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Socialized Medication.

Well I had to get my medical cleared here in China Friday. So I had to go to a local government hospital. They had to do a regular check, blood pressure, height and weight. Then a EKG, and a sonogram, then a chest x-ray, a urine test, and a full panel of blood tests along with vision and color blindness test.

I had this done in the US before coming and it cost me about 600 dollars, and that was cheap since my local doctor did it. But at my local doctor, it took about 4 hours to go to each department and get it done.

Here in China from the time I entered the hospital front door, to time out the door was about 45 minutes and it cost me 300 yuan or slightly less than 50 US dollars.

What covers that difference? Taxes or some other individual contribution?

I'm not sure why people try to demonize it.

What is the cost of living like there compared to the US?

Hello Padre:

As a right winger, this doesn't offend you??

If we'd only undertake that system, we'd have enough left over to buy air craft carriers galore, pay for Social Security forever, and we could fix a road or two.

excon

Wow! If only that could be done here for that price and with that speed in getting it completed.

and I'm sure it was top notch service

What paid for it ? Like everything else in China is was a Potamkin service. What ? You think the billion people of the country are privy to such service ? Get real .

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You think the billion people of the country are privy to such service ?

The same can be said of the US system as well.

Well Chuck I hope your piece serves to educate although I see the right wing skeptism emerge immediately, nothing could be better and more efficient than the capitalist system, right Tom and you know you don't have to go as far as China to experience such service, just across the water is a small island called Cuba This is what happens when you keep the profiteers out of the system

Lol you are holding a system that caters to elites as an example?. lolol Yes I suspect that is the same in China where the cadres and invited foreigners get premier care .

Come to think about it... that is America under Obamacare where the cadres who made the law are exempt from the provisions of the law

And your systems doesn't cater for elites, like an ordinary person can become President.

Tom in China they have huge cities, some with bigger populations than your states and they have hospitals and medical care, did you notice that Chuck had to pay for service? But not the inflated price of your system, but what it costs, they have highways and inferstructure far superior to yours and they use railways for long distance transport. Just because something is different doesn't make it wrong although you may just prove the exception to the rule

Maybe you need a better local doctor, or insurance. My regular 6 month check ups are 15 bucks and takes less than half an hour.

So about the equivalent price to China

This was not just a check up, but chest x-ray, full blood work, urine check, vision check and soon.

But the 15 bucks would be a co/pay, at least in the US, you don't walk into a doctors office for under 85 dollars in the US.

But yes, the bus service and taxi service here is better than any US city I have been to.
* no subway here*

Still traffic jam issues, during rush hours,

The income tax here is basically 10 percent for all the people, there is no sales tax at all.

Small business pay ( I am told) a slightly higher tax on its profits.

But as noted in another post, we bought health insurance before coming here,
The policy is from Aetna, well it is good in any nation of the world, EXCEPT, the US, it cost us about 225 dollars a month. The same is over 800 in US

Yes Chuck we know the system is overbloated there by insurance companies and profit taking, what Tom doesn't realise is it is possible for other nations to have viable economies without rabid capitalism. Tom will want to implement the Chinese system immediately now he has heard they have a low flat tax, but you failed to tell him the only road out of town is a toll road

Yeah I thought about commenting on that ;but realized it's all part of the phantom Potamkin economy they run that is well on it's way to collapse

The chinese economy is about to collapse? The one that holds a lot of your debt? And manufactures most of the products you buy?

They can't keep building cities that no one occupies forever.

Even for China, herding a society that big into a single minded purpose that provides for the whole is a daunting process. Size does matter. Until they can raise an economy that reaches hundreds of trillions per year, they will struggle mightily. As do we and all the other civilized societies.

Almost all of the current "growth" in their economy is phony, comprised of phony make work projects that have no economic value.

I agree Tom, but we do know they have more people who don't participate or can't, in there economy, than they have those who benefit from it. Such imbalance is not a winning recipe for any society on earth.

Tom I would say the number of unoccupied dwellings in the US is about the same as China, big difference though, they can fill theirs with a stroke of the pen. Their unoccupied dwellings are in redeveloped towns, in places where they want people to be, planning for them to be, whereas your are the result of mere profiteering

We have vacancies because of an economic downturn. While this is happening we don't have builders employed building ghost cities to keep construction workers employed . But it 's OK if you think white elephant projects are good policy.

We don't build bridges, roads, and schools to keep them employed here either so what's the difference?

The have nots don't make economic downturns or throw people out of their homes either.

Yeah maybe we should have a couple more' Big Digs '.That should really get us out of the hole. Got a hint for you... we have Dem pols here in NY arguing over a decade about what a replacement for the Tappan-Zee Bridge should look like . It took over a decade to begin to see some progress at the ground zero site. Do you really think someone decides to build a road and hands a worker a shovel ? Not in this environment where career pols and union bosses enrich themselves in the planning phase .

What happened to all those shovel ready projects, I expect most of them were shovelling bull?

You apparently have a problem with nation building projects, Tom, is that because you think your nation is built, already developed and doesn't need more building? Is your objection that someone will enrich themselves or that the wrong people will enrich themselves? I expect you have no problem with CEO's enriching themselves and keeping their gains with lower taxes. Why don't you have some white elephant projects, I've no doubt if we cast around we could find a few already under construction

Most times when the government is involved it's a white elephant. If CEOs build and enriches themselves it doesn't cost me a penny.

That is a very incorrect idea, When CEO's take large salaries they reduce the available earnings available to stockholders, in fact some "earn" their large salaries when there is no apparent benefit to stockholders and appreciable dimunition of stockholder value. I can only assume you have no investments in stocks

Hello again, tom:

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most times when the government is involved it's a white elephant. If CEOs build and enriches themselves it doesn't cost me a penny.

Yeah, that gubment. It cain't build squat. They DIDN'T build the interstate.. They DIDN'T build our bridges and roads. They DIDN'T build Hoover Dam. They DIDN'T build our airports..

And they should never build anything again. They shouldn't even REPAIR our broken down bridges, or fix our roads, or an airport or two.

Maybe some CEO will do it..

Excon

Ex that's gubment, backwoods style, the "if it ain't broke don't fix it " mindset. That thinking leaves nothing for the next generation and never invents anything for it's self. Pappy's muzzleloader is good enough to put dinner on the table and they never learned anythung else. You don't need radds and bridges when all you do is sit on your blessed assurance

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, tom:

Yeah, that gubment. It cain't build squat. They DIDN'T build the interstate.. They DIDN'T build our bridges and roads. They DIDN'T build Hoover Dam. They DIDN'T build our airports..

And they should never build anything again. They shouldn't even REPAIR our broken down bridges, or fix our roads, or an airport or two.

Maybe some CEO will do it..

excon

Most of them were inefficient ,over-priced boondoggles . Don't use the Hoover Dam as an example . You know very well that situation with the unions allowing public work corps will never happen again. As for the Interstate... Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to fund roads ;and there was a national security component to it's logic. It constitutes about 2 % of the road system in the country . Are you saying it's the Federal Government's responsibility to fund and build all our roads ?

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Are you saying it's the Federal Government's responsibility to fund and build all our roads ?

I give up, who's responsibility is it?

Most roads are local jurisdicition ;some town ,some County ,some State ,many are private owned .Most major routes are state owned and managed ;even many sections of the Interstate system are State owned and managed . I can say that the major states in the North East collect tolls on the Interstate system roads that are designated state Thruways . There is a Federal Excise tax on gasoline that is supposed to pay for road infrastructure maintenance. Theoretically if that money is being used for it's intended purpose there is plenty of money for maintenance. Tolls on highways and bridges are also supposed to be used for that purpose .

So some level of government is involved for the vast majority of the roadwork in the country. Right?

Obviously

To repeat myself... I asked " Are you saying it's the Federal Government's responsibility to fund and build all our roads ? " I neve implied that there was no level of government involved .
I also said that most construction projects run by the government are boondoggles and I stand by that too.The higher the level of government the more waste and inefficient .

So you are saying all this government largesse benefits nobody, so you have some potemkin roads over there, roads to nowhere, or at least nowhere anyone would want to go. Tom I have a curious question? Who built the Chigago hump. Was that a capitalist exercise in stupidity or a boondoggle

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Originally Posted by paraclete

who built the Chigago hump. was that a capitalist exercise in stupidity or a boondoggle

What's that? I live there.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

What's that? I live there.

Apparently there is a rail freight facility there through which most of the rail frieght in the US must pass, it consists of a large marshalling yard and sorting facility with an artificial hill at its centre. The rail system is so designed that all freight must pass through Chigago

Quote:

Originally Posted by paraclete

apparently there is a rail freight facility there through which most of the rail frieght in the US must pass, it consists of a large marshalling yard and sorting facility with an artificial hill at its centre. The rail system is so designed that all freight must pass throught Chigago

I've lived here since 1963 (and my husband was born here). We've never heard/seen reference to that as the "Hump." It has always been called "The Clearing Yard," and is just south of Midway Airport, our second largest airport. My husband said one probably has to really be into trains to be calling it "the hump."

Have you ever heard of the Chicago Loop?