So I was already paranoid...

[noobiechickenlady]

I agree wholeheartedly wifezilla. Take a page from Thoreau. That government is best which governs least.
What government program does anyone know which is run as efficiently and economically as those in the private sector?
Oh, and regarding the subject line: what is the opposite of paranoia? The absurd notion that NO ONE is out to get you

It can't harm anything for all of us to have our own gardens, livestock, know how to make our own clothing, have stored food, candles, medicines, etc. Because in cases of emergency, guess what? You get to fend for yourself, the government will NOT be able to bail you out.

 

[Wifezilla]

Exactly. Being prepared for economic chaos will not hurt a bit. If I can only get the boys to stop scarfing everything!!!!!

(Geez, they act like I never feed them or something )

 

[farmerlor]

Exactly. Being prepared for economic chaos will not hurt a bit. If I can only get the boys to stop scarfing everything!!!!!

(Geez, they act like I never feed them or something )

Absolutely. That's why I've been preparing for about eight years now. That's one thing I won't miss about Adam when he goes off to college-the way he can empty a gallon of milk and a box of cereal in one sitting.

 

[dacjohns]

Reading between the lines and my faulty memory tells me that the cap and trade is a tax. Taxes are incentives? To me it sounds more like punishment to force something to happen instead of positive encouragement.

Now I'm going to have a thread that will go way off into left or right field showing up even after I don't want anything more to do with it. When will I ever learn?

 

[VT-Chicklit]

Wifezilla,I am terrified that they will get Cap and Trade(Tax) and Socialized Health Care too! These idiots will use anything thing that the can to create a "crisis" that frightens the American people, who then rush into things that they have not fully thought out! If Americans realized how much Cap and Trade (Tax) will cost in money and jobs and how little it will do to change what they have been told is a problem, Americans would run screaming in the other direction.

Healthcare is an issue that needs to be fixed, but not in the "radical" way that Socialized Medicine will change it! Socialized Medicine will dumb down the health care to the lowest common denominator. Another words, Everyone will get healthcare, but it will not be the quality health care that we get now. Yes, people will be able to go the doctor if they have the sniffles or the flu and it will be covered, but you don't want to be under a Socialized System if you get something major, like cancer or other less common dseases. There will be little if any innovation once Socialized Medicine is instituted. Innovation is costly, and under a system that uses "Cost Benefit Analysis" when determining treatments, innovation will be smothered and cease to exist. Treatments will be doled out based on life expectancy and success rate. Another words, those who are old or are thought to be terminally ill will get little if any treatment for their illness, they will probabbly die on a waiting list. At best they will get the cheapest tests and treatment possible, which may not be what they actually need. Cost will determine the care you receive. My mother, at the age of 72, had a double bypass. It saved her life, but at a cost of $68,000. Under Socialized Medicine, I do not think that she would have gotten her surgery.

Socialized Medicine will also be the reason that fewer people to go into the medical field. There will be an even greater shortage of nurses and doctors, because the money will not be there to be made, and the beaurocratic (sp) nightmare that the government will cause in paperwork will make it not worth their effort. This will lead to long waits for needed diagnosis and treatments in the rural areas of our country because there will not be an adequate supply of specialists and specialized equipment. This happens in some areas of Canada and England. There are areas of the country where there is a concentration of quality care and then in other areas the care is slow and inadequate. That is why you get conflicting reports on the quality of care in Canada and England. Yes we also have these issues, but you currently can travel to a hospital anywhere in the country to get your care. You will no longer be able to do that. You will not be given the various options that are available for treatment of your condition. The only options that will be discussed will be the ones that have been aproved by some bean counter in a governmental office who bases his decision on "Cost Benefit". All the choices that you currently have will cease to exist. They will make your choice. Even people without insurance have choices. You can select what hospital you will go to and what types of treatments you want to receive. You cannot be refused ER care and hospitals will work with you to pay the bill. If you have to you can even go into bankruptcy to get relief from some of your debts, BUT AT LEAST YOU WILL BE ALIVE! This will not necessarily be the case under Socialized Medicine.

Ask our Veterans about the care that they receive. Some receive excellent care but unfortunately most do not! That is what government run health care will be like.

 

[VT-Chicklit]

Sorry I got carried away in my last post! We have put in a second garden this year, just in case! I pray we dont need it.

 

[Big Daddy]

This country is in dire need of health care reform. I was astounded to learn that the CEO United Health had total compensation last year of 1 billion dollars. Nobody is worth 1 billion dollars! Health care is something that should be provided to everybody. The insurance companies say they can reduce costs by 2 trillion dollars. Maybe they're going to give the CEO's a pay cut. Most likely they will reduce what they pay doctors and cut what they will cover. JMO

Cap and Trade. I think it will increase overall costs. It's too bad the power companies and manufacturers can't clean up their own act. Since the government is doing it there will be a lot of wasted money. They should've been working on it for the last 20 years. Instead they have to take giant steps instead f baby steps.

I hate corporations and I'm very distrustful of at least 80% of our politicians. My hope level for the future of the world is low.

 

[Mackay]

Ultimately, I think that if we do not develop a sustainable society we will be doomed before long.

Sustainability is a pretty scary concept, even to me, although in principle I understand it, it's just the getting there that is a freak out.

What to do with all those nonsense jobs, all those extra people who have no skills, what to do with it all?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2174195060267517042

 

[Wifezilla]

Big Daddy, I think we actually agree on something!

One of the biggest issues with the medical problem is people equate health insurance with health care. They are NOT the same thing. In fact, the more insurance there is, the less money you have for actual TREATMENT.

I remember as a grade schooler going on a field trip to this insurance company. There were hundreds of people in this huge fancy building. There were expensive cars all over the parking lot. Even then it didn't make sense why people gave money to insurance companies when they could just give the money to the doctor.

Doctors sold their souls when they climbed in bed with insurance companies. They thought they could stop worrying about the business end of their practice and just focus on medicine while getting a steady paycheck. What they got instead was lower payments for services, higher insurance costs for themselves, and a need to churn and burn patients just to stay afloat.

Even if you don't think insurance is a racket, there are so many regulations preventing different types of pooling it will make your head spin. Big insurance has itself pretty well protected.

I talked to an online friend who is a nurse about this (and she is married to a doctor). There is much discussion among the MD's about this issue at present. Many are thinking of retuning to the good old days where if you need your broken arm set, you trade a couple of chickens and a bushel of corn to the doctor for services...just like the good old days before insurance companies.

 

[inchworm]

Last year, we switched to a high deductible health insurance plan because the premiums were so much cheaper. I then saved the difference in the premiums as our private little health care fund that we used to pay doctor bills, etc. Even with an emergency room visit and many cardiologist appointments, we came out ahead! I think most of us would be better off with a major medical policy that covers hospilization and paying our basic health care needs ourselves. People need to stop thinking they can get somebody else to pay for things. That way we can focus on keeping medicare and medicaid afloat.