“Yes We Can” (?): President Obama Brings Back Campaign Slogan for Health Care Reform Battle

No Barry…you won’t!! Brick by brick, we will take this presidency down! :))))

Healthcare won’t happen unless they start to point out that there is a tradeoff here – the government paying 1-2 trillion dollars INSTEAD OF the citizens paying 2-4 trillion dollars.
Fact: Every other first world nation spends half or less per person for healthcare.
Fact: Every other first world nation lives as long or longer than us. Yeah, we’re a bit fatter, they smoke a bit more, we do better with cancer, they do better with diabetes – at the end of the day, if we pay twice as much and don’t live a day longer, why are we burning all our cash?
Fact: Health care costs are a drag on American business’s competitiveness.
We’re not talking about creating new spending, like sending highly trained and skilled men and women to march around a desert. We’re talking about uniting to more efficiently cover the burden of healthcare. A hospital should not be paying a division of employees just to figure out and chase insurance issues.

“We are going to get this done.”
Statements like these make me wonder if Obama appreciates the 3 branches of government. Obama is in charge of the executive, and is charged with the duty of upholding the laws of the country. He cannot be in charge of both legislature and executive, and cannot be certain of any outcome, despite his wishes…
Governing has always been a hard and slow process. It was designed to be slow by the constitution, to prevent one person or party from gaining too much power. Obama is simply ignoring this precedent to his detriment, and increasingly to ours as well.

Mike:”Governing has always been a hard and slow process. It was designed to be slow by the constitution, to prevent one person or party from gaining too much power. Obama is simply ignoring this precedent”
How, specifically, is he ignoring this precedent? By pushing for healthcare to be completed over the course of a single session of Congress – 1 year?

It is so amazing that I read an article prior to turning to this story that the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s fractured elbow was primarily due to OSTEOSCLEROSIS. When the Secretary fell, I remember thinking, BONE DENSITY…. I AM A 57 YEAR OLD POST-MENOPAUSAL WOMAN DUE TO AN EARLIER SURGERY. AFTER WORKING FOR YEARS AND BEING LAID OFF AT THIS AGE IS INCREDILE AND BEING SICKER. I AM SO AFRAID OF “FALLING OR SLIPPING’ KNOWING THAT MY BONES ARE NOT HEALTHY. WHILE READING THIS STORY OF THE FRACTURED ELBOW, MY ANXIETY INCREASED, WHICH CAUSES MY BLOOD PRESSURE TO RISE, GETTING SICKER AND SICKER. WHY? BECAUSE I DO NOT HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE. COBRA THAT WAS OFFERED WAS/IS TOO EXPENSIVE AND BETWEEN UNEMPLOYMENT OR MENIAL JOB I CAN FIND STILL BARELY PAY MORTGAGE,CAR REPAIR, INTERNET/PHONE (NEEDS FOR JOB SEARCHES), LIGHTS/GAS,GAS, GAS. WHILE SOME OF US ARE ‘COMMENTING’ ON HATE, RACE AND ANGER, WE NEED TO REALLY THINK ABOUT THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN THIS COUNTRY….THERE IS NO WAY A 30 EMPLOYED 57 YEAR OLD MAN OR WOMAN, WIFE, HUSBAND, BROTHER WHOEVER, SHOULDN’T LOOSE THEIR DIGNITY AND THEN LIFE BECAUSE THEY CAN NOT AFFORD HEALTHCARE INSURANCE. MY LAID-OFF PAY CAN NOT KEEP UP WITH INFLATION, THEREFORE, KEEPING ME FROM AFFORDING COBRA… LET’S GET REAL. THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN IN THE MOST RESOURCEFUL NATION ON EARTH. I AM JUST 1 OF MANY MILLIONS WHO ARE FACING THIS KIND OF CHOICE AT THIS AGE. THE CHOICE AFFORDABLE OR GET SICKER AND SICKER. AT 57 AND OLDER…. I’VE PAID PLENTY OF TAXES…RAISED 3 CHILDREN (HEALTHCARE BEGAN TO CHANGE IN THE 1990′S, CALLED MANAGED CARE) , OWN MY HOME, CONTRIBUTED TO THE COMPANY I WORKED FOR FOR MANY YEARS … ALL AS A SINGLE PARENT. I FEEL THAT THE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM KICKED ME IN THE TEETH
AND IT’S ABOUT TIME THAT ANY PERSON THAT WORKS SHOULD HAVE QUALITY AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE WITH PUBLIC OPTION. Get well soon Hillary.

jhw539 says: “Fact: Every other first world nation spends half or less per person for healthcare.”
What exactly do you think this proves? That every other “first world nation” has just as good a health care system as the US? If that were the case, why would anyone in those countries who has the means, fly to the US for any advanced treatments? Why is it that almost no Americans fly to other countries for better health care? They sometimes fly to other countries for cheaper elective health care like plastic surgery, etc. I am going to guess that your answer will say that every other country has longer or at least as long life expectancies as the US. Where does most of the R&D for drugs and other procedures happen, and where do the best and brightest doctors come for education and employment? The answer is the US. We are subsidizing health care for the rest of the world. What happens when we go to the same system as the rest of the “developed world?” Where will Americans go for better health care and where will the best universities and private companies go to do R&D without subsidies from the American taxpayer? Obama intends to “bend the cost curve” by requesting Drug companies and others to cut costs, and presumably the government will have to reduce subsidies in order to keep the whole system affordable.

So while the “President Bashers” are jumping on bandwagons fuel by Whatever, ask your aunts, sisters, mothers, daughters about the status of their bones and encourage them to care for their health. I JUST ONLY HOPE THEY HAVE HEALTHCARE INSURANCE.

I noticed they didn’t report the carve out for unions. Union healthcare plans will be exempt from taxation. In 2 of the 4 Baucus plans non-union members have to pay taxes while unions do not. I do not think that is fair.
I also believe any reform passed should apply to the congress. If the healthcare is good enough for the taxpayers, then it is good enough for the congress. That should also include all federal employees as well.

“That every other “first world nation” has just as good a health care system as the US?”
We are ranked 37th by the WHO.
Even removing the access components and we don’t make the top 15.
Currently cancer survival rates are very similar in France, Japan, the US, Austrailia and the UK.
“If that were the case, why would anyone in those countries who has the means, fly to the US for any advanced treatments? Why is it that almost no Americans fly to other countries for better health care?”
Medical tourism goes both ways.
“When you hear the term medical tourism, you probably think of the number of uninsured Americans taking advantage of low-cost heart surgery and hip replacement procedures in places like Thailand and India.
But while the trend continues, and raises important questions about why so many Americans can’t afford health care at home, a new report points out that the largest segment of medical travelers are headed stateside. And, experts say, they’re also growing in numbers.
An estimated 40% of all medical travelers are looking for the world’s most advanced technologies, worrying little about the proximity of the destination or cost, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co. It narrowly defined medical travelers as only those whose primary and explicit purpose in traveling was to obtain in-patient medical treatment in a foreign country, putting the total number of travelers at 60,000 to 85,000 per year.”

“I am going to guess that your answer will say that every other country has longer or at least as long life expectancies as the US”
So life expectancy and infant mortality have no bearing on the judgment of one’s healthcare system?

“So while the “President Bashers” are jumping on bandwagons fuel by Whatever, ask your aunts, sisters, mothers, daughters about the status of their bones and encourage them to care for their health. I JUST ONLY HOPE THEY HAVE HEALTHCARE INSURANCE.”
Over 88% of Americans HAVE healthcare!
As one who does, I want to see the REAL FACTS so I can make a real determination about all this. Have any of you woh continue to say over and over that the public option is gonig to control costs seen a schedule of premiums vs coverages? What is the tax increase we will all be bearing to create this new system? (please no more BS about the idea that the foolish 250K line still exists, we all KNOW this thing cannot be funded and made viable by “taxing the rich”)

Isn’t that just like Obama …. when the little substance he does have runs dry, he goes back to the style, the marketing campaign that got him elected. Thankfully, a decent portion of those fooled the first time are starting to come around to realize they were duped! Obama is nothing more than the result of a brilliant marketing campaign – good advertising if you will! And as some say in the industry, nothing kills a bad product better than good advertising! We bought a bad product, and now we are paying the price! Can we get a refund?

Ryan, You state that the WHO rates us as the 37th best health care system in the world and then you also mention cancer survival rates are similar in the US, UK, Canada, and the US. These ratings and your statement on cancer survival rates are misleading. The US has better survival rates than all those other countries and using ratings from the United Nations WHO is nebulous to say the least. There would be no potential bias at the UN? No, of course not. Anyway, another amusing part of your post included info from McKinsey and Co. it only took a little web searching to find this tidbit:
“McKinsey is a named defendant in Hurricane Katrina litigation. Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti’s suit accuses McKinsey of being the “architect” of sweeping changes in the insurance industry, starting in the 1980s. The suit alleges McKinsey advised insurers to “stop ‘premium leakage’ by undervaluing claims using the tactics of deny, delay, and defend.”
There are several other interesting notes about McKinsey, they advised Enron and Swissair about management and saving money not too long before those companies went into bankruptcy. There wouldn’t be some kind of agenda on their part by manipulating numbers of medical tourism? No, of course not.
Most of the people who travel from the US for health care are looking for reduced costs and most of those traveling to the US are looking for the best care. Find me a study or use common sense to disprove that.

Yeah, that’ll work.

“The US has better survival rates than all those other countries and using ratings from the United Nations WHO is nebulous to say the leas”
Except I wasn’t using the WHO.
“July 16, 2008 — Where you live plays a role in cancer survival, according to a new study that shows the U.S., Japan, and France recorded the highest survival rates among 31 nations for four types of cancer. Algeria had the lowest survival rates for all four cancers.”
“The highest survival rates were found in the U.S. for breast and prostate cancer, in Japan for colon and rectal cancers in men, and in France for colon and rectal cancers in women, Coleman’s team reports.
In Canada and Australia, survival was also high for most cancers.”
So one of us is using facts and figures (that would be me) and the other is claiming absolutes based on what I imagine Rush told them(that would be you).

Axey:”Otherwise, you made some poor choices in what mattered more, healthcare or life’s little luxuries. ”
And now you and I get to pay for her $800 an hour health care the next time she has to go to an emergency room rather than get $10 of antibiotics a month earlier.
What a great system – guarenteed free care, but only if you are so sick you need massively expensive intervention and may die!

Mike_C:”jlw,
Are these other nations having to “carry” illegals in their system? ”
Yes. You may be surprised to find out that Europe has quite an illegal immigrant issue – they share borders with poor nations as well.
Could you cite any study quantifying the cost of illegals to the US healthcare system? Last I saw (when Bush was pushing back hard on the federal government’s co-pays for various state health programs) it did not break 5% of total costs. I haven’t even seen any study supporting the myth that illegals are clogging the emergency rooms. You can certainly find individual hospitals that are overwhelmed, but on a national basis it’s Americans sucking up the healthcare bucks.

For 40 years, the Healthcare Issue has been debated and no other President, except First Lady Hillary Clinton under her husband’s administration had the guts to stand up for the American Citizens. The Healthcare Industry has been calling the Shots on Americans medical needs for a Long time, while giving less and less in benefits, while the prices has skyrocketed. No company or Industry should be able to go unchallenged for Affordable Healthcare in this country. This is what happens when everything is DEREGULATED.

Yes we can- well no we can’t !!!!! I’m sick of this guy campaigning and spending money we don’t have. He is nothing but a whimp, not a man, and this country a leader, and a leader he is NOT !!!!!!!!!!

Mike_C:”A government does not need 20+ “Czars” and their assoicated support staff!”
Could you define “Czar”? You clearly have strong opinions about them, yet your use of quotes suggests to me you do not even know what one is. And approximately what size is “their associate support staff”?
I’m curious if you’re just parroting someone else’s opinion or if you made up your own mind on this burning org chart issue.

danita,
Gues what ..the DEMS are scared out of the pants to own this thing! They can pass whatever they want to.
REMEMBER…THEY WON! Every the DEMS know that incorporating a public option right now could throw this country beck to the revolution. Otherwise, they would pass it, own it & hold it over the Republicans heads for the next century. Since they are unwilling to do that, its preety lcear they know the risks are much greater than the talking points & cut and paste artists here in the blogging world!

“Most of the people who travel from the US for health care are looking for reduced costs and most of those traveling to the US are looking for the best care. Find me a study or use common sense to disprove that.”
Ahhhh goalpost moving.
And medical tourism from 3rd world countries is not surprising.
You were trying to make the case that 1st world countries with nationalized healthcare systems have patients flocking to the US.
That is not the case.

“Yes we can- well no we can’t !!!!! I’m sick of this guy campaigning and spending money we don’t have. He is nothing but a whimp, not a man, and this country a leader, and a leader he is NOT !!!!!!!!!!”
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The hate the President spammers are easy to identify. They use juvenile tactics like name-calling and insults.

Ryan, are you saying that anytime a very sick wealthy person in Mexico or Canada needs health care they wait in line? Or is it more likely they come to the US and pay cash? The only reason we don’t have even more medical tourists is due to the cost involved, and if you think costs are going to go down when the government steps in, I ask you to name me one thing the government has successfully lowered the cost of just by creating new regulations and a larger government agency.

Mike_C . ..
We will see what the democrats will or won’t support in the upcoming months.

Danita, I agree that the people who hate the president or anyone else without having a rational argument is pretty pathetic. Do you agree that it is pretty pathetic for some on this board to accuse me of regurgitating what some talk radio show host tells me? That is offensive and shallow, if you read my posts it is pretty clear that I draw little if any from talk radio or any blogger.

They need to take their time on this and slow it down. The economy is too much on the brink to do things so quickly!!!!

Ryan asks me to quote statistics to prove that the US health care system is the best in the world. Let me ask you Ryan, statistics are meaningless when your life or the life of someone close to you is on the line. Would you rather be treated here in the US or would you rather be put on a wait list for “free” taxpayer paid, government administered, health care in Canada, Britain, France?

“Do you agree that it is pretty pathetic for some on this board to accuse me of regurgitating what some talk radio show host tells me?”
I think danita is right on the mark.
All you’ve done is parrot right wing talking point with zero documentation.

Newsflash Ryan, what kind of waiting lists are you thinking about? A few days to a few weeks as opposed to a few months to a few years under government run systems? In the US, no one can be denied care by a hospital, insured or not.

Jason . . .
I don’t listen to that type of talk radio so I really can’t comment on where you draw your information, or the feedback from people here using that reference.
The thing I totally disagree with is the hate spamming using juvenile tactics like name-calling, pet names for President Obama and the insults. It’s very thinly veiled hate material.
We could all do without that.

jhw539, so let me get this straight. You think that a for profit company spends more money on administration than a government agency with a similar mandate (also in the same time frame)would? You are a smart guy, this makes no sense.

Danita, I think we can agree that name calling is stupid. I think you are seeing racism where there is none. These people dislike Obama as much as they did Kerry, Gore, and Clinton. It comes down to ideology not “thinly veiled hate material.”

“Ryan, are you saying that anytime a very sick wealthy person in Mexico or Canada needs health care they wait in line? Or is it more likely they come to the US and pay cash?”
I imagine there are many reasons behind medical tourism from people seeking better care than their home country provides or perhaps cheaper care or perhaps some innovation.

jhw, you have got to be joking on this wait list thing. If you need a hip replacement in the US, it can be done within a couple weeks. In Canada you wait 2-3 years, and if you are old enough, they won’t give it to you at all.

Ryan, the care is certainly not cheaper here in the US. They came here for better care. I asked you to tell me if you had prostate cancer or some other life threatening disease where you would want to be treated. That question is unanswered maybe because it is rhetorical?

Jason . ..
No, I disagree with you. The attacks on the President here using name-calling and insults are nothing more than hateful attacks. They lower the standard of the dialogue, and they introduce hate into the equation.
Hate spamming is the last thing we need.

“They came here for better care.”
Some did certainly. But that survey showed it was not the only reason.
“I asked you to tell me if you had prostate cancer or some other life threatening disease where you would want to be treated.”
Since I live here, have insurance and do not have prostate cancer, I am not looking into medical tourism as an option.
But since we’re having fun with questions,
What is better scenario, to not be able to afford a medical procedure or to have to wait for one?

Jason:”If you need a hip replacement in the US, it can be done within a couple weeks. ”
Really? What insurance company will run that pre-approval paperwork in a couple weeks? Oh wait – that’s right. The majority of hip replacements in the US are covered by Medicare. Do you understand? Your example of low wait times US care is CITING THE NATIONAL HEALTH CARE MEDICARE PROGRAM’S EFFICIENCY. It is nice to see you cite facts rather than anecdotes, but perplexing that you don’t seem to understand what you are citing.
” You think that a for profit company spends more money on administration than a government agency with a similar mandate (also in the same time frame)would? ”
Absolutely. It is well documented that by setting up the most difficult process possible they reduce the number of people who successfully slog through it and make them pay out for non-essential, quality of life surgury. There are also entire divisions devoted to finding excuse to revoke coverage. Did a dermatologist once note you are at risk for melanoma in high school and you didn’t divulge that when you bought insurance? Sure it was thirty years ago, but guess they don’t have to pay for your chemo now – bye bye.

“Ryan asks me to quote statistics to prove that the US health care system is the best in the world. Let me ask you Ryan, statistics are meaningless when your life or the life of someone close to you is on the line”
Translation: You have nothing but rah rah rah we’re number 1!
The US healthcare system is ranked 37th by the WHO.
We don’t even crack the top 15 when the question of access(something right wingers feel biases the study) is removed.
Our cancer survival rates are comparable to other 1st world countries with nationalized healthcare.
And medical tourism is not limited to people coming to the US.
Basically everything you have posted so far was offered with zero evidence to back it up and has been proven false.
Par for the course for the right wing.

I am starting to get the impression that some of the people on this board who are arguing for the US to move to a government run health care system are not even US Citizens or at least have not spent the majority of their lives in the US. I am also getting the impression that trying to use common sense in making simple arguments, like the fact that private companies will always be more efficient than the government, is going way over Ryan and JHW’s heads. Sorry guys if you can’t deal with reality, but the government is never going to be better at running anything than a private individual with a profit motive.

“I am starting to get the impression that some of the people on this board who are arguing for the US to move to a government run health care system are not even US Citizens or at least have not spent the majority of their lives in the US”
Only “real” Americans want their medical care controlled by the loving and responsible HMO rather than the nasty old government.
That’s the best the right wing has? Rearing its xenophobic head?

Jason:”like the fact that private companies will always be more efficient than the government, i”
Private companies are always more efficient? That’s a new ‘fact’ you pulled out of thin air. Well, lets do away with the government altogether and live in an efficient utopia like they have in Somalia or something. And complete ignore that every other first world nation has the government involved in healthcare, the same or longer life expectancies and pays at MOST half as much.
You yourself cited US Medicare as an example of efficient health care(hip replacements) without waits!

jw539: where are you getting your facts? ryanc: medicare 2-3% overhead that is totally laughable. You guys are really out there today!

As long as the government is ‘by the people, for the people’, then some government help is fine, as it is the people helping each other, the rich helping the poor, when the poor are not sitting on their butts expecting handouts. But when the government begins to dictate what the people will do, especially against their will, and “freedom of the press” means the press CHOOSES to show only one side of the coin to fool and sway the people to the side of the government, then our freedoms are jeopardized. Hence, the Obama regime….”We know what’s best for you, it’s government controlled health care, to start with……”

Mike_C:” cute, i tihnk we all understand the czar terminlology here. Obviously Obama has not been the first to use them, but he has gone overboard in his use of them.”
So I’ll take that as a no, you do not know what a Czar is or what their staff would entail. But you are sure “A government does not need 20+ “Czars” and their assoicated support staff!”
“If we accept some plan with a 10,000 foot view and then leave it up to some other bureaucratic group to actually implement, this thing will explode out of control. ”
I disagree. Personally, I think that our government can do this as well or better than every other first world nation. It will not be perfect, but it will be better than the private system that more resembles Enron than Intel.

Jason:” Why is polling, now that we are starting to hear the specific details on the plan put out by Obama, showing that most Americans are opposed to a government run health insurance system?”
Only a single poll, Rassmussen (who is well known for a Republican house effect) shows that. The other five recent polls I’ve seen (WSJ, Kaiser, EBRI, Consumer Reports, Lake Research) show public support of a public health care option at 60-80%. Stretching it to look at who the public trusts to recommend the right healtcare reform, you have 58% saying Obama in the June 17th Gallup poll.
What polls are you looking at?

Rasmussen: “Forty-one percent (41%) of American adults believe it would be a good idea to set up a government health insurance company to compete with private health insurance companies. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that an identical number (41%) disagree.”
So Jason could not even get this right.

Ryan, when you quoted 41% for and 41% against, what happened to the other 18%? Also the trend as we find out more is that the polling is getting progressively worse for Obama on this issue.

“Ryan, when you quoted 41% for and 41% against, what happened to the other 18%?”
Rasmussen classifies them as unsure.
“Also the trend as we find out more is that the polling is getting progressively worse for Obama on this issue.”
So let me get this straight.
You can’t even get the current polling right yet you are sure what the trend is?
The lesson as always? Right wingers lie.

say why is it that Liberals want state run health care payed for by the rich? Is it that they are too lazy to make decent money or they want the government to make decisions for them on their health? Or is it that they think the government can do a better job? Or maybe they think that rich people having more money is unfair to them? sounds like a bunch of communists to me.

Ms. Trish . …
“The disagreement you have with “…hate spamming using juvenile tactics like name-calling, pet names for President Obama and the insults” is only when it is used against Obama. Selective outrage.”
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You can tell the hate spammers on here, they’re easy to identify. I see juvenile attacks on President Obama – name-calling and insults. No better than school-yard behavior.
This happens every day in here, the same hate spammers with the same personal political agenda to smear the President by calling him names and insulting his family.
It’s cheap and pathetic. If former President Bush is called names on here and his family is insulted, it’s very rare.
Not like the constant stream aimed at the President.
This is easy to see, anyone visiting here can see it.

Fact: July of 2008 Gallup poll gave 65% public approval rating for Universal Health Care; as of June, 2009, Gallop gave a 58% public approval rating for Universal Health Care. This clearly indicates the public approval for Universal Health Care is going down..No amount of left-overs from previous campaign slogans “yes, we can” are going to work on the American people who are now just waking up from an induced Obama coma…President’s approval rating has slipped from 68% in January to 58% in June (Gallup poll.) Billions in stimulus??? His TARP??? His initial auto bail-out certainly was a failure…His foreign policies I will leave alone as he is doing what any other President would be doing AT THIS time and we need to get behind him AT THIS TIME…But his economic policies are too much government control and just won’t work..As the polls are beginning to reflect..

Parallax View . …
For a President to hold close to 60% approval in times of a near global financial meltdown is exceptionally good. And for a President taking decisive actions to maintain that kind of rating is also exceptional.
If your Gallop poll numbers are accurate, you must remember the first Gallop rating on Universal Health Care came before the BIG fright instilled in people when the economy fell into a virtual free-fall at the end of the Bush administration.
This near economic collapse (and the revelations about the $10 trillion national debt left at the end of the Bush administration) have probably made people less optimistic and more frightened. For Universal Health Care to retain a 58% approval rating under these conditions is also exceptionally favorable.

Poll numbers have lots to do with branding and marketing- Nothing gets to the teleprompter without David Axelrod’s approval (pending internal poll results) Axelrod is a political operative-not a policy guy- kind of like Karl Rove only with a D next to his name- Keep in mind that $750 million was spent in branding- that buys lots and lots of love and political capital- Obama is a politician- no miracle worker- a newbie political guy with incredible team of operatives-
He sure ran a great campaign but so did Bush- that’s about his biggest accomplishments- let’s hope all this spending and wordiness pays off in results- we have no way of knowing -yet.

What is being called to the surface here is the juvenile hate-spamming techniques.
__________________________________
Good. So we won’t see you agreeing anymore with posters who call others propagandists, bigots, etc.

Ms. Trish . . .
You can call me whatever you want, when your agenda is hate spamming the President with juvenile name-calling and insults that is another question.

You can call me whatever you want, when your agenda is hate spamming the President with juvenile name-calling and insults that is another question.
Posted by: danita | Jun 22, 2009 6:03:21 PM
________________________________________
I didn’t call you anything.

72% of WORKING Americans want AFFORDABLE QUALITY HEALTHCARE…. PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL GET THIS BILL PASSED, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT AMERICANS WANT FOR THEIR TAX DOLLARS….NOT FOR IT TO BE “DOLLED” OUT TO THE FEW RICH AND POWERFUL TO CONTINUE TO WINE AND DINE THE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS WHILE THE REST OF AMERICANS ARE ROBBED BY THEM.

Obama’s terrific handling of the automakers shows why no one should want him anywhere near their health care.
Baucus’s ideas about taxing health care benefits, unless you’re a member of a union, is a payoff to the unions. Corruption on display.

There are a lot of extreme scare tactics (E.g. see Jimbo’s post) being used by those of the far right and Health Care lobbyist are earning their paycheck.
Germany, France and The Netherlands have some of the best healthcare in the world. Germanys is mostly funded by employers and workers. Sound familiar?. yet all are covered and covered well.

THE USA, RIGHT NOW, IS IN EFFECT SUBSIDIZING GOV RUN HEALTH PLANS IN EUROPE BY TAKING CARE OF MOST OF THEIR MILITARY NEEDS. IE, THEY CAN ONLY AFFORD GOV RUN HEALTH CARE BECAUSE WE ARE COVERING THEIR BUTTS MILITARILY.

PADMA – I AM NEITHER A FAT CAT OR A MEDICAL LOBBYIST. ACTUALLY, I AM AN AUTO PARTS DELIVERY DRIVER WHO PROBABLY MAKES A LOT LESS MONEY THAN YOU. BUT I DO HAVE A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF ECONOMICS 101, WHICH IS ALMOST NEVER TAKEN BY LIBERAL ARTS MAJORS. GOV RUN HEALTH CARE IS A SURE LOSER. MEDICARE IS BELLY-UP, SOCIAL SECURITY IS ALMOST BELLY-UP. OBAMA HAS PUT US TRILLIONS IN DEBT FOR PIE IN THE SKY STIMULUS PACKAGES WHICH HAVEN’T WORKED AND WILL NOT WORK. AND NOW… GOV RUN HEATH CARE FOR ALL? REALLY.

“According to a 2006 ABC News-Kaiser Family Foundation-USA Today survey. It was found that 89% of Americans were satisfied with the quality of their own health care.”
They have done surveys since then you know.
But since you mentioned that survey
“Most Americans are not satisfied with the nation’s health care system. At the root of this dissatisfaction: its price tag.
•An overwhelming 80 percent of the public is dissatisfied with the total cost of care in the nation, including six in ten (58 percent) who are very dissatisfied with costs.
•Slightly more than half –54 percent –are dissatisfied with the quality of care in the nation.
•At the same time, most people are satisfied with their own health insurance coverage (88 percent of the insured rate their coverage as excellent or good) and with various aspects of their medical care (for example, 89 percent are satisfied with the quality of care they receive.) Even in the personal realm, costs are the area of least satisfaction, with four in ten saying they are very (19 percent) or somewhat (22 percent) dissatisfied with their own health carecosts.”

OUR ECONOMIC PROBLEMS LIE MOSTLY IN THE FACT THAT THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY WORKERS ON THE PUBLIC PAD AND WAY TOO MANY GOV PROGRAMS. GOVERNMENT WORKERS, LOCAL, STATE AND FED CANNOT CREATE ECONOMIC GROWTH. ONLY THE PRIVATE SECTOR CAN DO THAT. IF EFFECT WHAT I AM SAYING IS THAT MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE RIDING IN THE CART, WHERE FEWER AND FEWER ARE PULLING THE CART. AS GOVERNMENTS EXPAND THEIR ROLES, PRIVATE SECTOR SUPPORT WILL EVENTULLY BE OVERWHELMED AND THE WHOLE ECONOMIC SYSTEM WILL COLLAPSE.. NO MORE SOCIAL SECURITY, NO MORE MEDICARE – NO NOTHING. THAT’S WHAT WE WILL GET UNLESS THE GROWTH OF THE FED IS STOPPED.

Jimbo – That’s great you survived the tough times of the auto industry. While you have a “basic understanding of Economics 101″, I actually studied Economics and it says so on one of my diplomas. I have also lived, worked and received outstanding healthcare in one of those European countries you so nonchalantly bash.
Unless something has changed in the last week, I don’t think Obama is calling for “Government run” healthcare in the sense you are using it.
The US has the most expensive HC cost and it continues to spiral out of control, has millions and millions uninsured and underinsured and also lags behind many other nations in life expectancy and infant mortality.
This should be unacceptable to any American.

WHEN BLOGGERS THROW OUT HEALTH COST COMPARISONS AMONG COUNTRIES, WHAT IS CONVENIENTLY FORGOTTEN IS THE ECONOMIC LOSS CREATED BY DAYS AND HOURS WAITING FOR MEDICAL SERVICES. I CAN GET A BLOOD TEST ON THE FLY BETWEEN MY DELIVERIES. I WILL LOSE TWO HOURS MAX FROM WORK TO SEE MY DOC. UNDER A FED PLAN – NO WAY.

HOW DOES ONE EXPLAIN “MEDICAL LOTTERIES” IN CANADA WHERE THE WINNERS GET MOVED UP THE “WAIT” LADDER? DOES THIS NOT SUGGEST THAT THERE IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM HERE?

So Ryan C. Let me ask you some questions.
1. What do you think the monthly premium for a family should be?
2. What do you think you should have to pay out of your pocket when you visit a Doctor?
3. What do you think you should have to pay out of your pocket for a months supply of a generic drug? A brand-name drug?
4. What do you think you should have to pay out of your pocket for a visit to a hospitial?
5. What do you think you should have to pay out of your pocket to have an X-ray performed on your rib cage?
6. What do you think you should have to pay out of your pocket for a dental check-up and cleaning? How many per year should be covered by insurance?
7. What do you think you should have to pay out of your pocket to vist an optromitist for an vision exam? How much do you think the insurance should pay for eyeglasses? How many pair per year? Should they pay for no-line bifocals? Custom tinted lenses?

nancy . …
I’m sure you’d prefer Health, Energy and Education come under the control of corporations.

Obamacare=Utilitarian bioethics. A culling of the herd. How will you feel when your Mother’s life is deemed expendable because some government accountant thinks treating her is too expensive for the years she has left? Seeing most of you are “progssives”, you would probably do a happy dance!

I have read that the Indian health care system is one of the sorriest in the country and that a lot of the Indians are not receiving the health care that they deserve or are entitled. Now this is a completely government run health care plan and has been for years and years.
the beauty of America is having the options to make choices. w/gov’t run, you don’t have that choice.

WherewasthePress- Learn about the Great Depression and what happens with the lack of Government intervention in a banking crisis, the core of this recession. Then be thankful only 6 people in your family are facing unemployment versus all of them.
You posted this in response to a post on Healthcare. Are you aware the skyrocketing cost of medical care is threatening corporate profits and employers ability to hire and keep personnel?
btw – ABC/WashPO poll yesterday has Obama’s popularity at 65%

“Learn about the Great Depression and what happens with the lack of Government intervention in a banking crisis, the core of this recession.”
Padma, read up on the Great Depression. It was extended by government intervention. Search “How Government Prolonged the Depression” a WSJ article and read it with a liberal, open mind.
One little known fact you might be interested in learning. In 1937, the stock market crashed again almost as drastically as in 1929. Why? In 1936, Social Security taxes were withheld for the first time. Consumer spending dropped, the economy tanked and unemployment shot up to 22%.
The money skimmed out of people’s paychecks didn’t reenter the economy until 1940.
The first recipient? A woman named Ida who paid in $22. She lived to be 100 and collected over $22,000 in payments.
We are paying in to this system still today (our first foray into socialism) and the Social Security system is about to finally collapse under the weight of millions of baby boomers entering retirement. It will collapse as all pyramid schemes eventually do.

“Padma, read up on the Great Depression. It was extended by government intervention. Search “How Government Prolonged the Depression” a WSJ article and read it with a liberal, open mind.”
Yes because a WSJ editorial is free of bias!
Unemployment dropped over 10 points under the beginning of the New Deal.
When FDR ratcheted back spending the economy fell back a bit in the late 30′s, not fully recovering until the MASSIVE GOVENRMENT SPENDING that occurred during WW2.
“In 1936, Social Security taxes were withheld for the first time. Consumer spending dropped, the economy tanked and unemployment shot up to 22%.”
In 1936, Economic recovery continues: GNP grows a record 14.1 percent; unemployment falls to 16.9 percent.
That’s the economy “tanking”.
Perhaps you meant 1938?
The year-long recession makes itself felt: the GNP falls 4.5 percent, and unemployment rises to 19.0 percent.
Or maybe you just made the numbers up.

Support for a service does not necessarily mean that it gets high ratings for its performance.
Social Security, which enjoys very strong support (76%) is rated 73 percent negative and 27 percent positive.
Rated higher? The National Parks Service (85% support) and Crime-fighting and prevention services (77%).
Since it is a pyramid scheme where new recruits must pay in enough to cover existing members pay out, our children may be faced with the choice of paying retirement benefits to their parents or paying for programs that help their own children.
Social Security, no matter how “popular”, is no longer sustainable.
From the SSA website FAQ’s:
Q: Should I count on Social Security for all my retirement income?
A: No. Social Security was never meant to be the sole source of income in retirement.

“Q: Should I count on Social Security for all my retirement income?
A: No. Social Security was never meant to be the sole source of income in retirement. ”
Social Security has always been intended as a base safety net and never as the entirety of a retirement plan.

YES WE CAN! Fool them again and again and again. The 54 percentile will continue to sing our praises much as the band on the Titanic played on and on.

would you believe 14 months?