American Politics during the Obama Presidency

[QUOTE=Wild Walleye]On the subject of government subsidies of privados, I'm all for it! Fuck yeah, let's nationalize prostitution! It is everyone's right to get fine ass at a reasonable price.[/QUOTE]I am against nationalization of prostitution, now, with privados in private hands you get fine ass, of young age at affordable prices. Plain and simple: supply and demand.

If they are nationalized, then you will have to fill a form to get your service, get 4 copies, deliver it to the madam 72 hours prior to your service, naturally you will have to bribe her in order to get someone who is not older than 55 and with a waist smaller than 120 cm. Actually the new measurements of the "social workers" will be 90-120-120 courtesy of the agreement of the legislators and the leaders of the "sindicato nacional de prostitutas, putas, jineteras, peteras, similares why conexos" (national union of hoes, putes, peteras and workers of similar and related jobs) which allows them to charge you $500 usd for 30 minutes and getting 2 days rest after providing you with her company.

BTW you will have to pay their vacation through the new "Impuesto especial sobre colas suntuarias" (Special luxury ass tax) which amounts to another $250 usd which will go directly to Mrs K pocket -and I don't mean Kellog's special K-, naturally condoms are not just mandatory, they will be a matter of life and death, since social services won't test the hoes for STD's so the clap, AIDS, et al are going to be rampant.

So, what will it be, private or nationalized sir?

[QUOTE=Whiskas]I am against nationalization of prostitution, now, with privados in private hands you get fine ass, of young age at affordable prices. Plain and simple: supply and demand.

If they are nationalized, then you will have to fill a form to get your service, get 4 copies, deliver it to the madam 72 hours prior to your service, naturally you will have to bribe her in order to get someone who is not older than 55 and with a waist smaller than 120 cm. [/QUOTE]For a vivid example of what happens when the government gets involved in supporting prostitution, just go to Nevada. For anyone that's been to one of these places, nothing more needs to be said.

You are both gentlemen who permitted me to rant and came up with more entertaining material. Reading my rant post again: Sid--I'm sorry--I was inappropriate and too hard for public conmsumption--I sould have sent you an email. Please forgive me. You know me well enough that it is not generally my style.

I'm just really frustrated with the whole of the usa political situation now. O is not the top of my list, but he is on the list. I would still vote for him again.

I also made money during the no-regulation governmet of and fore the corporatations period that we just left behind. That type of easy capital will never be available again--personally it will cost me money; but as a citizen of a great country --our politics and regulatory system were too out of wack. Generally markets and politics over-Correct when they swing back from one extreme to another. Jackson would call it a dialectic--because of political theory backround and that does not make anyone a socialist nor communitist---it will verify that it is basic trading folk law--the swingS back and forth over do it---too much pain and many trading opportunity with mis-priced items in the market over reactions. I made money when cooper and oil were mispriced. My goldman sacks holdings surprised the living day lights out of me--now those guys are really the cream of the crop traders.

BOYS--THANKS FOR PERMITTING MY RANT WITHOUT FLAMING ME BACK WHEN I DESERVED IT --ESPECIALLY FROM SID--SID I'm SORRY.

Next election day, I'll pick you up.

Stan and Whiskas, great points on nationalizing prostitution. I was really just supporting the fantasy of free awesome pussy as an analogy to the awesome free medical care that we are promised under Obamacare. The reality in both cases is very, very ugly (like Checkers Pub.)

Florida might be atypical--the instrusty actually writes the legislation here. Rate setting is different than in 48 other states. I applied to 6 health insurance companies and all six will not write me health insurance of any type. I do not have any serious illnesses, but a number of common problems for my age.

I could no longer afford the group insurance that I had for my 6 employees and now I know that I cannot buy individual coverage. It is impossible.

I still have a couple of things that I can try by having emloyees under a couple of different corporate employers and becoming a group of one or three is absolutely necessary. There is a real serious problem here in Florida. Many other states might be more consumer friendly and not have the same problems.

Group health insurance is exempt from contract law suites under state law.

Under an individual policy, if the carrier doesn't pay a bill, you can go down to the state version of the people's court and sue them and when maybe even without an atty. Group insurance is control by the US Dept of labor and it's administrative code--basically the group carrier can do anything that it wants as long as it does not violate it's own rules or committ an intentional tort like fraud. The USA Supreme Court criticized this system as Congress permitting the wolf to guard the hen house.

During the Bush years wealth became much more concentrated in the top 1% and / or 5% of the population--a number of which are members of this site [and might include me].

Rolling back the percentages to the State of the Union at the end of the clinton administration is not communism, socialism; but a reversal of a social policy that permitted a reorganization of the distribution of wealth. I am not going to take the time to look up the numbers.

If O could balance the books by me paying 1% more taxes, I would gladly do it. I would love to buy the same insurance that Congress gets. My last policy cost about us$900 permonth and did not really provide any non-catastrophic coverage. I purchased my drugs overseas or with a walgreens discount club card--cheaper than my insurance coverage.

This is my real story. If my income was us$100,000 and I had kids, then I would be in real trouble. free hookers, how about basic health care?

I appreciate the humor which my brothers approach the health issue and recognise that there will be some sort of health rationing in the future based upon wealth, but this is not a happy situation.

Per Miami Bob's report, the healthcare situation is one of the main reasons I continue to live in Argentina. Being self employed and living in Florida is an absolute nightmare regarding cost (not to mention the haphazard HMO sanctioned care provided for your mega bucks) Despite the premiums of Swiss Medical coverage escalating over the past few years, the cost is nearly a drop in the bucket compared to what would be similar coverage in Florida. In contrast to what my situation would be like in Florida, in BsAs I pay out of pocket to see cream of the crop physicians, who do not accept Swiss Medical (usually between 200 and 300p an office visit) and then let Swiss Medical cover any testing ordered at 100%. I could do it all through Swiss Medical covered Docs for close to nothing, but prefer to see very competent, well established physicians who have opted out of insurance plans.

The same thing is true in New York. The only way I could get insurance, was to form a business with 2 or more employees. Otherwise I could not get any, or I had to pay between 1500-2000 dollars a month. With the business I pay about 700.

Something needs to be done about health care in the US. I have a friend who spent 9 days in the hospital without insurance in NY, and his bill was over 30 thousand dollars. All they did was give him intravenous antibiotics, since he had a bad infection in his foot. 4 years ago I met a guy in Mexico, who told me he got sick in Mexico with pneumonia and had to spend 2 weeks in the hospital there. His bill was 2000 dollars. Why the difference in price? The treatment was the same, antibiotics. Why the difference in price. Something really wrong with our heath care system. If your are poor, the government gives it for free, if you are over 65 you can get Medicare, otherwise unless your employer give you healthcare, you are screwed.

If you have a heart attack in the US, and you do not have insurance, and they do a bypass, expect a bill between 200,000 and 250,000 dollars. Why do things cost so much more in the US than in other counties? Does it really cost us more to do they same thing? Something is not right.

Did you guys shop around?

I just did a quick search for individual health insurance for Florida and New York.

I used my mothers’ zip code in Orlando with my D. O. B. For Florida, and for NY I used my D. O. B. And a zip code of 11211. Oh I’m 57 years old.

I got quotes starting as low $150 depending on the company and type of coverage.

One of the links doesn’t offer NY coverage but the other one offers both.

[url]http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ehi/individual-health-insurance.ds[/url]

[url]http://www.assuranthealth.com/corp/ah/default.htm[/url]

If you have pre existing condition or bad habits I’m sure the quotes would be higher.

It would be very interesting to see what kind of quotes you guys get.

I don't know what those plan cover, I looked at it quickly the cheap plan said no office visits. I guess it cover some hospital emergency or something. The other plans 350 and up looked like HMO, still a good price, some said had to be sole proprietor.

This is a link to the State of New York web site with prices for different health plans, for New York City. These are the prices the insurance companies file with the State of New York. These prices are for individuals, not businesses

[url]http://www.ins.state.ny.us/hmorates/html/hmonewyo.htm[/url]

There was nothing below 754 a month and that for an HMO, where they control who you can see. I have a PPO, which let me see doctor outside a clinic. The price for a PPO, which I have GHI, is $2,654.91, on the State web site. I pay a little over 700 because I am a business.

When I called different insurance companies, they all quoted me the prices on the NY State site. The prices on that ehealthinsurance are better. Are this prices on ehealthinsurance real? Has anyone tried them? Or are they trying to suck you in, then give you very little coverage, or tell you later you have to pay more?

I’m sure the cheap plan is junk, but the others look like they may be some good companies, but they would need to be investigated more.

I’m retiring the end of this month and will have to start paying the full cost of my insurance next month. My cost to stay on the same group plan I’m on now will be between $315 and $435 depending on the option I take.

Considering the difference in the cost of living between New York and Indiana $700 may not be that bad of a price.

But whatever happens I hope we can agree we don’t want Mexican class health care.

What I don't understand is why it cost 30,000 dollar to spend 9 days in a hospital in NY? It does not cost the hospital that much to keep you in a bed, and give you antibiotics. The prices are out of control.

I agree with you completely, but I don’t see how the current proposed legislation will correct the problem.

[QUOTE=Tessan]Why do things cost so much more in the US than in other counties?[/QUOTE]Medical malpractice lawsuits and medical malpractice insurance premiums, in part.

It's interesting how The Messiah's health reform doesn't even address tort reform. Could that be because the vast majority of litigation lawyers are Democrats?

Thanks,

Jackson

What gets me about the whole health insurance thing is that health insurance is not to be used for health disaster, but rather for every little thing. People search for the lowest deductible possible, lowest co-pays, lowest contribution for medicines. It has become a "known thing" that we can't possibly have good medical care wihtout paying thousands of dollars a year in CASE IT'S NEEDED. To go to the doctor for a cold, for a rash, what have you - they sell insurance for every little thing and actually make you feel good about it because wow! Your co-pay is only ten dollars! Your prescriptions are free! Better use the a lot to make it worth the hefty price tag you're paying in case something BAD actually happens to you.

Why can't people pay their own everyday expenses out of their own pocket? Why can't people have a disaster policy instead of a policy that pays for their trips to the doctor for a checkup, instead of thinking that the latest headache is a brain tumor and going to have a bunch of tests that yes, the insurance companies pays for - but who the hell is paying for it? Everyone who pays these outrageous premiums! I mean, really, how many times have you really had something so bad that, although it might have left you strapped, you couldn't have put all that money in an investment instead of in the insurance companies' pockets?

When I lived in Houston I rarely had insurance. I did when I worked for a big company, but the truth is, I would have MUCH rather had the $800 a month they were paying to cover my family. That's almost $10K a year!

I was later (and still am) self-employed. I have three children. When we got sick, we went to a small clinic down the road and paid something like $60 to go see the doctor. Sometimes we paid as much as $100 for one or more prescriptions. It was a nice place, modern, clean, professional. The trips to the doctor for a family of 5 cost me far less than the $800 or so a month that I would have had to pay for "full" insurance coverage.

We kept ourselves in decent health and didn't have a whole lot of problems.

Sure, there are reasons to have insurance. I finally bought a disaster policy for my kids, just in case. I am paying about $200 a month for the three of them. But the individual deductible is $5,000, with total out-of-pocket yearly expenses for three people at $10,000. The lifetime limit is $1,000,000. This is in case something BIG happens.

For the small things, we have become dependent on the health INSURANCE system. It is rife with the desire to make money (as most enterprises should be) Doctors love to order unneccesary tests, hospitals love to overcharge for everything, because the two together (the medical providers and the insurance providers) have managed to become very close - there's a lot of money to be sucked out of the suckers who have become hypocondriacs and need to maintain this level with what the insurance carriers offer.

My grandmother, about a year before she died (she lived to be 92 and smoked for almost 50 years before quitting) told me a story about her life in the 50's, when health insurance started being a big thing. A doctor's visit cost her about $5. Shortly after she got health insurance through the bank she worked for, the doctor told her she didn't have to pay any more, and don't worry, because he was going to be able to charge the insurance company twice what she used to pay.

Things change. The founding fathers of the US knew that and hoped that the Constitution they put together would hold things together, along with education and understanding.

But what happened is that people voted themselves other people's money. It starts with things like insurance - people in general are ignorant and salesmen have been looking for ways to sell them things they don't need, until all of the sudden there is a very large group of people, all the way up to the president of the US (plenty of them, not just Obama) who is either convinced that this paradigm "is right" or are in the pockets of the very people trying to sell things.

Health coverage for everyone? Let's get doctors and insurance companies and the court system under control instead of figuring out a way to get the government to prop up a system that makes way too much money for those who don't even touch patients.