Interesting comments being made on a Newsvine poll at MSNBC that asked whether Democrats should continue with the health bill. (The poll itself is useless since the choices are very leading.)
I just felt like recording some here for posterity, or at least as long as I maintain this blog.
A commenter named “cdahl” had an idea to keep down the cost of health care and save American jobs at the same time:
Tariff imports, pay for it that way. Tax the goods that were sent overseas that resulted in our people getting laid off, our companies profits being reduced and wages to go down. Bring Fair Trade back (vs Free Trade). As an employer if I have to provide health insurance, it is a cost I have to put into my “widgits” that we manufacture. Chinese “widgets” don’t have that cost. Tariff them, put them on an equal playing field.
A liberal named “66ncounting” said:
….I guess the Dems haven’t been paying attention to what’s been going on in the country for the past year. Everybody is blaming everyone else in the Dem camp when they aught to own up to the fact that they are all to blame. Brown took advantage of the huge tactical glich made by the Dems. ….I began to think Obama was going to be a one-term president when last March or April he had the health-insurance fat cats come to the White House for a closed-door meeting. I e-mailed the WH begging him not to cave but I knew he already did. He had already caved when he started that bi-partisan crap. I don’t want this bill that was written by big insurance for big insurance to become law. I am a liberal and I hate this sell-out bill for liberal reasons. Obama wimped out when he wouldn’t kick ass and take names with Congress like Johnson did to get Medicare passed. Oh, by the way, after Medicare was passed it only took eighteen months to get it up and operating—And this was BEFORE computers!
Obama made health-care reform incomprehensible to most of us. We don’t support what we can’t understand. How could he not know this?
“Voter-in-LA” noted:
….In a recent contract negotiation conflict here between Blue Cross and a large hospital, it came to light that out of every $1 BC reimbursed the hospital for, only $0.55 was actually spent on the care of the insured patient. The balance was made up of $0.35 for uninsured/medicare and $0.10 for the hospital’s profit.
I can understand people not wanting the government involved in their healthcare at a provider level, but I really do believe some cost containment needs to be looked at. If things stay unchecked, there will be fewer people who can afford the premium increases that will be necessary.
“m2c2″ thinks Democrats are too nice for their own good:
Ummm… last time I looked, one of the things that “got them elected” was a strong stance in favor of a national healthcare overhaul, including a public option. The Dems have a larger majority in both houses than W ever had, back when he did whatever the hell he wanted. They shouldn’t be afraid to force this issue. It is crucial to the long-term survial of the nation.
“Jim Dettman” thinks that Massachussetts voted in Scott Brown because they already have the health care, and passing a national bill would add “more cost giving them something that they already have.”
“Boston1977″ offered a view from Massachussetts in response to several comments about his/her state:
I am from Massachusetts and voted for Scott Brown so I must be one of those gullible idiots you are refering too. You ask, “you really think that the GOP has answers?” My question back to you is, what are the Democrats answers? I am sorry, but bribing Senators from Nebraska and Louisiana are not answers. Ramming a bill, that no one has read, down our throats when the polls show it is not supported is not the answer.
….I will not deny that Bush started this TARP mess but I think the blame goes far beyond him and the Republicans as you would like to point out. Have you forgotten Barney Frank and Mr. Dodd? They had a huge part in creating this mess. And don’t just blame the banks and corporations that gave out all of these suspect loans, what about the idiots that took out the loans in the first place?
Bottom Line – Since Obama has become President, the United States government has a majority stake in the Auto Industry, Banking, Finance, …and now they want Healthcare too. This does not sound like the country our Founding Fathers intended. The US government is not supposed to own private sector businesses.
And finally, these three commentors debate on which came first, the chicken or the egg (metaphorically speaking).
Shawn:
Democrats who blame the economic downturn on Bush: Watch this CSPAN clip:
It wasn’t the Republicans that brought on the housing bust and ensuing economic problems. It started with a bill called “The Affordable Housing Act” by Barney Frank. The Federal government pushed banks to “relax” their standard lending criteria so that many more people could get mortgages and buy houses.
As usual, the liberals don’t have a sense of reality. In huge numbers, those people defaulted on their mortgages, which meant the banks owned the houses, which in turn made the housing market crash (ever hear of Supply vs. Demand) and made banks fail
And just if you don’t believe it, here’s CSPAN footage of the hearings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C40uvoIw0mw
Note that even he mentions the possibility of jobs lost in technology around 1:27. “..And then when people ARE dislocated here, if they lose their jobs in technology or they don’t buy the products any more…”.Here’s Obama’s viewpoint(s) (which flipflops and you’re believing).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZppfH5IJ3a0If you watch the video with Clinton and are old enough to remember, the Dems back then were even saying it would adjust if things got worse for Americans based on what Clinton said. Apparently, for people like you, “adjust” means to blame Bush over a decade later. The same things are being said now with this health care bill. Dems are saying to pass it now and they’ll fix it later if it’s not working. Sorry, but fool me once, shame on me.