NSR: A gun on Every Corner: Discuss the NRA, Gun Ownership and All Those Non-Mass Shootings..

All republicans in congress voted against a bill to fund mental healthcare in schools. Republicans don't care either way. Change my mind.

 

https://www.salon.com/2022/03/16/democrats-for--but-new-data-shows-higher-rates-in-red-states/

In all, eight of the 10 states with the highest per-capita murder rates in the country voted for Trump in 2020. None of those eight states have been carried by a Democrat since 1996. Mississippi had by far the highest murder rate at 20.5 murders per 100,000 residents, followed by Louisiana at 15.79. Alabama, Kentucky and Missouri all had murder rates higher than 14 per 100,000 compared to a national average of 6.5. The only states that voted for Biden to appear in the top 10 are Georgia — a longtime Republican stronghold that went blue by a tiny margin in 2020 — and New Mexico.

Large blue states that have attracted criticism from Republicans had murder rates significantly below the national average. New York's rate was 4.11 murders per 100,000 residents and California's was 5.59. According to the study, Mississippi's murder rate was 400% higher than New York's and 250% higher than California's.

Republicans and the media have also focused on Democratic-led cities in coastal states, but many Republican-led cities have posted much higher murder rates. Despite intensive media coverage of increasing crime in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco district, the murder rate in that city was only half that of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's district in Bakersfield, a Southern California city with a Republican mayor that overwhelmingly voted Trump. Jacksonville, Florida, another Republican-led city, had 120 more murders than San Francisco did in 2020 (with only a slightly larger population) but received a tiny fraction of the national news coverage.

 

They sided with the insurance companies:

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/pa...alth-parity-bill-introduces-new-insurer-fines

They said they have a better plan, that is two weeks away from release.

 

Naah. Facts are in there, unlike Fox. And if you don't like it, check the link from Bloomberg posted by John.

 

It's a tweet but is funny that it came into my feed right now:

.@GOPLeader: https://t.co/FxJT1rmxEp pic.twitter.com/qwMANCNMte

— The Onion (@TheOnion) October 5, 2022

 

How many people would you interact in those hours? I've been in the area, since there are a few nightclubs around (not in the middle exactly and I'm to old for that now) and I used to work downtown. Many things have changed thanks to gentrification, but in the decade or so that I frequented the area, I was never robbed or mugged and my property was not taken. I did saw a few cars broken in (near AAA after a Heat game) and I saw many people with mental health problems and/or homeless, but other than ask for money, all of them were pretty harmless. TBH, I never understood why republicans are so afraid of cities and people that usually are in need but do not mean harm.

OTOH, chances of running by a bear or a mountain lion would be near zero for me, how about you? Also, insurance rates in Florida are in big part a function of Republican (lack of) leadership, meaning VoldeScott and now DeathSantis allowed the rates to rise like the water in Ft. Myers.

 

I'm not afraid of rural areas. As a matter of fact, we usually go on vacation to a rural place, like the Florida Springs, or the Smokey Mountains, but I prefer the convenience of work and travel from a big city.

Not for the hurricane but for the dismal state of the insurance industry in the state. And not solely on DeathSantis, but on GQP who has controlled the state congress since forever and had only kicked the can down the road.

https://www.politico.com/newsletter...coming-for-floridas-insurance-market-00059952

The cost of property coverage in Florida was nearly three times more than the national average before Hurricane Ian made landfall. Huge losses — exacerbated by natural disasters requiring tremendous payouts — sent six of the state’s smaller insurance carriers into insolvency earlier this year. The destruction caused by the latest storm will only send the rates offered by private carriers even higher, which will likely push more homeowners into coverage offered through Citizens Property Insurance Corp., Florida’s state-backed insurer of last resort.

That doesn’t take into account those who’ve already lost everything and won’t be extended a lifeline to rebuild. More than two-thirds of the homes in the nine counties that President Joe Biden has designated a federal disaster area aren’t covered under the government's National Flood Insurance Program. While federal disaster assistance assures support for modest repairs and short-term emergency costs, it won’t make them whole.

“Florida is already having a problem with [insurance] availability. It’s having a problem with affordability. And it’s having a problem with reliability when insurance companies are going insolvent,” Nancy Watkins, a principal at Milliman actuarial consultants, told Tom Frank of E&E News. “All three of the pillars of a sustainable market are under threat.”

The timing of the crisis is particularly brutal given Florida’s recent efforts to attract big financial institutions and new development to its business-friendly confines. The state’s comparative affordability and livability to cold and bureaucratic northeast cities has been central to the sales pitch.

Earlier this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican heavyweight who’s widely believed to be planning a presidential run in 2024, sought to remedy the state’s flagging insurance market by spearheading a $2 billion reinsurance program to tamp down costs. State regulators later designated Citizens as a financial backstop for any insurance company that can’t pay off its claims.

 

Florida is the worst. Don't know where you live, but I assume property values are way lower (which factors in the insurance) and also I imagine would be cheaper to rebuild, than say a property in a hurricane prone area. Also, fewer drivers and less likely accidents factor in. Not saying that there are not positives to live in rural 'Murica, but there's also a trade-off, if you like buying in other than Sam's or eating in Golden Corral.