This is hilarious. Who did this moron think was going to pay for it?
Lib-dem-Obama-loving morons are getting sticker-shock when they realize that they have to foot the bill for their idiot moral preening.
They thought it was just going to be the rest of us who had to pay for wrecking the healthcare system in the U.S..
They thought it was just going to be the rest of us who had to pay for wrecking the healthcare system in the U.S..
ReplyDeleteHahaha. The US healthcare system has been wrecked for a long time already. It's organized crime, pure and simple.
Why does Jesus hate America so much?
In what way is it "wrecked'?
DeleteEgnor, haven't you noticed that when a wealthy political or business figure (e.g., Steve Jobs) need advanced medical treatment, the first country they mention going to is the Netherlands?
DeleteAlso, it occurs to me that this year's three Nobel Prize winners in Medicine probably mentioned the Netherlands once in a passing conversation. The Netherlands have been a powerhouse in medical research, with a total of 2 Laureates in the 1920's.
DeleteBummer, turns out that Steve Jobs went to Switzerland for cancer treatment.
DeleteBut funny that you imply the quality of a country's health care system can be measured by the quality of care its richest citizens can afford - not the care delivered to all its citizens. Speaks volumes.
Actually, Steve Jobs received his liver transplant in Memphis TN.
DeleteIf the walls of James Eason’s $1 million home in a leafy Memphis neighborhood could talk, they’d tell the story of how Steve Jobs recuperated there in 2009 after the late Apple cofounder and CEO flew to Memphis for a liver transplant.
--- Daily Beast
And I "imply" nothing of the sort. I state openly that the quality of a country's health care can be measure by the desirability of obtaining care in that country, just as a good measure of the quality of a laptop computer or smartphone can be measured by its desirability in an open marketplace.
But I see your point. It's hard to argue with the quality of Dutch laptop computers, given their great reviews, worldwide market share, and customer demand.
Actually actually,
DeleteFortune has learned that Apple CEO Steve Jobs spent part of 2009 at a hospital in Basel, Switzerland seeking treatment for neuroendocrine cancer, which he had surgically treated in 2004.
But I see your point. It's hard to argue with the quality of Dutch laptop computers, given their great reviews, worldwide market share, and customer demand.
DeleteI'm pretty happy with my Taiwanese laptop. The chips of which were probably produced by Dutch machines (ASML)
Yes, I know. The 2004 surgery was not the liver transplant.
DeleteWhile York told me he didn't know exactly why Jobs and his doctors had sought medical care in Switzerland, it is the home for the world-renowned University Hospital of Basel, which has developed a special form of hormone-delivered radiotherapy to treat neuroendocrine cancer. The treatment isn't available in the U.S. (In April 2009, Jobs underwent his liver transplant at the Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Given the demands of transplant recovery and the timing of his return to Apple, it's likely he visited Basel before his transplant.)
--- Doron Levin, CNN Tech/Fortune
You really should read entire articles.
The Taiwanese make great stuff. In fact, they make almost all the floor woodworking tools in the world. My point was...
DeleteYou're missing my point, Admiral. I don't deny that many advanced medical procedures are developed in the US, although obviously not all, or Steve Jobs wouldn't have gone to Switzerland for part of his cancer treatment. The problem in the US is that health care is too expensive because there is no free market and not enough government regulation to protect the people from the local monopolist sharks. Insurance CEO's walk away with 'compensations' of tens of millions while millions go bankrupt because they cannot afford to pay their medical bills. Does that sound like a system Jesus would approve of?
DeleteHere is a good summary of the Dutch system. It is far from perfect, but far more decent than the current US system.
Troy: "Does that sound like a system Jesus would approve of?"
DeleteNo, it doesn't. It is a creature spawned by Progressive wage and price controls during WWII:
Employer-sponsored health insurance plans dramatically expanded as a direct result of wage controls imposed by the federal government during World War II.[18] The labor market was tight because of the increased demand for goods and decreased supply of workers during the war. Federally imposed wage and price controls prohibited manufacturers and other employers from raising wages enough to attract workers. When the War Labor Board declared that fringe benefits, such as sick leave and health insurance, did not count as wages for the purpose of wage controls, employers responded with significantly increased offers of fringe benefits, especially health care coverage, to attract workers
--- Wiki: Health insurance in the United States
It's a typical unintended consequence of Progressive fiddling with the economy. Nobody likes it. Nobody.
Although the Dutch system doesn't sound bad, I personally prefer the Singaporean system:
Singapore's system uses a combination of compulsory savings from payroll deductions to provide subsidies within a nationalized health insurance plan known as Medisave. Within Medisave, each citizen accumulates funds that are individually tracked, and such funds can be pooled within and across an entire extended family. The vast majority of Singapore citizens have substantial savings in this scheme. One of three levels of subsidy is chosen by the patient at the time of the healthcare episode.
A key principle of Singapore's national health scheme is that no medical service is provided free of charge, regardless of the level of subsidy, even within the public healthcare system. This mechanism is intended to reduce the overutilisation of healthcare services...
--- Wiki: Healthcare in Singapore
I'm enjoying the current story that the technical failure of the Obama Architecture is The People's Fault. As Brecht wryly noted after the 1953 East German debacle, "Would it not be easier in that case for the government to dissolve the people and elect another?"
ReplyDeleteOf course Obama Care is sub-optimal, it’s a Republican plan. Proposed by the Heritage Foundation as conservative alternative to Hillary Care, championed by Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and half of the Republicans in the Senate at the time, and implemented in Massachusetts by Mitt Romney to grease the skids to the Presidency, it was the Republican healthcare reform proposal until the moment Obama adopted it as his own.
ReplyDelete-KW
Let's not forget to mention it was passed in the dead of night, adorned with buyouts, special exemptions, and lard and without a single Republican vote.
DeleteOnly because the Republicans don’t negotiate in good faith. Many concessions where made in hopes of getting a Republican Senator to vote for it. When it became apparent that these “moderate Republicans” would vote against it anyway, the Dems should have gone back and fixed the parts they gutted. Republicans did everything they could to make the law as shitty as possible.
Delete-KW
Actually, I have a different explanation. Heritage proposed a plan, a few Republicans endorsed it, it died, and Democrats said "What a great idea!!!" Let's lard it up and pass it!"
DeleteBut KW, calling Obamacare the Heritage plan is just a talking point. If you actually read the Heritage plan, the main thing the plan has in common with Obamacare is the mandate... oops, sorry - tax. YOur comparison is like your comment that Muslims and Christians have a lot in common. :-)
Of course Muslims and Christians have a lot in common with each other and with adherents of Judaism. All three are Abrahamic faiths, three branches of the same tree.
DeleteHoo
Hydrogen peroxide and water have a lot in common, too. Both are hydrogen compounds.
DeleteWhich one do you want in your dinner glass?
There are obviously differences between the three Abrahamic faiths, crus. Nonetheless they are closer to each other than any of them is to other faiths, say, Hinduism or Buddhism. Surely you can't argue against that.
DeleteHoo
Hoo,
DeleteI guess that would depend on what you mean by 'close', Hoo. Theologically? Morally? Politically?
If we are talking about 'close' being something akin to theology (ie monotheistic, common/similar narratives, the 'roots' etc ) then I would agree there is a strong link. Christianity rose from Jewish culture and traditions and Islam is essentially a Christian Heresy.
But, if we are describing the whole picture, I don't think comparing the three major faiths is as easy as contrasting them.
Can we find common ground? Sure we can. We can also find profound differences. Issues like individual rights, free will, and tolerance create vast divides in how we live.
Can we agree to disagree? Just over 2/3 of the equation can, most of the time.
Hoots, close is a relative term. Why, to a Martian, the Moon is "close" to the Earth. To an ant, the Moon is "far". Think of it like this:
Delete"In case it escaped you, [close] means [the distance, D] is less than some other [D]_0. In order to make the argument, you have to (1) figure out what [D] is and (2) compare the number to [D]_0."
--- Hoots (9/21)
So why don't you quantify that for us? :-)
And while you're at it, tell us more about the views of John Calvin. Your claims are very entertaining.
I did, admiral. You are a little slow on the uptake.
DeleteHoo
crus: "Islam is essentially a Christian Heresy."
DeleteNo doubt. Likewise, in Judaism Jesus is viewed as a false messiah.
Hoo
And you're a little light on the term "quantify". What's your distance metric, D?
DeleteBy the way, Hoots... weren't you one of the guys who claimed Christianity was a Pagan religion (mebbe I should check on that m'self...)? If so, how does that fit into your multidimensional space?
DeleteNurse! Admiral is delusional.
DeleteHoo
Great answer.
DeletePar for the course.
DeleteHoo
Hoo,
Delete"No doubt. Likewise, in Judaism Jesus is viewed as a false messiah. "
Yes most certainly.
The Jews still hold out hope for a messiah.
They have varying degrees of opinion as to who Jesus was and what Christianity represents in that vein.
As an old Israeli colleague and friend of mine is fond of saying: '...put 5 Jews in a room and you will have 10 - no, 15 or 20 different opinions!'
Most Jews that I have come to know have been very modern, secular people. While they have been all over the place politically, they all seemed to view Christianity with a similar kind of cautious optimism.
I return that sentiment whole-heartedly.
I think if these faiths exhibit simple cultural courtesies and respect to another, they can easily get along and prosper together. This is also true of individual Muslims and Muslim families.
With Islam as a whole (ie the Muslim world), I am far less optimistic about any such arrangement in the immediate future - but not entirely without hope.
I think bridges could be built, but there would have to be real leadership. Real open, bold initiative taken. Throw out the PC and get to the red meat type stuff.
I don't just see that.
What I do see is a big mess that will take decades to sort itself out.
When that is done, maybe.
We can hope and pray, if we are inclined to do so.
That said, I would not hold my breath.
"Who did this moron think was going to pay for it?"
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about writing a little post to mock the mindset behind that quote -- it's like the moral-idiot "liberals" who vote to "make the rich pay their fair share" and then want to be able to express moral outrage when they find out that *they* are "the rich".
KW, the main similarity between Obamacare and the Heritage Foundation's plan is the individual mandate, which I'm against, by the way.
ReplyDeleteThere are also large differences. Obamacare includes a whole heap of taxes, requires people to buy coverage they don't want, and allows adults to stay on the coverage of their parents. It's called the "Afoordable Care Act" because it was supposed to bend the cost surve down. The way it was sold to public was a way of reducing health care costs to both the individual and to the government. It was not supposed to "cut cost" by increasing costs and then making some rich guy pay for it through increased taxes and increased premiums. (As these people discovered, they are in fact "rich" and they didn't even know it.)
I think you're trying to make some kind of silly hypocrisy argument here. Are you suggesting that I would love this turd of Obamacare if it were in fact being shoved down my throat by a different president from a different party? I assure you, I'd hate it all the same. It's killing my small business.
Here's some hypocrisy for you. Barrack Obama once opposed the individual madate. As he said on the Ellen Degeneres Show,
>>I don’t think the problem is that people don’t want health insurance, it’s that they can’t afford it…if things were that easy, I could mandate everybody to buy a house, and that would solve the problem of homelessness. It doesn’t.<<
For once, he actually makes sense. Plenty of his fellow leftist Democrats agreed with him. Some saw the individual mandate as a big giveaway to the insurance companies, which it is. Any industry would be thrilled for the government to pass a law forcing the public to buy their product.
So how's it feel to be on the side of special interests? Stand against this monstrosity. The fact that you support it tells me that your a hack without principles.
JQ
I’m not a huge fan of Obamacare. I would much prefer to see single payer in order to get rid of the insurance leaches once and for all. Obamacare is however better than the status quo.
Delete-KW