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The "liberal media" didn't attack Joe the Plumber -- they just checked out if he really was who he claimed to be.
He was a stupid bull*hitter.
To his own demise, McCain chose to elevate him as spokesperson for his campaign. McCain-Palin had to be one of the worst run campaigns I can remember.
Imagine what Joe the Plumber could have uncovered if he was a licensed plumber... other than his butt crack.
Obama is "Your boy" !
Racist alert.
As for Rick in Orlando,
Joe the Plumber spread a big lie about Obama. Nothing more.
'See ya later! (I'll read the blog later.) I have to go see about rescuing some orphan kittens at a local vet.
Richard,
Don't get me wrong -- I consider Medicare a success. My mother is on Medicare and she has MUCH better care than I do with Kaiser.
However, "government option" is not Medicare.
Single payer is more like Medicare.
That's the point I'm trying to make. I'm for single-payer -- I'm afraid "government option" will end up being a give-away to private insurance.
B Roll,
'Not me in that cat video. It's just that I keep trying to find ways to "laugh with you!"
B Roll,
LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-kdC6mSJI8
Quark,
Don't worry. I wear a helmet 24/7 and all my clothes are made out of bubble wrap. (Well, not my underwear.) I don't get hurt badly when I pass out.
Yeah Richard Adlof!!!
@ L Grace,
Medicare consistently has close to the highest contented client quotients every time folk are queried. Medicare caps administration overhead costs at 4.5%. Even though Medicare covers the aged and the infirmed . . . It has better outcomes than alotta private insurers.
Even before executive compensation and profit, the seven largest health insurers run costs of 10 to 18% in admin overhead to squelch paying claims . . . Toss on top paying executive compensation greater than about 30% worldwide GNPs . . . AND consistently paying dividends in a downturn economy . . .
I say to our government, repeal the Medicare D bullsh** and excise the words “under sixty-five” from Medicare law. You can pop the FICA cap and pay for Medicare for all and Social Security and run a surplus . . . PLUS you’d get the healthy pool you were belly aching about above.
OMG! Win, win, win, win situation.
B Roll,
RE: "For the record, I don’t use drugs (anymore). I get my buzz from being goofy (and holding my breath)."
I never used drugs since I, too, couldn't "inhale." I swear! LOL
I think we all get a buzz from your being goofy (just don't hold your breath too long!)
As long as Thom is celebrating U.S. astronauts on the moon decades ago, I should maybe mention one of the (many) influential parts my very activist Republican mother played in people's lives. She intervened on behalf of a classmate of mine who wanted to get into the Air Force Academy so he could be an astronaut. My mother contacted a U.S. Congressman she knew well and doors opened. That classmate, Mark Lee, got into the academy, then went on to NASA to become an astronaut. He later flew a mission and conducted an EVA to repair Hubble:
http://www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/hubble/mission/unscheduled.html
DRichards,
You may have noticed that although Thom and Danny Schechter, Thom had lots of praise for Schechter.
Before you just dismiss him as parrot for corporate America, you might want to find out about him. You can Google him for info. Here are a couple links to start you off.
http://www.stigmaconference.nih.gov/bios/Schechter.htm
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Schechter
By the way, Schechter has a Masters degree from the London School of Economics.
Quark,
I rarely drink wine or any other alcoholic beverage. The same goes for soft drinks and coffee. I'm basically a water and green tea drinker. So I don't have any winery suggestions. Sorry.
I did accidentally imbibe in alcohol last week. My neighbor called me up and asked me to come over for some food. She had hosted Pokeno night for a group of friends and had left over food. When I went over she also offered me a choice of soft drinks or Mike's Hard Lemonade. Since I rarely drink soda, I took the Hard Lemonade. When I got home and looked at the label I realized it was a kind of beer. I wasn't bad on a hot day.
For the record, I don't use drugs (anymore). I get my buzz from being goofy (and holding my breath).
@ L Grace,
I ran a business for two decades. My wife and her parents ran a durable medical equipment business for close to a quarter century. My wife and I were insured under the group policy underwritten to her business. Several years ago, her family’s business failed. My FAMILY was forced to incorporate just to get insurance written to cover us at close to two and a half the premium of our old policy. I was forced to close a business of twenty years and seek employment with insurance. I am compensated well. My business degree is from Pepperdine and I have game. My child, wife and I are healthy and . . . If a public option becomes available, we are there quicker than a heartbeat.
You premise is flawed in so many ways.
I was arguing with my uncle recently. He sent me an email that was trying to suggest that there are only so many congressman making decisions that affect millions of Americans and its not fair because we have so many taxes like the estate tax and stuff. I replied "we don't have high taxes in America, taxes have been dropping since 1981. Poor people pay a higher percentage of their annual income toward taxes especially in states that have sales tax. I am in agreement with our founding fathers when I say I oppose the unlimited accumulation of inherited wealth and support the estate tax"
He was saying we are lucky to live in America because it is such a good country. I said "I don't think America is a good country because of the way poor people are treated here". He said "I've been to other countries and poor people there don't have welfare and stuff". I thought "We don't want welfare, we want corporations to stop sending our jobs to foreign countries."
>> Quark July 20th, 2009, 9:11 am
>> The story I heard was that the captive soldier in Afganistan got drunk and wandered off.
That seems pretty unlikely to me.
The story I heard was that the captive soldier in Afganistan got drunk and wandered off. Who knows what THAT was about --- could be anything.
erghh..I missed the outcome on that pigeon story- what did it have to do with any health care vote and was the pigeon then portrayed as a force of the light or evil.
Quark,
Medicare has everyone in it and it's not revenue neutral.
The "government option" that is being talked will have a higher-risk pool or participants and Obama demands that it pay for itself.
I don't see how this works.
L Grace,
Yes, but it could also turn out to be a better "Medicare" for all. It's in the details.
I lived overseas for a decade and American retail products ALWAYS were taxed higher than foreign products in the US.
It was totally unfair.
Quark,
It just occurs to me that "government option" may could be another give-away to the insurance industry.
At the very least, they will exploit it.
"Government option" allow insurance companies cherry-pick the profitable people and the government pays for the expensive ones.
This is a guaranteed loser for the American taxpayer.
B Roll,
Got any suggestions of California wine producers that would advertise on Thom's show? 'Seems that might be a good way to get them more notice.
(I have some great California zin. in the 'fridge and lots of fresh fruit, havarti and pita chips. It's WAY too early in the day... LOL)