Comments

And if it isnt Power Wagon again wrote on Jul 17, 2009 2:42 AM:

" Why do you have to comment on everything Power Wagon? What is your problem? It is not as if you even remotely begin to understand everything, and commenting on it all does not convince anyone but yourself that you know it all.

Natasha Richardson died of a tragic skiing accident. Right after her head injury, she was reportedly lucid and cheerful, and the hotel staff, turned away the first responders at her behest.

There is no proof, whatsoever, to support your bizarre claim that her death was caused by the health care system in Canada. "




To jp wrote on Jul 17, 2009 2:32 AM:

" Listen, buddy, I agree wth you on local matters, ironically, but we are far apart on everything else.

I am answering you only to tell you that you don't know which way is up to make such a misguided comment on our American President Barack Obama. Yes, he is our President, Sherlock. Take something for the cough, or stick a sock in it. Either way you aren't cute, clever, or smart.

You do not have enough going for you in your little toe to have room to accuse President Obama of not thinking things through. "




Power Wagon wrote on Jul 15, 2009 11:47 AM:

" And they work very well? I guess if you call the government deciding whether or not somebody is too old for a procedure, emergency-response services that are slug-slow and limited choice over your care "working very well"...then sure...it's great!

(Just ask Liam Neeson about the wonderful emergency response his wife got in Canada! Or ask an elderly person who can't get surgery because the government has decided that there's no point because they're so old anyway.)

No thanks. Our system may not be perfect, but I'll take it over government-run health care any day. "




jp wrote on Jul 14, 2009 8:44 PM:

" to time to move on:

Look how well medicare and the V.A. work!!!
this is exactly what it would be like if our wonderful government forces us to have it. they would initiate fines for those who are not insured, how does this help?
Obama just wants action, and does not think things through thoroughly before signing.
This "cough" president will be the total ruination of the economy of the U.S.
He has already quadrupled Bush's deficit, and he's only been in for 6 months!!!
when will you Libtards wake up??? "




Its time to move on wrote on Jul 14, 2009 1:09 PM:

" Health insurance is run mostly by the government in Britain, France, and Canada, and it works very well. Only the insurance companies in America stand to gain by keeping us locked in to the present situation. Apparently, too many Republicans are such sore losers they'd cut off their nose to spite their face rather than admit they botched running the country, and it is time for us all to work together. It is time to move things ahead, such as health care, to benefit all Americans, and not merely the privileged few. "




Tim Payne wrote on Jul 7, 2009 6:50 AM:

" Should we keep the health care status quo,or should we try to change,yes there will be problems but as Americans we have always put our minds together and solved problems.If things continue as they are only government employees and elected officials will get subsidized insurance "




jp wrote on Jul 6, 2009 10:23 PM:

" to Ryan H.
i'm ready for the revolution Ryan, i have the means to take over large portions of several states, i can just hand out free coupons to KFC, and clear a zone, and flag it as mine!
you are correct, more people need to stand up an fight for what is right and just, and that means no more Obama!!! "




watcher wrote on Jul 4, 2009 9:27 AM:

" No, Ryan...I prefer to get my daily dose of indoctrination and pseudo-news from Keith Olbermann and The New York Times. Both of whom hate this country and make sure that as many others as possible hate it too. They keep us informed how superior European Socialism is, how fun it is to hate the troops (who don't do anything besides commit atrocities, after all) and that the wealthy are to blame for all our ills (except for wealthy liberals, of course). I guess we should be pals, huh? "




Ryan H. wrote on Jul 3, 2009 10:15 AM:

" But I guess, unless you've also been there, you don't know what the conditions are over there?"

Tell you what, I wouldn't want to get local medical assistance anywhere the US military has 'liberated' within the past 20 years. My point was, Oman actually has a decent standard of living. It is a rich secular country, the medical treatment can't be that bad, thats all. Most Americans assume everyone else in the world sleeps in mud huts and earns a hard scratch living, and as I am sure you can attest, it just isn't true. "




Ryan H. wrote on Jul 3, 2009 10:10 AM:

" surgery in Oman (or Kuwait, Iraq or any other middle eastern country) vs. the U.S.? Hmmm...that's a hard one! Let me think on that one! (Yeah, right!) "

Thinking, Watcher, doesn't seem like your strongest suit, and I agree, you ought not do too much of it. I am sure you are just another hillbilly that thinks everywhere outside the USofA people live like savages in mud huts, isn't that what Hannity showed you on FAUX news? Why would he and Murdoch lie?

Modern medicine somewhere outside the USA? HA!!! NO WAY! CANT BE! USA! USA! #1! "




Hilyard is highly misguided wrote on Jul 3, 2009 1:45 AM:

" The letter writer is spreading more toxic misinformation.

On the contrary, the health care plan that President Obama is proposing for all Americans offers a private option.

We are, shamefully, the only big industrialized Western nation that does not offer government health coverage for all its citizens. Every American has the right to have legal representation, even if they cannot afford it, and we ought to have health care.

We greatly need the government option and we need it now! "




Tax Payer. wrote on Jul 2, 2009 11:19 PM:

" It's okay to spend trillions of dollars on invading, bombing, killing, occupying, rebuilding, and policing the world but don't anybody dare ask to use some of our taxpayer money on the taxpayer. Good government is a blend of socialism and capitalism. "




watcher wrote on Jul 2, 2009 8:05 PM:

" My god....that argument is one of the most childish I've ever seen.."Have you ever been there?" Whenever I see somebody pull that one out I roll my eyes and acknowledge that the debate is over.
I've never been to North Korea, but you know...I bet it's not that great of a place. But since I've never BEEN THERE...who knows? Maybe it's a paradise, eh? ..
Dumb, dumb, dumb....
Getting surgery in Oman (or Kuwait, Iraq or any other middle eastern country) vs. the U.S.? Hmmm...that's a hard one! Let me think on that one! (Yeah, right!) "




Power Wagon wrote on Jul 2, 2009 6:29 PM:

" Ryah H; I've been to Bosnia/Kosovo, S. Korea and the Middle East. But I guess, unless you've also been there, you don't know what the conditions are over there? No, I give people the benefit of the doubt in educating themselves (to my detriment, I guess.)
You and I see to be on a similare page regarding health care, surprisingly. Fix it? Sure. Nationalize it? NO!
I see today's news; if we don't get medical coverage we get fined $1,000. Didn't McCain SAY Obama was going to do that and Obama smugly said "No, no..those are just scare tactics!" "




Ryan H. wrote on Jul 2, 2009 3:00 PM:

" PowerWagon:

I agree that the administration is bad. I am all for single payer healthcare and all the Obama plan is doing is creating another big gubbermint give away to industry hacks and corporate sharpies.

I have come to accept that any 'change' delivered from a republican or a democrat is going to be for the worse. All I am saying is that as long as we allow insurance companies a seat at the table on the healthcare debate, expect more problems.

Have you ever been to Oman? Didn't think so. "




Power Wagon wrote on Jul 2, 2009 1:12 PM:

" OK, I conceed...you're right. The current administration is honest, truthful, frugal in their spending and as long as I relinquish the 'burden' of responsibility (and tax dollars) to them, they will take care of me and I won't have to be bogged down with the hassle of accountability, responsibility or free thought. If we look at history, by golly nationalization has been proven to be such an overwhelming success! And as far as that fair and scientific UN WHO goes, well...they ranked Oman #1 in healthcare and I mean, hey..who WOULDN'T rather be treated in 'Oman' than here? "




Ryan H. wrote on Jul 2, 2009 10:35 AM:

" jp wrote
wow, Ryan H. is the perfect liberal eh?

he really thinks that the government is on the peoples side, LOL what a moron!

drink your kool-aid Ryan

I am fairly conservative on many issues. The real problem is that our government only works for entrenched, self serving special interest groups and there partners large, for profit corporations. And the bulk of the citizenry (like you and me JP) is too lazy and ignorant and busy watching American Idol and calling each other 'Liberal' or 'Neocon' to do anything meaningful to stop it. "




jp wrote on Jul 2, 2009 9:51 AM:

" wow, Ryan H. is the perfect liberal eh?

he really thinks that the government is on the peoples side, LOL what a moron!

drink your kool-aid Ryan! "




John Harkey to Power wagon wrote on Jul 2, 2009 8:55 AM:

" Your surely must be some entitled state or federal employee, you are not up on your facts nor are you as smart as you wish to appear. Your comments seem more to be those that would come from members of the AMA, certainly not the WHO which you so freely bash, good luck with your misinformation and distribution of such rubbish, wonder what publication you do read, MAD? Enjoy the 4th but stay well for you could be out on the street too without insurance some day. "




TO Power wagon wrote on Jul 2, 2009 8:49 AM:

" And where do you get your slanted information, what is your source? The one quoted is correct so get over it , we are # 37 and are lucky to get that slot dude. "




to Rachel wrote on Jul 1, 2009 11:54 PM:

" You inadvertently make a good point and show your lack of understanding all in one stroke. What's the #1 reason for high medical costs? Malpractice insurance! I don't know where you get the notion that if a doctor makes a mistake...oh well! We just pay him and move along! Only if you're a complete idiot! Doctors get sued for millions every year! But don't worry, when Obama's plan goes into effect, doctors won't be paid as much. Yet, somehow, miraculously..our quality of care will go up? Just like the doctors in Russia, I suppose.... "




EdwardromAZ wrote on Jul 1, 2009 9:28 PM:

" Power Wagon wrote on Jun 30, 2009

" Oh good lord...enough with the "we rank 37 in worldwide health care"! The source for that info is a slanted rag that nobody would admit to reading!
And the author hit the nail on the head. The fat, bloated, inefficient government running the nation's health care will make it BETTER?! What a joke! Hillary and Pelosi deciding what kind of coverage we get?!
Is there anything the sheep are spoon-fed that they WON'T believe? "======
you are a FOOL, what the insurance companies do is basically hosing the people "




Ryan H. wrote on Jul 1, 2009 8:40 PM:

" PowerWagon:

You have been fooled into thinking 'government' is some abstract evil thing. Government is your neighbor and your friends and your family.

I would love to see healthcare run like the post-office. 'The Government' will take my letter and deliver it to my family on the other side of the country for $0.44 in just a couple days. It is high-time we allowed government to start running certain institutions.

Clearly the private sector is too greedy to manage something as important as healthcare for the citizenry. "




Rachel wrote on Jul 1, 2009 7:25 PM:

" i have an idea, how about we not pay for service that does not treat or mistreats what is actually wrong with the patient. I mean, if I call in a plumber and he puts in the wrong part because he couldn't be bothered to listen to what was wrong, I fire him and never call him again. But instead we pay the doctors for all the attempts regardless of the outcome. That's pretty silly. Something is wrong with any people who pay for criminal neglect and/or abuse. It just reinforces it. We built this mess. "




Dawn wrote on Jul 1, 2009 7:20 PM:

" We don't have high quality health care here now. Well, in some places we do and there's an MD or two that performs first (or high) class. But it's not the norm in Alaska, maybe at ANMC. Our government is at the mercy of the voters. It's not a Monarchy at the mercy of one person. But by majority vote it could be. That's what so many individuals are not seeing here. There are checks, balances, and a Constitution, yes. But we are all at the mercy of majority vote. It's the "American way." "




Joey Brockhouse wrote on Jul 1, 2009 6:28 PM:

" Our current system doesn't work. We died ten years earlier that western Europeans, Our infants die more often and we pay more than any other country. You don't get healthcare if your poor. My wife was released from an ER and told to go see our docter she died before she got the chance. We need change. "




Rush Limbaugh wrote on Jul 1, 2009 4:40 PM:

" Mr. Hilyard, you need to quit listening to Rush and his ilk. You state that the Prez is trying to create an "option." Then you state the gubmint would focus on cutting costs. Surely, private insurance companies don't have any worries at all concerning costs?!? And you state that the gubmint bureaucrats will be making decisions instead of doctors and patients. Are you kidding? You think insurance companies aren't making the decisions for the patient and paying the doctors less than what they bill? That's not making decisions?!? "




Power Wagon wrote on Jul 1, 2009 3:38 PM:

" You wanna re-do health care as it relates to insurance companies, etc? Fine...I'm always game to see something new. But NOT a socialized system run by the government! Nancy Pelosi and others aren't qualified. And the US government is the most inefficient, wasteful organization in this country. Who in their right mind would hand them health care? "




Ryan H. wrote on Jul 1, 2009 3:24 PM:

" Quit getting tripped up on the accuracy of WHO data and reports. The facts are that insurance companies are THE prinicpal problem in the healthcare debate. The entire system needs to be dismanteled and retooled. The 'Don't Get Sick or Go Bankrupt' health program we have now is something to be ashamed of.

We have allowed the parasitic investor class to treat people like widgets and profit centers for way too long. Greedy corporations have pillaged this country at every turn (i.e. banking crisis and military-security complex). What makes anyone think healthcare will be any different? "




Ryan H. wrote on Jul 1, 2009 3:04 PM:

" Power Wagon:

"they don't 'toss you out in the street' when your insurance runs out"

They certainly do toss you out. Maybe not in our neck of the woods because we're rich (relitively speaking), but it does happen to people. Once you hit the limit, that is it. And if you can't pay all of it RIGHT NOW, they make sure you will be a debt slave for the next 10 - 20 years. Medical costs cause 50% of the bankruptcies in this country. "




Dennis Fogle wrote on Jul 1, 2009 2:16 PM:

" First time 'blogger', so bear with me;
The last few years of my practice, we would receive reports referencing studies conducted by WHO (UN's World Health Organization.) I won't give my opinion on a national healthcare program. But I will say to those who watch the WHO reports; they are based on biased-studies and unreliable data. Many believe they are intentionally slanted and present credible evidence to support that notion. Nearly every medical organization in this country, as well as other industrialized nations, has raised concerns and complaints regarding many WHO studies. "




Ryan H. wrote on Jul 1, 2009 12:47 PM:

" 'Health Insurance Not the Private Sectors Job'

Step back and ponder for just a moment just how diabolical the modern incantation of a healthcare insurance company really is.

This is a orginization that, in it's purest form, depends upon human sickness, catastrophe and misery to turn a profit.

They don't rush you to the hospital or mend your wounds, they just take money out of your paycheck and garnish your wages if you can't pay.

All so scumbags CEO's like William McGuire can backdate themselves stock options worth hundreds of millions of dollars. "




Power Wagon wrote on Jul 1, 2009 12:43 PM:

" to Ryan H;
What country are you from? It can't be the United States..where they don't 'toss you out in the street' when your insurance runs out. Or perhaps you just need to get an education.

Oh, and the "World Health Organization" study that the brain-dead are clinging too...yeah...read a little more about that first before citing it as your source. Then you might not look so silly. "




Overhaul it All wrote on Jul 1, 2009 12:02 PM:

" I can't say I like Obama's Plan but I defiantly don't like what is currently happening. We can't afford insurance, our employer can't afford it either.; yet we can not live without it. With hospitals charging $30.00 for a baby aspirin (I have the bill to prove it, thanks Mat-Su Regional rip-offs), we wonder why medical costs are sky high. If medical providers would be reasonable about their costs, it would be affordable. I believe in making a profit but the rape of America is and should not be tolerated by any of us! "




Ryan H. wrote on Jul 1, 2009 11:32 AM:

" "Oh good lord...enough with the stupid "we rank 37 in worldwide health care" bunk! The source for that info is a slanted, quack rag that nobody would admit to reading! And what dolt would actually believe that anyway?"

Boy, I sure hope you or nobody in your family ever gets really sick or hurt. Because if that happens to you in this country, even if you have insurence, chances are you are going to be tossed out into the streets once your insurance stops paying weather you have recovered or not. "




Ryan H. wrote on Jul 1, 2009 11:29 AM:

" "While everyone would have insurance, no one would have the high quality coverage that most Americans now enjoy."

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Replace 'most' with 'the upper 10%'.

Insurance companies charge employers and individuals out the blowhole and then do everything they can to bleed out policy holders.

We need single payer. Medical care is like public safety or any other utility.

Insurance companies and government conspire to bankrupt sick families and toss them onto the streets. Just about everyone in this country is only one or two medical bills from the homeless shelter. "




Power Wagon wrote on Jun 30, 2009 8:20 PM:

" I see in today's news that Wal-Mart endorses Obama's health care plan. You remember Wal-Mart and thier wonderful health-care practices? Yeah, they paid people crap and then charged them so much for health care that they couldn't afford it and had to go on public assistance, where you and I picked up the tab (thereby saving Wal-Mart millions of dollars at tax-payer expense.) Gee, and they LIKE Obama's plan! Imagine that! "




Bureaucrats wrote on Jun 30, 2009 5:29 PM:

" Bureaucrats are making the healthcare decisions now, but instead of being focused on cutting costs for consumers or providing the best quality health care, they are focused on increasing the profits of the insurance companies and HMOs. You may not like the thought of a public option, but you can't say that THAT's what's going to open the door to bureaucrats dictating what doctors can and can't do. We've been there a long time already. "




to Power Wagon wrote on Jun 30, 2009 5:27 PM:

" "The source for that info is a slanted, quack rag that nobody would admit to reading!" - The source is the World Health Organization. Hardly a "quack rag". "




to tums wrote on Jun 30, 2009 2:33 PM:

" Medicare? That's your example of success? Wow...you really do drink the Kool-Aid, don't you? "




Pegboard wrote on Jun 30, 2009 1:19 PM:

" Heath: "..high quality coverage that MOST Americans now enjoy."???

What planet are you from?

What happens is you pay and pay, but when you need treatment, the HMOs in their greed, decide it wasn't "covered" and then you DIE!

There's gotta be a better way. "




Take a tums... wrote on Jun 30, 2009 11:39 AM:

" If you think the government is more bloated than the current health care system, then you have intentionally ignored the facts. More than one third of all money paid to health insurance companies is directed solely to administrative costs and another ten to fifteen percent goes directly to profit. After all other over-head, insurance, staffing, and other expenses are paid by both the insurance company and the practicing health-care worker, less than ten percent remains for the actual health-care received. Medicare only uses 4% of its budget for administrative costs... and no profit. "




Power Wagon wrote on Jun 30, 2009 9:36 AM:

" Oh good lord...enough with the stupid "we rank 37 in worldwide health care" bunk! The source for that info is a slanted, quack rag that nobody would admit to reading! And what dolt would actually believe that anyway?
And the author hit the nail on the head. The fat, bloated, inefficient government running the nation's health care will make it BETTER?! What a joke! Hillary and Pelosi deciding what kind of coverage we get? Sounds great!
Is there anything the sheep are spoon-fed that they WON'T believe? "




John Harkey wrote on Jun 30, 2009 8:32 AM:

" And we rate # 37 worldwide in health care, change needs made TODAY. We have socialized healthcare for Government workers, for this or that group but exclude the majority, what a sham and shame. US citizens are dying due to lack of health care, remember that when you think that Canada's plan is bad. "




HappyHeathen wrote on Jun 30, 2009 12:23 AM:

" Insurance companies take your money and then don’t pay for care already. The shell game. And while our country spends more and gets less and less on health care some continue to insist it’s a good system. More Americans are being edged out of the system. They just can’t afford it anymore. And small businesses are having to drop coverage because it is becoming to expensive. Insurance companies rake in over 30 to 40% profit on the money they take in. Sounds like a middle man that needs to go to me. "