Devil is in the details of this. I think economies of scale are obvious when you centralize and try to eliminate redundant positions; there should be savings there. But how do you remain sensitive and responsive to the local needs of residents and towns? I think having local representation into the decision making is important. but for infrastructure and administration bureaucracy probably needs to be cut. Leveraging technology for administration is an obvious area. Privitization is OK but not if profit is the priority over serving needs there needs to be a check and balance there View Comment
the net effect of a casino on jobs and local economy is far from clear. In fact look around casinos and see how things have been changed. It's often not a pretty picture especially for local businesses! The jobs created aren't high wage in general either View Comment
I think we'd be fine to close on Sundays again. It's a family issue for a lot of people. How much time do we really need the stores to be open, especially with online purchasing? Holidays should be time off and use your brain and plan your shopping banking and liquor purchases on the other days.
It's not like there's going to be more money out there available. What drives profit is not longer store hours but more demand (and spending money) from consumers. Those things might skim a little off the margins but theres a price for it in terms of stress and traffic etc. Slow down a little and enjoy your life View Comment
excellent work! Goes to show it's never too late also this is really inspiring to be in your 40s and in this great a shape. No excuses for letting yourself go when you see something like this
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really guys? Happy Thanksgiving workers come in at midnight. This stuff is so unneeded it's not like people aren't going to spend if you wait a few hours. Plenty of online deals anyways less the hassle. View Comment
The biggest difference in second term is that Obama doesn't have to do anything and he gets his way. If GOP continues to "do nothing" like they did since 2010 a few key factors will play into his advantage.
Obamacare is the law and safe, all that's left are writing the regs which can be done by the executive branch.
Bush era tax cuts expire end of year and deficit gets cut automatically (which btw the deficit has been going down for a while now, still high but it is shrinking)
The so-called fiscal cliff is more like a slope according to some experts although it would accumulate over time it's not like the world will end Jan 1 like the Mayans and Glenn Beck claim (buy farmland and ammo according to him - that sounds sane). And the President is freed up from running for office again so essentially the pressure is on Congress to act because of the 2014 elections. The economy is also likely to grow over the intermediate term (meaning 2013 into 2014) according to many projections.
Not saying he holds all the cards but he has significant leverage thanks to the results of his big win on Tuesday and the facts of the situation
So GOP will have to play if not nice nicer than they did if they want to get something passed, which is in their interest. View Comment
our cat was acting up unusually for about 5-10 mins before it happened too. He kept jumping up on things he shouldn't be like he didn't want to be on the floor. Couldn't figure it out but thinking back he probably sensed the vibrations of the tremor about to happen View Comment
It's unfortunate their son contracted this. I don't know that TJ is the right one to sue but they have a right to do this it's America. I've always found the store to be very helpful in returns for whatever reason obviously this is different case than "I don't like it".
As far as GMOs or Monsanto or whatever, I don't think this has anything to do with that issue. GMO the horse has left the barn in many respects depending on how you look at it genetic modification has been ongoing for thousands of years. What I think bears looking at are the Roundup gene manipulation - very potentially scary stuff.
Again nothing to do with salmonella these have happened several times at processing plants in the past several years. It also affected Whole Foods I imagine they might be sued too. Salmonella is a bacteria this one is a rare one maybe all the overuse of antibiotics in the food supply has something to do with it. View Comment
One flaw in this math is you're assuming there is 0% rate of return. I think a more realistic view is to take the average return of the S&P 500 from 1986 to present. If you look at that, it's gone up 512%, an incredible run.
Lets not forget that the state pension system is managed and invested in things like hedge funds and private equity, which often returns much higher than the market. Of course there are down times like in 2008, but over the longer period like 1986 to now, it's gone up substantially.
Also bear in mind in a normal scenario the employer provides a "match" or portion of the pension liability as well. So those contributions should be considered.
It's not out of the question that $1.5M is an entirely reasonable amount, considering compounding.
I do think ability to retire early (in 40s) with full benefits is somewhat unusual today. OTOH talk to Verizon employees in that age bracket or state corrections officer or others like postal employees and you'll find quite a few who do just this.
They played by the rules and took advantage 20+ years ago by deciding to work where they did. When that's done in business we defend it as American way but when its public service it's another story. I think complaining about it now is a bit late and sounds like sour grapes.
Many S&P500 companies do the same for retirement programs for their employees. Commonwealth of Mass would be considered a S&P500 company by revenue at $50B. It's another argument if it should be or not.
On double dipping, what we'd be saying is public service is different than say, starting a business, dealing in real estate or doing another job while collecting a pension. Again in that case there are numerous examples - this is what many people do who accept early retirement. That is a matter of debate though for public servants. View Comment
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