Gimme Some Truth, by Mike Gold – Brainiac On Banjo #130
August 10, 2009 Mike Gold 6 Comments
Here are some lies you might believe if you listen to Fox News or Rush Limbaugh or that idiot Glenn Beck.
1. America’s health care system is the best in the world. Not even close, no matter how you cut it. Overall, we’re 50th. We’re 37th in infant mortality. If you’re poor, you’re dead. If you’re middle class, chances are you do not have insurance, are under insured, or will not be insured soon. Get sick, get bankrupt.
2. Barack Obama was born in Kenya. No, not unless Kenya was part of Hawaii back in 1961. What part of “birth certificate” confuses you? Are you paranoid enough to believe the new newspaper notices published in August 1961 were part of a massive, patient Afro-centric conspiracy?
3. We’ve got to stop them there so we don’t have to stop them here. No, they’re already here. Remember the World Trade Center? Remember Oklahoma City?
4. America is a Christian nation. Nope, not true in the least, and people who think otherwise firmly believe our founding fathers were all morons when they wrote the bill of rights.
5. Same-sex marriage will undermine “traditional” marriage. Horse hockey. For one thing, homosexuality isn’t that popular. For another, if your marriage is so weak that same sex marriage will ruin it, stop projecting yourfailures. My marriage is just fine, thank you.
6. Health care in Canada and Britain is horrible, and people have to wait years for necessary surgery. This is completely false and Canadians and the Brits are getting real pissed about this. Sure, you can drag out a few horror stories – but you can do that here, too. People come here to the U.S. for their surgery? Yeah, if they’re rich and if there’s a specialist who happens to excel at their problem, but that works both ways. A lot of middle class Americans are going to Eastern Europe for their surgery because they can’t afford the price the medical industry places on saving somebody’s life.
Remember the guy who needed his blind eye removed and they took out the wrong eye. Is that indicative of all U.S. health care? He’s hardly alone. Baskets are full of surgical butchers. It’s about time the hysterical right be held accountable for their panic-inducing, unconscionable, malicious, paranoid lies.
Mike Gold performs the weekly two-hour Weird Sounds Inside The Gold Mind ass-kicking bizarro music and blather show starts up Sundays at 7:00 PM Eastern on www.getthepointradio.com, replayed the following Thursdays at 10:00 PM Eastern. Likewise, his Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mind rants pop up every on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday exclusively at www.getthepointradio.com. The regular Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mind rants continue every Monday and Friday on The Point podcasts, available right here at www.michaeldavisworld.com, as well as at www.comicmix.com, www.getthepointradio.com, www.zzcomics.com, and www.ravenwolfstudios.com. You can subscribe to The Point podcasts at iTunes by searching under “The Point Radio.”
Gold is also a regular contributor to www comicmix.com, and edits their online comic book content. Check out the all-new GrimJack: The Manx Cat #3, and Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden #1, now being solicited in the IDW Publishing section of this month’s Diamond catalog.
John Tebbel
August 10, 2009 - 7:45 am
Preach, brother. Now’s the time.
Marc Alan Fishman
August 10, 2009 - 1:21 pm
It’s always SPIN. It’s always LIES. It’s how they make their paycheck. It’s a continuation of what we all talked about at the passing of Walter Cronkite…. the era of news and journalism rooted in truth is gone. We’re in a constant stream of being pitched at. It won’t change.
In specific response to your points though:
1. America’s healthcare system needs a shot in the arm. I admit I’ve not taken the time yet to read up on President Obama’s plan yet… but I hope it’s a start.
2. Lies spread by liars to serve no purpose… I love it.
3. There is no reason to murder. Ever.
4. America is a free nation. We need to make that clearer to the Christians.
5. Denying someone the right I myself will enjoy in a few months, because of their sexual proclivities… makes my blood boil.
6. Canada sounds better and better some days… Maybe we should just pile in the good people over here and invade the great white north.
Reg
August 10, 2009 - 5:07 pm
Bravo Mike.
1. I have to wonder why the media is not being more aggressive at refuting these obvious lies. It’s times like these that one really misses the Ed Bradley’s, Cronkites, Ed Murrow’s and Mike Wallace’s on the airwaves.
2. Shut yo’ mouth! Or I’ll call The Brotherhood and unleash Sista Girl on you.
3. Yes. They are.
4. I strive to walk the life of a disciple of Christ…but I wholeheartedly agree that America is not a Christian nation.
5. We’ll have to agree to disagree here. But I do fully concur with your second point.
6. I’ve raised this point on another forum. And again, you’re exactly on point. And the Netherlands system rocks!
It’s really illuminating to see how deep the layers of ignorance, bigotry, and sheepheadedness runs in this society. And how much disdain the power elite has for the great unwashed America…that they would manipulate the emotions so adroitly and bamboozle the very people who need the revamping the most.. but they won’t have it cuz it’s ‘THAT ONE’s plan…
R. Maheras
August 10, 2009 - 8:36 pm
Mike, from my vantage point as an independent, you can play the “stupid” game with both parties. For example:
“Here are some lies you might believe if you listen to MSNBC or Nancy Pelosi or that idiot Bill Maher:
1.) Anyone speaking out at town hall meetings about the proposed healthcare reform bill is Un-American, a Nazi, or just a corporate shill
2.) All countries with socialized medicine — especially Great Britain and Canada — offer far better care for their citizens than does the United States.
3.) Americans as a whole are more stupid than the citizens of almost any other nation on Earth.
4.) The U.S. Constitution was not based on Judeo-Christian morality and the founding fathers were all atheists, deists, or at least agnostics.
5.) All Republicans are evil rich people or stupid rednecks
6.) Democrats care about the rights of women and blacks more than Republicans do”
Every one of the above is a lie, yet it doesn’t stop prominent Democratics from asserting them as truths.
Frankly, I’m tired of those in BOTH parties who feel compelled to lie to advance their causes.
If a politician’s agenda is truly one the majority of people want, a politician should not have to resort to lies, subterfuge, coercion and/or name-calling to advance it.
MOTU
August 11, 2009 - 1:59 am
Man I love the way you write.
John Tebbel
August 11, 2009 - 8:11 am
Above, once removed, are Republican talking points, not truths or even truthy. Exaggeration is a simple tool to fool the simple. It’s not about whose extreme gets to win American Idol, it’s what hard compromise comes from hard thinking and honest dialogue. This Democrat believes none of these things and doesn’t remember a Democrat talking these points up; it is a popular straw man, easier to reject than the hard work of progress.
Mike Gold
August 11, 2009 - 6:25 pm
Reg —
Most people I know who heavily identify with their religious identity are good solid folks. Actually, most PEOPLE I know are usually good solid folks, but that’s not the point. In my political and social service work, I’ve done a lot of work with religious groups and most of them are Christian … and most of the folks I’ve worked with are amazing people. It just takes a few zealots to piss in the pot to leave a bitter taste.
I only get in trouble with those who believe that by not subscribing to their religious beliefs the way they interpret them I am therefore anti-whatever they are. I’m not. I’m not opposed to ANY religion as long as it doesn’t mandate its views and practices onto me.
My problem is with this “Christian Nation” thing. Folks seem to justify this by saying the founding fathers were all Christians (they were not, nor were the Christian “values” many of them subscribed to acceptable to the current noisy group of zealots), and that somehow freedom of religion means the freedom to be any type of Christian you want to be… which usually excludes Santeríans and often excludes Mormons and Catholics.
Mike Gold
August 11, 2009 - 6:51 pm
Russ —
Hmmm… with respect, I think that’s kind of extreme. I don’t understand what the Right has against Nancy Pelosi other than the fact that she represents another point of view than theirs. She’s not evil incarnate; she’s just in opposition to some stuff people on the Right hold dear. That’s her right, both personally and as a person who stands for election. Same thing with MSNBC: they’re very clear about representing a point of view. I think I’m very well-read person, and I having caught them misrepresenting the facts, unlike Fox. And, also unlike Fox, when they make a mistake they admit it. Their opinions and commentaries are presented as such, and not as the news. Fox, on the other hand, knows that turning the news into SAW IV makes for better ratings than better truths.
A LOT of people speaking out against health care are indeed corporate shills or politicians bought and paid for by the insurance industry. This is a matter of record. And I’ve seen anti-health care commercials that are nothing less than acts of terrorism. Can ANYBODY justify the complete and utter bullshit of the “DEATH PANEL”? C’mon. There’s nothing in the health care bill that comes anywhere near that. It’s a complete lie, fabricated by a woman who’s been a corporate shill for the insurance industry for 14 years.
If you look at the standings of nations in terms of life expectancy and infant mortality, you’ll find that we rank very, very low, and that a great many nations with national health care, including Canada and Great Britain, rank above us.
Your claim that the Left (by inference) believe Americans are more stupid as a whole is fatuous. There’s no way to illustrate that. You might as well say that the Left believes Americans should shit blue striped turds. However, those that believe that Obama was not born in America or that Obama supports Death Panels ARE stupid. As well as those who believe those three idiots on Fox every morning.
So-called Judeo-Christian morality (something I don’t see in practice very often) certainly influenced the Constitution. However, most of the 10 Commandments are either not reflected in the Constitution, directly contradicted in the Constitution, or outright unconstitutional. I can worship Groo’s Dog if I want to, and I can have a craven image of the guy. And I just might… As a matter of record, some of the founding fathers were indeed atheists or agnostics or bible-editors. I don’t really understand what a deist is.
I know some evil rich Democrats and some good rich people, and I’ve met a few stupid rednecks. I’ve never asked the latter who they vote for or if they vote at all. Or to sign my Li’l Abner trade paperbacks.
Actually, I think it is clear that people who identify themselves as Democrats (and I am NOT one of them) do indeed care about the rights of women and blacks than Republicans, at least if you judge them by who and what they support.
We do not live in a democracy. We live in a republic. We may vote for people who we think represent our views, and they often do. But they are free to vote any way they want, and then stand for reelection if they so desire. If civility were an enforceable standard, that would be swell. But our politicians are not and have never been civil. Indeed, they might be more civil today than before the Lincoln assassination. We haven’t has us a good duel for a long time.
R. Maheras
August 11, 2009 - 9:42 pm
Mike
Despite my darts at MSNBC (except for maybe Keith Olbermann — a guy I used to enjoy watching until he went totally nutso), I often watch them to get their liberal take on various issues. For the same reason, I think FOX is extremely important to have around exactly because they do reflect a conservative viewpoint that has been slowly squeezed out of many other mainstream media outlets. FOX covers stories that more liberal media outlets no longer touch — something that is not fair to people who want to hear both sides of an issue. In addition to conservative viewers, FOX attracts independents precisely because we can see through the “news-is-what-I-say-it-is” game, or the “let’s-shun-the-story-and-hope-it-goes-away” game that is frequently played elsewhere.
And while we do live in a Republic, it is a democracy in that we elect those we wish to represent us. If they don’t do so, we kick their asses out.
I find it amazing that there are people out there who actually argue that Judeo-Christian morality had little or no influence on the founding principles of the United States. That is as patently absurd a stance as that of the “birthers.” I also have to constantly remind atheists and agnostics I meet that “freedom of religion” in the Constitution was never intended by the Founding Fathers to mean “elimination of religion” — which is what the most militant atheists out there are unabashedly striving to accomplish via lawsuits, civil complaints, et al.
My claim that the left thinks Americans (especially Republicans) are stupid is NOT fatuous. Maher, Jon Stewart, David Letterman and other influential liberals either say it point blank or allude to it through jokes or regular inferences — inferences that always gets a laugh or a murmur of approval from the crowd.
Regarding healthcare reform, of course there are lobbyists out there fighting against it — just as there are lobbyists out there fighting for it. And while the “cons” lied and preyed on fear, the “pros” lied and painted an impossibly rosy picture of legislation that WASN”T EVEN COMPLETE, and that many members of Congress HAD NOT YET EVEN READ A DRAFT OF! And no one has given this gray-haired skeptic a clear and realistic picture of how this whole program will be paid for year-in and year-out. My biggest gripe about this whole healthcare issue? What’s the freakin’ hurry? This isn’t some simple issue that can be resolved with the snap of a finger. Obama will have his congressional majority for at least another 15-18 months. There’s no good reason to ram it down people’s throats without careful vetting – none whatsoever.
Regarding Pelosi — for someone at Pelosi’s level of leadership, she has appeared to be remarkably clueless at times — something the left hammered Bush II about for eight years. I think turn-about is fair play here.
Finally, whenever a Democrat gets too big for his/her “We-support-the-rights-of-women-and-blacks-more-than-Republicans-do” britches, I try and remind them that IF, I repeat IF, that is true today, it certainly wasn’t true historically. It was a Republican president who emancipated the slaves; and it was a majority of 29 Republican-leaning states (of 36) that ratified the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote (the Democratic southern states were, as a bloc, solidly against supporting Suffrage). And before someone makes a big deal about the fact that Democratic President Woodrow Wilson supported the 19th amendment, keep in mind that Wilson also introduced federalized segregation in the government because, well, he was apparently a racist. One step forward, two steps back.
Mike Gold
August 12, 2009 - 8:14 am
I’ve voted for my share of Republicans over the years, including many ex-Democrats who ran against Daley The First (a better mayor than one would perceive from his actions after 1967). Heck, I almost voted for Jody Rell here in Connecticut last time; had the Dems fielded an even slightly less qualified candidate. Heck, I’ve taken Casper Weinberger out to lunch — at the Playboy Club, no less.
And I’ve voted for more than a few local libertarians. That bit got me thrown off the voters roll in Evanston IL by the liberal state senator, as I voted for libertarian candidates to the school board. I’ve also worked with a number of Republicans, including senators and congressmen, in my social service and community organizing work.
As for Democratic bigots, one need not look any further than Harry S. Truman. The fact that Israel survived to see its first anniversary must have given that Ku Klux Klanner hemorrhoids; he firmly believed they’d never survive being surrounded by their enemies.
But the Republican Party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt is quite a different party than the one we have today — and even of Eisenhower, Rockefeller, Goldwater and Robert Taft. I’d like to see an effective Republican Party, one that seeks to appeal to more than just the lunatic fringe. One that knows what the word “socialism” means. One that gets irony. One that actually shows its members really do care about those in need. One that isn’t doing the Whig death dance.
Vinnie Bartilucci
August 12, 2009 - 8:35 am
Amy Alkon, the Advice Goddess, a woefully underappreciated columnist in far too few papers, just posted a series of Whole Foods’ John Mackey’s suggestions for heath care reform. They all involve the free market, and only a small bit of legal and governmental alteration.
http://bit.ly/ONt2P
Marc Alan Fishman
August 12, 2009 - 8:35 am
Thank god I live in a country where I can worship Groo, and shit blue striped turds.
Vinnie Bartilucci
August 12, 2009 - 9:06 am
“If you look at the standings of nations in terms of life expectancy and infant mortality, you’ll find that we rank very, very low, and that a great many nations with national health care, including Canada and Great Britain, rank above us.”
We’re 40th in Life expectancy, according to the numbers on Wiki. 6.299 years less than the longest on the list (Macau, go figure), 4.61 away from the number two on the list, and 2.28 away from number 10. The difference in each country is measures in fractions of months. It’s a relatively negligible difference, but it SOUNDS good. Plus, as Dennis Leary says, it’s the LAST 6 years, the coughing hacking wheelchair ridden sitting in an adult diaper years, who needs them?
I’m curious how those “best healthcare” statistics are figured out. According to those lists, France has the best health care in the world, and it’s a hybrid system.
Is there any standardization in those numbers to address the fact that the United States has a far larger population than other countries in this list? Or that we’re a far more sedentary and gourmandish people than most others? Considering the relative health of the people they’re working with, one could make the argument that American doctors are doing even better than other countries, since they have more issues to deal with.
On the infant mortality stat, how does that comapare to, say, miscarriages and stillborns? Are we bringing more to term as a result of better access to in-utrero care, and then losing them? How many of those mortalities are in hospitals, at home, a result of malnutrition as opposed to SIDS or any other medical cause?
My point is that waving the stats around is an incomplete argument. We can’t point at anyone’s plan and say “That is the answer”. I agree that Something Must Be Done, but it needs to be the RIGHT something. There’s no damn hurry. come up with a bill that works for the most people (limit as x -> everyone) and take the time to read it so that everyone can be clear on how it works. Information is the best balm against panic.
Alan Coil
August 12, 2009 - 5:54 pm
Fox News isn’t. It’s only fit for rabid dogs.
Vinnie says facts don’t matter.
R. Maheras
August 12, 2009 - 6:59 pm
Alan wrote: “Fox News isn’t. It’s only fit for rabid dogs.”
Arf, arf (snarl).
Mike wrote: “But the Republican Party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt is quite a different party than the one we have today — and even of Eisenhower, Rockefeller, Goldwater and Robert Taft.”
Can’t argue with that. Wish we had a viable third party in this country.
Mike Gold
August 12, 2009 - 7:36 pm
I wish we had a system that allowed for more than two parties. I think we could easily have four or five viable parties. That would allow even Democrats and Republicans the opportunity to have greater democratic input into their parties. Yeah, so we have run-off elections. We can survive that. It’s the price we would pay to give people a greater voice.
Vinnie Bartilucci
August 13, 2009 - 7:00 am
There are plenty of other parties in this country, it’s just that none of them are seen as anything other than fringe or freak parties.
I can’t even imagine what it would take to create a viable third party in this country. Right now third parties are played in the media as sour grapes, existing only to “ruin” the election. Ralph Nader got viewed as a hero by the Republicans and a turncoat by the Democrats for getting involved last time he did.
Ross Perot came closer than anyone in recent memory, but he wasn’t interested in starting a party as much as he was in getting himself elected.
Like Perot, I think it’d take a massively popular figure, one that would be willing to lose but still stick it out after the fact. If a real infrastructure could be set up, you might stand a remote chance.
Ironically, if he hadn’t gotten the nomination, Obama could have been that person. He attracted so many new people to the political process, it could have been interesting to see what they could have done if they were a separate entity.
Marc Alan Fishman
August 13, 2009 - 10:34 am
It’s a matter of educating the public to the ideology of other parties. They are seen as “fringe” or “freak” parties because we’re hit over the head with all the issues making us either right or left. The fact is MOST people swing on both sides of the plate, depending on the issue. But the 2 party system we have in this country is corrupt to the core. Everyone barters with everyone else, and the American public are spoken down to like children.
If there was a viable 3rd party, they would have to drop some serious cash to market themselves. Like the 7up of politics. The un-cola party, if you will.
Reg
August 13, 2009 - 1:09 pm
Mike –
I hear and agree with pretty much everything in your response. I truly do wish that we who call ourselves Christians would really understand what that means…and what is required. And that the core and heart of G-d’s gift is framed in Love. The Love that gives, sacrifices, forgives, challenges, requites, and manifests compassion and grace. And which abhors hypocrisy…because it is completely opposite of truth.
Vinnie –
Excellent point about Obama being the potential catalyst for that hoped/wished for viable alternative party. How much more could that have been possible if the nation had suffered thru the McCain/Palin years…or even Hillary’s old guard policies?
R. Maheras
August 17, 2009 - 10:57 am
Mike wrote this “lie” is incessantly repeated by the right: “Health care in Canada and Britain is horrible, and people have to wait years for necessary surgery.”
And while this thread is pretty much now dead, I have to comment that the above statement is not a lie. There is too much evidence supporting the contention that healthcare in both countries is pretty lousy — mostly because it is not easily accessable, and the waiting time for some procedures is outrageous by U.S. standards.
I spent three years in England and saw first-hand how that system worked, and I’ve discussed the pros and cons of Canadian healthcare with honest-to-goodness Canadians numerous times.
Here’s a couple of recent articles about Canadian healthcare by the Canadian press: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jbjzPEY0Y3bvRD335rGu_Z3KXoQw
http://www.canada.com/health/Hard+times+tough+health+Poll/1901147/story.html
The second one is pretty telling in that it makes clear that Canada’s “free” healthcare system isn’t free.
Mike Gold
August 17, 2009 - 1:20 pm
OK. The statement is not a lie. It’s just a massive distortion, wrenched horribly from reality to obscure just how bad things are here.
Let’s start with the standings. The British health care system is ranked 18th, Canadian 20th, American 37th.
We’ll go on to personal experience. I have spent a lot of time in Canada, and I have friends up there. More important, I have and have had a LOT of freelancers north of the border, whose care reflects upon their deadline performance. Not a one of them would trade places with us. Yes, the Canadian system is far from perfect — like I said, it ranks 30th, which is 29 places below France. But it’s seven above us. And I can consume a Soldier Field’s worth of bandwidth reporting on horror stories from the States. Ask Joe Sarno how that hospital visit of his last year went… but, sadly, you better ask fast. (I saw Joe at the Chicago Comic-Con last weekend; while it was GREAT to see him, it hurt a lot to do so — and part of the time, he really wasn’t there at all). Ask John Ostrander how great it is to have “private” insurance. Ask Bob Tinnell. The hospital fucked him up badly and he’s about to lose his house and have his seriously autistic eight year old become a ward of the state.
But — for the purpose of conversation — let’s assume the “wait” for healthcare in Canada is indeed untoward. While emergency care is prioritized and necessary care is right behind that, there’s a line for the rest. There’s some truth to that, and by the way nobody’s suggesting we actually emulate their system. But compare that to the American system.
In the American system, 50,000,000 people have NO line to stand in. Families with employer-assisted insurance are losing their jobs at a fast clip, and even those who are young enough to find new jobs with insurance can be excluded from certain or all services due to pre-existing conditions. Tens of millions of others are locked out of private insurance services due to pre-existing conditions. Any of these people would love to have a line to stand in; it bests just lying down and dying.
Yes, the poor and uninsured can go to the emergency room. They might lose their house (health care costs is the leading cause of bankruptcy) and everything they’ve worked for their entire lives. And, yes, the hospital might “eat” some of those costs. But those are for-profit hospitals: in fact, they eat nothing. They just pass it along to the entire system.
The proof of all this? The health care industry has resorted to verbal terror tactics to maintain their profits. Small children carrying signs that beg “DO NOT KILL MY GRANDMA!” Death panels. The nonsensical claim of “SOCIALIZED MEDICINE!!!” The moronic claim that government health care sucks — you know, like Medicare, one of the most successful health care programs in history. Although even that is subject to the Big Lie, as in last week’s amazingly stupid “I DON’T WANT THE GOVERNMENT RUNNING MY MEDICARE” claim.
So I’ll take Canada’s 30th ranked health care system over ours any day of the week. I’d rather model our system off of France’s 1st ranked health care, which is a combination of private and public insurers.
But let’s face it, many those who presently (as in “at the moment”) have some sort of health care would rather step over the bodies of dead Americans than lose their place in line. And America is a “Christian Nation?” Awesome.
But, at least, be gracious in victory. The whole damn thing has been beaten down to near uselessness. The fight’s really over. Barring a miracle akin to the Cubs making it to the Series this year, you’ve won.
R. Maheras
August 17, 2009 - 9:03 pm
This whole healthcare reform proposal is not a win-lose issue for me. I’m not a Republican or Democrat, remember?
I have exactly two very legitimate gripes with the current healthcare reform planning process:
1.) What’s the big hurry? An issue as complex as this one should never have been rammed down everyone’s throat without a boatload of discussion and careful vetting. Obama has 15-18 months of a majority left in both the House and Senate, yet he tried to strong-arm the passage of a bill — which was still being written — before the summer recess. Why? To me, he and other bill proponents came across as fast-talking used-car salespersons — people who started double-talking and getting defensive when pressed — not leaders who were trying to solve an important problem in a careful, prudent fashion.
2.) Who’s going to pay for the 40 or 50 million new people suddenly entering a system that you, yourself, said already has big problems? Obama’s claim that the program will pay for itself by increasing efficiency and lowering costs through “bulk buys” and group discounts is — well — at best wishful thinking. At worst, it’s just a load of bull. The fact is, even your average schmoe knows that taxes will HAVE to be raised drastically to pay for a drastically expanded system, and until the new infrastructure is built (which may take decades), the extra demand on the system as it exists right now will be crippling beyond belief. Our healthcare system ALREADY has an acute shortage of doctors and nurses, and we are going to suddenly add tens of millions more regular patients into the existing system and make it better??? I want someone to explain to me exactly how that’s going to happen. Because, unless they do, all I see happening if the floodgates open is a draconian procedure prioritization and screening process that will make those of current HMOs seem positively generous, by comparison.
Alan Coil
August 17, 2009 - 9:33 pm
So, Russ, you’re solution to 50 million without insurance would be to put them in front of Death Panels?
You may argue that they have health care, and that it is called an emergency room. Emergency care IS NOT health care. Emergency room care is expensive, more expensive than the cost of regular checkups and regular health care.
It would seem, even though you say you are not a Republican, that you are in favor of the status quo. The status quo is entropy. Without progressive political moves, there will only be stagnation, then entropy. Just as there has been for the 8 years under the evil Bush regime. It’s time to move into the new millenium.
Mike Gold
August 18, 2009 - 7:39 am
Russ —
The big hurry is that it’s been 30 years since hospitals went for-profit and health care costs started spiraling out of control. It’s been 15 years since anybody tried to do anything about it.
Taxes RARELY have to be raised, and anybody who tells you otherwise is running a shell game. There’s enough budget padding, overbilling, Halliburton-like corruption, no-bid contracts, and sheer bureaucracy to eliminate to cover our needs. When it comes to health care, there is some need for tort reform (which is included in at least one version of the bill that’s floating around) and there’s a really good argument to make that a lot of the savings will come from shifting care from the emergency room to ongoing care.
But what the bill really needs is a major focus on keeping people healthy and not perpetuating a society where we use pharmacological band-aids to mask our problems.
R. Maheras
August 18, 2009 - 2:59 pm
C’mon, guys… regardless of healthcare problems of the past, you both know there was no need to put together a financially open-ended, half-assed healthcare plan in less time than it takes some writers to write a short story.
It was irresponsible AND dumb.
And what about my other points?