Thoughts from Dave Higgins
You can take this to the bank (assuming the FDIC hasn’t already closed your bank):
1. WVU will win all of its games IF the defense can perform at 80% of the level that last year’s D did.
2. Within three years, Oliver Luck will have the Big East in the ACC.
3. If Geno Smith is injured then the Mounties will only win seven games.
4. If the Mounties go undefeated for the first half of the season they will still be ranked at below 15th.
We need to steer the steer into the barn and then plant the plant by the barn. You can’t train a train to do anything but you can stake a stake beside the porch. Now send the bill to Bill. Yesterday I saw the saw beside the tree. Lastly, there’s a lot of space in space.
OK. The jury seems to believe that Casey had nothing whatsoever to do with the child’s death. Because of the double jeopardy clause of the Constitution, Casey could confess tomorrow and still be free of criminal consequences. So what should happen?
The prosecutors should continue to investigate the case. They should call Casey in front of the grand jury and ask her who did it and what she knows about the baby’s death. She can’t take the Fifth because she has been acquitted (see above). If she lies to the grand jury, that is a criminal offense.
Now, unfortunately, this won’t happen because most prosecutors just bow their neck, tell the world they know she did it (they are right, the jury is wrong) and to “re-open” the case is too embarassing because they perceive that as an “admission” they were wrong. I disagree. Find out what happened. That’s the governments job!
Solve the case. After all the money that the state has spent, call Casey in front of the grand jury is no real cost at all.
Admittedly, I am no economist but quite frankly the babble I hear from those who are (“soft landing”, “consumer confidence”, “downward pressure” blah blah blah) doesn’t exactly convince me that the “experts” have a clue how the economy works either. Recently, politicos seem to lament that “business” is sitting on all this cash that they refuse to invest thus creating new jobs. Why they wonder.
Well, if I was a business I would save money so that I have a cushion in the future because I sure can’t rely on a bank loan when I need it. The US banking system is still broken and Dodd-Frank has done nothing to solve the problem. For my money (pardon the pun) the problem is two-fold: (1) the largest banks are too large (blame the repeal of laws in the 1980’s prohibiting interstate banking) and (2) banks are allowed to “marry” insurance companies and stock brokerages (blame repeal of Glass-Steagall in the late 1990’s).
As banking becomes more “globalized” the problem is that a “fever” in Greece infects everyone.
Finally, it really burns me up that the brokerage houses are now nothing more than trading casinos. In the old days, they sold securities on behalf of businesses that could grow and they made their money from their investment banking commissions. Now the “traders” (read “gamblers”) are the “big dogs” who play with the money by trading but make no investments.
Why is Sarah Palin apparently moving to Arizona? Can you say Senator Palin? John Cain’s running mate. Think about it.
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Lost my city council race by 22 votes. Moral of the story: Should have knocked on 23 more doors.
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Debbie Harry and Blondie did the first rap song.
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The numbers on a roulette wheel add up to 666.
Dear Neighbors:
I need your vote on May 17. That is election day for Charleston city council. We now have early voting so you can cast your ballot before then from May 4 to May 14 at city hall if you wish.
Since 2003 I have done my best to represent Ward 15. As an incumbent, I must run on my record, and there are several things that I can point to which have helped our neighborhood and our city.
The Bridge Road Shops. Thanks to the Bridge Road Neighborhood Association and the Mayor we have greatly enhanced and improved this business area. When I was in the House of Delegates I secured a $10,000 grant which went towards infrastructure improvements for the shops. We still have some traffic congestion problems but this project is definitely a success story.
The Carriage Trail. Thanks to volunteers like Mary Stanley, Wayne Eich and many others, the Carriage Trail Committee which I chair has wisely spent the Ayre Fund monies to upgrade and improve this historic gem. Recently, the city acquired the Justice Row property so we can look forward to further improvements to this greenspace.
Home Rule. Working with Councilman Jack Harrison, I co-chaired the city’s task force which applied for and received home rule authority from the state. This five year program has saved the city money and increased our ability to make the best decisions for Charleston.
Presently, I serve as Chairman of the Streets and Traffic Committee. I am also on the Rules and Ordinances Committee and the Finance Committee. The challenges which Charleston faces are real. We must somehow deal with the city’s unfunded pension liability and continue to fight crime most of which unfortunately appears to be drug related.
On a personal note, I am married to Patti Hamilton and have three stepsons, Derek, Wes and Kyle Thomas. I am on the board of the Alzheimer’s West Virginia Chapter and serve as a trustee for the Craik-Patton House Foundation, Inc.
Again, I respectfully ask for your vote on May 17. I have been a resident of South Hills for thirty-six years, and I have served on Charleston city council for the last eight years. I look forward to building our future and improving our neighborhood in the years to come.
Contact me a 304-345-8939 or at dkh@ramlaw.com
Dave Higgins
The NCAA basketball championship game between UCONN and Butler renewed my confidence in the old adage that someone “puts their pants on one leg at a time.” As is often the case the circumstances were special not the people involved (See Hollywood and the media most of the time).
The movie “Black Swan” is intriguing. It is a story about a split personality told through Swam Lake which is a ballet about spilt personality.
I heard Jeff Kessler speak to the Democratic faithful on Saturday. He made a very good speech delivered with conviction and a touch of humor. I was impressed.
How much longer can interest rates remain so low as to be almost non-existent in terms of return to investors? Not long. Rather than allow a panic to ensue when European governments and to a lesser extent the U.S. approach a refusal to refinance scenario, the market will hope to avoid this disaster by ratcheting up interest rates.
The other day I read in the paper where Brickstreet no longer wishes to cover state agencies because the claims exceed the premium dollars. Hmmm. Normally that would result in a premium increase request not a desire to walk away from a large part of a company’s customer base. Wonder if anything else is going on?
I speculate as follows. Brickstreet is presently a mutual not a stock company. This means it is owned by its policyholders not by shareholders. On occasion mutuals convert to stock companies which then leaves the policyholders as just that – customers – and the ownership with its benefits flows to the shareholders. If Brickstreet were to be sold now to a larger insurance company that would require the approval of the policyholders/owners (West Virginia being probably the largest one) and if approved the dollars would go to these policyholders/owners.
Now if Brickstreet can “dump” state agencies then it can convert to a stock company and the approval process would not include the scrutiny of a “big dog” owner like the state. Most policyowners would probably go ahead and approve the conversion since no one would have much of a vested interest in studying the proposal, hiring experts or negotiating for a better deal.
Once the conversion is approved, customarily stock options are issued to insiders. Then if the company is sold the insiders walk away with a “ton” of cash.
Something for the Legislature to consider and be aware of it seems to me.
This is just speculation on my part but I have to wonder.
In the special election to replace Senator Byrd, approximately 12% of West Virginia‘s registered voters filled out a ballot. In yesterday’s Charleston city elections primary only 7.9% of register voters participated. Some observations on this.
1. The people have spoken and what they say more often than not is “We don’t care.”
2. In America no one has to vote. People who bemoan low voter turnout as a “bad thing” need to understand every American has the absolute right not to vote if he or she doesn’t want to.
3. I am not sure that 35,000 people voting one way or another necessarily produces a better result than 3,000 people voting on the same issues. Why should it?
4. If people want to vote and are somehow prevented from doing so then, yes, we should all fight against that. If people can vote but choose not to, well quite frankly that’s up to each person individually.
It is sad that once a doctor who bills for unnecessary or more likely unperformed services is finally under suspicion THEN the authorities contact the patients and find out GOLLY GEE that no they did not have two surgeries a day for a week with the suspect doctor. Suppose in order to get paid, the doctor had to submit with his claim an simple written in high school English statement signed by the patient that “yes” these services were performed. I know. I know. More paperwork! But we are dealing with millions upon millions of dollars leaving the system for false claims.
Right now the patient gets on EOB (explanation of benefits). Even if you actually read the darn thing it is often impossible to “translate” what the abbreviations and medical jargon. If the patient on the way out of the office had to sign a simple statement attesting to the services he or she received a lot of this billing fraud would not occur.
Just a thought.