Economy 101, or CA elections: First, look for the bond rating services to lower CA bond ratings to a couple of points above junk; Second, the state Democrats think the state can just go bankrupt and it will be OK; they have no intention of giving bond holders their money. They may be right, but the state will never be able to borrow money again except under draconian conditions. The labor unions poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the campaigns against all the propositions. When? Could be as early as next week. Could be one of those cases of "be careful what you wish for."
Damage to Florida consumer spending: anecdotal evidence is always suspect, but try this: I have a sister who teaches school in South Florida in a place that got smashed by the hurricane. She tells me that they had to call off a Christmas Party because the parents can't come up with the $10 per student to fund it. Everybody has minimum of $3,000 deductable policies and boy are they tight. A large number of policies are ten percent deductable and they are having to come up with as much as $30K to even start fixing their homes. Christmas spending? Not going to be much, at least in South Florida.
Energy: today is API day, and the early market indicates the "insiders" believe that the report is going to show builds in supplies. Hearings: they will be like show trials. Congress has failed to enact a real energy bill that includes building refineries, forced consumer discipline, and the control of the "boutique" gasolines around the country. Keep in mind that even if Congress and the brain dead Bush Administration gave a green light to build refineries this afternoon, it would be five years before they came on line. As an example of consumer discipline: those of you who pick up your kids from school see the car lines outside of the school that are largely composed of SUVs that pick up ONE kid. Think of the excess consumption in just that area.
11/09/2005
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4 comments:
Howard do you really think the CA democrats will push the state over the edge into bankruptcy? Can they be that crazy? That would a disaster for not only for CA but for every state and municipality. For those of us outside of CA can you explain to us just how badly the defeats of these props mean to CA and did Arnold really screw the pooch in this election?
Living in FL I can tell you I have no sympathy for hurricane victims who aren't poor. Anyone who has a home that was damaged by the storm, not by a spin off tornado or a neighbor's tree falling on you roof, has no one to blame but themselves. with a 2 percent windstorm deductable on an average 400 grand home anyone who isn't willing to spend a couple of grand to reinforce the roof, the exterior doors and add shutters deserves what they got. It isn't as if hurricanes are an unforeseen act of God. You would surprised how many wealthy people who own condos don't have insurance to save a buck but now want the association ( the rest of the owners) and FEMA to bail them out. And now that we have a real insurance crises the state insurance commisioner wants the Feds to bail to bail us out and cap the maximum payout to 1 million. the simple and obvious thing is require all insured property be brought up to the current post Andrew Miami building code for any home with a market value of 250 thousand statewide or let the insurance companies decline coverage. And like auto insurance, coverage ought to be mandatory for all ( except for poor homeowners)so the insurance pool is deep enough to cover the claims without bankrupting the companies and making the the State insurer of last resort.
Thank God we don't have a state and/or local income tax or we really would be screwed by the whore politicians and the civil service unions.
The homeowner insurance actuaries have got it all figured out in Florida. Fences and trees are not covered and most policies have a 2% hurricane deductible. So we pay these enormous premiums and cannot collect unless the damage is catastrophic.
Fortunately FEMA is giving money for chainsaws
Windstorm policies don't cover fences, docks, pools and other things that are not attached to the home. flood doesn't cover windblown water, rain, that comes into the dwelling. We pay these enormous premiums to cover for those who don't upgrade their property or go naked. for example take a condo that on either side has neighboring units that are unimproved and uninsured. yours is the center unit. you have impact glass sliding glass doors and windows.the neighboring apartments don't. the hurricane blows out the neighboring units out and the wind takes out the common walls. although you did your due diligence your apartment gets blown out thanks to your neighbor's neglect. your screwed. the insurance companies factor in the unimproved risk and use that as the base rate. yes you get a credit for a D zone roof and impact glass but the base rate you pay is nowhere near as low as it could be if everyone's property was improved to the higher code and if everyone was required to be insured.
Sweet blog! Do the chickens have large talons? Sorry for Napolean Dynamite quote but I am in a great mood today. Also I love to see blogs that are useful and your blog falls right into that catergory. I took the liberty to add you to my favorites. Hey you might want to do the same for I update my site with new articles and info monthly. Blah, maybe you don?t! Anyways, have a great day and again very very good blog! Many thanks from geico home owner insurance.
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