Today's Gallup.com = very depressing for me. I hate to post these numbers but here they are: Obama's approval dropped 3 points (while simultaneously his disapproval rose 3 points) to 51%. That's a net drop of 6 points from +15 to +9. Maybe tomorrow he'll fall through the 50% floor? I'm concerned it may happen. As bad as that is, this is what really worries me: http://www.gallup.com/poll/124226/Republicans-Edge-Ahead-Democrats-2010-Vote.aspx It's still a long ways off... but obviously this is not what any progressive wants to see. If the Democrats lose control of the House, Obama will have no chance of getting anything really done in 2011 & 2012. That's a very bad thing, indeed. This is time for the Democrats to get their crap together and get everything they can done to move this country in the right direction because I'm worried that the Republicans will take the House next year... I also think the one thing that would really stem the Republican's seeming momentum in this House poll is for the Democrats to actually get health care reform passed (and of course for the economy to turn around... but that's a bit of a wish right now.) It's so sad to think that Americans memories are so short that they're even considering giving power back to the party that caused all of the problems our country is facing right now (and which is doing everything they can to stop us from fixing those problems, too.)
Didn't see the show in question (I don't watch TV). But, Australia is often brought up as a "good" system. Of course, that only holds water until one peeks below the covers. Most Canadians are satisified with their system, and the Brits I have known were largely satisfied with their system. Fact is, almost any universal coverage is better than what we have now. The health insurance industry in the US does everything that opponents to national health care are afraid the governement will do (rationing, denial of services, endless bureaucracy, increased cost, etc.) and exact a significant layer of profit to boot.
I suspect he will drop more when the final decision is made for sending troops to Afghanistan. Even if he chose to not send more I would expect him to drop because more people are going to see a negative than a positive from the decision regardless of which way it goes.
Making a decision is the first step. While I don't envy his need to make a decision, he does seem to have a prediliction for dithering, something that will cost him a lot more in the long run...
Even a Democrat doctor in Boston can be a moron. That is the problem with so many Americans, uneducated and uninformed, no matter what jobs they have or where they live. The health care in whole Europe is run by governments and they offer public health care for all their citizens and believe me they haven't started to kill their citizens because of the cost or the poor quality of the medical services yet. Universal Health care
Nope, to the contrary I just wanted to get that on record. It's really refreshing to see an Obama critic that is willing to admit that when things turn around (and they will) you'll be willing to be fair and give him credit for that as well. If the country is NOT better off than it was when he took office after his 8 years I'll be here nodding my head in agreement with all the nay-sayers. I just wish the opposition who supported Bush to the bitter end would have the gall to do the same and admit his Presidency was a failure. I only call people who criticize Obama right wing loons when their arguments don't make sense. You see I have no doubt that these people believe in what they are saying, it's just the mindset they have to have in order to believe it that concerns me. Totally freak out? You have me confused. Both sides have their extremists in this forum and I don't think I need to point them out to you. But I'd like to think I provide pretty solid and well articulated arguments for my points. I have a bit of fun at times and my often condescending tone is just the result of frustration due to a lack of coherent counter arguments to my own. But I suppose it is often misconstrued as a fervent support for Obama whether he's right or wrong. That is not the case. The conservatives comment was directed at a post made by Mia where he claimed the liberals/progressives in this forum run and hide because conservatives are always "cornering us with facts". It made me lol a lot.
If you all elect Sarah Palin or something fucktastically stupid like that, I do plan to leave this country.
I think any health care proposal that they can jam through with 51% of the votes, many of those being bought off with political favors, will be guaranteed not to represent any special interests, and most certainly in the best interests of the country!
In the Frontline episode, they mentioned the following: - Germany, where the doctors once protested in the streets because the government runs health care so poorly - Great Britain, where government-run health care is so clunky that 50% of the hospitals are close to bankruptcy, - Japan, where the cost of their health care system is crippling the government and there are waiting lists for some healthcare. What the above have in common is that they are similar to what the U.S. Congress is proposing - government-run health care for most everyone, private health care for those that can afford it, and premium health care for the rich. Not surprisingly, the government-run health care compares poorly to the others. The two systems that Frontline said work are Japan and Taiwan. Although the Japanese system is said to be crippling Japan's economy. Taiwan is mentioned as the best system. Frontline explained that when Taiwan decided to institute government-sponsored health care in 1994, they put together a panel of doctors and economists (NO POLITICIANS!). They examined health care systems all over the world, and after a two-year examination settled on a system with price controls, extremely limited malpractice lawsuits, and THE SAME HEALTH CARE FOR ***EVERYBODY***!!!. In Taiwan, health care is run by doctors. All the government does is enforce the law and pay costs. To put that in extreme perspective, if we had that same health care system as Taiwan in the USA, then Bill Gates and Donald Trump would have access to the same heath care system as homeless people. (gworld seems to disagree with that, and wants the wealthy to get better care - right?) Taiwan's concept is that, if heath care is a right, then the system can't discriminate based on financial status. Also, the government does not run health care in Taiwan (there are no gatekeepers!!!). "Government run" health care means bureaucracy and gatekeepers. Gatekeepers are government employees (not doctors) that decide if someone deserves surgery, etc. In the government-run systems that gworld supports, there are loooooong delays for elective surgery like a 6 to 12 month wait for hip replacements (hear that, gworld?) and so, in government-run health care, the elderly suffer because of the bureaucracy (hear that, gworld?) ========================== To quickly share a personal experience - two years ago, I had an incident where I thought I was in bad shape. Turns out, I had a baaad case of stomach flu, but an ambulance was called. I was briefly checked-out, but the EMT pressured me to check into the hospital. Now, here's the rub: I'm in sales and marketing. I know a sales pitch when I hear one, and I was being given a sales pitch to go to the hospital. When I refused, the EMT then insisted that, if I refused to go to the hospital, I was "required" to sign a form (Il later found out this was not necessary). I was then pressured to walk downstairs, and "sit in the ambulance to sign the form". Another sales pitch. When I told him I was feeling weak and would rather he bring the form to me, I was pressured even more to walk downstairs. Gee, thanks for the concern. This was Nassau County Hospital on Long Island and I would have been charged $250 to $750 for the emergency room visit. I later thought - why was the release form in the ambulance? Why didn't the EMT bring that piece of paper with him when he came to see me???
Corwin, if you talk as Great as you write, then you force your listeners/readers to Think. . .so then here's the problem, Only: 5% of all People, Think; 10% of all People, Think that they Think; and 85% of all People would rather die than Think. That dude wasn't about to bring you that form, because you forced him from the 85% into the 5%. . .Keep doing what you do so very well Corwin.
Unlike you that who have to rely on some episode of Frontline, I have lived in many European countries and in all these countries the health care is better than USA. Is there problems in some areas? Are some doctors or patients dissatisfied? of course, you can never run such big projects and have everybody satisfied or avoid all mistakes but it does not change the fact that everyone has access to health care and people will not die because of lack of it. You complain about long delay in Europe while closing your eye to the fact that some people in USA will NEVER get the necessary treatment. Just for you to easily see how stupid your reasoning is, just look at the post above this and you can see that Nehemiah supports you, do I need to say more?
That's great that you have seen first hand how healthcare works in Europe. Point is, just because it works THERE doesn't mean it will work HERE. Just because you like to drive a certain car doesn't mean that car is the best or will fit MY lifestyle. Get it? The government here simply can't handle it. They are ill-equipped both in experience (intelligence) and monetarily. They already handle certain sectors of care here and they SUCK at it. They are part of why our care sucks here. So why would we want them to control all of it?
So true! I got a 2" cut across my elbow in Costa Rica and was admitted in to one of their socialized emergency rooms in only 2 short hours! The young(25?) doctor had me stitched up in less than 10 minutes and I was on my way! Of course he only put 3 stitches on the elbow cut which caused it to gap and split, and it quickly became badly infected. But even then, after another 3 hour wait, I was able to get a new set of more painful stitches through an infected wound and a two week supply of powerful broad spectrum antibiotics! The cost? $30/visit + $40 for the drugs! Sure the emergency room looked like the butcher shop scene from Jacobs Ladder, but the savings and access! I was very impressed and fully understand now why Costa Rica rated higher than the U.S. on the WHO report! Another interesting anecdote, a local friend of my wife's had an 8 month old baby that was starting to develop some rather sever flu symptoms. Constant mucus, red eyes, generally achy. After a couple of days, she brought the child into the same hospital where I got my stitches. They gave the child several injections. Within 24 hours the child lost all skin color and died. Gave new meaning to the word "Practicing" medicine, in my opinion. Of course the hospital is run by the state, so there is little to no recourse for the death of her child, but I think that would be different in this country. We believe in litigation and large payouts, so the hospital would probably fight the claim by paying attorneys tax payer dollars until it became apparent that the case was lost, and then she would be handsomely rewarded for the doctor's incompetence, also with taxpayer dollars. I think many of Europe's systems are much better. We just need to get the direct tax rate up around 50%, like they do, and we will be amazed at what our government can build for us!
He's lying Corwin. He's lived in one. Canada, and he knows just how bad it is. That's why he crosses the border to get health care here, like so many others. Had he actually lived in other countries like England, Italy, etc., he'd realize that not only has the health care system failed, its in danger of collapse. They simply no longer can afford it. Having lived, schooled and having relatives in those countries I mentioned, I can tell you first hand he's completely and utterly full a crap. It is convenient for him being so close to the US and all to be able to hitch a ride across the border to take advantage of our freedom of choice!
So according to you Americans are too stupid and incompetent to have a government that can manage a universal health care, how about handing back the country to England, may be they can manage it better? What a good comparison, USA and Costa Rica. It makes sense since both are banana Republics in the same continent. What should I answer to a trailer park guy who doesn't even know that Canada is not in Europe?
What a ridiculous argument. Every other advanced country can get universal health care working and we can't? That's the kind of "can do" American spirit I love to hear. In the 1960s you would have been like "no way in hell we can put a man on the moon... let's leave that up to the Russians." No health care system will ever be perfect... but the European systems are obviously far better than ours in results. We have over 40,000 people who die every month from lack of health insurance. How is that acceptable to right wingers? I just don't get it. It's insane. And as far as your comment that the government sucks at the health insurance plans they do now... Medicare satisfaction is actually higher than private health insurance satisfaction. So... what is your point exactly?
I've yet to hear of a cause of death being "lack of insurance". Do you have any obituary links? There are surely many of them considering less than 210K people die per month in the US and you're saying 1 out of 5 of them died from lack of insurance. Are these 40,000+/mo told "NO, we WON'T treat you" by hospitals and doctors in their potentially deadly (obviously deadly due to them dying) condition? Do you have ANY info on this number you're repeating that gives ANY credibility to you saying 1 out of 5 people who die in the US doe from "lack of insurance"? So, if we have universal healthcare by the same government that took a $4,200 cash payout per vehicle in Cash for Clunkers and turned it into $24K EACH, does that mean we're going to have $5,000 cases of the sniffles? I know our government can do something to help the people out there that make bad decisions or put in bad situations and can't make it on their own. They just have to figure out how identify the people and actually do it without mucking it up like they do other things. Giving wheelchairs to people with sprained wrists through Medicare only cost us $1 billion in tax waste. Also, we have to consider our freedoms when you entertain the government making more laws to protect us from bad situations and bad decisions. Think about it, if the government made tobacco illegal, less people would die each year from cancer right? Why aren't you complaining about those people dying and having the government do something about it? What about fast food and soda? If it was illegal the government would be protecting us from the complications of being fat. While these are different than healthcare, it's not as far off as you might think.
That's easy. It is a reflection of their freedom. They are free to die, and dying is free. Shucks, if your brown and dead then you have solved two problems at a single stroke.
Are we always so concrete? So literal? (Actually, I already know the answer, but thought I would ask anyway...) Let us hope that you or a loved one never avoids care due to cost, thereby turning a relatively minor medical condition into a deadly one. Even my old redneck and extremely conservative, farmer father-in-law know that lack of insurance kills. Even uses those words...
Wow; some argument! Corwin's conversations, logic, arguments, and/or "reasoning" skills has spanked (only spanked, because he's nice and polite) your mentality more time than anyone can shake a stick at, in all of these Threads; so please don't try and throw him off what he does best (and better than most), by pointing out my support for him here. The thing that I really appreciate about Corwin, is that even if he doesn't agree with me, he has yet to insult me. . .let alone run to the Moderators to get me banned, huh???