Tag Archives: politics

by David Zetland The one-handed economist Benefit-cost accounting (BCA) began with a simple comparison of monetary benefits and costs, e.g., should I invest $100 in exchange for a return of $10 per year. Then people wanted to compare more abstract values, such as the benefit of a vacation or sandwich or education against the costs of those goods. In those cases, the benefits are somewhat subjective — depending on the person, timing, etc. —...

by Joyce Vance Civil Discourse  David Hogg survived the tragic 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He went on to become one of a generation of student activists who had enough and decided to fight for gun reform instead of just waiting for the next shooting. Hogg was one of the main organizers of the March for Our Lives, the largest single day of protest against gun violence in our country. He has...

by Ten Bears Homeless on the High Desert, August 9, 2024 in g’da said Fifty Years Ago last night, Aug 8th, President Nixon shocked the country & the world in a lengthy address at 9pm est where he announced his resignation, effective the next day. It felt like the system was working. But I’m not sure it was We dropped the ball, my generation, we stopped The War! Our War. Viet Nam But we didn’t stop War. We forced Nixon to...

Apparently, JD Vance thinks so.*Not to go all anecdotal here, but in 1981, I bought my first car, a brand-new Mazda GLC hatchback, for $5770. In 2024 dollars, that’s $20,000. It had no radio, no air conditioning and no passenger-side sun visor. My most recent car purchase was a 2013 Honda Fit four-door, which I bought for $15,000. It has a radio and CD player, cruise control, air conditioning, front and side-door air bags and both driver- and...

by Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American AB: More dialogue on the less than 3% increase in inflation. The July report for consumer prices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which came out today, showed that prices rose less than 3% in the previous twelve months. Core inflation has fallen to its lowest rate since April 2021. For well over a year, wages have grown faster than inflation. President Joe Biden cheered the news but...

AB: Run down on the Trump – Musk Get Together by Bill Kristol I’m grateful to Andrew for listening to Donald Trump and Elon Musk last night and sparing me that unpleasantness. But I did listen to some of the clips this morning. Here’s my take: Trump’s awful. This is, I acknowledge, not breaking news. Trump’s awfulness has been so obvious for so long, and we now take it so much for granted, that it seems silly or gauche to point it...

Workers are getting $3/hour. Usually, we tip well beyond 20% of the bill. Maybe it is just because we struggled at times. Some of AZ’s legislators should be working for $3/hour and getting tips if they do a good job in the legislature. It does not appear they are representing people. The last go around I sat through was a House Committee meeting on HOAs which in Arizona are big business. One Rep did not like it when I said during the meeting his...

About ten years ago, we had 22 solar panels installed on the roof of our St. Louis house. Half the cost was paid by Ameren, the electric utility, and we got a 30% tax rebate on the balance. But even with reversible metering, we hadn’t made back our cost when we sold the house two years ago. At that time, ours was among only about a half-dozen homes in our neighborhood with rooftop solar. Here in Rumford RI, there are at least twice as many.California...

There should not be political issues with or in healthcare. Healthcare is a social responsibility to be brought to all people in this nation without regard to citizenship. Yet we still find many citizens resistant to healthcare availability. And why should there not be? If they are sick, why not cure them so as to prevent the spread? Healthcare is not a privilege; it is a right for every person who walks this nations grounds. The following to...

I have been picking up more healthcare commentary which depicts the difficulty in providing healthcare at a sustainable cost. This brief commentary depicts one of the problematic issues for people. I believe this sentence makes the issue very clear. Copay accumulators are programs health plans use to prevent copay assistance from counting toward patients’ deductibles or out-of-pocket maximums. They do not count towards a deductible which the patient...