It needs to be overthrown. Costs are out of control and the Gov programs like Medicaid and Veterans Services are being raped and pillaged. Besides, if you already have Heath Insurance, what does it matter, you just keep doing what you have been doing..with the exception that it will be illegal for them to deny you coverage or life saving procedures based on a pre-existing condition. Why wouldn't you want that ? Why does anyone with their own coverage really care ? However if you lose that coverage, what are you going to do ?
Well for one thing Obama says in his own words that he plans to slowly eliminate private insurance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY...te-private-insurance/&feature=player_embedded
Lot of convenient editing and audio splicing in that video, but even still, I don't believe that will ever happen. Americans want to make their own decisions , even if it kills them. At least they can say "No one told them what to do"..that's just how we are.
What I cannot understand is why Dumbama spends all this time on Health care. Why not tackle the energy problems and come up with an actual energy policy. One that drills, builds nuclear power plants and refineries. The first president to actually do that, I'll back no matter what party. We don't need health care run by the government. Reform Tort, regulate insurance, and end the back room deals with drug companies. Problem solved. Let's move on to a real problem. ENERGY!!!
He is doing that. First by conservation and eliminating waste, Cash for Clunkers to get gas guzzlers off the road, making all federal building energy efficient, business grants and stimulus for businesses researching and producing clean energy, Expanding the budget for the DOE to include more clean energy solutions, including solar, wind, natural gas, and clean coal. The problem with Nuclear energy is no one wants it in their back yard, the problem with just drilling is it will still take years to recover what oil pockets we do have and it's just a temporary boost, not a long term solution. Fist we have to stop guzzling, and wasting energy for any long term plan to work. Energy and Health Care are probably the biggest 2 issues that he is on right now.
We need to stop using fossil fuels as fuel. Period. If we do this, we won't run out of crude or hit that goddamn peak in the next decade, and thus won't end up in the Mad Max world shitter. Honestly, if we stopped using crude for burning and instead for plastics like we already do, we could use it to build more solar panels than there are houses. Oh well. I've a long term goal to buy an oil field so I can scream "I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE!" at random people.
Solar and wind power are fruitless boondoggles. The physics today is the same as the physics from 10, 20, 50 years ago, which is that the science prevents it from EVER becoming practical. EVER! Think about it. Sunlight and wind are free. If the science permitted solar and wind to produce bulk energy at low costs, don't you think the power companies would have wind and solar farms EVERYWHERE it is feasible? They don't, because even high school physics says that even at 99% efficiency solar and wind are incapable of generating enough power, period. The problem with Nuclear energy is that special interests - including the Democrats, the oil companies, and enemies of the USA - have made it bureaucratically impossible to build a nuclear plant. Look at France. They get almost all of their electricity from safe, nuclear power plants, as does Japan and most of Europe. But the Democrats would have us believe that American workers, and American engineering, and American unions, are too incompetent to build and maintain a nuclear power plant without causing everyone to glow in the dark. Geez, the US Navy puts small nuclear reactors on most of today's ships and there has NEVER been a serious accident. Those same small reactors can power a small city. A Los Angeles-class attack submarine has a small nuclear power plant that’s only 42 by 33 feet and generates 26 megawatts of electricity. No "alternative" energy solution can compete with that. And they can be cheaply mass-produced. No more energy crisis, right? Wrong. The Democrats will never allow it to be built. The problem with drilling is that to start new drill site requires literally billions of dollars of payoffs, including paying off Federal officials and phony environmental groups run by criminals pretending to be environmentalists, all demanding payoffs in order to call off the sheep they herd to protests. Without these obstacles and deliberate red tape, new oil and gas from Alaska can be drilled and pumped and ready in as little as 18 months. The Democrats are stopping us from drilling for new oil, preventing real energy alternatives, and focusing on phony energy science. They have duped kindhearted people that have sincere concerns by claiming it is about the environment, when it's really all about corruption. Energy is the necessary oxygen of our country and the Democrats (Pelosi) are literally strangling us to death. In a very real, and literal sense, they are killing us. Or, in the words of Robert Redford when discussing the USA's present problems, "Rome is burning, and our politicians are just twiddling their thumbs".
Well, I don't know where you are, but here in the SW, we have wind and solar farms all over the desert. I don't think that's true. We obviously know what we are doing when it comes to Nuclear Power, but people still remember Chernobyl and 3 Mile Island. Do a poll, the attitude in the country towards a Nuclear Power Plant is "sure, but not near me" The problem with drilling is it's not a solution. The "Democrats", don't have some underground master plan to thwart the future and development of the country for personal gain (as so many conservative conspiracist would have us believe) like DR. Evil in some frozen lair, stroking a white cat. Drilling is a quick fix, that won't solve anything in the long term. Besides that, where do we refine this oil ? We haven't built a refinery in this country in 30 years and the ones we do have are maxed out and expensive to operate....which won't do anything for the cost. Not only that, but who ever is in office, Dem or Rep is going to tax the crap out of it anyway. We need to get off of oil. That's all there is to it. We don't have most of it, We don't control it, and it's not unlimited. I saw a yellow H2 Hummer this morning with one girl in it, going to work..and a Sarah Palin bumper sticker on it that said "Drill, Baby Drill"...pretty much sums it up. I guess if you are a single 27 year old girl driving an 8 passenger truck that gets 8 miles to the gallon, and 15 highway so that you can look good, you probably want us to drill for more oil. Just like most people in America, "I got mine, I don't care what you do, just don't mess with my stuff"
I studied Chernobyl. It was a result of BAD engineering, poor technology, insufficient safeguards, and incompetent quality checks. The Russian plant was practically built to fail. It's a BAD example and can never happen outside of Russia or Greece. I also studied 3 Mile Island, which served as a textbook case that the safety systems worked! The reactor shut down as it was supposed to, the contaminated water was contained, no one died, or even got ill. As one bumper sticker put it, "More people died in Ted Kennedy's car than at 3 Mile Island" First, that's because the public is as ill-informed as you about nuclear power. It's not something that can be easily understood by a Google search. Second, there are plenty of deserted areas in every state where it won't be near anybody. The only problem with drilling is people like you that believe repeating cute, mindless Hallmark phrases like "drilling is not a solution", is a solution to drilling. Drilling is ABSOLUTELY a Solution!!! Meanwhile, Russia, China, and many other countries are pumping oil like mad a few miles off the US coast in the Gulf of Mexico, while we sit back and do nothing except buy our own oil back from them. That's because you are woefuilly naiive as to the corruption level of government officials. When you have people that are paid middle-class wages are put in a position to give a yes or no on whether or not a company is going to make billions of dollars - well, that's a ripe environment for corruption. Drilling is a long term solution. It's estimated there's enough oil on US territory to meet our oil needs for the next 300-800 years. In the meantime, what are you going to run your car on? And the reason why we haven't built a refinery in 30 years to replace our aging refineries is BECAUSE CONGRESS WON'T ALLOW NEW REFINERIES TO BE BUILT!!! That's nice in theory, but in reality we are going to need oil for hundreds of years. There is PLENTY in US territory. And it's not going to be solved by cute Hallmark phrases. Understanding the REAL issues involved in energy production is like playing golf - it looks easy from the outside, but it's a lot more complex than it seems and all that money can change everything. hmansfield, go get yourself informed.
The public is badly informed about a lot of things, or only know half truths, but you can't ignore people's ignorance and just plop a power plant in the middle of the Bronx. I supposed you are talking about putting one in my neck of the woods, right ? Away from you and your family. Case and point. And I can find you another study that says your study is false. That's nice, comparing the U.S. with Russia and China 2 countries that are 50 years behind us technologically, corrupt, and have no environmental conscience or accountability, and have severe human rights issues. They just consume and dump. we are a little more advanced than that and, they are now, where we were 30 years ago. Yep, we screwed ourselves on that one. Amazing that we know that, and know we need them, yet Regan, Bush, Clinton, Bush all did nothing about it. Nothing cute about it. I don't think either issue has really been thought through clearly since everyone is shouting to make their own point. I'm pretty informed. Enough to know that we can run cars, and trains on other things, but try and get any American that thinks they make money to give up their Navigator and it's another story. Everyone has a solution that doesn't interfere with their own agenda but no one wants to make any sacrifices which is why they don't hear the other possibilities and opinions on the issue. It's the same old story as always in America, why should now be any different.
Drilling is only a short term solution on a limited supply. A long term solution is the electric highway, railway, and roadways I have actually written about. The short term would require a massive investment in nuclear power, however it would be built in the middle of nowhere pretty much. I'm talking a trillion dollar investment that has enough electricity to power the entire nation - a total shutdown of coal, gas, and oil plants would follow immediately after. Then there would be another trillion dollar bombshell that would build these electric highways and convert the railways. Two trillion is a huge number, I know, but based on how much more commerce could be accomplished with vehicles not needing gas on the highways, and a system that allows for that much dreamt after auto-pilot, cars, trucks, and trains could double if not triple their speeds. Overnight from LA to NYC without an airplane. Industrial goods shipped from one location to another, and an overhaul of business and industrial practices to boot. We're talking a huge initial investment with a long term payoff that would lead to a surplus, and make the country competitive if coupled with the appropriate cuts in certain areas. Besides the fact that building such a massive infrastructure would end up training millions of people in skilled labour. However, this would be accomplished by a dictator - not by bought-and-sold politicians, so it is more of an idealist vision of what could be done, rather than what will (never) be done.
Because conservative Republicans, the health insurance industry giants, and anyone else who has a monetary motive to be against health care reform for America is spending all their time on health care. See, easy answer. Obama made it clear HCR was his number one issue all the way up to the day we voted him into office. Feigning surprise that he is putting all his power behind fighting for it is laughable and reeks of insincerity. Bottom line here is that all the forces fighting against HCR are doing so for political, monetary, or ideological reasons and not common sense. They are afraid because they know, that if we put a government sponsored public option up against their mighty already well established free market solutions they will lose.... Period. If the public option is so bad and you really think the majority of Americans including the millions of uninsured are against it (you don't but it feels good saying it doesn't it?) then why not just put it out there and let us find out who REALLY is against it? Because you know the public will speak with their choice and they will go for the public option that's why not. That would be the a real test of whether the public option is so terrible. And conservatives are afraid of that. Wanna hear something even more scary? There is an alternative being discussed on the hill called the public option trigger. What it means in a nutshell is that the public option would not become law in the bill if it is passed but under the conditions that the health industry actually *gasp* get their act together and stop ripping off the public. If they don't, then the public option would be implemented. We all know it would take more than that threat for the insurance industry to stop raking in their billions in profit while people WITH health insurance still get bankrupted because the companies refused to pay their health care bills. I'd be interested in seeing how conservatives will find a way to be AGAINST this idea as well without tipping their hand and showing they are for the health insurance companies no matter what. Thick and thin. It's funny to see conservative Republicans who are so against regulating big business get to the point they are so desperate for an answer to the public option that they now forcibly have to admit that the health insurance industry needs regulation. What's not funny is that an industry has to get this out of control for them to do it... So MIA, you said you were for regulation and tort reform. SO that means you are for the public option trigger amirite? Because the trigger is nothing more than the punishment part of the regulation. If they fail to comply then they get the public option in their face. Without it then all the government would do is fine them. They'd simply laugh at us and jack up prices or maybe pay a few million less insurance claims and make that up in a jiffy. What do you think?
ok GeorgeB... man with all the answers. How much will it cost and where will the money come from? Is it ok to take more loans from China in this overhaul? Also, why is it every current health system the government touches either ends up bankrupt or considered a very distant second class service to the private health insurance? Examples: -Medicare is bankrupt -Native American Indian health is a complete joke -Medicaid costs more per patient due to mismanagement than our overpaid private options per person -The public healthcare option "test" in Tennessee went bankrupt The list goes on man... take a look at Massachusetts. Your reasoning for why conservatives are against this as to preserve their big dollar insurance companies doesn't fly with me. I don't care why conservative republicans don't want it... I don't want it because our whole government is a joke that's deep in debt and has proven to not be able to manage healthcare coverage in EVERY attempt they've made. Why do you refuse to even entertain the thought of tort reform, solutions for pre-existing conditions, and putting the reigns on these lawsuits as a start to fix these problems we have? Does our government and all mighty drug companies pushing hard for this have you hypnotized?
Um, I thought Obama made it clear that ending the Iraq war was his number one issue all the way up to the day he was voted into office. And, let's be clear - Obama is fighting his own party because with the death of his strongest political backer Sen. Kennedy, Obama has lost most, if not all, of his political strength. The Republicans are out of it - Obama made it very clear on August 7 that the Republicans are completely excluded from the health care issue. Look, the Democrats have large majorities in both houses. They completely control the Federal government. What's to stop them? Whiny crybaby excuses like the Republicans Ate My Homework is a pretty pathetic diversion for the Democrats' own infighting. Did you see the news today? Just before noon? Obama made a statement saying the "public option" (government run) is not necessary, and just FIVE MINUTES LATER Pelosi said the public option is necessary!!!! FIVE MINUTES LATER! It's like she's giving Obama the finger! Look, I'm not a total fan of Obama but even I have to say that Pelosi is disrespectful of him and the office of the President. President Obama deserves to be respected as the leader of the Democratic party. Instead, Pelosi's actions are shameful and only the most blind partisan doesn't' see it. She's destroying his Presidency. It's a fragmented Democratic party with Pelosi and Obama locking horns in an ugly embrace. The Democrats are doing it to themselves. That's because real problem is not health care - IT'S THE ECONOMY!!!
He made a lot of things clear.. In fact, he tends to say "let me be clear" an awful lot. The problem is, for every thing he made "clear", none of those things have come about. Gonna close GITMO... NOPE... Gonna stop using special interrogation techniques... NOPE... Gonna get out of IRAQ (right away in fact)... NOPE... End war on terror... NOPE... Stop calling it war on terror... NOPE... Get out of Afganyland... NOPE... CHANGE... Nope, nada... Nothing. So far he's a miserable failure. To coin a popular phrase.
Gays in the Military... NOPE. Support for gay marriage... BIG NOPE. No more earmarks... NOPE. No lobbyists in the White House... BIG NOPE. Transparency... NOPE. Bipartisanship... NOPE. No taxes on the middle class... NOPE. No more wireless wiretapping... NOPE. No more 'Bush-era' signing statements...NOPE.
My prediction right here in this thread...the Chinese Economy is built on a house of cards. They too are spending more than they are bringing in compared to the total population of the country, not just Shanghai and Hong Kong which are seeing a record, but isolated economy from the rest of the country. China will slow to a staggering crawl soon, just like Dubai, and they will be in the same boat as the rest of us, foreclosure city, unfinished construction projects, unemployment, and a staggering dependence on oil that they are increasing exponentially as we speak. I have spoken