http://www.nypost.com/seven/06152009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/how_obamacare_strangles_reform_174346.htm

Ironically enough, these GOOD working ideas would be crushed by the Democrat's "great ideas"...

Michale.....

Maybe. I am sure there are somethings that the government excels at over private industry. But there is absolutely NO evidence to support the assumption (You know what happens when you make an assumption? You make an ass out of U and umption. :D ) that the government can do healthcare cheaper and better than private industry. On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence to support that the government CAN'T manage healthcare.

This is a gigantic gaping hole in the Republicans' position. The big secret that the media has yet to uncover is that the Republicans have nothing.

Au contraire, mon fraar.. :D

Senators Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Okla.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and U.S. Representatives Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) have introduced a bill that would would give individuals a greater ability to purchase health care on their own via the use of refundable tax credits and improved Health Savings Accounts.
http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/06/15/troy_tevi_obama_health/

Whether that's a better plan or not, I am not saying. But it IS a plan and it IS put forth by Republicans..

As I indicated above, I am not against the government providing free health care. And if all the radical rednecks and racists assholes of the hysterical Right could look past their bigotry and racism, they would actually see that free healthcare is a GOOD thing for them..

Michale.....

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/columnists/goodwin/index.html

This one paragraph is especially telling...

When Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) learned a General Motors parts center in his district was slated to close, he contacted the head of GM, whom Washington appointed after taking control of the automaker, and got the decision reversed.

If anyone on the RIGHT side of the aisle had done something like that, the Left would have been screaming to the high heavens, no??

So, as I have asked many MANY times in the last few weeks and months..

WHY the double standard???

Michale.....

But come on; 'I want y'all to pay for it for me' is just silly and you know it.

About as silly as expecting taxpayers to foot the bill for every Tom, Dick and Harry who can't make it on their own... :D But hell, if the US Government wants to make this country a nanny state, let me be the first in line to get my diaper changed.. :D

Remember, after the insurance privateers take your premium and use it for the millions in executive comp, the millions in bribes campaign contributions and lobbying, and the millions on company lawyers who fight any claim you dare to make on your policy, it's no wonder there's nothing left to pay for your dental work!

Oh, and of course, the government has proven that it's so far above bribes, and taking contributions and the ambassadorships awarded to campaign contributors and the firing of allegedly INDEPENDENT Inspector Generals who had the unmitigated GALL to not only investigate a large campaign contributor, but actually issue a NEGATIVE report on him. Oh the horror of it all..

So, tell me..

Do you HONESTLY believe that the government is going to do ANY better than the private sector??

Seriously???

While I will agree that the Gov probably can't do WORSE, I see NO INDICATION, NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that would indicate that the government will act any more responsible over things that the current situation.

Do you??

Regardless of all that (and these are general questions to the floor) I would ask that each and everyone of ya'all really think hard about these three questions..

1. Do you honestly and truly think it's a good idea to have the government so into the private sector economy? Owning banks and car companies, setting pay criteria and making business decisions that are based on PROFIT and LOSS and not on what's best for the country.

2. Is there ANYTHING in the US Constitution at all that allows the US Government the authority to take control of banks and car companies and decide private sector pay scales and the like?

3. What would have been the reaction of the Left (ya'all) if, in an effort to stave off the coming recession, the Bush Administration had taken the actions that the Obama Administration has taken?

I think these questions deserve some thought... Don'tcha'all agree??

Michale.....

Michale, so are you saying your insurance plan doesn't cover your mouth? :D Really, I'm totally sympathetic. The 'health plan' at my job has just gone more expensive and less useful this year, and I'd love to have the public option. But come on; 'I want y'all to pay for it for me' is just silly and you know it. The program will be funded with your taxes, mine, Chris's, the President's and everybody's, so I'll pay for a share of your teeth and you'll pay for a share of mine, and I know the imagery seems strange, but that's what community is about, eh? Remember, after the insurance privateers take your premium and use it for the millions in executive comp, the millions in bribes campaign contributions and lobbying, and the millions on company lawyers who fight any claim you dare to make on your policy, it's no wonder there's nothing left to pay for your dental work!

Strangely enough this is not always true of the VA system.

My visit to the Birmingham VA center was the best care I have ever received from a doctor, nurses, and staff of any hospital I have ever visited.

I need a LOT of dental work done. I can't afford it so I am going to want ya'all to pay for it for me. :D

So Democrats.. Get yer act together and pass this healthcare program!!

Michale.....

I think it is critical to make the point that this is insurance for paying for medical care and some rule changes for streamlining care and reducing cost. Not the government taking over the hospitals. There is a huge gaping black hole of a counter argument against government run health care (probably why the republicans are trying to frame it as such) and it's called the Veterans Administration. I've been recently taking my father to one of the VA hospitals and it is a truly frighteningly poorly run place. Luckily it is a double edge sword in that it has gotten that way mainly due to underfunding usually by Republican politicians.

On point 4, leeches are still used in medicine it's called Hirudotherapy. They had a big comeback in the 80's for use in microsurgery and reconstructive surgery. There is currently no better way to get blood to flow freely through reattached veins than the anticoagulant hirudin that is secreted by the leech. The chemical is in such small amounts that harvesting it from the leeches for a topical drug would not be practical.

"President Obama campaigned on the public option, and Americans voted for him. What are we afraid of? That families will stop going bankrupt when someone gets sick? Why is the insurance industry stifling competition? Why are Republicans so opposed to a public option? The answer, I think, is that they are afraid that if a public option succeeds, the intellectual bankruptcy of their entire movement will be exposed."