This!

 

i may be ignorant but do you guys really beleive that if you dropped your millitary a couple of notches you would get invaded??????????

I honnestly beleive (from the media shown in OZ) that Obama is a better president then gwb, but lets be honest they are all puppets including our old cocksucking PM, between John howard, GWB & Tony blair they should all be charged with war crimes.

is that too out there???

 

invaded, no, Japan made that mistake. Ignored completely, yes.

 

hey Brain define Ignored & how it would effect the U.S please...

remember im from poor old OZ im am slow

 

North Korea and Iran have been getting pretty big for their britches lately now that they have nothing to fear. I'm sure Iran could invade Israel and we'd still be having sit downs about them building houses that Pakistan doesn't approve of...

 

Jesus, dude! That photo was so huge I actually wanted to quote it! Took almost a minute to load!

 

took a good 5 here on this hotel internet. then my laptop overheated and i had to reset.

 

 

I do agree there. I see people who spend 150 a month on cable and internet complaining about the 140 per month they spend on their insurance from work. I worked as a book salesman once to pay the bills and I came accross a family that had a huge flat screen back when that was a big/new thing and yet thier property was litteraly covered in garbage because they would not pay the city to pick it up or take it to the dump themselfs.

But keep in mind there are folks who dont have cable, have the cheapest cell they can for about 36/Mo after taxes, and who just plain dont have enough for healthcare because even if they did spare 100 bucks or so for a private plan they would be absolutely hosed financially if they had to go to the hospital for any reason because the deductible would sink them anyway. Or they cover their kid and skip themselfs. Lots of jobs dont provide healthcare and lots of people are taking multiple part-time work (if they are lucky) which doesnt provide it either.

Thats where competition, making the entire litigation process fair and sensible, and well-run assistance programs are the solution.

 

I still have not seen anything to show me how more governmental control and regulation somehow guarantees cheap and effective care for all.

Its like somehow in this debate the assumtion that everyone has is that new laws and regs and oversight will result in poor people getting better care. I am pretty skeptical on that. What constitutes 'essential', 'good', and 'cheap'?

I think what we are on the road to doing is replacing one bolloxed up system with another that ends up costing even more. Its not a matter of IF people ought to be helped. People can potificate all they like about how some should not be cared for. The fact is that you are not going to find a health professional who will deny care to a dying man who stumbles into the ER. The issue is HOW to help people. And I dont think the correct course is to regulate the insurance companies into the ground. It is to force them to be competitive and to build a truly well-run safety-net program, as opposed to the mess we have now. I am very skeptical that this bill will do that. I sincerely hope I am wrong.

 

They tax the rich to pay for us...I dont see how it's not an awesome idea; especially once the well runs dry.

 

They tax you to pay for you. You're not particularly rich or poor.

 

Actually, the poor aren't particularly poor, either. Not when their #1 killer is obesity. At no time in history has the "poor" ever struggled with obesity.

 

I don't think the US will ever be "Invaded". The next war between large powers will be pretty horrific. No invasions, just missiles. The good thing about it is that it won't last 10 years like the current "wars". But I can guarantee more people will die. I mean the current firepower on this earth could probably end life as we know it fairly quick.

As for dropping the military a few notches, we are already stretched so far with these wars that I don't see how we could possibly drop anything. Now optimize spending and try and run **** more efficiently, ya we could really use some of that.... but yea.. go healthcare, woooowooooo

 

I mostly agree with you, but there have been plenty of countries throughout history who probably thought they would never be invaded either. It's probably a bit tougher since we are mostly landlocked. Our methods of warfare might be different, but a lot of the people who hate us still use old world tactics. Not that any of them could really do much to us outside of nuke us, which would be a problem. I would hope everyone in power throughout the world would understand what even a single nuke could mean for the world. Like potato chips, you can't have just one.

 

So... Basically what you're saying is, since they tax me to pay for my health care, those who DON'T pay taxes get no health care? I might just roll with that...

 

he's saying in general, not just for health care.

but if it were "fair" then the extra money the from the wealthy should go right back to the wealthy, not the poor.

 

I'm saying for the vast majority of people, you probably will get out what you put in. No, I can't cite proof. Based on income distribution, it's probably 75% of the population--give or take.

And then you have the top 1.5% covering the bottom 20something%. Depending on how it all really works.

So I guess if you really want the "free government healthcare", you're going to have to quit your job and work somewhere horrible.

 

Based on the report issued by the IRS for the 2007 tax year released in July of 2009:

Top 50% of all taxpayers paid 97.11% of all income taxes to the IRS.
Bottom 50% of all taxpayers paid 2.89% of all income taxes to the IRS.

Top 1% paid 40.42% of all taxes.

 

talk about injustice.