Health Care--Do you agree or disagree

9/4/2009 10:04:35 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
becque Flushing, NY 56, joined Feb. 2008	No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick. Meet singles at DateHookup.dating, we're 100% free! Join now!
9/4/2009 11:14:21 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
walter555 Albuquerque, NM 60, joined May. 2009
9/6/2009 8:33:33 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	Quote from becque: No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick. Pretty simple concept that I think most Americans would agree with, but when we try to implement a fair plan, everyone making a profit off health care comes in and gum up the works.....these people who came to town hall meetings to protect against any change are just ignorant pawns of the the people making money hand over fist from rationing out expensive, largely ineffective health care to Americans.
9/6/2009 10:58:22 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
coolchick Woodway, TX 64, joined Nov. 2006	The question was: "Health Care--Do you agree or disagree": I sure do agree with getting health care. Without health care, people's lives may be shortened - and sometimes made miserable from conditions or disabilities that go untreated. The United States is the only industrialized nation on the planet that does not have universal health care for all citizens.
9/6/2009 1:53:34 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
r2d21 Suttons Bay, MI 68, joined Jul. 2009	The USA is about a hundred years behind the rest of the world. All one needs to do is to step outside the USA to see the future. I just hope these last century people living in this country wake up before the USA ends up last in the world in everything. But, that'll never happen. We're well on our way to last place in quality of health care, education, productivity, etc. You name it, we're pretty much in last place. We're also the largest debtor nation in the world. This country should have had universal health care fifty years ago. I'd say our biggest problem is educating the next generation. Maybe they can clean up the mess left for them. If they can recognize the problems, they can fix them. If not, history will record the USA as having once been a great country brought down from within by the usual mistakes like greed and dishonesty and lack of concern for its people.
9/6/2009 3:20:18 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
coolchick Woodway, TX 64, joined Nov. 2006	r2d2. I agree our biggest problems are greed and I'd add indifference. There's too much attitude of: "I want mine, the hell with yours". So many of our "greatest generation" are passing on. They knew the importance and rewards of shared sacrifice and helping the less fortunate.
9/6/2009 4:03:36 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
zorro932 Middle River, MD 57, joined Jun. 2009	I'm also for health care. I work in COBRA administration and I see the high premiums and how they destroy families. They also serve to ration care; people who are ill with Cancer or another catastrophic illness can never afford the coverage for long once they go on COBRA, and usually end up having to drop the coverage. I really hope the democrats fight for this bill; at minimum we need to guarantee coverage for people with a life threatening illness.
9/7/2009 3:40:41 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
walter555 Albuquerque, NM 60, joined May. 2009	Cobra quoted me $1500 a month for my family.
9/7/2009 9:35:48 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
coolchick Woodway, TX 64, joined Nov. 2006	Zorro and Walter. Under the Health Care Reform bill at present, there will be changes to COBRA, to reduce the premiums. Let's hope that stays in the bill, and that we do get a reform bill passed. My union, the American Federation of Government Employees, fully supports the President's health care reform agenda. I'm banking my money on it. We cannot do nothing, for that would be like fiddling while Rome burns.
9/9/2009 12:56:40 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
blonde01 Omaha, NE 55, joined Jul. 2008	I had a friend who died a few weeks ago. She was working full time supporting her 2 sons by herself but couldn't afford the employers insurance. She was on medicaid but got a .25 cents an hour raise 2 weeks before she died which put her over the top so medicaid was cancelled. She wasn't feeling good but couldn't afford to go to the doctor. Then she had a heart attack so it's all over now. I wish I could actually read the bill. I don't want to give an opinion on it since I don't know what's in it. If anyone knows where to find it to read it let us know please. I do know I surely wish my friend had been able to go to the doctor.
10/31/2009 8:13:46 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
winxi Saint Louis, MO 57, joined Oct. 2009	Agree.
10/31/2009 9:52:17 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
d_voted Winnipeg, MB 64, joined Sep. 2008	Canada and many other countries have had medicare coverage for decades. There are problems with the advancing technologies and the expenses incurred with those. Regions should be divided not by state but by reasonalbe accesibility to main centers. The large and expensive equipement must be utilized equitably by locating them in jurisdictions that can keep them busy. In Alberta, full fledged hospitals were erected in all the small towns - even the ones who were half an hour from a major center. Clinics and emergency departments should have been placed there. Now there is a staff shortage because the building is already there and the facility cannot be staffed with the resources available. Alberta was extremely right wing in its poitics since the fifties. Infrastructure, of highways and public transportation, are required to expand along with clean water and global warming research and development. Health care is an investment that will pay of ten or twenty years from now but NOT in the next quarter of a year. Realizing this and not imagining it to be on a 'business' model might help. Good luck you guys. YOu have lots of our mistakes and other countries mistakes to avoid so it seems you are well positionsed to do a better job. D
11/1/2009 12:12:48 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
coolchick Woodway, TX 64, joined Nov. 2006	Hey, the public option is not dead! That's good news. I don't like the idea of leaving it up to the individual states to have a choice of not instituting the public option. I think it should be available for every American, regardless of what state they live in. States with radical right-wing governors will probably say no to allowing the public option. That includes my state, Texas.
11/2/2009 4:45:08 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
danguitarman Redding, CA 63, joined Aug. 2007	I'm sorry to disappoint you CoolChick, but the public option is designed to be rather limited in its application. I agree with you and I'd like to see public health insurance offered to anyone who wants to buy it, just like federal flood insurance is. But the Congress and the President are committed to preserving the private insurance industry and will not compete with private insurers for people who are covered by group insurance through their employer. The public option will be limited to individual coverage (not group) and very small firms like the self-employed. I'm not knocking it. Its a big improvement. I was self-employed most of my life and it would have been great for me and my family. But the rest of the "reform" is actually "reform" which will make the private insureres act more in line with the public interest; and will also make large employers give health insurance to their workers. [Edited 11/2/2009 4:49:07 AM ]
11/2/2009 4:51:19 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
danguitarman Redding, CA 63, joined Aug. 2007	Isn't Texas withdrawing from the Union anyway?
11/2/2009 8:21:50 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
coolchick Woodway, TX 64, joined Nov. 2006	Right you are, Dan, it looks like the public option is going to be a watered-down version. It's a very tough go against the interests of the insurance companies. But, I agree some public option is better than no public option. You gotta take what you can get - when you can get it. As far as Texas leaving the union, we have our fair share of nut-cases down here - but they are still in the minority on that issue (thank God). I wish the nuts would secede themselves on out of the U.S., but methinks they like their American benefits too well to leave. They just like to blow out a lot of hot air.
11/4/2009 5:50:46 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
zorro932 Middle River, MD 57, joined Jun. 2009	If my memory serves, there was a provision in annexation treaty which brought Texas into the union, that provided for the state, if it wished to, to break up into five smaller states. I can't imagine it happening but technically it is possible.
11/4/2009 8:15:46 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
coolchick Woodway, TX 64, joined Nov. 2006	I believe you're right, zorro. Now, what sense would it make to break up into a bunch of smaller states? That would kind of dilute the power, ya think?
11/4/2009 8:22:20 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
liberal08 Spring, TX 65, joined Feb. 2007	When my COBRA runs out, unless I have employer sponsored healthcare, I will not have an option. Pre-existing conditions deny me coverage. I need a public choice.
11/5/2009 6:15:45 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
zorro932 Middle River, MD 57, joined Jun. 2009	Quote from coolchick: I believe you're right, zorro. Now, what sense would it make to break up into a bunch of smaller states? That would kind of dilute the power, ya think? Hey coolchick It would delute the Republican power...Austin could be the Democratic State!
11/7/2009 11:06:37 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	My former lawyer and friend got into some personal litigation and his business suffered greatly several years back....He went from 150K per year to less than 50K. Long story short was he couldn't afford health care insurance and he avoided going to the doctor cause he couldn't afford treatment...he died a week ago of colon cancer.
11/7/2009 11:15:30 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
zorro932 Middle River, MD 57, joined Jun. 2009	About one hour ago, Nancy Pelosi announced that the Health Care Bill had passed, and thus History has been made. The Senate will be a harder road to hoe, but I think a bill will get through both houses; watered down no doubt, but it will be a lifeline to a lot of people who don't have any hope now. As I work in COBRA administration and listen to people every day who cannot afford the premiums, I am very happy to have seen this happen. I also think that maybe just this once, the right wing nuts have pushed things a bit to far and for all of their screaming they may just have blown it; let's hope so.
11/8/2009 6:25:20 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
danguitarman Redding, CA 63, joined Aug. 2007	Coolchick, one of those nut cases is you governor! I've heard different numbers on how many Americans die each year because they aren't getting treatment that would save their lives because they don't have health insurance. That means HOW MANY AMERICANS DIE EVERY YEAR BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE. President Obama said in a speech yesterday, that 18,000 is the number. That is the LOWEST number that I have heard. The reform is not just to save money and improve the system. This will SAVE LIVES of thousands of Americans who are dying every year because our system is so bad right now. Its really unconscionable to vote against it. [Edited 11/8/2009 6:27:58 AM ]
11/8/2009 1:30:37 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	I suspect that if states are given a opt-in as opposed to an opt-out option, all southern states plus states like Oklahoma, Utah and Idaho will never pass bills making it available to their citizens. I wish I could be optimistic on passage of a real health care bill for all that actually makes a difference in people lives, but I think there are just too many people, to many politicians that view any government involvement in their lives as something that diminishes their own personal freedom. It doesn't matter that people living in states like Alabama, that if you want health insurance you have to get it through BCBS. It doesn't matter that you have to pay a $1500 a month to cover a family of four. It doesn't matter that you can be turned down for health insurance for pre-existing conditions. None of that matters in states like Alabama. All that matters to people in states like Alabama is that government doesn't have a chance to impose a bigger tax burden on me - even if it benefits me in the long run to have more options.
11/8/2009 1:39:30 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	Quote from zorro932: If my memory serves, there was a provision in annexation treaty which brought Texas into the union, that provided for the state, if it wished to, to break up into five smaller states. I can't imagine it happening but technically it is possible. My apologies to CoolChick...but tongue in cheek, I wish Texas would succeed from the Union....the Mexican American War (worst war in U.S. history other than Vietnam and Iraq), LBJ and GW Bush have given me my fill of Texas! Not that Alabamians are not cut from the same branch, but it is interesting and disconcerting that whenever something comes out of Texas - the country pays big time.
11/9/2009 6:54:10 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
coolchick Woodway, TX 64, joined Nov. 2006	Dan, you don't have to rub it in that my Texas Governor "Good Hair" is a nut. Many of us are hoping he doesn't get re-elected. Idlehour, now wait a minute (your assessment of LBJ). He was a bit "oily", but he had much to do with getting the Civil Rights Act and Medicare passed. His "Great Society" programs were geared to benefit average working folks, and the under-privileged.
11/10/2009 6:02:24 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
danguitarman Redding, CA 63, joined Aug. 2007	Coolchick, The good that LBJ did is so far outweighed by the bad that I agree strongly with our friend from Alabama that the two worst Presidents in U.S. history were the only two from Texas. As far as breaking up Texas into five states goes: Who in their right mind wants to see eight more U.S. Senators from Texas? Not me. I wanted to enter the thread about prosecuting GWB for the war in Iraq but I got too emotional about it. I WANT TO SEE LBJ PROSECUTED FOR THE VIETNAM WAR! I don't care that he's dead. The attack on a U.S. warship in the Gulf of Tonkin that was used to get authorization for the war WAS A HOAX!!! DID LBJ KNOW THAT IT WAS A HOAX? I'd really like to know the answer to that question. Its kind of hard to imagine that he did not know. (Sorry if I'm off topic here.)
11/11/2009 4:41:03 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
walter555 Albuquerque, NM 60, joined May. 2009
11/12/2009 6:53:42 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	Quote from coolchick: Dan, you don't have to rub it in that my Texas Governor "Good Hair" is a nut. Many of us are hoping he doesn't get re-elected. Idlehour, now wait a minute (your assessment of LBJ). He was a bit "oily", but he had much to do with getting the Civil Rights Act and Medicare passed. His "Great Society" programs were geared to benefit average working folks, and the under-privileged. I agree with you on Civil Rights and Medicare - it's hard to imagine what life would be today without that legislation...but you have to admit Cool Chick, LBJ was totally out of touch with respect to Vietnam...and that screw-up will most likely trump any good he ever did in most everyones mind as Guitarman alluded too. [Edited 11/12/2009 6:54:34 PM ]
11/12/2009 7:08:00 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	Quote from danguitarman: Isn't Texas withdrawing from the Union anyway? Hehe, although it would require me to move, I think all the original confederate states should succeed....its hard being a progressive in the south
11/13/2009 11:11:30 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
winxi Saint Louis, MO 57, joined Oct. 2009	Quote from coolchick: Hey, the public option is not dead! That's good news. I don't like the idea of leaving it up to the individual states to have a choice of not instituting the public option. I think it should be available for every American, regardless of what state they live in. States with radical right-wing governors will probably say no to allowing the public option. That includes my state, Texas. I don't like it being a state option either. I think Obama's original plan for it was a good one. Now...it's been watered down so much.
11/13/2009 11:54:41 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
boo2y Dunlap, TN 67, joined Jul. 2009	I followed this right up until the dems vote on it and I still have no clue what the dang plan includes or excludes any more. I worry it will be so watered down it won't be much of a plan at all in the end and since Obama is not consistent in saying what he wants to see in it, I don't know what is going to happen. I given up even listening in the past week or so. Hey Winx are we even going to be able to have a look at it before it passes? Though if it's all legal speak I probably won't know what the heck its saying anyway.. argh.
11/14/2009 12:02:34 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
winxi Saint Louis, MO 57, joined Oct. 2009	I don't know, Boo. It's all getting so confusing to me.
11/14/2009 3:20:21 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
danguitarman Redding, CA 63, joined Aug. 2007	If you guys are confused about what the bill would do; the next time that Obama gives a speech about it MAYBE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO HIM! I listened and I'm not confused. The bill will expand Medicaid coverage so that people who get a raise at work won't loose their Medicaid. It will compel insurance companies to take all comers instead of excluding people with pre-existing conditions. It will set up a public insurance plan which will compete with private insurers but only for individual coverage. The public plan will not be available for employers or groups, only for individuals and the self-employed. The bill will make large employers (based on total payroll) provide health insurance to their employees. This means even at lower paying jobs. The bill will provide subsidies in the form of tax credits to people with low incomes who pay for health insurance. (I think its up to $44,000 income for the tax credit.) Those are all good, right? The bad parts are in the paying for it. The House bill puts an income tax surcharge of about 5 per cent on individuals with incomes over $500.000 amd couples over one million dollars. That will leave those tax levels STILL LOWER than before George W. Bush's tax cut for the wealthy. The bill will also cut Medicare payments to health care providers by about 21 per cent. I think that is a major major drag and it bums me out. But I still want the bill to pass.
11/14/2009 5:23:18 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
zorro932 Middle River, MD 57, joined Jun. 2009	Remember, Presidents going all the way back to Teddy Roosevelt (during his Progressive Party run) have been trying to pass National Health Insurance. Harry Truman made a major push. JFK really wanted it; his bouts with illness during childhood and again after PT109 (which made his earlier back injury much worse) were fresh in his mind and he pushed the Senate quietly on the issue. LBJ did succeed in getting Medicare passed. Ted Kennedy was able to get some additions in over the years, S-CHIP and COBRA being the big ones and also the Family Medical Leave Act. I know the bill will be watered down, but if we can get even a small public option here that will make it easier in the future to finally get the full bill through both houses. It may be awhile yet but once you get a beginning with legislation you can make a further push later.
11/14/2009 5:55:10 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
danguitarman Redding, CA 63, joined Aug. 2007	I wanted to vote for Dennis Kucinich so we could get MEDICARE FOR EVERYONE. But, as Obama is fond of saying, we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
11/14/2009 11:27:38 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
winxi Saint Louis, MO 57, joined Oct. 2009	Danguitarman, Excuse me? Maybe I should listen to him? I have. I read about it too. I've also been to two health care rallies. What he wanted and what the House wanted were two different things. It was a constantly changing issue. [Edited 11/14/2009 11:29:39 PM ]
11/16/2009 5:27:19 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	Harvard University recently conducted a hospital study that found that traumatic injury patients without health insurance were twice as likely to die as traumatic injury patients with health insurance. Just another study that proves the hypocritical republican's are more interested in sustaining fat health care profits by insurance companies than they are in preventing needless hospital deaths.
11/16/2009 5:42:35 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	Quote from zorro932: Remember, Presidents going all the way back to Teddy Roosevelt (during his Progressive Party run) have been trying to pass National Health Insurance. Harry Truman made a major push. JFK really wanted it; his bouts with illness during childhood and again after PT109 (which made his earlier back injury much worse) were fresh in his mind and he pushed the Senate quietly on the issue. LBJ did succeed in getting Medicare passed. Ted Kennedy was able to get some additions in over the years, S-CHIP and COBRA being the big ones and also the Family Medical Leave Act. I know the bill will be watered down, but if we can get even a small public option here that will make it easier in the future to finally get the full bill through both houses. It may be awhile yet but once you get a beginning with legislation you can make a further push later. I agree Zorro that something is much better than nothing, but the iron is hot and President Obama has it in his power to get a full public option passed through both houses of congress through reconciliation, and I think not passing a robust public option now will come back to haunt democrats. Do it piece meal and it could take 20-30 years for a true public option to become available. The question is does President Obama want people to speak his name in the same breath as Lincoln and FDR, or does he want them to speak his name just when they are referring to the first black president? It's Obama's choice whether he wants to write his name in greatness, or for history to lament what things might have been? [Edited 11/16/2009 5:45:13 PM ]
11/16/2009 6:59:40 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
zorro932 Middle River, MD 57, joined Jun. 2009	I hope he does push to get it through the Senate. It's just that the rules of the Senate allow for Senators to go on forever unless cloture can be invoked. Joe Lieberman has already said he'll vote with the Republicans on this one which could keep a filibuster going on for a long time. If this doesn't get him kicked out of the Democratic party only God knows what will. Obama does have the advantage of being an ex-Senator which means he knows the problems of getting such a bill passed. Hopefully behind the scenes he's doing some arm twisting.
11/17/2009 6:25:00 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
danguitarman Redding, CA 63, joined Aug. 2007	Every morning I eat my turkey sausages and I love them. They say that if you ever saw sausages being made that you'd never eat one again. Laws can be a lot like sausages. The finished product can be very good, or very bad; but watching the process by which the law is made is always a sickening experience. We are watching this process with very unusual scrutiny. It HAS to look ugly and confusing. But that is the process. The finished product may be a great achievement with a real world positive impact for millions of Americans. I think we all agree that we want a health insurance reform bill to become law, with a public option and an employer mandate. I think we all agree on that. Don't we?
11/17/2009 8:42:15 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	Quote from zorro932: I hope he does push to get it through the Senate. It's just that the rules of the Senate allow for Senators to go on forever unless cloture can be invoked. Joe Lieberman has already said he'll vote with the Republicans on this one which could keep a filibuster going on for a long time. If this doesn't get him kicked out of the Democratic party only God knows what will. Obama does have the advantage of being an ex-Senator which means he knows the problems of getting such a bill passed. Hopefully behind the scenes he's doing some arm twisting. Cloture requires 60 votes as you mentioned...but the Reconciliation process (I assure you Rahm Emanuel, President Obama and every other senator are well aware of the senate rule) one that suspends senate cloture rules and only requires 50 + 1. It is a seldom used process, but one that has been used to pass important legislation in the past that would never have passed under cloture rules....In fact Bush used it to pass his tax cuts while he was in office. I don't completely understand under what circumstances it can be invoked, but I want to say it is if whatever bill that is being consider will not increase the national debt after a 10 year period. A few democrat senators have suggested that it be used. Follow the link and this might shed a little light on the Reconciliation process... http://keithhennessey.com/2009/08/05/what-is-reconciliation/ [Edited 11/17/2009 8:50:36 PM ]
11/17/2009 9:31:58 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	A better explanation of Reconciliation.... http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_fifty_vote_senate
11/19/2009 1:25:20 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
danguitarman Redding, CA 63, joined Aug. 2007	Harkin says that Lieberman will not block the vote. He also says that Reid has done a great job getting the caucus to stand united to get the vote and avoid reconciliation. If its true, and Lieberman's actions contradict his public statements, it'll be a great victory for the Democrats, for Reid, for Obama, and for the country.
11/19/2009 7:40:03 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	That is great news....and it sounds like a cloture vote will be held very soon...let's hope that a public option with at least an opt out is in the final bill for a majority vote in the Senate and House. This is ground breaking....and once passed, its time to get to work getting America back to work!
11/20/2009 1:02:42 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
danguitarman Redding, CA 63, joined Aug. 2007
11/21/2009 8:02:47 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
slapstick_37 Minneapolis, MN 62, joined Nov. 2009	I work in healthcare, and I totally agree with idlehour that the biggest opponents and lobbyists of any good healthcare reform are those insurance companies. They make record profits every year, and their main mission is to deny claims. We work very, very hard to submit clean, accurate claims, only to have them denied for the most asinine reasons. The US has created a billing monster, and it is damn near impossible to stay on top of the changes. ICD9s, HCPCs, modifiers, qualifiers, 837 files, loops and segments, not medically necessary, you name it.....they'll use it as a reason for a denial. Those money-hungry grubbers will have to answer to a higher power someday - and it won't be a Bible-thumping Conservative!
11/24/2009 8:43:35 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	I was encouraged the last few days that maybe real health care reform was in the offering, but reality struck back and I now think this president and this democratic congress will cave and all we will get is some half baked bill that the insurance companies will love....heck, the overall stock market the last few days has been going down while health insurance stocks have been going up significantly...what does that tell you? As much as we progressive hate to admit it, and as much as I hate to say it, but this president is one big disappointment...nothing that he has done has shown me that he is the change agent that he ran for office on....in fact, everything he has done with respect to health care reform and the war in Afghanistan is indicative of a very weak, complacent president more worried about re-election than implementing real and meaningful change for the betterment of the country.
11/25/2009 1:11:46 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
slapstick_37 Minneapolis, MN 62, joined Nov. 2009	How much of his complacency do you think is due to a "no matter what I try to do, there are roadblocks that can't be overcome" angst on his part? I cannot imagine trying to get things done in this country. Considering the mentality of my own office at times is more than I care to deal with!
11/25/2009 5:35:31 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	Quote from slapstick_37: How much of his complacency do you think is due to a "no matter what I try to do, there are roadblocks that can't be overcome" angst on his part? I cannot imagine trying to get things done in this country. Considering the mentality of my own office at times is more than I care to deal with! I would agree with that 99.9% of the time Slapstick...but for the first time in modern history, the democrats have a filibuster proof majority in the senate, and a 40-50 vote majority in the house. Granted they can only depend on 54 or 55 senators in the Senate to come through on truly ground breaking legislation, but thats all the republicans ever had when passing their tax cuts in the 80's and 00's. They understood that they couldn't get 60 senators to vote for anything, so they passed everything through the little use reconciliation process instead of forcing a cloture vote. They rammed it through on a 50 + 1 vote and thats how this president should do things too. So I say, forget the republicans, pass everything through reconciliation. We all know the republicans have used scare tactics to block any health care reform for decades for example, so it makes sense to ram that through and let the people decide after using it for a couple years whether it was the right move. I think people will realize all the republican scare tactics were just that and vote even more of them out of office. But if this president caves in and there is no public option with no price controls for pre-existing conditions, then the democrats will be voted out in 2010 in such huge numbers, it will make the thug Chief of Staff Rehm Emanuel's head spin. Just my opinion.
11/27/2009 10:14:06 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
pamela0324 Pasadena, MD 63, joined Nov. 2007	Agreed!
11/28/2009 4:47:44 AM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
danguitarman Redding, CA 63, joined Aug. 2007	Hey Idlehour and Pam, calm down. We got cloture! We got the public option! We got the employer mandate! We got the ban on exclusions for pre-existing conditions! Thanks to Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, we've even got a public option that will apply to more people than in the original bill proposed by Reid. (Wyden threatened not to vote for cloture unless the public option was expanded and Reid quickly agreed to the expansion.) Doesn't Obama deserve ANY CREDIT for this? I think he does! Who remembers when the public option was DEAD? I do! I think everyone is unhappy about the unemployment figures. I think the stimulus bill was not stimulating enough. What happened to all of those "shovel ready" jobs that we were promised? I think and I hope that a new perception is coming to the White House that there are STRUCTURAL problems with our economy, rather than cyclical problems. There should have been a whole lot more infrastructure spending as well as help for small businesses. But I think they've figured it out. And I think that Obama is a very smart and tough guy. Of course, if you really believe that John McCain would be doing a better job, then I guess you voted the wrong way!
12/2/2009 8:02:23 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	Of course, if you really believe that John McCain would be doing a better job, then I guess you voted the wrong way! Come on Guitarman, be nice, lol...we all know McCain is not even in this equation nor should he be....its about seeing to it that Obama man-up and get passed what the people and the politcal party that supported and got him elected expect and deserve. Granted Obama didn't campaign on universal health care with a public option, but the democratic party platform calls for it and he has said he supports the democratic platform. The iron is hot, the people and the party wants true healthcare reform and its closer to passage than its every been since Teddy Roosevelt first proposed it in 1912. I wouldn't be sure at all that the closure vote of two weeks ago is going to be the only closure vote required to get a public option in a final senate bill - in fact I knows it won't be. I continue to be very skeptical that a closure vote as opposed to a reconciliation vote will get true healthcare reform with even a minimal public option. Thus is the reason I feel democrats are not doing the party, its members and the american people any good by handling Obama with kid-gloves when its going to take a president with grit to get true healthcare reform. A cattle prod on Obama's backside is the only thing that will get Obama to step up and push him to become involved in this great struggle. [Edited 12/2/2009 8:04:42 PM ]
12/7/2009 7:22:24 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
bjlovely Madison, AL 63, joined Nov. 2009	I agree with ya all. Im a nurse and I could write a book on this subject.
12/7/2009 9:00:08 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009	Well you need to post more...it gets awfully quite in here lovely...
12/16/2009 1:07:27 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
walter555 Albuquerque, NM 60, joined May. 2009	THE DEVIL, THE GOP, AND HEALTHCARE
12/17/2009 5:10:48 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
danguitarman Redding, CA 63, joined Aug. 2007	Thank you Walter. That cartoon is very appropriate for this discussion. OBAMA IS NOT THE ENEMY OF HEALTHCARE REFORM!
12/19/2009 1:53:36 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
dreamin55 Virginia Beach, VA 59, joined Nov. 2008	Quote from zorro932: I'm also for health care. I work in COBRA administration and I see the high premiums and how they destroy families. They also serve to ration care; people who are ill with Cancer or another catastrophic illness can never afford the coverage for long once they go on COBRA, and usually end up having to drop the coverage. I really hope the democrats fight for this bill; at minimum we need to guarantee coverage for people with a life threatening illness. I have COBRA insurance for my daughter. Budgeting the money for this large expense is not easy. When I was searching around, I was getting quotes from 800 to over a thousand dollars, or in the case of one large company telling me they wouldn't cover me at all. I want health care reform, but I want it to be beneficial. At this point, I'm not sure what's in the bill. It's been reworked, rethought and while they are arguing, people are dying or going bankrupt because of greed.
12/20/2009 3:38:28 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
walter555 Albuquerque, NM 60, joined May. 2009	Quote from dreamin55: I have COBRA insurance for my daughter. Budgeting the money for this large expense is not easy. When I was searching around, I was getting quotes from 800 to over a thousand dollars, or in the case of one large company telling me they wouldn't cover me at all. I want health care reform, but I want it to be beneficial. At this point, I'm not sure what's in the bill. It's been reworked, rethought and while they are arguing, people are dying or going bankrupt because of greed. The quote I got for Cobra was over 1,200 bucks.
1/4/2010 8:29:41 PM	Health Care--Do you agree or disagree
idlehour Montgomery, AL 61, joined May. 2009

mega personal alternative

springfield mo hookups