It's the (Tanking) Economy, Stupid

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

2) I was in the US at the time anyway, in that no-mans land between K1 and AOS. If I had flown out, there was a possibility of not being let back in for being out of status - or alternatively waiting god knows how long for advance parole.

Ah -didn't know you were out of status.

My timeline is on an old ID. This isn't my original one - just couldn't be fussed to put it all in again.

Well I wasn't - but there's that period between when you file and when you actually receive your GC where you are sort of 'legal' but still technically out of status.

What I found amazing was when I told people that I was needing surgery - they all seemed shocked as though this made me some sort of madman, as they saw the cost as the major obstacle, not the possiblity that there was something wrong. Similarly people (including wife's relatives) told me that if I were them, they would have taken their chances... So essentially it came down to a gamble. Lymphoma is rare, but difficult to diagnose - but there are warning signs. What do you do?

[mawilson 2,133]

Well I wasn't - but there's that period between when you file and when you actually receive your GC where you are sort of 'legal' but still technically out of status.

It's called "adjusting status", not "out of status" in that case - you could have left the country

without any problems (just needed AP). I did it twice while I was waiting for my GC.

What I found amazing was when I told people that I was needing surgery - they all seemed shocked as though this made me some sort of madman, as they saw the cost as the major obstacle, not the possiblity that there was something wrong. Similarly people (including wife's relatives) told me that if I were them, they would have taken their chances... So essentially it came down to a gamble. Lymphoma is rare, but difficult to diagnose - but there are warning signs. What do you do?

What would I do? I would spend every last penny - borrow money if necessary - to

have the surgery. Never gamble with your health -- that's one thing you can't replace.

Everything else (money, debt) is bollocks.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well I wasn't - but there's that period between when you file and when you actually receive your GC where you are sort of 'legal' but still technically out of status.

It's called "adjusting status", not "out of status" in that case - you could have left the country

without any problems (just needed AP). I did it twice while I was waiting for my GC.

What I found amazing was when I told people that I was needing surgery - they all seemed shocked as though this made me some sort of madman, as they saw the cost as the major obstacle, not the possiblity that there was something wrong. Similarly people (including wife's relatives) told me that if I were them, they would have taken their chances... So essentially it came down to a gamble. Lymphoma is rare, but difficult to diagnose - but there are warning signs. What do you do?

What would I do? I would spend every last penny - borrow money if necessary - to

have the surgery. Never gamble with your health -- that's one thing you can't replace.

Everything else (money, debt) is bollocks.

Well money is the trick. Wife working full time for $32K and finishing college. Me not able to work without authorisation... $900/month rent, debt payments - don't too much change there.

[mawilson 2,133]

Well money is the trick. Wife working full time for $32K and finishing college. Me not able to work without authorisation... $900/month rent, debt payments - don't too much change there.

Did you do it eventually?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well money is the trick. Wife working full time for $32K and finishing college. Me not able to work without authorisation... $900/month rent, debt payments - don't too much change there.

Did you do it eventually?

Yes. As you said there wasn't much choice - and luckily all came back OK. Still we had an anxious wait for an administrative review to see if we would be billed for the full amount via "Pre-existing condition".

Edited September 14, 2006 by erekose

[mawilson 2,133]

Yes. As you said there wasn't much choice - and luckily all came back OK. Still we had an anxious wait for an administrative review to see if we would be billed for the full amount via "Pre-existing condition".

I'm glad everything worked out.

[GaryC 7]

I too am glad your OK. Good luck to you.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

It goes back to what I highlighted earlier...

...the share of the GDP that goes to wages and salaries has reached a 59-year low, while the share going to corporate profits is at a 40-year high.

A free market is a misnomer... it assumes that true competition exists, and you're errantly assuming that the job market works that way. It can only work that way when someone is being the referee. Just like you wouldn't expect NFL teams to referee themselves, nor should we expect corporations to regulate themselves.

Having a sustainable economy requires true competition. True competition only exists when all the teams are playing by the same rules.

There you go again, bashing the corporate profits. Those big corporations make the jobs that put food on my table and provide my health insurance. Without profits they can't do that. When the government steps in and dictates how they should run their business it ruins the whole backbone of the country. Let the corporations alone. Market forces will dictate which ones succeed and which ones fail.

Gary, sorry I couldn't respond earlier...

It's not bashing corporations - it's calling a spade a spade. If corporate profits are at a 40 year high, then why are wages at a nearly 60 year low? I've asked this question before - what are corporations doing today, and in particular CEO's, that make it reasonable to you for their chunk of the pie to be bigger, while employees' slice of the pie has gotten smaller?

I understand why we get into these arguments - you believe that our economy should be driven entirely by a free market. You believe that a free market by nature works to the benefit of all. I, on the other hand believe that a free market only works when it is fair and it is only fair when the government acts as a referee to ensure that all the teams and players are abiding by the rules. I keep using the analogy of the NFL because I think it is a perfect example. Can you imagine what kind of season of football we'd have if the NFL got rid of the ref's? Or even the rulebook? Competition does bring out the best but it also can bring out the worst - some will lie, cheat and steal just to beat out the competition and corporations are no exception. As I've said before, I don't think corporations are evil, they have no soul - they operate for the sole purpose of it's benficiaries.

Do companies have a social responsability? They sure as hell do. You couldn't just open a business in my town without the benefits of roads that lead to your business, fire and police protection, a local economy that helps bring you business. Wealth is never created in a vaccuum and so when you say that if someone is poor, it's simply their own fault - that's a cynical generalization. Of course people are responsible for the choices they make, but be damn sure that you're not assuming there are choices available when they really don't exist. Poverty is a horrible condition and you're doing a great disservice to those who are poor by dismissing their economic condition as self inflicted. Are some people putting themselves there? Yes. But again, it's a complex issue that needs solutions and not finger pointing.

I apologize to you and Luzy for bringing her and her country up but I was trying to use the Philippines as an example and bring it close to home for you personally to understand that poverty isn't simply somebody's fault. I don't want to give handouts to the poor as a permanent fix - just opportunity - viable choices. Without choices, economic mobility is only a dream to those stuck in poverty.

Edited September 14, 2006 by Steven_and_Jinky

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Well money is the trick. Wife working full time for $32K and finishing college. Me not able to work without authorisation... $900/month rent, debt payments - don't too much change there.

Did you do it eventually?

Yes. As you said there wasn't much choice - and luckily all came back OK. Still we had an anxious wait for an administrative review to see if we would be billed for the full amount via "Pre-existing condition".

Sh!t, I'm sorry I just got back online and was catching up on this thread. Sorry for what you are going through - I hope it all works out okay. My co-worker's wife is a Chinese national (he's a Canadian but applying for GC status). His mother-in-law came out to stay with them for about 6 months and she started feeling ill, so they took her to the doctor. It turns out that she had lung cancer. He had looked into buying some kind of insurance for her but by then it was too late in that it would be a pre-existing condition. His wife ended up flying with her mom back to her country but the cancer progressed rapidly and she passed away within months of returning.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well money is the trick. Wife working full time for $32K and finishing college. Me not able to work without authorisation... $900/month rent, debt payments - don't too much change there.

Did you do it eventually?

Yes. As you said there wasn't much choice - and luckily all came back OK. Still we had an anxious wait for an administrative review to see if we would be billed for the full amount via "Pre-existing condition".

Sh!t, I'm sorry I just got back online and was catching up on this thread. Sorry for what you are going through - I hope it all works out okay. My co-worker's wife is a Chinese national (he's a Canadian but applying for GC status). His mother-in-law came out to stay with them for about 6 months and she started feeling ill, so they took her to the doctor. It turns out that she had lung cancer. He had looked into buying some kind of insurance for her but by then it was too late in that it would be a pre-existing condition. His wife ended up flying with her mom back to her country but the cancer progressed rapidly and she passed away within months of returning.

This was last year - its all resolved now. I just found it shocking that most of the people I know would have 'taken their chances' simply because of the cost of the procedure.

[GaryC 7]

Gary, sorry I couldn't respond earlier...

It's not bashing corporations - it's calling a spade a spade. If corporate profits are at a 40 year high, then why are wages at a nearly 60 year low? I've asked this question before - what are corporations doing today, and in particular CEO's, that make it reasonable to you for their chunk of the pie to be bigger, while employees' slice of the pie has gotten smaller?

I understand why we get into these arguments - you believe that our economy should be driven entirely by a free market. You believe that a free market by nature works to the benefit of all. I, on the other hand believe that a free market only works when it is fair and it is only fair when the government acts as a referee to ensure that all the teams and players are abiding by the rules. I keep using the analogy of the NFL because I think it is a perfect example. Can you imagine what kind of season of football we'd have if the NFL got rid of the ref's? Or even the rulebook? Competition does bring out the best but it also can bring out the worst - some will lie, cheat and steal just to beat out the competition and corporations are no exception. As I've said before, I don't think corporations are evil, they have no soul - they operate for the sole purpose of it's benficiaries.

Do companies have a social responsability? They sure as hell do. You couldn't just open a business in my town without the benefits of roads that lead to your business, fire and police protection, a local economy that helps bring you business. Wealth is never created in a vaccuum and so when you say that if someone is poor, it's simply their own fault - that's a cynical generalization. Of course people are responsible for the choices they make, but be damn sure that you're not assuming there are choices available when they really don't exist. Poverty is a horrible condition and you're doing a great disservice to those who are poor by dismissing their economic condition as self inflicted. Are some people putting themselves there? Yes. But again, it's a complex issue that needs solutions and not finger pointing.

I apologize to you and Luzy for bringing her and her country up but I was trying to use the Philippines as an example and bring it close to home for you personally to understand that poverty isn't simply somebody's fault. I don't want to give handouts to the poor as a permanent fix - just opportunity - viable choices. Without choices, economic mobility is only a dream to those stuck in poverty.

I don't know where you are getting your figures about wages at. My wages have steadily been going up and it's the same with just about everyone else I know. Labor is a commodity just like anything else. If it's in demand and the supply is low then the price goes up. Skilled labor is very much in demand right now for the company I work for and our customer also have high demand for skilled labor. But unskilled labor is in low demand. It's all market driven. It's all up to each person to make themselves in demand not for companies and government to dictate what a less desirable person gets paid.

[Heracles 417]

The wife and I make almost $100k a year and we can't afford to buy a house.

Really?

I bought my house when I was single and made well below 100. Bought it in NJ in 2003, so peak bubble time.

My advantage was I had plenty for a downpayment.

One person who has done the right thing and not blamed the government...

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The wife and I make almost $100k a year and we can't afford to buy a house.

Really?

I bought my house when I was single and made well below 100. Bought it in NJ in 2003, so peak bubble time.

My advantage was I had plenty for a downpayment.

One person who has done the right thing and not blamed the government...

High house prices are a fact - although apparently not in Australia where every street is Ramsey Street, and a person can own a six bedroom house without a discernable day job

[tsunamihart 0]

Steve, Good points, to all the Republi...er ah I mean "Conservatives" out there, I gotta quote that now infamous soon to be ex-couple, Whitney and Booby(oops) Brown, "CRACK IS WHACK" and yes George now it's your turn, "IT'S the ECONOMY STUPID"

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Steve, Good points, to all the Republi...er ah I mean "Conservatives" out there, I gotta quote that now infamous soon to be ex-couple, Whitney and Booby(oops) Brown, "CRACK IS WHACK" and yes George now it's your turn, "IT'S the ECONOMY STUPID"

Considering George only recently realised that "more of our imports are coming from overseas", I'm not surprised.