Recentle, our president, decided to try and pass a Healthcare Plan. In this plan, everyone in the United would get free Healthcare. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Well first of all, guess who still gets to have private insurance? Thats right- everyone who works in the government (including Obama himself). Shouldn't the government have to comply with the rules they make? Also, in England they have socialized medicine. From waht I know about socialized medicine, it's not a good thing. Will America become like that?
Also, in this healthcare plan, President Obama plans on giving healthcare to illegal immigrants, too. Shouldn't he be helping his country before paying for illegal immigrants to have healthcare? And lastly, who is going to pay for all of this? If the government is paying for healthcare, taht means all our taxes go up! It means that doctors salaries decrease and then if you can't make money in being a doctor, then why go into that proffession? And, they will also decrease the money of the pharmacys. If pharmacies aren't getting enough money, then why are they going to want to continue in medical research.

Like P.J. O'Rourke famously said, "If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free."

Any responces? if you disagree make sure you can back up what you say

ETWolverine

Yes we should. The strategy PRE-9/11 was to hide our heads in the sand and ignore terrorism.

The result?

Aside from 9/11:

September 8 1974 - Abu Nidal organization sets off a bomb that destroys TWA flight 841, killing 88 passengers.

September 10 & 11, 1976 - highjack of TWA flight by Croatian "freedom fighters".

March 9, 1977 - capture of 3 buildings in Washington DC by African-Muslin Hanafi sect operatives, 100 hostages taken, Mayor Marion Barry shot in the chest and one bystander killed.

August 3, 1977 - FALN terrorists bomb the offices of Exxon-Mobile, killing one and injuring 8. The terrorists also falsely warn of bombs in the Empire State Building. Real bombs are found several days later in the AMEX building.

July 1979 - attempts to attack the US and Israeli embasies in Norway stopped by Norweigan police.

June 9 1979: FALN explodes a bomb outside of the Shubert Theatre in Chicago, injuring five people.

November 4, 1977 - start of Iran Hostage Crisis, which lasts 444 days.

March 15, 1980 - FALN terrorists raid the HQ of Jimmy Carter's campaign in Chicago and the HQ of George H. W. Bush 's campaign in NY. Total of 17 hostages taken in these two incidents.

June 3, 1980 - bomb destroys the Story Room of the Statue of Liberty, Croatian sepparatists suspected.

May 16 1981 - bombing of bathrooms in JFK Airport kills 1. Responsibility is claimed by Puerto Rican Resistance Army.

August 11, 1982 - bomb explodes of Pan Am Flight 830 from Tokyo to Honolulu killing 1, injuring 15.

December 31, 1982 - FALN explodes bombs outside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, the FBI headquarters in DC and a courthouse in Brooklyn. 3 police officers injured.

April 18, 1983 - US Embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon kills 63, including 18 Americans.

October 23, 1983 - Marine Barracks Bombing in Beirut, Lebanon kills 241 Marines and wounds 81. 58 French troops are killed in a separate attack.

November 9, 1983 - Bomb explodes in US Senate. Armed Resistance Unit claims responsibility.

August 29-October 10, 1984 - The Rajneeshee cult spreads salmonella in salad bars at ten restaurants in The Dalles, Oregon to influence a local election. Health officials say that 751 people were sickened and more than 40 hospitalized

September 20, 1984 - US Embassy in Beirut is bombed. 20 killed.

October 7-10, 1985 - Hijacking of cruiseship Achille Lauro by PLF. Disabled passenger Leon Klinghoffer shot and thrown overboard.

April 5, 1986 - Libyan operatives bomb a German discotheque frequented by US Servicemen, 3 killed.

February 28, 1989 - firebombing of Riverdale Press newspaper offices in New York City.

November 5, 1990 - assasination of Israeli Knesset Member Meir Kahana in New York City by early elements of Al Qaeda.

January 25, 1993 - Mir Aimal Kansi, a Pakistani, fires an AK-47 assault rifle into cars waiting at a stoplight in front of the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters, killing two and injuring three others.

February 26, 1993 - WTC Bombing kills 6 and injures over 1,000. Coalition of 5 different muslim terrorist groups responsible. Again, this is an early operation of the terrorist umbrella organization known as Al Qaeda.

March 1, 1994 - Brooklyn Bridge shooting by Muslim terrorist kills 1.

February 24, 1997 - Ali Abu Kamal opens fire on tourists at an observation deck atop the Empire State Building in New York City, killing a Danish national and wounding visitors from the United States, Argentina, Switzerland and France before turning the gun on himself. A handwritten note carried by the gunman claims this was a punishment attack against the "enemies of Palestine".

August 7 1998 - U.S. embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, killing 225 people and injuring more than 4,000, by al-Qaeda.

October 19, 1998 - Earth Liberation Front causes $12 million worth of damage with firebombing of a ski resort in Vail, Colorado.

December 31 1999 - Earth Liberation Front causes over $1 million of damage in firebombing of Michigan State University's Agriculture Hall.

April 30, 2000 - The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) claimed responsibility for causing over $500,000 in damages to construction equipment in Elettsville, Indiana. Fourteen pieces of logging and construction equipment were destroyed by the perpetrators, who filled gas tanks with sand, cut fuel and hydraulic lines and set a tractor-trailer filled with wood chips on fire.

That's 29 attacks in 27 years... and I missed a few that weren't successful attacks. I also left off the domestic terrorist attacks.

After our response to 9/11 in Afghanistan and Iraq?

Nothing.

So, I look at our strategy and I look at the result, and I see success.

Elliot

paraclete

Now that's hitting below the belt but I have you know that in oz we don;t have to boil the water to make it safe. Look Ex would love it here, he could have the choice between two political parties who have leftist tendencies, one that claims to represent the workers and the other that claims to represent the battlers. Before our last election the party that claimed to represent the workers had a "me too" attitude to policy excepting to changes in Labor laws. What do both these groups do about health care, interestingly they maintain a system where basic health care is "paid for", and I emphasise 'paid for' by the government. The system allows you to pay any amount you want to to a doctor to look after you but the government will rebate a set fee, so choice is absolute. In this fairyland there is no reason for any person not to consult a doctor or receive treatment in a hospital because they cannot afford care.

I think that is what Obama is trying to achieve. The vested interests oppose such an objective and the politicians can't quite get their minds around how to achieve it

paraclete

Concepts that worked well when travel was difficult and communications almost non existent. What you have is a present fettered by the thinking of men who lived in a different age, an age of kings, colonialism and war between states

tomder55

If I count the times I was employed in high school ;college and post college starting out ,I was that employee for a good 15-20 years. Name the job and I did it . There was almost nothing I wouldn't do. Hey ;if the government had paid for all my necessities then perhaps I'd've lost a good deal of the incentive to improve my condition ...no ?

I am all in favor of a hard case safety net. I draw the line when my years of hard work means that someone else is ENTITLED to live off my labor.

ETWolverine

I fail to see how technological improvement changes the principals behind our Founding.

I fail to see how the advent of cars, cell phones and computers makes what the Founders said about the dangers of government power and the methods of preventing its abuse. If anything, technology has allowed for GREATER government control over our everyday lives, our businesses and our liberties. If anything the warnings of the Founders are more relevant today than they ever were before, not less.

You are willing to give your government that control. We are not. Technological changes don't enter into it. I daresay that you would be just as permissive of your government managing your life if you were living in the early 1800s as you are today. And we conservatives would be just as strongly against it as we are today.

Elliot

phlanx

To all who lost their lives from terrorism, rest and respect

Elliot

As I witnessed the IRA bombing of Hyde Park in 1982, I am somewhat familar with the effects that terrorism has. I was on the other side of the park with my Dad, horror films have never been the same since

I think here though you are trying to persuade an argument that was based on the number of people who died in a single attack

If it wasnt for 9-11 there would be no war in Iraq etc

However, having lived with terrorism what seems all my life, do not think that the chances of you being bombed again have gone

The reason why it is particular effective is any idiot can do it, with very little assistance, but then you know that from your israeli experience

What you have to do is learn from each other of why there is so much hatred between the two sides

This involves talking, and I guarantee at some point talking will happen in Afgahanistan, and all its regions, because we cannot let this go and needs to be finished and not left to stir up again in 5 years

But this moves the subject away from the question

And we both know where we stand on this issue, im right your wrong

phlanx

I dont disagree that these jobs are there for students and the like, but at the same time, not every one of the 15m people employed in these jobs are students

phlanx

I am not sure if the princicples have changed but I do believe that one or two technologies have meant greater cultural influence over each other

He we have several people from different countries arguing the difference of yesturdays news, and yet this happening all over the world

Cultural influence has been accelerated at a phenomonal pace, no longer do governments control foreign policy in its entirity, it is now in the hands of the people and growing

Just as I have found out that not all americans live up to their sterotypes, but I hope I have represented England in a timely tradition G'vnor

The point is this, no person can look to the future with certainity, but we can try to plan for it, and the one goal we are all after, I want to make sure I am cared for if somethings happen

Whether it is through work of your own, or given to you, I just cant see what is wrong with giving every human being the chance to be given medical assistance, and seen as this is something that every human being will need, it is a goal we all share in our lives

It is a shame that for a simple reformation of the healthcare system you object to helping your fellow man in a very easy gesture of goodwill

George_1950

Obama is a fascist or socialist, whichever you want to call him; he is, 'all government, all the time'.

Beginning around 1965, persons aged 65 and up, almost universally, have Medicare. It is going bust. Is that difficult to understand? Too many 'customers' chasing too few 'providers'; the result of which is higher prices.

Because hospitals and doctors are taking an economic loss vis a vis Medicare, they charge younger 'customers' more. This is an unintended economic consequence, which leads to higher prices from providers and insurers.

I don't care how large your heart is; how do you propose to pay for it? If you want taxpayers to pay for healthcare, what about shelter and food? Transportation? Daycare? Clothes? Pet care? Burial? Utilities?

excon

Hello again, George:

I wonder why you don't ask the same question when it comes to your wars.

excon