If Illinois paid for the upkeep, stabling and vet costs for every unsuccessful T-Bred, how many more horses would be produced?

Now substitute humans for horses.

Then consider Mexican bred horses to be eligible 'restricted State bred' races.

Face it we're FUBAR'ed

But as long as a gay couple gets denied a gay wedding cake we have a squirrel to focus on.

god, that is so true.
so often i see or hear people talking about how they're just a few dollars above the limit, so no help for health issues, education/college, and the like.
you're not poor, but you're not where you can really afford some things, but there's no help because of total income. you go from assistance to nothing just like that.
my assistants good friend had a son with heart problems, ended up having to get a transplant heart...a few weeks later, he passed. they got no help at all with all of that, because he worked. so, they have bills like mad. quite often medical is what puts people in the poor house.

^^^^
THIS

Thisthisthis.

I shake my head when people grouse about the inheritance tax, which will not affect any but the very wealthy, completely ignoring the fact that the cost of health care in this country amounts to a 100 percent inheritance tax on the middle class, since the majority of people incur most of their health care costs in the last six months of life and it often eats up whatever they might have had left for their descendants.

My parents' health care costs are absolutely eating up everything my dad spent his life saving for retirement. A relative who just passed away was paying $700 a month for her health insurance premium. She was regularly down to $20 in her checking account a day or so before the next SS payment came in.

'this' what?

another issue that has yet to be tackled....
we are living longer and longer--who's going to pick up the tab for end of life care? right now, you spend down til you're indigent and then medicaid pays-medicare doesn't after 90 days. so after 3 months, if you have to stay-you have to dig really deep. if you're married, spouse can stay in home-and keep one car. the rest have to be sold. life insurance with cash value? you have to either cash it in and give the money to the nursing home, or sign it over to the funeral home.
the average nursing home is over $6k a month for a semi-private room. that's just to stay, that doesn't include any medical care, etc. average length of stay, 2 years.

Meet my neighbors, the Pearce's. Because of where their farmland is located it's probably worth in the neighborhood of $30 million, probably another 5 million in structures and equipment. But yea, let's make his heirs pay $10 million in inheritance taxes and be forced to sell off a third of the land for development because Bob and the 5 generations before him worked too hard! :wf

http://www.pearcefarms.com/about.htm

And now they are saying babies born today could live to 120 or longer. Does anyone ever think about the unintended consequences of this? There isn't enough resources, food, water, jobs to support the current inhabitants of this rock we live on. Think how bad it will be if people start living longer and longer? As I told my friend , the way things are I'm happy that I am mid-way into the far turn

I'm just hoping it's a 6 furlong race and I don't have to go around again.

yeah, i know of life insurance policies that don't mature til age 120-used to be 100. more and more are living past age 100.
thankfully we are having less kids here, and hopefully eventually less all over (hey, catholic church, quit with the preaching against birth control-be fruitful and multiply can only go so far).
current population growth was .7% when i last looked-without immigration, we'd have negative growth.

but yeah, we don't have infinite resources. last i heard we still just have the one planet.


The population of the world is 7.28 billion people as of January 2015.
•During the 20th century alone, the population in the world has grown from 1.65 billion to 6 billion.
•In 1970, there were roughly half as many people in the world as there are now.
•Because of declining growth rates, it will now take over 200 years to double again.


it better not double again. a study i read about not long ago said the max capacity for earth is 10 billion.

was excellent.

The above has been your daily installment of "people who don't understand how the estate tax works." Here's a link to set your mind at rest, Dell, regarding your neighbors and the hypothetical value of their farm:

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2655

:tro:


a lot of wealthier people buy 'second to die' life insurance policies. that way, when both parts of the married couple pass, the benefits are paid, tax free of course, to the person inheriting in order to pay estate taxes.

That is very interesting; I didn't know that. I know someone who works in trusts and estates at a law firm, and he said most of what the law firm does is help ultra wealthy folks figure out how to avoid their estates paying out any taxes at all when they die. Lotta money and valuables held "in trust," which means that an individual doesn't technically own it, a trust, which never dies, owns it.

Of course, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has estate tax on everything a person owns, and if you aren't a direct descendant of the person, the tax will be 15 percent (it's 4.5 percent on direct descendants). So probably the best legal advice there is not to die as a resident of Pennsylvania. ;)

Ask him about it, its a very clever way to handle those taxes. Then on trusts, you have revocable and irrevocable...the latter is probably what wealthier folks do..I know when we talked to the guy handling our trust, I asked if revocable would protect against what I said above about nursing homes, it doesn't. There are rules tho to protect one spouse if other has to get care..Not sure about irrevocable...fits for some but I didn't ask about it. But some folks are uncomfortable with the irrevocable part! Also,, wealthy folks can afford a nursing home or home health..or they have long term care insurance. I recommend everyone look into that!
You can make the trust the beneficiary of life insurance....but you can also place someone else as the policy owner to protect it in case of a nursing home issue, just has to be at least five years before. Right now its a five year look back for assets, but they're talking about changing it to seven...


Oh, and if anyone is buying CDs to have money to leave their kids...take at least a third of that money and buy a life policy.
A 5000 CD gets you five k, and then interest right now is beyond awful
. take that five k to your life agent, let him/her show you what it will do.

A life policy with a beneficiary is also a way to circumnavigate estate tax if your state imposes it. Unless, of course, you list "Estate of" as your beneficiary!

No kidding about CDs having crappy interest rates. Inflation is still talked about like the big bugaboo, but the US policy on keeping it low has led to savings accounts and CDs being worthless as places to grow your income. I remember opening an IRA when I was 25, and then at some point a few years later looking at the calculations of how much I'd have at retirement if I kept it in a basic savings IRA.

I went out the next day and bought "Mutual Funds for Dummies." ;)

And in the D'oh! Department:

http://crooksandliars.com/2015/02/sh...fy-aca-raising

Had a lady in my office the other day...Hubby's a truck driver, they had no health insurance. She had to have open heart surgery, they are struggling to pay over 200k in bills from that. She'd had testing done, the doc called her and said go to the er immediately. Had they not done that testing, we wouldn't have ever had that conversation, because she would be dead.
Also, luckily, they now have insurance because she can no longer be denied due to preexisting issues.

Jesus- $200k! I saw that Arizona sheriff had something like $22,000 raised so far for his and his wife's health bills. I wonder how much of them that will cover.

I hate to think the bills the parents of the little boy that ended up with a heart transplant. And hed lived in children's for months before the transplant. I'll never forget how excited everyone was when he got his heart...and for the first time in forever, actually had color in his face. God, that poor baby. His name was Jude....and that's the name of the patron saint of lost causes.

My friend who had a double lung transplant said her bills are in the seven figure range. She'll never pay them all off. All because she had the same condition her dad had (who died in from it in the 1980s, just as they were starting to succeed with transplants. What huge strides medicine has made in 30 years!).

For those with previously undiagnosed diabetes, the ACA is working out very well:

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/con....full.pdf+html

The TL: DR summary is that for states that expanded Medicaid via the ACA, there has been a big increase in diagnosis of early stage diabetes, and in those states that have not, there has not. To quote our VP, that's a big f*cking deal, because the earlier diabetes can be identified and addressed, the cheaper the care is. Amputation, kidney dialysis and seeing-eye dogs are hella expensive.

I look forward to Ted Cruz running on "Obamacare gives people diabetes!"

That is hilarious that the author doesn't mention all the people whose premiums have skyrocketed and whose doctors will not take their insurance. The author says that none of the predictions of the Republicans came true. Many of the most important predictions came true. They said that with the ACA you would not be able to keep your plan, you would not be able to see your doctor, and your premium would skyrocket. That is exactly what happened to me and to millions of others.

If a guy is going to write a fair article about the ACA, how could he fail to mention that? If I was going to write an honest article, I would have to mention both the good and the bad. For example, even though I hate the ACA I know that it is good for some people. It will help people with pre-existing conditions.

How can this author not mention the bad parts of the ACA? That is simply a dishonest article.

Contrary to goals, ER visits rise under Obamacare

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...-act/26625571/

I know - one would think being the producer for The Rachel Maddow Show he would be more fair and balanced :rolleyes:

Interesting piece on a guy who chose not to get coverage under the Affordable Care Act, had something bad happen, and now, because the deadline has passed, can't get coverage.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/new...e20696283.html

He made choices, they were the wrong ones, and he's still blaming Obama for it. It would be funny if his situation weren't so sad.

that same thing happens every day, with every type of insurance. it's mindboggling.
a few years back when sandy hit the northeast, a woman was complaining on tv, online, all over....she had a homeowners policy, but of course it doesn't cover flood.
they had a flood policy, but they cancelled because they'd paid more over the years for it, than they'd gotten any back (an odd way to view insurance, it's not an investment). so, she had no house any more cause it got washed away--um, you're an idiot. and it wasn't allstates fault you're an idiot
people bad mouth insurance til the sun goes down. til they need it. they think it's a waste of money, til they need it.

i really hope we get single payer soon...i'm tired of the current state of affairs. the old system was unworkable and broken, so is the new one.
put everyone on medicare, today. that gets rid of medicaid and all associated issues/red tape, etc.
no more health care thru employers, no more yearly enrollments, no irs involved, none of that. health insurance companies can sell supplements to whoever wants it/needs it like they do now for medicare patients. blam, done.

This douche bag has a $300K house. Hello!!!

He has no one to blame but himself for neglecting his own health. (Love the pack of Marlboro's in his pocket)

Maybe he could go out, sell some crack, and get arrested while he can still see. Ironic as it is, as a prisoner he's 'entitled' to healthcare.

A man who won't apply for social security disability because it takes too long is either a lazy fool or has something to hide, like not paying taxes on his income.

Something about this story stinks, and stinks bad but for the sake of presenting a pro-Obamacare/anti-republican stance the author and or editor choose to pinch their noses and leave the turds where they lay.

I agree. Everyone needs health care at some point in their lives; it makes no sense to treat it as "insurance." This guy is a classic example. He didn't need health care until he did.

As was pointed out on the site where I found the link to the article, pre-ACA it's not like he'd be doing any better, because fat chance that any private health insurers would have taken him, what with his diabetes as a pre-existing condition. Or, also possible, they'd have taken him and charged him a sh*tload in premiums, but disallowed any health issues that arose as a result of his diabetes. Like this eye surgery.

This idiot admits to neglecting his diabetes and his health in general and should be held responsible. Young, healthy, non-smoking, diet conscience, fit individuals just starting off their professional careers in no way should be subsidizing him. For Christ sake he's going blind with a $300K house and still has the audacity to complain with a pack of smokes in his breast pocket. He should pay, no one else!

I take it you would also like to see Medicare abolished so the elderly can fend for themselves, too?

Of course not, however since the average age a person lives/works has gone up so should the minimum qualifying age for Medicare and SS.

I also think cigarette and liquor taxes should be dedicated exclusively to healthcare just as SS payments be dedicated to the SS system.

Why not? If the elderly had taken better care of themselves when they were younger, they wouldn't need health care. That's your argument- people's health problems are their own faults. Explain to me, since you're clearly a medical expert, what my mom, who died at 35 from breast cancer, did to give it to herself. Because I'm sure the medical community would love to know.

I've got news for you; people smoke and never suffer health problems, people never smoke and die of lung cancer. My maternal grandparents were both thin their whole lives and they both still ended up with Type 2 diabetes. This guy was an idiot for smoking, but he was a bigger idiot for flouting the law and not buying health insurance when it was made possible for someone like him, with a preexisting condition, to do so. That said, to quote an excellent comment I read about this:

"Being a progressive and a liberal means having compassion for others, even those who make stupid ****ing mistakes. Although I think the guy is 100% wrong, I don’t think he should go blind because he’s a moron. If you do, you need to seriously go and reevaluate your moral system."

Get real.

Sometimes it's not their fault, but it's also not mine or anyone else's fault, sans maybe you're maternal grandmother's family genes for your mom's (sorry) breast cancer.

I encourage you to lookup smoking and its relationship to lung cancer.

Again family history may be to blame but certainly young healthy individuals were/are not.

I still maintain he was a bigger idiot for smoking and currently is a complete douche bag, moron to continue smoking while "crying woe is me."

I don't think he should go blind because he's a moron and am sorry for his situation. However being a reality based, fiscal conservative, I have a clear conscience that I bear no responsibility for his situation.

Contrary to what you wrote, being a progressive and liberal means living in a world of feelings rather than facts, holding no one responsible for themselves, and blaming anyone not progressive and liberal for all of life's problems.

A perfect example was when Obama blamed global warming for triggering his daughter's asthma attack rather than considering it might have been his 2nd hand cigarette smoke he was exposing her to. Or blaming LA pollution for not being able to go out for a run instead of sitting inside and smoking pot.:zz:

i really think people like to point fingers and say 'so and so did it to themselves' because they think they aren't stupid, and therefore will never need assistance-they're too smart, so it'll never happen to them. and then it happens to them, and they're blindsided.
he was an idiot for not buying, especially considering his health issues he already had. that's why everyone should buy-you might not need it now, but someday you might. and if you wait one minute too long-well, that's all it takes to royally screw up.
but if everyone just had it, there wouldn't be a need for the yearly enrollments and the like...no need to worry about your tax return, if you got a raise, or married/divorced.
health care is as much a necessity as food and water, and oxygen.

Food 3-4 weeks
Water 3-5 days
Oxygen 3-5 minutes

Healthcare yea as much as a necessity.

Again feelings over facts.

Brilliant!

Huge surprise, Federal government failing again, more taxpayer money flushed down the toilet. Par for the course.:mad:

https://www.atr.org/hawaii-s-205-mil...hange-implodes