The Back Alley Archives

I just hope everyone is prepared to wait months to get your mammograms, colonospopys and such. Not that I enjoy them all that much but I do like to have my preventative maintenance. My husband on the other hand will be thrilled with yet another reason to NOT go to the doctor. I'm just sad and worried.

Slider I really wish you could make me feel better. I always read your posts hoping to see something that will put my mind at ease about this administration's plans for the country. Instead I realize that you are like many in this country who just think the gov't should be taking care of everyone for everything because however bad they run it, it's better than the big bad greedy rich people (who are mostly Republicans) running everything.

What I think you fail to see is no matter WHO is running everything in this country you will always have leaders (whether it's political or business leaders) making bad and selfish decisions...the only difference is the way it's headed it will be politicians making these mistakes and there will be NOTHING we can do about it. With free enterprise those Madoff type idiots who are selfish and greedy can be prosecuted and go to jail.

I'm just sad.

OK, we obviously have a difference of opinion. And that's cool. But let's look at some fact here.

The current system is broken. We cannot sustain the current system with medical costs that are expanding. These costs are not only eating into the Federal Budget, but into state budgets and personal budgets as well. And these costs will only go up. Now IMHO, I think it is wrong that 1 in 6 Americans don't have health insurance. I think that is a sin, and I do agree with Obama that health care should be a right, not a privilige. We are the only industrialized democracy that does not have health care. We also don't have things like paid maternity leave, but that is another story. Why is this and how can we accept that as a people? Even Margaret Thatcher, as conservative as she was, knew better than to dismantle the British public health system.

And when people bitch about the costs of Obama's plan, what they forget is that federal deficits would increase anyway due to the expanding costs of the current health care system.

Let's take a look at the auto industry for example. If there was UHC in this country, health care for workers and retirees wouldn't need to be in labor contracts. Can you think of how much money that is and how it could have been put back into the company? And its not just the auto industry. If we had UHC in this country, that money could be put back into companies and it would reduce the amount of layoffs for example.

And I agree with you that there are bad and greedy people out there. But I categorically reject the idea that everything the government gets involved in is bad. That is a bullshit conservative talking point designed to make people lose faith in their government, and thus vote for conservatives. Do I even need to point out how many private companies have screwed the pooch in recent years? And what about things that the government has done that have been successes? NASA putting men on the moon. Electricification of this country back in the 20th Century. The FDIC. Head Start. I'm tired, otherwise I could think of more. As I have said on many occasions, we have met and conquered many problems in the past. Don't tell me that this is problem is too big to be solved. That is a lame copout.

And here is the other thing - if the Republicans are so dead set against it, where is there plan? So far, they have presented nothing except a knee jerk reaction to being against everything Obama does. That's not leadership - that's bullshit. Which is why their numbers will continue to shrink in 2010.

Its cool if we disagree. I have no problem with that.

I'm in 100% total agreement with both Todd and AA (and AA and I certainly do not agree on everything).

I will gladly campaign against Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid...I do it all the time.

Just because the American "public" wants it does not make it right. The damn public doesn't know any better. They're ignorant and stupid.

Though, I do think you're right, slider. The American people want socialism...and by god, they will get it.

Wow - where to begin?

So if what the American public wants is wrong, what is right and who decides that? Please enlighten us. See there is a nasty little fact that the American public usually votes for what they want, and as long as your party opposes what they want, they will get voted out.

And how exactly does UHC equal socialism again?

And please tell us exactly how all citizens of this country not having access to health care is a good thing.

I still don't understand why you think the only possibilities are (1) the employer based system we currently have or (2) universal government-provided health care. Why can't we come up with a healthcare system based on a bottom up model, where the individual, family, and community have the first responsibilities for healthcare?

Generally healthcare issues are specific to localities; certainly there are national trends than can be extrapolated, but demographics vary widely across the country and demographics determine healthcare needs. The federal government should deal only with problems that cannot be solved by the individual, family, community, or state.

Now, like I said. If you think healthcare is a "right", then we're going to need a Constitutional Amendment, aren't we? That's a discussion worth having, but it's a big deal to just start giving out new inalienable rights based on natural laws. After all, the inalienable rights our Constitution protects are based upon the immutable laws of nature. They are not based on emotion, nor changing demographics, nor costs pricing individuals out of a certain market (like healthcare).

What natural law would this new inalienable right to health be based upon? You claim it is a sin. Can you explain why it is a sin? It must be a recognizable natural law, then, no? Do tell.

And how exactly does UHC equal socialism again?

And please tell us exactly how all citizens of this country not having access to health care is a good thing.

First, UHC equals socialism because it further enslaves every citizen, in that over time it will make the citizenry beholden to the government for its very health. The health of the citizenry, in the information age, is the true means of American production. We no longer have factories. We have knowledge workers and provide technology, all requiring the health of productive human minds.

As the population depends more and more upon the government for its health, the government owns more and more of the means of production.

Second, nobody here has said anything about it being good that there are people without access to healthcare. What we're saying is that it is a personal, family, and local problem--not a federal problem.

I'm wondering if AA ever leaves his computer. I just got to work and saw slider's response and AA beat me to the punch.

So, I'll use a word that I know slider just loves....."Ditto".

I'm wondering if AA ever leaves his computer. I just got to work and saw slider's response and AA beat me to the punch.

So, I'll use a word that I know slider just loves....."Ditto".

LOL I do spend waaay too much time on the interwebs and I do stalk the hell out of threads/discussions/blogs where I'm engaged in the conversation. Guilty as charged.