Rasta Rants

Introduction Exchanges are the centerpiece of the new ACA legislation and are due to cover millions in January 2014. Unfortunately, there are many flaws in the concept and roll out that may just cause the program to fail. That said the definition of success and failure will be significantly different based on the two political factions. My definition of failure would be enrollment less than projected, covering less currently uninsured than projected and the financial failure or withdrawal of more than 5 plans nationwide after the first year. Based on this definition here are some of the reasons I think the exchanges could fail. Exchanges The concept is simple – offer preset plans from many different insurance carriers for small groups and individuals at competitive rates with no pre-existing limitations. The initial foray will be offered to groups fewer than 50 and individuals. Anyone under 400% of the FPL will be eligible for subsidies. Also to help prod enrollment amo...

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. I have heard from many of you about how much you missed me! Ha! well I have been busy trying to make a living since I can't do it driving cars :( I am sure you have all seen the ads for the new F Type Jaguar. It has been getting a lot of press as well. For over 30 years Jag has been effectively out of the sports car market. The last E Type was produced in 1974. Over 70,000 of these beauties were sold in its 13 year run and today is still considered one of the most beautiful cars ever made. I remember my first experience with an E Type. My parents decided I needed to grow up a bit so they shipped me off for a summer to a camp in Europe. Actually it was a traveling camp and we went all over Europe that summer. I was the ripe age of 14 and was accompanied by my best friend from Jamaica and approximately 40 girls from all over the US. It was a "tough" summer! We were in the south of France for about a week and you...

For those that have never had the joy of owning or driving a Ferrari let me share that all the hype is true. In my mind most of them are close to perfect cars. Now before I get attacked by loving Porsche and Lambo owners let me explain. Ferrari's are clearly designed to be driven and if you have a passion for driving they come close to perfection. Sure there are many other great cars and I take nothing away from them, but as a marque Ferrari is at the top in my book. Additionally, there is no way I can cover all the history or cars from this significant marque in this blog entry, so I will merely touch on some interesting highlights. Let me break Ferrari's into four distinct categories - race cars, classic cars, modern era cars and of course super cars. Naturally Enzo was a racer and that is what drove the man to build cars in the first place. Everyone that knows the marque knows Enzo only built street cars to finance his racing programs. So Ferrari is obviously a great m...

Cable is a great invention and most of us are blessed with having access to over 200 channels. I am still in awe of this as I grew up in Jamaica and never saw TV in my country till I was 9. When it came we had one channel and it was only on about 6 hours a day. With time it was on all day till midnight but we did not have any color just good old black and white. I know many in US in my age category remember only a few channels, no 24 hour coverage and color TV as a luxury. Like cars, TV has changed so much. In Jamaica today, they have cable very similar to the US and tons of channels to watch. As a gear head and racer I naturally check out anything automotive. Over the years the auto content on TV has improved a great deal. Actually, there is so much auto content it is hard to figure out what to watch. Well I am here to help. Before I dive in let me say that TV shows are very personal choices and you may hate mine. I just share as a service so that you know what to expect should yo...

Before I start I must declare that I am a Ferrari owner, racer and lover. As such Porsche is normally an arch enemy. Most of the faithful from each camp very rarely see eye to eye and often avoid each other like the plague. So for me to write this piece on Porsche is a stretch and proves once and for all, above all I am just a true lover of all cars! Porsche has to be respected for their longevity, their racing prowess and their myopic market focus. Porsche's have been racing and winning for as long as I can remember and while they are not a Ferrari their racing pedigree is remarkable. Initially their claim to fame was the basic 911. This is still their bread and butter car and over the decades has been improved markedly. But I am not going to focus on the 911, the Panamera or Cayenne. Today I want to discuss the smaller, younger cousins - the Cayman and the Boxster. These two "entry level" Porsches are worth writing about. Porsche first made the Boxster in 1997 in an...

My wife and I are thrilled that we will graduate the 3rd of our 4 boys with a college degree next week. This is a mammoth undertaking and we are blessed we have been able to accomplish this. Less than 17% of the US population has a four year degree and with the current rising costs of a college degree we worry this figure will get worse. A four year degree is critical to compete in the ever more competitive world economy but it is getting much harder to get. This combined with the tremendous debt that students are accumulating to get a degree, should be a huge national concern. Here are some current education statistics that should frighten all of us: Between 1982 and 2007 US family income grew by 147% and college costs went up 440% According to Bloomberg research, college tuition has gone up over 1120% in the last 30 years. Healthcare only rose 601% in the same time frame and we all consider that an outrage. AP reports that just between 2008 and 2010 tuition went up ov...

Well I have learned a very interesting lesson over the last month. Based on my blog stats it is obvious that my readers are much more interested in what I have to share about cars than current events of the day. Shocking as this may sound the views of my car posts is averaging nearly 5 times that of my regular business/political commentary. So who am I to argue - give the people what they want! To that end I have had many of my younger readers ask me about cool cars below $25,000. They liked my piece on Best Cars under $30K but they want "cool". Well since  I  am no longer young or cool I am thrilled that they would ask for  my opinion. I am blessed with four sons who are all cool and love cars so I have some guidance. With that disclaimer here goes. The List is in order of what I think are the coolest. These are my Top Ten Cool Cars Under $25,000: The Scion FRS This is the first true sports car under $30K since the Mazda Miata came out 25 years ago. This is a great...