October 15, 2010

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If we're not going to go all the way and have single payer health insurance, then I say give it up. Every time we monkey around with the health insurance industry, we wind up making things more complicated because those yellow-bellied skunks in Worshington cave in to every special interest who's given them so much as a nickel. 

The Clintons gave us HMOs and drive-thru mastectomies. We don't know yet what President Obama has given us, but it's sure to cost us more money, be complex and make the health insurance companies richer at our expense. Oh, we'll have single payer insurance someday, after Joe Lieberman has died of old age.

What we need is a political kamikaze United States House and Senate dominated, most likely, by Democrats, who will pass a single payer system and say to the country, "There. You're welcome. Vote us out." In the meantime, we'll be paying through the nose to keep Wall Street happy. 

I know, I sound like a socialist. I don't care. I just want to simplify. That either makes me a simpleton, or a simple-ist. You conservatives , have at it. I can take your slings and arrows because I'm protected by the armor of certainty, every bit as thick as yours. Plus, I can do something you can't. I can change my mind. And understand that I'm not so angry that I would stoop to send a GOP candidate to congress this year.

Someday, a less frightened, more courageous and educated  citizenry will run the United States of America. Until that day comes, don't get sick, have an accident or vote Republican. 


Get your head out the pumpkin pie, Bob. If we continue with the liberals in control there will be no money for any programs. The nation will be bankrupt. Simpletons simplify. Loyal Americans Semper Fi! "We don't know yet what President Obama has given us, but it's sure to cost us more money, be complex and make the health insurance companies richer at our expense. Oh, we'll have single payer insurance someday, after Joe Lieberman has died of old age". There is such a thing as over-regulation. Ask the Brits how long they have to wait for medical services, single payer medical services, that is. Sure put the health insurance companies out of business along with a couple of million jobs and who knows how much in private investments. It will take a careful and regulated transition to a single payer system otherwise a sudden change will collapse the whole pile like pick up sticks. Obamacare is anything but a careful, regulated transition. Its a chain saw massacre. Yes, it is that and we are still learning what its full impact will be and what else has been draped to the bill as earmarks adnauseum.

Since Bob's coat of certainty is impervious to the light of reality, instead of trying to convince him of anything, we should amuse ourselves with his rantings.

Bob just wrote that everytime the government monkeys around with health insurance they make it worse. He said this while simultaneously advocating for complete government control of health insurance. Baffles the reason based mind, doesn't it?

It's as if liberals believe more government power, in the form of single payer, will lead to special interest money and government corruption magically evaporating from a $3 trillion a year health care industry.

I wonder if the unicorns leave solid gold footprints and burp heaven scented rainbows in that world.

That last paragraph was hysterically funny! You say the government makes it worse, however, insurance companies, drug companies, and hospitals also have a choice in these matters. They can continue to rip us off and play GOD during medical crisis's and so far have been enabled to so like the untouchables or they can decide to come up with some reasonable solutions that are fair and make sense. They too have a choice and a role in this but are choosing to squash any attempt at making it fair and humane. We all agree we see problems with government, insurance practices, medical, & drug companies? What do you suggest we do to address these problems?

roselily, I don't know. My job is to ask questions, not come up with answers, but I know there are people out there smarter than I who can!

Bob, I'm sorry the question was meant to be directed to John.

I didn't say government makes it worse, Bob did, while advocating for a government takeover.

As far as what I would do, I would make sure everyone in the country is aware of the simple fact that Medicare denies more claims than ANY private insurer. Once everyone knows that, and we have done away with the ridiculous notion that government provides better coverage than the private sector, I would start with the following list of cost reducing cures:

1. Forcing lawyers that lose malpractice cases to pay the defense costs of the doctor plus a penalty.

2. Allow physicians/pharma who treat people or provide drugs to those who are unable to afford usual and customary fees to deduct those costs from their taxes.

3. Eliminate the ability of pharma companies to advertise beyond reps explaining their product directly to doctors.

4. Force anyone who wants any entitlement program of any kind to be enrolled in an existing medical entitlement program. I would like to add that you need to graduate from high school/obtain a GED to qualify for any entitlement program, however, politicians don't have the stones for measures of that nature.

5. Give employers a dollar for dollar tax credit for providing health insurance.

I could go on for hours, but there is a start.

Yes I understand there is a lot of fraud and abuse with entitlement programs and folks can get complacent with receiving such. Even unions promote complacently. I absolutely agree regarding the frivolous laws suits that drive up costs. They need to be on the table and part of reform.

When I grew up, I was lucky to have a place to live, heat, and or food, never mine a newspaper. I'm inspired by Bob's cartoons. Many times I went to bed hungry, cold and uncertain where we would be from or evicted to. Very unstable upbringing. I'm not appealing to any sense of pity or excuses, I just want to invite you into the personally and emotional consequences of such a life. Not everyone fits into society's norms. With such an enormous emotional toll, there will be residual of neurosis but in this society, you can not conceal such. Look at the soldiers coming home with PTSD. They cannot disclose this because their long term dreams of becoming a police officer or corrections officer would be jeopardized with such a diagnosis. I feel most people would want to contribute in someway but may be limited by interpersonal skills, low self esteem, lack of a support system or mentor's. How can we inspire them? I hope we come up with apprenticeships for kids who are unable to go the school because of social and interpersonal problems. Give them something to feel good about themselves. My mother was a drop out from school, but to me, she was the brightest and most compassionate person I have ever met. Yet on her job, she was consistently bullied for lack of pronouncing her works properly and sometimes for the way she dressed.

Your life molded your character and your beliefs. You are not the only one who lived in a cold water flat in the seemier section of town. I left school to help my family to survive when my dad lost his job. He was out work for almost three years. I gave all my pay to keep food on the table and pay bills. Eventually things worked out and I returned to school, finished my degree and earned three more. I don't wear this "on my sleeve", its just a matter of my own history. As for apprenticeships: I know from personal experience that such programs are available. You have to look for them because they will not look to find you. Check with the Connecticut Technical Schools, the Regional State Community Colleges and the Vocational Training Centers. They all have career training programs for adults. Again, from personal experience, I know young folks who attended these programs and grew to be very successful in life. Its a matter of making successful decisions and that, ultimately, is what education is all about.

roselilly: You wrote "Yes I understand there is a lot of fraud and abuse with entitlement programs and folks can get complacent with receiving such". You are on your way out of the shadow of liberalism and into the sunlight of conservatism. Why? Because you are recognizing the dangers created by large groups of stupid people acting on someone else's ideas and false promises. For example; Obama made it plain and simple when he said he would go through the federal budget line by line and eliminate the waste. He received a lot of votes from that campaign promise however he never did what he promised. As a matter of fact he has spent more time jawboning and making public appearances than he has in his governing role. His illegally appointed czars are doing the actual governing while he plays at acting the role of president. Some of Obama's czars have already abandoned ship. What is the real reason why they are doing it? We are hearing more talk of impeachment. Why? Think about it.

to Rose/Pen,

You have both proven that "All politics is local" is wrong; should be that "All politics is personal." Both your stories are moving, sad, inspiring, and very much USA.


You are not introducing me to anything I am not aware of. No silver spoons here. I think a big basis of my belief system comes the fact that I started from the background you describe, and advanced out of it through massive sacrifice and continuous hard work.

Now that that sacrifice and work are paying off, I have no interest in further delaying my financial freedom through having more of my income redistributed to people who have not put in those same efforts.

Dear P. You are a USA inspiration and an example to me! I've never been, as far as I know, on the recipient end of entitlements. I also earned a Bachelors degree on my own. My father had left my mother for another women before I was born. Coming from a factory back round, I can still remember some of my first so called professional experiences where coming from Osha mandated steel towed boots on the job, to an office setting many years later. Bob would get a laugh out of this as at the lunch table I would be talking about being grateful for air conditioning and windows, a phone on my desk, and not having to punch a time clock for our break. I would go on and on about the windows and the beauty they exposed me to during the work day. The people I sat with thought I was a space alien. A weirdo of sorts for my gratitude of such things. My mother was a country and western singer and one of my sibling gave me a tattered paper that she probably bought at a fair but I hung onto that paper thinking she made a record in the 1960's. I never discussed it with her and believed it was a true story, but after trying to research it, long after she passed away, I realize it is probably not true, so i could look like a liar for truly believing this tattered piece of paper about my past. Even though my mother was a beautiful country and western singer, I have come to terms that perhaps she never actually recorded a record in the 1960's. Anything can be distorted and taken out of context. I just wanted to figure out how we are going to include everyone in society. Not everyone will go to college and/or graduated from high school and hopefully we will be able to figure out the barriers to doing so and fix it. I was just hoping that companies would provide cross training and apprenticeships in lieu of a college degree with an agreement that the salary would be less in the interim for the training. I believe really, that Obama addressed the fraud and he so desperately wants to put it on the table and he has stated so. I just believe it is a matter of working together!

to AweDawg,

"We are hearing more talk of impeachment."

Who are you hanging out with?

You may not like the fact that we have a Democratic President but you need to support his efforts; preach modification or alternative programs but don't go nuclear.

Drawing, once again, upon my personal experiences, I can cite many major industries, businesses and hospitals in Connecticut which have worked with the Connecticut Technical School System in a wide array of apprenticeships, practicums and basic training which in turn have provided jobs for people who are seeking to improve their lot in life. It is not wishful thinking, it is happening and has been for some time. Thanks to their forsight and policies, these programs have served thousands of Connecticut residents at little or no cost to the people or the state.

We can argue liberal vs conservative et.al. until the moon falls from the heavens and we will sway few either way. What the sum of these energies will be is this: The voters seek change and when denied that which is promised,
they will continue their quest to seek change. It is a continuous political mobius curve. All else is theory, opinion, gesture and wishful thinking. And, yes, some are deliberate lies. We are neither a blend or a melting pot. We are a mixture, a salad so to speak and quite unique!

P, I believe you are talking about paid programs such as technical schools and practicums usually mean an individual is specializing in a specific area of study and usually part of a curriculum. To be in a practicum to begin with, your usually attending school of some sort. With so many people unable to even find a job much less go to school of any sort! And if they attended school they may have to take out loans they can't afford. I'm talking about corporations offering on a wide scale opportunities for an individuals who are not able to go to college or even technical school. Perhaps the lower class, not even the middle class. Yes there are many out there who are not blood sucking leaches and have aspirations, just not the opportunity. It isn't always a matter of seemingly moral issues that keep a person from lack of opportunity. I'm talking about a real job that individuals enter into perhaps a two year agreement of lesser pay for on the job training in a real profession in lieu college. Have you ever looked into how much taxes we are paying for state administered general assistance? (SAGA,) yet if I understand you correctly, you don't like health care reform? And you speak of hospitals interestingly, people can be fooled by a title of not for profit. I remember the courant published an article on the actual salaries of folks working in so called not for profit in Hartford. The title sounds humane but look at the salaries. You would be surprised! I'm just thinking out of the box? One of our biggest budget items costing tax payer's money is the cost of prisons. Yet the pendulum keeps going back and forth. In the 80's it was treatment, then it went to incarceration, now were going back to treatment. Not to go on and on but I too want real cost effective change that makes sense! Same old thing going round and round and round.

Answer to lower cost of medical care:

1). Tort reform...MA Medical society says that defensive medicine costs 15%. Look up the study.

2). Fraud in medicare and medicaid is 25%. Would save 12% medical costs in USA to police the whole system and turn it over to private industry.

3). Do away with mandates and allow multi-state competition and purchase of insurance. 6-8% savings.

4). USA pushes the WTC to prohibit ripoffs of US drug companies patents and level the playing field....6% savings.

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