Onyma Report This Comment
Date: July 22, 2009 04:35PM

If your entire evaluation of a 'program' is based solely on the dollar figure, and not the net effect on the populace then this image would make sense I guess. In fact since the US military budget for a single year falls in around the 700 billion range maybe that should be canceled too. Just cancel 2 years of the US military and you could pay for health care outright for a long time! Politics is simple when you only look at dollar figures.

maddie Report This Comment
Date: July 22, 2009 05:40PM

HAHA Democrates RULE and Republicans cry.................

DW9279 Report This Comment
Date: July 22, 2009 07:57PM

Onyma you have got to be Joking......what is the effect on the populace, I can answer that two ways one we currently have the best medical system in the world does it need some things fixed sure it does but we don’t need to completely change the system to a socialized set up , if you have a cut that need s stitches you don’t amputate the arm. Why has the government not proposed fixing the system we have.... because that would not create another huge government bureaucracy would it? What is going to happen is all the best doctors are going to a/ retire or b/ leave the country because they can’t do business the way Obama care will force them to. I have government run health care now thru the VA and I can tell you what you will have to deal with when a bureaucrat gets a hold of your health care. Just ask any one who has VA health care the care is great if you can justify a need for treatment you can wait in line and then travel hundreds of miles to get it. That is exactly what we will get with this bill. Now as for the military we have the most capable military in the world and just like health care it is expensive not as expensive as health care for all even the people not paying into the system but expensive none the less.

The Heritage Foundation


WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2009


For Obama, killing the production of the F-22 while Russia is expanding its fighter forces more than at any other time since the end of the Cold War. The Russians plan to field 300 Su-Fullback strike aircraft by 2022 and an additional 300 Sukhoi Pak fifth-generation fighters was purely symbolic. While he sends our nation spiraling into trillions of new debt, his $1.75 billion in savings by cutting the F-22 amounts to a third of one percent of the overall 2010 defense budget. So if killing the F-22 was not about savings, what was the motivation? The New York Times reports: “Senate aides said that some Democrats who otherwise might have voted for more planes sided with the President out of concern that a loss could have hurt him in the fight for health care reform.”

So at what cost to our national security did Obama trade political momentum for his domestic initiatives? . Meanwhile, China has ordered an estimated 76 Su-30MKK Flanker-Gs and can produce an additional 250 under license, including at least 100 “knock-down kits” to be assembled in China. If China modernizes its 171 Su-27SK/UBs to the Su-27SKM standard and assembles another 105 Su-27SKMs under license, it will have roughly 626 multi-role fighters available for air superiority missions. This would place China in the same league as the U.S., which has 522 F-15A/B/C/Ds, 217 F-15Es, and a planned end strength of 186 F-22s.

The fighter gap is often considered to be far in the future, but the reality is that future short falls must be addressed today. The President’s fighter cuts would eliminate one of the two remaining fifth-generation fighter production lines. This would severely limit the options available to Congress if it wants to restart production at some later date. The cost to the taxpayer would also be much higher than if production continues.

use yor head there is a big picture.

Wolfgang613 Report This Comment
Date: July 22, 2009 08:55PM

Someone need to do their research. The U.S. is 37th in healthcare world wide. France is number one. The Pentagon did not want the next round of F-22. You also left out the count of F-14, F-16, and F-18 in the U.S. arsenal, and the last time I checked the U.S. was not at war with Russia or China ether hot or cold. We are fighting terrorist and they don't have strike fighters.

DW9279 Report This Comment
Date: July 22, 2009 11:08PM

Ok if your source is this article stating that the world health organization did a survey and we ranked 37th. I am not surprised. “Seven years ago, the World Health Organization made the first major effort to rank the health systems of 191 nations. France and Italy took the top two spots; the United States was a dismal 37th. More recently, the highly regarded Commonwealth Fund has pioneered in comparing the United States with other advanced nations through surveys of patients and doctors and analysis of other data. Its latest report, issued in May, ranked the United States last or next-to-last compared with five other nations — Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom — on most measures of performance, including quality of care and access to it. Other comparative studies also put the United States in a relatively bad light”. What criteria did they use to set this ranking I would like to see that info before I am sold that our health care is that bad. Because with a lot of statistics the margin between #1 and # 37 is not that great.

The f-14 has been retired since 2006 it is also a Navy fighter jet and the F-22 is Air Force. The F-16 has been in service since 1976 and may be in service for the Air Force until 2025. The f-18 is the primary fighter air craft for the Navy and has been in service since 1983.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: July 22, 2009 11:18PM

the blue dogs just might save the country all by themselves.

Wolfgang613 Report This Comment
Date: July 23, 2009 02:09AM

I stand corrected the F-14 is no longer in service. What about the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter? Is that not going to be the future of the U.S. Military Air Power?

quasi Report This Comment
Date: July 23, 2009 03:15AM

For years I’ve been thinking about this health care debate in the US and while I’m pretty conservative on most issues I believe we have an obligation to do something to repair the screwed up, expensive system we have. I don’t agree with Obama’s desire to rush some health care plan into action which will almost insure a complete mess but I do believe that something needs do be done to see that everyone is able to receive health care just as we long ago instituted the public school system to see that everyone has a basic education regardless of their economic situation and just as we put in place unemployment insurance for those who lose their jobs. We maintain a standing military to provide safety against foreign powers and I think we have just as much of an obligation to keep our nation strong by protecting it’s health as well. Besides the impact of their health problems alone, how many people are on the edge of financial ruin or have already added to the number of bankruptcies and foreclosures because they became ill or were injured which caused them to be financially crippled as well? Hardly a week goes by here in my little part of the world when there isn’t a fund raiser or two for someone who has been smacked down by an accident or illness that they cannot afford to deal with. I despise government regulations and intervention but there are times when it is necessary for the well being of the nation. There is no easy answer to this health care problem, certainly not the quick answer that Obama is so stuck on and will be our ruination, but there must be a way to reform this system to keep our nation physically strong just as we keep it militarily strong. We just marked the 40th anniversary of landing the first men on the moon and if we as a nation could start pretty much from scratch and do that in a decade then why in the world can’t we develop a way to keep our citizens healthy so that they can be physically and economically productive? Isn’t ill health just as much an enemy of the people as foreign powers can be, a bacterial or viral invader as repugnant and deserving of defeat as a foreign invader? Just because this reform will be hard doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t be done and just because it will impact everyone doesn’t mean it’s communism any more than public education is. I for one cannot turn my back on someone who is ill and needs help and I would hope that no one would do that to me.

pro_junior Report This Comment
Date: July 23, 2009 04:31AM

amen brother

Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: July 23, 2009 06:11AM

How about the system we get is just the same one already alloted to the House and Senate members. I can guarantee that if they had to be subjected to the same plan as all Americans they'd make it fuckin work.

Same goes for our social security programs, if they had to live on what SS gave EVERYONE else, they'd make it work!

If the government itself had to live and work by the same set of rules we do a lot of things would get better.

And BTW, they deserve to have it better because ....

jgoins Report This Comment
Date: July 23, 2009 11:35AM

What is the fastest way to destroy America? Destroying our economy is the quickest way to destroy America and that is just what Odamna and the idiot congress is doing. All Al Qaeda has to do is sit back and wait, their lackey will destroy us for them.

Wolfgang613 Report This Comment
Date: July 23, 2009 07:40PM

quasi, I like what you have to say. If anyone here watched the news brief by President Obama, he answered many of your fears. The reason for setting the August deadline was to get Congress to do something now. If he hadn't set a deadline nothing would have happed ever. As it looks now there will not be a vote until this fall. This was expected. President Obama wants to set up the public healthcare system similar to the one offered to Congress. It is a pool system where you get to choose your healthcare provider.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: July 23, 2009 11:22PM

and what is it he wants to do? seems he doesn't even know. but he knows how much it will cost? give it up libnutz, the people are wise to your horseshit.

jgoins Report This Comment
Date: July 24, 2009 11:59AM

Another great depression is headed our way, so get ready.

Mrkim Report This Comment
Date: July 24, 2009 02:02PM

Excerpt from todays Dallas Morning News:

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of a showdown with the Obama administration, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking states’ rights protections under the 10th Amendment to resist the president’s healthcare plan, which he said would be "disastrous" for Texas.

Interviewed by conservative talk show host Mark Davis of Dallas’ WBAP/820 AM, Perry said his first hope is that Congress will defeat the plan, which both Perry and Davis described as "Obama Care." But should it pass, Perry predicted that Texas and a "number" of states might resist the federal health mandate.

"I think you’ll hear states and governors standing up and saying 'no’ to this type of encroachment on the states with their healthcare," Perry said. "So my hope is that we never have to have that stand-up. But I’m certainly willing and ready for the fight if this administration continues to try to force their very expansive government philosophy down our collective throats."

Perry, the state’s longest-serving governor, has made defiance of Washington a hallmark of his state administration as well as his emerging re-election campaign against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2010 Republican primary. Earlier this year, Perry refused $555 million in federal unemployment stimulus money, saying it would subject Texas to long-term costs after the federal dollars ended.

Interviewed after returning from a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, Perry spoke out against President Barack Obama’s healthcare package less than 24 hours after the president used a prime-time news conference Wednesday night to try to sell the massive legislative package to Congress and the public.

In expressing "unwavering support" for the 10th Amendment resolution by state Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, Perry said "federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens and its interference with the affairs of our state."

Returning to the "letter and spirit" of the 10th Amendment, he said in April, "will free our state from undue regulations and ultimately strengthen our union."

Perry said the plan is another example of the Obama administration’s "massive takeover of the private-sector economy."

"I hope our leaders will look for solutions that don’t dig our country further into debt," he said.

Perry called on Texans in the House and Senate to oppose the plan. "I can’t imagine that anyone from Texas who cares about this state would vote for Obama Care. I don’t care whether you’re Democrat or Republican," he said.

Of those Texans who might consider supporting the plan, he said: "This may sound a little bit harsh, but they might ought to consider representing some other state because they’re sure not representing Texas."

quasi Report This Comment
Date: July 24, 2009 06:30PM

While out on my morning walk (part of my own, personal health care program; I've lost 75 pounds in 9 months without prompting from anyone but myself) I was again thinking about this issue and in particular the funding of it. It's not rocket science to know that it will require more spending regardless of what Obama wants or believes, and something occured to me. I live in a state with no income tax; everything is funded through sales tax. Everyone pays because everyone buys things regardless of their source of income. I pay, the millionaires that live over on the river about a mile from here pay, the illegals pay, the tourists pay.....you get the idea. It's a pretty fair and relatively painless system where the state has a 6% tax on all goods except unprepared foods and local municipalities collect additional amounts as approved by voters for limited periods. We currently pay 7% in state and county sales tax where I live. Suppose a national health care tax was instituted at say 1%; for every dollar a person spends one cent is added on to go into the health care fund. With over 300,000,000 people in this country it'll be a pretty substantial amount which I haven't sat down to estimate, but we are definitely talking billions, perhaps trillions of dollars, dollars that everyone contributes to. It may take a 1.5% tax or perhaps less than 1%, but it's a way for everyone to contribute a small amount with no loopholes to avoid paying. And if there are any surpluses (pie in the sky, I suppose) there should be a provision for that money to be put into the Social Security fund.

Of course that still leaves the daunting question of how to administer the system so that it actually works efficiently which is what I think most of the worry is about. How do we adapt and hopefully streamline the existing infrastructure to make it work? Is anyone looking at what works and doesn't work in the countries that do have national healthcare programs? Some constructive input from you folks who live in those nations would be helpful. And what about looking at successful business models; part of the problem is that healthcare is a business with more at stake than just the bottom line but it is too often treated as though only the bottom line matters which frequently adversely affects peoples lives, but good business practices which emphasize customer satisfaction should be reviewed.

I just can't help but believe that if there was ever a moral justification for a government program then this is it. I know how screwed up government run things often become, but I think it's posssible that with all our knowledge, all our technology, and knowing that helping sick people is just the right thing to do, this can be made to work which is where I find myself reluctantly agreeing with President Barry. We sent men to the moon and brought them back safely while in the midst of a very controversial war and great social termoil and that was forty years ago. Maybe this should be our generation's version of the moonshot, one small step for man (pennies on the dollar) one giant leap for mankind (assuring that everyone has a chance to be healthy). And if not on a national level, perhaps on a state level (the eyes of Texas are upon you).

Now y'all start tellin' me how full of shit I am.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 24/07/2009 06:32PM by quasi.

jgoins Report This Comment
Date: July 25, 2009 11:48AM

I have always been in favor of a flat tax or sales tax only instead of the hole ridden income tax. The IRS is too powerful and will never allow anything to come into being which will do away with their jobs. Congress knows already that sales tax will work but they are under the thumb of IRS and are not willing to change the status quo.

Wolfgang613 Report This Comment
Date: July 25, 2009 02:54PM

I have heard pros and cons to a federal sales tax. It looks like a fair tax where as the poor would pay less because they buy less and the rich would pay more because they buy more. I have also heard the tax would have to be around 20% which would be far too high. As for the IRS, they would still be collecting income tax from businesses and would manage the new federal sales tax so I don't think they would be cut back any. But, I would not shed a tear if the IRS was clipped.

jgoins Report This Comment
Date: July 26, 2009 10:36AM

Nothing will be done to save the economy and quite the opposite is being done to destroy the economy. Is it possible for a president to totally destroy our economy in one term if he has support of the majority of congress? I guess we will see.

pro_junior Report This Comment
Date: July 26, 2009 06:42PM

after obama single-handedly destroys the economy he will give us all cancer. anyone that survives that will have their legs amputated. after that he will nuke the rest of the planet, then he will blow up the moon and probably saturn too...yep we're all fucked.

quasi Report This Comment
Date: July 27, 2009 01:16AM

Pro finally sees the light! Next thing ya know he'll be drivin' a binder - and likin' it!

jgoins Report This Comment
Date: July 27, 2009 10:04AM

Nobody said he would singlehandedly destroy the economy, he has the help of congress. The rest is just pro being pro.