Cleo's Mom

Industries have been putting out carbon emissions without any penalties. They have been given carte blanche. Now they will have to pay. Or stop. Some of that cost will be passed on to the consumer but we all have to pay for a cleaner earth. It is part of our responsibility for living here.

The social security yearly raises are tied to the inflation index and they aren't getting a raise this year because it is too low. Costs for specific things like healthcare and food have gone up, but we are in a recession with a low inflation index. When interest rates are sky high, like under Carter, then we are in full fledge inflation. Interest rates are low now. But the buying power of the middle class has been severly reduced because wages have not kept pace with the cost of living, mostly due to the rising cost of healthcare.

Were you concerned about people without cable when Laura was spending $1.4 billion? No, you only add it as a post script when bashing Michelle. Actually inflation (the cost of living) is down except for the cost of healthcare which is rising much, much faster than wages and is not the result of government corruption but rather the result of insurance greed.

Ever occur to you that maybe the Southern Poverty Law Center is a decidedly liberal organization and skewers the numbers? I don't know if they do or not, but I'd consider the possibility before I started down the goofy road of "conservative = hater". So what if they're liberal? Read the link and you can decide whether they just fabricated the right wing terrorist plots listed. My point is the extremists on the right (as opposed to the extremists on the left) have been responsible for more terrorism, murders and killing because of their hatred of (see list in my previous post) than those on the left. They are also more likely to be armed to the teeth and listen to the hate spewed on what dominates our air waves that contributes to sending them over the edge and fuels their hatred. If you can find evidence that the left wing nuts have perpetuated murders, killings and terrorism in our country's history to the extent that the right has, please provide it. And I never said conservative = haters. I just said the right wing nuts have been more responsible (than left wing nuts) for the hate crimes committed in this country since the days of lynching to now.

You want the judicial system to decide your health care? That doesn't make sense. Right now my employer and insurance company decide my healthcare. I want the government to give my employer & me more choices, including a public option. And regulations for the private insurance industry about pre-existing conditions, dropping your insurance when you get sick, etc..

So, choice of smoking is ok, but choice of not having insurance is not? Hmmmmmm..... You don't get a choice when it comes to car insurance. You have to purchase it. You can't get a mortgage without home owner's insurance. You have to have it. I don't want to pay for the healthcare of those who can afford insurance but choose not to buy it. If someone chooses to smoke, that doesn't affect me. And in those situations where their second hand smoke would - those have been controlled by laws forbidding workplace & restaurant smoking, etc..as it should be.

As Howard Dean has said repeatedly - heathcare reform without the public option is just putting $60 billion/year into the private insurance industry. Why wouldn't they salivate at that? That's sure not what I support or what normal, middle America wants either.

I haven't heard anyone, including Pres. Obama, say that allowing insurance to be bought across state lines is off the table. And as for tort reform being significant to lowering healthcare costs - well that subject is just a red herring and distraction from the real issues. The Washington Independent And I want a jury of my peers to decide my award in a medical malpractice case. To infringe on this right would be to infringe on the judicial process.

I am aware that these groups commit crimes. But how many people died in these acts? The Southern Poverty Law Center has a list from 1995 to only 2003 and it lists 60 terrorist plots by those on the right, many resulting in deaths. I agree that we have to call out those who choose to commit domestic terrorism but I also believe the facts will back me up that it is the fanatics and extremists on the right who are most likely to take their hatred to the next level - killing. I live in the city where the 3 police officers were executed in cold blood by one such extreme right wing nut armed to the teeth with assault weapons and a bullet proof vest because he thought Obama was going to take his guns away. My son in law is a police officer. I also live in the city where the man who hated women armed himself with several guns and killed 3 women and wounded 9 others at a local gym. His hatred was against women. But fill in the blank with these extemists. They hate_____________ -government -Obama -blacks -hispanics -women -gays -Muslims -immigrants -non-Christians

Laura Bush spent $1.4 million on her staff, Michelle Obama's is $1.6 million. This is just more nit-picking in my view.

I don't understand how you could be in favor of making more people eligible for a government run (socialism) health care program but be against a public option for healthcare reform. It's the same thing because many who support a public option actually would have liked medicare to become available to everyone.

Those who can afford to purchase insurance now but choose not to would be required to pay for their own insurance. Those who cannot afford to buy insurance would have more affordable options with a more affordable public option which would lower the costs of private insurance when they have to compete.

insurance right now. Why mess with that high percentage? Ever notice how the government messes with the things that the people feel are just fine and doesn't mess with the things that are failing? This is what you said. That the government doesn't mess with things that are failing. That was a criticism. But I pointed out that the government did "mess with" the failing banks, but you are against that too. You can't have it both ways.

That's what a public option would do. It would be the "caps, regulations and laws" that force private insurance to clean up their act. By competing with a non-profit public option, the private insurance companies would have to reduce premiums and obscene salaries for CEO's, trim administrative costs and overhead, reduce spending on advertising, stop spending so much money on denying claims, etc..

What choice did your employees have in getting their current plan? And if you, as an employer, can find a cheaper plan, possibly a public option, with the same or better coverage, again I don't see the downside. And the reason you have so few options now is that there isn't healthy competition among health insurance providers. In 34 states, 75% of the health insurance is provided by fewer than 5 companies. In some states it's as few as two.

The people didn't think the economy was doing fine. The banks were failing and bush started the bailouts and Obama continued them but it was only after Obama continued the bailouts that you were against that, too. So were you for the government messing with the failing (of the banks) before you were against it?

That's right - because you say it would happen, then I guess it just would. There's no speculation here on your part, is there? And to that I say - if the government can offer a better plan at a better price and the private insurance can't or won't then they should be put out of business. The government plan would be paid for by premiums, the same way that private plans are now. And it is the private health care insurance industry with ever rising premiums that is putting the burden on taxpayers. Here's what the president said: When healthcare costs grow at the rate they have, it puts greater pressure on programs like Medicare and Medicaid. If we do nothing to slow these skyrocketing cost, we will eventually be spending more on Medicare and Medicaid than every other government program combined. PUT SIMPLY, OUR HEALTHCARE PROBLEM IS OUR DEFICIT PROBLEM. NOTHING ELSE COMES CLOSE. So, by allowing for competition (government plan - paid for by premiums for this non-profit option) the private insurance industry would have to clean up their act or go out of business. Right now there is no competition. Some states have only one or two insurers. They can keep premiums high, deny coverage and claims. In 34 states, 75% of the insurance business is controlled by 5 or fewer companies. Doing nothing will cause our deficit to grow. Providing competition in the insurance industry and reducing the costs of insurance, eliminating waste and fraud will help to lower the deficit.

I'm talking about killings here - MURDER - acting on the hatred. Not just walking around holding a sign. Geez!

Cigarette smoking is a choice. Those who do it, do it knowing full well the consequences. Banning products seldom works because it just creates an illegal market for the product. It's hard to be sympathetic to people who, through their reckless behavior, contribute to their own deaths. Cigarette smokers, those who ride motorcycles without helmets, those who don't wear seatbelts, etc... But most people without health insurance cannot afford health insurance or have been turned down due to a pre-existing condition or have lost their job - i.e. not through their own fault - like smoking is. Deaths from smoking is very much through their own fault. The two cannot even be equated and to make a comparison is ridiculous.

Isn't that what choice and competition is all about? If one of those choices was a government plan or even another private plan that offered the same or better coverage for less and you switched - I don't see the downside to that. It sounds like a win-win. How did you choose the current healthcare provider that you chose for your employees? Were there a lot of choices (plans), a lot of different health insurance companies to choose from? And on Wednesday, the president said there is nothing in the plan that would require any employer to change coverage for his/her employees. Haven't you always had the right to change plans during open enrollment? Or something similar.

All those people I mentioned were white and right wing extremists. You don't see the liberal left involved in these type of hate killings. There might be a few. I'm not aware of any. But by and large the hated of our government and groups of people (that I already mentioned) DO NOT COME FROM THE LIBERAL LEFT. They come from the extremists on the right. If you choose to stay in denial and ignore history and the facts, well, that is nothing new. :tongue2:

It's the radical right wing nuts who take it one step further and carry out their hatred of our government and/ or of a liberal (in their eyes) president, or a group of people they hate (blacks, gays, women, etc.) by killing. Starting with the lynchings in the south, the KKK, Timothy McVeigh (who hated our government) to Richard Poplawski who executed 3 police officers in cold blood because he thought Obama was going to take away his guns, to the guy who killed the Holocaust museum guard because he thought the government (that he hated) was going to take away his (socialism) social security checks, to the man who killed the abortion doctor, to the guy who hated women and killed 3 in a gym, or the boys who killed the young gay man in Wyoming. By and large, when we see these kinds of abhorrent acts of violence, they are committed by those on the radical right, not liberals. And yes, before anyone says that liberals kill too, I know there are a few examples. But those on the radical right live with such a violent hatred of our government or president that it doesn't take much to send them over the edge. Plus they love their guns and are armed to the teeth. And all the hate talk on the radio and tv just provides fuel to the fire and incites these people.

One particularly offensive sign (that was mass produced) said "Bury Obamacare along with Kennedy" - this from a group of anti-abortionist who joined the frey. The man just died and this is pro-life? Yeah, right!!

No, if those who oppose a government run health care option are genuine then they would advocate to privatize social security. Oh no, wait, they did advocate that until the stock market tanked. Now, they are running away from that issue. Most of medicaid is used for nursing home care. How would you propose we take care of grandma in the nursing home that costs $6000+/month. Who has that kind of money? What would YOU propose we do for grandma who needs 24/7 skilled care?