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No one is winning anything. The rich can afford to lose the poor can't. That is what it all boils down to. Drastic action is necessary. The President must use his Executive power to do what Congress is unable or unwilling to do. Congress must replace the Speaker of the House. The SCOTUS must uphold the executive branch's authority to raise the debt ceiling. Anything else is failure on the behalf of the 99%; and, it won't be pretty.
We must stand firm with no compromises!
oneofthefreds ~ I sincerely hope and pray you aren't suggesting that the PPACA Legislation and Obamacare are two different things. If you are, nuff said.
Otherwise, half of what you say I agree with. However, you are mixing apples and oranges.
Health care, order, security, clean air, clean water, safe food, legal recourse, and someone to put out fires is why the government exists. Don't tell me we don't need government. Medicare for all, regardless of cost, is the best investment we can make in our country and economy.
As far as the debt is concerned you are right. However, your approach to resolving it is less than feasible. First thing that has to be done is we have to increase the equity of the nation. The only way to do that is to lose free trade and bring our manufacturing base back. This country must produce goods to pay off the debt. Right now all we are producing is debt. We need to cut our military spending as well. That is money and resources flushed straight down the toilet. Some time after that--several years or decades after the manufacturing base returns--after the debt is paid down--we can consider putting our currency back on the silver and/or gold standard. Exchanging Federal Reserve Notes for Treasury Notes isn't going to solve anything until our equity is at least out of the red and our Treasury has something to back it up with. Once that is achieved, paying for health care for all will be easy. In fact, it will actually save us money, create jobs, and increase our GDP.
Cutting our way out of debt is a pipe dream sold exclusively on right wing talk shows in order to protect the wealthy oligarchs overseas investments at the cost of the American middle class. Common sense says that it won't work. It's like trying to pay off your car loan when you are unemployed and have no income by giving up food. You starve to death and the car gets repossessed anyway.
The cliches aside and forgetting the debt ceiling since it was exceeded in May 2013 passing budgets using the same old banks is unsustainable. The fact is that our currency is devaluing at a rate faster than we create it from thin air. So it buys less. Setting aside Obamacare simply means that we are faced with reorienting our priorities for health care. Obamacare is not health care reform, it is a tax and spend bill that supports large corporate interests not the people. Single payer is no better because it too depends completely on private banking interests. We could have all the coverage suggested in the PPACA Legislation without Obamacare yet we seem to be hell bent to become the new Greece. Shutting down government simply shows that we do not need government to the degree advertised. We do not need pollitical parties. We need common sense. A debt based currency system makes us all slaves and ultimately by simple math must fail. We are about to see what $700 trillion in derivatives does to the Federal Reserve Notes. Perhaps it is time to return to Treasury notes and let the Federl Reserve notes and the tax-debt based currency fade away so that really can have a civil just society. If you want a civil and healthy society look to see the power and influence the current system has on banking that creates poverty and dependence not a healthy society.
Agree. NO FIG LEAVES-- Why should anyone give these clowns a "fig leaf", which means a "compromise" or a reward for bad behavior. If you want to train an animal you reward achievement, not crazy behavior. No one owes them a thing. They decided to run out in public naked and will simply have to cover their privates as best they can while they slink back to their lairs. I wouldn't lend them a handkerchief. There is not such thing as sportsmanship or gratitude in DC these days, just slimy contempt from tea party schills.
Sandlewould wrote: "How much longer are we going to behave like abused children who don't know how to do anything but go back for more?"
Excellent analogy! I've had similar thoughts.
Anyway, I can't keep my eyes open anymore. Goodnight everyone, and a slightly premature Happy Friday to us all.
Kend ~ I'd still rather pay in taxes. To me it's like consolidating my bills. One bill and I take all the worry out of health decisions. It's just healthier. With the government paying and negotiating health care and drug costs for me, you can't tell me that it would cost the same. Just not possible. National health care would save US citizens a fortune; as well as, save countless lives.
As far as waiting for treatment is concerned, unless you have a life threatening illness you have to wait everywhere. There just isn't enough Doctors to go around. The only reason the wait might be longer in Canada is because there are more people seeking medical treatment because of your sweeeeet system that covers everybody. I'm sure that if you need it you go to the front of the line. The bottom line is that since there is a waiting list it shows that everyone gets seen and assessed early on in a health problem. That is the key. Early evaluation. After that you are treated accordingly. Don't tell me you want to deny fellow citizens health care just to speed up your procedure waiting time for non life threatening treatment? Maybe a better way to relieve the problem would be to invest in medical education and increase your pool of health care providers. It's a far better idea than trying to trim your pool of patients.
Ya double your taxes because they are so low in America it doesn't matter. You don't know how lucky you have it.
health care costs the same in both countries we just pay for it different.
Kend ~ I'd welcome the higher taxes. Double my taxes will cost me less then my premiums do. Remove the out-of-pocket costs as well, insure everyone else, and you could even triple my taxes and I'd be a happy camper. That I can afford; the current system I can't. No one in the middle class or below can. You don't know how lucky you are.
That does not even address the boom single-payer would be to business. It would free them up to compete in the world market and solve many of the nations problems at once. Business would be more profitable and wages would go up. National health care would be a win win for everyone.
DAnne i have to admit there has to be a better way. For both of us. Yes you pay a lot for health insurance but we pay way more taxes for, well everything. Probaly double what you pay. Here we have long waiting list for speciality needs where you get it sooner. We both need something in the middle.
Kend ~ Let me give you an example. I've always had some kind of health care insurance. 25 years ago the out-of-pocket cost for an Emergency room visit was $5.00. Today, that same visit can easily run $5,000.00. And that is with insurance. That is a 100,000% increase in insured out-of-pocket costs for an Emergency room visit in 25 years; or, about 4000% a year. My monthly premium back then was about $325. Today it is about $850.00. If my math is right that is approximately a 38.2% increase in 25 years; or, about 6.2% a year. Yet in that period wages have only increased about 5%; or far less than 1% a year.
A $5,000.00 bill is enough for someone with a life threatening condition to wait too long to seek help. That is a system that bankrupts and murders people. People who have symptoms and not very good coverage also postpone care; endangering their lives; endangering the lives of others, and driving up the cost of healthcare for everybody else. People with no coverage either stay healthy, risk bankruptcy, or die. Now you see the problem? This system doesn't work. The sick get sicker and the rich get richer. Healthcare is supposed to care for health and should never be for profit. That is, excessive profit. Reasonable profit is fine.
A friend of mine has a governent job. Because of the Sequester -- he has to take time off without pay. Everyone does. Well, not Congress. But actual government WORKERS have to do this. I believe he said 14 days? 1/2 months pay! By the end of the year. Now, with this shutdown, that adds to the cut already in place.
Kend ~ Really? Just how many times have you ever hopped the border to save money on "drugs, MRI's, etc." Don't despair. I'm sure we could find lots of volunteers right here on this blog who would be more than happy to stand in line to offer you a completely 'free' colonoscopy. No "behind the scenes" costs here.
Just kidding, buddy.
It's not the "behind the scenes" care costs that we worry about. It's the in your face costs that are killing us.
Concerning the police car that was crushed like a soda can. Apparently the Capitol area has been equipped with solid barriers that shoot up out of the street for just such an occasion. From what I understand this one shot up a split second too slow after the suspect's car passed it and the cruiser following her slammed into it. It was probably lowered in the photo posted. That would explain what we saw. Very reminiscent of The Keystone Kops and The Roadrunner...
Point, Canada doesn't have a single payer system. It is a province (state) by province System. insurance companies don't fail because they charge what they want. Mine just went up 5% two days ago. Just because it is government run doesn't mean there is no profit. Drugs, MRI's, etc are all private for profit companies. The personal care is just a drop in the bucket compared to all of the behind the scenes health care costs.
chuckle8 ~ Oh yeah! I'd like to see the SCOTUS try and stop it too--especially with all federal worker's, contractor's, police and the military's pay on the line. Oh yeah! I'd just love to see that.
I would like the court to try and stop it. The Prez, like Andrew Jackson, could ask the SCOTUS where their army is.
Palindromedary ~ I agree! But still, any ideas how that police cruiser got crushed? That is one piece of this puzzle I can't figure out. I'm fairly certain it wasn't done by Miriam's car. Yet the photo of the totalled police car I saw isn't near anything that could have hit it. Unless it hit something and bounced off?
Sandlewood, I noticed the same thing in the video..the car didn't seem to be damaged when it was stopped and surrounded by cops. Of course it sure was after it backed up into that police car. And again, this was right in front of the Capitol next to that James Garfield Monument.
If it hit some barriers over on Pennsylvania and 15th, then those barriers were probably not very solid. In Google Earth street view there are concrete planter (flower pots?) barriers across the entrance. Google Earth street views are usually a year or so old and things can change in that time.
sandlewould ~ I don't know if it makes sense to speed away when a police officer is pointing a loaded gun at your head. I don't care how frightened you are. It makes more sense to roll the window down and ask what is wrong.
However, I do agree that the damage on the car doesn't fit someone who just tried unsuccessfully to run a barricade. The damage on the car doesn't make sense either where it came to rest. Allegedly, she hit a barricade, caused the totaling of a police cruiser sending the officer to the hospital, and hit another cruiser head on. The photo of the front of her car after the episode showed a nearly pristine grill, bumper and headlights.
Also, I doubt she was shot in the initial confrontation. If you look closely at the video the driver's side window was still intact when she sped off. I think the police and secret service agents who saw her close up realized there was a mental condition related problem occurring and not a threat to the Government. They didn't want to harm a young woman and only fired warning shots.
The officers on the other street where the car came to rest were some distance from the vehicle and didn't have time or perspective to assess the situation properly. When she emerged from the vehicle they had little time to respond. They may have heard warning shots from the police on the other street and confused them with the probability of the suspect being armed and shot her on first site.
It isn't easy being a police officer and having the power over life and death. I think this was all a big tragedy all around. I blame the lack of public funding of mental institutions. These kinds of events were almost unheard of before President Ronald Wilson (666) Reagan.
DAnneMarc: I clicked on your link at #32 and that group photo with Miriam on the right now makes it clear that the photo of Vanessa Fabre is most likely not the same woman. Miriam Carey has higher cheek bones that stick out more than the photo of Vanessa Fabre...and, in this picture she looks heavier than Vanessa Fabre. But many people go up or down in their weight over the years.
RT currently reporting that "officials" will not release identity of victim...yet they already have. Kudos to RT for interviewing real people...who are saying that the shots rang out as she sped away after the vehicle hit the barrier and was trying to turn around. The video they show of the car driving away doesn't appear to be going 80, nor does it have any visible damage. They sounded as if the woman may have made a wrong turn and was frightened by the barricade and sped away out of panic...pure speculation, of course, but makes more sense than anything else.
Palindromedary ~ Ok. I see the cabinets, the car and the roof corner. I understand you feel Miriam resembles Vanessa. Now what does all that mean? You have a theory? I'm lost!
Google maps shows that location as some small shack with tinted windows. The area is covered with police vehicles even at the time that the Google pictures was taken. Other than those tidbits, I'm still lost!
DAnneMarc: No, I don't have a theory except that it is probably just a coincidence that they look very similar. By the way, that information you gave about Miriam being shot while getting out of the car unarmed...even if she had already shot someone is pretty typical of cops, I'd say. If they can use billy clubs to beat to death a man laying on the sidewalk...something like 10 cops all beating on this guy...then the gestapo pigs can't be trusted to not kill you for any other reason.
When I click the link, I get a photo of the victim, not a police car...? I'm sure I can find it elsewhere. Is curious to wonder how she, let alone her car survived crashing into a barracade at 80 MPH. Maybe the police car, rushing to the scene is actually the one that fell pray to the plutocratic auto-barricade...& since when do they shoot unarmed (according to latest reports I've heard) people with children in the car dead.