Whatever happens this November, a scary number of people are going to vote for Trump.
Saw my first South Philly house with a (not ironic) Trump sign yesterday. There was also a pope display in the window (generic Catholic pope figure/St. Peter's model, not a specific pope .that I could tell).
Make America great again.
Monday, August 22, 2016
It's New
There are genuine difficulties - and of course costs - of maintaining legacy systems, but the JFK AirTrain is new. It shouldn't already be deteriorating to the point where headways need to be significantly cut. And the Port Authority can always find extra money in one of its several back pockets.
Let Us Know How That Worked Out In About 40 Years
In my dealings with people who were paid lots of money (and not) to think deep thoughts about retirement issues, there were 3 basic things I came across:
1) Expanding Social Security is unpossible and/or undesirable. As for the former, things in politics are unpossible until they aren't. And as for undesirable, the reasons were quite clear: ????? .
2) Even for people who weren't trying to (or in the wake of Bush's failure, didn't want to be seen as trying to) privatize Social Security, there was an obsession with people have a savings account that required some sort of personal responsibility. As in, you needed an account with your name on it and you needed to choose to put some money in it. Well, ok, that wasn't working, so we'll give you the option to opt out but you still have to choose not to opt out.
3) Since 401Ks had failed to provide for retirement, privatization wasn't (this week) going to happen, and Social Security expansion was unpossible and/or undesirable because ?????? what would be great is yet another exciting new program run by the states. One more account! One more thing to keep track of! One more pile of paperwork! But it will have your name on it! And you will choose to save! Or not save! Very Important! And it will be an account! With your name on it!
What's left largely unsaid is that the current system has failed, and the exciting plan to "fix" the failed system is run the same experiment, with minor tweaks, over for another 40 years and see how that works. Of course if you just grab your trusty envelope back and do The Math, the pittance people will save in these exciting new plans will be just that, a pittance.
Their very own retirement accounts! A ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR MATCH requiring yet another line on the damn tax form, another bunch of paperwork to keep track of. Invest in GM stock now, in about 40 years those Cadillacs are going to be zooming out of the showroom, especially the self-driving ones. 20somethings will retire rich!
As for people near retirement now. Well, they fucked up. They trusted us!
1) Expanding Social Security is unpossible and/or undesirable. As for the former, things in politics are unpossible until they aren't. And as for undesirable, the reasons were quite clear: ????? .
2) Even for people who weren't trying to (or in the wake of Bush's failure, didn't want to be seen as trying to) privatize Social Security, there was an obsession with people have a savings account that required some sort of personal responsibility. As in, you needed an account with your name on it and you needed to choose to put some money in it. Well, ok, that wasn't working, so we'll give you the option to opt out but you still have to choose not to opt out.
3) Since 401Ks had failed to provide for retirement, privatization wasn't (this week) going to happen, and Social Security expansion was unpossible and/or undesirable because ?????? what would be great is yet another exciting new program run by the states. One more account! One more thing to keep track of! One more pile of paperwork! But it will have your name on it! And you will choose to save! Or not save! Very Important! And it will be an account! With your name on it!
What's left largely unsaid is that the current system has failed, and the exciting plan to "fix" the failed system is run the same experiment, with minor tweaks, over for another 40 years and see how that works. Of course if you just grab your trusty envelope back and do The Math, the pittance people will save in these exciting new plans will be just that, a pittance.
Another benefit of the state-sponsored plans will be to allow more workers to benefit from the Saver’s Credit, a federal tax credit that goes to low- and moderate-income Americans who contribute to a retirement account. Under this credit, savers are eligible to receive up to $1,000 in what’s essentially a savings match. The National Institute on Retirement Security and the Aspen Institute estimates that nearly five million people living in the Secure Choice states could become eligible for the credit as a result of being enrolled in their state’s new plan. And if Congress ever decides to make the Saver’s Credit refundable, a move many policy experts and advocates endorse, the credit’s reach – and boost to savings – would be even larger.
...
The success of these efforts carries a potential dual prize: the ability of millions of hard-working Americans to save in their own retirement accounts for the very first time, and a potentially valuable model for how government can help solve the retirement crisis.
Their very own retirement accounts! A ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR MATCH requiring yet another line on the damn tax form, another bunch of paperwork to keep track of. Invest in GM stock now, in about 40 years those Cadillacs are going to be zooming out of the showroom, especially the self-driving ones. 20somethings will retire rich!
As for people near retirement now. Well, they fucked up. They trusted us!
The Real Story
No media figure did more to help Donald out during the primary than Morning Joseph did. He basically handed his show over to Trump. Such gratitude.
Anyone seen Chris Christie lately?
Some day, when things calm down, I'll tell the real story of @JoeNBC and his very insecure long-time girlfriend, @morningmika. Two clowns!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2016
Anyone seen Chris Christie lately?
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Borrow Everything You Can
In the late 80s-90s, the advice given to people going to college was to borrow every cent you were approved for. They were low interest loans and, you know, they were student loans! They were like nice loans with nice lenders. Practically free money!
Thanks for the advice, Old Economy Steves.
Thanks for the advice, Old Economy Steves.
Maybe They Know Him
One amusing thing about this election is the consistent and unrelenting contempt the NY Daily News has had for Trump. All the way back to the beginning...
Morning Thready Goodness
Annie Laurie, at Balloon Juice, has a longish post up about the rise and demise of machine politics. Interesting. It all started with getting safe drinking water to NYC.
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit
Speaking of Whack-a-Mole.
...that's a few months old, but still fucked up and bullshit.
Here’s what the U.S. government says about the student loan you may have been tardy about paying back: “If your loan is placed with a collection agency, you will be responsible for costs incurred to get payment. The holder of your loan can take other actions to collect as well.” Those “other actions” involve withholding your tax refund or, in some cases, garnishing your wages. And, this week in Texas, they began to involve federal agents in combat gear bursting into debtors’ houses and arresting them.
...that's a few months old, but still fucked up and bullshit.
Master Persuader Filter
Weird to discover that the Dilbert guy is (among other things) what the Dilbert comic was making fun of all along...
Their World
Reading various comments by Trump and his surrogates/supporteres it's like they think all black people live under bridges with their crack dealers and are drawn out once every 4 years to vote by promises of Obamaphones. Explains a lot about why Obama himself makes them insane. It isn't just racism in the sense of hatred, though it's that too. It's like waking up every day and discovering that a unicorn is president. Does not compute.
Yah, African-Americans in this country live with and near poverty disproportionately, but poverty doesn't mean "homeless" (not only, anyway). Poor people - poor whites, too! - have lives. They're just tougher, and increasingly modern life is a bit more like a game of whack-a-mole where you're the mole. People don't just fall through our almost non-existent safety net, they get whacked right through it. So,yeah, being poor sucks, it just isn't what the Trumpians imagine it is, either urban or rural poverty. Not all black people are poor and not all poverty is a cross between what you see in The Wire and 70s post-apocalypatic urban hellscape movies.
Yah, African-Americans in this country live with and near poverty disproportionately, but poverty doesn't mean "homeless" (not only, anyway). Poor people - poor whites, too! - have lives. They're just tougher, and increasingly modern life is a bit more like a game of whack-a-mole where you're the mole. People don't just fall through our almost non-existent safety net, they get whacked right through it. So,yeah, being poor sucks, it just isn't what the Trumpians imagine it is, either urban or rural poverty. Not all black people are poor and not all poverty is a cross between what you see in The Wire and 70s post-apocalypatic urban hellscape movies.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Don't you think she looks tired?
Absent imminent death or curtailed brain function, it really doesn't matter that much whether presidential candidates have a long list of chronic illnesses. I'm 44 and I'm ready for a stool to sit on after about 15 minutes these days. I suppose the question of appropriate transparency is open to debate, but who cares? As far as I can tell, everyone over 50 in this country (or younger) has some sort of chronic something and is drugged to the gills because of it. I'm somewhat kidding, and not at all knocking people who have medical conditions. The opposite, in fact! I'm trying to point out that it's pretty normal, if not quite universal.
Kinda funny that it's about all they've got.
Kinda funny that it's about all they've got.
What About Self-Flying Cars?
I admit I post about self-driving cars in part to troll my own blog. For some reason it's a subject that pisses people off (Just a few, but I find it funny that it pisses people off. Who cares if I'm wrong? Get mad when I advocate banning them, I guess).
I actually do think they'll probably be a Bad Thing (not for all people or applications of course) if they do work, but I don't spend much time worrying about that because I don't think they'll work. They are already being used as an excuse to halt investment in other transit modes, and starting to be used an excuse to get public money. That annoys me. But otherwise, it's just talk for me. Gotta talk about something.
I actually do think they'll probably be a Bad Thing (not for all people or applications of course) if they do work, but I don't spend much time worrying about that because I don't think they'll work. They are already being used as an excuse to halt investment in other transit modes, and starting to be used an excuse to get public money. That annoys me. But otherwise, it's just talk for me. Gotta talk about something.
Freak Show
I just can't get too interested in the day to day campaign machinations - who is in, who is out - that the press obsess about. I'm not saying there's no story there, and I get that with the Trump campaign there are a few extra wrinkles that make it even more of a story, but overall the obsessive coverage is just part of the gossip-and-theater-criticism coverage of politics. Who is up, who is down, who the personalities are. I'm not immune to the appeal of celebrity gossip news, but I'd like to think this electing a president stuff is a bit more important than that. We aren't choosing between casts for the next Real World taping.
Cruel Indifference
No "we" don't actually care about the health and lives of pregnant women.
WASHINGTON ― Texas experienced a sudden and dramatic spike in pregnancy-related deaths in 2011, the same year the state slashed funding for Planned Parenthood and women’s health programs, according to a study in the September issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
After a modest increase in maternal mortality in Texas between 2000 and 2010, the rate of pregnancy-related deaths nearly doubled in 2011 and 2012 ― something researchers described as “puzzling” and out of sync with data from the other 49 states. Seventy-two women in Texas died from complications of pregnancy and childbirth in 2010, and that number jumped to 148 in 2012.
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