State of the Union by Carl Moore
- September 02, 2009
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Speed Bump by Dave Coverly
Stone Soup by Jan EliotAbout State of the Union
State of the Union is the result of a self-professed "fallen liberal’s" journey from radical socialism to conversative cartooning. Combining startling caricatures with a sly sense of humor and a sharp eye for satire, this innovative new strip will be sure to tickle your funnybone while making you think.
© 2009 Creators Syndicate - All Rights Reserved.
Comments (50) Jump to Comments Form
Radical-Knight
said,
2 months ago
Guten Morgen!
Buzzy-One said, 2 months ago
Boy, Oh, Boy will this have all the little wingnutz jumping.
DavidDow said, 2 months ago
Ah, if only President Obama & the Congress were creating a single-payer universal health-care system. Unfortunately, this current reform plan moves only slightly from the current mess. It is a step forward, but a very small step.
GJ_Jehosaphat
said,
2 months ago
I read something about the salaries of Insurance Company Executives are being investigated by Congress - here’s FoxNews’ take on it (for those folks who think I only get my news from CNN), Publish Date: August 19, 2009
“The letter from Waxman and Stupak requested the information be provided by early September….”
“Among the documents requested were records relating to compensation paid to any company executive earning more than $500,000 in any year from 2003 to 2008.
Waxman and Stupak also sought documents relating to premiums paid by policy holders, claims payments, sales expenses, administrative expenses and profits, broken down by categories such as employer-provided coverage; individual coverage, Medicare and Medicaid.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/18/house-dems-seek-records-health-insurers/
Of course CNN has more (Published September 1, 2009):
“Most executives of publicly traded companies draw their big pay checks from bonuses, stocks and options to buy and sell stocks at sweet prices. Their compensation is tied to profit levels and how the company is valued.
In health insurance, profits come out of the pot of money left over after premium dollars are used to pay for patient care. The formula that accounts for how much of premiums are spent on patient care versus administration, marketing and profits is called a ”medical loss ratio.” And that’s one of the things lawmakers want to know more about.
In the early 1990s, health insurers spent more than 90 cents of every dollar collected on patient care, but that has been declining. In 2007, national publicly-traded health companies spent about 81 cents of every dollar on patient care, according to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report.”
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/01/news/economy/healthinsurersceo_pay/index.htm
It’s always been about the $$ - perhaps the insurance industry executives are feeling a bit depressed these days. U know - there are pills for that…perhaps they can negotiate a discount (bulk) with the Prescription Drug Industry Executives…
slug_queen said, 2 months ago
Hi guys!
RE: yesterday-
I’m on deadline and really stressed at the moment, but have to say: the 77% number has been all over for a couple of weeks now. It would take willful disregard to not see it. The 80% number? I honestly don’t have time to look back for that right now. I would point out that any source other than Fox would not suffice for Tiny. With the possible exception of Lyndon Larouche’s latest org. ;-)
sablebrush5 said, 2 months ago
Obama contradictions:
“… People were wrong to worry “that somehow some government bureaucrat out there will be saying, well, you can’t have this test or you can’t have this procedure because some bean-counter decides that this is not a good way to use our health-care dollars.”
So no bureaucrats, no bean-counters. Mr. Obama merely wants to create “a panel of experts, health experts, doctors, who can provide guidelines to doctors and patients about what procedures work best in what situations.”
“Oh, and your health-care plan? You can keep it, as long your insurance company or employer can meet all the new regulations Mr. Obama favors. His choice of verbs provides a clue about what that will mean: “will be prohibited,” “will no longer be able,” “we’ll require…”
“So the health-care status quo needs top-to-bottom reform, except for the parts that “you” happen to like. Government won’t interfere with patients and their physicians, considering that the new panel of experts who will make decisions intended to reduce tests and treatments doesn’t count as government. But Medicare shows that government involvement isn’t so bad, aside from the fact that Medicare spending is out of control—and that program needs top-to-bottom reform too.
“Voters aren’t stupid. The true reason ObamaCare is in trouble isn’t because “folks aren’t listening,” but because they are.”
(Excerpted from the Wall St. Journal)
Lewreader
said,
2 months ago
“Gee Daddy, why do I have to wear hand-me-downs?” “Because your unemployed neighbors want to have a 4th child.”
mytinytown said, 2 months ago
WebEditor (Yesterday)
“No private citizen has any right to gain access to another private citizen’s private records, regardless of whether you believe the information on those private records to be consequential or not.”
Unless your name is George W. Bush. Seems like you liberals had no trouble snooping through his records. Aren’t military records private too? Hmmmmmmmmm???????????? Yes, unless you are a conservative.
Slug_queen
You know nothing about me obviously, I have stated several times I don’t care much for Fox news either. It is the easiest to stomach, but still not very conservative. So poll results from Fox means nothing to me.
LibrarianInTraining said, 2 months ago
I’ve seen government health care from the inside. It’s got to go.
Under Medicaid guidelines, you can’t ask for authorization of clinical services until you actually start the services. Then you have to wait two weeks to see if you get approved after several days of back and forth e-mailing to the gatekeeper to explain why these services are necessary.
And if they don’t approve you, you have to stop the care your providing and eat whatever you’ve already serviced them. (And it happens that way a lot.)
A lot of doctors and other providers in our area no longer take Medicaid for this reason. So all these people (Especially disabled children) are on Medicaid and no one will service them. All they’re doing is hurting the people they set out to help.
Private insurances aren’t perfect, but most of the contracts (mostly PPOs and POSs) are better at giving the client flexibility in how they use their care.
There was ONE system that the government had that worked well, the Medicaid Waiver system. And that was cut so drastically last year that some of our patients (again, mostly disabled children) lost more than half of their available funds for services. If I was going to use any system, it’d be waiver. They pay on time, they pay fair price, and the authorizations are easier to get.
ljesseph
said,
2 months ago
I sure don’t want to see the health care system that Obama wants to go in. Go to Canada and see how you are treated as a client. Doctors smend no time , all or a majority of the nurses are foreign (it seems they are Chinese), they don’t speak English. Clenliness is just a word, not an action.
We need reform, but not socialist system.
mytinytown said, 2 months ago
DavidDow
If Obama’s healthcare package is soooo good, why is it dying?
GJ_Jehosaphat
It is nice how you people feel that since there is a current issue with a business not doing what it is designed to do, it is OK for the government to take control and then give it away to those who “need” it. This IS socialism.
mytinytown said, 2 months ago
ljesseph
You point out the little dark secrets Obama and his clan doesn’t want you to know. I have heard this about government controlled healthcare all over the place. Including extremely long waits at the doctors and to see a doctor. I have not heard the foreign nurses before, but would not be surprised to see that.
twright64 said, 2 months ago
If Obama’s health care package is so good, why will he not use it for his family and your politicians.
Rep. Dan Boren, Oklahoma Dem, has pledged that IF a plan with a public option passes with a politician’s exclusion that he will immediately place himself and his family in the public option. Remains to be seen, but still a good gesture. Ask YOUR Reprehensible or Senaturd if he/she will make the same pledge, then listen to the stony silence as was coming from my Reprehensible when I asked.
Obama, himself, wouldn’t answer in a televised interview.
DavidDow said, 2 months ago
Lew, TinyT. IS employed & having only his third child. Granted: He still uses Medicaid & other government assistance to help support himself, his wife, & his tow elder children. Your quip has no point, though. Surely, with our current system, the unemployed neighbor would still have another child. What do you suggest?
TinyT., G.W. Bush had no military records. His military “service” was a joke & an insult on soldiers everywhere. He behaved as the worst of chicken hawks: Gung ho to let others do his fighting for him. I am ashamed of all the chicken hawks who have emulated him over the past eight years. Strongly supporting these bloody, pointless, quagmiry invasions into Afghanistan & into Iraq while themselves refusing to enlist. If everyone who supported these invasions had enlisted, then we might’ve had enough troops for successful occupations that would be over already. I cannot believe that people who supported these invasions and didn’t enlist can look themselves in the face. I trust that you agree with me, TinyT.
TinyT., you have dismissed all media news sources as insufficiently conservative. That’s your prerogative, but it doesn’t deny my assertion of yesterday that they ARE conservative. You have also dismissed all my suggested newspapers, magazines, & radio shows. Thus: Do you live in an empty bubble? Whence do you receive information that health-care reform is “dying” or that you “have heard [things] about government controlled healthcare”? Health-care reform isn’t dying. You need to read (see yesterday’s list) & listen (see yesterday’s list).
Again, TinyT., you mention “socialism” as if it were a bad thing, while you practice socialism every day yourself. Please: We had that discussion a year ago. This is the 21st century, not the 19th century: EVERY AMERICAN IS A SOCIALIST. Claiming something is bad because it’s “socialism” is like claiming that it’s bad because it’s partly made out of plastic. You would have almost nothing left that you could use: no car, no phones, no computer, no d.v.d.s, &c.
L.I.T., please explain how you have “seen government health care from the inside”. Your description, albeit too brief, shows the reason that we need serious health-care reform.
Thanks for speaking up, Satipera. Your British system is one of the best health-care systems in the world. The U.S. should use it as a model. It is what our elected officials use, Twright. I agree with you, and so does Obama. All Americans should have the health care that Obama gets.
bartbuzz said, 2 months ago
I seldom post on the comics. But it is interesting not to read all the usual lefties’ comments trying to refute today’s strip. Look what Obamadenijad has done to this country in just 7 short months. Taking over GM, spending our kids and grandkids into lifelong debt, defining the war on terror as a law enforcement operation, raising our energy bills thru cap and trade, and trying to cram government-run health care down our throats. Redistribution of wealth and socialism is hard to refute.
BRPPTZ said, 2 months ago
bartbuzz, I agree. Now he want to use public tax dollars to kill the unborn in the womb. Sad.
mroberts88 said, 2 months ago
Our healthcare system needs tweaking, but not in the way Obama is trying to tweak it.
Looks like we have another marktrail in BRPPTZ, censored
Buzzy-One said, 2 months ago
Everything’s right on cue this morning ;oD
WebEditor said, 2 months ago
no, mytinytown, military records are not private. they are public SERVICE records. stop trying to find a contradiction. you will find i am extremely consistent.
GNWachs
said,
2 months ago
The only true US government health care now in operation. This is what will happen when it becomes larger and even less efficient.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/26/veterans.letters.disease/index.html
SQUIDBREAKER said, 2 months ago
Good morning Web Editor!
…………………………………………………………………..
My personal health care plan is eat right, exercise and take supplements, and avoid doctors as much as possible. If I break a bone, then I’m going to the ER.
If I split a gut laughing, then I die happy.
I’m an insurance minimalist. I refuse to pay more than $300 per month for any plan. I don’t have cable or satellite, don’t need a cell phone and drive old cars (no car payments). There’s the $300-$500 a month most people say they can’t afford for high deductible, low cost insurance.
WebEditor said, 2 months ago
sablebrush5 …
Riddle me this: how will this government panel be any different than what private insurance companies already do? Private payers can decide medical policy based on bean counting and they can decline FDA-approved services, thus acting as quasi-regulatory agencies … beyond the scope of their legal powers.
Clearly you are not familiar in the least with how medicine actually works, otherwise you wouldn’t take issue with a body that makes practice suggestions. That’s what medical associations like the American Medical Association already do.
Medicare/Medicaid spending is out of control because private payers have driven up cost. Government programs can only afford so much cost; but the price of health care is far too expensive for what the government can afford through Medicare or Medicaid. The sole reason these systems appear broken is because the government can’t afford the price that has been dictated by the private market.
You can excerpt from any source you like; but there are fundamental nuances to the health care debate that you continuously fail to recognize and/or acknowledge – and I fear it is not the former, though, but the latter. What is hurting this necessary discussion on health care is the zealotry of certain groups to undermine Obama by any means necessary, and these folks are willing to subvert a debate on how best to serve the health needs of our populace to meet their particular agenda. But you and others who continue this pattern of deception about the reform proposals are playing with people’s lives … in every sense of the word.
GJ_Jehosaphat
said,
2 months ago
mytinytown Re: “… it is OK for the government to take control and then give it away to those who “need” it. This IS socialism.” (see comment posted about 3 hours ago for full quotation).
Regarding all this “Hoo Ha” about Socialism - Been busy Googling to find a historical perspective. I.E. Socialism Pre Karl Marx (gave collectivism a bad reputation).
So I tried Googling “Was Jesus a Socialist” - I always thought so, but not according to what I read - Not very ‘Christ-like” with their word usage.
So I tried Googling what I thought would be the Opposite of Socialist - Oligarchy (not Democracy cause I think it has more socialistic tendencies - like government by the people - for the people - etc).
Frankly - I think we’ve been duped (doped - as in dummy). Seems the US is more like an Oligarchy…
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-oligarchy.htm
There’s something to ponder mytinytown till your next “break”.
bartbuzz said, 2 months ago
Satipera: Against my better judgement I will answer your question. If GM had gone bankrupt back in November 2008, the company would have been on the path to recovery much earlier. I know responsibility is hard medicine to take. But the taxpayers would have saved $billions$ and capitalism would have worked.
WebEditor said, 2 months ago
^ I think the point was that allowing certain companies to fail would have crippled middle class America (by virtue of joblessness), thus reducing expendable income. And the aftershock of big three failure (in this case) would have sacrificed jobs and businesses in related industries – which would serve to further decrease spending power.
For capitalism to work, there must be supply and demand, but their also must be cash flow on a macroeconomic scale sufficient enough to allow consumers to purchase what they demand. A truly thriving capitalist system has extraneous macroeconomic spending power, so as to allow consumers to purchase not only what they demand, but also what they desire.
America is a consumer-based economy in addition to it being a capitalist system. Allowing certain companies or entire industries to fail might be more palatable in an agrarian or barter economy, but in a cash flow economy, allowing arguably monopolous powers to fail is a risky proposition, and one that threatens the foundations of our economic system.
Thus, we “paid” (for lack of a better term) billions of today dollars to save trillions of tomorrow dollars; we “paid” billions in an investment in the foundation of our economy. As a nice benefit, we made sure that untold numbers stayed off the public dole and out of bread lines.
Shaliach said, 2 months ago
bartbuzz said: “If GM had gone bankrupt back in November 2008, the company would have been on the path to recovery much earlier.”
Bush tried to push GM into bankruptcy, but their execs feared that no one would buy a car from an insolvent company.
GJ_ said: “Seems the US is more like an Oligarchy…”
Exactly the point I made earlier this week. The American people lost ownership of their country long ago. The corporate media, Wall Street bankers, intellectual elite and moneyed lobbyists rule over a nation of passive serfs.
Radical-Knight
said,
2 months ago
People need to stop crying about the health-care fiasco and focus on the real problem rather the distractions… ECONOMY!!
Do something first about the Banking, Mortgage, Insurance, and Financial Corporations. Next, stop the CEO and corporate bonuses where government bailouts are involved. So people making over $100K will have a hissy fit and wanna go elsewhere. WAH!! There are plenty of bright people to fill those spots who can probably do just as well for less. They won’t do any worse than those who are in there right now.
NO!! I don’t know how to fix the problem. If I did, Heads would roll and plenty of people with pretty suits would be using their golf clubs to mow yards!
bartbuzz said, 2 months ago
Shaliach: And just how many cars did GM sell in Obama’s C4C program? Chrysler and GM had negative sales while their main competition were making sales. The GM execs were wrong and they didn’t want to take their medicine! Bush was right…bankruptcy was the right path forward.
mroberts88 said, 2 months ago
We need to fix the economy, and then worry about other things.
WebEditor said, 2 months ago
bartbuzz said:
“Bush was right…bankruptcy was the right path forward. ”
Bush didn’t propose bankruptcy. That’s revisionist history. Bush mulled every option under the sun to avoid bankruptcy.
What’s your point about the cash-for-clunkers program and sales? There is zero correlation. There were no or low sales because execs in Detroit put out a poor product. For the past 20-odd years. That’s why no product moved in great number.
BTW … both GM and Chrysler have been under bankruptcy protection. So if you were attempting to refute the idea that car makers being bankrupt negatively affects sales, you failed.
The cash-for-clunkers program was intended to allow consumers to buy more fuel efficient cars and, therefore, spend less on gas and maintenance of older cars. Again, freeing up expendable spending money. It was also a way to boost car sales and put an influx of cash into an industry on life support.
MisngNOLA
said,
2 months ago
People need to focus on what the real driving force behind the economic downturn was and that was the high price of oil. With such a rapid rise in oil prices between 2006 and early 2008, EVERYTHING dependent in some manner on oil, either through manufacture or simply through transportation costs also rose. Even though oil prices have since dropped nearly as dramatically as they rose, business owners and consumers alike are reluctant to come forth with the types of expenditures necessary to stimulate the economy back into expansion because of the uncertainty of oil prices. In the US it would be simple to allay those fears just by beginning to drill in the miniscule area of the ANWR that has been proposed over the past decade or so. The immediate production of said oil is not nearly as important as the EXPECTATION that a stable source of petroleum would be available that was not dependent on the whims of some two-bit crackpot in the Middle East (or in the White House for that matter). It is and was expectations that caused the economic malaise. It is and was expectations that cause the stock market to fluctuate wildly from one day to another, and it is expectations which can drive the economy back into aggressive expansion.
jack75287 said, 2 months ago
GJ_Jehosaphat
All valid points but any corp exec salery, bonus and stock option are in public records of the corp. As for the info of the clients I would like to know what business of congress it is of theirs.
SQUIDBREAKER said, 2 months ago
Shaliach’s right …. again.
Tigger
said,
2 months ago
Teddy Rossevelt, a Republican President in 1912, wanted to provide all USA Citizens with Government funded Insurance. Government Run Health Care has failed every time it has been Proposed. Even the Sitting President’s own Party has voted against Government Funded Health Care every time.
Listen to the Main StreamLiberal Media, they will tell you the Truth. Fox news will not. The Main StreamMedia has repeatedly reported there are enough ‘Conservative’ and ‘Blue Dog’ Democrtas to derail Obama’s Governmet Run Health Care Proposal.
Government Run Health care is once again dead for at least 16 Years.
WebEditor said, 2 months ago
I hate revisionist history.
Sadly, Teddy Roosevelt was not a Republican President in 1912. William Howard Taft was the President, and a Republican, in 1912.
For the record, Teddy Roosevelt was president from 1901 to 1909 and took office after McKinley’s assassination by an anarchist in Buffalo, NY.
Teddy did run in 1912 as an “independent” in the Bull Moose Party in attempt to thwart the inept William Howard Taft from winning re-election. Taft was Teddy’s chosen successor in the Republican Party. But Taft turned his back on Teddy and the trust busting he fought for. Taft was a fat weasel. And Teddy, feeling betrayed, felt it his obligation to undue Taft.
Great story about Teddy in 1912. Teddy was shot in an assassination attempt by an anarchist. Teddy was on his way to make a stump speech. But he did not disappoint. Instead of going to the hospital, Teddy, bullet still in chest, delivered a campaign speech for more than an hour. And then he went to the hospital.
Woodrow Wilson won the election in 1912, and took office in 1913. Woodrow Wilson won that election because of the schism in the Republican party created by Teddy, much like H. Ross Perot undermined Bush in the 1992 election.
The point is, this factoid that Teddy wanted to provide National Insurance in 1912 is meaningless. Teddy wasn’t even POTUS. And after Teddy, we fought WW I, had a depression, fought WW II, Korea, had a Red Scare, fought in Vietnam, and had a Republican president from 1980 to 1989 who fought against government programs. It’s not that “National Health Insurance” has failed every time it has been proposed; in fact it has only been seriously proposed twice: by Teddy and Bill Clinton.
And for f–k’s sake … OBAMA IS NOT PROPOSING GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTH CARE. HE IS PROPOSING A GOVERNMENT OPTION FOR PEOPLE THAT DON’T HAVE PRIVATE INSURANCE.
striper77 said, 2 months ago
Here is an article on the real Obama change:
Barrack Obama and the socialist leadership in Congress are working furiously to change America. They want to transform our nation and they’re spending trillions of tax dollars to do it.
I’m talking about a whole scale, radical transformation of our nation. From our national defense to our foreign policy to our free market economic system - Obama and company have implemented and have plans to further implement massive government control over each of us.
Today the Obamaites, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel, Harry Reid - the small but powerful group of left-wing radicals who are at the controls of this transformation are all disciples of the 1960s radical Saul Alinsky. Alinsky’s book, Rules for Radicals, was the Little Red Book for the college radicals of the 1960s.
Alinsky’s deep, deep hatred of America. A hate that ran so deep he wrote a blueprint for tearing our nation down. Many agents of the radical left never grew up. In fact, today many of them are leaders in Congress and in our White House, all embracing Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals - the road map for turning our nation upside down.
With every passing day we see what lays behind the Administration’s piecemeal efforts to take over the car makers, the banks and the health care system: creating a new America that will bear little resemblance to the country in which we grew up
GJ_Jehosaphat
said,
2 months ago
jack75287 Re: “…As for the info of the clients I would like to know what business of congress it is of theirs.”
I think what U R referring to from my previous comment is:
…The formula that accounts for how much of premiums are spent on patient care versus administration, marketing and profits is called a ”medical loss ratio.” And that’s one of the things lawmakers want to know more about.
One can Google “Medical Loss Ratio” and find alot of info about what it measures (Accounting). Here’s more info from someone who worked in the Insurance Industry (Published June 24, 2009):
“… The industry, Potter says, is driven by “two key figures: earnings per share and the medical-loss ratio, or medical-benefit ratio, as the industry now terms it. That is the ratio between what the company actually pays out in claims and what it has left over to cover sales, marketing, underwriting and other administrative expenses and, of course, profits.””
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/06/thetruthabouttheinsurance.html
If U meant something else, U’d have to be more clear on your question…
mroberts88 said, 2 months ago
Striper, on changing foreign policy, do you mean we will actually be diplomatic, instead of sending the military out to topple any government who doesnt agree with us?
LibrarianInTraining said, 2 months ago
DavidDow, I work in the billing dept. of a home health agency. Even the case managers are pissed about the new changes. I had one client who was receiving a home health aide 62 hours/week. It just got cut back to 2.5 hours per day. His mother can’t take care of him by herself. She now has to pay for all his diapers and bed pads out of her own pocket because the government will no longer cover them. He may wind up in an assisted living facility because his mother can’t support him out of pocket.
GJ_Jehosaphat
said,
2 months ago
Stripper77 - Hey I see your Sexual Orientation Fascination is still posted from yesterday - Still Busy Churning Up The Waters With Some Mudslinging - Again.
Being a child of the 60’s - I remember alot of “stuff” that made the News (TV, Newspapers, Magazines - alas no Internet). Didn’t remember heariing/reading about Saul Alinsky like some of the other “more famous radicals” of the 60’s.
Sooo being that I like an easy read - I Googled and went to the “Wiki” web page - Some Radical (seemed more intent on helping his fellow man get out of poverty situations):
“”Not at any time. I’ve never joined any organization – not even the ones I’ve organized myself. I prize my own independence too much. And philosophically, I could never accept any rigid dogma or ideology, whether it’s Christianity or Marxism.
One of the most important things in life is what judge Learned Hand described as ‘that ever-gnawing inner doubt as to whether you’re right.’
If you don’t have that, if you think you’ve got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated.
The greatest crimes in history have been perpetrated by such religious and political and racial fanatics, from the persecutions of the Inquisition on down to Communist purges and Nazi genocide.””
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky
Stripper77 - U should like that Quote - See the footnote on the Wiki Page - It’s from an Interview published in Playboy Magazine….maybe U have it in your collection (since U seem to have such a sexual fixation). Course some folks do claim to get it for the “articles”….
Noreen Klose said, 2 months ago
The healthcare debate is TOTALLY UNNECESSARY.
I will be pleased to join in any plan that the corrupt, two-faced, slimy, backstabbing politicians (almost ALL of them)come up with.
The only catch is, the ALL politicians, labor unions, and EVERYONE else in America gets stuck with it, TOO! I will take just exactly the same care that Obama gets, and Obama has to be on the exact same plan, as me, with the exact same options. All our families, too.
LibrarianInTraining said, 2 months ago
Noreen, well said!
mroberts88 said, 2 months ago
Good idea Noreen.
3hourtour said, 2 months ago
..it’s because he’s black,isn’t it?…
sablebrush5 said, 2 months ago
webeditor,
If you believe that I’m hoping Obama fails you are quite wrong. As I’ve written before on this site, on a personal level, I’m a great admirer of Obama. He’s intelligent, articulate, charming, has a good sense of humor, is obviously a devoted husband and father of a beautiful family. I wish him well. If he succeeds, our country succeeds. If he fails, our country fails.
But his policies are clearly misguided. This idea that ever-larger government programs, regulations and intrusions into our lives are the royal road to prosperity is an old idea that history has discredited over and over. It amazes me that intelligent, well-educated people such as yourself still cling to it.
I’m not a conservative, by the way, I’m a libertarian. I’m liberal on social issues and conservative on economic issues, a stance summed up rather well in the famous phrase “that government governs best which governs least.” I wish the Obamaians would tack it up on their White House walls and let it sink in. We’d all be better for it.
rricchhterr said, 2 months ago
l hired a guy once, started him out at twelve dollars an hour,initially he produced, so l gave him a raise.
then he found out how much money l was making,
kept asking for raises.
started lowering his production…
l did’nt want to fire him, he had a family and all, so l lowered his wage as a demotement reflecting on his prodution, he finally quit…
DavidDow said, 2 months ago
Bartbuzz, almost all your complaints are with Bush-dick & the Republicans, who ran the legislature or the presidency or both from January 1995 to January 2009. I take the compliment that you expected President Obama & the Democrats to fix fourteen years of messes in seven months, but you should remove the rosy-colored glasses & see that they cannot perform miracles.
Mrob., please suggest a better way to reform health-care. I agree that the House plan is insufficient, but it does take steps in the right direction.
Thank you, WebEd, for your thoughtful & intelligent explanation about the costs of Medicare. You are correct that most of these town hall health-care kerfuffles are a group of Obama-haters. They take their information & their instigation from the far-right-wing media, who want to take down Obama for the sake of taking down a Democrat. This is a continuation of the Gingrich strategy of the 1990s.
Thanks, too, WebEd., for the history lesson. I take from T. Roosevelt’s proposal for universal health care that the U.S. has powerful fat-cat interests that have fought this for a century. Nonetheless, we are wearing them down.
Thank you, Satipera. America-haters, who, essentially don’t want to do anything to solve the health-care crisis, latch on to simple anecdotes as if they told the whole story. This strategy has at least two problems: 1. Anecdotes don’t tell the whole story. 2. One could find millions of horrific anecdotes about our current health-care system, but those who don’t care if we fail don’t care about these tales.
GJ, you need to get beyond Google & open a few books. Read Howard Zinn’s Peoples History of America, which will tell you in what manner the U.S. is, of course, a socialist nation. No one on this website could do without our socialism—TinyT. more than most.
L.I.T., your tale of Bush-Dick’s vicious cutting of Medicare shows how urgently we need health-care reform. Thanks.
Noreen, I agree with you. That is preCISEly the proposal for universal, single-payer health care, as the English, French, & Italians have.
Bartbuzz & Shaliach, your facts & forecasts are incorrect & simplistic, as Satipera briefly pointed out.
Sable., I agree with you about government, but, as Thoreau pointed out, we are hardly ready for such government. We behave like 300 million individuals, not like a nation in which we look out for one another. When we can share what we have to help one another, when we guarantee everyone the necessities, when we see that quality education benefits society (&, thus, we’re willing to pay for it), and when we help the oppressed populations reach a level playing field, then we can discuss governing least. In the meantime, we must swerve our government from being a death-machine to being a life-machine. That’s what Obama is trying to do.
LibrarianInTraining said, 2 months ago
Sorry to disappoint DavidDow, but these changes took effect only 3 days ago. It’s new legislation that was voted on in June.
DavidDow said, 2 months ago
Really, L.I.T.? What’s the legislation?
LibrarianInTraining said, 2 months ago
No idea what it’s called. I just know all the Support Coordinators are pissed about it every time I call them.
Supposedly, there’s a legal case going on that declares the new system unconstitutional, so all of the changes have been temporarily reversed until the case is settled. (This I got from a fax from the district office this afternoon.)
Needless to say, my patient’s mother was pleased that she’ll get her son’s aide back, but ticked that they might take them away again.