Flash- A Sane Person Comments On Federal Health Care

I guess this thread is too hot to touch?


I think a lot of 'no credible cost containment mechanism' comments were made right on this very forum while the bill(s) were being debated. Someone is going to have to pull a rabbit out a hat. Actually, not a bad metaphor, since most magic tricks rely on distracting the audience from what is really happening. Politics (of all stripes) is often the same.

-ERD50
 
I was going to make a comment, but what passed was what could pass. It wasn't what the left wanted, (and the right didn't seem to want it either) but it's what could pass both houses. Do I think it's an improvement, yes. Does it fix the system, no. I don't know what mechanism could hold prices down further, and going to panels strikes me as more red tape, not less.

I'd rather pay higher taxes and get universal healthcare, but that's just me. Regardless of what you believe, the subject is mind-numbingly complex.

This article points to the multiple problems of our health care system.
 
haha said:
Read his book and you will know. It's short and straight to the point. It also shows with simple data and arithmetic how the health bill did make it worse, and how eventually we (USA) will make large fundamental reforms or we will go down in flames.
Click to expand...

Yah, but which will let an officeholder do better in the next election, fundamental reforms or 'down in flames'? 'Down in flames' makes a better 30 second spot, and a good incumbent can always have a PAC blame his opponent or opponent's party somehow.

Anyone hoping for sanity or fundamental reforms is out of luck in the current environment. :nonono:

The 'if this goes on' path has funny, unsustainable results. For example, if I manage to make it 30 years, at the average 15% annual rate of increase, my family medical insurance premium will have gone up to 66 times the current rate, to about $728,329.49 annually.
 
M Paquette said:
Yah, but which will let an officeholder do better in the next election, fundamental reforms or 'down in flames'? 'Down in flames' makes a better 30 second spot, and a good incumbent can always have a PAC blame his opponent or opponent's party somehow.

Anyone hoping for sanity or fundamental reforms is out of luck in the current environment. :nonono:
Click to expand...

You are likely correct. We may be living in the twilight of US style democracy.

Ha
 
haha said:
You are likely correct. We may be living in the twilight of US style democracy.

Ha
Click to expand...

Gawd, it's too depressing to think about any more. I'm going to hop in the Miata and go do some global warming for a while. ;)
 
haha said:
You are likely correct. We may be living in the twilight of US style democracy.

Ha
Click to expand...

I remember my (late) FIL watching hippies marching in the street circa 1968 and saying essentially the same thing.
 
travelover said:
I remember my (late) FIL watching hippies marching in the street circa 1968 and saying essentially the same thing.
Click to expand...

Sure; and my idea could be as accurate as his. Still, a 40 year twilight might still be a twilight. Many people live into their 80s and 90s, and a generation today is 30+ years. A rock may roll slowly down hill before suddenly going over a precipice.

Ha
 
travelover said:
I remember my (late) FIL watching hippies marching in the street circa 1968 and saying essentially the same thing.
Click to expand...

Well, yeah. I think we may be a little farther down that road, though.

When I first read this story some 40 years ago, I thought it was pretty funny, and quite silly. I just re-read it, and it's not quite as funny now.
The Marching Morons C. M. Kornbluth - fantasy fiction political satyre sci-fi short-story - Wattpad

As far as the origin of the nonsense that keeps us from addressing health care issues, I ran across this just a few minutes ago.
Greetings from Idiot America - Esquire

Idiot America is a bad place for crazy notions. Its indolent tolerance of them causes the classic American crank to drift slowly and dangerously into the mainstream, wherein the crank loses all of his charm and the country loses another piece of its mind. The best thing about American crackpots used to be that they would stand proudly aloof from a country that, by their peculiar lights, had gone mad. Not today. Today, they all have book deals, TV shows, and cases pending in federal court.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure we are no longer capable of having a fact-based rational discussion on the future of health care and its potential problems in this country. Laurence Kotlikoff's book, alas, is far too rational and sane to get anywhere here. Now, if there were a 30 second sound bite to get people deathly afraid of what would happen if we didn't do something like what he suggests, then we might get somewhere. Until somebody else makes up something even scarier against it, anyway.

Amazon.com: The Healthcare Fix: Universal Insurance for All Americans (9780262113144): Laurence J. Kotlikoff: Books

Sorry to be so depressing today.
flail.gif
 
M Paquette said:
Well, yeah. I think we may be a little farther down that road, though.

When I first read this story some 40 years ago, I thought it was pretty funny, and quite silly. I just re-read it, and it's not quite as funny now.
The Marching Morons C. M. Kornbluth - fantasy fiction political satyre sci-fi short-story - Wattpad

As far as the origin of the nonsense that keeps us from addressing health care issues, I ran across this just a few minutes ago.
Greetings from Idiot America - Esquire



I'm pretty sure we are no longer capable of having a fact-based rational discussion on the future of health care and its potential problems in this country. Laurence Kotlikoff's book, alas, is far too rational and sane to get anywhere here. Now, if there were a 30 second sound bite to get people deathly afraid of what would happen if we didn't do something like what he suggests, then we might get somewhere. Until somebody else makes up something even scarier against it, anyway.

Amazon.com: The Healthcare Fix: Universal Insurance for All Americans (9780262113144): Laurence J. Kotlikoff: Books

Sorry to be so depressing today.
flail.gif
Click to expand...

I like the phrase 'Idiot America". Matches my observations perfectly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom