Kingfrog

The blame game will not fly with me. WE elect politicians. I cannot tell you how many people DON'T vote nor ever research those running for office with the excuse....."AH it doesn't matter, they are all crooks" THERE'S THE REAL PROBLEM ...............the PEOPLE..... not the politicians. The pols are only taking what WE give them! We give them the office to REPRESENT us. We vote the same people in year after year. This was not the intent of the framers. But in those days far more then 40% of the electorate voted and cared about the system enough to.

People are quoting low deductible polices. Yes they are high priced and should be considering the parents who take their kids to the doctor if they should sneeze. If you buy CATASTROPHIC insurance (as you do on your home and cars) Health insurance is not that bad. Sure a $1500 DEDUCT will be much higher. We are not talking "sniffle insurance". The real problem is we were used to getting it "free" from employers. Some still do. Insurance is a service, not a right.
HEalth is not mentioned in the constitution as being a right we have. Liberty and choice is.

My wife is 42 and her policy cost $165 a month (Blue Cross of SC) with a $5000 TOTAL out of pocket including prescriptions. I would rather be on the hook for $5000 then the $85,000 her medical ended up costing. YEah My house is paid for and cars, no credit card debt blah blah. But I had to sacrifice A LOT over the years to reach this point including new cars, toys, name brand this name brand that. Had to save and invest. Never earning over $40k a year that was not easy. But it has paid off. The kids financed their own education as did I. They are better for it. They drove beaters. Clark Howard , com is a good start for those interested in how to save.

My boss offers insurance as well but it's less expensive to pay for an individual policy.

If heating is cleaning up your budget then you are at the poverty level and will get "free" health care. Those in the middle can afford it but choose to pass because they are getting quots on low deductable policies.

Insurance should cover against catastrophic loss. Not minor inconvenience. Thats why I don't buy extended warranties. Nothing I buy if needed repair would be considered a catastrophic financial burden, HUGELY inconvenient in the case of a $3000 engine. But certainly not catastrophic.All I am saying is if many people really really look at their income vs expenses they will see they made choices based on their wants not needs.
They WANT new cars. They don't need new cars. They can buy a nice car for far less than $10,000 (even new). But they want Two car payments or string themselves out over 5 years on a car in which time they may have life changes making that choice a "wish I could go back and do it again"

Its all about choices for those earning at or above the nominal family income. Is the system broke? Yep. But it's not ALL the system. People abuse it terribly. And they abuse their health as well. Buy hey it's a free country. Somehow the word "free" got expanded.

I am sorry I have no sympathy for those who cry foul on medical insurance yet are making the choice to buy new cars and make payments on credit cards which are used to spend more then one earns for "Stuff". Then they get sick because they are overweight and don't exercise and then have the balls expect all of us to pay for their medical care through higher taxes and whine about the high cost of insurance.

The same people who whine about $4.00 a gallon gas yet tete a tete with their buds over a $2.00 8oz beer or $3.00 6oz Cappuccino.

Choices.....We all have them.

I will not buy a new car because I choose to use the extra income to buy health insurance and carry the highest liability limits possible to protect my home and family. That's my choice. I don't like it but the alternative is not acceptable.

I saved over $6000 on My HHR by buying used and well over $10,000 on the wife's 2002 29k mile Spyder. We watch a 47" Vizio instead of Sony HDTV ($1200 savings) We by refurb Dells rather then new. Never buy Extended Warranties All those savings add up. Thats many years of heath premiums!! And guess what We still BOTH still drive fun cars!!!

Harpozep

A cynical realist.
People seem to TRY to use one size fit all approaches to a lot of complicated problems. It never works since the world is not always black and white.
Both conservatives and liberals are guilty of this. Then both sides pander to specific sets and start making changes and omissions. Often then a book's worth of details is written about a specific law that few can actually understand. Income tax anyone?

Take taxes as an example. A flat non progressive tax would cut the supply of fund to the government, so it will never fly. The Republicans bring it up now and then to pander to their flock, but it is only dressing. Democrats , who have a lot of rich folks doing their talking for them seem to enjoy trying to tax the highest earners more than the lowest. Both sides may have some reasonable goals in mind, nonetheless neither one seems to fit the needs of the country best.


I'm for a flat tax, but am no raving conservative, just the Libertarian in me. My views are hard to classify since I do believe in safety net, unlike a lot of conservatives, and do want certain sectors to be overlooked by the government, as bad as the government can be, I do think air traffic and defense should be overlooked and in the latter case RUN by the US government.


I find the privatizing of the fighting military , with differing set of rules for the mercs more than troubling.
One military, one code of ethics.
A lot of shenanigans and resentment going on because of this according to my friends who are serving. Mercs usually get paid a lot more than our military folks and are not answerable to the same rule of law according to the administration.

The administration is trying to shore up our military with these private contractors because the all volunteer force is too small for their current needs and they do not want to bring back a draft since it will likely make folks vote against whichever party is in power when said Draft legislation goes through. Just another hot potato issue that makes our legislature a joke to anyone who gives it more than a cursory glance.
Granted filling the military with folks who do not WANT to be there has its own pitfalls............


Our Government subsidizes a lot of industries to keep them alive and our costs down, meat, grain, ethanol, and more. A total free market approach would suddenly wreak havoc on our economy since we are suckling the govt teat so much. Not sure what to do there..... perhaps this system of socialized dependence that is part of our government needs reform. I mean it is a govt handout, but does seem to do SOME greater good? Need to research that one more.

Anyway, I'm rambbin' again and have to leave for work soon ( Own my own business, work a lot but can go in late= stay later ).

My views are to usually question authority, never trust the money piles, and question again. Follow the money trails to see what the REAL reason is for any activity, goal, or proposal.

Having been ripped off, lied, hit an run on, cheated on, etc and financially put in check my entire life ( hey I do make mistakes too ), I find that trust in other people needs to be earned not automatically given. Yeah, I know welcome to the human race!

I'm just another fellow basing my world view upon experience rather than a textbook description of a political view. One size does not fit all in that area for me. I just cannot pull a party lever. I vote across parties and unfortunately have never voted for a president that won

King frog ( Love the moniker dude! ), I'm with ya in some ways. People do make a lot of decision that put them in places where they government and its myriad of systems then assists them. Not a great outcome for sure.

People do abuse our government true enough, but realize that not everyone is able to pull themselves up in our economy. An awful lot of things conspire to keep some folks destitute while their neighbor moves up. Just hard work is not enough for some folks. a lot of jobs cannot pay their people enough to progress. Yes, then the employee should move to a place where jobs will allow more income. But say that to someone who is mired down as a sole source of income in a tragic household full of disabled elders etc. I know these folks. I sell in the trenches everyday. I have some of these poor folks arrested for stealing from my store. Are they all deserving of getting their hands cut off, no, but some sure are $$#^#&*$*

Anyway, let's actually USE the term Dubya made famous and practice a little " Compassionate Conservatism". It is not always the case that "no good deed shall go unpunished", just almost always......
Gotta go.
Have a good day folks. Maybe I can catch a break at the store and hit this site later.
Behave.......