State Farm – one the several “families” of the insurance mafia – has reportedly asked the government that serves as the mafia’s enforcer to allow it to increase what people in the state of California are coerced into paying for home insurance by 20 percent. This is presented as necessary to “cover” the costs incurred by the fires that burned down so many homes in California.
Well, weren’t all those “premiums” people were coerced into paying supposed to pay for just such losses?
Of course, a sizable tranche of the money mulcted from “policyholders” went to pay for the Crassus-like salaries paid to the capos and dons of the mafia, who earn millions annually mulcting “policyholders” and – this is important – using every imaginable shyster-trick to get out of paying when a “policyholder” files a claim and expects to get paid. Luigi wasn’t wrong about this.
Well, how much more are we talkin’ about, Willis?
The pre-fire average annual cost of “coverage” in California was about $10,000. Imagine that. Imagine paying out $50,000 in just five years to “cover” your home. How many people can afford the cost of such “coverage”? How many people will be driven out of their homes by those costs?
By what it is shortly going to cost?
Probably a lot – given another 20 percent on top of that. It amount to another $2,000 annually, or about $12,000 after the fire. This is likely to prompt some sales. Extremely affluent celebrities and government hog-troughers can afford this. Average California people cannot.
And neither can those of us who do not live within the boundaries of California. Yet – bet your bippie – owners of homes far, far away from where the fires were will be “asked” to absorb their “fair share” of the costs incurred by the fires in CA that the families are most uninterested in paying for. Especially given they can force others to pay them. And – please – do not think that laws forbidding insurers to transfer costs in this manner will prevent exactly that from happening. There is too much money involved and – remember – the insurance mafia has plenty of money to pay the government (more finely, the government hog-troughers) to assure that you are made to pay.
Evidence? How about the way car insurance premiums have increased by more than 20 percent over the past year to “cover” the costs incurred by the mafia paying out money to “cover” damages you didn’t cause to $50,000-plus vehicles you didn’t buy? I wrote recently about this – about having to fork over twice (100 percent more) than I was paying just two years ago to “cover” my old truck, which hasn’t caused anyone else any damages. But because I might hit someone else’s $50,000-plus vehicle – which is likely to be some kind of device – and the cost of repairing/replacing that other person’s device is that high, I must pay.
Just as you and every other person who is obliged to pay the home insurance mafia will soon be paying at least 20 percent more for the “coverage” they can force you to buy. What to do? Work harder – like the draft horse in Orwell’s Animal Farm? There is a limit to how much even the strongest draft horse can do more of.
Especially when he’s already very tired.
I suspect this is going to push many people up against the wall – and into making a difficult decision. Will they submit to being forced out of their homes by the mafia, with the government showing up to seize what used to be their homes? Or will they decide to fight the mafia – and its enforcer, the government?
Luigi wasn’t wrong.
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https://www.publicpurpose.com/hwy-fatal57+.htm
In 1957, highway fatalities were 5.98 for every 100,000,000 miles driven.
In 1997, fatalities were 1.64 fatalities for every 100,000,000 miles driven.
Improved interstate travel made all of the difference.
Deductively, insurance claims were 2/3 less per capita in 1997 compared to 1957.
150,000,000 insured drivers who can pay 2000 dollars each year for insurance is 300,000,000,000 dollars, 300 billions.
Just for auto insurance.
All other insurances add up to some real money.
If a CEO walks away with some number of millions, you pay for it and it is all your fault. Could care less what you can afford, not his problem.
A racket just like war.
The insurance mafia is part of the global takeover. Most insurance corporations are “partners” (in crime) of the world economic forum, the PR agency to sell and enforce the ‘great reset”.
Names like Allianz, AIG, Zurich and most other big insurers…
Remember: “by 2030, you will own nothing”.
Here is the list: https://www.weforum.org/partners
Mel Gibson who lost his house in California said in an interview that he knew the state did nothing to stop the fires , short of having set the fire themselves, (governor Newsom is a “young global leader” aka an WEF infiltrated agent.
https://expose-news.com/2023/04/27/dystopian-influence-of-the-wef-great-reset
Luigi was right and if more people had done like him from 2020 on, we wouldn’t be in this situation today.
Hi Bulg,
Amen. I believe I am right about the insurance mafia. I knew I was right about “COVID” by the summer of 2020. I thought – at the time: How can so many people not see that this “mask” thing is schtick – and the stick – and that it will lead to “vaccination” (the carrot)? Are they stupid? Now I think I see what’s beginning to happen with insurance. I’ve despised being made to pay to buy “coverage” for harms I have not caused for decades. But – until now – the cost was relatively small and so I’d grumble and pay it. It has now doubled in just two years. If the rate of increase continues I and others won’t be able to pay these gangsters – and what then? Well, the what then is we’re forced to either give up our cars (and houses, in the case of the home insurance mafia) or we go “criminal” and do without the “coverage.” Let them come after us then, for the “crime” of not paying for “coverage.”
Luigi was not wrong.
“Luigi was not wrong”
Luigi was wrong. There is nothing in his behavior that is in accord with Libertarian or Christian principles.
Luigi was not even a client of United Healthcare. Given the information available it’s not clear if anyone he even knows was harmed by United Healthcare.
Why exactly is Luigi justified in the violent aggression and murder of the unarmed CEO that he didn’t even do business with?
To me it appears that in a cowardly move, he went after an unarmed man rather than the true source of his grievances.
Hi BID,
Playing devil’s advocate here, using an example from history. After Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, he appointed a real son-of-a-bitch by the name of Reinhard Heydrich to run the place. There was no appeal. Heydrich was the law. He was above the law. A team of Czechs parachuted in and took him out. Why? Because it was the only way to do just that. How do we bring these insurance mobsters to heel? They are protected by the government. They screw us with the backing of the government, which will punish us if we defy the mafia.
I am a peaceful dude who minds his own business and pays his way. I harm no one. And yet I (and many others) am harmed by these legalized mobsters, who laugh at us behind close doors as they double and triple what they can force us to pay. They rake in tens of millions in salary bled from people like you and I who owe them fucking nothing.
When there is no justice, there is no recourse.
I think we will have to do without them and I wouln’t say ‘go criminal’ but go free.
The society they want to impose is so evil that we have the right and the duty to resist and refuse anything this mafia throw at us.
The second amendment is actually just about that. When there is tyranny, we have teh right to end tyranny.
Hi Message –
“The society they want to impose is so evil that we have the right and the duty to resist and refuse anything this mafia throw at us.”
Exactly. When a man who only wants to be let alone, who is peaceful and responsible and causes no harm to others, is constantly hounded for money to “help” others and punished for harms he has not caused, he is faced with the choice: Be a slave. Or be a “criminal.”
[…] Guest Post by Eric Peters […]
It’s perfectly understandable to need an extra %20 to insure property in a communist backwater where there’s no water, and if your home gets destroyed the land is given to the UN?
The roof on the house was damaged from a storm, the insurance company paid half the amount of the coverage, after the roof shingles were replaced, I was to receive the other half.
1500 dollars per year for full coverage in the 90s was kind of expensive.
The insurance company was in no way going to pay any more money.
Nothing for you, millions for us.
I switched to another insurance company at half the price.
A question for my fellow libertarians:
As a member of the Cherokee Nation, I am able to get absolutely free healthcare here in Oklahoma. I have never taken advantage up to this point in my life. Years ago, these “Indian Hospitals” were known for shoddy service and it was a risky decision to frequent such an establishment. Today, not so. Absolutely state of the art high quality facilities and staff.
I am now contemplating cancelling my very expensive health insurance (and my 3 kids’) that I get through my wife’s employer, potentially saving my family thousands a year.
I’d like to hear nay and yea opinions from the good people of EP Autos.
I am doing some mental gymnastics in an attempt to justify such an action. The recent DOGE revelations about how my plundered paycheck is spent and laundered by government parasites and their friends has infuriated me to the point in which I’m willing to go against my libertarian principles. I could potentially recoup some of that stolen loot by offsetting my healthcare costs.
What say you?
Hi Philo,
Every decision I make comes down to privacy and personal freedom in choice. Very little comes down to the monetary value in such actions. What are the costs associated with the transfer? If it means less government regulation and oversight (e.g. little to no reporting to the state health department) than it would be worth it. If it comes at little to no costs, great, it is a bonus. If it means more of an invasion into your privacy (e.g. you are required to be up to date on all of your vaccines to qualify) then the decision is simple you and your family’s health is more important than the amount of money spent.
Just my $.02.
Stick with the private insurance, anything the government touches turns to crap.
Is the health care paid for by the Tribe? Where do their funds come from? Income from tribe activities? (in my area all the tribes have casinos). Who controls who gets what? Just ask as many questions as you can. Then decide. As RG points out check out all the pluses and minuses. Don’t let out of pocket cost be the sole factor. Tanstafl.
Indian Health Service, part of the Dept of HHS, serves all federally-recognized tribes.
https://www.ihs.gov/aboutihs/overview/
Sometimes I wonder, when driving through lonely stretches of the Navajo and San Carlos Apache reservations, how I would be served if I showed up in their emergency room.
Free health care is a benefit to tribal members. It does not offset the grievous harm of the non-market economy imposed on the rez, by virtue of all the land being held in trust by the fedgov. Residents have no real estate ownership, no equity, no ability to borrow against it. This keeps most of them poor.
If the fedgov won’t give the Cherokee Nation their stolen land back, then soak the IHS for all it’s worth. It’s the least you can do.
> Navajo … reservation.
That would be the Navajo Nation, son, and don’t you forget it.
>This keeps most of them poor.
Ever been to Gallup on a Friday night?
It is very sad.
If TB doesn’t get them, Jim Beam just might.
And if they survive those hazards, they might die of lung cancer from working in the white man’s uranium mines, and building houses out of the radioactive mine tailing rocks.
There are no weak Diné.
>Residents have no real estate ownership
However, they can get allotted a parcel of land by the Tribe, in order to build a house. But, what is there to do on the rez, besides raise sheep? Those who need to earn cash wages, which is all of them, will almost certainly have to take a job working for the white man, off the rez.
Many people believe the English invented the concentration camp in South Africa, during the Boer War, but the U.S. government had the Brits beat by more than 30 years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Walk_of_the_Navajo
>During the forced march and internment, up to 3,500 people died from starvation and disease over a four-year period.
And in other news, Deb Haaland has announced her candidacy for Governor of NM. I hope she wins, just on principle.
‘But, what is there to do on the rez’ — Adi Heidler
Well, like the Navajo code talkers, they could go fight in Uncle Sam’s deranged foreign windmill tilts:
‘Trump will draw on his stunning success with his Trump Taj Mahal and now begin the Trump Third Temple casino and cryptocurrency exchange. Yes, this will be the ultimate gambling experience …
‘It will be a fully immersive experience, with an hourly passion play, where Jesus will come into the temple with a whip (to the sound track of Devo’s Whip It). IDF uniformed security services officers will restrain him and then throw him into what appears to be a boiling pot of excrement, to the wild cheers of the guests. They will also introduce the world’s first bitcoin slot machines and Russian roulette wheels.
‘Being for the benefit of Mr kike, there will be a show tonight, on trampoline, the Adelsons will all be there, late of Davos bankers fair, what a scene! Over men and horses, hoops and garters, lastly through a hogshead of real fire, in this way Mr Trump will challenge the world.
‘It’s been months and years in preparation; a splendid time is guaranteed for all, and of course, dons Bibi and Trump are dancing a waltz.’ — commenter notsofast at unz dot com
All I can say is Obamacare compliant insurance costs more and has shifted more of the cost to the policy holder.
If you are offered quality care without extra charge, it may be a good move. However, it is govt care, so subject to changes in rules and staff, and an influx of new patients with no increase in staff, facilities, or funding.
You may have a moral issue with using services funded by taxes, but it will be paid for whether you use it or not.
And we all end up using things funded by taxes because we can’t avoid it. In one way, it is an opportunity to get a “refund” on the taxes you pay.
So in the end, this is, like everything else, a choice driven by incentives.
I echo Raider’s sentiment. Read more fine print and then decide. You have to do what is best financially and freedom wise. I hope the reservation thing works out.
The natives were given a crappy deal. They deserve complete sovereignty on their own land. Self government, however that turns out. Further, since many will claim that their land was stolen, they deserve to be able have full autonomy to act and work in the United States of America as well.
They should not be required to:
1. Pay any federal tax of any kind
2. Register their private vehicles in any state of the US or be required to carry a “drivers license.”
3. Carry any type of motor vehicle insurance.
Yes, that would set up an unequal situation, but it just might show some common sense Americans what they are missing. Or would it? Regardless, I don’t know nor care. It just might give Americans some kind of escape route. Maybe some tribal leaders will accept a nice bribe of $50,000 a person to sell a valuable ID to others who want different benefits than the shit sandwich we are getting here.
It’s only fair.
How about $5300 for six months?
I don’t know anything about this website but, it popped up as an MSN story on my ‘puter
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/tesla-model-y-high-insurance-quote/
I believe it was Jefferson who said it, Banking institutions are more dangerous to liberty than standing armies. If the people ever allow a private banking cartel to control the issuance of their currency, causing inflation then deflation, the corporations that grow up around the banks will deprive the people of their property until the day their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers concurred.
State Farm is certainly a filthy handmaiden of the federal reserve. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The insurance mafia is the easiest part of their control grid to break. This form of corporate malpractice is now seen by pretty much everyone, even though many refuse to admit it, its a fact. Being forced to purchase a product that benefits the rent seeking class is a form of slavery. The journey of a thousand lifetimes beginning with a single step and all that botch, it only takes a determined minority to get the snowball rolling down hill.
Realize we have no rule of law. And even if we did, said rue of law only benefits the 1%. Then maybe, just maybe, if a handful of people woke up to that fact, we’d see a glimmer of hope. Orange Don, King of Corona is a cheap spectacle to pull people away from finding the truth. And the truth is, until at least 1O-15% of us refuse to comply, the beatings will continue, same as it ever was. If they’d picked Kammy da ho we’d probably be in a hot revolutionary war by now. So nice to have a cup of Orange Julias, so as to put everyone back to sleep.
Never before in history has such a potentially strong, yet unaware majority been controlled by such a weak and inbred few.
Hi Norman,
Kamala would have created no war (at least the Revolutionary kind). The sheeple would have continued their grazing and the rest of us would not only have boots on our neck, but they would be closing off our windpipes.
Is there was to be any Revolutionary it would have occurred under Biden. This country had an election stolen out from underneath it and those that did make a fuss found themselves behind bars for the last 2-4 years with no assistance coming their way. What happened in the meantime? The Manchurian Candidate was a feeble old man who loved ice cream, pooped his pants, and signed anything that appeared on this desk. Still the sheep did nothing.
We need to stop thinking that the sheep are going to rise up, maybe they will lift their heads a bit and see life is not what it seems (or what they have been told), but they sure are not going to leave the fields or make a stand. There are far more sheep than wolves, but they don’t know how to count that high.
“We need to stop thinking that the sheep are going to rise up”
This was my worst realization from the Scamdemic.
99% of the population has absolutely no regard for individualism and liberty.
“signed anything that appeared on this desk”….
100% pure CCP tool…and all leftists……same as fauci….
80% of all the batteries for EV’s come from china….same with the wind turbine and solar panel junk….supported by the CO2 myth….
80% of all the ingredients for drugs and injections come from china…..that is such a huge money maker it is forbidden to say one word about the injections and drugs pushed by big pharma/china……
Norman,
I seriously considered voting for Harris, for that exact reason. I guessed, correctly or incorrectly, that it would be better to try to exhaust all other options first. Messy, messy, messy. Probably a risk worth taking to try to avoid it.
There is no way to know for sure, only our best guess & best judgement.
Things will get spicy enough, soon enough. I’m already too old to risk the heartburn. I thought it would be my fight; it is not, at least not in that way. I can’t save anyone; we all must save ourselves.
All I have to say is, to everyone, be careful what you comply with because that will have bigger implications than you think, at a later date. And compliance begets further compliance, which begets peer pressure, which begets further compliance. This is how they win the game. The only way for you to win, is to refuse to play. If you win, I win and if I win you win. To that extent, we’re in this together. With that in mind, keep track of who the enemy actually is.
Hi, Publius,
Just got a letter from the county elections saying they’re dropping me from the voter rolls for not voting the last few cycles. I doubt they do that in Maricopa county. Very few things left I comply with. Taxes are the last piece for me. Right now I still pay an accountant a bunch of money to minimize my ‘legal’ obligation. I can see a time that might end, but honestly, I’m not sure I have the courage to stand alone against the iRS, so I continue to pay. I fell obligated to stay around for my little tribe. When I was young, single, and childless I DGAF and had much more fight in me. A small part of me is jealous of those without that responsibility.
Couldn’t agree with you more about compliance. Most here had already embraced non-compliance before the plandemic came along. It was very encouraging, seeing ‘refusing to play along’ seep into the general consciousness. The return of the hero to the narrative was like cold water thrown on a camp fire. The trend of non-compliance has slowed down, hopefully it returns when enough people finally realize Orange Don is only here to build a more efficient control system. Voting for competence, over utter incompetence when the empire was teetering on collapse will have consequences.
At 6O, I feel like I’m aging out of the physical fight. Other than being curious to see how it all ends, the only reason for me to hang around is supporting my wife, kids, and grandkids, and any likeminded non compliers that surround me.
Don’t forget about the consumer and repair company responsibility in this mess.
Years ago, I was an independent adjuster and inspected many a roof.
Funny how everyone wants low premiums until they file a claim and then no amount of money is too much to pay on THEIR claim – legit or not.
Scummy roofers/”storm chasers” use insurance as welfare. I’ve been on many an undamaged roof where the roofer convinces the customer they have hail damage – where they actually don’t.
No different than asking a barber if you need a haircut.
But enough customer complaints combined with neighbor-itis and all of a sudden, insurers are paying $8k-$20k to replace a roof that was not the least bit damaged.
Doesn’t take too long to add those numbers up across the entire industry.
Sure, there are plenty of tales of insurance companies wrongfully denying or underpaying claims.
However, nobody ever tells the stories of roofers tearing off shingles by hand or using tools to manufacture damage – that ultimately get paid by companies.
There’s so much insurance fraud floating around that nobody notices and it’s likely the companies just raise rates to cover the shrinkage – no different than a retail store.
I’m not claiming to know the intricacies of how the finance end of insurance works.
But this rabbit hole goes far deeper than most consumers would even begin to understand.
Hi, Flip,
>There’s so much insurance fraud floating around
My brother traveled the country as a claims specialist for State Farm for many years. One of his first comments after reading about the latest CA fires was to the effect, “Now the rebuilding scams begin.”
No doubt.
There’s so much money these companies are playing with.
And then once the lawsuits/lawyers get involved, the customers will not be the ones who win.
‘Scummy roofers/”storm chasers” use insurance as welfare.’ — Flip
After a hail storm last year, which affected my town but not my neighborhood, a couple of these guys — thirtyish, with out-of-town, Commiefornia plates, were working my block.
‘Hey, if you’ll let us inspect your roof, we can get it replaced for free.’
‘There’s no damage. I inspect my own roof.’
‘Wow, I respect that!‘ [trying to flatter me]
‘We just helped Craig and Mary down the street [made-up, fake names] replace their roof. They got hit hard.’ [total bullshit; no hail on our street]
‘Just give us ten minutes. We’ll take all the photos you need to submit a claim.’
‘No thanks.’
The risk in California is very high, due in part, to the stupidity/incompetence/etc. of those running things, and the insane “value” of a lot of CA real estate. It’s reasonable to insure homes in my state ($1,600/yr avg.) where reasonable people run things and the cost of living is normal.
Hi Ariel. –
Yes, for now . . . Just as it used to be here, where I am. It isn’t so much that anymore. The locusts travel, you see.
FWIW – same problem here. Lots of CA transplants and they bring their nasty habits with them.
They sell a CA home for millions and retire on CA generous pensions. They build a $900k home here and bank the rest. Next thing you know they want paved roads and strip malls. Gotsta’ have places to spend that extra money.
Then comes the zoning; cause they don’t want the uncontrolled growth and cheap development costs they benefitted from.
Next thing you know, it’s starting to look a whole more like where they escaped from.
Bang head!
>here
Where is “here,” BID?
I have friends who left CA for OK three years ago, primarily because they were priced out of the real estate market. Not everyone who leaves CA is bucks up. Just sayin’.
Yeah – I know I’m generalizing but I’ve seen the migration patterns here since the 80s and the pattern keeps repeating itself.
Again I ask, “Where is ‘here'” ?
Just curious…
When I was living in NM (my home state) in the early 1970s, we were already seeing billboards/bumper stickers saying “Don’t Californicate New Mexico.”
So, this is nothing new.
Ooh, ooh can I guess?
I think BID lives in Idaho. Am I close?
I think he mentioned their potatoes once.
My second guess is Texas.
That’s rich with irony as New Mexico already has some of the crappiest laws and government in the country.
I have looked at NM and say that I wouldn’t move there period. I’m sure they are happy about that.
Problem starts when there’s a critical mass of people, employers and jobs. At some point the people moving to an area are looking for work, not a place to live.
When I fell in love with Colorado you had to want to live here. There was work to be done, but it might not be in your specialty, especially in the mountains. There were plenty of bartenders with degrees, but they preferred being ski bums and the mountain life. I was lucky enough to work in an industry that was universally necessary so I could work anywhere (although without the same level of support in the metro areas, so like playing on expert mode all the time).
At some point the front range became a tech center (driven largely by aerospace and government labs), and people came here to work in tech fields, not because they loved powder days. In fact many of them hate snow and cold, and have no idea what that little snowflake means on their tires. Oh sure, they might have a coworker friend who drags them up to Vail once or twice, but they aren’t going to think of the mountains any differently than a tourist might.
This is when the Californication begins.
I don’t know what the people in that area were thinking. They live in a virtual tinderbox. There are fires in that area all the time. It was only a matter of time when a combination of drought, wind and fire would come together. These people need to clean up the brush and scrub in their areas. The tree huggers found out that mother nature doesn’t care about their “love of nature”.
The houses in the Palisades area are ridiculously expensive. The property taxes on a 3 million house are about 40 thousand a year. Add in fire insurance if you have a mortgage and you’re talking about some serious money.
The only people I feel sorry for are those who inherited a 3 million house but only were able to find jobs that paid 60 thousand or so a year. These people will need to sell or starve. Devaluation/inflation of currency is going to hit us hard in the upcoming years.
I have a house in a fire prone areas of the sierras. All of us with homes up there clear our lots of scrub and brush and needles constantly. Big pines and redwoods cover the ground with inches of needles, which are basically kindling, constantly, so we clear it all out before it dries out from winter rains.
CA passed some fire codes in 2014 which are very effective. Even in LA, lots of post-2014 homes survived. It basically means houses are built with nowhere for embers to intrude, only touch the ground with cement and brick, and the siding is some kind of processed non-flammable siding, not wood or tar shingle. Not leaving well enough alone, they also added a bunch of eco-nonsense to these codes, so it’s uneconomical to build a compliant house anymore. New construction here is exceeding $850 per sqft. Think about that – $1.3M to build a 1,500 sq ft house, and that’s after $50k-150k in permit costs, depending on where you live.
Forest management has changed a lot as well. I have this house in the sierras because it’s beautiful and I can go ski and it’s my refuge from the human swamp of the Bay Area. Over the 20+ years I’ve been going up there, I’ve seen the hiking areas and lakes and even communities that I visit become much more overgrown. People have stopped tending the land. The reasons are numerous; it’s much more expensive to do so now, the tree huggers mourn the loss of any trees, so buffer areas between civilization and forest aren’t allowed, etc. These homes disappear off into coniferous forest, which burns like napalm when it’s ignited.
Not long after I bought this house, my insurance company canceled all policies up there and I had to go onto the state plan. It’s so freakishly expensive, that I’m thinking of selling the house after all the time and money I put in fixing it up. I bought a fixer-upper and fixed it myself, and I’ll probably need to let it go in the next few years for less than I paid due to all the insurance (and tax) changes. Property tax + insurance is costing me more than $25k on a house worth a few hundred thousand.
Hi OL,
Yup. And this cancer is spreading. It is going to spread such that owning a home – or a car – is going to become cost-prohibitive for almost everyone save the very affluent. How many can absorb the costs of mandatory car insurance that now costs a couple thousand bucks on average each year, plus the cost of health insurance, plus the cost of hoe insurance plus the taxes they force us to pay in order to not be evicted from our homes … after we’ve paid federal, state and all the myriad other taxes? How much does this amount to on average? Prolly close to $20k – just for the god-damned insurance!
This is on purpose, I am convinced of it. It dovetails neatly with the expressed intent to reduce us to owning nothing. To live as feudal serfs.
Not only does it drive us out of ownership, but they make a tidy profit in the process.
And the parasites in control can profit from it…..
There was stories of how through zoning restrictions….restricting the amount of land available for housing…..the parasites could make huge profits……
They all owned multiple investment properties….then with price appreciation because restricted supply….their investments in some areas would go up 1% per month……$$$$$$$$
How a $180,000 per year gov parasite is worth $20 million after 10 years…..
restricting the amount of land available for housing…..there is lots of vacant land available to build on….but the parasites want to get rich at everybody else’s expense…..
>cost of hoe insurance
???Do they have that???
(I think it is called “staying single” but am not sure…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVyRkl5qNb8
Hi, OL,
> It basically means houses are built with nowhere for embers to intrude, only touch the ground with cement and brick
I wouldn’t be overly sanguine about that, if I were you. A former acquaintance owned a house in the San Bernardino Mountains which had stone walls. The roof was wood, and when the fire came through it torched the roof. The house was declared a total loss. Sad for him, because his Dad had built the place, which he inherited.
At least you have the common sense to mitigate obvious hazards, which should help your chances… BOL 2U
“$1.3M to build a 1,500 sq ft house, and that’s after $50k-150k in permit costs, depending on where you live.” -OppositeLock
Obsequious, feudal, collectivist balderdash!
You can build a nice house for $50k alone, IF you do so yourself and keep the vampires away. Luckily, the lore regarding vampires states that they must be invited in, which we should never do.
“after $50k-150k in permit costs”…..
Which goes to finance the parasite’s huge, gold plated, defined benefit pensions…..
These pensions are underfunded…expect more huge increases in taxes/fees…..pure theft….
No, in CA not a cent of that goes to their pensions (CalPERS), it’s all stuff like “park impact fee” and “water district impact fee” and stuff. It’s really interesting what they do; we pay all these property taxes to support public infrastructure, yet that infrastructure is perpetually unmaintained for lack of money.
Why higher taxes?….
Public pension funds are grossly underfunded.
Government pension plans get the first lien on any tax revenues. Pensions get paid 100% before a single dollar goes to schools, police or any other gov service.
this sounds like the old soviet system…..
How Public Pensions Turn Cities Into Unlivable Hellholes
Public pension funds are grossly underfunded. Consequently, more and more pension funds are borrowing money to play the markets. The goal is to boost returns to cover their massive funding gaps.
pension funds can attempt to fill their funding gaps by requesting increases in yearly contributions from governments and workers. But the public-employee unions go full ape when such measures are proposed. So the remaining option is to take on greater risk. What could go wrong?
Standing behind these pension funds are state, federal and local taxpayers – that’s you, acting as the ATM. Moreover, when the investment returns of public pension funds fall short, governments are primarily responsible for filling the void. This means cutting other spending and services or increasing taxes.
Covering pension fund obligations is a massive drag on state and local government finances. The fact is, there’s a legion of public workers out there who’ve been promised a retirement that’s no longer affordable.
These grand promises must be broken.
You can witness the effects when traversing through just about every city in America that has been in existence for more than 60 years. By repeatedly reallocating spending from much needed services, the present and future conditions of cities and municipalities are being transformed to unlivable hellholes.
Your neighbor, who retired from the city over 25 years ago, may frequently lament the shoddy conditions of the streets and sidewalks. He may bemoan the lack of resources to address burgeoning homeless encampments and the mobs of mentally ill zombies flailing about on the tired asphalt.
in 1998 they knew the math didn’t work to fund pension plans, wouldn’t be able to pay the pensions.
https://economicprism.com/how-public-pensions-turn-cities-into-unlivable-hellholes/
Like Paradise Ca,,, Lahaina, Hi,,,,and now LA. Like the fires that burnt down several food processing plants,,, Fires in Canada,,,
This LA fire and the others were no normal run of the mill fires. Of course it’s easier to choose to say nothing and as RG says,,, continue grazing, like the Buffalo did when they were being genocided.
Today we go in, bomb the shit out of people, kill hundreds of thousands. Then claim the land, build casinos, hotels and recreation areas for those with money.
No shame,,, just outright tyranny feeding corrupt capitalism. If you say anything,,, you are threatened with jail, banished from the nation and even possible death.
That is one thing I noticed, Euro, when I saw pictures and videos of the California fires. Not a single home had any defensible space. Never mind them being right on top of each other.
Now granted, I realized this is the land of fruit and nuts we are talking about, and they are environmentalists to the extreme. Still, how could these people not see the impending danger that was sure to comer? I live in a fire area. As such, I have sixty feet of defensible space around my house and a tin covered roof, with the shrubbery kept trimmed back. When we had nasty fires years ago, the forestry division was tagging homes. Those who did not have such defensible space had red flags at the end of their driveways, indicating those were the homes that were going to be left burning if SHTF. Or in this case, fires. I remember the Yellowstone fire. Mother Nature did indeed, take care of the problem, and will continue to do so, even if humans never learn.
“The pre-fire average annual cost of “coverage” in California was about $10,000. Imagine that. Imagine paying out $50,000 in just five years to “cover” your home. How many people can afford the cost of such “coverage”?”
Eric I know you hate insurance companies and mandated coverage. So do I
But the quote above is disingenuous. You are better than this. I’m assuming you didn’t fully read the linked article.
You left out some very important details.
Per the link that $10,000 premium is for Beverly Hills 90210 zip code where the average insured home is $5.5M.
So that annual premium is trivial to ensure against a $5.5M loss.
No one is forcing homeowners in Beverly Hills to buy homeowners insurance (unless mortgage is involved). I’d be willing to bet a great deal of the homes in that zip code are purchased in cash and are owned outright making insurance coverage discretionary.
As a libertarian, why aren’t you questioning why it is that the insurance companies have to beg the government to price their policy according to risk?
How about we just get the government out of meddling in what ought to be free markets? The insurance companies ought to be free to price for risk accordingly and consumers decide if that policy has value for them without coercion. Likewise the insurance companies would barred from using the coercive power of the government to force consumers to buy their products (as in case of car insurance & healthcare).
Please don’t fall into the trap of leftist tactics of half truths, and lies by omission. Likewise Luigi is not a hero based on what we know thus far.
Morning, BID!
My sister’s family lives in an appx. 900 square foot 1940s cottage (not much changed since then) on a tiny lot in a not-so-great part of Oceanside, CA – a suburb of San Diego. They pay an obnoxious sum to “cover” their shack. Plus close to $8k annually in property taxes. I disagree about insurance companies “pricing according to risk.” In that they don’t. If they did, I’d be paying less rather than twice as much as I paid two years ago.
The “risk” I pose is objective very low. The facts support this assertion. But because the risks assumed by others – not by me – who choose to buy a $50,000-plus vehicle are higher (in terms of what potential repair/replacement the costs might be) I get to pay more. I tire of this.
I propose two reforms:
One, insurance be a service people are free to purchase – or not.
Two, insurance costs be based on what you are wanting to protect from loss. Someone wants to drive a $50,000 vehicle? Great! Let them assume the risk of the costs involved in repairing/replacing it. No more passing those costs along to others, especially those who did not incur those costs by damaging anything.
With all due respect, I’ve been reading your articles on insurance lately and it seems that you aren’t recognizing that insurance is about pooled risk.
Like you I don’t have insurance claims, yet my insurance goes up.
The insurance company doesn’t insure you as an individual. You are a part of pooled risk. Sure, you get some minor discounting based on your lack of claims, but overall if the risk and costs of the insured pool rises, so does your cost.
You live in an expensive area of the country. There is no getting around that. Car insurance will be more expensive, house insurance will be more expensive, and property taxes will be more expensive.
It is more expensive to live in VA than a place like ND for a came. It’s just that simple. Those costs then transfer into the insurance pool.
It is the same for your sister’s situation. What is the value of the property being taxed at $8k? It surely isn’t a $100k shack in San Diego. I’m betting her insurance costs in CA are higher than yours in VA.
Hey, I get it you’re being pinched and you’re furious about it. I’ve been there.
But, here’s the thing, where we choose to live has costs associated with location. We don’t get a pass on math just because we may choose to live in an area with a high cost of living.
I can’t afford to live in San Diego. I simply don’t earn enough money to do so. So I don’t live there. No shame in that.
Given you can run this website from anywhere in the world, you owe it to yourself to seriously consider moving to a place that not only is cheaper to live but is also more aligned to your libertarian leanings. VA is a very tyrannical state, and expensive too. I know that would take a toll on me – so again I don’t choose to live there.
Just food for thought from someone that has struggled though the same outrage and frustration.
Hi BID,
I enjoy a spirited discussion; no need to worry about my feelings!
But let’s discuss facts. My location has not changed. Yet I am now expected to pay twice as much for a liability-only policy. Why? It is not because of where I live. Nor because I have filed a claim – or gotten “tickets” (as these trumped-up excuses to raise people’s rates are styled). It is because other people have chosen to buy these god-damned sail fawns on wheels that sell (on average) for $50,000 now, a jump of $15,000. Why not let them pay for the additional costs they choose to assume the risk of incurring? Why the Hell should I or you or any other person who does not increase the costs of claims be made to shoulder those costs?
At least home insurance can legally be said no to – if you do not have a mortgage. Unfortunately, car insurance is not like that.
Finally, I believe that all of this is not accidental. I believe it is part of the long-range plan to render us all serfs, who cannot afford to own a home or a car.
“My location has not changed. Yet I am now expected to pay twice as much for a liability-only policy. Why?”
Virginia is an at fault state. Meaning if you are involved in an accident and at fault, your insurance pays for the other guys damages.
Now imagine for a moment, that you live in a place where 92% of the cars on the road are Bugatti’s, Bentley’s, Ferrari’s, Etc. Sounds like heaven on earth?
However, should you hit one of those guys and be declared at fault, you or your insurance company now must pay to fix the $1M Bugatti.
It matters not a lick that you previously had no accidents or that you were only driving your Tacoma. You or your insurance must pay for the damages you caused to the Bugatti.
So although you say your location hasn’t changed, I’m betting your zip code like most others now has more of an abundance of $50k – $100k trucks bumbling around vs the $10k trucks that your location had say 10-20 years ago before all the NoVA immigrants relocated to your county during the Scamdemic. They brought their fancy trucks with them. As a result, it now costs more to insure your location than it did 10-20 years ago.
That is why your insurance has gone up even though you perceive that your personal situation hasn’t changed.
Again to reiterate, I hate mandated coverage.
But put the blame where it belongs – the government has created the situation by allowing the insurance mafia to grift rather than to serve the public. Doctors grift. Automakers grift, etc. when people see an opportunity to benefit themselves by making use of government, they almost always do so. Insurance is no different.
All true, BID –
And the core problem here is he compulsion. If I could legally say NO – and be free to be held accountable for the harms I cause if I cause them – then no problem. But I am made to pay for expenses (actual and potential) incurred by other people and that is immoral and hateful and I am tired of it.
It would be nice if the industry worked on an uninsured motorist approach.
That is – so you own a Bugatti. Might want to insure yourself against Eric running into you and being unable to pay for your $1M loss + medical bills.
We would all basically only insure what we stand to lose.
Problem is, the people with the money make the rules. The last thing in the world they want is to charged the full Monty to drive that Bugatti. Much more advantageous to use the coercive power of the government to force a larger insurance pool thereby lowering their costs and increasing the profitability of the insurance pool given that those with cheap cars can’t opt out.
I feel your pain. I really do. Alas, it’s not the world we live in.
Hi BID,
It is time to change the world we live in. This is serious business. We – people like you and I and probably everyone else who posts here – are going to be bankrupted or enserfed by these scumbags. It is enough. People who are worried about risk ought to indemnify themselves. The fact that I might cost someone else money is a miserable, effronterous justification for actually harming me (by forcing me to hand over money that’s mine, not anyone else’s).
If I do cause harm, then I owe – and make me pay, if I welsh. Then enserf me. Then indenture me. But not before I cause harm and fail to make the person I harmed whole.
It is not possible to have a free – a just – society – in which people who’ve not caused anyone any harm are harmed because other people “worry” they might cause harm.
Hmmm. Let’s apply BID’s argument/apology to another scenario, which we got to witness in NYC only a few years ago:
“I feel your pain [about a mandatory vaxx and digital vaxx passport on your phone]. I really do. Alas, it’s not the world we live in.”
Those are the words of a defeated man. Fuck that! The only reason the NYC mandatory vaxx and digital vaxx passport ended was with pushback, not capitulation.
Good point Mr Liberty
There are some things that are worth fighting & dying for. The Vax and scamdemic cost me a career, and forced a cross country relocation so that I didn’t have to live under the tyranny of my employer and the state of MI. I don’t know how far I would go if it came to forced passports but I know I wouldn’t give in.
Paying the tithe of insurance to avoid an AGW – not worth dying over . . . Yet.
Ahh, but that’s a strawman you’ve erected here. Nobody here has said that one should sacrifice his life over the issue of mandatory insurance.
Morning, BID!
The thing I was trying to get at is there’s a clear trend toward a point at which people won’t be able to pay. That it will be more than just obnoxious. It will be – pay the mafia – or pay for groceries. Which do you suppose people will choose?
>you or your insurance company now must pay to fix the $1M Bugatti.
Magic phrase: Pay policy limits.
If your PD limit is $250,000, that is the max your insurer will pay. If it costs $750,000 to fix the Bugatti, the owner can sue you for the difference, if the police report finds you “at fault.”
But if you are smart, you will have long since placed all of your (former) assets* in a living trust, which means you, personally, own nothing, and the lawsuit cannot touch the trust assets, because they are not your property.
*That would include the title to *your* Bugatti/Ferrari/Porsche, etc.
Word to the wise…
‘insurance is about pooled risk.’ — Burn It Down
Yes. Insurance has its own arcane business model. Some of it was explained to me by an old-school New York insurance executive, in one of the more thought-provoking courses I took.
Not that I agree with all of the insurance industry’s practices. But critics who don’t delve into their mindset and their business model just won’t get any traction. Know thine enemy.
Hi Jim,
“Pooled risk” is fine – if one is not forced into the “pool.” If the power to say NO is rescinded, then you are forced to assume risks incurred by others – and that is why I despise the insurance mafia.
Because it is a mafia.
There is something unspeakably effronterous about being forced to pay for “protection” you do not want to pay for. Those who piss their pants over what might happen can buy “protection” if they wish. Good for them. But leave me alone – so long as I don’t harm anyone else or cause damage to anyone else. God, I hate what this country has become!
Why oh why does society always come back to communistic tendencies. It fails over and over and over. Service goes down and cost goes up. People get pissed and the tyrant at the top loses his head.
Always.
If only there was a better way!
“’Pooled risk’ is fine – if one is not forced into the ‘pool.'” -EP
I’m afraid we’re going to be drowned in the “pool”, should we not drastically alter course, Eric.
That’s why I cringe at hearing the word “commmuuuuuuunity”, which rakes across my eardrums much like “saaaaaafety!”. When mentioned, especially in the political sense, it nearly always means that I am at risk at loosing something for the benefit of said commmuuuuuunity!
Let our interactions be voluntary and mutually beneficial, and never coerced or unilateral, so help us Zeus.
“Commmmuuunity” and “saaaaafety”. Modern-day buzz words for Communism dressed up to look like something it is not.
It usually is disguised as “caring” and “helpful”. Also “unity” and “acceptance”. Acceptance into the maelstrom to be unified in demise. They will care the SHIT out of you, until you are beyond help.
“Care:”
A term of art used in the medical industry to convey the false impression that its practitioners give a rat’s arse about the fate of the raw material (i.e., you).
Example:
“Gender affirming care”
Actual meaning:
Sexual mutilation of children, possibly by force.
Well-said, Adi –
“Care”? How about (in the medical context) treatment? You see the doc to get treated. Mommy cares about her children.
“Self defense:”
Mass murder of Arab non-combatants, including women, children and old people.
Wholesale destruction of infrastructure, including schools and hospitals. Anal rape of military males, and the denial of a dignified burial for the dead.
“Pooled risk” is fine – if one is not forced into the “pool.” -EP
This is exactly right!!!
It seems no matter how hard you try, nobody hears your actual message that EVs, airbags, car insurance, etc. are not necessarily bad things. It’s the being forced with a gun and badge to have to buy these things that’s bad.
BID: Insurance is not necessarily about pooled risk. What you describe is in theory what a mutual insurance company does, in which all of the policy holders are the owners of the company that are entitled to receive payments/dividends to the extent premiums exceeded payouts and administrative expenses (i.e. the policy holders share in the profits). This model is a flawed in my opinion thought because it allows for massive salaries to be paid to management, but the theory is pooled risk. Most insurance companies are not “mutual” and do not operate like this. The policy holders do not get to share in the insurance company profits. The upside (profits) goes to the management and shareholders and the downside (losses) are spread to the policy holders with future premiums.
Nothing inherently wrong with offering insurance under either model. The objection is the forcing of “coverage” whether you like it or not and whether you negligently (or otherwise) cause damage. That’s the injustice.
>cheaper to live
Belize?
>900 square foot 1940s cottage
Here’s a house in Oceanside which sold for $1,375,000 on 1/27/25
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/506-S-Freeman-St-Oceanside-CA-92054/16582535_zpid/
975 s.f. built in 1944.
Looks like a good comp to me.
Whoever bought it will be paying the statutory max 1% plus whatever other “special assessments ” the locals have dreamed up. Where I live, that comes to ~1.25% total, which would be (0.0125)*($1,375,000) = $11,187.
> close to $8k annually in property taxes.
She must have lived there awhile.
Personally, I cannot afford to live in Oceanside, or anywhere else near the beach.
My property tax this year for an 1130 s.f. house in Corona 92882, which I bought in 1981 for $67,000 and have since improved significantly, is $1660. Present market value is probably between $600,000 and $700,000. The same house in Oceanside, Costa Mesa, or Pasadena, would likely be at least double.
Doubt I could buy my own house, in today’s market.
Hi Adi,
Yesterday, my brother in law sent me a picture he took of a bum sleeping just behind his house, which is adjacent to a train track, by the way. For that, they pay about $8k in property taxes.
>bum sleeping just behind his house
LOL. I’ve heard similar stories from other beach communities, from long ago. In some cases, acquaintances moved inland to get away from the riff raff.
Yup!
Also: My sister’s car had it catalytic converter cut off right outside the house. She also found a bullet hole in it one other time.
>they pay about $8k in property taxes.
Here’s a place in Escondido (not far away) which recently sold for $715,000.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1408-Calico-Ln-Escondido-CA-92029/16696862_zpid/
Out in the country where the homeless are unlikely to venture. And if they do, you will be able to see them coming in time to run them off.
They would be paying about the same in property taxes, and have some land and privacy in lieu of beach bums camping on their back PL. No trains to wake them up in the middle of the night, either.
So, sell the shack in Oceanside for ~$1.3 mil, buy a country estate in Escondido for ~$730,000. Swallow hard and pay the capital gains tax (gulp). They’ll still put $$ in the bank, be paying ~same in property taxes, and gain peace and privacy.
Didn’t you say your BIL is retired military? Still close enough to shop at the commissary @ Camp Pendleton, appears to me.
Aber, jedem das seine. 🙂
>“The pre-fire average annual cost of “coverage” in California was about $10,000.
Eric’s misquotes the article to which he linked.
The article says:
“In California, homeowners may pay anywhere from under $1,000 to more than $10,000 per year to insure their homes — and it may depend in large part on where they live”
I live in ZIP Code 92882 (western Riverside County).
According to the article, the average premium for ZIP code 92882 is $2741.
State Farm is my HO insurer. I paid $1105 last August, for current year premium.
Just wait, Adi . . .
I expect to see ~20% increase, because that is what State Farm has requested, which, if that is what happens, would put my premium at:
$1105 + $220 = ~ $1325.
Not cheap, but a far cry from $10,000, which is what you asserted.
No doubt, if I lived in a high fire risk area, such as Altadena, or Lake Arrowhead, the premium would be significantly higher.
I’ve seen the devastation from forest fires up close and personal, and it is both scary and very sad. But, you pays your money and you takes your chances. Buy the ticket, take the ride. If your ticket is for a $1,000,000 home surrounded by pine forest, fine and dandy, but know what you signed up for, and don’t come whining to the general public to bail you out if your house should burn down.
“Buy the ticket, take the ride.” Some of the best advice if one understands. RIP Hunter Thompson.
I do wonder what might happen if people could park an RV on site of their property and build their house at their leisure, ridding themselves of the requirement for homeowner’s insurance. Might the reduced buying pressure reduce the costs? I believe so. Not allowed in many places though, kiddies!
Some of the places I have researched for buying land allow up to two weeks of camping. There was a story about some old veteran who bought a fixer upper in southern Colorado where apparently the house did not have a working septic system. He was run out of that place by the locals.
Curious, Europeasant. Was this veteran just pumping his sewage into the storm drain like Eddie from “Christmas Vacation”?
Again, Adi – wait…
These basterds will be charging you $5k in three years. Then $10k. Then you will be homeless, prolly. Wait. See.
Raising property taxes to squeeze the slaves….so they end up broke in the 15 min city/prison camps…..
Another way….
in the burned out areas….any rebuilding must conform to the net zero housing code building guidelines….resulting in far higher building costs….
conform to the net zero housing code building guidelines…
they will be going after the existing housing stock too….
forcing owners to spend 100’s of thousands of dollars on net zero upgrades….you won’t be just living in your not owned, fee simple title house…just by paying property tax…neglecting any upgrades/repairs/maintenance
Making more slaves homeless and broke….
>These basterds will be charging you $5k in three years.
Nope. Insurance rates are regulated in CA. Notice State Farm had to ask permission of State Gov. in order to raise rates.
IMO, there ain’t enough grift in Sacto to approve a five fold increase in three years. JMO. I could be wrong.
>Then you will be homeless, prolly.
Would that make you happy, Eric?
Just asking.
Be patient.
Chances are, I’ll be dead within five years anyway.
https://onlinedegrees.kent.edu/college-of-public-health/community/life-expectancy-and-public-health#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20U.S.%20life%20expectancy,a%20considerable%20role%20in%20longevity.
Since I am already on bonus time, as of last September.
So, WGASA, from my POV.
Hi Adi,
No – it would make me furious! I am incensed by the insurance mafia – which is far less honorable than the Italian mafia. The latter at least had the balls to do its own dirty work.
>No – it would make me furious!
Well, that makes me feel better. 🙂
[Didn’t really think you had taken a dislike – just rattling your cage. :)]
I figured!
I am an extremely live and let live guy; the way I see it, what someone else does or doesn’t do is their business unless it causes me a tangible harm – at which point it becomes my business. But not before and not unless. I also resent like Hell that responsible people – I’m one – are forced into this “system” that is predicated on the damage/welshing caused by irresponsible people. Go after the latter, by all means. I’m 100 percent on board. But people who aren’t harming anyone else who just want to be left the Hell alone?
Yeah – leave them alone. That used to be America, once.
>I am an extremely live and let live guy
Me, too. 🙂
Probably describes nearly everyone who reads this website. NAP, and all.
I believe some famous guy once said the ultimate freedom is the freedom to be left alone, or words to that effect. GFL, in today’s world.
Never give an inch.
Morning, Adi –
It’s sad, isn’t it, that so many Americans have become control freak simps. I remember when most Americans disliked busybodies. It was not that long ago, either. Only about 30 years – a blink of the eye in a human lifetime. And now we live in a busybody age, in which it is considered normal and even virtuous to pester other people and mind their business.
Sometimes, I just need a drink.
>the insurance mafia – which is far less honorable than the Italian mafia.
Funny you should mention that, Eric.
Why not combine the two?
Check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZdj3RfQmS4
An actual mob insurance agent.
Not a made man, though.
Hi Adi,
Great stuff! The old school mobsters had some humanity – and balls. They wanted your money? They’d take it. These insurance poltroons use the government to coerce you to hand over money, all nice and legal. I can respect a guy like Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. An insurance peddler? Not so much.
I believe it,Eric. We moved to TN from tyrannical MI in 2020. Our property insurance was $2,400 a year. Just renewed this year and it’s now $4,900 and that’s our “discount” after shopping around for a different company. We just got it locked in in January before the fires started. Can’t wait to see next year’s numbers.
I’m in 95945. My HO policy premiums have pretty much doubled each year for the past 4 years. We just received notice from State Farm they won’t renew this year.
Sure wish I’d listened to my wife when she said we should put the For Sale sign up back in 2021…
Hi Mr. Bill,
I just got off the phone with my sister in Florida…new homeowner insurance rates (she is outside Tampa) 100% increase from last year. One of the factors is that she has an older roof so she is stuck with one company. Most insurance carriers in Florida want a roof that is 10 years or less. If she replaces the roof she will have a greater variety of insurance carriers to choose from, but the effects of the increase are still pretty brutal.
I told her it may be time to hightail it back home to VA.
Hi, R.G. —
I’m glad your sis has at least one offer from a carrier.
We have two options:
• no insurance;
• the state plan, which will likely be double what we paid for this past year… but it only covers the structure and nothing else. I’d need to buy a second policy to cover windows, sheetrock, electrical, plumbing, gas, flooring, appliances, etc. plus contents (clothes, TVs, books, cars, bikes, etc.)
The California dream has become a nightmare.
Reminds me of the bulldozer scene in the film, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.
The California miracle is over. It was fun while it lasted.
You know you can’t keep letting it get you down
And you can’t keep dragging that dead weight around
If there ain’t all that much to lug around
Better run like hell when you hit the ground
When the morning comes
When the morning comes
You can’t stop these kids from dancing — why would you want to
‘Specially when you are already getting yours?
‘Cause if your mind don’t move and your knees don’t bend
Well, don’t go blaming the kids again
Let it go, this too shall pass
Let it go, this too shall pass
When the morning comes
When the morning comes
(Yea you can’t keep letting it get you down)
– OK Go, This Too Shall Pass
‘Will they submit … or will they decide to fight …?’ — eric
There is a Clinton/Blair-style Third Way, comrade, if you understand triangulation.
It is the same policy choice represented by Obamacare. When the cost of ‘coverage’ becomes unbearable, Big Gov steps in to subsidize the premium, numbing the pain.
Fifteen years on, we see the result: $2 trillion annual deficits, baked in the cake forevermore. With $3 trillion annual deficits, ‘we’ could subsidize auto and homeowners ‘coverage’ too. What’s not to like?
Just because your country is dying doesn’t mean you shouldn’t accept ‘free money.’ 🙂
And then there are the rest of us, Jim.
1. People who make too much to qualify for any subsidy.
2. People who distrust the system (doctors, hospitals, insurance companies) to not want to participate and have these overseers report every detail to the state health department.
3. People who think it is ludicrous to spend $20k a year on a family of four or $5k a year on an individual just based on a rate calculation of risk.
Sure, we are called fools, irresponsible, and idiots as others judge us for not participating. They then point the finger at us telling us that we are the ones responsible for the increase in their premiums. To which I highly disagree. Why? No insurance means having to live healthier, being more risk adverse, and saving, because running to the doctor or hospital is an expensive option.
Insurance is a concept that eventually will take its toll and crack under the pressure of its own inability to cover costs due to nature, lawsuits, and irresponsibility. Look at any industry where insurance is not mandated or isn’t being forced and you will find more competitiveness and cheaper costs. Unfortunately, people refuse to view this as an option because they don’t want to pay more than $15 for their copay or worse, they believe due to the high cost of insurance that they are obligated to use it for everything so they can break “even” for what they pay in. They refuse to acknowledge that this method only increases their costs because the others in the plan think as they do.
Hi, RG,
Not to belabor a point, but those of us (you, me, Eric, et.al.) who are, or who have been, self employed, or owner of a company, realize there is no Santa Claus, and there is no free lunch. The term “copay” is meaningless to us, because we always pay the full cost.
As we both know, the concept of insurance is to pool resources for an event which is both a) statistically unlikely, and b) ruinously expensive, should it occur.
By definition:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mutual-insurance-company.asp#:~:text=What%20Is%20a%20Mutual%20Insurance,the%20right%20to%20select%20management.
“A mutual insurance company is an insurance company that is owned by policyholders. The sole purpose of a mutual insurance company is to provide insurance coverage for its members and policyholders”
One huge problem with so-called “health” insurance, as I see it, is that concept of insurance has been abused to “cover” routine and expected expenses, with the cost of the services concealed from the consumer, because they do not pay those costs directly. The concealment of costs is by design.
Carried to its absurd extreme, we would have “grocery insurance,” which would require you to file an “insurance claim” to buy a loaf of bread, with you, the consumer, having a “copay” amount, and wondering if rye bread is “covered” by your “food plan.”
This is clearly a perversion of the concept of insurance, but what else should we expect from an industry which refers to the genital mutilation of children as “gender affirming ‘care'” ?
Hi Adi,
I don’t dispute anything you wrote. Many people do expect for insurance (all insurance) to cover everything from the simplest of transactions (e.g. going to the doctor for a checkup or a windshield repair). To me these items should not be included and insurance should be catastrophic only. This would open the doors for more competition which then would lower prices.
Last year I had a rock fly up and crack my windshield on I-95. I first contacted Safelite to come by my business and repair the windshield. They wanted $625. I then called the local glass shop about three miles from my home. They did it for $385 in under an hour. The difference is that Safelite wants to run it through insurance. The glass shop does not accept insurance so were able to be more competitive. In the end I saved $240 which bought my groceries for the week and the insurance company is none the wiser.
Lol – just repaired 2 rock chips a couple days ago with DIY resin kits. Total $30.
This idea that car insurance covers glass damage is insane but yet they do. All part of the grifting not only of the insurance industry on the government but also of the glass industry on the insurance industry.
Yet another reason Eric’s coverage keeps rising. Although he and I may not be making claims for windshields, plenty of other idiots are. This just drives up the cost to and increases risk of the insurance pool.
Yet people still think they are getting something for nothing.
Hi, RG,
>The glass shop does not accept insurance so were able to be more competitive. In the end I saved $240
Case in point, and thanks for the real world example of your own personal experience. It should be obvious that Guido doesn’t “pay claims” for free, but some people just don’t get it..
And then there are payroll taxes…
Not that I have ever worked “off the books,” you understand [rolls eyes]. 🙂
I’m guessing the California fires are similar to the volcano fires in Hawaii i.e. the oligarchs will make rebuilding impossible and then buy up prime property. As for the serfs, who cares?
They already have. Gov. Hair Gel has stated “rebuilding” would be done the “environment responsible” way; whatever in hell that means!
Won’t someone please THINK OF THE HUMANS!
in the burned out areas….any rebuilding must conform to the net zero housing code building guidelines….resulting in far higher building costs….
>oligarchs will make rebuilding impossible and then buy up prime property
Maybe L’il Donnie will be able to cut a deal for some of that beachfront property in Malibu.
That is, if he’s not too busy cleaning out the filthy Aye-rabs from Gaza for his friend Bibi.