AMERICAN CONSERVATISM IN 2008 AND BEYOND

@okie,

As you probably know, Europe is finacially struggling quite a bit.
So does Germany.

We've a conservative-liberal coalition government (= centre-right/right).

Our governments are running deficits as long as this republic exists. (That's regulated by the constitution.)

Last year, the economy grew by 3.6 per cent. Inflation is around 2% just now, due to the hight oil prices (we pay about 60% more for gas than you do!).

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@Walter Hinteler,

Thanks Walter. Regardless of our political persuasions, I think we all would likely agree there are plenty of dark clouds on the horizon all over the world?

One of the largest world issues as I see them, is the fact that unless we, the United States, can get our own house in order, economically and otherwise, we leave a very large power vacuum in the world, that could be exploited by others.

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@okie,

Quote:

In my geology career, I got two weeks after about 5 years, if I remember correctly, then 3 weeks after 10 years, and so on. I think 5 weeks paid vacation was about the maximum possible, after about 20 years with the company.

No wonder you are so emotionally sour and so intellectually shrunken.

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@okie,

Quote:

One of the big reasons why I believe the U.S. should consider replacing the income tax with a retail sales tax is because I

. . .m bone dumb!

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We have to get spending under control and repeal Obamacare before the next step. One big step at a time. Do what we say we are going to do. That is what the American people want.

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@Renaldo Dubois,

Agreed 100%. By the way, although I believe the complete elimination of the income tax in favor of a retail sales tax is an idea long overdue for serious consideration, however, I do not think the idea will ever reach first base. Huckabee has been on board with it, but we see how far he got last time around. The idea has been floated for a few years, but it still has no legs. The government derives too much of its power from a tax system that manipulates our lives at every turn. One thing politicians do not give up easily, that is power.

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@okie,

Good points. I agree. We need to be vigilent. It's our government.

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A view on AMerica from the frozen north: Canadian Leonard Cohen sings about the USA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHI9BTpGkp8

Dedicated to sock puppets everywhere!

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@plainoldme,

silly, pom.

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@okie,

You just offered another example of why you would make a boring dinner companion. Cohen is one of the greatest writers of songs in the English language.

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I understand that those right wing extremists, the Westboro Baptist CHurch which consists of a single family, plans to picket Liz Taylor's funeral.

While I would not deny their freedom of speech, I find that congregation appalling. However, to picket the funeral of Taylor is more appropriate than to picket the funeral of an obscure soldier who may have joined the Army because s/he was unemployed and who may never have given homosexuals a thought -- either negative or positive -- when s/he was alive.

I say this because Taylor was a public figure, both as an actress and as a person actively engaged not simply in charitable work but in the fight against AIDS-HIV.

That is not to say Taylor deserves the westboro treatment. All I am saying is that as a symbol, Taylor has meaning. Otherwise anonymous soldiers do not.

A footnote: an appropriate counter-demonstration to westboro might be loud bands playing klezmer, bluegrass or New Orleans-style funeral music to drown out the westboro noise. I am not certain that Gandhi would approve but such a non-violent protest would again be suitable.

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@plainoldme,

pom, They'll never "get it." They want to influence other people's lives while claiming they are for less government intervention into private lives.

Hypocrites! They lie without shame.

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@Renaldo Dubois,

Renaldo Dubois wrote:

We have to get spending under control and repeal Obamacare before the next step. One big step at a time. Do what we say we are going to do. That is what the American people want.

Repealing Health Care reform would be a disaster. The Republicans have no plan to replace it and it would simply return us to the shitty situation we were in before it got passed. Not only that, but repealing HCR would add a ton of money to both the deficit and the debt.

The Dems had the balls to do something about the problem; the Republicans do not and don't even care about the problem at all. They only care about low taxes, especially for the rich.

I have a feeling that you have no clue 'what the American people' want.

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

ObamaCare needs a complete overhaul for it to work; many are still confused about ObamaCare, because they implemented it with speed rather than common sense.

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@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

ObamaCare needs a complete overhaul for it to work; many are still confused about ObamaCare, because they implemented it with speed rather than common sense.

I don't think your first sentence is at all true. WHY does it need a complete overhaul?

The fact that people are confused about it doesn't mean the law is bad or was done incorrectly. And it certainly wasn't done with haste.

Cycloptichorn

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@Cycloptichorn,

One of the primary problems with ObamaCare that was not thought out.

Quote:

As I have said ad nauseum, when you enact a law that provides for huge disincentives for doctors, you will lose many of the existing doctors and discourage new talent from entering the profession. Then when you add 30 million more people to the rolls of those that are now theoretically covered for health care, what results is a simple mathematical example of supply and demand economics. You have fewer doctors available to provide service to a far greater amount of patients. The inevitable result is that costs rise, waiting times increase, and ultimately rationing will occur. Welcome to the beginning of the Obamacare nightmare!

It also impacts many companies with what is called "minimeds" who provide minimum health care coverage, but with ObamaCare, they would have to shift the cost to low income earners who can barely eek out a living now.

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@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

One of the primary problems with ObamaCare that was not thought out.

Quote:

As I have said ad nauseum, when you enact a law that provides for huge disincentives for doctors, you will lose many of the existing doctors and discourage new talent from entering the profession. Then when you add 30 million more people to the rolls of those that are now theoretically covered for health care, what results is a simple mathematical example of supply and demand economics. You have fewer doctors available to provide service to a far greater amount of patients. The inevitable result is that costs rise, waiting times increase, and ultimately rationing will occur. Welcome to the beginning of the Obamacare nightmare!

Who wrote this? You are quoting but not attributing.

It's also merely a projection that, I suspect, some right-winger has written. If there's proof that this has occured - present it. Otherwise I give it no credit at all, because the right-wing has been wrong about their economic projections my entire life.

Quote:

It also impacts many companies with what is called "minimeds" who provide minimum health care coverage, but with ObamaCare, they would have to shift the cost to low income earners who can barely eek out a living now.

Mini-med health plans suck. They suck for the employees who have them, providing only the illusion of insurance. Those who are currently using them are better off seeking insurance through their state exchange.

Even then, what you say is completely untrue. Companies may CHOOSE to put those costs on their employees but they certainly aren't required to. They could instead choose to make less in profits. You are blaming HCR what essentially amounts to greed on the part of employers.

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

The source is not important; the message is very clear and concise. If you fail to understand this simple economic theory, you're only trying to defend ObamaCare without understanding simple math.

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@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

The source is not important; the message is very clear and concise.

The source IS important. It's always appropriate to credit a source when you link something and it's appropriate for others to ask where things came from.

I've noticed that you have been linking more often to sites like FreeRepublic and other crazy right-wing sites for evidence. I don't think that's a very good idea, because - as we both agree in the other thread - they lie with abandon and don't give a **** about the facts! Yet you trust the analysis from these sources, as long as it tells you what you want to hear.

You know who does that, dontcha? Okie. Think about that.

Cycloptichorn

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@Cycloptichorn,

What you are doing is attacking the messenger rather than the message.

The link is here. I still want you to challenge the statement about adding 30 million more patients to a health care system that's already stretched to max.

http://savingcommonsense.blogspot.com/2010/10/first-problems-of-obamacare-and-health.html

1 Reply

AMERICAN CONSERVATISM IN 2008 AND BEYOND

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