Donald Trump has promised he’ll use the power of the presidency, if he gets it, to reduce the cost of car insurance – which has been skyrocketing for everyone, including people who’ve not even received a “ticket”for some trumped-up traffic “offense” that could be used as an excuse to justify charging them more for “coverage.”
“Your automobile insurance is up by 73 percent – vote for Trump, I’ll cut that number in half”!
Which – despite the supercilious lecturing of the consiglieres of the insurance mafia such as Robert Hartwig, of the blandly styled Insurance Information Institute – he could do by what is styled executive order and never mind pedantic legalisms about the “constitution” and what it says a president may and may not do. The communists (call them by their proper name; “Democrats” they aren’t, the last one of those was RFK, Jr.) only object to this business of executive-ordering when it is done by someone the communists don’t like in a way that stymies the advance of communism. It is stupid to play fair with such people.
One plays to win.
“Someone should explain to Trump that insurance – and insurance rates – are regulated by the states, not the federal government,” wheedles Earwig.
But “regulated” isn’t quite the right word, is it?
In fact, the states – state governments – impose the now-universal requirement to hand over money to the car insurance mafia as the price (one of them) of being allowed to register and operate a car on the government’s roads.
Get it out of your head that there is such a thing as “public” anything. It is either privately owned property or it is government controlled property, in which case it is government property in everything but name. Like the home you don’t actually own, even though it’s you who pay the mortgage and even if you paid off the mortgage. You must continue to pay the government, mustn’t you? In which case, how can you imagine you “own” that which the government can seize if you ever stop paying the government to be allowed to live there?
It’s the same with cars, effectively. You can’t even register (that is, ear-tag) one in most states without handing money over to the insurance mafia. Even if you never operate it on the government’s controlled roads. This pretty much demolishes the mewly justification given for requiring people to hand over money to the insurance mafia in that it’s not even possible to cause harm to someone else on the government’s controlled roads with your car if it never leave your driveway.
“If Trump on Day 1 could wave his hands and reduce auto insurance rates by 50 percent, auto insurance would instantly cease to be sold by any auto insurer in the United States,” says the Earwig.
“The reason, of course, is that if insurers were compelled to sell auto insurance at 50 percent of the current price this would lead to enormous losses and the eventual insolvency of the insurer – hence they wouldn’t sell any at all.”
Italics added.
“Enormous losses”? Oh, the humanity!
How about the enormous losses incurred by the millions of people who are forced to hand over money to the insurance mafia each year for damage and harm they didn’t cause? It is interesting – revelatory – to note the fact that no one ever gets a refund from the insurance mafia for not causing damage and harm. The revenue stream goes only one way, cap’n.
Hadn’t you heard?
More to the point – the one Trump misses – is the cost of compulsion that’s driving costs up. It is a simple thing to understand, if you’re willing to think about it a little. Anything you’re forced to buy is going to cost more to buy for the simple (and ought-to-be-obvious) reason that you’re forced to buy it. Put another way, when a seller has the power to coerce you to purchase what he’s selling, he has an incentive to sell it to you for more rather than less.
And – in the opposite case – when a seller cannot force you to purchase what he’s selling, he has every incentive to sell it to you for less. More finely, he won’t be able to sell you anything at all – unless you deem that which he’s selling to be worth the money.
That is how Trump could lower the cost of car insurance.
By executive-ordering that no state has the lawful power to force any person to purchase anything, especially the products or services of private, for-profit corporations such as car (and health) insurance mafia. It is not merely that people are being mulcted, as they are via what are styled “taxes” to give theft a better mouth feel. In the case at hand, they are being mulcted for the profit of insurance cartels so wealthy they can afford – among others things – to barrage us with endless, obnoxious TeeVee ads about how we’ll “save” by sending them money! Never mind the marble-floored, glass walled office buildings, executive salaries and so on.
They plead poverty like a Borgia Pope – and are just as insufferable.
Take away the compulsion and insurance companies would be obliged to be reasonable. They would lose the insolent power to summarily increase what they charge and tell people to suck it up, buttercup. Because people could say: “No, I’m not paying that. I haven’t filed a claim. You have no legitimate reason to “adjust” my premium. Make it what it was – or cancel it.”
Imagine that.
You hardly have to. It’s the way it works in what’s left of the free market. No one is forced to eat at Olive Garden and because Olive Garden knows this, it does not charge $50 for a stale roll. The insurance mafia does that, essentially – precisely because it can make you pay $50 for a stale “roll.”
But if it weren’t compulsory then some people would drive without insurance and one of them might hit you and leave you with the bill for the damages!
Absolutely. As if that doesn’t already happen, despite the compulsion. Just the same as people are murdered every day with illegal guns in places like Chicago and DC where it’s illegal for non-criminals to own guns.
The criminals, of course, don’t care about such laws.
Just as “dangerous drunks” continue to drive drunk in spite of laws that say it’s forbidden. Just as there will be people who drive without insurance, regardless of the law that says they are required to buy it. Which – as such – causes no damage or harm to anyone. If they do cause damage or harm, then hold them responsible, by whatever means necessary. Garnish their earnings. Make them work a chain gang. Whatever it takes.
Just stop taking money from people who didn’t damage anything or cause harm to anyone by forcing them to hand it over to the insurance mafia.
. . .
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Trump appears to mean well, but this is stupid. Long term, he could actually do that by getting congress to pass a law that specifically stated that no individual in any state is required to buy car insurance. In addition, he could rescind and remove regulations that have made cars unrepairable in the event of an accident. Airbags, sensors, and yes, even design changes for side impact and rollover crashes implemented could be removed/repealed.
Emissions standards have also driven up insurance costs. It is much more expensive to remove/replace engine hardware than in the past. Direct injection engines are twice as expensive as regular FI models. 10 speed transmissions contribute to the cost of a car as well and make cars more expensive when they are new and when they are “totaled.”
Yes, costs could be driven down, but not by someone who has never worked on a vehicle.
Check the air cleaner.
First day of Autumn, time flies.
If you have a Troy ounce of pure 24K gold, minted, it is worth 2500 dollars today. The price is $2658, you’ll have to pay a premium to sell your gold. At 2658 dollars per Troy ounce, I’d sell. Maybe you can dump your junk gold, watches, jewelry, but you won’t be receiving 2658 dollars per ounce.
You’ll be able to pay your home insurance with an ounce or two of gold, you have to convert to US currency before the insurance company will be allowed to pay what you owe. Insurance companies are not precious metal brokers.
What was the home tax burden in 1985 at 4x, is now 18x.
Gov’s gaping maw demands more, the greedy pig that it is.
On November 9th in 1984, Pfizer’s stock price was $1.53 per share. 29 dollars today. Pfizer was a nascent shoot back then.
43 dollars per share back in October of 2021, no need to wonder why there.
Go to the Boise River in Idaho and pan for some gold. You will be able to maybe strike it rich. With enough effort, after a few days, you will have some gold. It’ll cost less than trying to buy it at 2658 USD.
Precious metals and gemstones up and down the Rockies, file a claim somewhere and begin your journey.
The Pentagon is doing all of the diplomacy, the latest from what I have read over Trillion Dollar Hedge, Blinken and the crew have been sidelined.
Insurance is regulated by the states. Life insurance, auto insurance, homeowners insurance, you name it — it’s all regulated by the individual fifty states. Insurers lobbied hard to maintain their state fiefdoms.
Trump’s claim is election-year bullshit. If he attempts to executive order car insurance premiums, insurers will be in federal court the next morning, demanding an injunction on the grounds that the president has no authority over insurance. And they will win that injunction on the spot, if not a summary judgment to boot.
Me to Orange OaF:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjtCxr-WgAAPfCJ.jpg:large
[…] Read the full article here […]
“Your automobile insurance is up by 73 percent – vote for Trump, I’ll cut that number in half”!
People in this country are insane.
When Kamiltoe suggests price fixing for groceries that is bad.
When the Orange Fail suggests it for car insurance that is good.
Or. . . Is it vice versa?
Insanity!
Hi Burn it Down,
I don’t advocate that he fix prices. I advocate that he end this loathsome business of forcing people to buy insurance. I try to point out to people that – logically – if it’s right to force people to buy car insurance because they might cause damage/harm someone with their car, then it is just as logical for the government to force people who own guns to “cover” them, too. Hell, I might punch someone in the face. Maybe I ought to have to buy insurance for that, too!
Where does it end?
The sad fact of the matter is that this country is now so lawless anything goes.
You are 100% correct that the states or the federal government should not have the ability to mandate insurance.
However that is not going to change simply because we don’t have a functional government. They do whatever they want. Legalities, moral principles, constitutionality have not mattered in over a 100 years.
We are reaping what has been sowed before most us were born. Face it, we were sold out by our parents, grand parents, and great-grand parents before them.
There is no end until this system ends and that isn’t likely to happen in my lifetime.
Not sure we want a dictator. It damn near that now and they still can’t get it right.
Price fixing does not work, regardless where and how it’s being used. I suggest most of the increase is due to inflation in the car repair business parts and labor. Prices have almost doubled there.
It is a State issue,,, like how many States removed or modified the helmet laws due to citizen groups constantly on their ass 24 & 7.
Inflation is caused by the printing of excess money which Washington has the printer running at max. Simply removing the requirement to have insurance would work and would be constitutional.
And people would drive more carefully.
If we want steady prices,,, corpgov need to stop the printing. They’re destroying the currency not to mention counterfeiting is illegal.
For your enjoyment: How good insurance can be helpful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx0z9FjxP-Y&t=99s
Hi Ken,
I don’t want a dictator, either – which is why I resent and oppose being made to buy insurance. If I cause damage or harm someone, make me pay – by all means. I ought to pay. But if anyone can explain to me why I must pay when I have not damaged anything nor caused harm to anyone, I am all ears.
My question is if a Tesla costs 5-10x? to fix vs a ice car, and more than likely is ‘totaled’ at a much higher rate than others, does the insurance companies charge way more for that Tesla or do they just role in that extra cost for ALL users?
“If Trump on Day 1 could wave his hands and reduce auto insurance rates by 50 percent, auto insurance would instantly cease to be sold by any auto insurer in the United States,” says the Earwig.
Oh, and what a glorious outcome that would be.
I’m always against unconstitutional acts, but they seem to happen with a lot frequency in these united states. It would would be nice if one of these unconstitutional act would benefit the citizenry every once in a while.
There are a number of reasons why auto insurance is so high. But the root cause for each always comes back to the federal government.
If Trump were serious about reducing the cost of auto insurance, He Vivek’s approach of taking a bulldozer to all federal agencies and their regulations they impose upon Americans.
Amen, Mike –
Of course, if he were to actually do that, he’d have a target on his back. And they might not miss, this time.
Owning A Car Is Less Important To Younger Generations
From Zerohedge:
“This suggests that the perceived necessity of car ownership is not only influenced by the availability and quality of public transit but also by generation.”
In the city you can take Ubers, so that’s a big part of it. But looking at the TCO of car ownership, it’s pretty clear that your minimum wage job isn’t going to cover the cost of a newish car, insurance, fuel, parking (if in the city), and maintenance. Not to mention repairs after the “differently housed” help themselves to your laptop.
My nephews aren’t typical but they both couldn’t wait to buy vehicles. A jeep for the older one, a Subaru Outback for the younger. But they both have warehouse jobs that pay pretty well for the area and still live at home. They might even be funneling the loan through mom and dad to get a better interest rate. I’m not privy to that information but I know it’s fairly common.
Well, one way he could actually do something about skyrocketing insurance rates is to send the new arrivals back to their home country (or whatever country they obtained a passport from). That’s a heck of a lot of uninsured, unlicensed drivers off the roads in one stroke of the pen.
I was thinking about Miami in the 1970s and 80s. The Cuban boat people crisis. Castro kicked ’em out and sent them up to Florida to fend for themselves. But before that he opened up the jails and “deported” the criminals where they ended up in Florida running the cocaine trade. We know that Venezuela has usually followed the Cuban playbook, so who’s to say Maduro hasn’t been doing the same thing?
History doesn’t repeat itself, but Communism does.
Capo Gecko seems to be doing quite well in these uncertain times. His market cap just exceeded $1 Trillion and he’s sitting on a $270 billion cash pile.
Whether someone should be forced to buy car insurance is a state matter, and most of the state governments want to be in business with the Capo right now.
How will the Orange Man reduce body shop labor rates of $110/hr in San Francisco?
Or Honda CRV roofs that cost $3000, a $1600 F250 LED tail lamp with a radar sensor in it, or the $450 cost to recalibrate it?
Hi Flip,
Indeed. I got into this a little in the accompanying video monologue. If people choose to buy a $50,000 vehicle then let them pay the costs of repairing it. Including the potential costs (insurance). I drive an old truck because I don’t want to pay these costs. Why should I have to pay transferred costs because some other guy bought a new F250 with $1,600 LED tail lamps?
It now shows a comment number, so we’re getting closer.
It might be possible for such mandates to be eliminated via the federal level. However, it would mean repealing the Civil Rights Act.
That act violates the First Amendment in that it forces people and business to deal with one another. If we have a Right to “peaceably assemble” in the 1st Amendment it also means we have a Right to NOT associate with those whom we choose to avoid.
The Civil Rights Act turns that on its head.
In other words, with the CRA we now are merely arguing over how much GovCo can make us do/spend with people we’d rather not be forced to deal with, not if it CAN force us into business relationships.
This will all end some day…just not well.
I, for one see nothing wrong with people of a like race or ethnicity freely associate while excluding others “not of the race or ethnicity” as long as this policy is followed across the board, applying to us whites as well.
When I hear white people rally against “people of color” who want their own “safe spaces”, I think to myself: “What the hell is wrong with you?”
As long as segregation is voluntary, self-imposed and not coerced by government edict, it is merely “freedom of association” in action.
It is long overdue to restore TRUE “freedom of association”, a basic human right that was eviscerated with the passage of the so-called “civil-rights (for some)” laws and statutes.
This should also apply to “public accommodation” laws which are also unconstitutional.
Observe the unconstitutional treatment the Colorado baker (Masterpiece Cake Shop) received who has been harassed both by homosexuals and the state of Colorado (whose labor director is also a rabid militant homosexual) for refusing to bake a homosexual-themed cake. These militant homosexuals could have used many other bakers who would have happily baked a homosexual-themed cake but instead chose to harass and criminalize one baker who is living according to his religious beliefs and ethics. These same homosexuals also bypassed muslim bakers (who would also refuse to bake such a cake).
While the so-called “civil-rights (for some)” movement was instituted under somewhat honorable terms, it has degenerated into a “group rights” fiasco which applies to all except heterosexual white males. There have been open declarations by government officials that “civil-rights (for some)” laws do not apply to white males as us white males (supposedly) hold all of the power.
Equal rights also applies to freedom of association. If you do not have freedom of association, your rights are meaningless.
Trump: “Your automobile insurance is up by 73 percent – vote for Trump, I’ll cut that number in half”!
That of course still means that your insurance will have gone up 37.5%. Funny thing is as the time frame is not listed but assumed to be Bribem’s residency that is probably just the amount of inflation that might actually be in the auto repair business these days.
Either way how much of that price increase is due to accidents caused by illegals and spontaneous fires caused by EVs?
Also, the website wouldn’t let me log in.
Hi Landru,
Keep me posted re the log-in issue. I assume you’re ok now?
Still doesn’t work as I have list the website, email and name.
Thanks, Landru – I’m having it looked into!
I’ve been having a hard time posting today, myself. The “Post Comment” seems inoperative at times. I’ve had to close out the page and log back on before it works. Not sure if the problem’s on my end our your end. [It happened again when I tried to post this.]
Hi Mister,
We’re trying to sort this out; my computer guy asks: Which browser are you using?
Opera