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1000 Reasons not to vote for GW
Mameotron:
--- Quote from: fredster on September 17, 2004, 10:40:03 am ---GGKoul,
I think there is some special interest groups in the US that are manipulating the US market.
--- End quote ---
I think you're exactly right. It's easy to look back and see how they have done so in the past. A good example is the "railroad barons" earlier.
Senator Henry G. Davis (W. Virginia, circa 1870) actually got a law passed in congress that allowed him the right to build his railroad anywhere he saw fit to do so. If he wanted to build right through your property, the only legal recourse you had was to take him to court to see that you were paid a fair market value for the property he siezed. It was also specifically noted that while the case was tied up in litigation Mr. Davis had the right to continue building.
I'm not suggesting that anything so extreme would be tolerated today, but we have a long history of leveraging the government to help our business.
GGKoul:
The lobbiers strike again!
fredster:
I have softened on the national healtcare issue. I have seen a lot of people stay working way past when they wanted to because of healthcare.
I don't think the canadian model is what we want. I see a lot of debate on how we can get there, but it will be a huge battle. I can see the points on both sides.
I have heath insurance, and have always had health insurance because I always looked for it as a benefit. Some people don't seem to look for that in a prospective employer. But it does cost me to have it more and more every year. That coupled with Medicare charges, FICA taxes, etc is building up a lot of funds out of my pocket.
I understand the UK model is a good one. There's more of a choice than the Canadian one. You can pay and have extra insurance to have more of a choice in timing and doctors that way.
I just don't trust the government to manage things that large. If any of you have ever worked for a big organization you can see it gets out of control fast when it's big. The bigger it is the more wasteful it becomes simply because it takes so much effort to keep it lean and effiecient.
If we were assured that we could have a decent choice at the same or lower price without the governmental red tape, I'd sign on. But I believe in Smaller government, not bigger, and it would have to be something that would work out without adding an entire cabinet level department.
This is getting pretty bad now. Lawsuits to doctors costing money to everybody, medicines costing a small fortune, people unable to pay hospital bills, illegal aliens costing us a fortune in expenses, and all the rest.
I want to be able to retire as early as possible, but I won't be able to for the simple reason I won't be covered on any healthcare plan. I'll have to pay a good portion of my income to insurance. If I don't I risk one trip to the hospital costing me my entire "estate". My brother had a tripple bypass surgery when he "retired" at 57 that at 63 drove him to loose just about everything he had.
So like I said before, if say you want a revolution, hey, we'd all love to see the plan.
shmokes:
You really like that Beatles line, don't you Fred?
fredster:
Yeah, Yeah I do.