Monday November 9, 2009, 6:15 am
I don't know what to say...other than what John Trudell, Native American Activist, so eloquently said "we are a Nation of the already dead"....for if the people were alive over here, they'd be out in the streets by the droves.
How many more of our family members die due to lack of health care, health care that cuts corners, bled to death from co-pays, premiums, deductibles, and now those unlucky ones who have no health care will join the ranks and file to pay premiums they can ill afford on inadequate health care. While the Leaders pat themselves on their backs they just feed the rest of us to the Corporate Theives.

Monday November 9, 2009, 6:22 am
Oh yes, and I forgot to add if you do not pay the premiums to the Corporate Theives...do not Stop do not pass Go, just head straight to jail or pay a hefty fine out of the money you don't have to begin with. Pay the premiums from the non existing job you don't have that the Thieves have been so nice to take out of this Country, so they can make more money. Great system we have here....if your the Elite.

Monday November 9, 2009, 10:19 am
What about small business who can't afford it, who themselves are struggling? You should see the penalties and fines planned for them. I called my congressmen (13 of them) and asked what happens when I still can't afford health care and can't afford the penalty....Do I go to jail? Do you take my home? What happens? No answer so I guess we will have to see.

Health care reform...absolutely. This crap their shoving at us...I don't think so.

Monday November 9, 2009, 8:48 pm
This is the scourge that plaques many... perhaps it is time to take drastic action... not to sure if a cheaper hospital plan would do... in South Africa we can choose what we want.. if we are not going to have children we can take that out of the policy and so forth to make it a bit cheaper etc.. perhaps there is something similiar that can be done on your side? Cut and pasting of insurance to make it cheaper for some so that it suits the client

Tuesday November 10, 2009, 5:59 am
The Lobby Power is still the power. Yet before its all said and done we are going to have a voice. At least I hope we will.

Tuesday November 10, 2009, 11:10 am
what you guys need is National Health Sernice like we have in UK healthcare is a right not a product...and ignore all that right repubican claptrap about it being 'sociialised medicine' aka communism..it claptrap..they just use that to scare you into pay8ing up and making youre;f broke...look a sytem based on free marlet economics is dangerous as there are times when ppl will be out of work ok? what happens in mean time when they get ill? die? no society would turn their backs on anyone then...its immoral..these greedy hmo's are a one way piggy bank..you pay in and in and in..and when you need it the most they dont give anythng back..and ppl die...no more..a free health service for everyone...thats whasts needed

Tuesday November 10, 2009, 3:05 pm
From the article:

"Consider marketing, for instance. People are led to believe that the "free" television they watch is paid for by the sponsoring companies. But when the money is followed to its source, one realizes that the money comes from the people who buy products and services from the sponsoring companies; the money for advertising is built into the prices of the products and services sold. So although sponsoring companies are said to fund "free" television, in reality, consumers are funding it and it is not free. People pay for it with every purchase they make. So when companies object to recording devices that eliminate commercials, they are obfuscating reality. Since the viewers are the ones who supply the money spent by companies on commercials, why shouldn't the viewers have the ability to watch the sponsored programs without having to watch the commercials?"

I find this paragraph staggering. Is the writer under the impression that the average TV watching American doesn't know this? Sorry to focus on the one paragraph, but it blows my mind that anybody thinks that advertising and sponsorships are paid by the company. TV is "free" because you don't have to buy the product. I love PBS but they are the only free TV that we involuntarily pay for. I also contribute to them, so I am not knocking PBS, but non-public TV is free. Now, cable, electiricity, premium channels, different story, but network TV, absolutely free.

Which gives an interesting opportunity. If businesses pass through their advertising costs by raising their price, then is anybody not aware that they do exactly the same thing with all expenses relating to the product they sell? When corporations pay taxes, does anyone actually believe that those taxes do not come from their revenue in the form of the price of their product. Where else would a business pay expenses and taxes from? The only money a business has comes from sales. Costs of employees are also built into the price. Raise taxes on a business and create inflation, that is basic economics.

The writers understanding of how business works is, well, I'm rarely speechless, but in this case.

On an unrelated note, this article does do an excellent job of illustrating my objection to gov't involvement in healthcare. The first part of the article covers the ease of medicare fraud. Why would anyone believe that they'll do a better job with another program?

As far as unemployment under a free market system, compare the average rate in free markets with those that aren't free. And maybe compare the living standards as well. Sorry to go off, but the economy is heading in an interesting and downward direction and the lack of understanding of economics by this writer is truly scary.

Health care is broken, no argument there. It is highly regulated by the government that created the rules that these companies live by. The companies are not the problem, the rule and regs are. And Gov't created them...

Wednesday November 11, 2009, 2:34 am
Wow, evidently I'm not as calm and easy going as I thought. If I could delete the last post, I would. Not because of accuracy issues but because you guys deserve better than a late afternoon rant. My apologies to all.

What I should have said, as far as how businesses make money, is more like the following:

When anybody starts a business, they either use their own money, money from investors, or a loan. The money allows them to get the business started, hire employees, make whatever they are going to make, and sell it to their customers. Profit has become a bad word in some context, but the goal of any business is to generate a profit.

Why is that good? Because if there were no profit, the owner will not take the risk of losing their money when they could just put it in a CD and have no risk. Profit is good, particularly when the business provides jobs and benefits to their employees.

All costs of businesses are built into the price of their products or services. Sales revenue is the only place that a business gets income, except for interest and investment income or sales of business assets. Any of those sources of money are used to pay expenses and taxes. When taxes are raised on a business, their prices will go up.

David, sorry for the rant in the first comment.

Thursday November 12, 2009, 12:11 am
From Thom Heartmann's blog:

"Could we do better than death panels on Veterans day? On the eve of Veterans Day, a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School released a study finding that 2,266 veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they didn't have health insurance. That "translates to six preventable deaths per day" the researchers noted, and more than twice the number killed in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001. I'll say it again - Medicare Part E - for everyone and that includes our Veterans.

Hey - it's not just death panels for Veterans - Republican Jim DeMint would like us all not to get any type of affordable health at all. Even if a public option is removed from the Senate's health care legislation, Sen. Jim DeMint is urging all Republicans to kill the bill -- lest they help "create a monster." The monster? All those who would prevent him from getting big campaign bucks from the healthcare industry."

Thursday November 12, 2009, 10:03 am
The same monster seems to be affecting those congressional representatives who want the health care plan.The lobbying money is major bucks for both parties.