🌞 Frozen Pants – February 12 2021

The Lead: Stimulus Moves Along

credit: getty

That $1,400 per person stimulus payment is inching its way through congress. On Thursday, the House Ways and Means Committee approved the budget of $593.5 billion, which accounts for $1,400 per person in direct payments.

The committee is working to approve individual pieces of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion package. It plans to complete this work today so that the House of Representatives can vote on it by February 22. If the bill passes the Senate, the Internal Revenue Service will begin making these payouts immediately. The IRS is already prepping for this in anticipation of a successful passage. 

Sponsor: Babbel

With Babble you can learn a new language in just a few minutes a day! And they want to make one thing crystal learning a new language in small bite sized chunks is actually THE BEST way to learn a new language.

Babble’s easy to use app makes it fun and easy to learn, here’ s how:

• Babbel’s 15-minute lessons make it the perfect way to learn a new language on the go. 
• Unlike the infamous language classes you took in high school, Babbel designs their courses with practical, real-world conversations in mind. Things you’ll get to use in everyday life.  
• Their teaching method has been scientifically proven to be effective.
• With Babbel you can choose from 14 different languages, including, Spanish, French, Italian, and German. 

Right now, when you purchase of a 3-month Babbel subscription, you’ll get an additional 3 months for FREE. That’s 6 months, for the price of 3! Just go to BABBEL.com and use promo code INVEST.

Health: Absurd Costs For Procedures

credit: knoxnews

Hospitals have begun to reveal how much they charge for various procedures and it is shocking. For instance, in San Francisco, a Caesarean section could cost $6,000 or $60,000 for the exact same procedure. That is because the hospital charges different rates based on the patients’ insurance.

We are finding this out because the Trump administration created a rule that forces hospitals to publicly disclose the prices they charge for medical prosecutes. Hospitals sued to block this but a court rejected the suit.

Why should we care if insurers are billed more? We should care because this increases the cost of deductibles and premiums. It also makes it impossible for those without insurance to pay for procedures because all prices are perverted. This does not happen in other countries where healthcare is offered to everyone. In those countries, people who are not residents can pay out of pocket for procedures and they cost the actual amount, not a nonsensically bloated price. In Portugal for instance, getting care for breaking your arm costs less than $200. Try paying for a bone break in the U.S. out of pocket. This system is true insanity and it persists because the insurers have expensive lobbyists. It’s shameful. 

What Is A Generous Talk Show Host?

credit: giphy

Dozens of underprivileged men will have Alex Trebek as their good luck charm as they wear his clothes to job interviews. The family of the former Jeopardy! host has donated his wardrobe to The Doe Fund, an organization that helps less fortunate Americans get job training, education, and prepare for job interviews.

In his final show, Trebek admonished viewers to open up their hands and hearts to those who are suffering. Donating his high-end clothes is a lovely way to do that because no doubt they would sell for a small fortune if the family chose to do that instead.

The donations included 58 dress shirts, 14 suits, 300 neckties, 25 polo shirts, 14 sweaters, 9 sports coats, 9 pairs of dress shoes, 15 belts, 3 pairs of dress slacks, and 2 parkas. 

News By The Numbers

credit: foxnews

16 feet. That is the length of a python that two Florida boys found on their property. It weighed 300 pounds. The boys hooked and shot it because they are trying to stop pythons from migrating north of the Everglades.

$4 million. That is how much one man accepted in PPP loans fraudulently. He used the money to buy a Lamborghini. He has pled guilty to wire fraud and lying to a financial institution.

793,000. That is how many Americans applied for unemployment last week, a decline from the previous week’s 812,000, showing slight improvement in the job market.

40 tons. That is how much a military tank weighed that passed over the heads of Chinese troops in what was a very crazy trust exercise. No thanks! 

Today’s Live Show

On Today’s Live Show:

• Stimulus moves along and passes first major hurdle
• Unemployment numbers remain high
• GOP tries to stop student debt cancellation

Join us at 9 AM Eastern over your cup of coffee or tea. Click here to watch and subscribe. 

More Important Than Dollars

credit: giphy

You don’t need money to be happy but you do need stability. This is from a new study from McGill University in Canada.

Researchers studied populations that do not have a lot of currency exchange in the Solomon Islands and Bangladesh. They interviewed residents of the fishing village and found that the lack of money did not affect their happiness. In fact, the villagers reported being quite happy. Money would not much change their lives much at all and therefore was not linked to happiness the way it is in the Western world. 

This indicates that in the Western world, it is not really money that makes people happy but the stability it can bring.

“In less monetized sites, we found that people reported a greater proportion of time spent with family and contact with nature as being responsible for making them happy,” explains Sara Miñarro, the lead author on the study. “But with increasing monetization, we found that the social and economic factors commonly recognized in industrialized countries played a bigger role. Overall, our findings suggest that monetization, especially in its early stages, may actually be detrimental to happiness.”

This is scientific proof of the wisdom of Biggie Smalls: Mo money, Mo Problems.

35 and Under Please

credit: Getty

Employers in China are not interested in hiring workers 35 and over. Increasingly, job postings are specifying age limits of 35 in their advertisements.

This happened before the pandemic but workers in China say that the pandemic has made it even worse. A research firm says that two thirds of people who are over the age of 35 and were laid off during the pandemic have not been able to find new work.

This is more likely because people over 35 ask for higher salaries because, you know, experience should count for something. Apparently, companies don’t want to pay for experience. This is China we’re talking about. They pioneered the concept of cheap things at scale.  

Share The Love

Become a friend of Morning Invest by sharing this newsletter with someone you love.

When you do give you actual rewards that’ll make everyone jealous.

Share Now