Not Even a Peanut

[ElfBane]

Originally Posted by SpiritWarrior OMFG what a surname!

He doesn't pronounce out the 'Cock'. So it sounds like the actor..Coburn.

[DrowArchmage]

If it comes to that, then im going to jail.

I cant find another job, and i dont have shit for college money anymore. If i truly am forced to have health care, then i mind as well just go straight to jail because as of right now i cant afford it.

[Morgeruat]

Originally Posted by robertthebard Let me tell you what I do know about Obama. As somebody that lives on disability, and has Medicare/Medicaid to pay my prescription costs, getting a letter in the mail that my prescription costs will double next year is really nice. Where's that money going? I'd bet it's going to Health Insurance Reform. Now, my prescription costs, to date, won't cripple me, but I can't help thinking about all those little old couples that may pay out 5x as much as I do, and wondering how they are supposed to pay for that? We can gild the lily as much as we like, but that doesn't mean that there are serious issues concerning this reform, that won't be addressed. I'm lucky, I have Medicare and Medicaid. That fact means that I won't have to worry about facing a fine, or jail time because I can't afford health insurance. My neighbor across the way, with three kids they can barely keep fed may not be so lucky. So, if they pass this, and the parents end up in jail, who's taking care of their kids? You are, as tax payers. I don't make enough money on disability to pay taxes, so I won't have to pay for it, but this scenario will become common. It may not be an every day, week or month thing, but it will happen often enough that it will become an issue. The sad thing is, that it's still debated as Health Care reform, even though they aren't actually reforming health care, just insurance.

Interesting point... and one I hadn't considered before... in the USSR the orphans (which considering the population decimation of WWII was a very large group, proportionately) became wards of the state, they were indoctrinated and a great many of them were drafted directly into the KGB (easy to have a fanatically loyal group of followers when they've been forcefed your ideology and never allowed to question it or even acknowledge another side exists, see also Jannisaries)... I wonder if the legislation includes measures describing how those children recently become wards of the state are to be handled...

Or perhaps it will be the softer slavery of a life of welfare and reliance on the gubmint...

[robertthebard]

Just an "In all fairness" note here; I don't know if the fine/jail time options in the bill since the last time I tried to read it are in what was recently voted through one house and is being debated in the other one. What I do know is that nobody is addressing Health Care. They are legislating making somebody else richer by legislating Health Insurance. I didn't make a Word/Note Pad document of it, but a visit to the ER for my migraine shots costs me 750ish dollars. This includes up to 3 hours in the waiting room, waiting to be processed in, and up to an hour in the actual exam room, even though I have a history of getting these shots. They give me 2 shots, and make me have a ride home before they do. Fortunately, it's all covered on my Medicare/Medicaid.

It strikes me as odd that that isn't what they are addressing. Afterall an average middle class family, even with insurance, might still have to declare bankruptcy over medical expenses that insurance won't cover, for whatever reason. Not that the insurance industry is blameless, and doesn't have questionable practices, but I don't see how what's going on in Congress right now will address any of that either.

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by ElfBane He doesn't pronounce out the 'Cock'. So it sounds like the actor..Coburn.

Interesting trivia, I wouldn't have guessed. BTW I have a "difficult" last name myself so I only dish it like that because I can take it like that .


Reminds me of one of my high school Principals named... Richard Head. Thats no joke. :

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by ElfBane Cockburn has a long history of writing about semitism and anti-semitism. I have even read one of his books; Idle Passion: Chess and the Dance of Death. The book has a lot about former world chess champion (and renowned nutbar) Robert J. Fischer. I recommend reading it. As to Cockburn's other politics, he's pretty much a mixed bag. "Libertarian" comes closest IMO, though he would probably resist being tagged with that. I suspect that Felix was right about BO, however. I had hoped BO would rise above being a Chicago Machine Politician, but I don't guess he will. He's won the Peace Prize AND caught *leader-of-the-free-world-itis* so he has ALREADY become worried about his precious "legacy"! Why the hell do we always get stuck propping up corrupt regimes so the Halliburton's of the world can make their damn percentage??

I think you need to replace Haliburton with Citibank or Goldman Sachs.

Obama opponents let their rhetoric and hyperbole get in the way of any serious critique. It simple signal to noise ratio, keep adding to the noise and people tend to just hear static or turn you off. You can see this in the media when one single Rolling Stone Article does more to damn Obama than the entire efforts of rightwing media across all formats in the last year. And considering his opponent sold out to theocrats and authoritarians, Obama still remains the ironic lesser evil IMO.