Whats going on in america?

[CMoon]

So when's the next election so these a-holes can get voted out? Or are these guys all from states where having political temper tantrums is considered cool?

[undamned]

Humorous yet excellent depiction of what's going on with the American financial "crisis":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li0no7O9zmE

-ud

[BryanM]

So when's the next election so these a-holes can get voted out? Or are these guys all from states where having political temper tantrums is considered cool?

Nov 4 2014 for most of them.

To take control of the house again, Democrats have to win the popular vote by like 6 or 7%. Unlikely, especially in a midterm, but who knows what these maniacs will do in the meantime.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'll tell you what they're going to do: Rand Paul voted against the measure that reopened the government, and he's sitting on Debt Bowl 2011 Part Deux, along with most of the other people who tried to find an agreement last time. Now, some people are saying he might be a bridge to the Tea Party, but that's a tough pitch for him to make, even if he is so inclined.

Just as important is the question of when states are going to turn their back on the last decade of gerrymandering, and when we're going to figure out how to deal with the influence of big money on politics (if that matters).

The midterm races are, like any other race, about excitement (or what the American National Election Survey calls "cong_care_who" and "pres_care_who" - there are actually people who are potential voters who don't care much, or at all, about who wins in House races and the Presidential race (respectively). In 2010 it was probably easier for people to be excited about Tea Party deficit reduction plans and austerianism because it hadn't seriously been pushed in Congress (apologies to the optometrist, Dr. Ron Paul).

Now that people have a baseline about what that looks like, it could change enthusiasm, among different groups. My main observation through all this is that although Republicans have taken it on the chin more than have Democrats, many voters have become displeased with the performance of both parties. That doesn't favor excited voters going to the polls. It seems easier to read an election if there is obviously a story that favors turnout for a candidate - harder for me to say what's going to happen if nobody really wants to vote.

[Domino]

Insurance update:

So I got the new insurance rates from my job today. Some things on it was good and some aren't good.

For me only the bad is that my insurance is going up by $8.90 per paycheck and now it is $54 per pay period. The good news is that everything else stays the same ($1000 deductible with $2000 maximum out of pocket in network + a shit ton of other stuff that is included). FYI my plan is the 80/60 In network/Out network plan.

One big change is bye bye the 90/70 In network/Out network plan. It was pretty overpriced to begin with. Doing the family on the 90/70 cost you $245.60 per pay check. Only plus size is the very low deductible of $500 and the $1000 maximum in network.

Because this is going away the 80/60 is your best choice right now. The new family cost is $175.38 per pay period. Going from the 90/70 to the 80/60 means lower amount per paid per period but higher out of pocket cost (increase of about $1500). The old 80/60 family plan was $137.75.

Here's a little snip from my info section:

As you’ll see, we’ve made some important changes:n We’re responding in a smart and proactive way to health care reform by ensuring you have the flexibility of choice between medical plans that are cost-effective for both you and the organization.We are increasing our contributions to the medical plans in 2014 to offset some of the Affordable Care Act costs and our increased costs year-over-year. To make this possible, we are streamlining our benefit offerings. Finally, we’ve enhanced several features of other important programs. For example, we’ve made improvements to both the Dental and Vision plans based in part on feedback we heard from employees.

Yes, someone did ask once again if they are going to offer rebates for the marketplace. The answer was a very long discussion that means NO!