[QUOTE=Fraqrat;101397]Whoa easy there citizen some of those comments could be misunderstood as being subversive![/QUOTE]
What, me worry? Efffem!
The Chinese are just swapping the paper you gave them for your assets.
You owe them, they just collect slowly so as not upset the markets
Personally I thought they would just announce the Yuan is gold backed at such and such rate to the USD. Good news is the manufacturing would come back to the US, bad news is you would be doing it for Chinese wages.
When the busiest/largest private jet airport in the world along with US Ferrari headquarters etc etc is in Washington where they make nothing you can see the end is nearâŚ
With the way our culture is headed, Iâd rather be ran by the Chinese than Obamaâs Sheeple! See how many entitlements the Chinese are gonna be willing to dole out to non-contributors!
You do know that China has universal health care being a Commie country and all, right?
[QUOTE=catherder;101508]You do know that China has universal health care being a Commie country and all, right?[/QUOTE]
Cuba does doesnât it?
[QUOTE=powerabout;101574]Cuba does doesnât it?[/QUOTE]
We have had socialized medicine in the US for a very long time. What do you think Medicaid and Medicare are? Welfare? Until Reagan did away with it in the 1980âs there was free health care for mariners at the Marine Hospitals. Virtually all local, state, and federal government employees and retires get healthcare (yes, some have to pay quite a lot for it), Veterans are supposed to get free healthcare, but the government does a damn poor job of providing it. If it were all added up, I think it would turn out that at least 50% of the people in the US get free healthcare, and that another 30% is subsidized in someway (typically through employees being able to pay for it with pre-tax income).
So who does not get free healthcare â just you and me.
The free market works better in some cases then others. Traditionally utilities were regulated for obvious reasons. In the case of health care sick people donât have a good negotiating position particularly if they are confined to a hospital bed.
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;101594]The free market works better in some cases then others. Traditionally utilities were regulated for obvious reasons. In the case of health care sick people donât have a good negotiating position particularly if they are confined to a hospital bed.[/QUOTE]
The free market works great when new products are created for consumption but not well at all when it comes to providing services at low cost.
After many years of seeing public services turned over to private services I now get very nervous when THAT bright idea comes up. I remember when the military could feed its own troops without spending billions of dollars with KBR and Halliburton in cost over runs and theft which no one was ever prosecuted for. I remember when there were non profit hospitals but now they have been bought by corporations that pay their executives millions. The VA when properly funded provides excellent health care at a very low cost. Sadly the VA is not properly funded in many cases, whose fault is that and why would they do such a thing? The entire idea that a private enterprise that has to make a profit to reward its executives and stockholders can do anything better than a well run and managed nonprofit is counter-intuitive. But as long as oligarchs run the country the trend will continue.
Maj. General Smedley Butler USMC, a Medal of Honor recipient figured this all out over 70 years ago when he gave his speech,âwar is a racketâ. Look it up.
The US Government has given an oligarchy to a handful to doctors, hospitals, drugs companies, and insurance companies. They ihave a license to steal.
Most other countries have some form of free national health care that works pretty well for most people. They also have private clinics and extra private insurance that can be bought at reasonable cost. We have the worlds most expensive healthcare,but the US ranks about 35 th in quality of care. Anything would be improvement.
However, I suspect that Obamacare will only make it worse.
[QUOTE=tengineer;101601]The free market works great when new products are created for consumption but not well at all when it comes to providing services at low cost.
After many years of seeing public services turned over to private services I now get very nervous when THAT bright idea comes up. I remember when the military could feed its own troops without spending billions of dollars with KBR and Halliburton in cost over runs and theft which no one was ever prosecuted for. I remember when there were non profit hospitals but now they have been bought by corporations that pay their executives millions. The VA when properly funded provides excellent health care at a very low cost. Sadly the VA is not properly funded in many cases, whose fault is that and why would they do such a thing? The entire idea that a private enterprise that has to make a profit to reward its executives and stockholders can do anything better than a well run and managed nonprofit is counter-intuitive. But as long as oligarchs run the country the trend will continue.
Maj. General Smedley Butler USMC, a Medal of Honor recipient figured this all out over 70 years ago when he gave his speech,âwar is a racketâ. Look it up.[/QUOTE]
Uttter. Nonsense.
Its easy to pick out who had their education paid for by the government; nearly all of you trumpet the same bull.
Using the recklessness of Defense and NASA contractors as an [I]example[/I] of the free market is hysterical! Actually, its just plain stupid. There was/is little or no competition except between Boeing/Lockheed/Raytheon for the contracts; which is nearly entirely the governments fault due to its inherent traits of inefficiency and non-innovation. When the âtop partyâ involved in transactions and markets is government, that is when nearly all monopolies get their start. Its called cronyism. Some good news is that SpaceX is breaking the NASA tri-nolopy.
Has it ever appeared to you that maybe, just maybe, the reason for the increase in cost for military supplies is largely due to materials/inflation/transportation?
âThe VA when properly funded provides excellent health care at a very low cost.â
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA gasp HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA
I have never, ever heard that the VA has provided âexcellent careâ! âOK careâ? Maybe, but certainly not âexcellentâ. I bet you are also the same kind of person that says âAmerican Public Education is GREATâ. Its the same train of thought. With you types that suck on the socialist bâb, the supposed âanswerâ to everything is âthereâs not enough funding!â, when in fact, thereâs too much. It may be hard to grasp, but whats broken is the modelâŚthe idea that government should be in healthcare as the practitioner. Any institution thatâs, as you vaguely stated, âproperly fundedâ typically provides a better product than before. What now comes into play is the cost:benefit analogy. Would it be smarter to spend 12k to send a kid to mostly pathetic Public School or give that same kid a 12k voucher to go to a school that fits his/herâs academic or career goals? The same needs to be applied to the VA. Letâs assume that you are right in saying that the VA once performed âexcellent careâ (hahahahaha), it can easily and correctly be said that better care from more experienced and better doctors could be found elsewhere. Give that Veteran choiceâŚand he/she will likely want to chose their own doctor. Clinic or Private Practice? Supposed ânon profitâ clinic or âfor-profitâ private practice. The VA is essentially the MSC in the medical world, sorry to break that to you.
Now, pardon me for my rant on healthcare.
I share the belief that a crew of mostly Americans should be doing the work when we are talking about domestic oil production. A policy similar to that of Norwayâs would be a good start. A crew of 60% to 75% American would be good.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;101607]The US Government has given an oligarchy to a handful to doctors, hospitals, drugs companies, and insurance companies. They ihave a license to steal.[/QUOTE]
We already have a very regulated, controlled, and subsidized Medical field. To say that the same government should be given complete control of something that is already proved it canât handle is lunacy. So no, not âanythingâ would be an improvement. There is little or no medical innovation in those countries in which the government has control over. It comes from the U.S, where its at least relatively free market in terms of medical products and pharmaceuticals, just not in delivery. We have a putrid mixed system.
Using the recklessness of Defense and NASA contractors as an example of the free market is hysterical!
Whatâs being said is that this is NOT the free market. People and organizations use their wealth and influence to escape free market forces. Areas where public and private interact is fertile ground for scams. Sophisticated operators try to shift risks to the public while keeping the gains.
You might want to ratchet down the ad hominem arguments a notch.
[QUOTE=SouthernBornOhioBurned;101612]The VA is essentially the MSC in the medical world, sorry to break that to you.[/QUOTE]
Bullshit, the VA provides excellent care to the Vets. Iâm one. Donât let my words upset your little brain, DoDa Boy.
Now, fade away.
[QUOTE=Sweat-n-Grease;101615]Bullshit, the VA provides excellent care to the Vets. Iâm one. Donât let my words upset your little brain, DoDa Boy.
Now, fade away.[/QUOTE]
?
Thereâs a reason I put the âsorry to break that to youâ at the end. It does not provide the care that a voucher program would. The MSC does its jobâŚbut does it do it as good as it should/could?
Funny how its become that the recipients of government services have become the sole âexpertsâ on the subjectâŚ
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;101614]Whatâs being said is that this is NOT the free market. People and organizations use their wealth and influence to escape free market forces. Areas where public and private interact is fertile ground for scams. Sophisticated operators try to shift risks to the public while keeping the gainsâŚ[/QUOTE]
True. The gist of his post however was that the free market cant provide services at a âlow costâ, which is not true. What is a true âlow costâ when its not the market (Doctors, Nurses, Hospitals, etc.) deciding what the services cost? Anything other than that is only a subsidy or control, which always hurts somebody. What if the Government came in tomorrow and declared that all American Seamen cannot make more than 100k since it âdrives upâ costs?
We need to open more medical schools so that there are a lot more doctors, and doctors have to compete for business in a free market, rather than limiting entry and charging ridiculous prices.
Hey, maybe KP could be converted into a medical school!
Can we get back to the manipulative Chinese and how U.S. deep-sea jobs are disappearing by the day?
[QUOTE=SouthernBornOhioBurned;101616]Thereâs a reason I put the âsorry to break that to youâ at the end. It does not provide the care that a voucher program would.[/QUOTE]
So, you are the expert, eh!
[QUOTE=SouthernBornOhioBurned;101616]Funny how its become that the recipients of government services have become the sole âexpertsâ on the subjectâŚ[/QUOTE]
As for me, Iâm not a recipient, I am one who helps the Vets in any way I can. Yes, I am an Honorably Discharged Vet. I see first hand what excellent care they receive and I fully believe the voucher system will be totally ginned in favor of more money in the hands of greedy unscrupulous doctors at the expense of the Vets (perhaps you may have heard, there are such scumbag doctors).
I took at look at your nothing of a profile. Whatâs the matter, cat got your southern tongue? It seems you are indeed a troll. Trolls do not go away willingly, they must be ignored.
[QUOTE=Sweat-n-Grease;101624]So, you are the expert, eh!
As for me, Iâm not a recipient, I am one who helps the Vets in any way I can. Yes, I am an Honorably Discharged Vet. I see first hand what excellent care they receive and I fully believe the voucher system will be totally ginned in favor of more money in the hands of greedy unscrupulous doctors at the expense of the Vets (perhaps you may have heard, there are such scumbag doctors).[/QUOTE]
I am in favor of giving veterans a choice. If the VA is as great as you say it is, then the VA wont lose patients. I believe the reason why there isnât a voucher system is due to the fact the VA knows it will lose the battle of choice to better health care providers. It really is as simple as that.
[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;101621]Can we get back to the manipulative Chinese and how U.S. deep-sea jobs are disappearing by the day?[/QUOTE]
The Chinese are coming because you have free health care??
Funnily enough the US spends more per person than the UK yet the UK does actually have free healthcare, not that you would ever want to use it though
And it must waste 70% of its income