LilBob

The Link Between Bankruptcies and Health Care Reform

The real reason that we won't see any real reform to health care is that AMA members and individual insurance brokers support both major political parties through local campaign donations throughout the country. Does anyone really think that either the Democrats or the Republicans are going to pass legislation that will piss off two very influential groups of campaign contributors...Campaign contributors whose dollars support grass-roots political chapters all across the country. What we have right now is window dressing. If anyone was really interested in fixing the problem the reports on how to fix problems with health care would only be 120 pages long instead of 1200 pages long. One thing about the english language and government documents that will never change; the great truths come in short sentences...the longer the report, the more likely you're going to get a huge pile of BS that feigns honesty.

The real key to fixing health care (if anyone actually wanted to do that) would be anti-trust legislation to break up medical technology, pharmaceutical and insurance oligopolies-thereby increasing the number of players in the market and spurring greater free market competition. You want to know how dedicated the government really is to health care reform? Watch to see how many mergers in any of the three categories mentioned above are struck down for being counter to the interest of consumers over the course of the next two to three years.

Crackdown on Consumer Credit Continues

Traden wrote:

> Second, my suspicion is that the consumer credit numbers miss a much larger story in which some people are enduring significant declines in available credit (due to cancelled accounts and an inability to qualify for more credit)

I believe you are correct Traden. The numbers I've seen have suggested a decline of 4 and some percent in outstanding credit, which would be the result of active consumer deleveraging and charge offs of delinquent accounts. Supply of available credit appears to be diminishing at approximately the same rate as a result of non-renewal of expired credit cards, reductions in credit limits and people simply not bothering to apply for as many new credit cards.

Crackdown on Consumer Credit Continues

Economic growth will definitely continue, but the days of quick and easy returns are over. Consumers will be shopping around a good bit more, browsing garage sales and the Salvation Army, using cash more often, and avoiding credit cards with userous rates. Business plans will have to be tighter and goods will have to be of a better quality to attract the public's eye.

When I see the news about charge off rates it makes me wonder how many of those who are having difficulty paying off those credit cards are afflicted with a near constant state of buyer's remorse as they look at their giant plastic tubs filled with seasonal items from Wal-Mart, Target and similar retailers and think to themselves: "What the hell was I thinking when I bought this?"

U.S. Credit Card Defaults Soar to Record High

This is what the credit card companies get for courting less-creditworthy customers in their own version of the sub-prime crisis. For the last several years credit card companies have been eagerly pursuing customers with less than perfect credit histories so they could maximize profits from exploded interest rates and late payment fees associated with the use of these cards. It's another example of people getting too greedy and adopting half-assed business plans. I've been using one of those regional banks that's still doing fairly well for years and it wasn't until I'd been with that bank for several years and made some efforts to improve my credit score that I was finally offered a credit-card. I still have the same interest rate that I did when my card was first given to me, and every time the card has expired the new one I was issued had an increased credit limit from the previous card because I've always paid on time. The banks that stuck with old-fashioned conservative banking practices are sitting pretty after years of being nay-sayed by the bankster media for being (insert circa 2005-2007 Cramer-esque insult for conservative regional banks here).

Midday Optimism: So Far, Good News Dominates

I have to agree with the more positive voices in here, which is ironic for me because for the last several years before everything went in the tank I was saying things aren't as rosy as everyone thinks and I was told I didn't know what I was talking about. Now I've been saying that things aren't quite as bad as everyone keeps saying and people tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Which leads to my belief that if everyone is telling you that you don't know what you're talking about then you're probably on the right track. If you find people agreeing with everything you say then it's time to reevaluate your positions.

I have to agree with Tom that real estate is a good area to look at right now. My brother just bought a home in Sarasota, a 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath for a very reasonable price, and that's where real estate should be. Now that prices are back to realistic levels the market can resume a normal course again.

Consumer sales will probably never be what they were, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Do this country really need any more Target stores or Outback Steakhouses? I don't think so. I'm actually glad that we have an administration that's going to focus on building up green-tech and public education and tighten the screws on the trinkets and plastics peddlers.