The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

If you want to talk about the imminent collapse of gov't programs, please provide a link. If you want to talk about funding the programs, that's a whole other question.

I guess this is where we won't agree. I see running out of funding as a imminent collapse. You see it as a need for more funding.

So the government can just take more and more and more to keep funding this stuff.

What do you think will happen when social security can no longer be funded? The only choice is to once increase taxes.

Look at the Obama example of the post office. They run out of money, they raise the cost of a postage stamp, yet they still run huge deficits. How will this vary from what will happen with any medical programs? It won't. In fact, it doesn't. It appears as if you admit to financial insolvency of SS and medicare, but I suppose if we keep throwing more money at it it wil be fine. This is what happens with all government programs.

[wendybeth]

I think the message that keeps getting lost in all this is that health care reform largely depends on negotiating with the various entities that are driving the costs out of control. I suspects you base your assertions of the price of universal access to health care on current costs, Scaeagles, would that be accurate? Other countries pay far less for pharmaceuticals and equipment, which drives down the costs of testing and care in general. We not only subsidize those without healthcare in our country at present, but the world as well. Most of the medical companies charge us outrageous prices, all because they can. It's interesting that some of the most promising research into cures for diseases and syndromes occurs in countries where the healthcare systems are heavily regulated. It would seem that even without the profit motive, researchers and other medical personnel are still motivated to come to the aid of their fellow human beings.

[wendybeth]

Wow- pretty subversive stuff. It's ironic that parents are keeping their kids home, given the main theme of the speech: Obama's Speech to Schoolchildren .