The Goat Pen

It's Bundy time. I redid my taxes and I'm being hit for $1260 to repay subsidies. I'm unsure if it's because we had to cancel my wife's policy because we couldn't afford or if the notion of getting a subsidy was just a lie to start with. Either way, somebody's going to get their ass kicked over this shit so they might as well expect to stand there and get their ass kicked.

Never met the dude. They support the Buckeyes. Fuck em.

You're a browneye supporter.

hedge wrote:

Cletus wrote:

crashcourse wrote:I am not a fan of 10 commericals a day telling me if I ever took a Tylenol or used a bandaid or had a booboo to call the law offices of schmuck, fuck, and lotsa luck because I may be entitled to a settlement. 10 a day I see now every week class actions so a bunch of lawyers can get rich and drive up costs for everyone else

You watch a lot of TV.

Maybe some enterprising lawyer will start a class action suit for people who have gone cross-eyed from watching too much TV...

Probably the same guy who made the case against Navin R. Johnson.

sardis wrote:

DooKSucks wrote:Med Mal reform has had zero effect on health care costs in every jurisdiction in which it has been enacted. NC made their already harsh med mal laws even more stringent. They're some of the most defense-minded--if not the most defense-minded--in the nation. Yet, costs still skyrocket here. Liability carriers have pooled their money together and have wisely marketed their positions, and fools have bought that shit hook, line and sinker.

sardis wrote:You need these three things and all three, not one or two of the three:

Raise Medicare age to 72
Medical malpractice reform
Different levels of care - poor, medium, rich and priced accordingly.

I will hand it to Rubio. He was the only candidate to have the guts to mention raising the retirement age for SS and medicare.

Then why do you think those countries with single payer put limits on Med Mal? You're just spewing ATLA propaganda.

Those countries don't have as many lawyers. Malpractice reform has been shown to decrease medical malpractice insurance. It has no effect on defensive medicine and as such doesn't decrease the cost of medicine. Two reasons for this: no physician wants their integrity attacked, and the general public believes the more tests and procedures you get, the better the physician. Take off a day after having a nausea, running nose, headache and low grade fever for 4 days and the doctor should send you home (and thereby pissing off the patient). 95% chance it's a viral syndrome that will go away with hydwation, west and wewaxation (Elmer Fudd). But many physicians will get a chest x-ray (just in case it's bronchitis), send you home with a prescription for symptomatic relief (available over the counter) and possibly antibiotics (again, just in case it's bronchitis).

The better physician? The one that sends you home. The one that keeps the patient? The one that orders the test

Saint wrote:It's Bundy time. I redid my taxes and I'm being hit for $1260 to repay subsidies. I'm unsure if it's because we had to cancel my wife's policy because we couldn't afford or if the notion of getting a subsidy was just a lie to start with. Either way, somebody's going to get their ass kicked over this shit so they might as well expect to stand there and get their ass kicked.

I feel for you man - I know thats serious jack you'd rather spend on your family

I'm getting wages garnished for late property tax payment and my van has metal showing on the tires and a check engine light and the inspection has expired. That money was just going to be spent on trying to catch up on all the other shit going on. I've got to make some changes but living in this little town, there's not much I can do in my line of work, either writing, editorial or design.

Life was much better when I'd blow $100 in a weekend smoking crack 20 years ago in SF.

Also my pee has smelled like ham for 2 years and my farts smell like sweetbreads

surely you are eligible for some kind of subsidy for the insurance?

Apparently not. When I applied for my wife, I listed my 2014 income, which is/was under $40K. But my taxes showed that I cashed in about $1800 of my remaining stock, so that made my income go up, but still under $40K. So, per Form 8692 or whatever, we no longer qualify for benefits. The lady I spoke to with Marketplace yesterday confirmed that. Obama care is great if you're dirt poor (>$19,800 for family of 3) or have a pre-existing condition. We're just a part of the multiplying number of people at the bottom of the middle class, getting screwed every which way

If my wife worked, we wouldn't be in such a dire spot but she's homeschooling our son because we'll never afford college tuition, so we want to give him the best chance to succeed academically. The original plan was to do it 3 years and he's in 3rd grade but she wants to keep doing it, despite our hardships. So unless I find some other type of work, we're just going to be poorer and poorer. Like I said, the crackhead life never looked so good

Saint wrote:Apparently not. When I applied for my wife, I listed my 2014 income, which is/was under $40K. But my taxes showed that I cashed in about $1800 of my remaining stock, so that made my income go up, but still under $40K. So, per Form 8692 or whatever, we no longer qualify for benefits. The lady I spoke to with Marketplace yesterday confirmed that. Obama care is great if you're dirt poor (>$19,800 for family of 3) or have a pre-existing condition. We're just a part of the multiplying number of people at the bottom of the middle class, getting screwed every which way

less than $40K and they think you can afford a family insurance policy without help?

that makes me angry, fucking Affordable Care act my ass - and I'm still paying thru the nose for it.

Stu is better off not working and living on the government. I was scared there for a second though. I thought he said "we were homeschooling" instead of she. Much better odds.

My accountant told me that if you made under $80K you would qualify for some kind of subsidy under Obamacare. I can't believe a single income of <$40K with a fambly of 3 to support wouldn't be at least half price. But Stu did tell me something about some rule that if your company offered insurance and you refused it (or something), then it's different. But that still sucks...

Saint wrote:If my wife worked, we wouldn't be in such a dire spot but she's homeschooling our son because we'll never afford college tuition, so we want to give him the best chance to succeed academically. The original plan was to do it 3 years and he's in 3rd grade but she wants to keep doing it, despite our hardships. So unless I find some other type of work, we're just going to be poorer and poorer. Like I said, the crackhead life never looked so good

so I have to ask - not to take anything away from your wife, but I struggle to understand how someone arrives at the decision that they can compete with a school on teaching their child. I assume the school your kid would be going to is pretty basic no frills given its a small town but still - its got to have the basics covered in a decent environment for him to learn.

I get the whole "I'm not sending my kid to school to get indoctrinated on liberal lies , you're an anti-vaxxer or maybe your school just isn't safe/drug free (which I can't see but its a free country), but its really hard for me to come to the conclusion that you can do a better job at home than an entire faculty can - plus you have like 5-9pm and/or the weekend to enhance his education on your own time.

of course that's just me.

what I have found is that structure at home is the game changer in learning - create a lifestyle a kid can rely on - dinner at 5:30, bedtime at 8:30 - whatever, homework after school when they get home - and the kids usually excel.

regardless, you're making the right decision with your wife not working

While I firmly believe in sending your kid to school, I don't believe in a daycare or latch key. My wife stayed home with both kids until my daughter was in jr. high
and even then she got a job working at a school so she'd have holidays, spring break and summers with them

of course she don't make shit - and if she doesn't stop impulse buying shoes and makeup with her paycheck I'm gonna kick her ass, but looking back I'd do it over the same way.

Its will be hard to justify not having a better retirement or whatever day to day material stuff but you only get one chance to raise your kids.

eCat wrote: what I have found is that structure at home is the game changer in learning - create a lifestyle a kid can rely on - dinner at 5:30, bedtime at 8:30 - whatever, homework after school when they get home - and the kids usually excel.

Yep

I could never homeschool my kids.

"so I have to ask - not to take anything away from your wife, but I struggle to understand how someone arrives at the decision that they can compete with a school on teaching their child."

She doesn't want to get a job...

eCat wrote:

Saint wrote:If my wife worked, we wouldn't be in such a dire spot but she's homeschooling our son because we'll never afford college tuition, so we want to give him the best chance to succeed academically. The original plan was to do it 3 years and he's in 3rd grade but she wants to keep doing it, despite our hardships. So unless I find some other type of work, we're just going to be poorer and poorer. Like I said, the crackhead life never looked so good

so I have to ask - not to take anything away from your wife, but I struggle to understand how someone arrives at the decision that they can compete with a school on teaching their child. I assume the school your kid would be going to is pretty basic no frills given its a small town but still - its got to have the basics covered in a decent environment for him to learn.

I get the whole "I'm not sending my kid to school to get indoctrinated on liberal lies , you're an anti-vaxxer or maybe your school just isn't safe/drug free (which I can't see but its a free country), but its really hard for me to come to the conclusion that you can do a better job at home than an entire faculty can - plus you have like 5-9pm and/or the weekend to enhance his education on your own time.

of course that's just me.

what I have found is that structure at home is the game changer in learning - create a lifestyle a kid can rely on - dinner at 5:30, bedtime at 8:30 - whatever, homework after school when they get home - and the kids usually excel.

I have no doubt that my son has cultivated a much deeper appreciation for learning by being homeschooled than he would at elementary school. However, I think we're coming up at a crossroads, if not next year, then certainly after 5th grade. I help out but I have no ability to teach. I write for a living and barely understand grammar and have no clue about math.

Even though you buy a curriculum and follow it, you still have to understand it. So we are going to revisit this next year (we've already committed to homeschooling him for 4th grade). But I think my wife, who hasn't worked in 12 years, has gotten used to it and it's going to be up to me to make all the money.

Then again, with no health insurance, I probably won't have to worry about any of this shit much longer.