Promises Were Made
Here in Texas we were promised, swear on the Bible promised, that if we would only pass lawsuit reform, our insurance rates would drop like a lead sinker in greasy water.
We passed lawsuit reform. So the insurance companies were left with no alternative to double their windfall profits except to rip off their customers, raise rates, and buy a politician or two.
Allow me to introduce you to insurance crack whore State Senator Kelly Hancock. According to the Conservative Values Coalition, Kelly is just a pair of sandals away from being able to walk on water.
However, according to insurance PACs, he’s a pavement princess.
A Dallas-area senator carrying a bill that would abolish the state’s consumer advocate for insurance received nearly $112,000 from insurance political action committees in his 2012 campaign, a political watchdog group reported Friday.
You know, I don’t mind that our state representative are for sale. I don’t. Hell, everybody is for sale. What bothers me is they are for sale so damn cheap.
Don’t forget the amazing savings on electricity that we all enjoy as a result of the magic of the free-market. Adam Smith almost had it right when he referred to the free market as an “invisible hand”. It’s more like a highly visible finger each time I get an electricity bill….
1The sweet baby Jeebus has already forgiven him.
2Bribery should be on a commission basis. The insurance companies will make millions over several years. So the State Senator should get a percentage for the duration rather than a one time payment. It only seems fair. That’s the way insurance companies do it.
3Nice idea, Ralph. The insurance companies also should be allowed to make monthly direct deposits to his prison commissary account.
4ALL insurance companies contribute equally to both parties’ candidates to hedge their bets. So… what exactly is the Democratic Party doing about this sleezy bill of Hancock?
5If tort reform was the solution to all the problems that insurance companies would ever face, or have to deal with, in The Great State of Perpetual Confusion…… aka…..Texas…… why is it that only one insurance company will write homeowner’s insurance here?
Am I wrong on that? My understanding when I took out a policy in about 2,000 or so, was that State Farm is the only company who writes homeowner’s in Texas. My auto was with Farmer’s they said “nope” we don’t do that anymore. So, I ending up moving both.
If I’m wrong, and somebody else does offer homeowner’s coverage, (since my rates have doubled)….. I’d love to know.
6Wow, he looks a lot like Joel Osteen. Let’s not forget Larry Taylor (formerly R-Friendswood) who was elected with corporate money funneled by Tom DeLay. Taylor went on to strip homeowner’s insurance of mold coverage and was named “Man of the Year” by the Texas Insurance Industry.
Of course given the fact that Steve Stockman represents that area now it’s not surprising that Taylor was elected and reelected.
7My insurance is with State Farm, but I had it before I came to Texas in 2010, so I just continued it. What did hit me in the face was the amount of money I pay in premiums for all my insurance. I live in hurricane country, so I have Federal flood insurance. I have separate insurance for the structure of my townhouse because it’s connected with others and we are grouped together. That deductible is $4500. Then I pay for insuring the contents. And my car insurance doubled. I came from tornado country, lived in a duplex-like condo, and paid $41 a month for the structure insurance. My payments (if I made them monthly) would be more than 3-1/2 times that for a structure that is worth only about 80% of the house in Nebraska. And I have much less choice on what kind of coverage I get for any kind of insurance. It’s a disgrace. And it pissed me off. (Is that word allowed?) When (or if) I retire on my poor widow’s portion, I’m going somewhere else to live!
8This guy was my state rep. I knew he was bought and paid for by the insurance lobby, but my beef with him was his opposition to a bill to make it a felony to assault Emergency Room nurses. Yep, the bill was defeated but the bill to make it a felony to lie about the length of a fish in a fishing tournament passed.
9Slug a nurse in an ER? You’ll get a ticket. Fib about the big mouth bass ya just caught. It could land you in the pokey.
Totally off topic. Did Ya’ll know that the new owner of the Houston Astros. Jim Crane… also owns a golf course in Florida? He’s a pretty fair golfer. Finished up there pretty high in the recent Pro-Am.
So, he invited some friends for a weekend of golf at his place in Florida. Among those friends were Tiger Woods, Ron Kirk, and our very own President of the United States, Barack H. Obama. That was “the foursome”.
Tiger was paired with the President, and… even if you could….. you don’t beat The President of the United States at anything…. golf, basketball, whatever.
So… the story broke this morning in the local paper. Some of the local t-baggers were screaming, and yelling, and swearing they would never, ever….. in their lifetime…… go to another Astros baseball game……. as long as Jim Crane owned the team….. or maybe it was as long as Obama was President…. or Ron Kirk….(no he’s gone)…. or maybe it was as long as Tiger Woods still played golf. I’m not sure.
But…. it was comical.
Ok…..how many of you guys who play golf …… wouldn’t jump at the chance to play golf with Tiger Woods….. and the President of the United States…..?.
Gimme a break.
10Miemaw, I don’t know what part of the state you’re in, but you might want to get a rate quote from Germania Farm Mutual. (home office in Brenham, Tx.) I live in the Dallas area and have used them for many years. A Texas company, established about 1890. I have found their rates to be better than the “big boys”, Farmers, State Farm, Allstate, etc. Hope this helps you.
11Miemaw, I agree. For years I worked years with two good, very avid golfers. They always said they would play golf in the rain, at midnight with the devil.
12Remember the story of the scorpion and the frog? The credulous frog believed the scorpion could overcome its nature and not sting him in the midst of a stream.
Spoiler alert: They died.
Wellllll, the Texas GOP (everywhere, really) is a seething nest of scorpions, and those who vote for them are a plague of frogs.
13Jan, how about running for the State Legislature on a lower insurance rate platform. Nobody else seems to want to!
14Pavement Princesses for Insurance PACS have a guaranteed front row seat in hell. They’re in the damn orchestra pit of hell, in fact.
The week before Christmas, we received a letter from our insurance company saying that, effective Jan. 1, 2013, our health premium rates were being raised 48%. Orchestra pit in hell. Our health insurance rate (no dental, vision, etc.) was going to be almost $2400 A MONTH!!!!!
My husband works in a small non-profit and we are in a professional group plan. To save ourselves from insolvency, we switched to a plan which has a $2500 deductible. Catastrophic insurance and not a bit more.
Our smart President was absolutely right when he went after the healthcare cost crisis as a means of shoring up the middle class.
15Robbie,
Just so you know. I went to their website.
Seems like they write insurance, mostly for folks who farm.
16Their “homeowner’s” info….. was “being updated”.
But thanks for the info.