The Worst President in History?

No.
Stupidity does not produce evil.
It produces awkward clumsiness, possibly including accidents.

Don't forget bad choices

Stupid Bush started the war in Iraq without understanding any of the consequences. He is responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis. If that isn't evil, your head is all screwed up!

Baloney !
Our war was to remove a homicidal maniac
with a grudge against us, and an interest in nukes.
Our war was defensive.

We succeeded 3 years ago.
Now it has degenerated into mere foreign aid.
David

Double baloney.

And I don't have to shout in green letters to make my point.
(What are you, fifteen years old?)

The invasion of Iraq was kneejerk reaction, plain and simple. It had very little to do with a grudge any dictator had for us. (If it had we would have invaded Libya.)

And if we succeeded three years ago, I'd hate to know your definition of failure.

When you grow up you will see the world as a much more complex place than you do now. Unless you grow up to be someone like George Bush whose development as a preceiver of facts matchs his ability to unite people.

Joe(maybe sixteen?)Nation

A tip of the hat to Joe Nation. Very well put.

Intrep (I know the truth when I see it) id

With Bush, it is a combination of stupidity and evil. BTW, about 80 % of legislation effectively emanates from the White House. The Dems are not responsible for the state of things -- they can't even get a bill voted on.

Even if you are only vaguely aware of current events, you know that the budgetary and trade deficits, job and plant outsourcing, immigration problems, plutocracy, etc., are soaring. Yeah, there are countries that are much worse off than we are. For some reason, this provides little solace for thinking Americans.

Conservatives want doctors to live within their means. They want doctors to spend their hard-earned buckets of money on yachts, BMWs, country club membership dues, and mansions rather than on medical malpractice insurance premiums. They also want insurance executives to live within their means. They want insurance executives to spend their hard-earned buckets of money on yachts, BMWs, country club membership dues, and mansions rather than pay out insurance proceeds to the families of injured, maimed, or dead patients. Thus, doctors should be allowed to injure, maim, and kill their patients without fear that their tortious conduct will put a dent in the accumulation of wealth in the medical and insurance industry.

Obviously, doctors and insurance executives are very much in favor of "tort reform" that places limits on the damages that their relatively worthless victims are allowed to collect for their injuries. Accordingly, if they know in advance of any possible litigation what the maximum amount is that victims are allowed to seek (under tort reform laws), they can settle claims for pennies on the dollar and then go golfing.

According to the conservative argument, if doctors didn't have to pay large malpractice insurance premiums and if insurance executives didn't have to pay out large damage awards to those relatively worthless, but damaged patients & their families---then the doctors and insurance executives will have more money to spend on more yachts, BMWs, and mansions---and the COST of healthcare for the average Joe will go DOWN.

Don't you see the merit in their tort reform agenda?

I don't think many people seriously believe that tort reform will lower insurance premiums. The thing that will lower health-care costs, which already works in every other Western nation, is a single-payer health insurance plan. The payer need not be the government, but could be a nonprofit.

Another government lie:

The Inflation Lie:How It's Killing America and the Dollar

Dear NewsMax Reader:

Official government statistics tell us the core Consumer Price Index (CPI) - the most widely used measure of inflation - is a mere 2.4% a year.

But if inflation is really so low, then why are you seeing skyrocketing prices for almost everything you buy?

In just the past year, housing nationwide has gone up by an average of 13%. Winter heating bills are up 25 to 40% . . . health insurance is up 12% . . . many foods are up 10% or more . . . and oil is up over 80%.

The reality? The official inflation rate is virtually pure fiction!

And that lie is sucking a small fortune right out of your pocket…through:

Interest lost from your savings accounts
Higher cost-of-living adjustments
AND
The lack of meaningful pay hikes


My only question is, where does all the Bush supporters fit in all this inflationary economy? They really still think Bush is doing a good job?

Do doctors make mistakes? Yes, of course they do. As complex as modern medicine is, errors are going to happen far more than they did back in 1958. Though we are at somewhat greater risk of being harmed by medical errors, that is balanced out by the cures and mitigation of illness available because medical science has become better able to understand and treat the sick and injured. What should the remedy be for a patient harmed by an innocent error? Recovery should be limited to direct damages alone with no punitive damages allowed. All that need be shown is that the doctor/hospital made an error that resulted in the patient's injury. The doctor's insurer would be liable for the whole award.

Are doctors negligent? Yes, of course they are. They operate under a great deal of pressure with very large case loads. They get tired and are distracted, yet still make momentous decisions. They cut corners to maximize their profits, and take chances that others in the profession would characterize as unreasonable. Sometimes their negligence goes unnoticed, and the patient comes out of treatment cured. Sometimes negligence is a small thing, and at other times and in other circumstances the negligences is gross and the patient is very badly damaged in the process. What should the remedy be for a patient harmed by negligence? I think the patient is entitled to full direct damages no matter how great or small the negligence might be. In addition, the patient is entitled to some punitive damages. I think that punitive damages should have both a floor and a cap. As a matter of law, the Judge, after hearing all the evidence, should give the jury an appropriate range within which the punitive damage award must fall. The insurance company would be fully liable for all direct damages. The punitive damages would be proportioned between the insurer and the defendant, and the prorate share would be a matter for the jury to decide.

Do doctors intentionally harm their patients? Yes, some probably do. What should the remedy be for a patient harmed by intentional wrong-doing? The offending doctor should be criminally prosecuted, lose his license, and go to jail. A doctor convicted of intentionally harming a patient would have little chance of escaping a tort suit equal to the doctor's net worth. The insurance doesn't, nor should it, cover intentional acts that result in harming patients.

I think this would reduce the premiums doctors and hospitals have to pay for insurance coverage. By reducing the cost of insuring against the risk of innocent error and limiting negligence judgements, would not however significantly reduce the cost of treatment. Doctors might no longer "cover their backsides" by running every imaginable test and getting a dozen concurring opinions from other health care professionals. Unfortunately, the system rewards doctors and hospitals for high treatment costs that will be passed along to the insurer, and ultimately to the patient/consumer. Would the doctors and hospitals return to the practice of making their best judgement and then proceeding with treatment? Perhaps not, the system is entrenched and is indeed making some doctors, lawyers, insurance and drug company executives wealthy.

Though I'm a conservative and gravely suspicious of attempts to expand the reach of the Federal government into the private lives of citizens, I think the health care system probably is a good candidate for greater Federal regulation related to patient costs. The system as it has become in the last 60 years is riddled with problems, and those who should benefit most from the advances in medical science come away far too often as paupers, even if they started out as upper-middle class.

The single-payer systems that prevail in other Western Countries all claim a degree of exclusivity in the provision of health services: competing private practicioners are either prohibited or at least severely restricted in their access to this market. This is monopoly power in its worst form. Worse, this monopoly power is put in the hands of government bureaucrats.

Mr.Imposter may be right. The neo-cons have invaded the Department of Labor and the statistics coming from that source are really bogus. I have information that they began their infiltration in the late nineties when the Unemployment rate dropped to 4.5 and 4.0. Those figures are, of course, as bogus as the Unemployment Rate today.

Perhaps, Mr. Imposter would like to send his "evidence" to Dr. Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve. It is obvious that he is either DUPED or, worse still, has been CO-OPTED into the scheme.

What would we do without watchdogs like Mr.Imposter?????

George OB 1 is rarely mistaken. His analysis is correct.

He is proabably aware that a few years ago, the Canadian Supreme Court found that the intolerably long waiting times for people who were not at high risk but were, however, in very severe pain, was unconstitutional.

George Ob1 is probably aware that in most sections of Canada WHICH IS SET UP UNDER A SOCIALISTIC SINGLE PAYER SYSTEM, you cannot buy private insurance. That's correct. No matter how affluent, you cannot purchase private insurance.

That makes three countries in the world, under a socialistic system of the kind touted by the constitutional authority , DEBRA L A W. in which you cannot buy private insurance-

CUBA

NORTH KOREA

AND CANADA.

So much for single payer systems in Canada!!!!

Possum I can only conclude that you and gunga and freedom4free are using the same drugs, drugs that only allow you to see/comprehend opinion blogs containing totally irrational data. Sad really, perhaps you should subscribe to My Weekly Reader to upgrade your information base. On the other hand, suicide seems a well reasoned alternative. Per chance OmDavid (in bold) could give you pointers on shooting yourself in the intelectual foot. BTW what are you wearing today?

Dys

What drugs might those be?

I'm guessing a pharmacopia consisting of Psilocybe Azurescens and nightshade.

dys wrote:
I'm guessing a pharmacopia consisting of Psilocybe Azurescens and nightshade.

I doubt very much any drug availale today can influence or prevent the kind of brain calcification of the Bush righties. No amount of every day evidence will change their minds. They're probably so rich, it doesn't matter to them whether gas rices are $1/gallon or $15/gal. As for home prices, they probably have several spread out throughout this planet. As for food, they eat in the best restaurants every day, and tip the waiter and staff 50 percent. Price is not an issue for them; they're all rich!

Interestingly, the USA already has a single-payer health insurance system that is, on a cost-benefit basis, more efficient by far than any other system. It is called Medicare. Its costs are about 10 to 20 % of those of private insurance for the same benefits.

Conservatives hate the government. But god forbid that private firms operate the likes of the FBI, social security, NASA, NSA, State Dept., Postal Service, FDA, IRS, etc. The costs would be astronomical and there would be nothing but scandal.

Advocate, Conservatives don't hate the government; Bush has led this country into one of the biggest government worker program in its history, and the federal deficit is so large, it'll take generations into the future to pay off. It doesn't matter what republicanism means; they're behind Bush 100 percent for the war in Iraq, the biggest deficit in our country (and still growing), illegal wiretaps, torture of prisoners, illegal immigration, and fewer Americans covered under any health insurance plan.

Big brother is watching over everything we do; we should all be proud of Bush for instituting government programs to watch over us - for our own good!