Gas Prices!!!

Really???

McDonald's Healthcare

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal (I would post the link, but it's not free) about McDonald's executives having to defend their healthcare options for their hourly chain workers.

Rundown:
Assumes $8/Hour @v40 hours/Week
Employee Cost
$710 ($27.31/Check)
Annual Benefit Cap
$2000
Pre Tax % of Income (Cap as % of Income)
4.3% (12%)
After Federal Tax % of Income (Cap as % of Income)
4.9% (13.7%)

How does McDonald's justify having employees pay $710 annually for just $2000 of medical coverage? That's 1 trip to the emergency room. I just had an appendectomy and I know $2000 doesn't cover it. The cheapest corporate healthcare plans McDonald's offers cost $682 & $920 and have no annual cap. Only 10% of hourly workers hit the annual limit and the insurance company keeps the rest of the premiums. The insurance company gets away this cap thanks to McDonald's. This is not health insurance, this is effectively payment $710 to go to the doctor and get some medication. If anyone is really sick they are screwed. Under the new healthcare law the annual cap should be $750K but that was waived for McDonald's because the company said they would drop insurance for their hourly workers. Sen Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas defended McDonald's.

I ran some numbers:
If 250K workers participate
$178M in Revenue
10% hit the cap + 2% to account for other coverage
$60M in expenses
$118M Rough Gross Margin, 66%

If 100K workers participate
$71M in Revenue
10% hit the cap + 2% to account for other coverage
$20M in expenses
$51M Rough Gross Margin, 72%

This is what's wrong with this country. McDonald's is large enough that they could push on a health insurance company to get a more favorable deal, however the corporation doesn't want to incur anymore costs for people they could really care less about because they know they can easily replace them as this country moves towards producing more and more uneducated children.

This is why a public option or healthcare co-ops would work. If the working poor, which is what you are when you have a healthcare limit of $2000, could at least pool their money then it could be used to provide healthcare to those who need it rather than go to corporate profits. I'm not against corporate profits, except when it comes to health insurance companies.

King James Is Going To Ocean Drive!!!!!

Well, I predicted that Lebron would be making his next home in the windy city but these articles coming out is suggesting otherwise

Diddy: The Modern Mogul

HP buys Palm

for $1.2 Billion

NFL and NBA players going broke

You guys have probably read this article... but here it is again!
"Look up the word “shortsighted” in the dictionary and you will see a picture of Latrell Sprewell."

Seven costly pro athlete screw-ups

This is a surprisingly high percentage in my mind...
"Almost 80 percent of National Football League players are flirting with bankruptcy two years after they retire"

Is there benefit with going against the grain rather than following the herd ? When does too much individuality become foolishness

Great Article for all you arm car economist, but other than justing being a profiteer of the mortgage i was left wondering about how far should someone go against the grain or was this just pure luck.

Very touching.... Fired from Bank of America for Not Charging Late Fees

I use to work for a bank that was bought out by Bank of America during my undergrad days collecting for the bank. Being a collections agent requires one to detach themselves from human emotions and do everything within company policy & reason to collect. Here's a former Bank of America collections agent who took a stand... Listen to her story, it's touching...

Republican Senators Protecting Their Cash Cows?

Al Franken the former comedian and current Minnesota Senator introduced an amendment to a Defense Appropriations Bill which would punish government contractors that restrict their employees from taking charges such as discrimination, sexual assault and battery to court.

Really? How can you vote against a protecting a workers right to shed light on sexual assault, discrimination and battery?

The amendment prevents government contractors from forcing employees to resolve disputes through arbitration. Halliburton is trying to force Jamie Leigh Jones to resolve her complaint of being drugged and raped in company barracks in Iraq through arbitration instead of open court.

The Senators claim the amendment is bad for business and a political attack on Halliburton. The amendment is also opposed by the US Chamber of Commerce, Boeing and IBM.

Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)