Nursing and the economy...

mimicamacho · Nov 9, 2008

Recently was move From PR to Miami FL because the economy in PR is very bad the nursing salary is unther 12.95 per h in some Hospital in the metro area....mimicamacho

MsBruiser · Nov 9, 2008

Within a few more years there will be a business case for a single payer system as many small and medium size businesses will not be able to afford to pay any health benefits.
Another point is that health care is not free in any industrialized country; everyone pays for it, just not at the Dr office.

You have that right.

I have noticed a disconcerting trend over the past 8 years, American's have developed a moronic sense of entitlement when it comes to taxes - they want a war in Iraq, secure borders (basically all the benefits of government services) - but they didn't want to pay for it. Somewhere people lost sight of the fact that you just can't borrow, borrow, borrow and run up deficits - the bill eventually comes due. Hence, the financial meltdown, due in part to all strata of our society living beyond their means.

Unfortunately, I see the same thing with regard to health care. Everyone with health insurance seems to think the uninsured are not their problem. "Keep my costs low - who cares, they should get a job with insurance," "we don't want socialized medicine," etc.) Well, hospitals can keep passing along the costs of treating the uninsured to the insured (ever wonder why "simple" operations can accrue $20,000 in pure "hospital" charges alone) for only so long. Eventually, the system will collapse (i.e.: mass hospital bankruptcies, government intervention).

So when people say things to the effect of "Obama will bring socialized medicine" I can only think "thank god." I don't know of one industrialized country with such numbers of uninsured - it is a tragedy.

cecsix · Nov 9, 2008

Watch out for bargain single digit stocks. I remember the ugly dot com days when stocks reverse split with a sudden halving of the number of shares owned. Better to stick with stocks with positive earnings per share. Ford's loses $5.53 per $2.20 share of stock.

I would hesitate to compare the dot com bubble stocks to Ford. The difference is, the government let the free market determine which dot com companies survived, while there is no way the Big 3 Autos will be allowed to fail. Taxpayer money will keep them afloat until the economy turns, and then we will see the company values (and stocks) rebound once they've retooled to meet demand for lower fuel consumption cars. Also, once the credit markets thaw, it will be easier to get car loans.

lamazeteacher · Nov 10, 2008

I would hesitate to compare the dot com bubble stocks to Ford. The difference is, the government let the free market determine which dot com companies survived, while there is no way the Big 3 Autos will be allowed to fail. Taxpayer money will keep them afloat until the economy turns, and then we will see the company values (and stocks) rebound once they've retooled to meet demand for lower fuel consumption cars. Also, once the credit markets thaw, it will be easier to get car loans.

I'm not holding my breath until the credit markets thaw. The way FICO scores everyone, using things in error, according to the 3 agencies from which adverse information is kept until the person sees it, then goes through all the forms to get it exempted, and then some other creditor unknown to them lops another one onto it....... There must be another way to evaluate people to receive credit!

My "part of the solution" thinking, is that an amount (like over $1000) should be 3 months overdue, to justify placing it on someone's private record. The fact that anyone can access anyone else's credit without written consent, and that items are placed on reports without the knowledge of the person whose report it is, must be unconstitutional! I mind others seeing my score far more than I would their seeing my history of a hiatal hernia.......

The older I get, the more stays on my record! AT&T is one company that refuses to let anyone off their hook for decades -my report is incorrect, from the '80s, yet it is impossible to produce records from so long ago to show that I owe them nothing. :angryfire

Banks' mortgage brokers and auto credit companies have searched for my SS#, then accessed my score without my knowledge all the time - and the number of inquiries affects the score, a lose-lose situation.

Has anyone gotten satisfaction from their attempt to get things off their records. I'd love to know how they/you did it! :bowingpur

As far as fuel consumption is concerned, it is an addiction, and the path of least initial resistance. Electric battery operated cars have been produced, one from Toyota that is very satisfactory, in that it accelerates as any other car does, can go 300-400 miles before a recharge, which can be done while having lunch or dinner for an hour. If you use solar energy at home (or if you charge it at a restaurant), it costs nothing; and without that, a friend who had and was very happy with the Toyota Rav, said it costs $1.83 per 300 - 400 miles. So why we support hybrids, is beyond me - except that something happened to Toyota Ravs on the way here, their importation has been stopped (probably with the lobbying of oil cartels)

sassiebaz · Nov 10, 2008

I'm not holding my breath until the credit markets thaw. The way FICO scores everyone, using things in error, according to the 3 agencies from which adverse information is kept until the person sees it, then goes through all the forms to get it exempted, and then some other creditor unknown to them lops another one onto it....... There must be another way to evaluate people to receive credit!
My "part of the solution" thinking, is that an amount (like over $1000) should be 3 months overdue, to justify placing it on someone's private record. The fact that anyone can access anyone else's credit without written consent, and that items are placed on reports without the knowledge of the person whose report it is, must be unconstitutional! I mind others seeing my score far more than I would their seeing my history of a hiatal hernia.......
The older I get, the more stays on my record! AT&T is one company that refuses to let anyone off their hook for decades -my report is incorrect, from the '80s, yet it is impossible to produce records from so long ago to show that I owe them nothing. :angryfire
Banks' mortgage brokers and auto credit companies have searched for my SS#, then accessed my score without my knowledge all the time - and the number of inquiries affects the score, a lose-lose situation.
Has anyone gotten satisfaction from their attempt to get things off their records. I'd love to know how they/you did it! :bowingpur
As far as fuel consumption is concerned, it is an addiction, and the path of least initial resistance. Electric battery operated cars have been produced, one from Toyota that is very satisfactory, in that it accelerates as any other car does, can go 300-400 miles before a recharge, which can be done while having lunch or dinner for an hour. If you use solar energy at home (or if you charge it at a restaurant), it costs nothing; and without that, a friend who had and was very happy with the Toyota Rav, said it costs $1.83 per 300 - 400 miles. So why we support hybrids, is beyond me - except that something happened to Toyota Ravs on the way here, their importation has been stopped (probably with the lobbying of oil cartels)

Have you gone through the proper disputing channels? I did and had several things removed from my credit report...it was so simple.

lamazeteacher · Nov 10, 2008

Have you gone through the proper disputing channels? I did and had several things removed from my credit report...it was so simple.

Thanks for your reply to my post.

Please tell me what proper disputing channels you used. The only ones I've known about, charge a lot of money to do that. I've tried to get through to the 3 reporting companies on the telephone, and it's impossible to get a human being to answer.:uhoh21:

Kabin · Nov 10, 2008

I would hesitate to compare the dot com bubble stocks to Ford. The difference is, the government let the free market determine which dot com companies survived, while there is no way the Big 3 Autos will be allowed to fail. Taxpayer money will keep them afloat until the economy turns, and then we will see the company values (and stocks) rebound once they've retooled to meet demand for lower fuel consumption cars. Also, once the credit markets thaw, it will be easier to get car loans.

At over $5 billion per month burn rate there isn't enough tax money to keep them afloat. Don't forget loaned money would first need to be borrowed from abroad as the US is a net debtor nation. A bailout plan would only come as a last resort, ie imminent bankruptcy. Recall the US Treasury said no to the big three's $10 billion loan request two weeks ago. Unfortunately, waiting for the Obama administration in January is too late. Today, Deutsche Bank placed GM's stock value at $0! They said even with a government bailout the common stock holders would have zero stock value.

groovy jeff, RN · Nov 10, 2008

On the Ford stock:

They are in the best position to survive and have about 18 months worth of cash
Unlike GM, they started making big changes 3 years ago once they saw the bleeding wasn't going to stop
They could sell Mazda which is a pretty good asset and is a desirable brand that would have some takers
At this point it is a value stock at $2.33/share
I believe that 4-5 years from now, one could make a 1000% return on investment

For what it is worth.

Oh yeah heard this the other day:

The Bush administration came into office as social conservatives and they are leaving as conservative socialist.

cecsix · Nov 10, 2008

At over $5 billion per month burn rate there isn't enough tax money to keep them afloat. Don't forget loaned money would first need to be borrowed from abroad as the US is a net debtor nation. A bailout plan would only come as a last resort, ie imminent bankruptcy. Recall the US Treasury said no to the big three's $10 billion loan request two weeks ago. Unfortunately, waiting for the Obama administration in January is too late. Today, Deutsche Bank placed GM's stock value at $0! They said even with a government bailout the common stock holders would have zero stock value.

The "burn rate" at companies like AIG, which continue to receive more and more bailout money, is way higher than Ford. there isn't enough tax money to bail them or to provide for the other $1 Trillion in bailouts either. Do you realize our federal government spends $1.3 BILLION dollars per day just to service our current debt. Under Reaganomics, the federal government adopted the philosophy that deficits don't matter. Personally, I disagree, and I think that our children and grandchildren will suffer greatly for the irresponsiblity of our current and past leadership.

That said, the big 3 auto companies and their ancillary suppliers employee 10% of all workers in this country. It would be more than devastating to let them fail. Rather, as Obama has proposed, we should pump enough money into them to get to low carbon/low fuel cars as QUICKLY as possible. the fact is, America's innovative nature disappeared over the past eight years, and we have to revive it by any means necessary, or we will cease to be a leading nation in the world.

Ford and GM will not be allowed to fail. If they do, it will mean that the economic situation is even worse than it appears.

Kabin · Nov 11, 2008

These auto companies need to show viable business plans before receiving loans. GM, Ford, etc can't continue to build too many cars and pickups that few want while throwing thousands of dollars on the hood and then expect US tax payers to bail them out. And it's still happening today. Ford and Dodge are spending big $$$ on television ads promoting their new 2009 designed pickups. We need some darwinism in the domestic auto industry. They need to fall and rise from the ashes reinvented.

And as far as employee counts go, these companies are already a shell of what they were just a couple of years ago. Nothing new about industries becoming obsolete and jobs being outsourced. New jobs will come from investment in promising new areas like plug-in autos, alternative fuels (hydrogen, biodiesel), nanotechnology, stem cells, etc.

cecsix · Nov 11, 2008

Kabin, I don't disagree entirely, but I also don't see the federal gov't letting Ford and GM die. What you have to take into account is that, many great companies that didn't do anything wrong, but simply exist to supply the Big 3, would also fail, taking 100's of thousands of jobs out of the economy that is already dying. This would drive the country into another depression, potentially worse than the first. I think the point is, we never should have gotten here, but now we must deal with it. As for continuing to market somewhat obsolete products, I agree. Although, the F150 is still Ford's most popular vehicle. There will always be a demand for pickups, just not enough to justify the production over the past few years.

I am a free market guy, and I think a well run capatalist nation is the best way to go. Unfortunately, this current situation demands government intervention. One of the reasons people think the Great Depression lasted as long as it did is the government's failure to intervene early on. Letting the free market correct on its own would have been good back in 2000 when Bush took office as the tech bubble was bursting. Instead, he, the Fed. Reserve, and Congress did things to heat up the economy like reducing interest rates and lending regulations. In other words, they used these tactics to keep the economy from making a natural correction that would have been relatively mild compared to the current one. But, ironically, if they let the free market correct on its own this time, we will see another depression.

Belinda-wales, RN · Nov 13, 2008

Here's how nurses "feel" it": Nobody's getting laid off (yet?) but there's no hiring, so we are almost always working short now, with strict limits on overtime. Working short sucks the life out of you.

Well in my opinion NOT WORKING sucks the life out of you and your family- every day I go into work and someones husband has lost his job and they are willing to work to keep thier family safe and in their home- whilst things may get tight over the next few years for nurses at least bed side nurses have jobs - I am thankful that I am a nurse in these very difficult times and my thoughts are with those who are not so lucky.

cwecsix get a sence of reality be thankful there are meny good people out there who tonight are worried for health care for their children as today they lost there job and benifits!