Chet Collins

iOS 17 Can Automatically Clean Up Verification Codes That Clog Up Messages App - MacRumors

Finally!

Mission Impossible: 3

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Report: Sandbag That Tripped Biden On Stage Also Participated In Jan 6 Capitol Riot | Babylon Bee

“We have also found a lengthy manifesto written by the sandbag,” the source said. “We will not be releasing the manifesto to the public due to the potential damage it could cause to our democracy, but it’s really bad. Just trust us, we’re the government.”

Senate Votes to Block Biden’s Student-Debt Relief Plan - WSJ

The Senate voted 52-46 Thursday to approve a Republican-led proposal to block President Biden’s hotly debated student-debt forgiveness plan, setting up an expected veto.

Congress has spoken, clearly.

If your projector screens have a more prominent place in your parish than the Tabernacle, you’re doing it wrong.

IRS Weighs Creating a Government-Run Tax-Prep Option - WSJ

“It’s problematic that we instead provide it through these private corporations that prey on people and extract profits from taxpayers that are just fulfilling that civic duty.”

No one has to use paid software, the forms are available everywhere and you can do them by hand.

What’s problematic is that we’ve implemented a tax code that’s so complex that even accounts and CPAs use software to prepare their own returns.

I pay $60 to TurboTax to save me tens of hours per year on preparing my return. If the IRS prepares a “draft” for me, with the strong incentive for them to make calculation decisions in their favor, how much more will that cost me?

Some Buy Now Pay Later Users Face Rejection - WSJ

In December, Sezzle launched a service it says helps lower transaction costs and avoid loan losses: Pay-in-Full. A customer gets retail perks, but the customer buys now and pays now.

Fascinating! Tell me more!

FDA Advisers Back Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill - WSJ

The panel of FDA advisers voted 17 to 0 on Wednesday that there was enough evidence for the agency to approve the medication’s sale over-the-counter.

Unanimous.

Just like Tylenol, only the effects last forever.

The advisory panel voted to make Opill available without a prescription despite the FDA’s concerns, citing the effectiveness and safety of oral contraceptives.

Fentanyl is pretty safe, too.

ObamaCare, Zombie Banks and JPMorgan - WSJ Opinion

Ended was a distinct Carter-Reagan-Clinton era in which, in select but significant arenas, government actually approached problems rationally. It tackled failing policies from a perspective of replacing bad incentives with good ones, in airline deregulation, in tax reform, in welfare reform. Policy confabs, white papers and wonk books supported an appetite for coherent policy reform, little of which is visible today. We get instead shallowly conceived but expensive programs meant to appeal to the public’s superficial understanding. We get things like massive handouts to people to buy Teslas and pretend we’re doing something about climate change.

In other words, all the serious people in government left. All that remains are the dweebs that will say or do anything just to get people to like them.

Patients Lose Access to Free Medicines Amid Spat Between Drugmakers, Health Plans - WSJ

Growing numbers of people with insurance must also pay a sum, called a deductible, at the start of each year before their health plan will start reimbursing for drugs.

This is a direct result of government interventions in healthcare markets.

The Affordable Care Act drove patients into high deductible plans, and boy are those deductibles high, while the Inflation Reduction Act introduced prescription price controls.

It’s really, really expensive for patients when the government “helps.”

U.S. Covid Vaccine Mandates to End May 11 for Federal Workers, Others - WSJ

The White House plans to end the Covid-19 vaccine requirements for federal workers, federal contractors and international air travelers on May 11, as the pandemic public health emergency ends. 

Good thing we fired all those people.

Spinning Federal Mortgage Fees - WSJ Opinion

The American Enterprise Institute looked at default rates of Fannie/Freddie owner-occupied 30-year fixed rate purchase loans acquired in 2006-2007 and found that among borrowers with credit scores between 720 and 769 and 20% down payments, the default rate was between 4.2% and 8.8%. Among borrowers with less than 4% down payments and credit scores between 620 and 639, the default rate was between 39.3% and 56.2%.

Fauci Says He Never Locked Anything Down And Has Never Heard Of COVID - Babylon Bee

“COVID? I’ve never even heard of such a thing! What is COVID? That sounds made up!”

McCarthy Gets a Debt-Ceiling Win - WSJ Opinion

The plan also cancels the President’s student loan write-off and blocks a proposal to cap borrower loan payments at de minimis levels, which combined would save $460 billion from 2023 to 2033. A White House press release claims these measures “hurt students.” Since when is requiring borrowers repay their loans a form of punishment?

Fidelity and State Street Push to Make 401(k)s More Like Pensions - WSJ

The income-producing funds are coming to market a few years after Congress made it easier for employers to offer annuities in 401(k) plans. The law protects employers that follow certain procedures from being sued if they select an annuity from an insurance company that later fails to make the promised payments.

Nice lobbying!

Biden Administration Considers Tougher Regulation of Money-Market, Hedge Funds - WSJ

“The authority for emergency interventions is critical. But equally as important is a supervisory and regulatory regime that can help prevent financial disruptions from starting and spreading in the first place,” Ms. Yellen said Friday. 

Hard to take this quote seriously, in light of recent events.