How is america getting on?

I don't really follow this kind of stuff because I just don't see the point in getting worked up over it. However, from what I've been told part of the problem with increasing the taxes of the rich people is that a lot of those rich people own or are a big part of the larger corporations in the US that provide lots of our jobs. If you raise their taxes too high they start to close down and go overseas resulting in job loss which doesn't help either. If you can raise taxes without resulting in that I don't think people would worry or be as upset about it. But when you raise taxes dramatically and the result is then job loss and then you decide to pass all these bills for Obamacare and what not which is going to end up costing more money that we don't have people start to get mad.

There's nothing really wrong with socialized medicine for smaller European Countries where it works. But the US is a much larger country. The state of Texas is about the size of France to put it in perspective. When we don't have the money to pay for the system and we have far more people who are likely to abuse the system it's just not going to work out very well. If I remember correctly the free health care and dental care in the UK is a disaster from what I've heard. People wait months to schedule a procedure that only takes a week at most to schedule in the US. If the UK has that big of a problem with it imagine what the US would have with it.

It's not that we don't want a cheaper healthcare system, it's that what was proposed and passed wasn't what was wanted.

Interesting stuff in here. I'm not a big fan of "Obamacare" but the system needed to be overhauled and the republicans wanted to maintain the status quo. What really bothers me with these right wing, christian conservative republicans is how un-jesuslike they really are. Would Jesus put the rich people above the poor people? Would he sacrifice his people to make bigger profits? Shit the only one that I can actually tolerate is Ron Paul but he is far off base from the normal republican base that he has no chance at winning anything. I also find it amusing how the US HATES communism and islam yet we get what 90% of out goods from a communist country and who knows how much oil we get from muslims.

Actually, the Republicans wanted to open up the Insurance business to more competition, instead of the Government mandated monopolies we currently have. If Obamacare is allowed to stand, not only will health care be more expensive and inferior to what we currently have, but less people will have it.

I would have preferred for the Government to make Insurance more accessable to the individual by uncoupling it from your job and opening up the market to more competition. It should be more like car insurance where not only do you have a multitude of potential providers, but you could also only buy the coverage you need.

For example, my wife has her tubes tied, why should I have to purchase pregnancy insurance? If we have no outside sex partners, and do not engage in needle sharing, why should I have to pay for HIV insurance?

I'm currently forced by the Government to purchase all types of "Health Insurance," which in my opinion are totaly unnecessary.

With regards to the amount of products purchased from communist and Muslim countries; that could be resolved by the U.S. Government lowering the penalties on U.S. manufacturers and allowing Oil, Coal, Natural Gas companies etc.; to actually drill and mine for their products here in the U.S.

Shouldn't the Government be doing whatever it can to help create jobs instead of preventing them? :cool:

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Originally Posted by TrekkiesUnite118

I don't really follow this kind of stuff because I just don't see the point in getting worked up over it. However, from what I've been told part of the problem with increasing the taxes of the rich people is that a lot of those rich people own or are a big part of the larger corporations in the US that provide lots of our jobs. If you raise their taxes too high they start to close down and go overseas resulting in job loss which doesn't help either.

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Unemployment was lower when we had higher tax rates. I'm not convinced that there's a strong correlation between the two. (Although, sure, there is an eventual limit, but that is sky high.)

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There's nothing really wrong with socialized medicine for smaller European Countries where it works. But the US is a much larger country. The state of Texas is about the size of France to put it in perspective.

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So if France can do it, why can't Texas? I'm not sure why people (on both sides of the political spectrum) think the entire country needs to be on one unified system of health care. Have the federal government set basic requirements and allocate funds to the states to each run their own health program. "Obamacare" kind of offers states the option, but minus the funding.

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When we don't have the money to pay for the system and we have far more people who are likely to abuse the system it's just not going to work out very well. If I remember correctly the free health care and dental care in the UK is a disaster from what I've heard. People wait months to schedule a procedure that only takes a week at most to schedule in the US. If the UK has that big of a problem with it imagine what the US would have with it.

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Why do people in the US say this but not people in the UK? I have a relative in Chester, England who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, and she sure didn't have to wait "months" to get a biopsy, nor is she waiting "months" to now get a mastectomy.

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It's not that we don't want a cheaper healthcare system, it's that what was proposed and passed wasn't what was wanted.

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That, I can agree with.

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However, from what I've been told part of the problem with increasing the taxes of the rich people is that a lot of those rich people own or are a big part of the larger corporations in the US that provide lots of our jobs. If you raise their taxes too high they start to close down and go overseas resulting in job loss which doesn't help either.

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I don't think there is such a thing as having "low enough" taxes in the eyes of the big corporations. They simply don't want to pay any taxes whatsoever. And that seems to be pretty much what's already going on with the big US corporations, thanks to aggressive lobbying and utilizing various loopholes to evade the taxes that are still in place. That won't help with the job situation either, simply because as long as there is someone in the global job market who can do your job for less than the salary you need, then they're going to hire them instead. So their profits keep going up, and little to none of this is taxed in practice, this is where the republicans would argue for the "trickle down" magic which simply isn't happening either. The money is just hoarded among the top class of your society.

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Originally Posted by TrekkiesUnite118

There's nothing really wrong with socialized medicine for smaller European Countries where it works. But the US is a much larger country. The state of Texas is about the size of France to put it in perspective. When we don't have the money to pay for the system and we have far more people who are likely to abuse the system it's just not going to work out very well.

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That´s just the size of the country geographically.
If you count the population, the difference is not that huge. Compare it to Germany; while the country is only as big as a single state in the US may be, it has a population of more than 81 000 000 people.
The US have like 308 000 000 people. It´s more, of course, but not a big difference when you look at both countries´ size.

Or it must be handled state by state with common basic ruleset.

Insurance business having more competition would not work well I believe. Doctor´s would just start not accepting certain "less profitable" patients with cheaper insurances. Health care insurance companies would always be as difficult to look through and get your money as with any private insurance.
A basic healthcare for every American that covers all possible problems, with the possibility to optionally upgrade on your own is a must imo. Every doctor knows what kind of treatmet is paid for you with an insurance from the state, and you don´t have to fight for your mone.

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Originally Posted by 108 Stars

Insurance business having more competition would not work well I believe. Doctor´s would just start not accepting certain "less profitable" patients with cheaper insurances. Health care insurance companies would always be as difficult to look through and get your money as with any private insurance.
A basic healthcare for every American that covers all possible problems, with the possibility to optionally upgrade on your own is a must imo. Every doctor knows what kind of treatmet is paid for you with an insurance from the state, and you don´t have to fight for your mone.

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But that is already happening with Medicare and Medicade. A growing number of Doctors are refusing to treat people who are covered by these programs because the Government is demanding that the doctors treat them at below cost. Hospitals are closing their trauma centers because the Government does not reimburse at cost.

This will be much worse under the new System. Unless you are proposing that Doctors be forced to go into bankruptcy treating people below cost.

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Originally Posted by yuleeyahoo

Actually, the Republicans wanted to open up the Insurance business to more competition
(snip)
I would have preferred for the Government to make Insurance more accessable to the individual by uncoupling it from your job and opening up the market to more competition.

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This sounds like the Wyden-Bennett bill, which had more Democratic support than Republican. And now, with the Tea Party, you can bet that Republican support for that plan would be much less.

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For example, my wife has her tubes tied, why should I have to purchase pregnancy insurance? If we have no outside sex partners, and do not engage in needle sharing, why should I have to pay for HIV insurance?

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This doesn't even make sense. "I had my tonsils removed, why should I have to pay for strep throat insurance?" The logical conclusion of your argument would be to split health insurance into 2,000 different insurance policies that each cover a single thing, and everyone would choose some aggregation thereof. Now everyone's going to roll the dice deciding which ailments they "need" covered and which they can probably do without.

By the way, a tubal ligation is not 100% effective. In all likelihood, your wife won't have a child, but what happens to the 1 in 100 cases for which the tubal ligation fails to prevent pregnancy? They most likely didn't buy "pregnancy insurance", and now they're screwed, thanks only to the luck of the draw.

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Originally Posted by yuleeyahoo

But that is already happening with Medicare and Medicade. A growing number of Doctors are refusing to treat people who are covered by these programs because the Government is demanding that the doctors treat them at below cost. Hospitals are closing their trauma centers because the Government does not reimburse at cost.

This will be much worse under the new System. Unless you are proposing that Doctors be forced to go into bankruptcy treating people below cost.

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Yeah, that's what happens when taxes are too low and the government doesn't adequately fund things.

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Originally Posted by yuleeyahoo

Actually, the Republicans wanted to open up the Insurance business to more competition, instead of the Government mandated monopolies we currently have. If Obamacare is allowed to stand, not only will health care be more expensive and inferior to what we currently have, but less people will have it.

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Except that "Obamacare" as you call it, was originally a Republican plan for health care, but as soon as a Democrat supported it, they had to turn against it.

Also, if this is such a great deal for the American people, why are all of our Congressmen, their families and employees exempt from Obamacare?

Why have their been over 1,000 exemptions handed out for Obamacare with over 40% going to Unions? Why was there a religious exemption put in that seems to only cover Muslims?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Muslims? I thought the religious exemption was mainly for Christian Scientists. Also I'm not sure who characterized the health care bill as "a great deal for the American people". Sounds like a big fat straw man to me.

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Originally Posted by j_factor

This doesn't even make sense. "I had my tonsils removed, why should I have to pay for strep throat insurance?" The logical conclusion of your argument would be to split health insurance into 2,000 different insurance policies that each cover a single thing, and everyone would choose some aggregation thereof. Now everyone's going to roll the dice deciding which ailments they "need" covered and which they can probably do without.

By the way, a tubal ligation is not 100% effective. In all likelihood, your wife won't have a child, but what happens to the 1 in 100 cases for which the tubal ligation fails to prevent pregnancy? They most likely didn't buy "pregnancy insurance", and now they're screwed, thanks only to the luck of the draw.

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So does car insurance or homeowner's make sense? No one is forced into a one size fits all policy. My insurance for both of those have many ala-cart options. I don't live in a flood plane; consequently I dont pay for flood insurance. Guess what happens if it floods? My bad.


I reiterate, I should not be forced to pay for Insurance I don't believe I need. I went for years without insurance at all and had to pay out of my pocket for our first child. I shopped hospitals and Doctors and got the best deal I could, It also ended up being less out of pocket than the two later ones I had Insurance for.

Sure the state will have to dictate what a doctor can ask for a treatment, but usually they have experts for this kind of thing, so no doctor must work at a loss.

That said, I can´t believe how anyone with health problems would prefer to run around from hospital to hospital and from doctor to doctor in order to make the best deal. That´s a fucked up idea. Nice when your well-being does not depend on you finding something you can afford.

Everyone should just need to go to the next doctor and be treated.

And you can´t just pick the pieces of a basic insurance in hundreds of categories. This is probably what private insurances do to earn extra money, ask for an extra insurance for every part of your body. The bureaucracy alone would make that more expensive probably than what you will have to pay for the whole package.

Yes, I think you should be forced to pay for that insurance. That´s the deal to make better health care possible for even the poor. Such a system is based on solidarity, meaning everyone has to pay his part.

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Originally Posted by j_factor

Muslims? I thought the religious exemption was mainly for Christian Scientists. Also I'm not sure who characterized the health care bill as "a great deal for the American people". Sounds like a big fat straw man to me.

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To be fair; the exemption goes to any religious group that That traditionally rejects Insurance. Amish, Mennonites & Muslims.

If the Health Care Reform Bill wasn't a Great Deal for America, why do it? Change for changes sake is usually a recipe for disaster. Why through something smelly up on the wall instead of repainting the wall?

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Originally Posted by 108 Stars

Yes, I think you should be forced to pay for that insurance. That´s the deal to make better health care possible for even the poor. Such a system is based on solidarity, meaning everyone has to pay his part.

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I disagree. I also know that our Federal Government does not have the authority under the Constitution to force me to buy anything. State Governments are a different matter, it depends on how their Constituions are written.

All of that said, I will not flat out refuse to pay, I have no desire to go to prison. But I will continue to vote against politicians who advocate this sort of nonsense.

108 Stars, as much fun as this discussion is, I'm off to the Local Arena Football game.

Peace out.

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Originally Posted by yuleeyahoo

So does car insurance or homeowner's make sense? No one is forced into a one size fits all policy.

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That's quite the excluded middle there. There are options, but not to the same extent you're talking about. And, you're required to have a minimum baseline of coverage.

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My insurance for both of those have many ala-cart options. I don't live in a flood plane; consequently I dont pay for flood insurance. Guess what happens if it floods? My bad.

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But your homeowner's insurance still covers a multitude of things. You don't get to pick each individual item of coverage.

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I reiterate, I should not be forced to pay for Insurance I don't believe I need.

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Ultimately I don't believe health care should be a matter of insurance, so I can't say I strongly disagree with you.

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I went for years without insurance at all and had to pay out of my pocket for our first child. I shopped hospitals and Doctors and got the best deal I could, It also ended up being less out of pocket than the two later ones I had Insurance for.

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I went for years without insurance too. While uninsured, I got hit by a truck while bicycling. It was a hit and run. I went to the hospital to get x-rayed, and they billed me two grand. Maybe that's chump change to you, but it isn't to me. Why the hell should I be out a shitload of money, which I can't afford, because of some asshole? Of course I had the option of simply not going to the hospital and "hoping" there was no permanent damage to my leg that a truck slammed into, but that's hardly advisable.

Even if I was insured, under your a la carte insurance proposal, maybe I wouldn't have had x-ray insurance, or maybe I wouldn't have had being-hit-by-a-motorist insurance.

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Originally Posted by yuleeyahoo

If the Health Care Reform Bill wasn't a Great Deal for America, why do it?

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Just because I don't agree with you, doesn't mean I agree with the health care reform that was passed. Or I may agree with parts of it and disagree with others. Either way, your argument is not against what the people you're arguing with are actually saying.

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Originally Posted by yuleeyahoo

I disagree. I also know that our Federal Government does not have the authority under the Constitution to force me to buy anything. State Governments are a different matter, it depends on how their Constituions are written.

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Through taxation, you buy lots of tanks and missiles. If that's okay, why not health care?

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Originally Posted by j_factor

Unemployment was lower when we had higher tax rates. I'm not convinced that there's a strong correlation between the two. (Although, sure, there is an eventual limit, but that is sky high.)



So if France can do it, why can't Texas? I'm not sure why people (on both sides of the political spectrum) think the entire country needs to be on one unified system of health care. Have the federal government set basic requirements and allocate funds to the states to each run their own health program. "Obamacare" kind of offers states the option, but minus the funding.



Why do people in the US say this but not people in the UK? I have a relative in Chester, England who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, and she sure didn't have to wait "months" to get a biopsy, nor is she waiting "months" to now get a mastectomy.



That, I can agree with.

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Well each state could in theory implement their own system. However the Federal Government does have means to force states to do what they want. For example, the drinking age in the US is actually state law, not federal law. But years ago the Federal Government stated they would cut highway funding to states that didn't set their drinking age at 21. I could see them doing something similar to states not setting up a healthcare system they want.

I do agree that there probably isn't that strong of a correlation to tax rates and employment, but it's still not the best idea in the world to raise the taxes of those with the power to provide jobs in a recession. There's nothing wrong with taxing the richer people and big businesses, but don't do it when we are in a recession and they are looking for a reason to go overseas.

As for the UK healthcare, I've heard it's far worse for dental than it is for other healthcare. If I remember correctly they sell at home tooth extraction kits because it takes quite a long time to have it done by a dentist. When I had to have my Wisdom teeth removed I was able to schedule an appointment to have the dentist look at them and then the removal a few days later. Then again though I'm basing this off of what I heard years ago, so it may be better now.

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Originally Posted by j_factor

That's quite the excluded middle there. There are options, but not to the same extent you're talking about. And, you're required to have a minimum baseline of coverage.



But your homeowner's insurance still covers a multitude of things. You don't get to pick each individual item of coverage.



Ultimately I don't believe health care should be a matter of insurance, so I can't say I strongly disagree with you.



I went for years without insurance too. While uninsured, I got hit by a truck while bicycling. It was a hit and run. I went to the hospital to get x-rayed, and they billed me two grand. Maybe that's chump change to you, but it isn't to me. Why the hell should I be out a shitload of money, which I can't afford, because of some asshole? Of course I had the option of simply not going to the hospital and "hoping" there was no permanent damage to my leg that a truck slammed into, but that's hardly advisable.

Even if I was insured, under your a la carte insurance proposal, maybe I wouldn't have had x-ray insurance, or maybe I wouldn't have had being-hit-by-a-motorist insurance.



Just because I don't agree with you, doesn't mean I agree with the health care reform that was passed. Or I may agree with parts of it and disagree with others. Either way, your argument is not against what the people you're arguing with are actually saying.



Through taxation, you buy lots of tanks and missiles. If that's okay, why not health care?

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soberly reminds me of why i love living in the uk

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Originally Posted by TrekkiesUnite118

As for the UK healthcare, I've heard it's far worse for dental than it is for other healthcare.

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Well of course it is. Have you seen their teeth? :D

I kid, I kid.

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Originally Posted by yuleeyahoo

With regards to the amount of products purchased from communist and Muslim countries; that could be resolved by the U.S. Government lowering the penalties on U.S. manufacturers and allowing Oil, Coal, Natural Gas companies etc.; to actually drill and mine for their products here in the U.S.

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Or, dare I say it, not keep digging up fossil fuels and start actually trying to make the alternative fuels work. Time to get off the oil and coal teat and find something better.

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Originally Posted by j_factor

Well of course it is. Have you seen their teeth? :D

I kid, I kid.

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British teeth - lol :rofl: What's in the UK gene pool that causes teeth to get that fucked up, anyway? Seriously >_> I'm glad I'm an American euro-mut ;)

As for the original poster. I'm still poor as shit. By choice of course. Health care was fairly easy to obtain, if you are poor enough. I recently got on it to have major back surgery. Now that I'm fixed up, I'm off the insurance. I seriously don't make enough for me to justify paying for insurance for myself. I'll take my chances without (have for almost all of my adult life). And about this Obamacare stuff, I've yet to see anything come my way. Sounds like a load of horseshit to me. I'll believe it when I see it.

Someone made a comment about the Republican base not being christan conservative relate to social form. I call bullshit on that. Sure, there are exceptions. But they're just that, exceptions. That's not to say some areas of Democrats don't cater to the same social conservatism, but I don't think it's the norm per se. At least, it's not as vocal as the Republicans. For the record, I hate all politicians. I don't like either of the major parties. I don't like any christan values being shoved down my throat, and I sure as hell don't like the ones that label themselves as 'liberals' when they act more like fascists. I want the government to stay the fuck out of my social life, period. Don't take away my junk food vending machines from the city buildings and don't preach to me christan based values. I will stab you, bitch!

AFAIK, republicans were traditionally not so deeply rooted in conservative christian values. It was during the early 80's elections they decided to tap into the bible belt which was a large potential voter base, which gave them a big boost. Since then they've just felt increasingly obligated to cater to this audience, at the expense of voters who may be economically but not morally conservative.

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Originally Posted by tomaitheous

British teeth - lol :rofl: What's in the UK gene pool that causes teeth to get that fucked up, anyway? Seriously >_> I'm glad I'm an American euro-mut ;)

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Originally Posted by some guy from the internet

Surely this stereotype has arisen out of the American preoccupation of spending large amounts of money on having their teeth done, a pastime which, like cosmetic surgery, the British find too vain to become involved in.

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Sounds plausible to me.

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Originally Posted by Olls

Sounds plausible to me.

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I take it you're not American, then? Growing up and going to school, very-very few kids had braces (if that's what you're taking about. That's the most common "correction" for teeth in the US). The vast majority of us didn't nothing with our teeth except to brush them (and even some were reluctant to do that >_>). Maybe in the richer neighborhoods/schools, the ratio was a little higher. But I still can't imagine it being that much. Sorry, doesn't sound plausible to me.

Olls should really just put his location down as Netherlands and stop confusing people (pretty sure that's where he is).

I don't have much to say about the state of the US economy because I am neither a US resident nor do I concern myself with politics.

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Originally Posted by tomaitheous

I take it you're not American, then? Growing up and going to school, very-very few kids had braces (if that's what you're taking about. That's the most common "correction" for teeth in the US). The vast majority of us didn't nothing with our teeth except to brush them (and even some were reluctant to do that >_>). Maybe in the richer neighborhoods/schools, the ratio was a little higher. But I still can't imagine it being that much. Sorry, doesn't sound plausible to me.

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The fluoride in the water also makes a big difference believe it or not.

I've had fluoride my whole life and my teeth are still crooked as hell.

Also, as a christian and a recovering historian I can say that "christian" political movements are always a bad thing. The only successful morality movements were from the ground up, and the only successful top down movements were conducted by tyrants.

Fluoride wont do anything for making your teeth straight, but it will make a difference in preventing cavities and what not.

Well, if you believe everything you read on the internet flouride can create whirled peas. So I was just grumbling. ;)

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Originally Posted by TrekkiesUnite118

The fluoride in the water also makes a big difference believe it or not.

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I love fluoride! I make sure that I buy bottled water with fluoride in it and offcourse I make sure my toothpaste and mouthwash has it. I also try to eat more foods that have fluoride added!
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcom...e/fluoride.pdf
Go to this page and scroll down to page 12-24. This will show how to get extra fluoride in the foods that you eat. Make sure you take plenty and give plenty to your kids and make sure your brothers and sisters kids get plenty of it(as you can see plenty of baby products have it). Get'em started young is my philosophy.

If any mods are reading this, please ban anyone who tries to start another floride debate. Please.

Also I would like to say to everyone not to listen to the media too much. They sensationalize everything. Even when they're not sensationalizing they are sensationalizing. They will happily leave out half the facts if it makes the story better. I've seen this lots of times. Misinforming by withholding relevant information is just as bad as lying, and they do it all the time, on purpose, just to drama it up.

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Originally Posted by Sega Genesis

I love fluoride! I make sure that I buy bottled water with fluoride in it and offcourse I make sure my toothpaste and mouthwash has it. I also try to eat more foods that have fluoride added!
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcom...e/fluoride.pdf
Go to this page and scroll down to page 12-24. This will show how to get extra fluoride in the foods that you eat. Make sure you take plenty and give plenty to your kids and make sure your brothers and sisters kids get plenty of it(as you can see plenty of baby products have it). Get'em started young is my philosophy.

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Hi there The Edge!

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Originally Posted by j_factor

But your homeowner's insurance still covers a multitude of things. You don't get to pick each individual item of coverage.

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True, but there are options in coverage so I am not forced to take a Government designed one size fits all plan. Additionally, I have the options of: a) not buying insurance, (which would be foolish, but I still have that right.) b) Not buying a home, thus not needing home owners insurance at all.

Under the Healthcare Reform Act, you are required to buy insurance or pay a penalty. This is nothing less than a tax on life itself.

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Originally Posted by j_factor

I went for years without insurance too. While uninsured, I got hit by a truck while bicycling. It was a hit and run. I went to the hospital to get x-rayed, and they billed me two grand. Maybe that's chump change to you, but it isn't to me. Why the hell should I be out a shitload of money, which I can't afford, because of some asshole? Of course I had the option of simply not going to the hospital and "hoping" there was no permanent damage to my leg that a truck slammed into, but that's hardly advisable.

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Sorry to hear that. My youngest daughter was hit by a car on her way to tae kwon do just before Christmas. It was a hit and run. Her right leg was broken in three places. Strangely enough under Florida law, my car insurance was considered primary and my health insurance secondary.

So, if I was uninsured, why should you or anyone else have to pay my daughters' medical bills?

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Originally Posted by j_factor

Through taxation, you buy lots of tanks and missiles. If that's okay, why not health care?

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Basically because National defense is one of the few constitutional responsibilities of the Federal government and health care is a personal responsibility. Sort of like feeding and clothing yourself.

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Originally Posted by The Coop

Or, dare I say it, not keep digging up fossil fuels and start actually trying to make the alternative fuels work. Time to get off the oil and coal teat and find something better.

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Such as? Electricity has to come from somewhere.

Wind and solar are too unreliable. France receives over 70% of it's electricity from nuclear power but the government has not allowed a new plant to be constructed here in over 20 years. We are actually removing dams instead of building new ones, so apparently free renewable hydro power is not an option. We are awash with Natural Gas, but eco-groups are already lobbying to ban that.

So what are we supposed to use?

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Originally Posted by yuleeyahoo

Such as? Electricity has to come from somewhere.

Wind and solar are too unreliable. France receives over 70% of it's electricity from nuclear power but the government has not allowed a new plant to be constructed here in over 20 years. We are actually removing dams instead of building new ones, so apparently free renewable hydro power is not an option. We are awash with Natural Gas, but eco-groups are already lobbying to ban that.

So what are we supposed to use?

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We should die. The earth is more important than us humans. With overpopulating and polluting, we are destroying mother earth.

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Originally Posted by yuleeyahoo

True, but there are options in coverage so I am not forced to take a Government designed one size fits all plan. Additionally, I have the options of: a) not buying insurance, (which would be foolish, but I still have that right.) b) Not buying a home, thus not needing home owners insurance at all.

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There are still options for different health insurance plans. It is not one plan fits all. Nor is it government designed; the government merely mandates limits on inclusions/exclusions. It has not crafted a health insurance plan.

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Under the Healthcare Reform Act, you are required to buy insurance or pay a penalty. This is nothing less than a tax on life itself.

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And that's why I don't agree with it, as I've stated previously. But under the capitalist health care system, you are required to buy health services or suffer/die. This is nothing less than a fee on life itself.

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Sorry to hear that. My youngest daughter was hit by a car on her way to tae kwon do just before Christmas. It was a hit and run. Her right leg was broken in three places. Strangely enough under Florida law, my car insurance was considered primary and my health insurance secondary.

So, if I was uninsured, why should you or anyone else have to pay my daughters' medical bills?

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Because we all benefit, as a society, if everyone is able to get health care. Just like we all pay for public schools, even those of us who don't have children. We all pay for OSHA, even those of us in completely unhazardous jobs or the self-employed. We all pay for the FDA's meat inspections, even those of us who are vegetarians.

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Basically because National defense is one of the few constitutional responsibilities of the Federal government and health care is a personal responsibility. Sort of like feeding and clothing yourself.

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So you're not against it because you have any actual reason, you're only against it because of what the constitution says? If it were done at the state level, you'd support it? By the way, are you against Medicare, Medicaid, and S-CHIP too?

Unreliable? I don't recall hearing that the sun's going to go away, or that solar batteries stop storing power.

There are a lot of options open if people would seriously take to heart that fossil fuels are finite. They will run out. Meanwhile, we have solar, hydro, nuclear (though Japan's latest problem might have shoved that on the back burner for a bit), algae (yes, algae), wind... hell, compressed natural gas. All of which could be combined with fossil fuels to start lessening the burden in terms of how much fossil fuel's needed each day/month/year to run a factory, town, whatever. All someone has to do, it work on it. But, given how much money the oil companies and their ilk are still continuing to make, and how strong their lobbying campaign always is, that's not likely to happen any time soon.

That said, the means are there. It might cost money to research it, but hey... shut down the bases in foreign countries where we're no longer needed, end the 2.5 wars we're in, and right there would be a nice chunk of yearly change that could go toward that research.

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Originally Posted by Sega Genesis

I love fluoride! I make sure that I buy bottled water with fluoride in it and offcourse I make sure my toothpaste and mouthwash has it. I also try to eat more foods that have fluoride added!
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcom...e/fluoride.pdf
Go to this page and scroll down to page 12-24. This will show how to get extra fluoride in the foods that you eat. Make sure you take plenty and give plenty to your kids and make sure your brothers and sisters kids get plenty of it(as you can see plenty of baby products have it). Get'em started young is my philosophy.

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http://myfacewhen.com/images/286.jpg

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Originally Posted by The Coop

Unreliable? I don't recall hearing that the sun's going to go away, or that solar batteries stop storing power.

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What happens if it's overcast? Too many clouds can block out direct sunlight.

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That said, the means are there. It might cost money to research it, but hey... shut down the bases in foreign countries where we're no longer needed, end the 2.5 wars we're in, and right there would be a nice chunk of yearly change that could go toward that research.

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But that's too much like giving a damn about somebody/something besides yourself. Nobody wants to do that these days. It's all about the money!

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You know, I also think it's safe to say Mr. Smith is the only choice for the next presidential election. We all know he'd start introducing Blast Processors as a cheap and renewable fuel source. Heck, we'd only need one or two for the entire USA.

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Originally Posted by Guntz

What happens if it's overcast? Too many clouds can block out direct sunlight.

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As I said, I don't recall hearing that solar batteries stopped storing power. And, if solar power is combined with what's currently used, then not only does it consume less fossil fuel, it also consumes less solar power than relying solely on the latter.

Like some people say in relation to simpler things, "baby steps." Put one foot forward, bring up the other and put it forward, and then guess what? You're moving forward and not standing in place anymore... which is basically what we've been doing for a rather long time when it comes to where we get our power/energy/fuel.