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Mrkim
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A Voice of Reason in the Wilderness of Insanity
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A Voice of Reason in the Wilderness of Insanity

"a man in a suit speaking into a microphone"

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Comments for: A Voice of Reason in the Wilderness of Insanity
Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 03:39PM

By House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)

Middle-class families are struggling every day with rising costs of housing, food, transportation, and taxes. But for many, rising costs of health care are the most devastating of all. That’s why Americans’ top priority during the ongoing health care debate is a plan that will reduce costs. Unfortunately, the government takeover of health care offered by the Washington Democrats will not reduce costs; instead, it will dramatically increase costs – for your family, America’s small businesses, and all taxpayers.

Last week, Douglas Elmendorf, the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) sent shockwaves through Washington when he told Congress that the Democrats’ plans would make health care more costly. Throughout this debate, President Obama has spoken of the need to “bend the cost curve” or drive health care costs down. During a congressional hearing, however, Mr. Elmendorf testified that the Democrats’ plans would have the opposite effect, saying that under their proposals, “The curve is being raised” and costs would “significantly expand.” That’s because the Democrats’ plan adds a new layer of taxes, mandates, and bureaucracy on top of the current system. If that’s not bad enough, the Democrats’ plan cuts Medicare and takes away choices for millions of seniors. What does all of this mean? Higher costs for the medicine and treatments you need.

Not only will the Democrats’ government-run health care plan raise your costs, but it also will raise costs for our nation’s employers – particularly small businesses. At the heart of their proposal is a small business tax that, for tens of millions, means diminished job security. The National Federation of Independent Businesses warns that the small business tax and mandates in the Democrats’ plan will destroy 1.6 million jobs – one million of them in small businesses alone. And according to methodology developed by Dr. Christina Romer, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, the government takeover would cost Americans 4.7 million jobs over the next 10 years. With our economy at its weakest since the Great Depression and unemployment soaring far beyond the levels promised by the Administration, why would Congress promote policies that make jobs even more scarce?

In addition to warning that the Democrats’ plan will raise health care costs, the Congressional Budget Office also has projected that the House Democrats’ proposal would increase the deficit by another $239 billion over the next 10 years. And even though the President continues to claim that those who like their current health care plans can keep them under the Democrats’ proposal, independent analysts disagree. One analysis shows that 114 million Americans may be forced off their current coverage and onto a government-run plan as a result of the House Democrats’ legislation. That means more costs to the taxpayers. The bottom line: while Democratic leaders continue to claim that health care legislation must be “paid for,” the House Democrats’ bill is not. Instead, it will force us to borrow more from China and countries in the Middle East and stick our children and grandchildren with the tab.


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Monster1 Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 05:06PM

Mr. Kim thumbs
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I would like to point out a couple of things I see wrong with America:
We are a Country full of Sharks & Squids (Sharks being lawyers and Squids being the only thing that kills sharks) Everybody is waiting for any fu**ing reason to sue any big bussines or Doctor. When you down South you will find out Private Doctors/Hospital care is 10 times cheaper than the US, before you say the Doctors are crap let me say that 80% of Doctors are trained in their Specialty in the US and why is it that much cheaper down South? well first of all Doctors & Hospitals don't pay over half of their earning to cover malpractice insurance.... Maybe our biggest problem is them Insurance Companies that drive cost up trough the roof (btw my car insurance just went up!) drinking smiley
Wolfgang613 Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 05:20PM

OK... I am waiting to here the Republican alternative. Is there one? Most everyone agrees that the current heath care system is not working, but throwing rock at a new plan without giving a better proposal is counterproductive. I have some reservations on the Democratic health care proposal, but with an alternative what can we do? confused smiley
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 05:34PM

and rushing into ANY plan will certainly fail and cost ten times what it should have.
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 05:35PM

let's also remember all the things that the government has gotten right and the overall costs......hello? can you frickin' hear me?!
doofy Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 06:27PM

Not really related but it reminds me of this asshole liberal fuckwad in Canada years back
that wanted to register all long-guns(All hanguns are deemed restricted weapons and have to be registered at time of purchase and then
wait like 6 months and jump through hoola-hoops and stuff before you can even pick it up at the store).Anyhow back to the liberal
moron;he figured it was a good idea that "dear old grampas' shotgun that he keeps hidden under the bed and uses once a year to go
duck hunting better be registered.Against a huge swell of opposition from the populous and even the R.C.M.P. he(Alan Rock) decided to
jump in head first thinking he knew what he was doing and said it would only cost $2 million dollars.Needless to say what a fucking idiot!
Billions of taxpayers' dollars later there are still millions of long-guns still un-registered by law abiding citizens.If I'm gonna blow
someones head off I'm going to go downtown and buy a junk gun of some vietnamese drug dealer lol not use my registered gun.Criminals
don't register their guns do they? All i know is I'm glad them pinko commie fuckin bastards are out of office because to "us" registering
Pa's old rifle was the first step to confiscation.What a bunch of quiche eatin liberal faggots! I could go on and on but if anyone actually read
this they're probably about to blow their own head off lol(joke)Peace out bruthaz!
Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 07:00PM

Several things here ....

The current health care system works fine .... if you can afford it. The problems with the proposed plans are several 1. It will serve to diminish the members under private insurance today to the point where only the wealthy will be able to have private coverage and most everyone else will wind up with the Obamaplan, which as a nation will cost much more to the whole of the populace without even realistically allowing choices about what type care you'll be receiving.

2. It's being pushed through the legislatures in an effort to force a quick decision without the proper discussions and study an item of such national impact deserves. Hasty decisions(especially ones the government makes) are seldom the best course and are typically fueled by fear instead of reason and logic. Anyone see any resemblance here to the "We must have a bailout, NOW" BS? BTW, looked at the amazing last quarter profits reported by the largest US banks, not only amazing, but in light of their call to arms for a bailout, they seem ludicrous, while bordering on criminal all things considered!

3. The government NEVER manages anything with a sense of fiscal responsibility, they don't HAVE to, and it shows. What on earth would lead anyone to feel as if they could (or even would) do any better with health care? I personally can't see how they could possibly help the current system by adding in layer upon layer of new governmental agencies which will require a massive investment in personnel/benefits, facilities, and force health care providers to also likely add personnel just to wade through the quagmire of requirements/forms and info requests required to maintain compliance with the new system.

The real deal here is that this is another example of people wanting the government to take care of them instead of taking care of themselves. This shirking of personal responsibility is counterproductive and comes at a cost we are ill equipped to pay for as a nation.

To the cat above alluding to tort reform vs. heath care costs, there is some merit to that. However, what other recourse does one have when a doctor performs the wrong procedure on a patient or when their negligence costs lives or your overall health? Should we just shrug our shoulders and say "Well you know, mistakes happen sometimes" when someone goes in for a routine minor procedure and winds up dying from negligent or poor practices by a doctor?

It's all very complicated and truly if I felt the American public would be well served by a system of national health care at a reasonable cost I'd be all for it. Sadly this is NOT what I see in the legislation currently being considered winking
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doofy Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 07:44PM

This might sound socialist or what have you but couldn't the U.S. government charge every
person over the age of 18 ten dollars a month for a broad based minimal health care plan for all? Also charge 10 dollars per visit
to the chronic abuser types who take little johnny for anti-biotics every time he has the sniffles.Pay-as-you-go/use type thing.I know the
monthly fee numbers wouldn't add up to an immediate solution but it could be used for better/more doctor training,updated medical machinery
and help out hospitals that are in bad dis-repair.
maddie Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 08:04PM

yeah the health system works fine you say if you can afford it

And the 14 million Americans,including women and children that cant afford it? What about them?

Obama's preparing to Fuck the Insurance giants out of a job. They control Health cost.

Maybe its just me but basic health care is not a American RIGHT, but a Human One......

What's more Humane than that.
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 09:00PM

assumed rights don't hold much water in court.
Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 09:11PM

Ah, I knew the "entitlement" crap would pop its head up somewhere in all this. You have no more right to health care than you have a right to drive a car or many other things within the world that are PRIVLEDGES, not rights.

The Bill of Rights nor the US Constitution either one have any mentions of health care as a right. The right you do have in regards to health care is that if you can afford to get some, you may do so, end of story. Unless of course you're an illegal alien which then makes it illegal to not treat you FOR FRICKIN FREE! Makes me wanna switch up and start calling myself Senior Kim ..... NOT !

To claim it's "humane" is just psychobable meant to bend the ear of sympathetic types and bears no relation to any RIGHT at all. To believe it is your right to demand health care from the government inadvertently also does some thing else, it GIVES UP your right to choose that care for yourself. You can't let the government decide the health care for you and then complain about the care you receive. You can do one or the other, but you don't get to do both.

One thing the sheeple are forgettin in all this is that the deeper and deeper we ask and then expect the government to involve themselves in our lives comes at a cost, and that cost is of our freedoms as a individual. The more one expects of the government, the less one gets to choose for themselves. I like less government and more individual choices instead of the other way around.

In the OBAMACARE ads that are running trying to tug on the sympathetic side within us all the characters/stories portray only one side of the story. No where will you see any mention of the people who have health care and feel satisfied with it, or at least would like to keep what they have now, only the worst case scenario side of the issue is shown which hardly leads to anything like an honest and open portrayal of the issue as a whole.

To the above mention of paying in $10 a month per person and $10 per visit let me just say this. IF such a system were in place that same $10 per month is likely about what it would take to even begin to administer such a mammoth undertaking meaning we'd be paying for nothing but overhead for the system and then the government would STILL send $$ to the health care providers at a loss to the American public. Another fine example of how deficit spending works totally lost

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 20/07/2009 10:46PM by Mrkim.
maddie Report This Comment
Date: July 20, 2009 11:19PM

you supported a president named Dumbass BUSH who spent trilions of dollars rebuilding a country we had no business invading in the first place . and you were ok with that. i rember complaning and you supported bush's dick cheney back in the day. But you wont spend it on americans. DUMB

You say choosing health care is a right and if you cant aford it. TOO BAD.....is that right.

your argument is weak...you proclaim the problems with it and then you add all the problems and then multiply it by you 1950]s thinking that you overheard from your grandparents.

This is AMERICA they best country around as FAR as i am concerned. And i dont piss on fellow Americans because they cant afford your America.
duane Report This Comment
Date: July 21, 2009 12:11AM

Please show me where we spent trillions rebuilding Iraq. If not then then all the pointless rants show the dumb ass. Where does anyone get that the government is supposed to support you. We pay for government to make roads, provide defense, provide police, and other things. Taking money from me to take care of you was not in the makers of this countries plan. Speaking of 1950's, I wish they were back because in your rush to judgment you could understand their rush to judgment when they solved a problem. You come off as a loud mouth with little substance. Show me where you earned part of my check. Show me how society is better now then the 50's.
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: July 21, 2009 12:36AM

"you supported a president named Dumbass BUSH"
there's a Bush supporter in here? smiling bouncing smiley WHERE?! smiling bouncing smiley
Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: July 21, 2009 04:02AM

Hey thanks maddie I had a cuppla balloons layin on my desk and used all the hot air and bullshit assumptions in your last post to blow 'em up real nice.

What was left over is shown below

You say choosing health care is a right and if you cant aford it. TOO BAD.....is that right.

Correct, you pay for your private health insurance or in every major city/county I've ever seen there's already some sort of state operated medical facility available to anyone. Looks like health care is actually already available, but now we should have the fed do it for us, and charge us more for it too ..... why? These are all state owned/run facilities already, but these aren't enough? Oh wait, now I get it, we somehow need to spend more for the same services and become more regulated at the same time too ... is that your reason we need this?


This is AMERICA they best country around as FAR as i am concerned. And i dont piss on fellow Americans because they cant afford your America.

I'm with ya here dude. I love the US too and I ain't pissin on anybody, I mean really man, that's just, like .... gross.

Dunno what you think you know about me or "my America", but assuming already got you in a lotta trouble earlier, so ... here's a suggestion handjob

smoking
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 21/07/2009 05:34AM by Mrkim.
duane Report This Comment
Date: July 21, 2009 06:02AM

smileys with beer
jgoins Report This Comment
Date: July 21, 2009 11:43AM

To think the government can run health care is insanity. Just look at medicare and you will see how a government run health care system will be run. I have had medicare for over 20 years and it is not the best by any stretch of the imagination, it is only better than not having any insurance and only just better. I do not like paying for a doctor's hummer of big fancy house but I have no alternative in mind. I have always objected to the government entering every aspect of our lives and anyone who doesn't mind the government telling them everything they can and cannot do is just insane.
quasi Report This Comment
Date: July 21, 2009 12:30PM

DETROIT (AP) — When a treatment goes wrong at a U.S. hospital, doctors usually fear they will be hit with a lawsuit.

At the University of Michigan Health System, however, lawyers and doctors say admitting mistakes up front and offering compensation before being sued have brought about remarkable savings in money, time and feelings.

"What we are doing is common decency," said Richard Boothman, the health system's chief risk officer and a veteran malpractice defense lawyer.

The estimated $5.8 billion annual cost of malpractice claims nationwide has drawn scrutiny as President Barack Obama and Congress plot an overhaul of the nation's $2.4 trillion health care system. So far, Obama has spoken in broad terms about shielding doctors from unwarranted lawsuits without capping damage awards, but medical malpractice is an issue that deeply divides. Doctors, hospitals, trial lawyers and patient advocates disagree not only on the solution but the problem itself.

Is it the high price of malpractice insurance? The difficulty for victims of medical errors getting justice? The cost of unneeded tests ordered by lawsuit-wary doctors? The "burying" of medical errors that kill tens of thousands of Americans yearly?

Officials at the University of Michigan say their approach addresses doctor, patient and public concerns.

The willingness to admit mistakes goes well beyond decency and has proven a shrewd business strategy, according to a 2009 article in the "Journal of Health & Life Sciences Law" by Boothman and four colleagues at the Ann Arbor school.

According to Boothman, malpractice claims against his health system fell from 121 in 2001 to 61 in 2006, while the backlog of open claims went from 262 in 2001 to 106 in 2006 and 83 in 2007. Between 2001 and 2007, the average time to process a claim fell from about 20 months to about eight months, costs per claim were halved and insurance reserves dropped by two-thirds.

As a result, costs are down in part because admitting a mistake and paying up can save money that would have been spent on lawyers, and because the size of the compensation offered by the hospital can be less than an eventual court settlement.

Also, the fact that the hospital admits its mistakes and fights hard when it claims to not have made one tends to discourage lawsuits.

Boothman said the health system learns of possible medical errors from doctors themselves, as well as from patients or their lawyers. In any case, the university conducts a peer review to see if there was an error and if changes are needed to prevent a recurrence.

Equally important, health system doctors and officials offer to meet with patients and their families, sometimes to explain that treatment was appropriate and sometimes to admit a mistake.

The "saying sorry" movement has its skeptics, even among those who agree it's the right thing to do.

The right of injured patients to sue health care providers and force them to open up their internal records is a crucial part of reducing medical mistakes and improving care, said Matthew Gaier, co-chairman of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association's medical malpractice committee.

Harvard University public health associate professor David Studdert says a review of published studies shows about 181,000 people are severely hurt each year as a result of mistakes at U.S. hospitals but only about 30,000 file legal claims.

Many people don't sue because they don't discover they are victims of malpractice, Studdert and colleagues wrote in a 2007 article in the journal "Health Affairs." The spread of disclosure, the article said, could cause malpractice costs to rise from $5.8 billion now to between $7 billion and $11.3 billion a year.

For "saying sorry" to work, doctors need protection from having their own honesty used against them in court, said Jim Copland, director of the Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy and an advocate of curbs on damage suits. Protection could take the form of a shield law that would exclude an apology from admission as evidence in a malpractice suit. A number of states have or are considering such laws.

"If you go out and say, 'Oh, we messed up, are you going to lose the lawsuit? You need to give them some protection," Copland said.
quasi Report This Comment
Date: July 21, 2009 08:45PM

"I'm Tired" by Robert A. Hall

I'll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce,
and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting
every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18 Despite some health
challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in
seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job
or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given
the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.


I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth around" to people
who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government
will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people
too lazy or stupid to earn it.
I'm tired of being told that I have
to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes."
Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to
help But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our
paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing
Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community
Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.

I'm tired of being told how bad
America is by left-wing millionaires like
Michael Moore, George Soros, and Hollywood entertainers who live in
luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they
get their way, the United States will have
the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of
China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance
for Christian people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of
Venezuela. Won't multiculturalism be beautiful?


I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day
I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and
daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight
offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't
"believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning
teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the
genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an
and Shari'a law tells them to.

I believe "a man should be judged by
the content of his character, not by the color of his skin.
" I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter"
in the post-racial world of Obama,
when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college
admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most),
government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of
violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than
anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois.

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child
is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the
emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice,
or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less
arrogantly of an all-knowing government.

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses
were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful.
That thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time,
but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight
and stress, that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never
demanded that Kerry release his, that slammed Palin, with two years as
governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with
three years as senator as potentially the best president ever.
Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to
Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and
Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other
cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil
money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to
preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed
to fund a church, synagogue, or religious school in
Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming,
which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment
and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo
where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is
about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.


I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help
support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ
rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses
while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be
Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs.
And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak
when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers,"
especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime.
What's next? Calling drug dealers, Undocumented Pharmacists"?
And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a
few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm
willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak
English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without
family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military...
Those are the citizens we need.

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform
of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near
a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at
home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death
circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things
happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure.
Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for
the last fifty years-and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal.

I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was
heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let
themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded
Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine
Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the
blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in
Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because
the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers
are theonly troops in history that civilians came to for help and
handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue
and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers-bums are bipartisan.
And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois,
where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years.
Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet as well.

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers, and politicians of both
parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful
mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting
caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes,
color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have
that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to
keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and
actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination,
or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not
going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in theMassachusetts State Senate.
jgoins Report This Comment
Date: July 22, 2009 11:20AM

American will be owned by the Chinese and worked by the Mexicans. Naturalized Americans will die out and there will no longer be an America.