StrangeSox

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 11:27 PM) Saying we don't have a free market system currently is the same as sayign we don't have free speech because you can't yell fire in a theater, or that you don't have freedom of religion because a principal is going to jail for praying in school. Also, BULLs***. He's going to jail for being in contempt of court.

[...]-wing is usually used in a derogatory manner. It would have been better to say "conservative" or "libertarian" imo because those don't contain the negative connotations.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 04:51 PM) Um, that wasn't what I said at all... But between you and Balta, the circular logic to justify the loss of another freedom is scary. How is it a loss of a freedom? It'll be just like the current wonderful system that's so full of freedom and choice. Hate the government plan your employer provides? Just switch jobs! It's easy! Or get affordable private insurance. There are very high switching costs for health care insurance customers. This severely limits forces on the industry to provide better service and lower costs. Like I said a page or two ago, I'd be in favor of my company paying me more, getting rid of the health insurance benefit and being able to choose from a variety of plans. Because of a variety of reasons, that's just not a realistic option in today's system.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 03:18 PM) Are you really telling me that with the option of changing to something completely cheaper and less work for them, that most private corporations won't drop their private plans and force their employees into government plans? You really don't believe in profit motivation this much dispite the obvious economic history's shown all over the place? Thank you. There is not choice in the current system. This was just a roundabout way of having you make that point for me.

QUOTE (T R U @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 01:58 PM) I don't get whats with all the hate for Brett Favre.. If he wants to play, whats the big deal.. You're only upset he went to the Vikings It's the crying, fake soap-opera, fake-retiring and drama around it year after year after year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 12:49 PM) A couple points in reply: 1. The government, at the state level in particular, really ought to be smarter about where it allows housing developments to go up. A number of them are just asking for wildfire destruction. Or landslide destruction. 2. The government often mandates things that are done in an effort to insure against those calamities. Building codes against earthquakes, lahar alarms, levee systems, etc. 3. What area of the country isn't subject to potential serious disaster? Especially if you include floods and droughts and tornadoes. Montana?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 12:48 PM) three of those things derive a large amount of their business from the federal government. The other one exists because the federal version of its product is amongst the worst in the industrialized world. There are some absolutely top-notch public universities that have higher-ranked programs than the Ivy League schools. Why hasn't U of I or UC Berkeley driven Harvard's engineering department into non-existence? It's offered at a fraction of the cost and its a better program.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 12:41 PM) They won't exist after the government Wal-Marts them out of existance. Then Obama gets his single payer plan, just like he wanted all along. Why hasn't the government Wal-marted UPS, FedEx, private schools, private military contractors (eg Blackwater) etc out of business?

You have the Freedom! and choice!!! to pick from that wide variety of awesome, affordable private plans. Then you won't be fined or be part of the evil Government Option of Doom.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 10:55 AM) And zero percent will be able to opt out of government care. That is not better. We're not in Canada. Stop arguing against things that don't exist and aren't being proposed.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 10:54 AM) Not me, I would rather see him stay healthy and play poorly and put the Vikings in a real uncomfortable position. (In fact, I think this is a realisitc possability.) I don't really see Sage or Taveras stepping up and not sucking.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 10:39 AM) There's always an excuse. I know. I'm employed with what seems to be pretty decent insurance. I'm not making excuses, I'm pointing out where your argument falls apart. The freedom!!! to choose your health insurance comes from seriously disrupting your career and life by changing jobs (if you can change jobs in the current climate) or from paying out the ass. That's not exactly a lot of choice. Honestly, I'd rather we reform health care, lower costs, have employers pay employees more instead of giving insurance and then I can actually choose my own plan. I don't have a problem with a government option because I don't buy the rhetoric that it'll drive private companies out of business. I don't buy it because that hasn't happened in countless other industries with a "government option." QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 10:42 AM) I wouldn't call treatment for illness the equivalent to a cruise, or even a 401k. At some point, every one is going to need treatment for something. And there should be a way to make that happen without bankrupting the patient - either before or after the case. In the last four years, I have been able to afford health insurance for just 18 months in the last four years. When I lived in New York state, I was unable to find a plan to accept me for any health insurance whatsoever for less than $450 a month. I just didn't have that flexibility in my paycheck. For whatever you may think about a public option (personally I prefer a parallel single payer system, similar to what France has) I think we do need to see a few changes to health insurance regulations to make it easier for the consumer and also more useful for them. I think the idea of insisting on covering pre-existing conditions is important, as is banning retroactively dropping coverage or not covering treatment that doctors view to be necessary. Also, coverage portability is important too. You shouldn't have your coverage prove to be unusable because you move from New Jersey to New York. (Not because of doctors in the system, but because certain kinds of plans aren't operable in certain states.) There should be a uniform standard of what kinds of medical insurance can be sold federally. No. Cancer treatment or surgery is exactly equivalent to luxury cruises.

Except for the giant recession. that kinda limits your choice.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 10:16 AM) Why would you decline health insurance that is esentially "free" from your job? It's not a fiscally smart decision. That's the point. You don't have a fiscally smart decision to make in the current system. You take whatever your company offers or you pay out the ass.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 09:46 AM) Except that there is no monopoly. As was stated earlier in this thread, there are tons of other companies out there. For most professionals, health care coverage is part of your compensation. My company won't give me cash in lieu of forgoing those benefits. Essentially, to switch, I'd be taking a pay cut and having to turn around and spend a few hundred a month.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 09:33 AM) If all taxation is theft, therefor there should be NO taxation, how does he propose we... pay the president? pay congress? What will he say when his local roads are nothing but gravel with deep potholes? Who will he call when his house is broken into or is on fire? Private corporations can always take care of you better than government. Government is a failure at everything and private enterprise results in unbridled success and better conditions for everyone. /libertardianism That's just the extreme, anarchist form of libertarianism. There's also the small-government variety.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Aug 17, 2009 -> 08:26 PM) My thoughts exactly.

lulz at libertardians.

and when its a monopoly, you can't leave the private corporation if you want that service.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 09:21 AM) You can leave a private corporation. Under this plan, you can't leave the government. Sure you can, unless you're sliding down the slippery slope of "it'll eliminate all non-government options!". They aren't promoting single-payer or NHS-style systems. If they drop a public option, it'll essentially become a slightly-right-of-center bill. So much for "the most liberal government ever!" ramming through communism/socialism.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 09:21 AM) Asserting 2A rights is fine by me, but how about a little coherence? What the f*** are you actually protesting? Pick one, damn. Like the various liberal/ dem protests during the Bush admin., its a disjointed group with many little factions all with their own views on what's really important.

The 2nd is as valid as the 1st.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 17, 2009 -> 10:54 PM) I never made any judgements about what freedoms were worth more than others. As a matter of a fact, I was the only one to mention the things that no one talks about. Is it really freedom to be beholden to a private corporation instead of a government you at least have a vote in?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 17, 2009 -> 11:58 AM) There is a difference between things done in a purposeful manner, and those done on accident. He purposefully drove while intoxicated.

I loved the first 70% or so of District 9, but it really seemed to shift gears and just turn into a sci-fi action movie for the last 45 minutes. Not bad, just not as good as the rest.