I know that there has been discussions around the GFE refunds for CA convoy, but I have not seen this discussed: the focus on in the money but that isn't the real value - the value is the data on anyone who donated. Do the donors have the right to request that their data be purged? If so, how does obe go about doing it and more urgently, how do you force them to prove it?
I haven't read the terms of service, but it seems they are applying unfairly- they hosted AND promoted the Seattle BS...
Warning - long.
I had posted earlier a 1974 article that ran about Biden and it got me digging a bit. Original article here:
The reference to Nelia Biden looking like a Playboy bunny got me thinking because of the association of the blackmail honeypots. Was JB a clown choice?
Nixon won the 1972 election in a landslide but in the same election, the Democrats picked up two seats in the Senate bringing their majority to 56. DE & SD both flipped from R to D. Both small population states. Interesting point about the SD race: Nixon ran against McGovern in 1972 and as noted, beat him in a landslide. McGovern was from SD and lost in his home state by 8.6 points. But the Ds flipped the senate seat. (The previous senator had had a stroke in 1969 and did not seek re-election.) Interesting.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_United_States_Senate_election_in_South_Dakota
It is also the same election that 18 year old were allowed to vote as a result of the passage of the 26th amendment in March 1971.
https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/the-26th-amendment
I was reading the latest post in the comms decode blog earlier. You know what else happened that year? In February 1971, Nixon installed the recording equipment in the WH. According to the Nixon Foundation he wanted complete transparency. https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2018/10/podcast-luke-nichter-origins-white-house-taping-system/
(I think it was a little more than that as this was the man who had been Ike's VP who warned of the military industrial complex on his way out.)
Comms blog post - see section on Willard/Ben:
https://decodingsymbols.wordpress.com/2022/01/13/fallen-faces-mj-culkin-willard/
In November of 1971, Joe Biden let it slip he was running for the Senate. A nobody who won by 3000 votes. It is curious that Nixon urged Dupont to run. If he had, he probably would have won on name recognition alone and the seat would have remained R.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/06/joe-biden-1972-race-senate.html
So Joey is hand-picked but what is the cost? The week before Christmas after he is elected, his wife and daughter are killed in a car accident. His sister takes the phone call.
https://worldhistoryproject.org/1972/12/18/joe-bidens-wife-and-daughter-killed-in-car-accident
(To me this is off - I had heard the story of JB's response that his wife was dead. But they called on the phone and told his sister??? I would think the police would have shown up in person - he had just been elected to the Senate! My friend's son was in a serious accident and the police came to her house to tell her.)
Anyway, my theory here is this was more about Nixon. Until DJT the media HATED him. More than GWB I would argue because they hounded that poor man until he died. But the Senate wins got them closer to the supermajority for impeachment which back then actually meant something. Yes, it would have been leverage for Nixon but given what we have learned over the past few years, I understand why he would feel that way!
There is not a lot on Biden's parents but Senior was not always a used car salesman. Pre-WWII, he had been well off and I have to wonder if there was a bitterness that existed because of that which affected JB growing up. His preoccupation with money and status goes back a long way as the Washingtonian article states in his complaints about the Senate pay.
https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a33573986/who-was-joseph-r-biden-sr/
Faat forward to 2008 and Obama picks him as his VP. But I had forgotten that Evan Bayh was a candidate for his VP but he saw the job as an advisory role. Biden played up the vision whixh was a big theme in the Obama years.
There are a lot of echoes and parallels in Obama/Biden careers. Both elected young out of nowhere with the press slobbering. But Obama also lost a family member - the grandmother that raised him died two days before the election. At the time he asked for privacy which I think is normal but he did not seem that upset to me which at the time I thought was a little odd. Granted it is not quite the same - but maybe Joe served as more than a VP.
Whew!
Edit to add: I just remembered it was confirmed a couple of years ago that Nixon and Trump corresponded throughout the 1980s up until Nixon died in the early 1990s.
Although SCOTUS overturned the OSHA mandate yesterday, I do not believe that means the employer cannot do it on their own as evidenced by the Resident's calling for companies to move ahead. My question is this: is there any evidence that companies in the VC/ PE space are getting pressure to enact individual mandates?
I saw a WSJ article that was critical of Blackrock using their power to threaten over DEI and it occurred to me the same thing might be happening behind the scenes - see this article for reference.
I also saw this piece on how PE leaves taxpayers holding the bag.
I do believe we will start to see lawsuits against companies. Does anyone know if there is any evidence of threats against a firm's funding if they don’t adopt vaccine mandates? Because while it does not justify the actions taken by the firm, I want to make sure the behind the scenes people don’t get to take a walk like they are in the loans example. There will be pressure against the employers, but equal pressure and publicity should be applied to the investors as well if they are insisting on it as terms for continued backing, etc. Does this make sense?
Spouseanon works for a company that provides transportation for Big Tech. The Big Tech firm is now coming after the contractors saying they want the jab status. He pushed back about privacy, but I know this is going to snowball.
There was a thread here recently that had a very respectful response to HR and I cannot find it. It was worded so it would be difficult for the company to deny the employee's concerns. Does anyone know what I am talking about? I have tried searching but I am not getting the proper search terms.
Help would be most appreciated!
Saw this in a trade journal. You have to register, so I will try to summarize.
Under ACA (Obamacare), the employee premium cost for the lowest cost plan offered for group health insurance must meet affordability guidelines. In 2021, that number is 9.83% of the employee's household income. (This number is adjusted each year and safe harbors apply but that is a different conversation. )
Under current ACA rules any premium surcharge for opting not to be vaxxed COULD be applied to the cost of the employer's lowest cost plan. IF that surcharge renders the plan as unaffordable and the employee goes to the exchanges and receives a premium tax credit, the employer can then be subject to ACA's Penalty B.
Example: a company with 5000 employees offers coverage to full time employees but as a result of surcharges, the coverage now doesn't provide minimum value and/or is also unaffordable and 100 of those employees are forced to go out to the exchanges. Those employees are now receiving a premium tax credit or subsidy. In 2021, the penalties for this violation are $4060 per employee. The employer who may have stuck a $100 surcharge to the unvaxxed employees may now have a penalty of $406,000.
Keep in mind that the ACA definition for large employer means 50 or more full time employees. Also, I have to think household income is all over the map at this point as a result of lockdowns.
Unlike the exception for tobacco, nothing in the current ACA rules allows for a surcharge. This could always change, but until then, this is something in your arsenal if you are getting pressure. It could be something as simple as 'I sure hope the fines aren't too bad for your Obamacare violations this year.' Trust me, HR does not like to go back to their leadership with news of these little surprises.
(And it would be ironic if it was Obamacare rules that tripped people up.)
This is something I came across via internal chat: question came up from a client since Delta is supposed to be implementing a surcharge if the employee chooses not to be vaccinated. Can the client do the same thing. Here is what came up:
One resource feedback: they "highly recommend against this due to potential litigation &employees terminating employment." The understanding is that you can 'reward' employees if they get vaxxed as part of a Wellness program. (This is a firm that consults to provide ideas/ silutions for healthcare cost containment.)
From the employment law firm: "A healthcare contribution surcharge for unvaccinated workers is a viable option, but does come with significant compliance issues as well as employee relations concerns. The primary legal concern is the HIPAA wellness program rules which requires, among other things, that the incentive be capped at 30% of the total cost of health coverage. This limitation is an aggregate limit, meaning all wellness incentives subject to the HIPAA rules are taken into account in determining if the cap has been exceeded. Also, it is likely that the surcharge program will be considered a health contingent program under HIPAA and the employer will be required to offer a reasonable alternative to the vaccination that will allow participants to still avoid the surchage."
