"If Stephen Hawking were British he would be dead" - wtf?

[DeusTrismegistus]

But Dues, I already spend 25 percent of my income on health insurance and another, at least 10-20 percent in co-pays and deductibles. I have to pay a 300 dollar deductible to go sit in the emergency room with medicaid patients. And all that will double in a short time. Blue cross just jacked their premiums in Michigan by 26 percent just yesterday. They wanted 56 percent but were disallowed by regulators.

I never need it but the conditions they put on my wifes so called pre-existing conditions is nothing short of extortion.

Our government was fairly elected to represent us. Overwhelmingly, I might add. It may at some point be they are not representing us and our constitution allows for their removal. Until than, I'll trust that Obama is looking out for the majority and the insurance companies are only protecting their bottom line.

Of course the insurance companies are protecting their bottom line. For anyone to expect them to do anything else is moronic. I have a theory on why the healthcare costs are skyrocketing but its just speculation. I don't have access to anything that would prove it true but basically the insurance is what makes healthcare costs increase so much. That and the increasing rates of chronic disease, which all the healthcare hasn't managed to stop or slow down. Thing is that the healthcare lobby is extremelly powerful. This is a sector of the economy that is based in a few big companies that own most of the FDA and combined probably have more money to spend on lobbying than any other group in the world. Do you really think a healthcare bill that didn't benefit them financially could pass?

However quite simply read the constitution and tell me what part allows the legislature to pass a universal healthcare bill, or a stimulus bill. Or one that allows the president to introduce legislature. Yes the healthcare system is not the best in the world. It has areas that need definite improvement. However that doesn't mean that the current bill is going to actually help.

[Dmitri]

It may at some point be they are not representing us and our constitution allows for their removal.

Oh good, I guess that's exactly why we "removed" Bush recently. 8 years is damn well enough, I say. We sure showed them!!

[DeusTrismegistus]

Yep whoever wrote that article is a moron.
Americans are not fighting the healthcare bill because they want to save insurance companies. Americans hate insurance companies. Why is so hard for people to understand that americans do not want the federal government to have too much control? That is really what this is about is who has the power. The power in the US should be in the hands of the people, not the Federal governement. The more centralized the government becomes the more likely and easily they could take away peoples' rights and liberties.

If I've learned anything, there is in reality no such thing as a group called "Americans" who agree on any single issue affecting the country at large. Outside the primrose path of partisan cheer-leading, at least.

The thing about the American system is that, in theory at least, we ARE the government. The problem is that there are too many false persons, immortal and untouchable, powerful beyond our wildest imagining, that have subverted the power of the government, destroyed any semblance of inclusiveness in the process, and seek only to consolidate more power in their massive imaginary hands.

These fictional people exist beyond our control, unlike the government which still maintains at least the pretense of checks and balances, and openly serve no interest beyond their own growth, at the expense of the public.

I agree, which is why its important for the american people to do whatever they can to keep the federal governments power from expanding further.

[DeusTrismegistus]

It may at some point be they are not representing us and our constitution allows for their removal.

Oh good, I guess that's exactly why we "removed" Bush recently. 8 years is damn well enough, I say. We sure showed them!!

Bush layed the groundwork for the current changes to be made. Two party politics is an illusion. The systematic removal of freedom is falling into place too well for me to think its coincidental.

[count]

However quite simply read the constitution and tell me what part allows the legislature to pass a universal healthcare bill, or a stimulus bill. Or one that allows the president to introduce legislature. Yes the healthcare system is not the best in the world. It has areas that need definite improvement. However that doesn't mean that the current bill is going to actually help.

Um, of the top of my head,

Section 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

and this

Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;

To establish post offices and post roads;

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

[count]

It may at some point be they are not representing us and our constitution allows for their removal.

Oh good, I guess that's exactly why we "removed" Bush recently. 8 years is damn well enough, I say. We sure showed them!!

I agree with you. Where the hell were the the voices of descent when Bush shreaded our constitution and used it like toilet paper? I know where I was.

[Kurt Robbins]

Health care hasn't always been pathetic in America. Some of the older generation still retain some great insurance policies and unfortunatly they are also some of the people being targeted with this fear campaign.

[Chris McKinley]

If Stephen Hawking were dead he would be British.

[GrahamB]

"you have awakened the sleeping giant", "I don't want this country turning into Russia"

http://crooksandliars.com/logan-murphy/ ... er-exposed

[DeusTrismegistus]

However quite simply read the constitution and tell me what part allows the legislature to pass a universal healthcare bill, or a stimulus bill. Or one that allows the president to introduce legislature. Yes the healthcare system is not the best in the world. It has areas that need definite improvement. However that doesn't mean that the current bill is going to actually help.

Um, of the top of my head,

Section 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

and this

Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;

To establish post offices and post roads;

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

The only power that could be possible construed as to allow for a bailout or healthcare bill is the "general welfare" of the united states. Which is stretching that beyond its intention IMO. Unless you think one of the other powers allows for those bills?

[count]

The only power that could be possible construed as to allow for a bailout or healthcare bill is the "general welfare" of the united states. Which is stretching that beyond its intention IMO. Unless you think one of the other powers allows for those bills?

Again, and only generally

lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare

To regulate commerce


uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;


To coin money, regulate the value thereof,


To promote the progress of science and useful arts,

As I see it, Congress has the power to raise, borrow and spend money to pay debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare.

We have the ability to live and provide for ourselves. Thank god I don't depend on government handouts. But when it comes to benefits I have paid for 30 fold, I will be the first in line.

The problem is the system has failed for the poor who depend on it and corrupted by the rich who can afford to abuse it. Both forms of welfare in my book. Both at the expense of the average joe like me. Now Obama wants to level the playing field. Even though he is an attorney I trust him a hell of lot more than the ones who have always profited at my expense and hardship. What I see are people protecting their own turf and not providing for the welfare of anyone else.

OK, I'm sorry for hijacking this thread and I'm done. Stephan Hawking, an idol of mine. Loved his Pink Floyd song. Having dealt with Investors Daily on a professional work level over the years, I can honestly say they are amateurs anyway. Just another media fraud under the guise of the press that abuse the public airways and publishers to forward their perverted agendas. Like anyone else, I guess.

[Wuyizidi]

Like someone on Gawker said, this is the more hilariously ignorant political comment since "The French doesn't have a word for 'entrepreneur'".

/To the British EFer's who felt picked on by Americans: now you know how the French felt all the time. Back in 2004, John Kerry was being mocked for merely 'looking' like a Frenchman. Some gratitude huh, all they did for us was going bankrupt financing our revolution against you

[Wuyizidi]

Count,

I think for the most part "middle-class tax" is redundant. I took several soul crushingly boring tax classes in college. The one lesson I do remember is the amount of tax you pay is not so much on how much you make, but how you make it. The government uses the tax system to encourage/discourage all sorts of behavior based on what it thinks is national interest, so you can for example make 6 million a year in an off-shore oil drilling limited partnership and pay no taxes. But if you just have a regular job with straight salary, no loophole for you, you have to pay the standard rate. This why the rich and powerful spend so much to lobby their friends in congress.

The net effect is the rich don't pay that much taxes relative to what they make, of course the poor don't pay much taxes. It's usually the middle class that's left holding the bag. Warren Buffet admitted as much when he said 'it's perverse that [he] actually pays less taxes than his secretary".

The really interesting thing is somehow the rich of this country convinces the poor and the middle class that since this is a free country, anyone can be rich, so you don't want government to tax the rich because one day you might be a rock star or millionaire.

[Steve James]

The really interesting thing is somehow the rich of this country convinces the poor and the middle class that since this is a free country, anyone can be rich, so you don't want government to tax the rich because one day you might be a rock star or millionaire.

It's called the "myth of America", and it's not such a bad thing, but it's been around since the beginning. For example, look how the Constitution is used. Yet, when it was written, the "We" in "We, the People" referred only to male property holders --and that's specifically what the "founders" intended. Without even considering racial issues, 50% of the population was assumed (and intended) to be excluded from the rights of citizenship. The beauty of this phenomenal formulation you note is that anyone can say that "We, the People" refers to "I." That means Thomas Jefferson, his wife, his mistress and all his slaves. It also means every Chinese or Bangladeshi person who comes here can point to the same words and say it applies to him or her. Of course, what proves this point true most obviously is when people say or imply that some group or other isn't really American, or that the fathers never had them in mind.

[grzegorz]

20,000 Americans die from not having insurance or being under insured. Usually they'll avoid going to the doctor when they're having some problems and by the time they do it's too late.

I always find it strange that so many people are willing to spend trillions of dollars and lives to go to war to make the world a safer place, yet some of these same people could care less that so many people in this country can't afford basic health care.

It makes me ashamed to be an American.

I'm convinced that a lot of people are shooting this down simply because it's Obama's plan.