Democrats...more of the same!

Aaronssongs,
"You know, you don't always have to respond to my postings...I'd really be interested in "another's " POV, to tell you the truth.

There really is no difference between how the Democrats go about doing business and the way the Republicans do it. They are all in the same boat called Congress, and it is business as usual.
The main problem I have with the Democrats is they are trying to force Socialism down our throats as being a good thing. If you like socialism then move to France or Canada, it seems to suit them just fine. It's not about protecting the rich, They protect themselves, it's about protecting the average joe from crushing tax burdens. The Democrats plans would decrease the quality of life for the middle class. Universal health care would not increase the quality of care in the US, it would decrease it.
Wisconsin is trying out a test program of universal health care for their state. It is a disaster, economically speaking. It is literally costing hundreds of dollars more per month for each tax payer. Can you afford to pay an extra 200 to 300 dollars a month for some one elses care. I'm not making this up, it's on the Wisconsin Gov stats pages. The quality of care is in the toilet because hospitals are over loaded, and doctors are having trouble making Mal-practice payments because the "universal health care only pays so much" so for those with better insurance have to pay much more. Costs for everyone involved go way up.
Look, it would be such a rosie, happy picture if we all could afford to go to college and we all could have equal, quality health care not to mention a stable Social Security system. But the fact is the American public, when they find out how much it is going to cost, will never support it. It is not the American way. The American revolution was ispired in part by taxes that were too high (I know, no taxation without representation...etc). Once you start raising taxes there is no going back. Slippery slope and all that jazz....

If you want to pay a 45% or higher tax rate then move to A socialist nation. I'm not interested.

show me a politician that is not corrupted by Washington, and I'll show you a horse of a different color....purple.

Ron Paul is purple?

Aaronssongs wrote,
"Jesus, Joseph and Mary, where do I begin? Business as usual, indeed!
If Congress could just pass reforms that would remove "lobbyists' and special interest groups from the equation, they would seem less likely a "parliament of whores"...but of course that's not going to happen, anytime soon...they love the perks, and the money....show me a politician that is not corrupted by Washington, and I'll show you a horse of a different color....purple.

I emphatically agree with you on that point. No need to elaborate further.
Since we both agree on what had been previously stated...closed book


As far as doctors are concerned, are you saying that they should not get paid more for their services? Is their 20+ years of education and expertise not worth more then say a line cook at Denny's or a Wal mart employee? What would you consider fair compensation for a Doctor who has to pay $90k per year in mal-practice insurance? After all anyone could become a doctor right? Who are they to charge what they do for saving lives? the nerve....!

I'm saying doctors shouldn't be getting rich off their patients...it's not like they're going to go wanting...people will forever continue to get sick and die.
$100-$150 for an initial office visit, today, that once was $30-$50????....give me an f...... break! Malpractice insurance premiums ought to be lower...but then again, you need to talk to insurance companies...we're talking doctors right now.
The docs need to accept what Medicare pays, and be content...often times, people on Medicare, such as myself, don't have discretionary income to pay exorbitant doctor fees, yet still continue to need medical care and attention...our fault, right? Just the breaks, huh? Do without, ne c'est pas?
No, you cannot fault people for unforeseen circumstances, which can befall anyone...if so, what about all those Enron employees who not only lost their assets, pensions and their healthcare...some were forced to go to free county health facilities, when they once had full coverage, and could go to the best. The very reason there should be complete coverage for everyone....and if you want to call that "socialized medicine", then so be it.
And if doctors incomes fall 50 %, and they can only afford one vacation per year, and 1 SUV, and their children have to come out of private school and attend public school....and they might have to opt for a $200,000 house instead of a $3,000,000 one, then so goddamn be it.

Lawyers can all get bent as far as I concerned.........

You said "Taxes need not be raised...they need to be "better spent"

I agree 100%. My personal politics favor the motto "Don't take my money and don't tell me what to do".

You stated:
"Democrats trying to force socialism down our throats? Were it not for the disparity of rich vs. poor, the haves vs. the have nots, the educated vs. the uneducated, the fantasy of equal opportunity for all, and a "level playing field", there would be no reason to "think" socialism."

I can not agree with that statement at all. The fantasy of "equal oppurtunity"? Please tell me you do not believe that people need not take responsibility for their decisions in life?
Rich vs poor, have vs have nots, and all that crap is rhetoric for people who are envious of those who have made something of themselves while they sit around and smoke pot, wasting the oppurtunities that life presents. You spout that crap to the immigrants who came over to America with nothing in their pockets and made something of themselves. They will tell you it is the losers, who live in "someday I'll" land, standing around waiting for a hand out, who believe that crap. They sell you a sob story about how the "man" has been keeping them down and their aren't any jobs, or it's the rich taking advantage of them. After all somebody other then themselves is to blame for their own misfortune, right?
It's about responsibility for your own actions that made this country great. It will be those not wanting to take responsibilty that will tear it down.

Anyone in this country can get a college education. ANYONE! If I was able to get a college education, then anyone can, especially minorities and the poor. I will not elaborate, but I grew up very poor, but my children will not have to suffer the same affliction. That is why I know you are wrong about America not being a land of oppurtunity. If I did it, then anyone can.
You making excuses why people cannot succeed only sows the seeds of self fulfilling prophecy in their minds. They begin to believe that they cannot make it, eventually they don't even try.

Thank God for my mother....an elementary teacher, divorced, with 2 children (one needing multiple surgeries for a birth defect), and not getting any help from my father, who started up a second family. She, singlehandedly, took my brother and I, out of the Chicago Public School System, and put us into a parochial Episcopal School for boys, where we were taught music theory, Latin, Religion, academics, and were invited, as a choir, to the New York World's Fair to perform, in 1965. Thank God, that I had a mother with the vision, and the determination to see to it that we, at least for 4 yrs, got one of the best educations possible at the time.
Not all people are as fortunate as I was...but for you to suggest that they aren't equally deserving of opportunity, is appalling, to say the least.
If opportunity isn't afforded one, due to race, finances( or the lack of), or assistance on some level, then easy for you to say...let them pull themselves up by their own bootstraps...and many often do...but not all. You say, them's the breaks....I say, lend a helping hand, and see what can happen...Oprah, was the product of such an enviroment...she was bright, involved, and ambitious...but someone had to open a door, for her to get a foot in, down, or on....and that is all I'm suggesting...a level playing field, and equal opportunity...those that are not willing to be all that they can, or go the extra mile...of course, get left by the wayside, and shame on them.



"And we're not to blame. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, remember. I know, it's so easy to forget, when you "got"."

I "got", because I took advantage of the "oppurtunities" this country provided. I never sat around looking for a hand out. I took responsibility for my situation and did something about it. People are only poor because they allow themselves to be. (I'm not talking about the mentally ill, or handicapped, they need assistance, I have no issues with that)

Puh-leeze! As if opportunities didn't present themselves, in large part, due to unspoken "white privilege", which does exist, contrary to those who claim that it doesn't or seek to minimize its' importance in the grand scheme of events....(sidebar: don't even suggest that it doesn't..because I had a friend who was Pennsylvania Dutch, and he was typical, and he freely admitted that it exists...and he was in his right mind!)


Socialism isn't the answer, it's the disease that leads to complacency. Take any of your socialist societies and you will see stagnation and declining economies. If you call that "advanced" then you need to re-evaluate what advanced means to you. As far as Altruistic goes? America has been the leader in charitable giving for the entire world. I'd be willing to bet that America gives more to more people then all of Europe combined. Ever been to France? For the most part, altruistic is not a word that comes to mind.

Yes, America is such a generous and giving country...they give to everybody....except their own.
And forgive me, but I don't mean to suggest that I don't agree with many of your points...I do. But the answers as well as the questions are not black and white, and don't easily fit into pretty little packages tied with pretty little bows. It's much more complex than you suggest, or I'm able to answer.