Really? It’s from the 80s. He’s lucky people don’t run from the room screaming when they hear it.
Via Lowering the Bar.
0 Comments
No matter how many times politicians say something should be free (lately, it’s college education), it’s not going to be free. When they say free, what they are actually describing is a setup where the user doesn’t pay, others pay.
Does anyone actually think that public elementary and secondary education are free? Of course not. Everyone understands that teachers, books, and school buildings cost money. Do the people who are saying that college education should be free think that their audience doesn’t understand this? Could it be that they just don’t want to acknowledge, and/or don’t want anyone to think about, the fact that while it’s free to the user, others are paying for it? If making college education free to the user is a net good to society, fine, but don’t say it’s free. It’s publicly financed. It’s taxpayer funded. It’s not free. As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, here’s an article dated several years ago, from what looks like a fairly reliable source. The author provides a pretty solid-sounding explanation of how life insurance policies are packaged as retirement savings vehicles. Calling it a “7702 plan” makes it sound like a retirement savings program, but it’s really life insurance. Could it be that the people marketing these programs think it will hurt their sales presentation if they disclose that they are really selling life insurance?
I saw mention of a “702 plan” as a retirement savings plan to be used in addition to, or as an alternative to, a 401(k) or IRA. I had never heard of a 702 plan before.
After just a little looking into it, I concluded that there really is no such thing as a 702 plan. The “702” in 702 plan is apparently a reference to section 7702 of the Internal Revenue Code. That code section defines life insurance contracts. (I think they left off the first “7” because calling it a 702 plan makes it sound more like 401(k) plan, and it’s easier to say, than “7702 plan.” That’s just a guess on my part.) So it appears to me that if someone is promoting a 702 plan, what they are really doing is selling life insurance. I’m not the only one who has reached this conclusion. I’m not commenting on the merits or demerits of life insurance. I’m just telling you that a 702 plan is life insurance, not a savings vehicle designed for retirement savings like a 401(k) or an IRA. Assisted suicide is a controversial subject about which many people have strong feelings pro and con. I am not going to use this space to advocate for one side of the question or the other, but I think the discussion that’s currently going on in Canada, where the national government is implementing a court ruling legalizing euthanasia, is bringing out some of the complicated issues that it raises.
This item in the (Canadian) National Post really highlights the complications of legalizing euthanasia, many of which are not immediately obvious. As a professional who reads death certificates, and deals with life insurance claims, fairly frequently, I can really relate to the debate on those particular aspects of the topic. Via The Corner, where the writer points out that this topic is closer to home than you might think. Remember when the news came out that government computers were hacked, resulting in the theft of millions of federal personnel records? Remember how the government initially denied that any sensitive information had been stolen?
The government is going to spend $133 million to buy identity theft protection services for the victims of that theft. Your tax dollars ($133 million of 'em) at work. If you care, a great, short takedown of the “VMAs” can be found here. A sample: The great, ongoing con of the rock world is how it’s sold “rebellion” and “transgression” to generations of teens by asking them to join an increasingly libertine majoritarian culture that views experimentation with sex and drugs as no big deal, an entirely normal rite of passage. |
AuthorThe contents of this blog, this web site, and any writings by me that are linked here, are all my personal commentary. None of it is intended to be legal advice for your situation. Archives
November 2023
Categories
All
|