KyBandChick

Congrats L8!! I had my psych eval this past Tuesday with Dr. Khodeir which was a total joke I wasn't in his office 5 min (literally). I wish I got more for my co-pay

My dr only uses the Allergan band and stated he feels it is a better band. I later found out he works for lap-band as a trainer of sorts so I think he has a conflict of interest. I went to another seminar and the doc there stated he feels they both are equally good and offers both to his patients.

A bit earlier in today's thread Watcher mentioned how much he pays in taxes. You Watcher are in probably the income/dependent group that pays the most in taxes. Frankly, middle income people who don't have enough deductions to itemize their taxes get screwed on taxes. You have resonable income and can't itemize your taxes. I remember when I first graduated from college used to claim zero exemptions on my taxes and still owed every year. In my opinion those who are considered "poor" do get back most (if not all) of their tax money but those who make just a hair more than that and can't yet afford to purchase a home and live paycheck to paycheck really get the short end of the tax stick and will truely benefit from Obama's plan.

Big buisness cares about 1 thing..stock price, as this drives everything else. Business will do whatever to drive value for their sharehold and so that they can always hit earnings targets. Wisely businesses who can go global do and build a very diverse portfolio. This way when times are tough in the US you can still make money with your foreign operations. While many complain that our new president is going to raise taxes which will hurt big buisness stop and think how little big business really pays in taxes. While their tax rate may be 35%, I guarantee (assuming they have sharp tax professionals) they only pay in the low 20s to teens (so less than me personally). I work in international finance for a large global company and have sat in on many tax presentations on how you can significantly drive down your tax rates. Have you ever heard of the game six degrees of Kevin Bacon? Companies do the same thing with money, they shift earnings all over the world between low and high tax countries and finally end up back in the US. Companies also don't have to pay US tax on cash until they bring those earnings into the US so you are making $$ in China you keep your money in a tax free country like Bahrain and bring it in slowly when the time is good or better yet wait until times like now when Congress may grant a tax holiday on foreign cash brought in to the US. It's a very complex process but very impressive. Taxes are a game and if you are good you save your company millions. Bottom line big business will be just fine.

Watching TV right now is just amazing. Times Square looks like New Years Eve. I wish I were in Chicago right now to participate in this moment in history.

I feel a president Obama coming on!!!!!:thumbup:

I am going through St. Mary's program as well. I thought you had to pay the $4k upfront on your second visit with the doctor. I have already paid the $100 and I believe I have to pay the $4,000 next visit and then get my insurance to pay me. I may be wrong here but that is what I thought.

Wow that is so sad the day before the election. I am glad he was able to go see her before she passed.

First of all don't insult my intelligence, everything you posted was from previous elections being ran by different individuals. I am saying Reps are down and using fear tactics now. No, but Barack's OWN WORDS about spreading the wealth IS socialism. Talk about the Kool-Aid drinkers! Omg, y'all really can pick and choose what you want to hear. What a talent. :cool2: Anytime you change tax rates it's spreading the wealth. It's just silly to equate changing tax rates back to what they were under Clinton to Socialism. Taking one's words out of context does not equal socialism.

Umm do your google skills go beyond 2004...maybe 2008's candidate? Give me a break on the socialist crap and use your google skills to research what a socialist really is and stop drinking the Kool-Aid!!! Raising taxes on the wealthy (back to what they were under Clinton) does not equal socialism.

Okay I have just finished reading the recent banter being exchanged and it appears to be an argument of whether Obama is "black enough". Last time I checked when you are of a mixed ethnic background you choose which box you check. Feeling the need to make an argument based on one's ethnic background and not something that actually matters is sad. That is about as desperate and your fellow Republican McCain. He is behind in the polls and has to revert to old faithful.....fear politics. If you can't win them on issues scare the uninformed into voting for you!! I thought we had decided all these links were boring!! It actually makes me think of the spoof SNL did last night on the view where they made fun of Elizabeth and all her "I found it on the internet" remarks for her information.

I too am going throug the St. Mary's program. I have had my initial doctor's visit but have to do a 3 month diet for my insurance (which isn't up until Dec). You'll really like the dietician she is really nice.

All this negativity was why I lost interest in the "Are we ready for a female VP" thread. It just isn't necessary. It really seems like a competition between each side to see who can come up with the next best partisan quote knowing we aren't impressing anyone but those who already agree with us and igniting those who don't. It feels like a school yard game of I know you are but what am I.

"shouldn't", so are you being catty or sincere. I like to believe in positive intentions so I will not assume

Wow gadge did someone hit a nerve, you're getting kind of nasty:thumbdown:

I'll add a wrench to this conversation, any comments on the current percentage of people who believe we are not ready for a black president? Since the question isn't are we ready for Barack Obama as our president, I find the almost 30% disagreement rate to be disturbingly high.

My personal political views are a contributing factor to my opinion that she is not qualified to be my VP. Had her views been more in line with mine I would still have issues with her being qualified. I think many of my personal faults with her could be overcome with a bit of coaching, maturity and experience in a larger environment. I don't believe she comes across presidential with the eye winks and some of the facial expressions. I feel she is currently a bit out of her league, maybe sometime in Washington would help round out her resume.

Sorry Watcher you lost me on this one. What exactly makes her a bimbo? Calling someone a bimbo b/c you strongly disagree with their politics is dare I say it, sexist. I doubt the strong women who raised you would support the use of such language. Your use of this term makes you come across uninformed and you lose your credibility. I have read your other posts and you have much more thought provoking things to say without the unnecessary name calling. If you were to take the higher road in your argument you would get further. I agree she is unfit to be our VP much less President but I will not discount her accomplishments in her career. I am mature enough to give credit when credit is due despite the fact I disagree with her politics on every level. She has extremely conservative views which clash drastically with my leftish views. I consider myself more fiscally conservative (have to be I'm a CPA) but extremely socially liberal. She's not my candidate but I will not revert to sexist name calling.

Reading all these posts is so therapeutic, I pretty much can relate to each one of them. I often felt like I was the only person who worried so much about the little things in life!! Thanks everyone for sharing

This is not legal, I believe this would be a HIPAA violation. Without your permission your healthcare provider can't discuss your private medical information with anyone. I would call your doc out on it, it's just wrong. You put your trust in your doctor and they should respect that. If you were a minor it's a different story but at 27 you are obviously an adult

Okay for giggles I'll throw my "liberal" 2 cents in. I keep reading the word "professional" and I personally think she can come across professional and the winking, awe shucks vocabulary would work very well in certain audiences. I personally want my Vice President & President to be held to a different standard of professionalism. I want them to be presidential and I think the two are very different. She would be fine and probably very successful in corporate America and local politics. However, corporate America and a leader for the United States of America are different and I would personally not be comfortable with my VP acting that way. Her mannerisms don't make her dumb or even unqualified but she certainly needs some coaching that her message will come across just as strong without the winks and nods. She should save those for town hall meetings and not the world stage. She is in a different league now and needs to adapt.

I attended both seminars as well and actually would be happy with either. I chose St. Mary's since I knew I was going to have to jump through lots of insurance hoops and they hold your hand more. Dr. Geller (sp?) presented at Norton and I thought he did a great presentation. I really liked Dr. Lusco as well and he is going to be my surgeon. I am currently doing a 3 month multi-discipline diet and St. Mary's is offering everything as part of their program. I do believe if you are self pay Norton's may be a bit cheaper, but not 100% on that. I know St. Mary's fee pretty much covers everything including future fills.

McCain's healthcare plan really disturbs me as it is really more of the same (in relation to who will have access). I believe healthcare should be a basic human right in this country. Regardless of an individual's ability to pay they all deserve high quality healthcare. The idea that taxing someone's premiums to give them a tax credit later months later is crazy. In all reality I just don't see that it will really open a window to healthcare for the individual who doesn't have coverage. Who really believes the person who is on hard times will take a tax credit and go out and buy insurance when they need the money to pay rent, buy food, fix their car, new coats for their kids, etc? I think the only people buying this as a good idea for fixing our healthcare problem are people sitting happy with insurance already. At least Obama's plan gives everyone access and not some silly you can use your tax return to go buy coverage.

Just don't go to Austin since all the TX liberals flock there. Actually lots of California people move there since COL is cheap, it's a great city!!