Archive for the 'General' Category

The Credit CARD act, which will finally take effect this month, will curb a lot of the credit card practices that are doing a lot of harm to American consumers. Here are just a few of the much-needed changes:

• Issuers cannot retroactively change the rate on an existing balance unless the account is 60 days delinquent.
• A consumer payment above the minimum applies first to the balance with the highest rate.
• Issuers cannot charge over-limit fees on credit cards unless the consumer has signed up to allow such transactions.
• For consumers under 21 years old, a company must get the signature of a parent or another to take responsibility for the debt, or it must obtain proof that the under-21 consumer can repay credit.
• Issuers cannot charge fees to pay by mail, phone, and electronic transfer or online, except for expedited service.

A new study by the Pew Foundation shows that the changes being rolled out this month will save consumers over $10 billion per year:

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Man, this makes my skin crawl. Scott Brown, the recently-elected Senator from Massachusetts, in talking about yesterday’s act of domestic terrorism, says it’s just an incident of the same voter frustration that let to his upset in the special election. Then he proceeds to say it’s a sign that “we need to do things better.”

Let me give you a hint, Senator Brown: No it isn’t. This wasn’t an anti-tax protest, it wasn’t an angrily-worded question at a town-hall meeting, it wasn’t in any way a benign expression of “voter frustration.” It was an act of domestic terrorism in which a lunatic torched his own house and then flew a plane into an office building a some sort of act of revenge against the Government. If you really think this is something that can be spoken of on the exact same level as a “tea party” rally, that it’s just another excuse for you to talk about a “logjam in Washington,” then our problems in this country are even more serious that I thought.

Video below, full text after the break.

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Good grief. At least this hasn’t been proposed here in Minnesota… yet.

This is what happens when you have a completely unbalanced “solution” to your state’s budget crisis that involves all cuts and no new revenues: Conservatives with nothing left to cut start moving on to cutting core state services.

The sudden buzz over the relative value of senior year stems from a recent proposal by state Sen. Chris Buttars that Utah make a dent in its budget gap by eliminating the 12th grade. The notion quickly gained some traction among supporters who agreed with the Republican’s assessment that many seniors frittered away their final year of high school, but faced vehement opposition from other quarters, including in his hometown of West Jordan.

Think it won’t happen here? Just wait.

California-based health insurance company WellPoint has decided to raise premiums by an insane 39 percent. But that’s not even the best part. The most incredible part of the story is what the company offered as their explanation:

WellPoint defends the hikes as a prudent business move.

That’s their defense? That they’re going to make a boatload of money off of it?

This is why we should have scrapped market-based healthcare entirely and gone to a single-payer system. The market goal of making as large a profit as possible seriously conflicts with our social goal of keeping as many people healthy as possible. Obviously, a single-payer system isn’t going to happen, but we’ve at least got to do something. WellPoint’s move is just the latest in a series of reminders of how broken our health insurance system really is.

What is the logic behind this?

When politicians give big speeches, like today’s State of the State speech, reporters tend to get early and embargoed copies so they can follow along.

House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm, said since he became a leader he’s asked the Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s office for the same courtesy.

The answer? “A polite no,” said Sertich.

“It’s petty that we can’t get it,” said Sertich, who also added that it’s also petty for him to talk about the pettiness.

I really have nothing to add to this, except to say that its a shockingly petulant move on Pawlenty’s part. If the President can give advance copies of the State of the Union to the opposition party, you’d think Pawlenty could do the same. This is not a promising start to the 2010 session.

Given that Minneapolis is Minnesota’s largest city, and given the modern-day GOP’s disdain for big cities (they seem to disdain a lot of stuff, don’t they>), Minneapolis is often the subject of GOP rants on fiscal responsibility. Tired of being the butt of Republican talking points, the Minneapolis finance department has release a fact sheet arguing that actually, the city’s finances are excellent.

A couple of excerpts:

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MPR’s Bob Collins spotted the billboard above in Wyoming, MN, driving along I-35W. So let me ask you, Dear Readers: Do you miss him? I know I sure don’t.

Fresh from my inbox:

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (February 4, 2010)—Steve Kelley, who formally announced his run for Governor in October, 2009, has decided to end his campaign.

The full text of his email to supporters is as follows:

Thank you for being part of my campaign to transform Minnesota. I have been continually grateful for your words of encouragement, your advice, volunteer work and financial support over the last year. I am one of the fortunate Minnesotans who has had the opportunity to see firsthand the spirit of involvement that thrives in our state.

Even with your support, and the amazingly hard work of a dedicated and talented campaign team, I have not been as successful as we had hoped when the campaign began. As a result, I have decided to withdraw from the race for governor.

My wife Sophie has been a perfect partner in this campaign and in my public service. Our children Paul and Eleanor and our son-in-law Corey Orehek have worked hard and inspired me to work hard for them and for the future. And my parents and brothers and sisters have given me their support in ways beyond measure.

You have been generous in your support. One of the sad outcomes of this decision is that I will have fewer opportunities to work with you to make Minnesota the kind of place we see in our best dreams. I intend to return to my work at the Humphrey Institute where I have been privileged to be able to serve Minnesota.

I also intend to support the DFL-endorsed candidate for governor. To repair the damage done to our state, we must endorse a candidate in April, unite behind that candidate and win in November. Our fellow citizens deserve a DFL Governor in January 2011.

During the campaign I had the pleasure of getting to know better the other dedicated public servants who are seeking the DFL nomination. Through innumerable candidate forums and other visits with Minnesotans, I learned new insights from them about the challenges we face together and the solutions we must pursue.

I am immensely proud of my campaign team. Over many months they applied energy, intelligence and dedication to a challenging goal. It is has been a privilege to work with them.

I am confident that with the right leadership that engages the amazing Minnesotans that I met on the campaign trail, we can build a better home for our children.”

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Kelley served in the Minnesota Legislature from 1992 to 2006. He is currently a teacher and senior fellow at the Humphrey Institute and the director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy.