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T J Simplot

South Saint Paul, MN
Commenter for
5 years 3 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 05/21/13 at 09:24 am in response to House approves disputed unionization bill with no votes to spare

If you can tell me that every eligible day care provider will have a vote on this issue, I will not have a problem with it, but I foresee only a small portion of them having to approve it with the majoirty then having to pay dues.

On the other hand, the Republican cries of payback are falling on my deaf ears. Do the Republicans honestly expect me to believe that they have never paid back their supporters?

Posted on 05/16/13 at 10:50 am in response to Senate's 17-hour day-care union debate shows importance of the 'L' in DFL

30% (3300) of the 11,000 providers would have to sign cards. 50% (1650) of those are needed to vote yes. 1650/11,000 is 15%. So if this 15% say yes, the entire group of 11,000 would have to pay union dues. That does not sound like fair representation to me.

Posted on 05/10/13 at 02:14 pm in response to Protect insurance coverage for children with autism

The writer could have least mentioned that her clinic would likely see increased revenues as they are a provider of the services she mentions.

Posted on 05/06/13 at 07:55 am in response to Gun-control advocates push Thissen for vote on 'doomed' background-check bill

about the whole gun control debate is that the Newtown shooting has been the root of it. The Newtown shooter tried to buy a gun but his background check was denied so he shot his mom and took her guns. Didn't background checks work in that case.

p.s. I'm not a gun owner nor a member of the NRA. Just asking an honest question.

Posted on 04/08/13 at 10:34 am in response to Gallup says Twin Citians feel safer than residents in any other metro area

From the editorial:

"While most of the reporting in the article was insightful and balanced, the flames of anti-public-pension sentiment were sparked, perhaps unwittingly, in the opening paragraph, which states: “Minnesota taxpayers and insurance policyholders may be on the hook for $36 million” to bail out ailing pension funds.

The casual reader may be taken aback by the $36 million figure, only $13 million of which is taxpayer money. The balance is fees tacked on to homeowner...

Posted on 03/11/13 at 03:13 pm in response to GOP legislators hope to change health-exchange bill in conference

I'm in the health insurance industry and I agree that people need to get over it. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is not going anywhere so you just need to deal with it.

Unfortunately, the word affordable should not be used in describing the ACA. This does not do one thing to lower costs. An MRI is still going to cost the same in 2014. An office visit is going to cost the same. These are examples of the things that drive health care costs. In Minnesota, on average 92 cents of...

Posted on 02/18/13 at 11:51 am in response to TakeAction’s Liz Doyle Q-A: Health exchange must be consumer-friendly and help small businesses

What surprises me is this belief that larger groups have more buying power than small groups. This just isn't true. Health insurance is not like paper towels. A roll or paper towels is the same whether you buy one roll at a local convenience store or 60 rolls at Costco. Yes, Costco can buy them in bulk because the buy a lot more of them.

However, health insurance is different. Every group whether they are large or small has different risk. 3M is going to have a different risk...

Posted on 02/19/13 at 09:31 am in response to TakeAction’s Liz Doyle Q-A: Health exchange must be consumer-friendly and help small businesses

Again, where are you getting your information that big companies get better deals on insurance? Employees of larger companies may pay less for their insurance but that's because large employers typically pay a higher percentage of the insurance cost. The overall rate is independent of their size and based soley on their risk profile. A sick group of 500 could very well have higher rates than a healthy group of 2..

Also, individual plans typically have the lowest rates of all...

Posted on 12/18/12 at 03:09 pm in response to 9 worst urban planning moves in Twin Cities history

My list of poor urban planning would not be complete without mentioning access to I-94. There is no access to WB 94 from NB 35E and no access to EB 94 from SB 35W. The former is especially irritating for us living in the SE part of town.

Posted on 11/14/12 at 10:13 am in response to Vikings defend their right to charge seat license fees

What I find really odd about the Governor's comments is that he is mad about things that were specifically allowed in the contract with the state. If he didn't like them, he should not have signed it.