Gun dealers see buyer’s market in Miss.

Panic buying, which followed President Obama’s election and the Democratic Party’s majority in both the House and Senate, created a seller’s market for gun dealers and sporting goods stores in 2009.

The lingering effects of that run, based on an unwarranted fear of losing the right to bear arms, has created a buyer’s market in 2010.

“Totally flip-flopped,” said Van Allen, of Van’s Deer Processing and Sporting Goods in Brandon. “Consumers are now in the best position. There are deals on firearms and hunting accessories the likes of which we’ve never seen or dreamed could happen.

“Manufacturers based their 2010 production on 2009 sales, but they learned that the demand - the buying that followed the 2008 election - didn’t materialize again.”

Excess product - except rifle and pistol cartridges, which remain in short supply nationally - means better deals, like rebates, lower prices and store specials.

“Shotgun shells are no problem, but the cartridges in all calibers are tough to find,” Allen said. “I’m ordering everything I can knowing that I’ll be lucky if I get half of what I order.”

MBJ

Congressman Harper says new job numbers report is "very disappointing"

Congressman Gregg Harper

U.S. Representative Gregg Harper issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Labor announced that the economy shed 95,000 jobs in the month of September.

“Over 18 months ago, American citizens were promised that unemployment would not surpass eight percent if the President’s trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ plan were to become law. Sadly, Mississippi has lost 30,800 jobs since this promise was made.

“Republicans understand that the federal government does not create jobs, businesses do. This is why we urged the Democratic leadership to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts before leaving Washington for the November elections. If the current tax rates are not extended by January 1, 2011, small businesses owners that pay in the 35 percent tax bracket will pay 39.6 percent. To boot, individuals that file in the lowest tax bracket will be subject a 50 percent tax increase, with their rate rising from 10 to 15 percent.

“The federal government should lend a hand to America’s employers, not weigh them down with more heavy tax increases. Today’s report of 95,000 more jobs lost in our country is very disappointing.”

We're teaming up with The Blue Rooster for an October Surprise!

Anyone who watches politics looks to October with great anticipation. One can often expect a challenger who is behind in polls or who is attempting to gain a little more name recognition to come forward with a jaw-dropper just prior to November elections.
Well, here at the Harvester, we're helping engineer an October Surprise for our friends at The Blue Rooster just in time for another November election. And, you can be a beneficiary. After all everybody loves a surprise.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Go to the email subscription to the right of The Flora Harvester website and enter your email and follow the Feedburner directions.


2. Look to your email inbox, and verify that you subscribed.

3. Stay tuned to your email for a notice that you won a free appetizer from The Blue Rooster. We're giving one away every week in October beginning Monday, the eleventh. This should be sufficiently enticing to get you in to the restaurant to try the Best Burger in Mississippi (Frankly, the appetizers are pretty darn good too!)

The Rooster Burger. You're drooling aren't you?

4. Vote for Mississippi's Best Burger by clicking HERE . Enter in The Blue Rooster, Flora Mississippi, and the Rooster Burger. Be sure and click Done at the bottom of the page. Voting goes on through the first week of November.

5. Read The Flora Harvester. We'll give our online subscribers and Facebook Friends an opportunity to double the chance to win throughout the month.


We'll give away an appetizer every week starting Monday, October 11.

Now here's the kicker, the real reward for those who have a long enough attention span to read this far: The entire list of subscribers, including double-chancer's will be entered for a chance to receive a Dinner For Two at The Blue Rooster. We'll draw on October 29th.

Now Get To Work.
Enter, Win, Vote and Eat.


NOTE: Some restrictions apply: Offer good for two entree's and two non-alcoholic drinks.
Questions? Comments? Email us at floraharvester@bellsouth.net

Changes coming to health insurance plans

Consumers and employers who provide health insurance are scrambling to understand what will change in their premiums and benefits once the recently passed law goes into effect.

The new legislation applies broadly to nearly all private plans. That includes policies offered by large self-insured employers, through whom about half of the nation's covered workers get their insurance.

Some new rules — such as barring insurers from rejecting children with medical conditions or from canceling policies retroactively — are aimed at problems that mainly affect the 17 million people who buy their own insurance in the so-called non-group market.

But even the approximately 175 million Americans who get group coverage through their jobs will see changes.

Employers are flooding benefit firms with questions.

"We're getting a lot of calls (asking) ... to translate what this law means," says Kelly Traw, a principal with benefits consultancy Mercer. "That's a daunting task right now."

Some specific changes to policies and benefits aren't spelled out in the law. While some changes mandated by the new law appear fairly straightforward — no lifetime caps on coverage, for example — other provisions are missing crucial details, which must be clarified by the Department of Health and Human Services in regulations.

It will be up to the HHS secretary, for example:

• To define the breadth of coverage in an "essential benefits package."

• To determine how insurers will calculate how much they spend on direct medical care, a key point because insurers who don't meet specific spending benchmarks must issue rebates to consumers.

An HHS spokesman wouldn't provide details on when regulations will be issued. But, with some provisions set to go into effect by the end of September, pressure is on to move quickly.

 

Among the unknowns is the effect on premiums in the next couple of years. New taxes on drug companies, device makers and insurers don't begin until at least 2012. But when they do, economists expect that the increases will be passed along to employers and consumers. Barring insurers from setting lifetime coverage limits may also put upward pressure on premiums.

 

Read more at Kaiser Health News