Indeed. One would be hard pressed to hold my views and cynicism. Mine has been born from 1000's of hours of detailed research over a 30 year period ... off the charts unique personal experience and knowledge and contacts of high level import and inside information. I do understand that few could agree with what I consider as fact. I prefer however; to think the best of people and believe good will prevail and everything can and will work out. I am a curious blend of: Hope and prayer Wisdom and prudence Foresight and pragmatism Speculation and insurance.
I'm sorry that data seems too broad for any meaningful conclusions except washington dc topped the list by a factor > 250% more than the highest state for federal dollars/ tax paid.
Most people at the bottom are being EXPLOITED by and for the rest of us. It's our class system here in the U.S. And now they are needing to shove a lot of us further down to keep enriching themselves more and more at the top. Salaries for CEOs and salaries for the average worker are way out of whack. It gets more and more out of whack every day. So your answer to the problem is to eliminate the people who are being exploited from having a vote. That is terribly convoluted logic. We need to solve the problem...not blame those who are being exploited. I don't care that you are not a janitor anymore. I'm so tired of hearing the same thing over and over again from folks. Har, har, har, I've pulled myself up by my bootstraps. Why can't you. That is the class system that you've bought into. People are still being EXPLOITED. We do need janitors, don't we? I mean, at least they do provide a service that is much appreciated. Not these twitty-ass CEOs who think they are thousands of time more valuable than most who do nothing but steal from the rest of us. People do have value. The TPTB want to make people believe that people who don't go to college do not have much value. I say bullshit, and yes, I did go to college. And what do you say to all the people who are graduating from college today? Many who earn top grades cannot find a decent paying job. I guess they just better pull themselves up by their bootstraps and work at McDonald's to pay back their feaking loans of tens of thousands of dollars. The janitor deserves to be paid enough to provide a decent living. No matter what you say. His or her 8 hours is sweat enough that should earn them a decent living. If they are not, the system is broken and it needs to be fixed. Pay the salary that should be paid, and they will be able to pay their taxes. AND...the problem is too much taxes. Shrink the goddam government. Quit letting them produce freaking monopolies that are crushing us. We need to fix the problems at the source...not blame the victims. What's happened to the golden rule...do unto others as you would have done unto you? With the system set up as it is now, we cannot ALL pull ourselves up by our bootsraps. If we all did, the level would just be made higher. There always are people at the bottom. This system demands it. I think that 'bottom' deserves to earn a decent living instead of handing it over to the CEOs. I don't claim to have all the answers, but I know taking away their right to vote is not the answer....even with how little our vote means today. If you were still that janitor...and there is nothing wrong with being a janitor...it's good, honest work. If you were still that janitor, would you still arrive at the same answer that you have today?
THis, so far, has been, to me, an interesting debate. It has sometimes got very far from the topic, ranging from health care to religion to who is an idiot. It seems what we have is a cross section of the U.S., with its broad and varied aspirations, goals, and basic philosophy of life. That is our nature. We can't change it. It is both a strength and weakness of a country like the USA that is such a melting pot of ideas and cultures. I am at heart a libertarian, i want small government, and i what to do what i want to do without government interference. But I can't have my way. In a country as large and diverse as the US i will have to compromise. If I, and the others of like me, don't compromise surely chaos will ensue. If we want to get anywhere with this debate we will have to stick to facts not opinion. With regard to health care there are very well established facts. To summarize them one can simply say that in the USA the quality of care one can avail oneself of is very much a function of ones means. Very wealthy citizens usually have no problem obtaining high quality care. The middle of the middle class on down have difficulty affording high quality care. For the poor, health care is a mixed bag. When it is good, the middle and upper classes are paying for it. (By "class" I mean how much money you have, not your worth relative to the human race.) So we get down to one question. Do you want the status quo or do you want a change? Personally I want change. And as someone with a libertarian bent, I don't like the idea of single payer, government run health care. I prefer the Obama approach, which was at its heart an effort to introduce competition and bring down costs while providing better access for the lower middle class and the poor via essentially universal health insurance coverage. But the guts of the plan, the public option, that would have provided the necessary competition, has been defeated by those who will make less money if it is included. I am still in favor of the surviving Bill, as I believe, as Rangebar does, that if the surviving Bill makes things worse we will eventually be forced to make effective changes. And if the surviving Bill makes things better, from my point of view, then OK. I can't agree with those who think the present health care delivery "system", which is dictated to us by a Cartel, is better than the proposed changes. But I respect the views of those who are opposed to the Bill, so long as their views are not based on politics or religion, or misrepresented facts, but rather on their philosophical position that those who can afford good care should be able to obtain it and those who cannot should be excluded. In other words, I can accept, but don't agree with, the arguments of those who don't believe we are entitled to equal access to health care regardless of our means. The reason I don't agree with those latter folks is not due to some altruistic penchant, but purely a practical matter. I think the country, meaning all of us, will be better off in the long run if everyone has equal access to medical care and the costs are spread among the entire population. By better off I mean you'll have less need for a wall around your estate.
Health Care needs reform, not the type of take over by the socialists in D.C. We have the best in the world and yet we have a few bent on destroying what has become the best care in the world, bar none. How, and what type of reform is needed totally unclear to me, however it is very clear that this administration is trying to rush the bill because of what is very apparent. (The loss of many seats in both houses) It is clear the majority of Americans are against this, yet this gang of thugs is bent with the clear socialist agenda that they have. I hope things work out, however the biggest crybabies down the road if this passes are going to be those who thought this would be a grand idea. Good luck to those who think socialism is a grand idea. Nick
I'm sure the government will handle healthcare as well as they have handled Fannie, Freddie, Social Security. All a big success. I wish I could save the postage on my end of year tax liability and just flush the dollars down the toilet.