Ted Rall for August 20, 2009

It’s not just insurance companies and the radical right that are fighting this – doctors don’t want this either. They fear the government option would put more pressure to clamp down on what many of them are making, which is a lot. One of my friends is a pediatrician – he doesn’t do too bad at couple hundred Gs a year, but my other friend is a anesthetist and I think he’s doing >$400K/yr. A lot of school, but that’s spanking.

Then why do 60% of doctors favor a single payer system? Your anecdotal evidence is worthless.

satipera4 So, what we are hearing, is that there are not a few problems and the program is very much in arrears – what’s your take on it since we can’t actually trust anything the media or pundits say.

Although I never liked Lyndon Johnson much, and actually hated him during the Vietnam years, I’ve got to give him all the credit in the world for somehow getting Medicare passed. The man knew how to work Congress, and nobody ever doubted that he had balls.

My doctor packed it in when his malpractice insurance premiums went sky-high. Those high salaries don’t mean squat if you’re putting 3/4 of it to insurance and office staff.

I remember when this sort of talk, the criticizing of the current dehumanized capitalist system, would ban you for life. I see some progress!

Crisis are big opportunities to turn things around toward a better direction, “destiny”, in the days of lore.

I’m a relatively new poster, but it doesn’t take too long to see where people are coming from. I probably won’t hang here long. In about a week, I’ve been through pretty much everybody’s philosophy and no one is changing any opinions here. There are some well thought-out posts and some thoughtful posters [on both sides of the spectrum and in-between], but there are also a lot of strong opinions with little forethought or basis. And really, way too much anger. Guys like the humpie, for instance, who laments long posts with any kind of point to be made (do his eyes just roll into the back of his head?), gets very personal, and never offers anything of substance; yet, guys like him seem to have their own cheering section despite the lack of anything sustentative. On the other hand there are right-wing apologists like Striper, who have never seen the other side of an argument and believe Obama, spawn of Satan, is responsible for all evil in the world.

satipera4 might be a socialist, but I was at least willing to listen to his prospective. Sure, I may not agree with it since I’m generally a free market guy, but I’m willing to listen. Also, even though in theory one might lean toward a particular philosophy (like libertarianism) practically the theoretical is rarely workable (i.e. the market does need some safeguards and controls). Conversely, there is no doubt in my mind where a government planned economy will take those who choose to go that direction. Nevertheless, since we are not usually at either of those extremes, it’s interesting to see a perspective from someone who is living under the various systems.

One thing that I do thing is underappreciated by most Europeans is the fierce independence that both existed at the beginning and early development of American, and particularly the United States culture. Same thing exists with guns in the States – it was so much a part of American culture and way of life – especially in the West, that it became ingrained in many psyches. When you couple that with the mistrust that many have of the government (even those on the left here harangue on about how much they were lied to and how much their freedoms have been abused), you can at least see where they are coming from, even if you don’t agree. The hardest thing to do is see someone else’s perspective…

“It’s your fault,” cried Frick. “No, ‘tis not! It’s your fault,” responded Frack. Meanwhile the house of cards they tried to prop up with popsicle sticks collapses again while the rich and powerful sit in their fortresses on the hills, count their lucre and laugh and laugh and laugh.

ynnek… I’m still working on mine but your ethnocentrism seriously bugs me. You seem reasonable enough and seem to want to listen to all sides so follow Fennec’s suggestion and book out or buy James Loewen’s, “Lies my Teacher Told Me”. You may not have been persuaded one way or the other regarding most issues by anyone on this forum but perhaps this book will allow you to look back on your last post and revise it. And a little more empathy for your fellow man wouldn’t be a bad thing.

right on! Obama is doing the heavy lifting and the GOP does smack.

On the money, Ted. What’s with the novels being posted for comments, anyway? It’s a cartoon, not a dissertation.

The only problem, fennec, is that the conversations/dissertations often seem to have little to do with the cartoon. Here Ted is telling us - as if we didn’t know already - that Mr Obama has caved. The only real question is whether this caving was extemporaneous and forced upon him by events beyond his control or part of a script well rehearsed in advance….

Henri