What is Digg?325 Comments
- blakecr, on 08/25/2008, -16/+126I guess I might be pretty new to politics, but I do not see why seniors vote republican...It seems to me that privatizing social security, scaling down medicare, taxing seniors income, lack of accountability in the medical insurance industry, and many many other issues key to seniors are anti seniors and the GOP should be feeling that.
Instead it seems the seniors don't vote their issues, rather they vote for the old tired politics of the GOP. I just don't get it. Please someone fill me in on why the GOP has the 65 + voting block. - allowners, on 08/25/2008, -9/+75It's the authoritarian model of health care, you pay for the privilege of them deciding whether you will be treated. It's a scam.
- BishkekBuddy, on 08/25/2008, -8/+63The GOP, which the seniors are voting for, doesn't exist any longer but they can't quite get their heads around that concept. The world has been turned upsidedown by this administration, we've been lied to and cheated on and sold out... but all they tend to hear are the lies - and they believe them because they really don't have the tools with which to investigate on their own. Think of what YOU would think if you only heard the lies, if you only heard or read what the msm is dishing out... you, too, might be voting "republican" and not know that you're voting "neocon" instead.
- inactive, on 08/25/2008, -14/+56No difference between McCain and Obama, eh? I think that all of the people in that video would see a pretty huge difference.
- neognostic, on 08/25/2008, -20/+60They were born during or before WWII, and the Great Depression, they feared the Nazis and going hungry and broke.
Their growing years were during the Cold War, communism, McCarthyism and the Bomb.
They live in constant fear, fear of death, the American way of life of the Eisenhower years, and the assassination of a popular President.
Since then the Republican party has pandered to all of these fears until they no longer seem to know what is good or bad. Thank God I have parents who are intelligent and reasonable.
Obama '08 - Echota, on 01/05/2009, -49/+81This is important! I effects all of us!
Lets get the word out to everyone on this issue!
MAKE THIS VIRAL! - dinot, on 08/25/2008, -8/+39Sadly, the average voter doesn't care about this when they can have the 24-hour talking heads keep telling them about each candidate's "gaffe's" and where they eat for dinner.
American politics..... with an extra-large side order of fries. It's ironic when Obama's critics complain about him being a celebrity when they and the rest of the news media are the ones acting like paparazzi. - doctechnical, on 08/25/2008, -19/+50I should trust my health care to a government that can't count my vote?
- judybrowni, on 08/26/2008, -10/+30Yes, Universal Health Care IS the solution for this: the French, the English -- all the developed countries with Universal Health Care -- all receive more care for the money spent than those of us in the USA.
We have so-call "socialized" fire and police departments -- aren't you glad those aren't covered by private business which would deny you help to increase their profit margin?
The USA is the only western country with for-profit health insurance: we die earlier, we have a disgraceful infant mortality rate, we spend more money for less care: we're the laughing stock of Western health care.
Canadians pity us, the English pity us, the French and Germans and Italians pity us: and wonder why we would allow ourselves to be treated -- or not treated -- that way.
"America is great," is one Canadian saying, "Unless you get sick -- then you might as well die."
My uncle, a relatively wealthy man, was killed by his HMO, which simply refused and delayed treatment for prostate cancer, until my uncle died over 20 years earlier than any of his siblings.
If you fall for "inefficient and meddlesome government" line (although certainly the Republicans have tried to make it thus, and scare you into handing your healthcare over to their friends making a profit off you), you're setting yourself, your family and your friends up to be murdered by spreadsheet, for the profit margins.
I'm 58 years old with no health insurance (my insurance company kept raising my rates until at $1,000 a month I could no longer afford it.) I know some people on disability, in otherwords Medicare, government insurance: If I had it, I would gladly pay $1,000 a month to get the comprehensive care they receive. It was so much better than my $1,000 a month policy, that still didn't cover another $500 or $600 a month in treatment that I required.
I can't wait until I'm old enough for Medicare or Medical, at long last I'll be free of the for profit health suckers who were rather I'm dead than that they can't buy another vacation house or boat. - JK1150, on 08/26/2008, -20/+39if the government makes me wait 2 hours to transfer a car title, i can't imagine how long they will make me wait for a heart transplant...
- blakecr, on 08/25/2008, -3/+22Would be a shame if Social Security, which was written from their generations predecessors, were taken away because they voted it out. I just don't get the whole fear thing I mean with FDR and Churchill inspiring them to not cower in fear but to confront it. Why do they fear something they themselves will not face but their children and grandchildren?
- infodoc1, on 08/26/2008, -4/+22"Murder by spreadsheet" pretty much sums it up.
- rewinn, on 08/26/2008, -4/+22For the same reason you don't "opt out" of police or fire protection.
P.S. Social Security isn't only about old age; about 1/3 of it goes for the disabled. Young people need, but never buy, disability insurance. - inactive, on 08/25/2008, -11/+27Why not allow the individual to "opt out" of Social Security? That way, if they'd rather have their money put into something that will perform better and pay more, they have that choice?
- aratika, on 08/26/2008, -7/+23"...a harsh and no-holds-barred condemnation of the for-profit insurance industry."
Sorry. Not for profit health care has trouble as well. Socialized health care is frequently augmented by private (yes - for profit) health care insurance by those that can afford it. Give birth in New Zealand - and public health care puts the mother in a dorm room style maternity ward with 4 other mothers. Which sucks. So they give you the options of "buying" a private room. - SethEllis, on 08/25/2008, -18/+34So instead we should turn it over to the government so that they're the ones that tell us "you can't have that treatment"?
- christopheles, on 08/25/2008, -5/+18What does that have to do with health insurance?
- inactive, on 08/25/2008, -4/+16It's entirely based on income (from the SSA's site): Social Security benefits are based on your lifetime earnings. Then Social Security calculates your average indexed monthly earnings during the 35 years in which you earned the most. We apply a formula to these earnings and arrive at your basic benefit, or “primary insurance amount” (PIA).
- markgl, on 08/25/2008, -3/+15then it isn't social security if you opt out.
- btschul, on 08/26/2008, -10/+22No.
- pintomp3, on 08/26/2008, -3/+13i don't like paying for other people's roads either. everyone should just pave their own roads.
- christopheles, on 08/25/2008, -4/+14Umm. . . it's not in the article.
- Colindean, on 08/26/2008, -4/+14A government which has the power to give to you everything also has the power to take away from you everything.
- rewinn, on 08/26/2008, -0/+9Fear is an emotion that drives out reason.
- mercurywaxing, on 08/26/2008, -2/+11My brother works at a hospital. When the director went to congress to lobby against "managed care" such as this every single congressman canceled his appointment. When they saw him in the halls they walked the other way. Dems, Republicans, Obama, McCain. He would later see them laughing and shaking hands with health insurance lobbyists. Only two people met with him. A then healthy Ted Kennedy and the indomitable Barney Frank.
- Number23, on 08/26/2008, -15/+24Biden wants to know if Obama's health plan will cover hair plugs
- insomniac8400, on 08/25/2008, -5/+14My grandpa thinks the more you cut taxes the smaller government gets and somehow thinks a deficit is healthy. He thinks that cutting taxes leads to more tax revenue since more money is out there being taxed.
These things may have been true when the leaders in our government had honor and took responsibility seriously. But today we have a government that cuts taxes to the rich while increasing the size of the budget. Which leads to crazy deficits which causes inflation which causes high gas prices which makes life unaffordable.
I wish old people would realize you can't trust politicians to do the right thing any more. Today's politics is all about exploiting the position for financial gain to the point that any mistakes you make or others makes won't ruin your plans to retire early and live like a god on earth while swimming in money. - ironhide, on 08/26/2008, -2/+11What ***** alternate reality are you posting from? Nothing you're talking about was in the article.
- avidlinuxuser, on 08/26/2008, -0/+8Barack Obama's father is a kenyan i.e. from Kenya which is in dun dun dun Africa. Where did you get arab from? You're either a hypocrite(lying) or do not check your facts.
- inactive, on 08/25/2008, -8/+16You have much more faith in the fiscal responsibility of our government than I do.
- inactive, on 08/25/2008, -8/+16The government will still be held by the power of the almighty dollar. If that chemo treatment for your 20% survival rate isn't going well enough, then bye-bye expensive treatment, hello Tylenol. Nothing much will change, except the amount of the false sense of security that comes from health insurance.
- altgeeky1, on 08/26/2008, -5/+13race, fear, and old stereotypes.
When the NASCAR crowd votes to outsource their own jobs, do you think they're voting for their pocketbook... or are they really afraid gay allowing marriage is going to take away their wife? - StinkBait, on 08/26/2008, -16/+24Wow, HuffPo, now KOS. At least there's no bias.
- inactive, on 08/25/2008, -25/+32I don't see how this will be stopped if the government was the one providing health care.
- inactive, on 08/25/2008, -9/+16It is for those who opt in, just not for you if you opt out. Personally, I'd yank my money out faster than you could say "go".
- inactive, on 08/26/2008, -4/+11only losers use "viral"
- afpunk, on 08/26/2008, -2/+9Perhaps you need to do some research yourself. First of all, given that you have traveled all over the world, I assume you are well off. I'm not surprised people with plenty of money would likely prefer U.S. healthcare. It is in most circumstances the best option for the rich.
I'm surprised everything socialized fails 100% of the time. I mean, even in health care in the U.S., Medicare/Medicaid have been shown to be more efficient than private insurers as a whole. And I'm pretty sure I prefer an army paid for by tax dollars rather than private interests. I couldn't even imagine driving anywhere besides cities and suburbs without socialized roads.
So, you asked 5 dentists how many people they know who have pulled their own teeth in the U.S. instead of visiting a dentist to do it. Did you happen to ask a nun how many men visited the local strip club last night? Obviously, if people are doing their own dental work at home the dentists wouldn't know about it. Similarly, in the U.S., I guarantee you thousands of poor, uninsured people in the U.S. troll the internet for cures to their symptoms/diseases because the cost is something they could actually afford as opposed to a doctor's visit and subsequent treatment. I highly doubt the rate of this happening is as high in any other industrialized nation with a national health care program.
I'd highly doubt that you'd have to wait for 2 years for a mammogram if it was that necessary, but if you have actual evidence of that I'd be sure to read it. In the U.S., if you have the money or the insurance, then yes, you could get a screening right away. Of course, if you're like many poor, uninsured people, you'd convince yourself that it was nothing, it was something that would go away on its own, because even if it was something bad you couldn't afford any treatment. And then when it continues to grow, and it ends up killing you, well, you were sentenced to death because you're poor. Frankly, I don't care why someone is poor. No one deserves to die because of it, especially in a country where so many are quick to proclaim they live in the best country in the world.
Oh, and the people who come here for treatments from all over the world are rich, and at least the poor can get treatment in their own countries.
I think its clear that you have accumulated some research and interviews on the topic. However, your interpretation of the data leaves a lot to be desired. - dysfunction, on 08/26/2008, -0/+7damendred: Western medicine is a ***** approach to health-care as compared to what? Are you implying that science-based medicine is inferior to 'traditional remedies'?
- tajitj, on 08/26/2008, -10/+17Really the fact that Bob Barr is polling at 8% in Ohio having only raised 750K is what may win it for Obama.
http://www.bobbarr2008.com/ - UglyBunny, on 08/26/2008, -9/+15markgl,
I highly doubt it. - inactive, on 08/26/2008, -16/+22A few people become victims of corporate greed versus an entire population becoming victims of government sponsored incompetence. Hmmm...I think I'll take my chances with corporate greed.
- publiclurker, on 08/26/2008, -6/+12I noticed you forgot the hatred part of fear. Minorities, gays, etc. The older generation lived with this hatred most of their lives, and it's a good way to get them to stop thinking.
- jcarpent, on 08/26/2008, -2/+8It's better to trust your healthcare to greedy corporations that care only for the bottom line?
- Phylodome, on 08/26/2008, -6/+12fight the socialists digging this down...
- publiclurker, on 08/26/2008, -8/+14Being scared ***** is not insight, it's cowardice, and the neocons know how to use it to their maximum advantage.
- damendred, on 08/26/2008, -2/+8Canadian health care is not 'abysmal' compared to US.
I don't know where you are getting that, I'm assuming from nowhere.
But USA is still better then say Cuba, no matter what Moore says.
Also, I don't like the Western Medicine in general.
It's a ***** approach to health care. - lisa3711, on 08/26/2008, -0/+5Well, as an educated person about 50 miles from Cincy- let me say we're not all white trash mr. Turd. (nice name by the way).
Why, we even have the internets here, where I can read dumb comments like this. - Phylodome, on 08/26/2008, -4/+9If I'm not mistaken, Riceman's point was in favor of getting the most people the best treatment possible.
I could go to Canada right now and film hundreds of people to whom the Canadian government refuses health care as well. It's really not that hard, but the media isn't attacking the Canadian government for the money it wastes and the lives it ruins, only corporations offering services and goods for purchase...
This is a bunch of politicized BS. There is NOT ONE INDUSTRY IN HISTORY that has become more cost-effective, efficient, or productive because of socialization. YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO LIVE FOREVER, HUMANS DIE, AND THE COST OF LIVING INCREASES EXPONENTIALLY WITH AGE.
You want to know why health care costs are prohibitively high? Try looking at how much insurance premiums are going up because of of trial lawyers suing doctors for everything under the sun. Try looking into the absurd inefficiencies caused by the government regulations that led to HMOs. You want more coverage? BUY IT. And with respect to the last video on that article, an insurance company is certainly within their scope of authority to deny access to a ***** nutritionist. There's something called the internet, people, have you heard of it? Cut HFCS out of your diet, get your ass off the couch, and go do something worthwhile.
This country is seriously going to *****.
Ugh. - Akairenn, on 08/26/2008, -3/+8Protip: Young people can't *afford* disability insurance.
- lndmn01, on 08/26/2008, -8/+13The answer is not more government in health care, it is NO government in health care. The dramatic rise in health care costs began with medicare/medicaid. The government decided what percentage of the total bill they would pay for every medical procedure which caused the doctors/hospitals to increase prices to maintain the same profit. The more government got involved the more the prices increased. The only thing the government will accomplish by "nationalizing" health care is to make it more difficult to get treatment. this time, instead of deciding how much a heart transplant will cost, they will decide if it is cost effective for you to receive the transplant.
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