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Do You Support Obama's Healthcare Plan?
sherisaid- Last Online: Aug 23 2012
sherisaid- Last Online: Aug 23 2012
sherisaid- Last Online: Aug 23 2012
Mark in Idaho- Last Online: Apr 01 2011
sherisaid- Last Online: Aug 23 2012
George- Last Online: Apr 20 2011
Mark in Idaho- Last Online: Apr 01 2011
sherisaid- Last Online: Aug 23 2012
Mark in Idaho- Last Online: Apr 01 2011
sherisaid- Last Online: Aug 23 2012
First, I did not choose "teabaggers". They did. They've caught on and changed the language, but I still find that particular clueless gaffe amusing. And second, that isn't exactly what teabagging means, but it must be doubly insulting to the notoriously anti-gay "tea party participants". Which just makes it that much funnier.
As to my mental capacity, I joined Mensa when I was 24. My membership has lapsed, but I am still registered. I assume you know what that means. I've take a number of IQ tests, and each is scored differently. I never took an SAT or other typical college entrance exam, although I did go to college.
I piss you off because I am right and you know it. Thirty years of paying a few dollars a week for social security, even invested wisely, would not have offered you as much as you have collected. If you dispute that, run the numbers. Don't just spout off, expecting me to be intimidated. I'm not.
You asked "where are your supporting facts about Republicans being devoid of factual information?" They are right here in this thread. Every time I have posted links to factual information, right-wingers of all stripe have responded with insults and name-calling. I'll invite you to read back and see. Don't forget to check your own posts. Then go out on the web to liberal websites and twitter and see who's really flinging the poo.
I can assure you that I assiduously check facts, research topics and make informed decisions. I believe no politician without documentation.
"But then, am I just throwing pearls before swine? One can't teach those who refuse to learn. " --golly. I feel the same way. I post facts and links to information and all I get back are insults.
First, I did not choose "teabaggers". They did. They've caught on and changed the language, but I still find that particular clueless gaffe amusing. And second, that isn't exactly what teabagging means, but it must be doubly insulting to the notoriously anti-gay "tea party participants". Which just makes it that much funnier.
As to my mental capacity, I took the required battery of tests to join Mensa when I was 24. I expect you know what that means. My membership has lapsed, but I am still registered. I've take a number of IQ tests, and each is scored differently. I never took an ACT, SAT or other typical college entrance exam, although you are correct, I did go to college.
Here are a few other things you may have forgotten about me: I am not now on public assistance of any kind and never have been. No one in my family is on any form of government assistance other than social security for mom and dad. My household income exceeds $100k. I am a freelance writer and, as such, spend my days researching and fact-checking. I'm really very good at my job.
I piss you off because I am right and you know it. Thirty years of paying a few dollars a week for social security, even invested wisely, would not have offered you as much as you have collected. If you dispute that, run the numbers. Don't just spout off, expecting me to be intimidated. I'm not. As I recall, you had a catastrophic brain injury that leaves you unable to concentrate for long periods of time. I imagine your initial and ongoing care are QUITE expensive.
You asked "where are your supporting facts about Republicans being devoid of factual information?" They are right here in this thread. Every time I have posted links to factual information, right-wingers of all stripe have responded with insults and name-calling. I'll invite you to read back and see. Don't forget to check your own posts. Then go out on the web to liberal websites and twitter and see who's really flinging the poo.
I can assure you that I assiduously check facts, research topics and make informed decisions. I believe no politician without documentation.
About granny living in a home, that's a great example of oversimplifying a problem. My daughter's best friend just lost support for her part-time care. She just turned 22 and is a quadriplegic due to an auto accident. Do you think a home is appropriate for her? I've been in those places, and the answer is no. Although I won't be warehousing my mom in one either.
"But then, am I just throwing pearls before swine? One can't teach those who refuse to learn. " --golly. I feel the same way. I post facts and links to information and all I get back are insults.
Apologies for the double - and maybe triple - reply. The website froze and refused to respond, so I backtracked and reposted with a little expansion. Now I can't page back to find out if it posted more than the 2 I can see. Website issue - not a purposeful multi-post.
So, Sheri,
If you household makes good money, why do you need an employer to be forced to cover your lazy butt son? Why couldn't he get some insurance on his own or ask mom and dad to help him get some.The idea that children can stay on their parent's insurance til 25 is for the parents security. Most 20 somethings do not think insurance is a worthwhile expense. Mom and dad can't convince them to get insurance and are unwilling to pay for it out of their own pockets so they want the employer to pay for it.
I am surprised your household makes so much money. You wine like you are starving for food and going to die if somebody does not pay your health care bills.
There are plenty of good assisted living facilities, not nursing homes, that take excellent care of their residents. Those that think of dumping granny do it in the bad ones.
Idaho has one of the highest ratios of retired people outside of Florida. There are many different tiers of homes from assisted living to memory care to full bed ridden nursing care. The states that do not police the homes may have some bad homes, but it is a state issue, not a federal one.
If you are so smart and good at getting accurate information, why did you download the O care files onto an old computer. You make it sound like the size of your hard drive limits your download speed. Smart people can learn new technologies. I guess you are no longer in that group. Or were you just a test smart person but not a figure it out and do it smart person. There is an old saying, Those that can do, those that can't teach. The teaching end of the equation includes writing about the subject.
I have followed this thread since the beginning. You and your cohorts have not added anything to the discussion that is factual that justifies ignoring the Constitution and mandating O care on the American people.
btw, Over the past year, I have met many people who are struggling with the Canadian health care system. The long waits and lack of skilled help is epidemic. Suffer a traumatic brain injury in Canada and try to get reasonable health care. If you can walk and talk and eat, you are just about on your own. No access to follow-up care or treatment. Many seek care south of the border if they can afford it.
The lifestyle limitations on health care with O care is meaningless. There is no restriction on sexual behaviors or perversions. No restrictions on over-eating. It is even considered a medical disorder for some. The starting cost of health care for someone with HIV/AIDS is $250,000. That is more than the last 3 years cost to care for our elderly with Medicare.
You again show your ignorance when you deny my ability to provide for myself if I could opt out of FICA. I pay 15.4% of my income. More than I am allowed to stick in a retirement plan. If I could put that 15% plus the allowable IRA funds into long term investments, I would be sitting pretty right now.
But then, the Democrats mandated that Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac loosen the lending requirements so anybody and their lazy butt brother could buy a house thus causing an unrealistic rise in home values. Now that those unworthy people have lost their homes and crashed the housing market, those of us left have lost all of our equity. The housing crash cost me over $500,000 in lost equity, much of it earned prior to 2000. And, I was not over leveraged like many were.
All of the boom-bust cycles in the past 50 years have been caused by government action. Republican have been in charge of Congress for only 6 of those 50 years. Who has screwed up this country? Democrats.
When Democrats had a super majority recently, they locked out the Republicans. Still, they could not get anything worthwhile done.
Regarding tea baggers. Tea Party members used the term Tea Bag as a definition for sending tea bags to the spenders in Congress. To Tea Bag a Congressman was to send them a Tea Bag. Some may have used the term to describe themselves but not the main stream Tea Party movement.
My definition of tea bagging IS correct but incomplete. It also means to drag the scrotum across the face of a sleeping sexual partner. Both descriptions pertain to the homosexual community.
So, drop the vulgarity. Or should I start using the N word to define the white n...rs sucking on the taxpayers?
No, such language is not acceptable in an educated society. I will not claim this is a civil society, you have proven that it is not.
Wow, Mark. Thanks for being the perfect example of my point. I post a link to the health care bill and you made a very personal attack on everything you could pick out of my post.
For example, you said my son is lazy and made several other incorrect assumptions, but you know nothing about him except that he's 20, back on my insurance, and recently recovered from pneumonia. Then you went on to say that I whine.
You offered as a fact that you pay 15.4% of your income. Here are some facts about FICA (please note the breakdown, because it's important):
The FICA tax rate will hold steady at 7.65% for 2010. (The Social Security portion of the FICA rate is 6.2%; the Medicare portion is 1.45%.)
If you're self-employed, you must cover both the employee and the employer share of FICA. But you can deduct half of this self-employment tax as a business expense. I believe that makes the Medicare portion of your income, which is what we're discussing, 2.9% of your gross income. However, didn't you say that you are unable to work following your injury? So what income are your referring to? You used present tense "You again show your ignorance when you deny my ability to provide for myself if I could opt out of FICA," so I can only assume current income. A guy as smart as you claim to be wouldn't make such a mistake.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson18/index4.htm
http://www.money-zine.com/Financial-Planning/Tax-Shelter/FICA-Tax/
http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/list/c/7%2C66
You can cry boom-bust cycles and other conservative buzzwords all you want, but the truth is that history shows that Republicans take your money and government just gets bigger. They just spend it in different places. Democrats take your money and spend it on things I care about, like the environment, education and health care.Your post was intimately revealing. Threatening to use the N word and bashing gays...really? Go ahead, if you think it will help your cause. At least it's honest. I encourage you to say what you really feel and stop hiding behind political correctness. Let's hear your real agenda.
About teabagging, close, but still not quite there. The original meaning of teabagging had nothing to do with gays. It is a sophomoric prank practiced by straight boys/young adults. Along the lines of pantsing, swirlies, wedgies, frathouse paddling, etc. No need to get all homophobic about it. Not that these other common practices aren't disturbingly homo-erotic.
Now. Here are the personal attacks and insults in your post:
1. You wine like you are starving for food and going to die if somebody does not pay your health care bills. (BTW, it's spelled whine. Wine is a drink.)
2. Smart people can learn new technologies. I guess you are no longer in that group. Or were you just a test smart person but not a figure it out and do it smart person. (answer: You must have missed the part where I said I have a brand-spanking new laptop. To be entirely factual, there are 3 new laptops and one newer computer in my house, but this one has a bunch of programs that I like to use and it's located in my office. I find that I am more productive at my desk and I'm comfortable using this computer, even if I have to close a few windows to download a 2k page document. In seconds.)
3. You and your cohorts have not added anything to the discussion that is factual (not worth answering)
4. You again show your ignorance when you deny my ability to provide for myself if I could opt out of FICA.
5. I will not claim this is a civil society, you have proven that it is not.
answer: really? I proved that by using a term that was chosen by the tea party, incorporated into their literature and signage, and only later revoked when liberals laughed at it? Frankly, I think it was a deliberate choice of word, meant to insult and humiliate President Obama. It just backfired.
I notice you didn't answer about my daughter's 20 year old disabled friend. I didn't really expect you to.
Mark's work would be able to pay Mark the matching portion of the Social Security and Medicare tax if the government did not mandate the employer pay Uncle Sam the employment tax before paying Mark. That is like having union dues taken out of ones paycheck in Wisconsin. It would give Mark that much extra to spend if he did not have it taken away. He really earns more than his quoted pay by the matching tax amount. The question is not whether we need a health care program or is it a good thing - it is what can we afford and sustain as a country that will provide a healthy population. O care is a trick. It says one thing and when employed with have serious. negative intentional side effects. One consequence is that it too expensive and that is proven by the 100's of exceptions O has granted favored unions and companies.
There are too many unanswered questions about the disabled friend. Where is her family? Did she get an insurance settlement? Was she at fault so no insurance settlement? Why is the government responsible to pay for her care?
I know people living in group homes because they are quad-like due to brain injuries. They live in joy stick chairs and need aids. Most have family to pick up the pieces.
btw, My brain injury causes my finger to mistype. It gets letters out of order, etc. I use spell check to watch for errors but it does not catch errors that fit as properly spelled words. (whine vs wine). My own proofing is just as error prone due to visual processing dysfunctions. The web site has some programming that prevents my software from performing all of the editing feature I use elsewhere. For example, it shows the red squiggly for spelling errors but does not allow the spell correction box to show correctly spelled words. So, back off on the critique of my dysfunctions due to my brain injury. I do quite well considering the level of diagnosed brain dysfunction.
Every government program ends up costing or spending 2 to 3 times the original budget. They are self perpetuating. Much of their budget is spent justifying a bigger budget next year. The Department of Education spends a large fortune to get no benefit. In fact, most federal ed programs cost the states more than the feds contribute. So many regulations and bureaucratic drains that prevent the fed money from benefiting the students.
The EPA is a big waste of money with its onerous impact statements required before any major projects can get done. The wasteful 'research' needed just to do a fire fuels thinning project in the National Forest behind my home is a prime example.
Our state is trying to start a Traumatic Brain Injury Trust fund to help those with acquired brain injury. The state paid advocate wants a government run entity but has wasted 6 years of federal grants 'researching' and delaying the legislative effort to pass a bill. More wasted bureaucracy that delays or redirects aid that could benefit those living with injuries. More evidence that government is not the solution. Government is the problem.
Even though I am permanently disabled, I still needed to try to generate some income to augment the paltry SSDI check until my wife found good work. Now that she has a good full time job, I don't have her available to assist me in my endeavors anymore. SSDI allows me to receive up to $1,000 per month to supplement my disability check. SS Administration encourages SSDI recipients to try to work. But what would you know. You do exhaustive research and know all of the facts. Yeh right.
Mark, I am actually very sympathetic to your condition and as a middle class taxpayer, I do not begrudge the care and support you require and deserve. My only point is that I'm curious why you're so against it. While you're collecting it.
The girl's name is Amanda Perla. She was just shy of her 18th birthday when a car that she was a passenger in was involved in an accident. Her medical bills totaled more than a million bucks. She is a child of a single mother. Her mother married shortly before the accident and divorced shortly after it because the pressure was too much for newdad. She can move her arms, but has very limited use of her fingers and no control of her bowels. Here are a few news stories and a ink to the business her family opened, Step it up Recovery:
http://stepituprecovery.org/
http://www.orlandomedicalnews.com/stepping-it-up-in-a-big-way-cms-926
http://www.spinalcordinjuryzone.com/news/9106/quadriplegics-mom-opens-facility-for-controversial-spinal-therapy
She got a settlement and insurance, and most of the cost of her medical bills are covered. But she will need someone to help her for the rest of her life, and there's not enough money for that. She can do very little without help. Life in some sort of home would kill her faster than her injury will. I'll be honest, I don't know the details of her financial arrangements, I don't pry. I know she's lost funding for her daily help because she mentioned it recently and the money she has won't last a lifetime.
It is too bad you think life in a home will kill her. A group home with assistants can be a great way of life for someone who is wheel chair bound. The gal I know lives in a group home. They share assistants. The get out frequently on individual trips, like to the bank and to TBI support group, etc. Andrea is a kick in the pants. She can not hold her head up and talks with difficulty but is a wonderful person. She has been this way for over 4 years. She is an inspiration to others.
The reason I am against O Care is because I have had many different health plans over the past 50+ years. The problems are not the insurance companies. The problem is the government mandating how they offer coverage. When Calif outlawed life style qualifications, premiums went up. The only laws I would like to see is a mandatory co-pay minimum, no health plans paid by the employer, no health plan deduction, and full payment of health plan premiums on paycheck statements. When the health care consumer starts to see the bite health plans take out of a paycheck, they will start to be better consumers and demand better health care for THEIR dollar.
Those of us who have always paid their own health plan premiums have understand the bang for the buck concept of health care. Until I had to go on SSDI disability, I paid for what I wanted and got what I paid for.
btw, The employers share of FICA was not a deduction until the 1990's. Before that, it was paid with after tax dollars. Health plan premiums for the self employed were not deductible until the 1990's also. We got hit with a double whammy of taxes.
Health care paid for and/or provided by the employer was instituted as a way to overcome the wage freeze instituted by the federal government during WW II. The hidden cost of health care has caused it to be considered an entitlement.
Glen Beck on faux news brags about how he provides the finest health plan he can find for his employees. That is obscene in my opinion. He is a hypocrite.
If health care plans were portable between employers, employers would have to compete for their employees with wages and working conditions. Today, many stay in lousy jobs because they can't risk losing their health plan. COBRA cost two to three times what the employer plans cost. This is outright wrong. Portable health plans would end this obscene system.
We have become a country of wusses. We want everything done for us. When we take personal responsibility for ourselves, we get things done. Look at the Lumby Indian Tribe. They do not get any government hand-outs. They are very successful without casinos or government largess. They are a proud people and rightly so. LBJ ruined this country with his welfare state. He pushed the blacks into the ghetto with welfare for unwed mothers. He was a racist. many Democrats are closet racists. They think the minorities are too dumb to succeed and provide for themselves.
Read some of Star Parker, Herman Cain, Larry Elder, and others. They see the potential of self responsibility.
You may be surprised to hear this, but I understand what you're saying. I think welfare is has resulted in generations of people who don't know anything else. However, the underlying problem IS racism, and it still exists. Blacks and minorities are not on a level playing field and never have been. Unfortunately for all Americans, racism and sexism are alive and well in corporate America. Corporations are never going to do the right thing. Now you're going to jump to the conclusion that I believe in lowering standards to achieve minority hiring quotas. wrong. It's so much more more complicated than that. We created this problem, but it predates welfare and LBJ. It's rooted in the aftermath of the Civil War, when slaves were freed but not accepted or welcome. Poor education, poor nutrition, poor jobs, demonization, and a hostile environment went on for decades...and then came welfare.
Cutting off welfare isn't the answer. There are too many people out of work already. Here in Florida, the unemployment rate is 11.5%, and that does not account for people who are underemployed, who have been out of work so long that they have fallen off the books. Ending welfare would put unemployable people on the streets with only a few options: drug dealing, robbery, and prostitution. We already have enough of that here, thanks. It would put children at risk, and while child welfare could remove those children from their homes, cost cutting measures traditionally slash the budgets for social workers and foster care as well. So then what? Bring back orphanages? I'll admit, it was a cost-effective solution.
So we're left with a gigantic, complicated problem created over centuries of systemic devaluation of an segment of our society and impounded by an unfortunate logic: When the choice is to accept a demeaning, minimum wage job that does not provide enough income to support a single person, much less a family, or take in the same amount of money by claiming welfare, people without hope of advancement choose welfare. Because of skin color, only the best and brightest have hope.
Blacks and minorities would have been better off if, instead of welfare, an effective betterment program was created. Equal schools plus college and trade school options. Minority owned business with community and government support. Subsidized daycare. LBJ knew that we had created a problem, he saw it even then, and accepted responsibility. He just chose a way to deal with it that created a bigger problem. Hindsight is 20-20. It's a mistake to assume he was a racist.
About putting young disabled people in homes, we are often wheel to wheel here. Amanda and the friends she's met in rehab and at the family business spend a lot of time here, so it's not uncommon for 4 or 5 wheelchairs to by packed in my living room or out on the porch. They worry about a lot of things and they talk about everything. The idea of living in a facility fills them with dread and loathing. Each of them has spent time in one of those "fun" facilities. Each of them hated it. If they were old, it might be a different story. You talked about private facilities over state-run homes. Sure. If you happen to have that kind of money. We don't. Just over 100k doesn't go as far as you might think down here in FL. Shame we don't have this income in some rural area. But we don't. We make ends meet, but it would take another 20k to be really comfortable. (I know this because we've been there. The economy hit us, too)
