kapkomet

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 05:05 PM) While that may be hot in the short term...it's not 100+ heat index for an entire summer. Kap? Tex? Wanna join me on this one. It's actually cool out right now. It's 97. So cool in fact, we went for a 1.5 hour bike ride today. It's way hotter to live here a whole summer then to just visit somewhere for a week or two.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 06:36 PM) No but you did trigger a train of thought in my head. The "pay a fine" deal comes from the fact that illegal immigration is a crime and there has to be a penalty associated with it, but at the same time there is no immigration reform possible without doing something about the millions of illegals already here. Ideally, yeah, you'd just boot them out, but that can't happen. Another option is giving them legal status and letting them work here (guest worker program etc.) but then that gets the "DEM DURN MES-I-CANS IS TAKIN MUH JOBS!!!!111" crowd's panties in a bunch so that kind of kills the compromise. I had no issues with the reform package Bush was trying to get passed but it got killed because of simple politics. The "DEM DURN MES-I-CANS IS TAKIN MUH JOBS!!!!111" crowd can pound sand. They have BETTER opportunities to make themselves better, if they choose to.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 06:32 PM) You've opposed any measure that would give them any degree of citizenship on the grounds that it would give the Democrats more voters and then they'd have to have health care. The other options are: 1. Deport em all! 2. Do nothing 3. A system that legalizes them but doesn't give them a path to citizenship. Problem of course is that it makes them an indentured servant of whatever company they work for; they can never improve their conditions because they get deported if they get fired. That's not the only reason (Dem voters) that I oppose it. #3 is the best option - a work program. Why are you so excited to welcome 20,000,000 people to the citizenship of the USA in one fell swoop? I mean, they deserve everything for breaking the law and crossing that border! It's a slap in the face to those who came here the right way.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 06:00 PM) Sending all the illegals back to Mexico is nothing more than a fantasy and I'm really wondering why people still actually talk about it like it's something that can actually be done. Did I say that?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 05:34 PM) There's no actual reform proposal on the table, not even the outlines of one right now, and you can already tell that any effort to reform the system wouldn't be legit. That's right. They are going to try to do what they did last time, and IMO, it's not "legit". Pay a fine, "learn English", BAM, you're a citizen! What a deal! Then, guess what? You get that FREE health care! '

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 05:29 PM) So now we see the true reason for why you folks oppose legit immigration reform. It's not "legit".

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 02:41 PM) Not sure if you noticed, but the governor of Alaska and recent VP candidate resigned mid-term for no known reason. How could you honestly think that wouldn't get attention, regardless of her party affiliation? Further, you keep talking out of both sides of your mouth on the media attention. You say you are tired of the media covering everything Obama does, yet you now b**** about the fact that they are following Palin after she did something bizarre and newsworthy. And finally, look what Palin did here - she said she left office to get out from under the media pressure, goes on a family vacation, AND INVITES THE NEWS TO COME ALONG. She 100% is doing this to herself, and wants it that way. Your conspiracy and bias theories are nonsense, the facts make that clear. You are totally missing the point of the post.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 03:40 PM) I'll say that he has much bigger fish he wants to fry right now and that this isn't important enough for him to burn any political capital on right now. If/ when C&P and some form of Health Care Reform get through, then we'll see some movement on this. After "the law to get more Democrat voters" passes (I mean immigration).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 01:33 PM) Tomorrow morning will be 4:05:06 07/08/09 OH SNAP - A Y2K9 BUG!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 02:25 PM) There's one thing you're missing, and it's the one we keep coming back to; scale. You put me out there on the market on my own buying insurance and frankly I'm outgunned, especially if insurers have the right to turn down your family because of any reason they want. You're purchasing insurance against something that might happen to you in the future; you have no ability to guarantee at the time of purchase what type of quality you'll get if you need the insurer to work. That's one of the reasons I keep ranting against insurers; they spend so much money trying to deny you care once you get in to their system. And when you throw in the fact that, as I presented a week or so ago, much of the country is considered "Highly concentrated" in being served by only 1 or 2 insurers at max, you really don't have a lot of choices. When you go through a company, you have the small advantage in that the company has numbers. The insurer can't bully them around as much because they have more negotiating power than you do personally. They have the ability to work at cost-control on different levels. They can't deny an employee as easily based on preexisting conditions or find ways around paying their end when a full company is involved. Even in a highly concentrated market, you gain just a little bit of leverage. I understand that - but reset the whole thing, have something like co-ops, and you start to have the ability to generate real choices.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 02:26 PM) Except for the fact that they're already doing exactly that. Oh, except 100's of coal fired plants that they have going right now. Yea. Ok.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 12:29 PM) She doesnt work. She never has. Remember all those days she billed the state for working from home? She had a 15% attendance record as Gov... You better get Barackus the Great off the damn golf course every weekend, if you want to start applying that standard. Oh, he better not keep wasting taxpayer money to go to Broadway. Or... Now, for the record, I don't give a s*** that Barackus the Great does this stuff. I really don't. But yet, the media is going to sit there and pick apart this woman's every move and rip it to shreds, while Barackus the Great gets front page headlines about being so cool to be able to do whatever he wants while running the free world. It IS hypocritical. But, I don't give a s*** what Sarah Palin does, nor do I really give a s*** what Barackus the Great does on his free time, either. NONE of it should matter, yet I've seen 5 links from AHB ripping Palin's every move. Who cares, besides everyone trying to rip her to shreds for everything she does. For the record, I do not support Palin - she needs to go away - but if the liberals keep looking for every ounce of activity from this woman, they obviously view her as a threat.

QUOTE (KipWellsFan @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 01:05 PM) Important global effect too. "Whoa, America's actually doing something now? I guess we have to now..." You're naive as hell if you think that the Chicomms will just roll over and do things "because America's doing it" - just as an example.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 01:37 PM) Which is exactly right, because when he first started getting going, he used to do exactly that, until he figured out what sold. Exactly. He's a blowhard now, for that very reason. Although, when he wants to, he can get into a pretty good policy discussion. That's almost never. Which is kind of funny... think about it - politicians as a whole can't talk about their own policies either - because they don't have to. They just dumb it down for the 15 second sound bite - it's the only thing that Americans seem to be able to digest.

You're misunderstanding what I'm saying, I think. INSURANCE should be something that's turned over to individuals. The tax breaks that employers get, individuals could get. Re: employers and that "bump in pay" - yea right. But really, your care is determined by your employer. Is that right? So is all health care the same? This is so complex, but ANYONE (yea, AHB) that thinks a single payor system is the right thing to do has some serious educating of themselves that they need to do. It's pretty common sensible. You want ONE SINGLE option when it comes to health care? And here's a thought: you pro-choice people ought to be ashamed. You want women to have the right to choose what they do with their bodies - yet you want the government to tell you what to do with it? That's a pretty slippery slope you're going down. I'm not trying to belittle a pro-choice person - I'm just trying to point out the obvious problems with government takeover of a health care system.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 09:39 AM) For those fearful Obama is going to jam a public option down your throat, or is it up your ass?: Right. He's just SOOOOOO truthful. He's going to come right out and say, hell ya, I'm taking away insurance! His own administration, and HE HIMSELF say that they believe in a single payor system. And now, they are going away from that? Bulls***. Of course they are going to say that, it's the only way it will pass.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 07:56 AM) Yeah I wouldn't be opposed to it too much just b/c it would assure she won't run in 2016. Unless Obama royally f***s up he's in office for 8 years anyways. Well, he's on his way to "royally f***ing up" right now, but with that said, the Republicans have nothing - which is pathetic.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 08:50 AM) Just as often Europe is used as the example for what not to be (i.e. a socialist hellhole), also without any caveat. And Canada's problems are usually exaggerated for political purposes here. Their healthcare system is far from being the nightmare it's made out to be. Sure there's anecdotal examples of inefficiency or occasional failure but for every one of those you can probably come up with 3 or 4 here. When people from Europe tell me how much better it is here, then I tend to believe it. And it's more then "anecdotal" when so many people come here for their treatment of serious ailments. If you have a sinus infection, I'm sure that the system is fine to get a script of antibiotics.

Take the decisions out of the employers hands and give it back to the individual. That would help immensely.

http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...355#entry229355 This was during the whole A-Roid maybe coming to the Sox fiasco in 2003.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 09:28 PM) That seems like a great point. But I wonder if those uninsured are simply using the ER instead of a less costly clinic. Perhaps the system will see only a slight increase in patients, but a huge drop in uncollected treatments. There is absolutely no way that we do not have MASSIVE wait times. There's too much of a shortage CURRENTLY - let alone when we "flood the system" (right) with all these new people (which they admit ALREADY that they can't get insured until past 2012 anyway!!!!). So why are they doing this again? To get uninsured people on the insurance plans? Riiiiiiiiiiight. Oh, to control costs? Yea, because they've done SO well on Medicare. The only way they get costs in line to Medicare (again, they admit this) is to cut the s*** out of the services offered. But it doesn't matter, they're all old and going to die anyway, so f*** 'em, who needs 'em?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 06:28 PM) Because quite frankly it's not. We spend 2x as much as everyone else and produce the same or worse overall results. It really is that simple. We're paying so much that our system should be the envy of the world and the only people it works well for are the really well off. Oh. I guess I'm "really well off". I have a household income of way below the poverty level now. There's no way in hell I want my government taking over my insurance in any way shape or form. And every liberal blog is going to find a way to statistically tell you that our health care system sucks. Of course!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 06:11 PM) That's exactly the point of a government plan, scale produces economies. That's why we allow all those mergers, remember? It will not work like you think it will (or should I say being led to believe that it will). I should clarify my above post. The biggest difference between here and France/Holland - yea, for every day stuff, it's "OK" according to some of my past co-workers. But ANYTHING life threatening and of urgent need, you're screwed. Not to mention, there's caps and restrictions on all payments. The "secondary" insurance is not that great - high deductubles, etc. - way higher then even the "bad" plans here. I don't know why it's so hard to say that this system is the best in the world, yes it's screwed up and needs some reform, but government is NOT the answer. I have a prediction - this "government plan" is going to be "compromised" and "dropped" so that the Dems can say, SEE WE'RE GIVING SOMETHING. In its place will be rules and laws that in effect does the same thing. Watch - that trojan horse is coming.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 06:04 PM) Switching topics, here's another look at global health systems and how much better France and the Netherlands do at health care than us. Good read. Somehow they manage to avoid doing exactly what 2k5 says is unavoidable. First of all, you have to remember scale. Second of all, some of this stuff is pure bunk re: France. And I know it well, because I worked for a French company and I know what they did over there. There's a hell of a lot of expats over here, and they said our system is night and day better, so I will believe them, not some journalist f***tard who wants to make sure he gets called on in the next Obama press conference.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 05:59 PM) That's the biggest part of the problem. They'll just pass on the costs of those inefficiencies to the half of the country that actually still pays taxes, meanwhile putting those companies out of business by "lower" costs artificially. Right. Not to mention businesses will drop the insurance because the tax write-off will go away. Not to mention that the acceptance of plans will be dictated by the government anyway. Not to mention - oh forget it, government all the way baby, much like the stimulus, it's the only thing big enough to fix the problem. "Do I look fat in this dress???"