OT: Homeowners Ins.

State Farm is way over priced here. I recently switched from SF to Safeco. Same coverage for about 1/2 the price.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Wilfred Xavier Pickles spewed forth:

I highly recommend you call a Hartford agent or an independent agent. I've got my home and 2 autos with them and I am very happy with my rates. They were almost half of what my policies with Liberty Mutual were

Welcome to Obama politics. This is your new agent, Ben Dover. Welkom to Amerika.

Insurance went from $240 to $591 a month. I could live with 8.5%.

Steve

visit my blog at

A giant corporation rips people off, and you blame that horrible "socialist" Obama? What's wrong with this picture?

YOu didn't ask but I know what their explanation probably is. They take the money paid in premiums and invest it, then use the income or the sale of investments to pay claims. Because investments are doing so badly, and what they get for selling just about any investment is so much lower, they have to make up for it by charging higher premiums. I have no personal comment on this paragraph.

The big recession that started under GWB is what started all this. The Stimulus might have worked a lot more, but public confidence is what is really needed to increase both consumer and corporate spending

-- if they have doubts whether they will have a job for long or doubts whether investments will yield profits, they won't spend -- and some Republicans started saying right after the Stimulus bill was passed** that it wouldn't work. Not long after that, before it was possible to know how well it was working, they started saying it had not worked. They were willing to see a continued recession either for the sake of being right, or in order to win more Republican seats in Congress at the next election.

got issues?

I do not care to blame citizens who own the corporations. It's the regulators and regulations that I have issue with. Issues like Frank, Raines, Dodd, et al. Licensed thieves, all.

Big Barry is partying hearty tonight with expensive music, caviar, champagne, and all. And the little guys are just happy with their subsistence checks. And all the time talking about hope and change and improving the little man's life while traipsing around doing absolutely nothing except spending money like he had it.

What's wrong with THAT picture?

Government taking over businesses. What's wrong with THAT picture?

Nothing, if you 're a lazy socialist. Too bad socialism isn't self sustaining. It stops when the government runs out of OTHER people's money.

Squat and watch, Sparky. How's that hope and change working for you? Or are you a teacher or government employee, and three castes above the unwashed rabble?

Steve

visit my blog at

American National always gave me good HO insurance at a good price, and were there for claims.

Steve

visit my blog at

"ChairMan" wrote

I had Hartford too. But Harleysville cut their rates by 40%. Pays to shop around every few years or have an agent that does it for you. Hartford used to be priced much better in the past. Rates may vary by state so what is good in one place may not be in another. .

So go shopping.

Years ago I switched HO from State Farm to Nationwide because of annoyance over collecting relatively small claims. The Nationwide insurance keeps increasing too. I figured that burden of hurricanes in other parts of the country were spreading the cost to the rest of us. Increasing cost of compliance with government regulations is also a problem.

That's pretty much it. Unquantifiable science.

As for all the Obama haters, how many members would be mutually excluded from the KKK do you think?

I agree that lack of confidence contributes mightily to the malaise. But "confidence" is not something one can switch on and off.

Business hates uncertainty. What with the health insurance upheaval, proposed energy taxes, government subsidizing the competition (i.e., "green energy"), new financial regulations not yet written, and so on, ANY business would be foolish to do anything other than hunker down.

And by every objective or political standard, the "stimulus" has not worked. Never in the history of economics has massive government intervention in the economy worked as intended or hoped. In almost every case where its been tried, government intervention has made things worse.

And when the Fed sets things up so it is more profitable for the banks to lend to the the Fed than outside, that doesn't exactly add to the ability of people to start or expand businesses.

Investments are doing so badly because the business are being overregulated by the government. The laws are being altered to create a socialist state.

And if the government would get out of the business of the United States of America, the capitalism system is a self righting ship. And if the government would get out of the business of stripping away the Constitution and separating state and federal rights, things would be better. And if the government would get into the business designated to it by the Constitution, they would not have the time or power or inclination to have some ignorant overeducated White House spokeswoman telling us what we can and cannot feed our children and legislators telling us what we can and cannot eat at the ball park. You blame the Republicans, yet it was Democrats who created the housing bubble by forcing banks to loan to shaky applicants. They all have a hand in the crumbling of the United States, and until government gets out of the United States' business, we're only going to get worse, and slide into socialism. Why work when one can now sit home and get $1200 a month unemployment, insurance, and other perks? And finance it by charging it to our grandchildren.

You really need to get out more. The Stimulus would have worked more if it had gone into jobs instead of the pockets of politicians and their cronies. Once again, the government being in business to propagate government, and having nothing to do with the citizens.

F*ck them all. The day will come when the citizens will wake up and rise up, and the classes will separate.

Now, get going or you'll be late to get your free cheese.

Steve

visit my blog at

Not like a switch, but with words, one can damage confidence. That was the goal of those who said the Stimulus wouldn't work and that it hadn't worked when it was too soon to tell.

Have you paid any attention to Japan, Red China, and I think the UK, France, and a couple other countries in Europe that had stimulus bills? These are places not riven by the kind of blood feud that pits Republicans here against Democrats. But they passed them anyhow.

So go shopping.

reply: Hold your phone calls, we do have a winner. Ransley, you drove that

Steve

visit my blog at

Exactly how is Obama responsible for increases in homeowner insurance prices?

And I do mean exactly.

Based on the time of the post, looks like maybe an issue in a bottle.