building is greater than the valuation of A.I.G.,” said Andrew J. Barile, an insurance consultant in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Good morning all. Pi guy, it's raining, the economy is in the tank, the house renovations are way behind schedule and over budget and I'm still sore from Sunday's excursion but that closing scene made my day. Thank you thank you thank you! (Thank ewe very much.)
Medicare has become a scary word to the doctors at the largest private group practice in Kansas City, Mo.
It's so scary that most physicians at Kansas City Internal Medicine, with 65% of its nearly 70,000 active patients age 65 or older, have stopped accepting walk-in Medicare enrollees, said Dr. David Wilt, an internist at the group.
Wilt and his colleagues say they are shunning the area's growing senior population because they believe Medicare doesn't reimburse physicians enough to cover the cost of care.
"And if Medicare further cuts its reimbursement rates, then we'll be functioning at a loss," said Wilt.
Wilt -- and doctors with lots of senior patients -- are especially troubled by a 21% cut in Medicare payments to physicians scheduled to take place in 2010.
Grandma, if you liked Medicare you're gonna LOVE the "pubic option"!
The market took it on the chin yesterday as the high unemployment is catching up to market sentiment. In addition, the dollar actually gained some value yesterday and that cause the commodity related stocks to lose out.
Early indications are that the market should open on the upside today.
But as I have been saying for some time now, if the unemployment situation does not improve fairly quickly here, don't be surprised to see a strong correction in the market. You can't have this many people out of work and have the economy grow. Many folks are falling off the unemployment roles and still can;t find a job.
You know, you'd think that Obama would worry about Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, unemployment, illegal immigration and so forth and not have a war on FOX news.
I heard a good line yesterday somewhere, it said that Obama has decided on the 40,000 troop question, and is sending them after FOX news.
And anybody in the MSM reading this, understand the FOX news question clearly. This means that if you do not toe the line, this White House will try to blackball you too.
There is clearly an "enemies list" being kept by this White House. When the Republicans did it this was unacceptable. Now that the Democrats are doing it, it is just as unacceptable.
Not only does Obama have other, much more important things to do, his little Chicago mob-style wars are not exactly having the results he no doubt wants or expects.
Thanks for the update on the market 3 wood. Always good to here a realistic forecast of what to expect. I wonder how all that stuff will actually affect the Canadian stock market?
Where is she?!?
ReplyDeleteI have searched high and low, for miss fruit-cup-a-lo!
Reposted from last thread:
ReplyDeleteCheck out this take on 0bama's health control program:
Fed Up
Read the comments, as well!
Fed up is right! :-(
ReplyDeleteHiya, Pi Guy! :-)
Thank, you littleoldlady! I'm late again!
ReplyDeleteHowdy, littleoldalady!
ReplyDeleteYes, I "scheduled" fruitcup and then I ...remembered it was time for fruitcup! LOL.
ReplyDelete/dangerous!
"We don't want your gangrene and pork
ReplyDeleteYou self-important commie dork..."
Good morning, Littleoldlady.
ReplyDeleteBat, try these tests (But don't look at the answers below until you've made your guesses).
ReplyDeleteBatGuano said...
ReplyDelete"We don't want your gangrene and pork
You self-important commie dork..."
My favorite comment from there:
I will not eat them in a box
I will not interview with FOX
The healthcare bill is ALL ABOUT JOBS
ReplyDeleteThe jobs of members of Congress, that is...
Hiya, Jack! :-)
ReplyDeleteBatGuano! :-)
littleoldlady said...
ReplyDeleteThe healthcare bill is ALL ABOUT JOBS
The jobs of members of Congress, that is...
Here's one optimistic look at Reid's announcement today:
Harry Reid: "I Have Nothing to Announce, So Pay Attention"
Harry Reid just completed his press conference in which he committed to pushing a "public option" through the Senate. What form of public option? The Opt-Out form. What is the Opt-Out form? Let's see what the legislative language says.
Does Reid have the votes to stop a filibuster? He would not say, except he did acknowledge that he does not have a single Republican on board. So he will need every single Democratic Senator to vote for cloture. Reid evaded a question as to whether he had the Democratic votes for cloture to move the bill to the floor.
Reid is sending the bill to the Congressional Budget Office for cost scoring. He will then use that score to lobby Senators, including Republican Olympia Snowe.
In other words, Reid has nothing. Not enough votes for cloture at this point. No cost estimates. Only a hope and a prayer that the CBO score will be favorable, and allow him to move a bill to the floor.
Bat, try these tests (But don't look at the answers below until you've made your guesses).
ReplyDeleteOn that test, I came out perfect.
Pi Guy,
ReplyDeleteThey don't have a bill but what they DO have is a sympathetic press who is treating the "public option" as though it was a fait accompli.
/I need to confess ... I keep wanting to type "pubic option" ...but I'm much too much of a lady for that!
I once made a joke to a friend about stealing the "l" from a "public library" sign, and he looked at me confused.
ReplyDeleteHe said, "I don't get it - 'public ibrary'?!?"
White house declares war on Fox! Brett Baier must be a member of the anti-Obama underground!
ReplyDeleteByebye, so long, farewell!
ReplyDeleteCNN Drops to Last Place Among Cable News Networks
"public ibrary"! LOLOLOLOL!
ReplyDeletelittleoldlady said...
ReplyDeleteByebye, so long, farewell!
CNN Drops to Last Place Among Cable News Networks
They'll be saved! They're an officially approved 0bama news network!
CNN is even getting beat by their own HLN station.
ReplyDeleteAnd Anderson Cooper is getting beat by reruns on MSNBC.
/THAT'S bad!
//LOL!
littleoldlady, are you experiencing schadenfreude, re: CNN?
ReplyDeleteSchadenfreud!
ReplyDeleteMaurice R. Greenberg, who built the American International Group into an insurance behemoth with an impenetrable maze of on- and offshore companies, is at it again.
Even as he has been lambasting the government for its handling of A.I.G. after its near collapse, Mr. Greenberg has been quietly building up a family of insurance companies that could compete with A.I.G. To fill the ranks of his venture, C.V. Starr & Company, he has been hiring some people he once employed.
Now, Mr. Greenberg may have received some unintended assistance from the United States Treasury. Just last week, the Treasury severely limited pay at A.I.G. and other companies that were bailed out by taxpayers. That may hasten the exodus of A.I.G.’s talent, sending more refugees into Mr. Greenberg’s arms, since C. V. Starr is free to pay whatever it wants.
Crap. LINKY
ReplyDeleteGMTA. That's all I gotta say.
ReplyDeleteMorning Lol :) Pi, Bat, Jack.
ReplyDeleteBatGuano,
ReplyDeleteOkay you! Outta my head!
/that's the 2nd thing we posted on the same wavelength...
enuff! :-)
ReplyDeletePiBatJack!
Hey, enuff!
ReplyDeleteMore from my link above...
ReplyDelete“Basically, he’s just starting ‘A.I.G. Two’ and raiding people out of ‘A.I.G. One,’ ” said Douglas A. Love, an insurance executive who has also hired A.I.G. talent for his company, Investors Guaranty Fund of Pembroke, Bermuda.
While America generally loves stories of entrepreneurs making a comeback, Mr. Greenberg’s success may be at the expense of taxpayers. People who work in the industry say that if he is already luring A.I.G.’s people, he may soon be siphoning off its business and, therefore, its means to repay its debt to the government.
“To me, it’s just going to be a matter of time before the valuation of what he’s building is greater than the valuation of A.I.G.,” said Andrew J. Barile, an insurance consultant in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
It just keeps getting better and better...
Next up...Fees for breathing.
ReplyDeletelittleoldlady said...
ReplyDeleteMore from my link above...
“Basically, he’s just starting ‘A.I.G. Two’ and raiding people out of ‘A.I.G. One,’ ” said Douglas A. Love, an insurance executive who has also hired A.I.G. talent for his company, Investors Guaranty Fund of Pembroke, Bermuda.
While America generally loves stories of entrepreneurs making a comeback, Mr. Greenberg’s success may be at the expense of taxpayers. People who work in the industry say that if he is already luring A.I.G.’s people, he may soon be siphoning off its business and, therefore, its means to repay its debt to the government.
“To me, it’s just going to be a matter of time before the valuation of what he’s building is greater than the valuation of A.I.G.,” said Andrew J. Barile, an insurance consultant in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
It just keeps getting better and better...
Yay! Good move!
Andrew Lloyd Vader announces his newest musical spectacular:
ReplyDeletePhantom of the Star Wars!
"But...but...but...we already gave you Poland and the Czech Republic!"
ReplyDelete/that's the 2nd thing we posted on the same wavelength...
ReplyDeleteSo... we dig each other and we'll be seeing each other at the officers club?
Pi Guy said...
ReplyDeleteAndrew Lloyd Vader announces his newest musical spectacular:
Phantom of the Star Wars!
The closing scene is not to be missed!
There's an OFFICERS CLUB?!
ReplyDelete/sheesh! nobody ever tells me nuttin'!
littleoldlady said...
ReplyDeleteThere's an OFFICERS CLUB?!
/sheesh! nobody ever tells me nuttin'!
Yep - just head over to Rosie's Bar...
There's an OFFICERS CLUB?!
ReplyDeleteUhh, no. There's no officers club, right General Pi?
Lol remember all the stink and fuss surrounding the paying of the quote-unquote bonuses to these same companies & people?
ReplyDeleteIIRC, they did end-up quietly paying the bonuses which in some cases only temporarily delayed the same employment migration.
...and the gubermint is going to stick its hands in health care? A some point someone is going to draw-back a bloody stump.
Well, it's getting late for me. The music of the night is calling.
ReplyDeleteGoodnight, all!
/Listen to the children of the night!
//What music they make!
The closing scene is not to be missed!
ReplyDeleteThat was funny!
Goodnight, Pi. Dream of electric sheep.
ReplyDeleteGood morning all.
ReplyDeletePi guy, it's raining, the economy is in the tank, the house renovations are way behind schedule and over budget and I'm still sore from Sunday's excursion but that closing scene made my day. Thank you thank you thank you! (Thank ewe very much.)
enuff,
ReplyDeleteA some point someone is going to draw-back a bloody stump.
I hope it's them and not us. :-(
'Night, Pi Guy! :-)
ReplyDelete'Morning, {My Rove}! :-)
How's tricks, littleoldlady?
ReplyDeleteWell, Jim, as you said, it's raining. Saturday night it rained a lot. That's when I discovered my sump pump was broken.
ReplyDeleteAfter pulling up and discarding "crapeting" for two days I don't have the strength for tricks.
/thanks for asking, though! ;-)
Goodnight, Pi. Dream of electric sheep.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's a helluva thing to walk into in a conversation. LOL
Just stopping in to wish everyone a good night/morning. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I'm up late again!
See you guys tomorrow.
Hi CC! :-) Bye, CC! :-(
ReplyDeleteOy vey! Sympathies lol.
ReplyDeleteGoodnight, CC. The electric sheep thing was a Philip Dick novel.
ReplyDeleteGood morning all, at least I think it's morning.
ReplyDelete/shambles off to buffet for fruit cup.
Hiya, Phil!
ReplyDeleteIt's dark:thirty!
/Bon appetit!
Goodnight, everyone.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, good old dark thirty. My favourite hour. :p
ReplyDelete/at least it's only dark because of the season, not the time.
Good night BatGuano, weet dreams.
ReplyDelete'Night, BatGuano! :-)
ReplyDeleteBwahahaha! If you see above you'll find a link to how low (ratings-wise...of course you all KNOW the otherwise lowness) CNN has fallen.
ReplyDeleteSo I go to the site to give those poor pathetic folks some business and...Bwahahaha!
What could go wrong?
ReplyDeleteSeniors squeezed as doctors shun Medicare
Medicare has become a scary word to the doctors at the largest private group practice in Kansas City, Mo.
It's so scary that most physicians at Kansas City Internal Medicine, with 65% of its nearly 70,000 active patients age 65 or older, have stopped accepting walk-in Medicare enrollees, said Dr. David Wilt, an internist at the group.
Wilt and his colleagues say they are shunning the area's growing senior population because they believe Medicare doesn't reimburse physicians enough to cover the cost of care.
"And if Medicare further cuts its reimbursement rates, then we'll be functioning at a loss," said Wilt.
Wilt -- and doctors with lots of senior patients -- are especially troubled by a 21% cut in Medicare payments to physicians scheduled to take place in 2010.
Grandma, if you liked Medicare you're gonna LOVE the "pubic option"!
Off to work. See you folks in an hour or so.
ReplyDeleteOkay,
ReplyDeleteFoxNews gets more viewers thanks to Obama's fight with them.
Joe Wilson saw a tremendous surge in fundraising after yelling "LIAR" during Obama's address to congress.
And now The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is on track to exceed last year's fundraising by more than $10 million, thanks in part to the Obama administration's decision to target the pro-business group, according to the organization's president.
So here's my plan to pay off my mortgage...a make a big sign that says,
BARACK
OBAMA
STINKS!
and stand outside the White House with a tin can.
See ya, Phil! :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't think that word means what you think it means (?)
ReplyDeleteForty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative
Either that or Obama has created a lot more conservatives than there were before.
Bill Kristol says "It's a good time to be a conservative"
Good morning.
ReplyDeleteThe market took it on the chin yesterday as the high unemployment is catching up to market sentiment. In addition, the dollar actually gained some value yesterday and that cause the commodity related stocks to lose out.
Early indications are that the market should open on the upside today.
But as I have been saying for some time now, if the unemployment situation does not improve fairly quickly here, don't be surprised to see a strong correction in the market. You can't have this many people out of work and have the economy grow. Many folks are falling off the unemployment roles and still can;t find a job.
You know, you'd think that Obama would worry about Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, unemployment, illegal immigration and so forth and not have a war on FOX news.
ReplyDeleteI heard a good line yesterday somewhere, it said that Obama has decided on the 40,000 troop question, and is sending them after FOX news.
And anybody in the MSM reading this, understand the FOX news question clearly. This means that if you do not toe the line, this White House will try to blackball you too.
ReplyDeleteThere is clearly an "enemies list" being kept by this White House. When the Republicans did it this was unacceptable. Now that the Democrats are doing it, it is just as unacceptable.
'Morning, 3 wood! :-)
ReplyDeleteNot only does Obama have other, much more important things to do, his little Chicago mob-style wars are not exactly having the results he no doubt wants or expects.
Did you see my mortgage-payoff plan above?
/am I a genius, or what? ;-)
Thanks for the update on the market 3 wood. Always good to here a realistic forecast of what to expect. I wonder how all that stuff will actually affect the Canadian stock market?
ReplyDeleteNew thread, btw! ↑ ↑ ↑
ReplyDelete