Michael Ramirez for April 25, 2012

Great Job! As usual, Mr. Ramirez!!!!Could just as easily and simply read “AMERICA” instead of Aging America.

Of course the roles could be switched with the skinny person being the hard working American and the BIG FAT character could have been labeled “Obama Administration”. That fraud has certainly slowed and prevented growth at every avenue while fattening the gov and overburdening all those who work and actually pay taxes.

If it were switched as I have suggested, Mike could have the fat B.O. administration pleading for a “hand”, the little man (American People) eating cake with the net below reading 2012 Election!!!! That would depict the FALL of B.O. to a ’T".

It’ll be nice to see some true leadership that sees the “fairness” in EVERYONE paying 10% tax…EVERYONE!

STOP FAT GOV….Stop the SPENDING!!!!

I am gong to have to disagree with you. Romney care is ran by a state not the federal government that is a big issue. Federal government does not need to be involved, the more they do the worst health care has become over the years. Last, see:http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/25/arizona-immigration-law-battle-arrives-at-supreme-court/The above goes to what I was saying about Obama and his narcissism, the Supreme Court is pushing back.

@ Life: I’m not against the concept of universal health care on its most fundamental level. The problem I have with it is more based on the funding and usage of that coverage, and then with the mentality the rabid left seems to apply. First, universal health care, or health care for all, is not a fundamental or unalienable right. It is not in the US Constitution. It is also not enumerated within the Constitution, thus the application of the concept of universal health care should be handled (at best) at the state level. Applying federal oversight to a healthcare program is an overstep of authority by congress and/or the administration. Romneycare is legal because of that basic premise of states rights vs. federal power grab. If people or businesses don’t like Romneycare, they can leave. Which they have, proving it’s not really that popular.Second, on to the concerns of how we would apply a universal health coverage… My primary concern is that half of this country pays no federal income taxes. That means if half aren’t paying in, that same half is getting all the benefits the hard-working people are getting without having to toil for their fruits. The tax structure in this country is designed to transfer wealth from those who have to those who have not. Proof this is the case: There are many in the bottom half that not only have no tax liability, but they actually receive a tax refund check from the Treasury in excess of what they paid in. I resent the fact that I (who is firmly in the middle class) will have to pay for my neighbor’s health coverage simply because I make more and they make less. I feel used. If they were paying the same proportionate amount as me (i.e. a flat tax rate on everyone), I would be a little more understanding. But that’s not what’s happening, so I have no compassion for those people who I view as enjoying the fruits of my labor. I view it as stealing. And it’s being perpetuated by the federal government, allowing people to believe they are entitled to these things (see the unalienable rights comment above).Second point… the implementation. We have 300 million people in this country. That’s a LOT of people. Compare that to the Eurozone, which has significantly smaller populations, and economies of scale kick in. I hate the concept that the federal government’s way to “control costs” is to pay doctor’s less. That makes no sense. The people who are supposed to be keeping us healthy are being paid less? What does that teach the doctors? What does that teach college students who are thinking about becoming doctors? “Hey, work hard, and you’ll be happy to get paid less!” That’s counterintuitive, and it’s a morally bankrupt concept. The way to cut costs is to reduce expenses. Find a way to eliminate the need to run 50,000 tests they have to run for a stubbed toe, for fear of being sued. Find a way to empower doctors to find a way to treat patients in an ethical and economical manner. And most of all, give patients knowledge of how much a specific treatment is costing them! My father has a $10,000 deductible. He went in for a small procedure, and he was in the recovery area. They asked him if he wanted an ice pack. He asked them how much it cost. They said $30. Thirtybucks!? He then asked if he could have soda. They said of course, and it was free. He asked if ice came with that soda. They said of course. And he then asked if he could have a plastic bag for free. The nurse then smiled and said yes. He asked for a soda, heavy on the ice, a plastic bag, and hold the soda. Imagine that kind of cost controls by the consumer being implemented across even 5 million people (1.6% of the US population) every year. That would total $150 million saved PER YEAR. IN ICE PACKS! Jesus H Freakin’ Christ! Why aren’t people seeing that this is how you cut costs of care? Paying doctors less is not the answer. Until we fix these fundamental flaws in the system, Universal Care will never be a viable option in this country. I personally think the federal government has no business inserting itself into my care, but what do I know? I’m just an American Citizen.

It’s all part of the plan by both parties to screw over the workers who have put into the fund. Two unfunded wars, Medicare Part D, tax breaks for the rich, jobs shipped overseas, education gutted, public transportation a joke, polluted environment. Enjoy!

Don’t worry, Obama promised not to raise the deficit.

Not to worry, Ryan and the neocons have poured acid on the cables going to the net. (The ones they haven’t already cut.)

This makes no sense, the comic shows that the safety net is inferior and would cause the destruction of that gigantic “aging america”. But the CONservative plan is to get rid of it. Wouldn’t that acomplish the same thing?

Dtroutma, what’s a neocon and I’m serious, no one has ever adequately explained what they mean when they use that term?

universal health care is covered.

“promote the general welfare”

or did you foget the preamble?

yawn

Ramirez, just wait until you grow old and realize that all the hard work that those before you made it possible for you to do what you do and for your to have what you have. You are coming across as very selfish and greedy.

Ehh… they actually don’t pay in to SS and Medicare, because the very fact that they are illegal means they don’t pay any income taxes. No SSN = No way for the business to report it to SSA. They may pay sales tax on items they purchase, but that money does not go into SS or Medicare. Different pot.

Wraithkin: Thank you, (along with ReasonsVentriloquist and others) for discussion above the norm.

As a 30 year veteran of the teaching profession, I feel a need to respond to your dig at teachers. Teacher salaries have not done much better than keep up with inflation. The responsibilities of the profession keep growing far faster. Many of the young people who enter the profession leave before they reach five years — and that’s after investing years of their lives and many thousands of dollars to become teachers. They leave because of low pay and poor working conditions.

I work, and many of my colleagues work, fifty, sixty, seventy hours a week. We work nights and weekends. We work summers, unpaid, setting up rooms, writing lesson plans and units. None of us are encouraging our children to go into teaching.

Perhaps the attacks on teacher unions are fueled by money: Break the unions, wreck public education, start for-profit schools? That’s only speculation.

Those of you with children and grandchildren, amongst your many cares, think about the benefits of public education and the self-sacrificing efforts of educators.

A very real problem is developing. Who will go into teaching?

@ Pio: I have never blamed the teachers for the system within which they operate; I blame the system. I also recognize you don’t become a teacher if you’re in it to get rich. But, I would hazard a guess that this is a geographic issue, as well. Around here, the average wages for a teacher are about 58k a year with another 32k in benefits stacked on top of that, for 9 months of work. To me, that’s a lot for only 3/4 of the year, when I make less than that and work a full year. And what gets me is that I’m the one who’s paying that bill.Now, the reason I made my dig wasn’t at teachers themselves, but at the paradigm that money solves everything. The unions have pushed, shoved, and whatnot to get what they wanted. With no backstop of profitability required, they only need to institute a state administrator that is willing to acquiesce to their requests, as has been the case here in WI for the past 20 years. Now that Walker has put on the brakes of that cyclical means of ask-and-get, the unions are angry. The teachers are angry because they felt they were promised one thing, and are getting another. I get the teacher anger. But the unions are getting angry because they are losing power. And that’s not what they are supposed to be about.The paradigm also creates an assumption that more money spent = better scores. No. It doesn’t work that way. Teachers have to be given the tools to properly educate our children, and the teachers have to be able to enforce their wills in the class room. When you have children running amok in the room, they need to be disciplined and there has to be a real consequence to their actions. There used to be a time when being sent to the vice principal’s office was a scary thing. Now? Now it’s a vacation to get away from the teacher. The money we are funneling towards schools/teachers/unions shouldn’t be used to simply raise wages to raise dues for unions so they become more powerful (see the tyrrany of the minority again). They should go towards better books, more tools for learning, training for teachers, and other things to help our children learn better. What we are doing right now doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked for the last 20 years. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the very definition of insanity. Why haven’t we come to this realization yet?

Wraithkin,Thank you for a reasoned and rational response. I agree with many of your points. I particularly enjoyed your third paragraph. My grandmother was a teacher, as were three of my aunts. I think they, and most teachers I know, would agree with many of your points as well.However, I think you missed the point that I made about how many hours we teachers work. In the course of a year, most teachers work many more hours than folks with 9 to 5 jobs and two weeks vacation.I’m glad you understand teacher indignation with the attacks being made on our profession. When teaching was placed on a professional footing about a half century ago, teachers were told, in effect, that society could not pay them as much as other professionals with similar responsibilities. They were offered, instead, good benefits and a chance at a decent pension. (You have to live a reasonable length of time to collect.) Now, the governor of Wisconsin (a lovely state with many kind people, by the way), and other governors, have seen fit to attack teachers, try to take away their collective bargaining rights, and cut their pensions and benefits. Further, they make more and more demands and requirements. In effect, saying, work more, work longer, be more skilled, shut up, take lower compensation, and like it. This is hardly likely to attract the best and brightest to teaching.I sympathize with you if you feel you are working harder and longer for less money than teachers do. The middle class is being squeezed — I think, to enrich a handful.Teacher unions work, at least in my view, to protect and promote the teaching profession so that students’ educational needs are met. ( I don’t see either major party as doing a good job protecting the working middle class.) I don’t know of any rich union officials, not in teaching anyway. The money used in lobbying by teacher unions is dwarfed by the money used by businesses.Some of your comments above tell me that you are aware of how difficult it is to teach today. I appreciate that.If you think we are overpaid, have a look at what doctors, lawyers, accountants are paid. Heck, brewery workers.Thank you again for your views.Respectfully,piobaire

Lifebyc, you show an obvious lack of reason with your comment of 10% and like most liberals, shift the debate by attacking one’s credibility as inferior to your almighty “OPINION”.

I merely used (10%) as a foundation (FAIR FOUNDATION) for ALL to pay their FAIR share but in reality you’ve raised a different point in that we spend so much that 10W% would never be enough. I agree that no amount or percentage would EVER be enough with the liberal spending we’ve done for so many years under a plan or system created by Dimocrats.

OK…let’s say 50%. Everyone should pay 50% toward their [fair share]. If you’re like many lil’ Libbie losers such as the ones we see at the “occupy” movements, you make nothing….you pay nothing in taxes. SIMPLE (unless you are so simple minded that this concept of true FAIR SHARE eludes your mental capacity for reasoning).

In closing, it is liberals who take things to an extreme to the point of being ridiculous and you can’t even see how extreme and ridiculously foreign you are to the foundation of true fairness or the greatness that founded this REPUBLIC.

Lifebyc, you show an obvious lack of reason with your comment of 10% and like most liberals, shift the debate by attacking one’s credibility as inferior to your almighty “OPINION”.

I merely used (10%) as a foundation (FAIR FOUNDATION) for ALL to pay their FAIR share but in reality you’ve raised a different point in that we spend so much that 10W% would never be enough. I agree that no amount or percentage would EVER be enough with the liberal spending we’ve done for so many years under a plan or system created by Dimocrats.

OK…let’s say 50%. Everyone should pay 50% toward their [fair share]. If you’re like many lil’ Libbie losers such as the ones we see at the “occupy” movements, you make nothing….you pay nothing in taxes. SIMPLE (unless you are so simple minded that this concept of true FAIR SHARE eludes your mental capacity for reasoning).

In closing, it is liberals who take things to an extreme to the point of being ridiculous and you can’t even see how extreme and ridiculously foreign you are to the foundation of true fairness or the greatness that founded this REPUBLIC.