davidsurvz

Hello, Yes - they held up very well. As you can see I posted that back in 09 and I still have a few of them going strong. I am giving what is left of my route to my children - I gave them most of it already. I am moving on to rental property and dividend stocks.

Wow. I remember the good ol days. I was one of the OG group. I learned a TON and Steve actually personally helped me out once when ordering a machine. Steve was a great guy. Hope he gets everything back on track for his personal life. I am 95% out of the business now. I did very well for a while. Got burned out and now We have a small farm and I work in sales day to day. No time to grow the vending business I have other businesses and investments I'm working on these days. I'm planning to give what's left of my vending route to my kids when they are older. I spent a lot of time on this forum. A lot of good people here. Good luck to all. Happy vending!!! P.S. Rental properties and dividend stocks are like big vending machines.

This kind of stuff ticks me off !!!! I have worked in the electronic security industry for over 14 years and it just bugs me when I hear this kind of stuff. I am really sorry to hear about this. If you pm me I can point you to some good information on steps you can take to help prevent this kind of stuff in the future. Once again I really am sorry to hear about this.

I will just say that I believe in charity and I believe in smaller (not bigger) government and freedom. My faith in God pushes me and challenges me to help those less fortunate especially if it is through no fault of their own. It is a directive of the teachings of Christ. I don't believe we need government to take up most of these causes.... but I digress. I believe in capitalism, free markets, the constitution and the right to free speech and a bunch of other things. I believe this to be the greatest country in the world. I don't like the health care bill and I don't like the fact that our country is in serious trouble financially. I am seriously out of time and limited in the time I can spend on the forum these days. I would ramble on some more but I really have to go.

So are you just assuming that I am one of those REPUBLICANS who wore the "Bush Jersey" for the last eight years? Well, I am no big fan of W. But there were some things that I certainly appreciated about his presidency. I actually think Obama has gotten a couple of things right too. Am I a fan of Obama, not really, but that is a moot point anyway Yes actually I had very vocal opinions about the previous administrations spending I let my representatives know that too. AND Actually Yes I was very opposed to TARP and I contacted several of our representatives in DC to let them know that. I too think that everyone in this country deserves a chance to be wealthy and I believe we have that chance based on our freedoms and our free market. Do I believe everyone should have it handed to them .. not at all. (Do you think people should have other peoples wealth handed to them?) If people are willing to go out and work and invest and save wisely and handle their money in such a way that it makes them wealthy I am all for that. It's called a free market. And that is not quite the point of what I was stating anyway. If you believe that the government should actually take money from the wealthy people in this country and just hand it over to those who aren't 'wealthy" then what would you define that as? If you don't believe that than speak clearly and say "exactly" what you mean.

OK, Lets call it "spreading the wealth around" instead of "redistribution of wealth" since that is the EXACT wording that Obama used when he was talking to "Joe the plumber." :

The facts: The national debt is pushing between 15 to 20 TRILLION DOLLARS The Country cannot support the spending of the government at this rate. If our bond rating decreases our interest rates go up The health care bill ADDS to the already out of control deficits which are adding to our total debt. This is heading for bankruptcy................... Oh wait the government can just tax and spend their way out of this. NO, I don't think THIS is what the government is "SUPPOSED' to do.

So if you change the term from "re distribution of wealth" to "tax and spend" does that seem more appropriate?

Jim and Joebob, I agree with your sentiment. I do not believe laziness, incompetence and ignorance and irresponsibility should be catered to or rewarded. These things have consequences and people should for the most part have to face those consequences. People learn from their mistakes and failures how to overcome and move forward in their lives. People also learn from their successes. I believe we should help people when and where we can when they really need help. I don't think we need the government to do that in general... but I digress. I am not saying that everyone who wants this health care "reform" is any of these things but there is way too much "social spending" in our deficits. We are not a socialist country we are a constitutional republic. And yes I do think that this administration is leaning towards socialism with communist ideology more than most people probably will admit. But that is not my point. We the people still have rights and freedoms in this country. As our government takes more and more of our money and creates more and more "social spending" with more and more regulations.... WE LOSE MORE AND MORE OF THOSE FREEDOMS. It is just the way it is. I am sure that there are people who would say that is a crazy idea but common sense tells you otherwise. You can't have that much taxation and that many social programs and that much regulation and have it not restrict your freedoms. Ask anyone who ran a business 40 years ago if there is less freedom now than there used to be. Ask people who used to enjoy hunting and fishing 50 years ago if there is less freedom today. This is how it works, gradually over time our freedoms decrease....... taxes, fees, fines and regulations increase and "social spending" increases. And that is a simple illustration of how our freedoms get taken away by this kind of legislation. I will not sit here and explain this in great detail. I don't need to and I don't have time. So you people who say "this health care bill hasn't taken away our freedoms." It is just another step in that direction. This overhaul is HUGE and there is a ton of regulation and restriction in it. You honestly think that the government doesn't see this as the first step towards "universal health care" Obama said it himself. This is the first step towards "socialized medicine" Or (single Payer) The people who are pushing this have said so themselves. This plan is being pushed through by an administration head who said he wants to "fundamentally change America!" Nuff said!!

ATLAS SHRUGGED............

OH PLEASE.... AND WHO CONDUCTED THE POLL... JANEANE GAROFALO

Interesting quote from the article...... It would certainly explain things like the loss of the "Kennedy seat" to Scott Brown . I am glad that we have the freedom in this GREAT country to have these discussions. No matter what anyone says about this subject or any other for that matter this is still the greatest country in the world. In my opinion (I'm sure there are those who would disagree with that too..... ) I would like to also say that I used to be very liberal minded but over the years I have come to realize that I really do agree with self reliance, independence and accepting responsibility for your own life. I don't believe we need the government to fix our problems. I am very charitable and I believe in helping people who can't help themselves. I believe that the citizens of this country are for the most part are some of the most honorable people in the world. Never mind this stuff sounds too cheesy to keep rambling on I just think this country and our freedoms and our citizens are awesome!!! OK out of time......... I might be back later

I am not talking about a 15% profit. I am saying that all expenses and all operating costs and all salaries and all administrative cost, etc...... ALL COSTS for the companies are to be covered on only 15% of the total revenue from these insurance companies. The ratio of cash reserve to payout on claims is going from 65% to 85% of revenue. What company can operate on that? I may be wrong...... I hope I am but that is my understanding of this.

Why is health insurance connected to and provided through employers? This is the standard practice and rule for most people who have health insurance. Why are the insurance companies not able to sell insurance policies cross state lines and offer different tiers of coverage to different individuals. Why is the industry regulated to the point that there is no room for real free market competition? Supply and demand actually works!!! If insurance companies are charging higher premiums why isn't there any wiggle room for real competition? Why can't I just go out and find the best deal on my own insurance, Insurance that fits my needs only shop around to get the best price and the best value and make my own purchases the way I do with everything else? Why do I have to go with whatever plan my employer picks? If company A sells policies that I would be interested in for $10,000.00 per week I wouldn't go near it If company B sells the same policy for $4,000.00 and that is the best price out there then I either need to make more money or go without. Now If millions of people can't afford $4,000.00 or $10,000.00 / week for health insurance then guess what company A and company B will either go out of business or have to lower their prices to something people will buy or company C will start up and start offering policies for $500.00 / week. It is simple supply side economics. My numbers are somewhat exaggerated to make the point. We already have medicare for those "who can't afford insurance." If you were to look at the real costs involved in running one of those "BIG EVIL INSURANCE CORPORATIONS" (I just threw that in for our liberal friends here on the forum. ) You would see how much these regulations and restrictions add to the cost of doing business. I have no problem with regulations being put in place to keep industries in line but there comes a point where it just isn't worth it . My understanding on this new bill is that the reserve capital for payout is going to change from 65% to 85% let me ask you an honest question. Could you run a health insurance company on only 15% of its revenue? Could you run ANY company on 15% of its revenue? Any honest answer is NO! What this will do is cause premiums to skyrocket or insurance companies to go out of business. Free market competition has worked for everything in our country just fine for quite some time (over two centuries) regulation and taxation in excess have driven manufacturing and other jobs overseas and tax and spend practices DON"T WORK!!!! Look at California! I lived out there for 15 years I saw taxes and fees and regulations sending people and businesses out of there in mass exodus the last 4 or 5 years I was out there. Now the state is bankrupt. (it actually was bankrupt under Gray Davis.) I am sure that is really the fault of "BIG EVIL CORPORATIONS" and not really tax and spend practices and regulations and fees, etc. I probably have some twisted sense of reality.............Oh wait, now that I think about not one person I knew who left (myself included) wasn't citing "BIG EVIL CORPORATIONS" as the reason why they were leaving. Did you start your vending business to provide gumballs for everyone especially those who can't afford them? No you are doing this to make a profit. That is what you run a business for... PROFIT!!!!! You have a responsibility to run your business in the right way or guess what you will go out of business. Oh wait there is one other thing that has put companies out of business...........Government! Even when the companies were being run the right way. It happens! We are already paying inflated prices for lots of things due to taxes, fees and regulations... If my understanding of this bill is correct this will actually destroy insurance companies as we know them. (Those BIG EVIL INSURANCE CORPORATIONS... serves them right. ) I have bounced around here somewhat............ sorry. I have plenty to say about this but I am very limited on time. I really don't think my comments matter much anyway. People see things how they see them usually until life hits them between the eyes.