…and I’m not referring to rain, even though we did get another inch overnight and more is on the way.
What I am referring to is my Cash for Clunkers purchase. We received a call from our car dealership yesterday afternoon that the government had rejected some of the paperwork they’d sent in. The government was also requesting the registration records for a full year prior to the transaction. In other words, the registration that was current when we turned in the vehicle wouldn’t suffice since it hadn’t expired yet and didn’t actually cover a full year. We needed the previous year’s registration papers, too. However, if you follow the instructions given at the revenue office, that copy is supposed to be replaced by the new registration and you shouldn’t even have that copy anymore! As for us, we had disposed of all the old records for that vehicle after a full month had passed.
So… I made another trip to the revenue office this morning followed by another visit to the car dealership.
Surely this time everything is in order!!
- Kelly
- Making my way through the ups and downs of life, holding fast to my favorite Bible verse: "For we walk by faith, not by sight." ~2 Corinthians 5:7. I began blogging in earnest at Yahoo360 on October 24, 2005. (briefly using LiveJournal and blog-city prior to that) In June 2008 I moved to Blogger. I'm now at WordPress where I hope to remain.
12 comments:
Sheesh! What a hassle!!!
And they want the govt. in charge of everyone's health care???
Just eliminating 1/2 of ALL the paperwork involved in EVERYTHING would simplify ALL our lives and save TONS of money!!!
Here's you a 'poor baby', Kelly!
Pammie, I had the exact thought you did---they want these people to handle our HEALTH CARE? Puleeeeeze! And this crap about FINING people who don't get health insurance. That just makes my blood boil. What if, when all is said and done, that a person STILL cannot afford one of the policies? They kick you down even further and take MORE of your money---whose great idea was THAT? It's a good thing I don't go to those town hall meetings or I'd be one on the evening news screaming and cursing! Ha! I'm sorry, but the government needs to stay OUT of our business.
Oops, I got carried away there, Kelly, but it's a touchy subject. I also heard that it's going to cost the average American 13% of our annual income to pay for this. We're already taxed to death. Lord, help us. We truly need Divine intervention.
I hope you get things worked out soon, Kelly!! Love & Blessings!
Sorry to hear about the hassles with your Cash For Clunkers purchase. I've gotten the impression this was set up hurriedly, ran out of money quickly, and that some dealerships are pulling their hair out trying to participate and not getting accurate information about the red tape that is required. Very unfortunate, and very human.
I get impatient when people take something like this and say, "See? We can't have government providing health care because bureaucracy is confusing." It's such a lazy anti-government conclusion. Private insurance is not exactly known for being simple and easy -- mine certainly is not. My wife just got denied routine preventative care because her uterus, apparently, is a "pre-existing condition." So much for corporations doing it better.
I don't see a mass movement underway to get government out of our lives by getting rid of medicare, or the G.I. Bill, or the military. Seems we're okay with government running those things and a lot more.
The new scare tactic is that we're going to be taxed to death. Double-check everything -- don't believe something just because a media talking head says it.
Personally, if I can get a GOOD insurance plan, I would gladly pay what I am currently paying for my fraudulent private insurance, and more. I'm fine with taxes when I get a service.
You are going through a headache exchanging your car -- that's a shame. It doesn't mean that government is always bad all the time.
And here was me thinking it was only the British government who managed to make everything so difficult.
Ah, Tracy... I don't think any government has the monopoly on that!
Here are my thoughts on the connection between the clunker program and the proposed healthcare plan:
While dealing with the State (revenue dept) and the car dealership, BOTH parties made the complaint that the clunker program was rushed. The government was in such a hurry to put it into place, they didn't make clear or coordinate proper steps for each state's revenue dept or the individual dealerships.(and I'm sure there were others involved, too, such as wrecking yards etc. taking the vehicles once they're disabled)
That's my precise concern about the current healthcare proposal. Obama has made it clear that he intends to be the first president to pass heathcare reform and I'm afraid the details will be lost in the act itself. Our lawmakers always have deadlines. Hurry, hurry, hurry.... we want this passed before recess (or before I come up for re-election!). Something this detailed and this serious doesn't need to be rushed! There are pages and pages of information that many of our congressmen/women have never even looked at. I don't think some things should be hurryed just for the sake of "getting it done".
As for taxes...you speak of getting a service in return for paying your taxes, Algernon. What about Estate Tax? Where's the service in that? Is it right that a person works hard all their life, paying taxes on their earnings, yet it gets taxed again at their death? I know there are exemptions on estates under a certain amount, but does that mean if you've prospered and exceed this amount your heirs should be penalized?
I've already had issues with Medicare, and, my medical needs continue to be few and far between. My doctor had to fight to get me the Advair prescript. that controls my Asthma. Has for years. They wanted to insist that I have COPD ( guess that's because I'm "OLD") LOL! They wanted to give me 2 meds in place of it. A steroid pill which I DON'T want or need and a rescue inhaler which I already have for emergencies.
Next, they didn't want to cover my cast when I had a fractured foot. Were going to deny it under some 'chair lift' exclusion. What??? My foot and ankle doc had to deal with that issue.
Yeah, I had TONS of issues with my private insurance, not the least of which was the increased premium that went up every 6 months ( was 975 right before I went on Medicare). This was an individual policy of which I never even make it to the deductible amount!! I was paying for all the sick people being covered.
Private insurance is often a joke, agreed. It also rations, big time!
But, put all those headaches with the private insurers under one umbrella and see the nightmares multiply!
No, I don't think we'll get a single payer govt. plan in my lifetime. I do think we need to fix things and, I'll be honest, I'm not sure some kind of govt. option for those who can't get coverage elsewhere isn't going to be necessary and a good thing.
There are many good things in the things I've heard proposed. But, we're not getting the truth from anyone ( no new taxes, being one on the President's side )on costs, what the details will be, etc.
I want to see tort reform, the elimination of preexisting conditions, and portable policies.
I'm hardly anti govt. We need the govt. There has to be a way to find a health care solution that works for this country. I'm not even sure there is just a one-size fits all solution. But, we do need reform.
Passing a piece of legislation on a certain date does not mean the program starts in a rush. By Obama's own proposal, it would take four years to set up the public marketplace for insurance companies to sell their plans. That's not a rush. Cash for Clunkers, by contrast, was rushed because it was intended as an emergency measure to stimulate car purchases. Therefore, I don't see the grounds for linking "Cash For Clunkers" to health care reform.
Health care reform is also an emergency, but enacting it four years after signing does not like reckless speed to me.
When Congress announced it would not have a bill before last summer's recess, the President said, "Okay. Please keep working on it." That's not exactly a heedless rush to pass a bill, y'know?
I'm not sure how we got on to the subject of estate tax -- it is intended to be a progressive tax, a tax that makes it difficult to perpetuate unearned wealth across generations. If I make a billion dollars, I can leave Gabriel quite a bit of money in my will, enough that he will not have to be a productive citizen. The estate tax takes a piece of that and puts it into the federal budget, hopefully for the benefit of people who don't have billionare fathers.
We are all in this together.
Yikes! This is why I rarely join in political discussions. I don't debate well and the point I'm trying to make is often misunderstood.
First of all, let me make it clear... I am NOT anti-government. I firmly believe the government has many important roles and succeeds at a number of them. Although I did not vote for Obama, I'm certainly not the type person that wants everything he does to fail. Far from it!
What I meant by hurrying the process in passing a healthcare bill was not in reference to the time it would take to implement it. It was directed at the fact the first draft presented to be voted on was something like a 1000 pages long and arrived in congressmen's offices on short notice, yet many were willing to vote (either for OR against) without reading it thoroughly! That's irresponsible in my opinion.
As for Estate taxes... I merely used that as an example of a tax without a service provided. We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one, Algernon. If I've earned my money (or even won it in the lottery) once I've paid taxes on it I don't think it's right to have it taxed again upon my death.
I do agree that we are all in this together and I'm sorry you got the impression I felt otherwise. No offence to any readers here from outside the US, but I still believe I live in the greatest country on the planet and I'm proud to be an American.
Well...I can't pass on this discussion. I had a very lengthy comment, but something messed up when I went to publish it. So here's the cliffnotes comment:
Governemnt health care bad....estate taxes bad...alternative minimum tax bad...Most governemnt entitlement programs bad....cost overruns on all government programs bad....Efforts to "cap and trade" very bad....threat of global warming ---- NOT bad.
Best solution ---- Soylent Green.
LOL!!!! Leave it to Mike! :)
I think that, in the end, I'll just try to think positively. Let them pass this huge bill that few havr read. Perhaps, by the time it actually goes into effect, some 4 years from now, it will have been perfected and we can all rejoice!
I also say that no one is telling the truth about any of this, costs, or cuts or taxes, you name it.
Maybe that's what so many are angry or upset by...the outright lies as well as the carefully couched wording. Many people just don't see the logic in the rush to pass a bill that few understand, few have read, with the understanding that all the details will be worked out in the future. How many ordinary people operate their lives this way?
Let's face it....the costs will be extremely high. Cuts, deep ones, will be necessary. There will be new taxes of one kind or other. This will add to the deficit and the national debt. Lastly, they haven't even begun to touch on the real numbers down the pike.
Sigh. I despair for the country a little.
If you feel the estate tax is unfair, you can work to repeal it. That's democracy. If you do repeal it, however, bear in mind that it will take billions of dollars (no exaggeration) out of the federal budget. You say you get "no services" from that tax -- the federal budget pays for indispensable services you don't think about. Medicare, disaster relief, infrastructure, national defense, the list is too long to even try to summarize here.
Get rid of those billions of dollars, and the government has to do one of two things: cut the services, which can lead to even more expensive problems and disorder; or find a way to replace that revenue, meaning other taxes.
"Tax" is not a dirty word. Our concern should be how the money is spent. \
I'm VERY concerned about how the money is spent! Always have been. The amount of waste in the programs and services my taxes pay for is astounding!
Not a new problem. God only knows how much 'new' money we could come up with if we just eliminated most of the waste!! Waste and pork ( as in roads to nowhere, etc.)
Post a Comment