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US REPUBLICAN SENATOR Marco Rubio was put on the defensive last night by angry students, teachers and parents who are demanding stronger gun-control measures after the shooting rampage that claimed 17 lives at a Florida high school.
One of those confronting the Florida senator at a CNN’s Stand Up town hall last night was Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was killed on 14 February with 16 others.
Rubio was the lone Republican at the nationally broadcast gathering after Florida’s GOP Governor Rick Scott and President Donald Trump declined invitations to appear at the event in Sunrise, Florida.
Guttenberg told Rubio that his comments about the shooting “and those of your president this week have been pathetically weak”.
People stood up and cheered Guttenberg as he challenged Rubio to tell him the truth, to acknowledge that “guns were the factor in the hunting of our kids”.
Guttenberg added: “And tell me you will work with us to do something about guns.”
Rubio responded that the problems laid bare by the shooting rampage “cannot be solved by gun laws alone,” drawing jeering whistles from the crowd.
Rubio said that he would support laws barring those 18 and under from buying such weapons, support changing the background checks system and getting rid of bump stocks.
He said that if he believed an assault weapons ban “would have prevented this from happening, I would have supported it”. That drew jeers.
Visibly angry, Guttenberg responded: “That is a weapon of war. The fact that you can’t stand with everyone in this room and say that… I’m sorry”. This drew further applause from the crowd.
Senator Bill Nelson and Congressman Ted Deutch, both Democrats from Florida, also were present on a dais.
Nelson said he grew up on a ranch and hunted all his life.
“I still hunt with my son but an AK-47 and an AR-15 is not for hunting, it’s for killing,” said Nelson to applause.
Ryan Schachter, whose brother Alex, was fatally gunned down at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was among those questioning the lawmakers.
“I’m supposed to go back to school in the upcoming week,” said Schachter. “Me and my friends worry we are going to be murdered in our classrooms.”
Student Cameron Kasky did not mince words telling Rubio, “It’s hard to look at you and not look down the barrel of an AR-15 and not look at Nikolas Cruz” before asking squarely, “Can you tell me right now that you will not accept a single donation from the NRA?”
The room erupted in cheers as Rubio replied that people buy into his agenda and that he supports laws to keep guns out of the hands of deranged people.
Rubio said he does not support arming teachers and Nelson agreed saying Trump’s suggestion on arming them was “a terrible idea”.
Shortly before the town hall event opened, the sheriff of the Florida county torn apart by the rampage spoke to the cheering audience, drawing them to their feet as he exhorted them to press on for stricter gun controls.
Sheriff Scott Israel of Broward County declared the US has had enough of deadly shootings.
He said the young people should hold lawmakers accountable for making their schools and other community places safer or they won’t be re-elected.
“Never again,” he declared of the Parkland attack, telling the young people now taking action that “America’s watching you… there will be change”.
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The insurance companies are deliberately asking vague questions to avoid future payouts. Filled out several mortgage protection forms this year and the about of vague questions were insane.
@Liza Latte: A gardener would be more inclined to drive for work (carrying their equipment about, from site to site). This obviously increases the risk for the insurance company. I wouldn’t call a question on employment as vague, in this case.
@Ruairi Gagarin: which is why it’s even stupider that they would refuse her as her answer would have lead to a higher premium
@Ruairi Gagarin: you read it wrong, she told them she was a gardener at renewal. She was unemployed at claim
@Ruairi Gagarin: If you are unemployed your insurance premium will double for some reason. Go to any online insurance site like its4women.ie, put in your details as gardener and then resubmit again as unemployed and you will see what I mean.
@No One: What you, Dave and Geoffrey say is correct. My point is that a question on employment is not a vague query with regards to a car insurance policy.
An updated insurance act was recently introduced in the UK to stop insurers from refusing claims for minor non disclosures. The same needs to be reintroduced here.
Banks, insurance firms, estate agents and consultants, all a waste of space.
@Centerro:
I find them very useful. May salary goes into my bank account, I pay my bills by DD and I have access to money all around the world with my cards. I used an estate agent to sell my last house and buy my new house, it did help the process and it great peace of mind knowing I have house insurance in the event my house was to burn down. You should try these services sometime, they are great and make life much easier
@Nick Allen: Arnt you great Nick? And you still have time to be posting on the journal 24/7.
Some man for one man.
@Centerro: Stupid comment
@Nick Allen: Until the banks rip you off (think the tracker mortgage scandal) or an insurance company refuses your claim on an obscure technicality.
@Bat Daly:
Quality comment there Bat, a great contribution. Well done!
@Dave Harris:
If I have a problem with a bank or an insurance company I will just deal with it and make sure I get my money back or the payment as per my policy. In the meantime I would hate not to have these services which I suspect most people in the country would feel the same. There will always be the ‘anti’ people that just moan about everything without actually thinking before they open their mouth or write a comment.
@JJ O Riordan Most people do JJ because you get penalised for claiming and ultimately it’s not worth claiming then. Insurance is legalised theft.
Insurance companies are using your job as a means to discriminate against you depending on your job some companies won’t even insure you!
@Paddy: yep Chefs get loaded Paddy because you’re working weird hours and stressful occupation.
@Jonathan Power: also if they work at a licensed or unlicensed premises which increases their access to alcohol or people drinking alcohol is massive loading factor too. Bar workers suffer this discrimination as well
Insurance companies are absolutely out of control and need serious reining in, a couple in Galway got a renewal quote for 1800 because their car had reached the age of 15, their last insurance was 600, the car had passed the nct with flying colours a couple of months before this years renewal. They are looking at every excuse under the sun to put up the price. When I lived in the town I got my renewal quote it had gone up by 300, I asked why, they said because of increased claims in the area because of break ins I shopped around and got it fo 80 less, I now live out the country my insurance still went up on the same car by 210 the excuse this time was because of car break ins and its parked outside in a quiet area, I shopped around they were the cheapest 3rd party fire and theft. This rip off has to end. The government make the law to have motor insurance, they issue the license to the companies they can just as easily withdraw it.
@brendan H: insurance companies will tell you that their refusal to insure older cars is because these cars are typically those bought to be used in staged accidents. What they won’t tell you is that they turned a blind eye to this for years paying out with no questions asked until it became a cottage industry.
@brendan H: remember the nct is a useless test for road worthiness. Irrespective of that, the reason it’s more expensive to insure older cars, is a moral risk issue, i.e. a person is less likely to care about bashing a 10 year old car around compared to a new car. This leads to increased careless driving. Leading to more claims, which leads to increased premium for everyone.
@Keith Richardson: A lot of people have older car and care for them, the tar brush shouldn’t be coming out its just an excuse to make money. A person with a good track record shouldn’t be penalized. It discriminates picking on people with older cars.
I think it’s ridiculous that you have to disclose your employment status or job if you’re insurance is private and for social and personal use.
@Cheryl Mellett: actually “social, domestic and pleasure” as quoted by some insurance companies and brokers may not covering commuting to work………. this came up as an answer on a FAQ search – “If you use your car to drive to work you should have Social Domestic and Pleasure plus Commuting cover on your policy.”
They have a right to not pay out on this one, employment status is central to risk calculation.
@James Brown: Surely if someone was unfortunate enough to become unemployed, they are less of a risk as they would no longer be driving to work every day.
@Earth Traveller: Yes it should cost less if you’re unemployed. You must divulge all information to your benefit or not however.
Insurance companies are out to screw everyone so it would not and in a reduced policy price.
@Earth Traveller: people can lose jobs and gain jobs in a short time period – you seriously suggest that every time someone signs on for a few weeks, they have to advise their insurance company?
@Earth Traveller: my response was not for you – SORRY!
@Christopher Treacy:
If she is unemployed she may be driving more as she has more free time
@Christopher Treacy: yes it should be cheaper. Insurance is a scam so it might not materialise.
If you lose your job or get another one every other day it’s still your responsibility to inform insurance.
@James Brown: they don’t of course.
@Nick Allen: but also it’s plausible to say a person will drive less due to having less money to buy fuel.
The prime objective of an insurance company is to squeeze as much money out of people as they can, and the secondary objective is to come up with as many excuses as possible not to part with any of it.
Insurance companies should use common sense when dealing with claims. They shouldn’t be looking for excuses not to pay out, which appears to have happened here.
@Adrian: interesting how they found out her current work status. do they ask for a receipt pay slip on application of an insurance claim?
Can anyone tell me why switching from a passenger jeep to a commercial jeep means you can’t transfer your no claims bonus? I changed my passenger jeep to commercial and couldn’t use my full ncb. I’d love to see a genuine reason for this.
@Seamus Murphy: it may be that a commercial vehicle may carry goods and tools which would increase a claim in a accident
Ombudsoman office had any guts insurance and banks would be behaving quite different
@Johnny Mason: or maybe decency
Technically she wasn’t working as a gardener as it was voluntary work. I don’t understand why she didn’t just state that she was unemployed.
@Cindy Crawford: Do you declare your modeling work?
@Orla Galvin: What’s your point?
As I said in a previous comment, if you are unemployed your premium doubles from a premium you might be quoted if you were employed. I don’t know the reasoning behind it but go to any insurance website and check it out for yourself.
@No One: the whole system is optimized for the gov and the insurance company, financially and otherwise. Gov wants you to work so it wouldn’t make sense to them for unemployed people to get cheaper insurance than those working. It’s nothing to do with risk assessment in this regard. Unemployed people would probably drive less because they have less money.
Its down to the Legislators and the Regulators to make clear rules, and impose harsh sanctions on the Insurers when they are broken, the Insurance Companies try it on because it is profitable to do so under the current system, which we tolerate by electing incompetent legislators..
If the question asked is “Have you had any accidents or claims, regardless of blame, in the last 3 years, and and knowingly choose not to disclose an incident, minor or not, an insurance company has every right in the world to refuse cover or cancel the policy upon finding out. Lying to an insurance company to try reduce your premium is a moral hazard, and raises questions about your character and what else you would be capable of lying about.
Always keep a screen grab of your application online to ensure you easily have a record
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