My town has a three-hour local morning news and talk radio program.  This morning, they did a live phone interview with our state (PA) governor, Ed Rendell.  I have requested an audio file of the interview, and it should be ready for me to pickup tomorrow.

I will transcribe Rendell's comments that pertain to this thread verbatim as soon as I get the CD, but in the mean time, I can tell you that the arrogance and sense of pre ordination coming from BitchHitlary is permeating the Dems in leadership offices.  And it is spreading like aerosolized Ebola on steroids.  And it's a million times more harmful to us.

While I'm waiting for the audio of the interview, I can tell you that Rendell said the following [paraphrased]:

"[PA State Government-provided] health care IS coming." "The people want it; businesses want it." "And the Republicans just might as well get over it and accept that it is going to happen." (that last sentence in particular is paraphrased but reflects the substance of what Rendell was saying)

The gub'ner basically said that PA is going to provide heath care to everyone in the state, and f-you if you don't like it.

I'll post a verbatim transcription as soon as I get the CD.

Folks, this is endemic of LibDems in leadership positions in American government.  They're barely even looking at the 2008 elections in terms of win/lose.  It's like they've already taken for granted that it's a lock, and they're implementing their Socialist agenda Full Speed A-fucking-head right now.

Hard to blame them, really, SEEING AS HOW THAT LOUSY FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT SELLOUT MOTHER-FUCKER "DUBYA", AKA OUR "EUNICH-IN-CHIEF," IS TOO BUSY TRAINING AND BREIFING HITLARY, ET AL, ON GETTING READY FOR HER ASCENT INTO HER THIGHNESS's THRONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Hell, if I were Bitchlary and the rest of the Dems, and I saw Dubya's worthless caving-in dickless 'already concede the '08 election' bullshit, I'd be picking out new dishware and drapes patterns for my term in the White House, too.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Aw Fuck, is the whole left side of my face SUPPOSED to suddenly feel all slack and numb like this?

***************************************************

(I just want to preface this by saying that transcribing audio by playing/pausing/typing from a CD to a word processor SUCKS ASS)

This is the radio interview with PA Gov. Ed Rendell, from 10/10/07.

[bullshit platitudes and intros...]


...In the last seven years, premiums in Pennsylvania have gone up seventy-five percent while inflation and wages have gone up around fifteen percent and that can't go on, so we've got to contain costs.  We've got to reign-in the insurance companies. We've gotta have better oversight. If you buy car insurance, your company can ask for a rate increase, but they have to get the insurance commissioner's approval. That's not the same for increases in health care and health insurance. We want to ask the legislature to give the insurance commissioner that power to set rates and to oversee what the HMOs charge us. And then, thirdly, in the centerpiece of this, is we have a plan will cover all of the remaining - close to a million adults in Pennsylvania who don't have health care.

Q: And obviously the next question would be how're you paying for this?

Well, it's interesting. You can pay for it by a variety of sources. First of all, what we do is we develop, and we've been talking to the small businesses all over the state. Small businesses are really the heart of the uninsured. About seventy-seven percent of the uninsured in Pennsylvania work, and most of them work for businesses with fifty or less employees.  And we've surveyed those folks for almost two years and said, "Would you offer insurance if you could have an affordable product?" And they said yes. So we offer them a subsidized product that will cost them a hundred and thirty dollars a month, per employee. The employee will pay about 10 to 70 dollars - somewhere in that range, depending on family income. And that pays roughly a quarter of the overall expense. Then the Federal government - we can draw Federal money, ah, for people that we insure who make less than two hundred and fifty percent of poverty. That'll be about thirty-three percent of the total.  Um, we charge firms who don't offer health insurance a - a payroll tax of three percent. Not very much, and we think most firms are going to offer this good product. That's about six, er five or six percent, and then the state pays about thirty-seven percent, first by redirecting all of the existing money we use for health care now. Tobacco fund money, money we have in the settlement with the Blues [Blue Cross and Blue Shield], that's about eighty million dollars a year. And then we raise two taxes. The cigarette tax we raise a dime - still keeps us much lower than New York and New Jersey. And, then, uh, we tax smokeless tobacco for the first time. I don't know if either of you guys, Kevin or Pat, know, but we're the only state in the union that doesn't tax smokeless tobacco and cigars. Kentucky does. Virginia does. North Carolina does. Pennsylvania doesn't. And I've never been able to find out why? So we're gonna ask eh, eh, them to be taxed ah, eh, on a certain level, to join the cigarette tax, and those produce about fifty million dollars a year, annually. And with all of those different sources we can pay for this and it - it's affordable - and over the course of the next five years, we think we can do as we did for children last year, where we put a plan in place to cover all of our children - we can cover all of uh the adult population that doesn't have health care.

Q: As you very well know, central Pennsylvania - Centre County is a very conservative area, and a lot of people will say, Aw, he's talking about socialized medicine." ah, "Let the private sector sort things out and come up with a solution." And you know that the insurance companies are going to fight you tooth and nail on some of these points. What future does this have, especially when you have so many Conservative lawmakers who really haven't warmed up to your proposal?

Well, first of all, it's anything but socialized medicine.  there's something in - both nationally and there's a bill in Pennsylvania called "single payer" and single payer could be said to be socialized medicine, I don't even think it is, but that's - single payer gets rid of all the insurance companies and the government runs the program. It would be like a giant Medicare program, but for everybody.  We're choosing NOT to do that; not to have a Big Government program. In fact, in our plan the state would add less than a hundred new employees to oversee this plan.  Because we go through the insurance companies.  We just make the insurance companies offer this type of product [audio is distorted for a few seconds]...take a loss because we don't subsidize it. We make them offer this product - it's a good, basic product. It has a generic prescription drug coverage. It has wellness coverage. It has a.. a.. a.. substance abuse coverage. Ah, so we think it's a very good product. And it's anything but socialized medicine or Big Government.  We keep the existing model.  

Look, health care is gonna come to this country because people are demanding it. Businesses now are demanding it. They can't compete with foreign companies that have no health care costs, when our businesses pay 15-16-17 percent of their bottom line for health care.  It's gonna come, and the Conservatives have to understand if they don't want single payer - if they don't want socialized medicine - if they want to keep the private insurance system up, then they've gotta join in and put plans like this in place.  And I think there's a growing realization of that.

Are the insurance companies going to fight us? Sure. But when we did tort reform in 2002 and 2003, everyone thought the trial lawyers were so strong a lobby that nothing could get done in Harrisburg, and we did it and we changed the fate of the medical malpractice insurance crisis dramatically. We turned it around 360 degrees. And we can do the same here.

Q: Governor, they're talking about health care - both parties....If some massive program happens on the Federal level, how would this effect your proposal?

Well, it might.. it might.. eh.. eh.. consume our proposal and fold it in. But that's not likely to happen.  None of the Republicans are talking about anything other than health savings accounts or a few tweaks at the edges, and even the Democrats - if you take the three leading democrats, Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and Senator Edwards, they're not talking about a single payer or.. ..or vast national program. They would probably build upon states like Massachusetts and California and Vermont and Pennsylvania that are trying to do this program. And again, this isn't entirely a State program. Remember, one-third of the cost of this is paid for by the federal government. It's a combination of the Federal government, the State, the employer, and the employee getting together and paying for a very low-cost product.

Q: We're talking to Governor Ed Rendell about his health care plan. Where does this go from here?  I know that the legislature is in session this fall. Can you get something done this year?

Well, that's the question.  We already passed in the spring two of the most important cost-containment measures of this.  Uh, the rules and regulations which are gonna require hospitals to start doing something about hospital-acquired infections, which cost the system and all of the rate payers three and a half billion dollars a year in Pennsylvania. We've increased the scope of practice that nurse - certified nurse practitioners and physician's assistants can do.  And that's going to help dramatically in increasing accessibility to health care and also making it more affordable.  Nurses can do a lot of what primary care physicians can do, and they do it for about half the cost to the system. So that's a great step in the right direction.

We're hoping the legislature will pick up insurance reform, and some elements of Cover All Pennsylvanians by the end of the year, or if at the latest, by January or February of next year.  If we do that, and we get this passed, by September of next year we could begin the task of covering every Pennsylvanian with health insurance.

We're doing that for our children right now. Um, and more and more children are being covered, and by 2009 we think we can cover all of the children in Pennsylvania with health care coverage with the - by 2009, and we hope to be able to do the same thing by adults. And our date to cover everyone, or cover the vast majority of people would be, for the adult population by 2012. But the legislature has to act at least by the winter of this year - of this coming year.  

[discussion moves on to issue of making Interstate 80 a new toll road through Pennsylvania...]

***************************************************

I think the radio host nailed Rendell perfectly with the question: "If some massive program happens on the Federal level, how would this effect your proposal?"

Rendell admits "Well, it might.. it might.. eh.. eh.. consume our proposal and fold it in." Then he tries to minimize the chances of that happening with rationalizations that are absurd.

The other key thing Rendell says that proves just how easy it would be to "fold" this into a Federal socialized health care plan is when he says, "Remember, one-third of the cost of this is paid for by the federal government."

There is no way in Hell that the PA program could recoup the 1/3 of its operational funding provided by the Federal government, if the Fed were to say that PA had to either join a nationwide socialized plan or lose all Federal funds - at least not quickly/seamelssly enough to avoid a lapse in services until "emergency" monies could be raised via outrageously high tax increases.

This is the Mother of All Bait and Switches.  It is, in my opinion - without a single doubt, a premeditated scheme to create exactly the scenario I describe in the last paragraph.  Sell the people, businesses and conservative legislators of this state on a plan that promises to keep things nominally privatized, with the intent from the very begining that the Federal government will pull their 1/3 of the funding.  Rendell will be able to (lying through his fucking teeth) say, "I had no idea this would happen, and I am just as outraged as you. Unfortunately, because it would present an unacceptable interruption to our ability to provide health care services to everyone in Penns-a-vania, particularly our Children and our Elderly that are so dependent on continuity of care, I regret to say that we will have to migrate the state's insurance system into the Federal program."

My dog is black.

My cat's breath smells like catfood.

I don't know dude, Ebola is pretty bad!

The Dems are upset that everyone is leaving their socialist utopias like Taxachussets so they are going to make socialism national.

If socialized medicine single payer healthcare is so great just make it optional.  Let those of us who know better opt out.  Why do the demoncraps have to FORCE such a great gift upon us?  

 BTW this smug attitude from the dims is going to blow-up on them.

Look at it this way, the sooner The She Bitch gets elected, the sooner we'll all be fighting in the streets taking our country back.

Personally, I'm looking forward to it.

Quoted: Look at it this way, the sooner The She Bitch gets elected, the sooner we'll all be fighting in the streets taking our country back. Personally, I'm looking forward to it.

Where does that line start !!!!!!!!!!??????????? I see it coming The way Bush is trying to give it away to Mexico and Hitlary will take every thing every hard working person has ever owned and give it to the poor new Mexican Americans. It is going to be a battle for sure!  

I wonder who the military is going to follow the anti Christ or the constitution??

Quoted: <scary socialist crap snipped>

Damn, I just moved to PA... I guess "Rendell must go" would be a nice bumpersticker
Thanks for the update, silentmajority. I look forward to the transcript.

Maybe them being too sure that they will win big in '08 will lead to them being more open about their socialist goals, which may actually cost them votes? Let's hope so...

Q for those from PA: is it just Philadelphia and Pittsburgh big city liberals that elect folks like Rendell, or are there a lot of blue-collar union folks voting democrat-by-default? Is there a Republican effort going to present a viable conservative candidate for the  next gubernatorial election, or are the PA Reps RINOS like in many other NE states? Feel free to reply in the HTF.

Quoted: If socialized medicine single payer healthcare is so great just make it optional.  Let those of us who know better opt out.  Why do the demoncraps have to FORCE such a great gift upon us?    BTW this smug attitude from the dims is going to blow-up on them.

same reason they did it in canada, why would you pay for something you get nothing out of.( only talking about health care here ) if your forced into it too then its money going to you too

Quoted: Quoted: <scary socialist crap snipped> Damn, I just moved to PA... I guess "Rendell must go" would be a nice bumpersticker Thanks for the update, silentmajority. I look forward to the transcript. Maybe them being too sure that they will win big in '08 will lead to them being more open about their socialist goals, which may actually cost them votes? Let's hope so... Q for those from PA: is it just Philadelphia and Pittsburgh big city liberals that elect folks like Rendell, or are there a lot of blue-collar union folks voting democrat-by-default? Is there a Republican effort going to present a viable conservative candidate for the  next gubernatorial election, or are the PA Reps RINOS like in many other NE states? Feel free to reply in the HTF.

With some exceptions, yes, it is the Greater Philly and Pittsburgh areas that vote Dem/Lib, and the center and top half that votes GOP/Conservative.  Not at all hard to understand when you look at where almost all the people that live off entitlements are located vs. the more rural or at least non-ghetto citizenry live AND WORK for their money.  The GOP/Conservative voting area is called "The 'T'" because if you do a red/blue map of votes by precinct, you can see the 'T' color very clearly.  And we should secede from the Philly/Pittsburgh portion.

Marx.

Lenin only helped it along.

The formative principles were compiled by Marx and Engles.

And he is right, it is inevitable.

Public Schools and many private liberal schools and completely staffed and run by Marxist Socialists.

Labor Unions are primarily Marxist.

The Democrat Party is so Marxist that the few non-Marxist Dems are inept and insignificant.

Every single solitary young adult I know in Northern Virginia is either a proud and fervent Marxist or an unwitting Marxist.

Many Republicans follow Marxist philosophy.

Many in my Church are Marxist.

Many on this board are unwitting Marxists.

…don’t know what to tell. but ya… it is that bad.

Quoted: Look at it this way, the sooner The She Bitch gets elected, the sooner we'll all be fighting in the streets taking our country back. Personally, I'm looking forward to it.

You may not be too far off on that

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...
And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure." -Thomas Jefferson

all talk and no walk. you wont do a thing. just sit there and take it.

Quoted: Hard to blame them, really, SEEING AS HOW THAT LOUSY FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT SELLOUT MOTHER-FUCKER "DUBYA", AKA OUR "EUNICH-IN-CHIEF," IS TOO BUSY TRAINING AND BREIFING HITLARY, ET AL, ON GETTING READY FOR HER ASCENT INTO HER THIGHNESS's THRONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hell, if I were Bitchlary and the rest of the Dems, and I saw Dubya's worthless caving-in dickless 'already concede the '08 election' bullshit, I'd be picking out new dishware and drapes patterns for my term in the White House, too. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aw Fuck, is the whole left side of my face SUPPOSED to suddenly feel all slack and numb like this?

Um, relax.

The only reason President Bush is advising Hillary and Obama on the matters of war is that, IN THE EVENT THAT A DEM WINS THE ELECTION, he doesn't want to hand over the war to someone who hasn't a single damn idea what's really going on at the President's level.

It shows that he actually cares about the country and our troops overseas.  He wants to see things handled competently after he's out of office.

You can guarantee that the front-running Republican candidates are getting the same treatment.

In case you haven't noticed, since Hillary and Obama started meeting with President Bush, they have totally flip flopped on the "I'll pull the troops out immediately!" rhetoric.  They are now being more realistic about it because they have a general idea of what the hell is going on.

Quoted: "[PA State Government-provided] health care IS coming." "The people want it; businesses want it." "And the Republicans just might as well get over it and accept that it is going to happen." <snip> Folks, this is endemic of LibDems in leadership positions in American government.  They're barely even looking at the 2008 elections in terms of win/lose.  It's like they've already taken for granted that it's a lock, and they're implementing their Socialist agenda Full Speed A-fucking-head right now.

There are many advantages to universal health care.

A) GM/Ford/Crystler will be able to compete because HC is no longer eating them alive.
B) people that earn $24,000/year will have health care and be able to house and clothe their families.
C) if/when you need an emergency room it will not be filled with indigents that wait until shit happens before going to the doctor.
D) the people really want something done about this everlasting situation, and doing it peicemeal is just making them mad
E) businesses really do want something to happen because they are constantly struggling to afford HC for their employees.

The only real people who loose with universal HC is the insurance companies.

This is not comming from liberals, it is comming from people everywhere who do not make enough money to house+clothe+feed all of their family members AND buy HC. At last count we are talking about 15% of the families in this country. If that 15% starts to vote, every political party in this country will be slopping at their trough.

Quoted: Quoted: "[PA State Government-provided] health care IS coming." "The people want it; businesses want it." "And the Republicans just might as well get over it and accept that it is going to happen." <snip> Folks, this is endemic of LibDems in leadership positions in American government.  They're barely even looking at the 2008 elections in terms of win/lose.  It's like they've already taken for granted that it's a lock, and they're implementing their Socialist agenda Full Speed A-fucking-head right now. There are many advantages to universal health care. A) GM/Ford/Crystler will be able to compete because HC is no longer eating them alive. GM/Ford/Crystle made some bad choices by guaranteeing to insure their workforce forever.  I had nothing to do with that decision.  Yet under socialized medicine I WILL PAY FOR IT.  Fuck that. B) people that earn $24,000/year will have health care and be able to house and clothe their families. People who make $24k and have a family should get off their asses and get a better job or learn to deal with poverty.  I had nothing to do with that decision.  Yet under socialized medicine I WILL PAY FOR IT.  Fuck that. C) if/when you need an emergency room it will not be filled with indigents that wait until shit happens before going to the doctor. Yeah they won't be clogging the ER they will get a Dr. appt.  And under socialized medicine I WILL PAY FOR IT.  Fuck that. D) the people really want something done about this everlasting situation, and doing it peicemeal is just making them mad I want 'poor' people to get a better job not build a better hammock with MY FUCKING MONEY.   E) businesses really do want something to happen because they are constantly struggling to afford HC for their employees. Let the free market fix the problem.  That solution is infinatly better than the govt solution. The only real people who loose with universal HC is the insurance companies. This is not comming from liberals, it is comming from people everywhere who do not make enough money to house+clothe+feed all of their family members AND buy HC. At last count we are talking about 15% of the families in this country. If that 15% starts to vote, every political party in this country will be slopping at their trough.

 The leftists are making it too easy to remain 'poor' in the USA by taxing the ever loving fuck out of productive people and giving that $ to the 'poor'.  There should be consequences to remaining 'poor' in the USA.  If you socialists demionish the consequences then more people will CHOOSE 'poverty'.  FUCK THAT not on my dime.  

America will be what America wants to be!!!!!

You and I will NOT CHANGE THAT!

It doesn't matter what we think, what we know to be true, or what our Fathers and Grandfathers knew.........it doesn't matter!

Keep your guns ready!..........Keep your family prepared!

Quoted: The only real people who loose with universal HC is the insurance companies.

As well as anyone who gets sick.  The reason our healtcare is more expensive than Europe is because it is better, not because the government is better at running it.  

Quoted:  The leftists are making it too easy to remain 'poor' in the USA by taxing the ever loving fuck out of productive people and giving that $ to the 'poor'.  There should be consequences to remaining 'poor' in the USA.  If you socialists demionish the consequences then more people will CHOOSE 'poverty'.  FUCK THAT not on my dime.

So, you want the poor to remain as impoverished as possible, maybe even worse than they have it today, AND you want them to have the ability to by/own/operate guns?

I, on the other hand, want them to be just satisfied enough not to use the guns IMPROPERLY! because the thought of loosing the 2A is unthinkable. Furthermore, I am willing to pay for the programs I support.

BTW, while I am left of center, I am far from a leftist.

Quoted: Look at it this way, the sooner The She Bitch gets elected, the sooner we'll all be fighting in the streets taking our country back. Personally, I'm looking forward to it.

As much as it would suck, and as much as I would hate it, sign me up.

We are fucked.

(Estamos fregados for all you Spanish speakers)

Quoted: Quoted:  The leftists are making it too easy to remain 'poor' in the USA by taxing the ever loving fuck out of productive people and giving that $ to the 'poor'.  There should be consequences to remaining 'poor' in the USA.  If you socialists demionish the consequences then more people will CHOOSE 'poverty'.  FUCK THAT not on my dime.   So, you want the poor to remain as impoverished as possible, maybe even worse than they have it today, AND you want them to have the ability to by/own/operate guns? I, on the other hand, want them to be just satisfied enough not to use the guns IMPROPERLY! because the thought of loosing the 2A is unthinkable. Furthermore, I am willing to pay for the programs I support. BTW, while I am left of center, I am far from a leftist.

  I want the 'poor' to be MOTIVATED to not be 'poor' anymore or at least to realize that their poverty is the result of their actions.  I furthermore don't want to subsidize the 'poor' for their bad choices.  I don't want my lifestyle or the lifestyle of my children to be lessened by the govt taxing me to give the $ to a deadbeat.   The real America is based on capitolism -- ya earn it ya spend it.  Sharing is for the playground not my paycheck.

Rendell can kiss my ass.  Between his obvious desire for universal hc and complete unwillingness to take on tort reform, is it any wonder that PA is losing doctors/can't recruit new doctors?

socialist drivel like this will be the end of us

Quoted: The only real people who loose with universal HC is the insurance companies.

Yeah, that and people who produce and would rather buy high quality care than be forced at gunpoint by the socialist thugs you support to pay for shitty bureaucrat provided care.

Quoted: So, you want the poor to remain as impoverished as possible, maybe even worse than they have it today, AND you want them to have the ability to by/own/operate guns? I, on the other hand, want them to be just satisfied enough not to use the guns IMPROPERLY! because the thought of loosing the 2A is unthinkable. Furthermore, I am willing to pay for the programs I support.

What makes you think more socialism will make them better off? The problems we have now mostly come from retarded government social engineering welfare bullshit. A giant portion of our healthcare system is already single, government, payer, and it fucks everything up. The rest of the problems are caused by their fucking retarded tax laws that encourage employers to buy healthcare for you instead of giving you pay to buy it yourself.

BTW, while I am left of center, I am far from a leftist.

No, you're not far at all.

Quoted: Quoted:  The leftists are making it too easy to remain 'poor' in the USA by taxing the ever loving fuck out of productive people and giving that $ to the 'poor'.  There should be consequences to remaining 'poor' in the USA.  If you socialists demionish the consequences then more people will CHOOSE 'poverty'.  FUCK THAT not on my dime.   So, you want the poor to remain as impoverished as possible, maybe even worse than they have it today, AND you want them to have the ability to by/own/operate guns? I, on the other hand, want them to be just satisfied enough not to use the guns IMPROPERLY! because the thought of loosing the 2A is unthinkable. Furthermore, I am willing to pay for the programs I support. BTW, while I am left of center, I am far from a leftist.

You're right.Leftist WAS NOT the first words that popped into my head to describe you!

Quoted: Rendell can kiss my ass.  Between his obvious desire for universal hc and complete unwillingness to take on tort reform, is it any wonder that PA is losing doctors/can't recruit new doctors? socialist drivel like this will be the end of us

One reason Rendell won't do shit about tort reform is because his wife is a Judge on the 3rd Circuit Court:

www.firstlady.state.pa.us/

Quoted: all talk and no walk. you wont do a thing. just sit there and take it.

As will everyone else.

Quoted: Quoted: "[PA State Government-provided] health care IS coming." "The people want it; businesses want it." "And the Republicans just might as well get over it and accept that it is going to happen." <snip> Folks, this is endemic of LibDems in leadership positions in American government.  They're barely even looking at the 2008 elections in terms of win/lose.  It's like they've already taken for granted that it's a lock, and they're implementing their Socialist agenda Full Speed A-fucking-head right now. There are many advantages to universal health care. A) GM/Ford/Crystler will be able to compete because HC is no longer eating them alive. B) people that earn $24,000/year will have health care and be able to house and clothe their families. C) if/when you need an emergency room it will not be filled with indigents that wait until shit happens before going to the doctor. D) the people really want something done about this everlasting situation, and doing it peicemeal is just making them mad E) businesses really do want something to happen because they are constantly struggling to afford HC for their employees. The only real people who loose with universal HC is the insurance companies. This is not comming from liberals, it is comming from people everywhere who do not make enough money to house+clothe+feed all of their family members AND buy HC. At last count we are talking about 15% of the families in this country. If that 15% starts to vote, every political party in this country will be slopping at their trough.

A reply to each of your assertions:

A) Social HC coverage is what got GM, Ford, et al into their financial mess.  Sky-high promises are hard to cover in the real world.  Rubber-meet-road & all that.

B) They can do that now.  There's already gov't HC assistance available for low-income families.  The goal of this push is to get everyone's money at the point of a gun.  You think Bill Gates needs to get signed on to a national gov't HC plan?

C)  You've never worked in the healthcare arena, & don't argue otherwise.  You never have, or else you never would have uttered such false tripe.  Go check out a local ED/ER, particularly in a city district where wlfare & gov't-assistance roles are concentrated.  Then ask yourself why an adult w/ a sore throat, or why the old guy w/ no chronic medical condition who called an ambulance after he scraped his finger, are wasting your tax dollars on an ambulace ride & ER visit (Note: these are references to actual cases I witnessed when I worked in the ER).

D) People need to get a grip on reality & stop thinking HC is a "right".  It isn't.  It's a service, & we are lucky to have it available.  Even further, people need to start putting stock in their own health, both in terms of their personal behavior, & their finances.  I saw - evey single day - people on welfare wearing clothes that I know had price tags I damn well wouldn't pay, but then they'd pitch a fit because we asked them to foot a $5 co-pay for non-emergent (as in, they didn't need to go to the ER for that sore throat or scraped finger) care.  Most - but I''ll grant you not all - of the problem for this is due to a startling lack of priorities.  Your health, your life, your well-being, is your responsibility.  Not mine.  Covering people who need it & can't afford it is one thing.  Forcing everyone to pay (at the point of a gun, remember) is setting up a system that screams "free-bee" to all those who subsist on the dole as a way of life.  And don't be coy about this last point.  Welfare is a chosen way of life for lot of people.

E) If people had to take on the HC services directly instead of letting the "magic plastic" handle it all, then market forces would help control many of the costs.

The current scheme is the result of eople already thinking that "insurance should pay for it".  If you think about what the term "insurance" really represents, it isn't a payment card.  It's insurance - coverage for catastrophic or unaffordable situations that you cannot reasonably handle on your own.  General HC, like checkups, etc, should be out-of-pocket.  that alone would control basic care costs.

We've already seen what "universal healthcare" means for people who are knocking on death's door.  It only works on paper.  Real life is a whole different game.  Rubber-meet-road & all that.

Gotta erase "God" from all Gov't buildings...


Time to stand up and not let this happen.

America is about Freedom OF Religion -
NOT freedom FROM religion.

But Socialists want no acknowledgment of anything being more powerful than the State, so they must try to expunge all identifying symbols of God and Religion.  And what they cannot expunge, they try to marginalize and stigmatize and persecute through an organized campaign of derisive attacks via their mainstream media propaganda arm.

Quoted: Quoted: all talk and no walk. you wont do a thing. just sit there and take it. As will everyone else.

But enough about you...


I don't know what I may or may not do, or where the line is, but to make a blanket statement about someone else's breaking point, whom you no nothing about, tends to put you in the chattering classes with Edwards, Kerry, Gore, and the rest of the "I know best" crowd.

Quoted: With some exceptions, yes, it is the Greater Philly and Pittsburgh areas that vote Dem/Lib, and the center and top half that votes GOP/Conservative.  Not at all hard to understand when you look at where almost all the people that live off entitlements are located vs. the more rural or at least non-ghetto citizenry live AND WORK for their money.  The GOP/Conservative voting area is called "The 'T'" because if you do a red/blue map of votes by precinct, you can see the 'T' color very clearly.  And we should secede from the Philly/Pittsburgh portion.

What about the Easton area?

I read my co-workers 'Express Times', and some of the shit that comes out of the opinion page from PA residents residing in the Easton/Phillipsburgh area is down right scary.