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#88402 - 09/22/09 04:59 PM
Re: Health Care in your Country?
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Member
Registered: 05/16/08
Posts: 307
Loc: Chesapeake, Virginia, USA
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Originally posted by cgiles:
Well Bill, I appreciate your having the courage to at least tell it like it really is. Since the subject of racism (and how it may be effecting the health care debate) has already been introduced, I'll throw in some of my own feelings on the matter.
I cannot fathom how any Black man, regardless of base ideology, could embrace, defend, and apologize for, the current state of the Republican party. With it's not so recent shift to the far right, it's clear 'write-off' of minority support from any quarter, it's shrill racist rhetoric, it's regressive policies, it's anti-intellectualism (parents pulling kids out of school so they don't have to listen to the president telling them to stay in school and strive for excellence - never happened before with any other president), congressmen disrespecting the office of the president in unprecedented ways, extreme racist posters and signs freely exhibited at nearly every Republican rally,....and the list goes on. How, oh how, could any Black man with even an ounce of self-esteem, embrace a party that so clearly wants no part of them.
If anyone points to shills like Joe Watkins and Ron whats-his-name, all I can say is, puuuullllllease. And oh yeah, Micheal Steele. What a joke. If he actually thinks he's in charge of the Republican party, he must have an IQ of 20. When the 'head' of the party has to apologize to Rush Limbaugh, I think that says it all.
Although the President doesn't want to have this conversation at this time (a clear distraction to the task of passing important legislation), there is no denying the truth of former President Jimmy Carter's (still a man of honor, regardless to how you may view his presidency) take on the role of race in the current health care debate.
Personally, I hope the Republican party does stop the trend towards being the party of right-wing nutcases, and starts to become more inclusive. We need a two-party system in order for democracy to work properly in this country. But when one party is taken over by the lunatic fringe and there is zero tolerance for compromise or even reasoned debate, what chance do we have to solve some of the problems that face this great nation.
As a former officer in the military, I have excellent health coverage and will for life. Millions of my fellow Americans do not. In the richest country in the world, this is unacceptable. Clearly, changes in the health care system need to be made. Let's at least give the President and the Congress a chance to improve the current system. Didn't a majority of people in this country put him in office for the express purpose of effecting change?
chas So you were in suspended animation for the past 8 years and just woke up? Didn't catch all that "ChimpyMcBushitler" crap being bandied about? Missed the many hangings in effigy of Pres. Bush, did you? Guess you didn't notice that Hollywood actually made a movie in which they assasinated Pres. Bush, then. And as for your assessment of what Black men are and are not allowed to believe, you have decided that we all must conform to some monolithic? Hey, that's stereotyping in and of itself, man. One of the signs of true racial prejudice. Perhaps you should start by "looking at the man in the mirror"... --Mac
_________________________
"Keep listening. Never become so self-important that you can't listen to other players. Live cleanly....Do right....You can improve as a player by improving as a person. It's a duty we owe to ourselves." --John Coltrane
"You don't know what you like, you like what you know. In order to know what you like, you have to know everything." --Branford Marsalis
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#88404 - 09/24/09 07:15 AM
Re: Health Care in your Country?
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Member
Registered: 05/16/08
Posts: 307
Loc: Chesapeake, Virginia, USA
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Originally posted by cgiles:
Mac, you've got your opinions and I've got mine. Yours is valid for you and mine is valid for me. We both need to do what we think is right based on our own experiences. So far, we have steered clear of arguments on this thread and I intend to continue that trend. No point in starting a 'back and forth'; I won't respond. I've already stated my point of view on the matter. If you feel comfortable in the 'new' Republican party, more power to you. I'm sure you'll be most welcome at the next Palin rally or Tea party.
chas I do not intend to get into an angry back-and-forth either. However, you make assumptions yet again. I am a black conservative who also has a somewhat liberal bend on certain subjects. I don't view these things as monolithic nor unilateral. As such, I am not happy with what EITHER political party has been doing. Recall that Bush and McCain, among others, tried to ram that Immigration Reform Act down our throats... It seems that almost everything the miscreants "inside the beltway" manage to come up with is headed down the path of no return. --Mac
_________________________
"Keep listening. Never become so self-important that you can't listen to other players. Live cleanly....Do right....You can improve as a player by improving as a person. It's a duty we owe to ourselves." --John Coltrane
"You don't know what you like, you like what you know. In order to know what you like, you have to know everything." --Branford Marsalis
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#88406 - 09/24/09 07:32 AM
Re: Health Care in your Country?
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Senior Member
Registered: 08/23/04
Posts: 2207
Loc: Dayton, OH USA
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Originally posted by --Mac:
Here is a realworld example of one of the things that can be done to better the current system:
--Mac An interesting response from Dr. Carrol related to Tort reform: Another question I’m getting more and more: Why don’t you support tort reform? The cost of malpractice is the true unspoken cost of health care. Why can’t [President] Obama admit that trial lawyers are the reason health care costs are so high in this country!!!!! OK. Never let it be said the cost of malpractice is an “unspoken cost”. Everyone knows it’s a big issue. I think so, the AMA thinks so, and I bet even the administration thinks so. My center has done work on this issue and we have a study specifically focusing on negligent claims that we hope to publish soon. That said, good estimates – MANY studies – have been done to look at the costs of defensive medicine. Estimates range from the tens of billions of dollars to about $200 billion. For the sake of argument, let’s say $100 billion is a good estimate. We can lose sight of the fact that $100 billion is a LOT of money. That’s an enormous sum. It’s just dwarfed by the more than $2 trillion we’re spending on health care every year. And here’s the more important thing. Malpractice reform will not contain health care costs. Even if I’m low-balling it, and it costs$200 billion, that’s less than 10% of spending if we got rid of it entirely. Health care costs would still go up at an insane rate, people would still be uninsured, more would be underinsured, and nothing would change for the future. We need to fix the malpractice system. We do. Even President Obama said so to the AMA. And we should pursue it. But it’s not the same issue as health care reform, and we shouldn’t confuse the two, or neither will get the focus it deserves. ________________________________________ His point is that while it can be a small part of the big picture, its just a small part... Here is a link for another related piece on tort reform... http://mdcarroll.com/2009/09/23/malpractice-reform-a-primer/ ------------------ Bill in Dayton
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Bill in Dayton
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