New York Times managing editor Jill Abramson has admitted that the paper was just a tad slow in covering the scandal of Van Jones, the Left-wing extremist and 9/11 “truther” who had to resign as Barack Obama’s “Green Czar” after his revolting past was exposed.
Here’s Abramson’s risible explanation for the fact that her colleagues didn’t get round to covering the scandal until after Jones resigned:
The Times was, in fact, a beat behind on this story. Why? One reason was that our Washington bureau was somewhat short-staffed during the height of the pre-Labor Day vacation period. This is not an excuse. Another is that despite being a so-called “czar,” Mr. Jones was not a high-ranking official. Nevertheless, we should have been paying closer attention.
Oh, what bollocks. Of course the New York Times was paying close attention to the story. It just chose not to write about it, because Jones was a black appointee of President Obama.
If, on the other hand, it had stumbled across a rumour that a junior member of the Bush administration had ignored a “Don’t Walk” sign when crossing the road, it would immediately have put a team of crack reporters and a zillion fact-checkers on the story. Isn’t that right, Jill?
Source
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Comparing Auto Insurance Quotes Made Easy
BROOKLYN, N.Y. Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year, the cost of acquiring a new vehicle increases. This prompts consumers to look for ways to cut down on costs of their auto insurance premiums. Finding affordable auto insurance quotes from different auto insurance companies promotes the best playground to discover inexpensive car insurance quotes online.
In the past, having an option of getting several auto insurance quotes means spending countless hours talking from one agent to another. Finding auto premium quotes using the Internet is easier; however, much time is still spent in filling in forms repetitively from one company to the other.
Who has time to call an agent or fill-out an application from several car insurance companies and wait for days or weeks to get a reply? It's a choice between talking on the phone all day, haggling for discounts, or spending 5 minutes online. Majority of individuals would prefer the latter. With AutoQuoteNow's innovative service, people have been saving their time and money by reducing premiums drastically.
In order for consumers to receive their car insurance quotes in just minutes, not days, all they have to do is fill-out a short online form. Car insurance quotes are then instantly sent via email. The site recognizes that there are a number of variables that affect insurance prices. These variations depend on the underwriting criteria and profits of the company in the previous year. It's therefore important to acquire several insurance quotes from two or more insurance companies to save money. To compare insurance quotes online is the quickest and most efficient way to rake in the cheapest car insurance today.
AutoQuoteNow only provides the best and trustworthy premium carriers of today's market. Each inquiry is thoroughly searched, but takes only a few minutes to provide a comprehensive result. The website's extensive archive of articles, tips, guides, FAQ's, and news bits provide the visitors with up to the minute information helping them decide which one will best suit their needs. It also covers states and major cities in the United States, providing a more accurate and realistic information in the country.
The key to save money on car insurance premiums is the ability to compare which one can provide the service needed at a minimal cost. AutoQuoteNow is a trusted source for its unbiased data presentation for consumers.
Source
In the past, having an option of getting several auto insurance quotes means spending countless hours talking from one agent to another. Finding auto premium quotes using the Internet is easier; however, much time is still spent in filling in forms repetitively from one company to the other.
Who has time to call an agent or fill-out an application from several car insurance companies and wait for days or weeks to get a reply? It's a choice between talking on the phone all day, haggling for discounts, or spending 5 minutes online. Majority of individuals would prefer the latter. With AutoQuoteNow's innovative service, people have been saving their time and money by reducing premiums drastically.
In order for consumers to receive their car insurance quotes in just minutes, not days, all they have to do is fill-out a short online form. Car insurance quotes are then instantly sent via email. The site recognizes that there are a number of variables that affect insurance prices. These variations depend on the underwriting criteria and profits of the company in the previous year. It's therefore important to acquire several insurance quotes from two or more insurance companies to save money. To compare insurance quotes online is the quickest and most efficient way to rake in the cheapest car insurance today.
AutoQuoteNow only provides the best and trustworthy premium carriers of today's market. Each inquiry is thoroughly searched, but takes only a few minutes to provide a comprehensive result. The website's extensive archive of articles, tips, guides, FAQ's, and news bits provide the visitors with up to the minute information helping them decide which one will best suit their needs. It also covers states and major cities in the United States, providing a more accurate and realistic information in the country.
The key to save money on car insurance premiums is the ability to compare which one can provide the service needed at a minimal cost. AutoQuoteNow is a trusted source for its unbiased data presentation for consumers.
Source
Sunday, November 15, 2009
You can have economical car insurance in New York
Ask any old New Yorker of this and he/she will tell at once of the serene city life that was the greatest asset of New York once. There is hardly any doubt that this largest city in New York State and in the United States; situated in southeastern New York is changing with the passing of each day almost. One of the main reasons behind this is the improving financial scenario and the industry, due to the same, has generated hordes of difficulties and one of them is the overwhelming traffic.
If you are a car owner in the city, you have surely got the taste of the problem. Is there any way to avert the crisis? Well, there are two ways. You have to be a conscientious or careful driver so as to navigate the streets of Manhattan or any other busy thoroughfare in the city. However, at times, this also becomes an impossible task and you may finish up in an accident. In this context, a New York City car insurance is effective and with the help of it you can deal with the situation with more mastery.
There is simply no alternative to New York City car insurance if you want to drive home or office safely on a daily basis. There is also the presence of cheap car insurance in New York City in large numbers. You can have that only if carefulness and steadfastness are applied.
Well, this is not any simple task and make sure, at the beginning, that the New York City car insurance company you select is licensed to do business in the state. Never forget to ask this to the company you communicate with to have a quote.
Try to comprehend the minimum required coverage beforehand. This will make you realize the needs and how to cope with it. Make a good research in the internet and lots of websites may offer you the cheap car insurance quotes. Try to appraise the apposite one for you; take the help of any veteran during hours of need.
If you are a car owner in the city, you have surely got the taste of the problem. Is there any way to avert the crisis? Well, there are two ways. You have to be a conscientious or careful driver so as to navigate the streets of Manhattan or any other busy thoroughfare in the city. However, at times, this also becomes an impossible task and you may finish up in an accident. In this context, a New York City car insurance is effective and with the help of it you can deal with the situation with more mastery.
There is simply no alternative to New York City car insurance if you want to drive home or office safely on a daily basis. There is also the presence of cheap car insurance in New York City in large numbers. You can have that only if carefulness and steadfastness are applied.
Well, this is not any simple task and make sure, at the beginning, that the New York City car insurance company you select is licensed to do business in the state. Never forget to ask this to the company you communicate with to have a quote.
Try to comprehend the minimum required coverage beforehand. This will make you realize the needs and how to cope with it. Make a good research in the internet and lots of websites may offer you the cheap car insurance quotes. Try to appraise the apposite one for you; take the help of any veteran during hours of need.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Is Syracuse car insurance new to you?
A new type of Syracuse car insurance has come to the fore. It is the temporary car insurance and the concept is getting popular to a great extent in this city in and county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States.
What is the main reason behind its burgeoning popularity? Why are people getting attracted to this Syracuse car insurance increasingly? Insurance analysts suggest lots of factors are enticing people. The first one of them is that if any individual pays for a car and just want insurance to get it home and stumble on other insurance, a temporary car insurance policy is most fitting for him/her. Again, a temporary car insurance may be appropriate for vacationers. If they drive a car, this form of Syracuse car insurance can take care of all responsibilities, of course, for the time being.
It may happen that you are living in a state different from Syracuse to a great extent and you can’t avail any temporary car insurance hence. What can be done then? Do one thing. Try to own a car or automobile that you simply want to insure for a very short time and you have a customary policy with an insurer for a different vehicle. You, as a result, can add up the new car onto your reputable policy and then call off the coverage when you don\'t need it any more.
This is also vital and learn the same by heart. If you are not having insurance with an insurance company, your options become narrower. You will require purchasing a term policy, by and large a 6 month minimum, after that cancel it especially when you no more need the coverage.
All these indicate that temporary car insurance plays a great role only if you are traveling with friends, have bought a new vehicle and remain devoid of established insurance policy information.
Source
What is the main reason behind its burgeoning popularity? Why are people getting attracted to this Syracuse car insurance increasingly? Insurance analysts suggest lots of factors are enticing people. The first one of them is that if any individual pays for a car and just want insurance to get it home and stumble on other insurance, a temporary car insurance policy is most fitting for him/her. Again, a temporary car insurance may be appropriate for vacationers. If they drive a car, this form of Syracuse car insurance can take care of all responsibilities, of course, for the time being.
It may happen that you are living in a state different from Syracuse to a great extent and you can’t avail any temporary car insurance hence. What can be done then? Do one thing. Try to own a car or automobile that you simply want to insure for a very short time and you have a customary policy with an insurer for a different vehicle. You, as a result, can add up the new car onto your reputable policy and then call off the coverage when you don\'t need it any more.
This is also vital and learn the same by heart. If you are not having insurance with an insurance company, your options become narrower. You will require purchasing a term policy, by and large a 6 month minimum, after that cancel it especially when you no more need the coverage.
All these indicate that temporary car insurance plays a great role only if you are traveling with friends, have bought a new vehicle and remain devoid of established insurance policy information.
Source
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Why can't health insurance be more like auto insurance?
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Imagine how much automobile insurance would cost if it paid for all expenses associated with owning an automobile – oil changes, engine failures, worn-out tires, brakes, rust, and so on. The number of people who couldn't afford car insurance would rise dramatically, and we would have a car insurance crisis in America.
That is the situation with healthcare. As health plans increasingly pay for almost every service or procedure, ameliorate our every discomfort, and succumb to every cultural whim and fad, the price of insurance continues to rise.
Health plans are paying for every imaginable benefit – while automobile insurers are not – because of both consumer demand and state mandates.
The demand for additional healthcare benefits is greater than for additional automobile insurance benefits because many people feel entitled to have access to every possible healthcare service. The costs of additional benefits are not always clear to consumers; thus, many people perceive the benefits to be "free." In response to consumer demand, health plans sometimes expand coverage on their own. In other cases, they are forced by politicians running for reelection to cover additional services or procedures.
To make health insurance more affordable, state governments should stop mandating additional benefits and rescind all of their previous mandates. In addition, both private and public insurers (such as Medicare) should agree to pay for only costly and essential medical services and procedures (similar to the way they banded together to pledge to reduce $2 trillion in healthcare expenses a few months ago).
Under the system I am proposing, health insurance would pay for emergencies and urgent care, diagnostic tests and X-rays, medically necessary surgery, hospitalization, therapy, and any other critical services that few people could afford to pay out of their own pockets. Individuals would pay for routine, discretionary, and elective services – such as doctor visits, acupuncture, marriage counseling – on their own.
This type of system – which has not yet been tried – would lower healthcare costs and make insurance more affordable for everyone, especially the uninsured, by reducing the number of healthcare services that are used. When the use of services goes up, health insurers must raise premiums to pay for the increase in expenses. This makes it more expensive for insured people to keep their health coverage, while also making it more expensive for uninsured people to purchase coverage.
Insurance is intended to be a pooling of people's money to pay for large, unexpected expenses – not for every expense that is incurred. In other words, it is supposed to be a safety net for catastrophic events.
Yet many Americans go to the doctor for all kinds of trivial ailments, because their insurance pays for it. True, many people want this type of coverage, but that is because they do not understand the long-term cost implications. If Americans want to keep the current healthcare system sustainable (and it appears they do), then they need to take on more financial responsibility for their healthcare. People who choose to visit the doctor for the sniffles should pay for it themselves rather than making everyone else pay for it. If they did, the use of services – and thus the cost of healthcare – would go down.
If we can budget for our phone, electric, cable, and gas bills, as well as for unexpected household and automobile expenses, then we can budget for routine healthcare services. This would require some families to forgo the purchase of a plasma TV, but it would make health insurance more affordable.
In addition, most health plans even cover lifestyle choices that have been sold as medical conditions by lobbyists, pharmaceutical and medical companies, politicians, the media, and pop culture. Some of these covered services – such as cosmetic procedures, birth-control pills, and abortion – do not even address a diagnosis. (Contrary to popular belief, pregnancy is not a malady.) If there is no medical condition, then health insurance should not be paying for it.
By shouldering a greater burden of their healthcare costs, Americans would probably eat more healthily, exercise more, quit smoking, and lead healthier and happier lives. A healthier population would use fewer medical services, which would lower healthcare costs and premiums.
When it comes to healthcare, we should not confuse luxury with necessity. By transforming health insurance into a system that simply pays for essential medical services and procedures, more Americans would be able to afford insurance – and there would be far fewer uninsured Americans.
Source
That is the situation with healthcare. As health plans increasingly pay for almost every service or procedure, ameliorate our every discomfort, and succumb to every cultural whim and fad, the price of insurance continues to rise.
Health plans are paying for every imaginable benefit – while automobile insurers are not – because of both consumer demand and state mandates.
The demand for additional healthcare benefits is greater than for additional automobile insurance benefits because many people feel entitled to have access to every possible healthcare service. The costs of additional benefits are not always clear to consumers; thus, many people perceive the benefits to be "free." In response to consumer demand, health plans sometimes expand coverage on their own. In other cases, they are forced by politicians running for reelection to cover additional services or procedures.
To make health insurance more affordable, state governments should stop mandating additional benefits and rescind all of their previous mandates. In addition, both private and public insurers (such as Medicare) should agree to pay for only costly and essential medical services and procedures (similar to the way they banded together to pledge to reduce $2 trillion in healthcare expenses a few months ago).
Under the system I am proposing, health insurance would pay for emergencies and urgent care, diagnostic tests and X-rays, medically necessary surgery, hospitalization, therapy, and any other critical services that few people could afford to pay out of their own pockets. Individuals would pay for routine, discretionary, and elective services – such as doctor visits, acupuncture, marriage counseling – on their own.
This type of system – which has not yet been tried – would lower healthcare costs and make insurance more affordable for everyone, especially the uninsured, by reducing the number of healthcare services that are used. When the use of services goes up, health insurers must raise premiums to pay for the increase in expenses. This makes it more expensive for insured people to keep their health coverage, while also making it more expensive for uninsured people to purchase coverage.
Insurance is intended to be a pooling of people's money to pay for large, unexpected expenses – not for every expense that is incurred. In other words, it is supposed to be a safety net for catastrophic events.
Yet many Americans go to the doctor for all kinds of trivial ailments, because their insurance pays for it. True, many people want this type of coverage, but that is because they do not understand the long-term cost implications. If Americans want to keep the current healthcare system sustainable (and it appears they do), then they need to take on more financial responsibility for their healthcare. People who choose to visit the doctor for the sniffles should pay for it themselves rather than making everyone else pay for it. If they did, the use of services – and thus the cost of healthcare – would go down.
If we can budget for our phone, electric, cable, and gas bills, as well as for unexpected household and automobile expenses, then we can budget for routine healthcare services. This would require some families to forgo the purchase of a plasma TV, but it would make health insurance more affordable.
In addition, most health plans even cover lifestyle choices that have been sold as medical conditions by lobbyists, pharmaceutical and medical companies, politicians, the media, and pop culture. Some of these covered services – such as cosmetic procedures, birth-control pills, and abortion – do not even address a diagnosis. (Contrary to popular belief, pregnancy is not a malady.) If there is no medical condition, then health insurance should not be paying for it.
By shouldering a greater burden of their healthcare costs, Americans would probably eat more healthily, exercise more, quit smoking, and lead healthier and happier lives. A healthier population would use fewer medical services, which would lower healthcare costs and premiums.
When it comes to healthcare, we should not confuse luxury with necessity. By transforming health insurance into a system that simply pays for essential medical services and procedures, more Americans would be able to afford insurance – and there would be far fewer uninsured Americans.
Source
Monday, September 28, 2009
Ravitch Scours New York State Funds
Few people with Richard Ravitch’s resume would call themselves a student, but with the state facing a $2.1 billion current-year budget deficit, New York’s lieutenant governor has hit the state’s books.
“I’m spending all my time now going up a learning curve,” Ravitch, 76, said this week at his office on Third Avenue in Manhattan. Top of the agenda is getting up to speed on the state’s falling tax revenues, economic development strategies and infrastructure needs.
In a state that relies on the financial services industry for 20% of its tax revenue, the national recession and credit crunch have pummeled finances, creating an estimated cumulative $38.2 billion budget deficit through fiscal 2013.
Ravitch is well aware that his time in office may be limited, and not only because he won’t be running for reelection next year. State Senate Republicans challenged the constitutionality of his appointment to the post last month by Gov. David Paterson, and a hearing on the matter is scheduled for Tuesday. The position had been vacant since Paterson became governor last year after former Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a prostitution scandal.
Ravitch, whose days are filled with meetings with fiscal experts, was reluctant to discuss how the state will close its budget gap. A plan is expected to be released next month.
“I’ll have a hell of a lot more to say in the event that the courts find that I am lieutenant governor,” Ravitch said. But the man who was called upon in the 1970s to rescue the then-nearly bankrupt Urban Development Corp. and who not only created the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s first capital plan but wrote the statute authorizing it to sell bonds was at no loss for words when discussing the state’s long-term infrastructure needs.
“It’s a serious problem, and I think the stimulus bill begins to address it at the periphery but doesn’t deal with it fundamentally,” Ravitch said of the U.S. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. “What do we do now if you assume the stimulus bill as we know it is not going to be renewed or a level of appropriation isn’t going to occur?”
“I’m spending all my time now going up a learning curve,” Ravitch, 76, said this week at his office on Third Avenue in Manhattan. Top of the agenda is getting up to speed on the state’s falling tax revenues, economic development strategies and infrastructure needs.
In a state that relies on the financial services industry for 20% of its tax revenue, the national recession and credit crunch have pummeled finances, creating an estimated cumulative $38.2 billion budget deficit through fiscal 2013.
Ravitch is well aware that his time in office may be limited, and not only because he won’t be running for reelection next year. State Senate Republicans challenged the constitutionality of his appointment to the post last month by Gov. David Paterson, and a hearing on the matter is scheduled for Tuesday. The position had been vacant since Paterson became governor last year after former Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a prostitution scandal.
Ravitch, whose days are filled with meetings with fiscal experts, was reluctant to discuss how the state will close its budget gap. A plan is expected to be released next month.
“I’ll have a hell of a lot more to say in the event that the courts find that I am lieutenant governor,” Ravitch said. But the man who was called upon in the 1970s to rescue the then-nearly bankrupt Urban Development Corp. and who not only created the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s first capital plan but wrote the statute authorizing it to sell bonds was at no loss for words when discussing the state’s long-term infrastructure needs.
“It’s a serious problem, and I think the stimulus bill begins to address it at the periphery but doesn’t deal with it fundamentally,” Ravitch said of the U.S. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. “What do we do now if you assume the stimulus bill as we know it is not going to be renewed or a level of appropriation isn’t going to occur?”
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
NY lawmakers use campaign money as personal piggybanks
ALBANY - What does spending $861 on hot sauce or $18,750 on a 2009 Cadillac sedan have to do with serving in the state Legislature?
For Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Binghamton, her office explained that she dipped into her campaign account to purchase personalized bottles of Hot Shots "Road Kill" sauce to give as party favors to supporters last month.
And Sen. James Alesi, R-Perinton, whose district covers a large part of Monroe County, said he does a lot of driving in the course of his work. Thus he chose to use campaign money to pay for some of the cost of his new Cadillac.
"I put about 40,000 miles a year on my car traveling around the district," Alesi explained.
Lupardo holds an annual "Blues and Barbecue" fundraiser that draws several hundred people, so "she had wanted to do something to just give back to the supporters," aide Michael Kennerknecht said of the sauce from Hot Shots of Charlotte, N.C.
From leasing cars and paying for airline flights to sponsoring Little League teams and contributing to charities for cancer victims, New York's election laws give lawmakers plenty of leeway on how they can spend their war chests.
Former Senate Republican Leader Joseph Bruno, who resigned last year and is battling federal corruption charges, used $441,373 from his campaign coffers to pay legal bills between January and the end of June. Bruno once bought a pool cover, saying it was related to his political duties because he regularly entertained.
Good-government groups have been pushing for stronger laws on the use of campaign contributions. New York law prohibits using the money for things that are not related to a political campaign or holding a public office.
But it is "too vague to provide any meaningful restraint," according to a report earlier this year by watchdog organizations.
The groups are proposing to restrict spending to uses that promote a candidate's election, and to ban expenditures like country club dues, legal fees, utility payments and rent. New York has among the weakest campaign finance laws in the country, advocates said.
Source
For Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Binghamton, her office explained that she dipped into her campaign account to purchase personalized bottles of Hot Shots "Road Kill" sauce to give as party favors to supporters last month.
And Sen. James Alesi, R-Perinton, whose district covers a large part of Monroe County, said he does a lot of driving in the course of his work. Thus he chose to use campaign money to pay for some of the cost of his new Cadillac.
"I put about 40,000 miles a year on my car traveling around the district," Alesi explained.
Lupardo holds an annual "Blues and Barbecue" fundraiser that draws several hundred people, so "she had wanted to do something to just give back to the supporters," aide Michael Kennerknecht said of the sauce from Hot Shots of Charlotte, N.C.
From leasing cars and paying for airline flights to sponsoring Little League teams and contributing to charities for cancer victims, New York's election laws give lawmakers plenty of leeway on how they can spend their war chests.
Former Senate Republican Leader Joseph Bruno, who resigned last year and is battling federal corruption charges, used $441,373 from his campaign coffers to pay legal bills between January and the end of June. Bruno once bought a pool cover, saying it was related to his political duties because he regularly entertained.
Good-government groups have been pushing for stronger laws on the use of campaign contributions. New York law prohibits using the money for things that are not related to a political campaign or holding a public office.
But it is "too vague to provide any meaningful restraint," according to a report earlier this year by watchdog organizations.
The groups are proposing to restrict spending to uses that promote a candidate's election, and to ban expenditures like country club dues, legal fees, utility payments and rent. New York has among the weakest campaign finance laws in the country, advocates said.
Source
Friday, August 28, 2009
Uninsured Drivers Racing At Own Risk
Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., capped his return to dirt late model racing last August with a victory in the Topless 100 at Batesville Motor Speedway. He added a couple more major victories in the closing months of the season, but his 2009 began with disaster.
In January, he returned to Tulsa for the Chili Bowl, the nation's top midget racing event where McCreadie had stunned a field of NASCAR and open-wheel drivers to win in 2006.
The last thing he remembers is leading a B-Main qualifier when his car began vibrating.
A problem in the rear axle of his midget car was the reason for vibration, and the crash that followed was spectacular. It immediately became You-Tube fodder, the images of his car bouncing and barrel-rolling over the catch fence at the indoor facility.
When McCreadie awoke, he had two problems: His back was broken, and he didn't have health insurance.
An estimated 25,000 drivers like McCreadie compete on more than 800 dirt racetracks in the United States, according to an Associated Press story last month. No one keeps count of how many have insurance, but people in the racing and insurance businesses say as many as 80 percent of drivers do not carry coverage.
A handful of Arkansans race on dirt professionally, most of whom will compete at the 17th annual Comp Cams Topless 100 this weekend at Batesville Motor Speedway. They all struggle with the financial burden of health insurance, which is a considerably higher cost because of their jobs.
Source
In January, he returned to Tulsa for the Chili Bowl, the nation's top midget racing event where McCreadie had stunned a field of NASCAR and open-wheel drivers to win in 2006.
The last thing he remembers is leading a B-Main qualifier when his car began vibrating.
A problem in the rear axle of his midget car was the reason for vibration, and the crash that followed was spectacular. It immediately became You-Tube fodder, the images of his car bouncing and barrel-rolling over the catch fence at the indoor facility.
When McCreadie awoke, he had two problems: His back was broken, and he didn't have health insurance.
An estimated 25,000 drivers like McCreadie compete on more than 800 dirt racetracks in the United States, according to an Associated Press story last month. No one keeps count of how many have insurance, but people in the racing and insurance businesses say as many as 80 percent of drivers do not carry coverage.
A handful of Arkansans race on dirt professionally, most of whom will compete at the 17th annual Comp Cams Topless 100 this weekend at Batesville Motor Speedway. They all struggle with the financial burden of health insurance, which is a considerably higher cost because of their jobs.
Source
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