Obama, Republicans spar on healthcare
The high-stakes battle over healthcare takes today to dueling Internet and radio addresses.
In his weekly address, President Obama tells Americans that the status quo is unacceptable and the chance for fixing healthcare might not come again for years.
"This is an issue that affects the health and financial well-being of every single American and the stability of our entire economy," he says, after a week during which doubts grew in Congress about how to pay for the overhaul, the official budget keeper warned that the legislation would not control public spending on healthcare, and calls became louder for slowing down the process.
"It’s about every family unable to keep up with soaring out of pocket costs and premiums rising three times faster than wages. Every worker afraid of losing health insurance if they lose their job, or change jobs. Everyone who’s worried that they may not be able to get insurance or change insurance if someone in their family has a pre-existing condition.
"This is the system we have today. This is what the debate in Congress is all about: Whether we’ll keep talking and tinkering and letting this problem fester as more families and businesses go under, and more Americans lose their coverage. Or whether we’ll seize this opportunity – one we might not have again for generations – and finally pass health insurance reform this year, in 2009."
Obama also directly takes on his critics, asserting that it's "simply not true" that the overhaul will lead to record government deficits and saying that it's not true that the plan calls for government bureaucrats instead of families picking doctors.
"Finally, opponents of health reform warn that this is all some big plot for socialized medicine or government-run health care with long lines and rationed care. That’s not true either. I don’t believe that government can or should run health care," the president says. "But I also don’t think insurance companies should have free reign to do as they please."
In the Republican response, Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona warned about "a government takeover of the healthcare system," new "job-killing taxes" on small businesses, and "rationing" of care.
He also accused Democrats of trying to rush through legislation "because the more Americans know about it, the more they oppose it. Something this important needs to be done right, rather than done quickly."
"Republicans have put forward common-sense ideas, including rooting out Medicare and Medicaid fraud, reforming medical liability laws to discourage frivolous lawsuits, strengthening wellness and prevention programs that encourage healthy living, and allowing small businesses to band together and purchase health insurance like large corporations do," said Kyl, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate leadership.
“We know Americans would prefer us to work together to ensure access to affordable quality healthcare for all. But Americans do not want a government takeover of health care that will jeopardize their current coverage, ration care, and create mountains of new debt and higher taxes.
Obama's address can be viewed here, Kyl's can be seen here, and both their remarks are below:
OBAMA'S REMARKS
Right now in Washington, our Senate and House of Representatives are both debating proposals for health insurance reform. Today, I want to speak with you about the stakes of this debate, for our people and for the future of our nation.
This is an issue that affects the health and financial well-being of every single American and the stability of our entire economy.
It’s about every family unable to keep up with soaring out of pocket costs and premiums rising three times faster than wages. Every worker afraid of losing health insurance if they lose their job, or change jobs. Everyone who’s worried that they may not be able to get insurance or change insurance if someone in their family has a pre-existing condition.
It’s about a woman in Colorado who told us that when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, her insurance company – the one she’d paid over $700 a month to – refused to pay for her treatment. She had to use up her retirement funds to save her own life.
It’s about a man from Maryland who sent us his story – a middle class college graduate whose health insurance expired when he changed jobs. During that time, he needed emergency surgery, and woke up $10,000 in debt – debt that has left him unable to save, buy a home, or make a career change.
It’s about every business forced to shut their doors, or shed jobs, or ship them overseas. It’s about state governments overwhelmed by Medicaid, federal budgets consumed by Medicare, and deficits piling higher year after year.
This is the status quo. This is the system we have today. This is what the debate in Congress is all about: Whether we’ll keep talking and tinkering and letting this problem fester as more families and businesses go under, and more Americans lose their coverage. Or whether we’ll seize this opportunity – one we might not have again for generations – and finally pass health insurance reform this year, in 2009.
Now we know there are those who will oppose reform no matter what. We know the same special interests and their agents in Congress will make the same old arguments, and use the same scare tactics that have stopped reform before because they profit from this relentless escalation in health care costs. And I know that once you’ve seen enough ads and heard enough people yelling on TV, you might begin to wonder whether there’s a grain of truth to what they’re saying. So let me take a moment to answer a few of their arguments.
First, the same folks who controlled the White House and Congress for the past eight years as we ran up record deficits will argue – believe it or not – that health reform will lead to record deficits. That’s simply not true. Our proposals cut hundreds of billions of dollars in unnecessary spending and unwarranted giveaways to insurance companies in Medicare and Medicaid. They change incentives so providers will give patients the best care, not just the most expensive care, which will mean big savings over time. And we have urged Congress to include a proposal for a standing commission of doctors and medical experts to oversee cost-saving measures.
I want to be very clear: I will not sign on to any health plan that adds to our deficits over the next decade. And by helping improve quality and efficiency, the reforms we make will help bring our deficits under control in the long-term.
Those who oppose reform will also tell you that under our plan, you won’t get to choose your doctor – that some bureaucrat will choose for you. That’s also not true. Michelle and I don’t want anyone telling us who our family’s doctor should be – and no one should decide that for you either. Under our proposals, if you like your doctor, you keep your doctor. If you like your current insurance, you keep that insurance. Period, end of story.
Finally, opponents of health reform warn that this is all some big plot for socialized medicine or government-run health care with long lines and rationed care. That’s not true either. I don’t believe that government can or should run health care. But I also don’t think insurance companies should have free reign to do as they please.
That’s why any plan I sign must include an insurance exchange: a one-stop shopping marketplace where you can compare the benefits, cost and track records of a variety of plans – including a public option to increase competition and keep insurance companies honest – and choose what’s best for your family. And that’s why we’ll put an end to the worst practices of the insurance industry: no more yearly caps or lifetime caps; no more denying people care because of pre-existing conditions; and no more dropping people from a plan when they get too sick. No longer will you be without health insurance, even if you lose your job or change jobs.
The good news is that people who know the system best are rallying to the cause of change. Just this past week, the American Nurses Association, representing millions of nurses across America, and the American Medical Association, representing doctors across our nation, announced their support because they’ve seen first-hand the need for health insurance reform.
They know we cannot continue to cling to health industry practices that are bankrupting families, and undermining American businesses, large and small. They know we cannot let special interests and partisan politics stand in the way of reform – not this time around.
The opponents of health insurance reform would have us do nothing. But think about what doing nothing, in the face of ever increasing costs, will do to you and your family.
So today, I am urging the House and the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, to seize this opportunity, and vote for reform that gives the American people the best care at the lowest cost; that reins in insurance companies, strengthens businesses and finally gives families the choices they need and the security they deserve.
Thanks.
KYL'S REMARKS
“Hello. I’m Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl, of Arizona.
“Republicans believe all Americans should have access to quality health care and that we must find ways to reduce health care costs.
“The debate in Washington is about how we can achieve these goals.
“Republicans have put forward common-sense ideas, including rooting out Medicare and Medicaid fraud, reforming medical liability laws to discourage frivolous lawsuits, strengthening wellness and prevention programs that encourage healthy living, and allowing small businesses to band together and purchase health insurance like large corporations do.
“These changes do not require government takeover of the healthcare system, or massive new spending, job-killing taxes, or rationing of care.
“Democrats in Congress have a different approach. Their plan would increase spending by more than two trillion dollars when fully implemented, and would, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, “’add additional costs onto an already unsustainable system.’
“It would empower Washington, not doctors and patients, to make health care decisions and would impose a new tax on working families during a recession. A study by the respected Lewin Group shows it would also move millions of people who are happy with their current insurance to a new government plan.
“They propose to pay for this new Washington-run health care system by dramatically raising taxes on small business owners. Small businesses create jobs -- approximately two-thirds of new jobs in the last decade.
“With a shaky economy and the need for new jobs, the last thing the President and the Congress should do is impose new taxes on America’s small businesses. New taxes on small business would cripple job creation, especially jobs for low-wage earners.
“This week, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office told the Senate Budget Committee that the health care-reform measures drafted by Democrats would worsen our economic outlook by increasing deficits and driving our nation more deeply into debt. So, there’s good reason to be skeptical when the President tells us we need to pass the Democrats’ bill to help the economy.
“The President and Congressional Democrats have even proposed cutting Medicare to pay for their plan.
“How can we justify dipping into funds for seniors’ care to pay for a new government plan, especially since Medicare is already in financial trouble? This would ultimately lead to shortages, rationing, and the elimination of private-plan choices—something our seniors rightly fear.
“These are not the right steps to achieving the reform Americans want.
“But the President and some Democrats insist we must rush this plan through. Why? Because the more Americans know about it, the more they oppose it. Something this important needs to be done right, rather than done quickly.
“We know Americans would prefer us to work together to ensure access to affordable quality health care for all. But Americans do not want a government takeover of health care that will jeopardize their current coverage, ration care, and create mountains of new debt and higher taxes.
“We urge Democrats to support a plan that would lead to real reform and include the innovative ideas Republicans have put forward that would cut costs, improve access, and preserve the kind of care that millions of Americans already have and like. That’s the kind of reform Americans would be sure to support.”
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Spar? Office of Management and Budget, the people who we pay to determine the cost of our government undertakings, have told the administration that we can not afford this legislation because it has no cost controls. In fact they have told us that i will cost more than we are paying now. Isn't THAT great?
Can't Congress and the White House hear the statement? This run away legislation has got to be tehered and brought back to reality. Please.
Taxing the average American out of 25% plus of income wont work either-
Obama is the king of scare tactics, something he accused Bush of frequently during his campaign. Liberalism = hypocrisy, and it stands to reason that Obama, king of the liberals, is also the king of hypocrisy.
This healthcare bill that 'must pass', is a complete sham, as is Obama. He will undoubtedly go down in history as our worst president ever, just one step behind the dreaded Jimmy Carter.
"Obama also directly takes on his critics, asserting that it's "simply not true" that the overhaul will lead to record government deficits and saying that it's not true that the plan calls for government bureaucrats instead of families picking doctors."
Hey Obama - STOP LYING!
I regret voting for Obama. Everything that we were told about Obama at the beginning from the far right are coming true.
Why did we elect a president who spent 20 years in a Marxist Rev Wright Church? The same church that praised Hamas!!
Why did we elect a president who said he would bankrupt the coal industry with his cap and trade plan?
Why would we elect a president who spent 10 years with Bill AYers, a known terrorist who steps on american flags?
What happens when you elect a president that is the most far left radical liberal anyone could imagine??
Change is right!!!! richard
Your headline is misleading. There are many Democrats that are also opposed to Obama's plan.
This is not a GOP thing. Many blue dog dems and other dems don't like it.
The CBO told Obama that we don't have the money and that it will kill medicare.
Medicare is broke by 35 trillion and the VA's are a mess! We need these problems fixed first before everyone taxes go up and get ration care from our MD's.
So for everyone who voted for Obama and the Dems to take Congress and the Senate...I hate to say we told you so. Did you realy expect anything more than short sighted solutions to major issues? Obama, Pelosi and Reid need to take a lesson in economics, like a 101 level course. I would suggest they read Thomas Sowell's, Basic Economics before they put this country in financial ruin. Most important message I took away from this book was that government's have no financial incentive for success. But they'll keep taxing your money or issuing new debt to provide new programs or expand existing ones only to please certain contituents who can help them remain in office. Obama - 4 and done. Today we need politicians with common sense and financial experience running this country, who have a demonstrative past of making good and equitable choices. Not just those that come from great law schools and can speak very well in a public setting, but have shown us they have no common sense when it comes to seeing the big picture. THIS COUNTRY NEEDS IMMEDIATE HELP. Times are going to be tough over the next few years. But let's not cut our nose to spite our face by expanding our goverment.
The underlying sub-header that is missing is that a lot of Democrats are also standing up to Obama on this one. They are starting to read the bill and taking note of the provisions to phase out then outlaw employer-provided health insurance amongst other things. Yes, the public duel is being portrayed as partisan and this is of course true, but in the back rooms of his own party, Obama is, (rightfully in my opinion) being challenged on this monstrosity of a bill.
This bill which a) no single person voting has read in it's entirety and b) has had 11th hour amendments added on top of that and c) which is being rushed through before public debate,,, tells an awful lot of folks that something is not quite right here.
R or D, we can both agree that what ever happens with this plan - it needs to be done right.
According to the Congressional Budget Office House Democratic legislation overhauling the nation's health care system would add more than $230 billion to the federal budget deficit over the next ten years. Therefore, how can the President and the Democrats in Congress truly believe that this proposed legislation will stabilize the economy?
If they cannot address this fundamental flaw within the proposal then it should be abandoned.
The Democrats need to look more closely at the Republicans' proposals, find a consensus and pass legislation that will make health care more affordable and accessible to all Americans. If the current members of Congress does not work together, we will need to implement some changes in next year’s elections.
Is everything this guy touches a "crisis"? First it was the banks (wihich are still failing even after the bailouts) , then the auto industry (which are still in trouble even after the government took control of the largest company) , now it is healthcare, what's next? Does government need to control our food intake so we don't run out of food? Food that is regrown every year from the ground? From the looks of things Obama IS a crisis all in himself.
Republicans need to go away, losers.
I think Obama's rhetoric and the actual policies he supports are starting to show some inconsistencies.
I will admit he is a very powerful talker, but when you have a financial committee saying that it's not going to work, then you have Obama basically calling them liars, you know something is fishy.
Why does he feel the need to "rush" all of this legislation through? There is always the chance for health care reform. When he says this may be the last chance in years, THAT IS A LIE. We can have healthcare reform WHENEVER we want, as long as the legislation is sound.
Maybe instead of calling his financial committee liars, he should take their advice and urge Congress to modify the legislation to address their concerns. Instead of collaboration, it seems like Obama is dead set on pushing his own agenda through all while disregarding anything that other people have to say that makes sense.
Is there just total, blatant disregard from the Congressional Budget Office that has stated that costs will rise under this plan?
The CBO, not the Republicans, has raised a red flag over this, as has the WH's Budget Director Peter Orszag.
IS ANYONE LISTENING????
I'd prefer the President of America did not lie.
How ashamed we as Americans are to have this lousy Obama "leading" us.
The people who voted for him should apologize.
He wants to use a crisis - some of which is his own making - to takeover healthcare.
People will die waiting for diagnostics and treatment. Canadians come to the US for excellent treatment.
We need to vote the marxists out of office. It is shameful.
It doesn't matter what Obama says, all the brain-washed right wing whackos won't believe him, anyway.
Obama: the sun rises in the east.
RWW (right wing whackos): No! Obama is a liar! Don't believe a word of it! He's trying to socialize the sun, and the earth!
Obama: The United States of America is comprised of 50 states.
RWW: Listen to this guy! He's spreading falsehoods again! Listen to him distort! He's trying to make the United States of America a communist/socialist nation!
Obama: Night follows day.
RWW: We need to impeach this liar! What blatant lies! IMPEACH! IMPEACH! IMPEACH!
You think I'm exaggerating? Only slightly. Sit back, read the comments, and, if you have a brain, laugh. Laughter is the best medicine in dealing with these neo con nut cases.
I'd like less government, lower taxes and more individual freedom AND responsibility. I'd also like a secure border and enforcement of our immigration policies. You show up at an Emergency room for treatment? You'll get treated but if you can't prove you're a citizen you should be immediately handed over to ICE for processing. Close the loophole that casts millions of anchor babies to the public dole year after year. Force E Verify for any state that receives any federal aid. If you cut off the free rides they will stop coming and go home. Our Govt let all the jobs go offshore, allow unskilled people to flock here and then support them on the backs of hard working middle class Americans. You pay for it.
Keep remembering the old saying "Money is a mechanism for control." Once, the federal government controls the funding either through taxes or fees, they'll be setting all of the rules even if as President Obama states that is not their intention.
Problem is that if Obama's brand of health insurance reform "just make everyone buy it" passes then we will have another chance at health reform very soon, because there is no way we (US Government or Individuals) can afford this. If this passes then every few years we are going to have a cost crisis followed by an even more absurd set of ways to pay for it.
The problem is not "coverage". Everyone is already covered in some way, either through private insurance or the public safety net. The problem is that our country pays too much as a percentage of GDP and individually for health insurance and health care. How is it going to help solve that problem to simply fine people for not wanting to purchase an over priced insurance product? In all but the most extreme cases it would be less expensive for people to just pay on a payment plan after medical services are rendered.
Even with medical costs exceeding $15,000 this year, it would have been cheaper to just pay out of pocket with health insurance costs of $1000 per month for my family. I have an employer that subsidizes half of that cost, so I don't see it taken out of my pay check, but it is being taken out.
Medical insurance takes away any incentive for people to reduce the number of times they seek medical care. And since doctors and hospitals know that their patients have already paid the insurance companies, there is no incentive for them to charge less. Just calling it a free market does not make it so. The system we have now is a government run system and it is a broken one. The system that is being proposed now is just more of the same.
Obamacare will increase medical costs... hurt our most productive citizens... and lower medical standards. If that is success in Obama's eyes... he needs to leave office.
On the other hand... Obamacare will create a new 1 million person union who will vote Democrat for the next 40 years. So that is where your 1.6 trillion is going.. to fund Obama elections.
Obama's health plan will bankrupt the country says the Government Accounting Office and they say that the government must reign in spending. I can't afford a new car so I don't buy one, I can't affort the kind of health care that politicians get for free so I don't buy it. America can't afford Obama Health Care and we should not buy into it. The Obama plan will raise our Health Care cost not make it cheaper.
Your senators and congressmen, Massachusetts are for this stupid idea. They are leading the charge. If you are against this, call senators and congressmen and women in areas of the country that are on the fence. Tell them through emails, calls that you will work to support the campaigns of any other candidate that runs against them. You may not be able to vote in their district, but your money and intentions speak volumes. Even if you send $5 to the other candidate...it adds up...that's what ACORN does. Now, it is time for the good sense AMERICANS to do the same. This is being rammed through with no thought (and probably the vast majority of congress has yet to really read it.) It is time to take back control from this runaway train.
Obama is simply proposing a government option for those who want to BUY their healthcare through the government. That's it!
The Republicons, as usual, are working hard to scare people because that's what they do. They have no solutions or ideas so they work to scare people into voting them back into power so they can tax the middle class and give breaks to wealthy and big corporations that pay big money into their party campaign coffers.
The Republicon party is an enemy of the American middle class--plain and simple.
Thank you John Kyl
Stop the Obama madness
Excellent!
If you say the only possible moment to do this is right now -- you've admitted the problem is not a fundamental one but one of smoke and mirrors. Real problems you can address on an on-going, continual basis to reform.
This isn't a sudden crisis like a flood about to breach a levy, nor is it an attack from a foreign nation. It's a long term issue with policy, and the liberals are trying to ram through a proposed solution that increasingly doesn't look fiscally responsible nor particularly effective.
The issues we have with how we finance health care can certainly be handled, tweaked, and adjusted over the next several years. To set artificial deadlines that if this isn't done by August 1st or September 1st it can't be revisited is just smoke and mirrors puffery befitting the Wizard of Oz, not the President of the United States.
Obama’s Health-Care Reform: What’s the BIG RUSH ? 7/18/2009
1.) Why such a RUSH ?????? Will a few weeks more to allow legislators and the public some time to actually READ and DISCUSS the bill cause any harm?
2.) This bill will cost TRILLIONS of dollars!!
Even the independent, non-partisan GAO (Government Accounting Office) has said this!! Medicaid and Medicare, which were also predicted to cost the taxpayer little or nothing, now costs taxpayers hundreds of BILLIONS each year.
3.) Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Pres. Obama talk about the "huge savings" that will pay for this health care. But HOW will it do so???? When asked repeatedly, then cannot give ANY specific examples!
4.) Private health insurance will DISAPPEAR for most employees! ! Why?
Do you think your employer will still want to pay the $12,000-14,000 per year for your Blue-Cross/Blue Shield [or other health insurance] coverage when he knows you can get it from the Government? Of course NOT ! ! ! Whether a business has 5 or 5,000 employees, by dropping private health care insurance, the savings to businesses will be tremendous! Thus, you will be FORCED to join the Government Plan!!
5.) Will your health care improve? Absolutely not! Compare the care at a U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) hospital with that at a private or teaching hospital! Wait times are much longer, the doctors are far less skilled and the bureaucracy is crushing. (During and after medical school, I worked at several VA hospitals, university-teaching hospitals and private hospitals. The doctors and care given at VA hospitals was MUCH WORSE – by far!
6.) Why the recent opposition from some Democrats???
Pressure from the UNIONS that want to preserve their present health care insurance - which is often some of the best in the country!!! One Democrat plan will EXEMPT Federal POLITICIANS and UNION members/retirees (the latter because they get their benefits by “collective bargaining”). No kidding!!!
For POLITICIANS, it is all about getting RE-ELECTED ! ! ! !
Wow... It is so sad how dumb the populace has become. There is literally no B.S. detector blaring in the minds of 50% of the sheep in this country. Why EXACTLY... is it, that we need to ram through a 1000+ page bill that will completely reinvent our healthcare system, and by it's own design, be irreversable, in a week and a half???? Didn't anyone learn a thing with the " Stimulus " package that had to be passed immediately... yet now that it's 60 months in with no discernable effect other than another trillion or so of unsustainable debt... the mantra is " it was a 2 year plan "? Can any of you ABSOLUTE SHEEP ... explain WHY if it's not done in 2 WEEKS ... it will not be able to be done in " generations " ???
President Obama today said the chance to pass insurance reform might not come again for generations. (Globe)
Another scare tactic....and what it really means is hurry up and do it while the Dems are in power. Health care needs reform and I won't pretend to know all the best ideas but I hope the two parties can come to a compromise and not stuff one parties ideas down our throats ......especially the party that loves to spend on government run programs.
Well, clearly the President speaks for people without health care, and Senator Kyl speaks for those with health coverage now. This is why nothing gets done. People with health care refuse to sacrifice anything for those without. This is exactly why the government has to take charge, unfortunately.
I don't think I've ever been prouder to be a Republican.
Do not be misled by the mouthpieces behind whom the Insurance industry is hiding. I and our Benefits VP toiled for 10 years with the problem of escalating health care costs for our company with 150,000 employees. Obama's people have it right - get everyone covered somehow, and then tackle the morass of inefficiency, redundancy and paperwork that can be reduced if we get some of the vested interests out of the way and tell them to do what's right for the public. Other Fortune 500 HR execs (and eventually their CEOs) were inagreement with this conclusion. Check their Business Roundtable (going way back). The leading truly expert consultants, when allowed to come forth without publicly countering some of the insurance companies they must presently do business with also agree. Why can't we get to a place where other industrialized countries are already with health care. They did not go broke. Why would we? The arguments against this legislation are hogwash. I have my coverage (not from my company) I am retired, and so it does not matter FOR Me. BUT IT DOES FOR MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN> HOW ABOUT YOURS? gene remoff
"O" no!
His proposal will destroy small businesses with massive tax increases necessary to pay for the program, therefore skyrocketing unemployment past the 10% he's already achieved in 6 months (doubling what he inherited), and put the entire nation in the same position Massachusetts is in right now - a bankrupt healthcare system that is benefiting no one.
One must wonder if the Obama family will be participating in government run healthcare? Oh yea! Elected officials are exempt from the programs requirements. How convenient.
This plan has got to be stopped for no other reason than this: a board will set up to decide which of ailing elderly will be euthanized!! Yes!! You read that right!!
Let's all work NOW to get this bill stopped!!
Obama administration should not interfere in health care by implementing Socialized Medicine. I used to work in British National Health Service in the 1990s. Patients had to wait nine months to see a neurologist for headaches, 18 months for hernia repair, 24 months to have hip replacement done, nine months to have coronary angiogram. When I was in Manchester, UK, a patient died while waiting for coronary angiogram. The hospital did not realize this and sent an appointment letter to the patient's address. His families were very angry. If you like this kind of care, then go for Obama's plan.
What Obama should have done is (1) tort reforms. Lawyers are rampant like dangerous parasites in this country. Because of frivolous lawsuits, doctors practise defensive medicine and everything becomes expensive. Obama, a lawyer himself, does not want to pass legislations to control the lawyers. Who are protecting doctors, nurses and hospitals from frivolous lawsuits? Each and every lawsuit costs at least $100,000.00 to defend. The second thing he should do is (2) control insurance companies which have their own agenda, i.e. to make 30% profit per year. While lawyers are dangerous parasites in this country, insurance companies are leeches which suck blood. (3) Third to control is pharmaceutical companies. Everything is way expensive here. (4) Obama should promote preventive medicine. Childhood obesity is increasing. This means, 20-30 years from now, more people will develop diabetes mellitus, hypertension and coronary heart disease and the country will have to spend more and more for health care.
my comments from yesterday had too much common sense for you?
This is going nowhere fast, and thank God. I don't want to send my babyboomer parents to hospice some day because the Government deems them to much of a burden. Hell, I don't want that for myself or my children who are already saddled with Obama's debt.
Does J.B. realize that people are dying right now due to decisions made by insurance companies? And that most of "Obama's debt" has Bush's name on it? I recommend that J.B. watch the movie Sicko to receive a much-needed education.
C.Graham
Simple question for The One: how are you going to pay for the monstrosity of nationalized health-care?
How far down the taxpayer chain will "surcharges" have to go to pay for it? Who will eventually be demonized as "the rich" who must pay "their fair share?"
I know, i know, do it... "for the children." Weak.
@C. Graham
It is laughable that you put the deficit on Bush alone. It grew on his watch immensely but the time has passed where you can make that claim. Obama has tripled it on HIS OWN by printing money. Don't condescend me by telling me I need to watch a propaganda film. You are so in the bag for the Dems you can't see past the end of your own nose. At least I am Independent.
We in Britain have had a good NHS for many years until Tony Blair got his hands on it. (In 1991 the British Communist party folded, four years later the Labour Party renamed itself New Labour and its gone to the dogs since.
The NHS paid for by us British Citizens is now free issue to any health tourist who wants it, with us at the back of the queue. Strange things are going on. look at a website called stopcp.com and look at the socialist shenanigans taking place in Europe.
In particulat investigate Julia Middleton
We in Britain have had a good NHS for many years until Tony Blair got his hands on it. (In 1991 the British Communist party folded, four years later the Labour Party renamed itself New Labour and its gone to the dogs since.
The NHS paid for by us British Citizens is now free issue to any health tourist who wants it, with us at the back of the queue. Strange things are going on. look at a website called stopcp.com and look at the socialist shenanigans taking place in Europe.
In particulat investigate Julia Middleton