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joec
Participant[quote=enron_by_the_sea][quote=joec]
One reason Clinton has so much black support is because she works to get her black friends elected so they are returning the favor…
[/quote]That sounds insulting to the people who voted for her. A more simple explanation might be that the issue that Bernie has been raising does not resonate highly with minorities.
BTW I have high respect for Bernie’s excellent civil rights record.[/quote]
People are voting Clinton to avoid the total mess that “maybe” Trump (hey, who knows, maybe it’ll work out) and limited change overall to Obama’s policies…(hopefully…).
I don’t think it’s untrue when surveyed, many people, even within the democratic party find Clinton untrustworthy and fairly self serving…Democrats would prefer someone else, but apparently, there is no one else qualified…or even wants the job.
Participant[quote=La Jolla Renter]Just saw this in a email feed. Great read.
...the over 75 million “mainlining” Costco members (and growing at a high single digit percentage rate annually), with an average annual income of $100,000, paying a $55 annual membership fee (or $110 for an executive level membership). Three million members a day enter Costco’s stores to get their fix.
Yes, you read those numbers right. In today’s over-stored and over-stuffed retail environment, the equivalent of almost one-fifth of the U.S. population is paying for the privilege to shop at a particular store. And this is not a one-off, let’s-see-what-it’s-like kind of visit. The renewal rate is a whopping 90 percent each year. I guess that captures the power of an addict’s behavior.
Not only is 80 percent of Costco’s gross margin and 70 percent of its operating income derived from its Costcoholics’ membership fees, Costco collects most of its profits 12 months in advance, not at the eleventh hour of the fiscal year like most other retailers.[/quote]
A good about Costco is that they have a rule that limits their profit margins to a small number. Investors have been urging them to raise prices and increase margins, but they have resisted for 40+ years...They still sell $1.50 hotdogs.
This is why they try to make money from their memberships since they aren't making much on everything they sell. Also, their warranty for stuff is pretty much top notch. They changed electronics due to people abusing it, but most other items still can be returned without much, if any hassles.
Amazon is trying to do this with their Prime, but if you check prices, you'll notice that Amazon prices are pretty bad now most of the time...Also, returns AREN'T free for a lot of items and service has suffered as they try to start making money (counterfeit items, poor packing, etc...)
They also overprice their MSRP for a lot of products (to make it look cheaper (greater percent off)) and purposely delay shipment of items if you aren't a prime member.
Sometimes, prime, you also have to "wait" while they process your order before 2 day ship...
Amazon also has a history of undercutting rivals till they are dead, then raise prices after they are gone. Or they buy whoever they can't beat...
Yes, I am not a fan of Amazon...anymore.
Participant[quote=Sandi Egan]Trump’s success has nothing to do with his policy proposals, issue stances etc. People are just fed up – pure and simple – with the status quo. Polls consistently show that overwhelming majority of citizens think the country is on the wrong track. Voting for any establishment politician only perpetuates the problem. So a vote for Trump is really a vote against the establishment.
Here’s what some of his supporters have to say. Note the diverse demographic: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/03/secret-donald-trump-voters-speak-outBTW, I am NOT a Trump supporter. I would seriously consider Bernie, given a chance. I strongly believe that if a system doesn’t work, it’s my duty to vote for a change. And if the system is fundamentally flawed, the change must be equally radical.[/quote]
I also think this is what’s happening. A lot of people simply want politics to change and to change radically.
Part of it is to destroy the republican party since it’s pretty dead already. I don’t see why someone labeled “Republican” HAS to, say be conservative and pro-life, strong military, etc etc etc, anti healthcare (all the candidates pretty much want to remove healthcare for all…)…It’d be nicer if people just had a stance on issues without this party or that.
Maybe this year, destroy the republican party as a party, in 4 years, destroy the democrats also and remove all the establishment candidates.
One reason Clinton has so much black support is because she works to get her black friends elected so they are returning the favor…
Again, that’s all normal in life and how the world works, but most people would agree there is too much money in politics in general and the system is pretty unfair to help the elites win elections (Superdelegates for Clinton)…
I’m hoping some major issue comes up with the email server or something else and Clinton honestly can’t run…
Don’t see how Trump can stop her unless all the Bernie supporters move to support Trump just to vote “anti-establishment”.
Participant[quote=FlyerInHi]Party loyalty will cause many republicans to hold their noses and vote for Trump. There will be more turn out among low education Republicans for sure.[/quote]
What’s sad is for republicans, if they don’t vote for trump now has Hillary as a choice instead…
For the Dems, if they hate Hillary, it’s Trump…
Who do they hate more?
ParticipantSo am I the only one here who doesn’t like Hillary? I really hate 2 party politics.
February 23, 2016 at 6:06 PM in reply to: How will unfunded “pensions” affect the local economy? #794796ParticipantThis retirement problem I think will be a major issue in the next few decades. I agree that anyone not saving themselves should get very little help, but if they offer nothing, what you will just have is people purposely committing crime to get locked up. That costs a TON more money than probably basic living expenses which should have been forced taken from people when they were younger.
I read this was also happening in Japan (trying to get jailed) since at least you are fed and have a roof over your head…and the medicines…(and the added loving at night)…
All that said, I think they probably should setup something very minimally (to prevent people living/dieing on the streets), but not doing anything and saying “tough” would just lead to more crime and people locked up which will cost all of us more money.
I think putting someone in jail costs over 50k or much more a year…Pretty wasteful.
Maybe they should setup old dorms or something where they can live/work and do simply tasks for their living expenses…and healthcare.
Participant[quote=bearishgurl][quote=FlyerInHi] . . . Not sure what your problem with ACA is but employees of small businesses can now have buy insurance through the exchanges. It’s wonderful if the small business did not provide insurance before.
Employers can help their employees with the premiums through pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA)[/quote]FIH, is your current employer in CA, and if so, do they participate in SHOP?
Please enjoy these (enlightening) links in succession, brian:
Covered California releases online small business enrollment for SHOP
http://insuremekevin.com/wpfb-file/2015-shop-benefits-pdf/
http://insuremekevin.com/wpfb-file/certified-insurance-agents-in-shop-resolution-2015-63-pdf/
The above is just the “tip of the iceberg” of CC’s surreal dysfunction from only one certified agent’s view. It gets worse …. MUCH worse. And GOOD LUCK to your employer! Hope they are in NV, lol…[/quote]
Maybe your ACA plan sucks because it’s a “Blue” Cross/Shield/Anthem plan. Those have all got to be the most devious businesses and they are all horrid. When you have to essentially go to a middle man to see what is covered, you’re royally fked…
I had one of those at first since it looked like my doctor was there, but low and behold, they lied and they weren’t.
I decided to just go with Sharp in San Diego…Coverage is great and no hassles at all.
It’s not national, but I have had only non-stop problems with the “Blue” cross/anthem/shield plans.
Maybe a change is all you need and your problems will be less/go away.
Participant[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=kcal09]For those who don’t “get” Trump’s appeal, let me suggest a few things you might want to research. First, talk to blue collar people. They love him. Don’t lecture these people. Just listen to them. Watch his campaign ads. Listen to his speeches to his followers. Listen to what his followers say to the press who interview him. The silent majority is voting with their middle finger, and the middle finger is directed at the political establishment. Hillary won’t win. She can’t even win over the democrat voters.
If money and influence in political and business circles made any difference in this race, Hillary and Jeb would be winning by large margins.
Love him or hate him, he has unleashed a floodgate of pent up American frustration. It will be interesting, if not entertaining, to watch his performance as president.[/quote]What are Trump supporters angry about?
I believe the republicans manufactured the discontent. Now it’s coming to bite them in the ass.[/quote]
I don’t know exactly why, but I am one of the 7 out of 10 people who also don’t like Clinton…at all…enough I’d rather vote for anyone but her.
I have read that if she wins the nod, she’d maybe get Bernie as her VP to get his voter’s support, but I don’t know if that’d happen since they would conflict with their idealogy…
I’d love to see if there could be a Sanders/Warren ticket…
If Bernie doesn’t get the nod, I am also tempted to go Trump just to give the middle finger too to the establishment. That and I don’t want Hillary to win.
Maybe people are just tired of seeing everything seem to have some special interest or favor bent. Just read in the paper how some guy who started charter schools in San Diego got a nice kickback of 5% at all the schools. You see this in nearly everything you read or watch.
I also don’t believe you can ever “take” special interest money and not be affected by it so Hillary, to me is just the same old same old. Nothing will get done since everything will be blocked by Republicans.
My hope is that we start taking private money out of politics, lose the 2 party system and start getting MORE non-establishment people elected so the system can change over the next 20 years…
This can be accelerated a lot if Bernie wins since not only among republicans, but I think a lot of dems are pretty annoyed in general. If you look at some of the videos of the democratic national chair, her whole comment is that she wants to keep the people “they” want elected and everyone else can pretty much go to hell. If you are in that group, good for you, but for anyone else, I think this system only benefits the old establishment…
Also, I liked the Inequality for all Documentary by Robert Reich. Here are some comments for Sanders. He has known Hillary since she was 19 and also SERVED on the Clinton administration as Secretary of Labor. He supports Sanders to fix our political system.
Everyone just knows the system is rigged (things are done for friends of elected officials) due to too much money in politics.
Have a look:
http://robertreich.org/post/137454417985Yes, taxes will go up, but maybe in 50 years, a large violent group of people WON’T revolt…
Participant[quote=svelte]You guys worry way too much about hair.
If you lose it in your 20s, yeah that would be a bummer. But by the time you’re 40s or even 30s, no big deal.
Agree that large and bald isn’t too great a look, but svelte and bald is pretty sharp.
My wife and I went to see Furious 7 due to something that was in it that piqued my interest. My son told me his GF was dying to see it, they went and she loved it. Now she’s not a car or action movie person, so I figured it had to be the guys in the film. To my surprise, most have a shaved head! Not sure which one had her interest, but I found it interesting.
Shaving my head is actually very liberating. Minimizes get-ready time in the AM. Looks very masculine. Haven’t noticed any difference in how I’m treated. Only drawbacks: when it’s very cold (but a black beanie looks really good!) and it’s hard to shake up my looks (so I change facial hair styles once in a while).
Other than that, no regrets. I think it looks way better than gray hair actually…those dudes walking around with large manes of gray look o-l-d.[/quote]
Shaved heads look good if you are buff/fit/muscular…but if you are skinny or scrawny, a shaved head only looks like you have cancer and are undergoing chemo…
I think no hair at age 40+ and people not caring is only true because a lot of people have kids and are married so they “loss” the need/desire to impress the ladies (to get married/sex/etc…).
Without that care, some people (me included) see it as a waste of time/resources to look great/etc or spend a lot of money to achieve it.
This applies almost only to men as women seem to care even at age 70+. See those old grandmas carrying umbrellas on a sunny day? No one cares if you look old and wrinkly!
ParticipantThis happened to my dad once…there was some out of town realtor who sold for below market and every thing was signed…The owner then wanted to back out since it was lower than they wanted… but I think my dad forced the sale since he already had all your t’s/i’s crossed, dotted/signed, etc…(valid contract)…
Like it was mentioned, you can force the sale if all the contract stuff was done, but you should probably consult an attorney…anything verbal is not legally binding.
ParticipantThe 2 terrorists in the San Bernardino attacks had a prosper loan:
Another concern is people getting loans and just ditching/leaving the country.
Not a loan, but I knew some Asian foreign students did this with their credit cards back in the day…
December 13, 2015 at 5:47 PM in reply to: Need advice on finding a good RE agent to buy and mortgage lender #792518ParticipantNo idea on the airport stuff, but IMO, looking daily is just a waste of time. Maybe with kids, I don’t like to use my time that way and thought when I was house searching, all the open houses, driving around, checking new listing daily was just a drag…also, supply is very low in general (we’re talking 1-2 months here vs. normally 6 months+).
If you’re “hoping” for a good deal, it’ll never happen. You’re better off making friends with real estate people who really know their area/stuff (maybe some airport area person who does 90% of the biz in that type?) and have them contact you.
Good deals usually won’t even be posted so unless you have an in, you won’t get those I don’t think without contacts or watching it daily.
I suppose my TL:DR of this idea is:
You can watch it all you want, but nothing will happen so it’s all a waste of time.December 11, 2015 at 6:12 PM in reply to: Need advice on finding a good RE agent to buy and mortgage lender #792482ParticipantIf you talk to a lot of people who looked for homes, a lot of times, with a limited budget (pretty much everyone), you’re going to have to see what’s really important to you since the supply is so low.
I don’t think the agent or loan person is that important, but actually finding a home you actually want to live in is insanely hard, especially for older homes or areas…
When I was looking, every single damn weekend or day, it’s so tiring. After seeing like 20 homes, you’ll instantly know if you’d ever want to live in a place so if you do, you probably need to put a best offer or someone else will since ‘good’ move in or low problem homes seem much more desired.
HLS here on the loan side sounds reputable and some people here have used his help.
Participant[quote=bewildering][quote]I feel like it’s a great time to sell, and buyers should exercise extreme caution.[/quote]
Where would you live if you sold? Rents are crazy. It is cheaper for me to pay my mortgage than rent (even a lesser property), and we only bought at the beginning of 2014.[/quote]
I mentioned this before as well. Do your own numbers…If it’s cheaper to buy where you rent (assuming 20% down and tax benefits), then I wouldn’t be too concerned with bubble talk.
I feel the main people who are calling it as this or that fall in 2 camps:
1) Renting and sad, can’t find what they want and waiting to buy, have cash or want to buy even more: IT’S A BUBBLE! PRICES ARE CRAZY, NO ONE CAN AFFORD THIS!
2) Own, living their lives, raising their kids in the school they want/like: No bubble here, rents are insane and more than my rent, until rent goes down, homes can’t/won’t go down.
Seriously, in many areas, rents are just crazy.
It also isn’t the same as in 2005-2007 when people and loan brokers lied a lot on mortgage apps and EVERYONE got approved, even dead people.
This was due to loan brokers wanting to package and sell the loans since they get paid for it each time.
I knew brokers who were purposely getting higher mortgage rates so they can keep refi-ing themselves and friends for more commish and getting cash back.
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