Comments on: Kang or Kodos

By: jay h

jay h — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:32:54 +0000

>>> ” All I was arguing was that if they�re so incompetent in handling that small of a task, maybe they�re not qualified to handle a major health-care reform.

Is this your opinion? I don’t see how you derive that from any facts. The distribution is being done better than any “non-government” health provider has demonstrated. The vacine is being distributed and given to millions of people.

The US government has been building a better America for over 200 years – that’s a better track record than any “business” interests.

By: BN

BN — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:05:18 +0000

It is. That’s why I agree with the overall idea: something needs to be done.

By: John Casey

John Casey — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:25:29 +0000

Few people seriously advocate “abuse,” but in any case, I’m sure as someone who worked in medical collections, you saw your share of tragic stories.� What we have now in this country is beneath us.

By: BN

BN — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:19:33 +0000

You lie, John! You lie No, seriously now, my concern with the 20 millions illegal immigrants is not that they will be covered, but rather that they will continue to abuse the current system. I worked for medical collection agency and you’d be surprised at the medical expenses for emergencies that come from this specific group. I don’t think they should be denied emergency treatment, but someone is paying these expenses.

By: John Casey

John Casey — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:41:56 +0000

Thanks BN–but I would say those are all reasons to have universal coverage–and no, I don’t think the illegal immigrants are going to get any.� Their being illegal, of course, is another problem.

By: BN

BN — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:39:07 +0000

John , you are right (like usual).
It seems to work for other countries, so it should work for us too. However, I’m afraid that there are some major concerns that can’t be ignored. USA is a lot like other industrialized nations, but there are still some major differences:

20 millions illegal immigrants,
the size of our country(number of people and area),
McDonald’s , the current physical state of a large majority (check out this disturbing statistic: Obesity) ,
the medical malpractice (this probably is a factor, but not as major as the Republicans would have us believe),
the quality/cost of health-care.
the number of physicians (More doctors needed)

That’s why I feel that some expectations are just not realistic. I would love it if they would take the 2 plans (Rep. and Dem.) and try them out in 2 states for a while. We can see how they would work first hand.
Maybe it’s just my personality and I’m afraid of big changes, but then again the government does not have exactly a good track on their promises. ( Unemployment Promises vs Reality)

By: John Casey

John Casey — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:16:24 +0000

Thanks for the clarifications BN.�� You actually didn’t endorse a private solution.

However–what is in the� private insurance plan for you now is the pet rsistent threat of denial of coverage or bankruptcy should you get sick.�� Remember also that the industrialized nations who have universal coverage pay on average half of what we do and get more.�� Hurray for America.

By: BN

BN — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:48:46 +0000

jay, while I don’t want to go into too many details, I’ll just add that the problem I’m referring to is not the fact that the government over-estimated how many vaccines will be available, but rather their incompetency in distributing the existing vaccines . Again, this has nothing to do with a political party (see Katrina).� It’s just the way our government is.
Also, you make the claim: “If we had to wait for the �free market� to respond to a crisis, it would be too late.” When did I say anything like that? I never denied that the government should distribute vaccines to its citizens. All I was arguing was that if they’re so incompetent in handling that small of a task, maybe they’re not qualified to handle a major health-care reform.

And to be a little selfish here, what is there in this plan for me? Absolutely nothing, just more taxes.

By: jay h

jay h — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:13:50 +0000

>>> “We work directly right now with the government on distributing/administrating the H1N1 flu vaccine, and the whole thing is a joke”

BN — Do you imagine that the government can “command” bacteria to grow faster on eggs?.

If we had to wait for the “free market” to respond to a crisis, it would be too late.

By: Batocchio

Batocchio — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:08:51 +0000

This is a case where I think Hatch’s dread conclusion might be terrifying to his backers, but not the general population. Internal Republican strategy memos from the 90s under Gingrich, Luntz, etc. concluded that universal health care would be popular and would help the Democrats keep power, and thus had to be stopped. It’s a shame that, one, political manuevering would so grossly outweigh concerns about the good of the country, and two, there’s little value seen in cooperative problem-solving that could improve the reputations of both parties. A significant percentage of voters are more pragmatic than ideological. If both parties merely competitively pandered to the middle class (in terms of actual policy), it would be a huge improvement over the current political landscape. I think Benen or someone else labeled Hatch’s statement a political gaffe as defined by Kinsley – accidentally telling the truth. He’s not the first one to say something similar on health care – some attacks on the public option have been warnings that people will like it – but Hatch’s is a keeper. Early on, he was more conciliatory in tone on reform efforts, but either he changed his mind or dropped the facade.