"FIRST!....blah...blah...blah...town hall....SECOND!...Ted Kennedy...blah...blah...blah...$900 Billion...blah...blah...blah...won't cost taxpayers any money...blah...blah...blah...social justice...blah...blah...blah...I STILL BALLEEVVE WE CAN DO GREAT THINGS!...THAT IS OUR CHARACTER!"
What the fuck are you serious?? How the fuck are you going to pay for it? Just print some more Benjamin's? Cash for Clunkers wasn't supposed to cost the taxpayers money either.
Oops, never saw that coming.
And what is with the MLK impersonation? "I STILL BALLEEVVEE" and shit. What the fuck is that? I love you Obama, but this shit is getting out of hand. I don't think we are going to get this fixed anytime soon based on the reaction of the 'Publican 'Mericans. "I'm not clapping for you..na na na...nana....naaaa"
Pick a battle. The War, Healthcare, the environment, the economy, foreign affairs. Fix one, THEN move onto the next thing. Dude is trying to do everything at once. That is what chicks do. We are not chicks Obama. We are jackals...THAT IS OUR CHARACTER!
PS Psst! President Obama, we are still in a recession.
I'm 100% behind this initiative. Other countries spend far less per capita than any other country in the world, receive health outcomes that are at least as good as ours, and cover everyone. Medicare has proven to have lower operating margins than private insurance companies, so I don't think it's unreasonable to think that serious reform could cover everyone and still be budget-neutral.
ReplyDeleteOh, the recession is almost certainly over, and in case you hadn't noticed, the GM bankruptcy was largely caused by health care costs.
who's recession is over? I am still suffering and peeps all around me are out of work or are getting laid off like crazy. Not to mention they and me all have negative equity on their homes and are stuck, no thanks to his housing initiative which only benefits the fuck ups that don't make their mortgage payments.
ReplyDeleteBy the way I should have mentioned, I am for the plan. All I am saying is take one issue at a time and have a financial plan for it. You can't keep dipping into the pool in the "hopes" that this will work out in the long run. I think we agree, I just need more explanation on what it will cost me personally.
No offense, BD, but your peeps in the NYC meto area might have been part of the problem. Not by choice, but money talks loud as a mallfucker. Put it on paper. Our current healthcare situation will run us into the ground. I have drank too much Ouzo to put hyperlinks in. And with regard to 'cash for clunkers', why were foreign motor companies even eligible?
ReplyDeleteWell, the recession thing is really more technically speaking - we have probably returned to positive GDP growth, which means that the National Bureau of Economic Research will probably declare that the recession ended recently (just as they announced last December that the recession had begun one year before). Unfortunately unemployment is a major lagging indicator which means that all of us little people are going to be fucked for a while longer. And New York, as the center of finance that largely caused this whole thing (with some help from policymakers in Washington), will probably be hurting for a while longer than that. It's probably a good thing in that finance was a bloated industry and the country will probably be better off if it simpler and more regulated, but it's going to suck in the short-term (sort of a microcosm of this whole recession, honestly).
ReplyDelete"center of finance that largely caused this whole thing" my former employer was definitely a major player in this whole debacle, one of the MANY reasons I got out of the banks. But how is that NYCs fault? It is unfair to say a region is responsible when it was actually greedy executives that took as much as they could when they could and then ran to leave everyone else to clean it up. And why should I have to suffer longer because some execs made shitty decisions.
ReplyDelete"the country will probably be better off if it simpler and more regulated" - i.e Ball Deep is out of work and forclosing on his home, and baby jackie loses her health benefits. I still work in finance and rely on these unregulated markets to pay the bills and feed my family.
oh wait Obama is going to pay for that. I guess it is not that bad.
Sorry, I think my grammar was confusing there. I think "center of the finance sector that largely caused this whole thing", i.e. that NYC is the hub of finance and finance caused this thing. Obviously not all or even most of the New York metropolitan area's people are responsible.
ReplyDeleteThe greedy executives are why we need more regulation of the financial sector.
But don't worry, if you lose your job, this new Socialist paradise we're creating will provide not just health care, but also all the vodka, potatoes, and Khlav Kalash you can eat and drink. Na zdorovia!
woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteDeep, you need to find a new place to get your news. Obama-care would be less expensive than our current system, long term. We spend more on health care than any other civilized nation. Small businesses can't offer it because it's too expensive. Everyone on TV and radio is politic-ing aroung the real issue and scaring uninformed people away with talk of socialism. Right now, there are financial incentives for performing medical procedures. There is motivation for surgery OTHER THAN THE PATIENT'S HEALTH! There is motivation to prescribe drugs that YOU DON'T NEED! Doesn't that strike you as fucked up?
ReplyDeleteyes the current system is bad. I agree we need a change, but my arguement is the approach to funding it.
ReplyDeleteLet's fix the economy first on all levels not just GDP and recession/non-recession but for the middle class (you and me). Job growth, job security, innovation, Green jobs (whatever happened to his environment fix??).
"would be less expensive than our current system, long term" this where my issue is. This relates to my whole debt driven society NFL ticket vent a few posts ago. Uncle Sam is just as bad as you and me as far as living beyond our means. I would say an ever growing $11 TRILLION (what's next Bazillion??) budget deficit is living beyond our means. So what is his proposal? Go and spend more money to save money long term?? He says it won't cost money but that is bullshit. It will cost $900 Billion at LEAST! Yeah it may save in the long run, but like it or not we are still in crisis. Another conflict with Korea, Iran, (possible) or any other nation on top of all of this would send us in a downward spiral worse than we are in now. Now is the time to be smart, conserve, cut spending, not expand.
I agree our current system sucks but look at the government's track record USPS, Medicare, Veteran's Hospitals, Fannie and Freddie all government programs. All fucked or defunct. Do you really think it will be better?
Fix the current issues with malpractice, insurance fraud, unethical practices, etc. wiht appropriate legislation and save the other shit for when we recover from this mess. Why the urgency?
"Now is the time to be smart, conserve, cut spending, not expand."
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly the opposite of what the government should be doing. American consumers are cutting way back right now, saving dramatically more than they were, say, a year ago. This has put us in serious Paradox of Thrift territory, and the last thing that the government needs to be doing right now is to contribute to the contraction by cutting back (down the road, of course, the feds will have to raise revenue to cut the deficit). This was the thinking behind the stimulus, which economists seem to think has helped to stabilize the economy.
$900 Billion over 10 years is, sure, a lot of money. On the other hand, Americans spend something like $2.5 trillion annually on health care, with costs rising 6.2% per year. So a relatively minor (3-4%) decrease in those expenditures would cover the $90 billion annual cost Obama is proposing.
All that stuff aside, health care needs to be dealt with now because (1) next year is an election year (2) Democrats are not likely to have these kinds of majorities after the 2010 election and (3) Republicans these days are totally batshit crazy.
wow that looks like it took a lot of time to type. Good arguement too. You are swaying me, 1. because your superior intellect is intimidating and 2. I have neither the time nor the effort to look up nearly enough information to counter that. I withhold judgement until I am able to make a thoughtful response. One thing I will say without a doubt is no matter how bad a job Obama does (so far I think he is doing awesome relative to what he inherited from Satan, I mean Bush) the alternative is much more frightening (McCain/Palin). I am real scared of 'Publicans these days so I can deal with a little pork here and there if it makes us a better country on the whole.
ReplyDeleteObama right now is driving with a flat tire and no brakes, in the rain, with no headlights or windshield wipers. Fuck Joe Wilson (R) South Carolina.
ReplyDeleteWhy are we talking about all this domestic bullshit? We spend 45 times more money each and every month killing brown people because they don't believe in the same boogeyman we do half way around the world. Not that I mind working as an overpaid government contractor for the military but Jesus fucking Christ the whole debate is retarded. The country was bankrupt fighting a fucking crusage just like England in the 5th fucking century. Gay Clones be bickering over what costs more Chinese food or Pizza when they got a $500 a week coke habit.
ReplyDelete