New Stanek poll: What grade would you give Obama for his 1st year’s job performance?
I have a new poll question up:
President Barack Obama recently gave himself a B+ for his first year’s job performance. What grade would you give him?
Those answering on my previous poll that socialized healthcare legislation would be passed in 2009 were wrong, thank goodness. It remains to be seen which of the other 2 answers are correct. Everyone I know prays it’s #3…
Click on the map to enlarge to find your own brightly colored flag…
As always, make comments to either this or last week’s poll here, not on the Vizu website.

Reports: NWA passenger was trying to blow up flight into Detroit
freep.com/article/20091225/NEWS05/91225022/1318/Reports-NWA-passenger-was-trying-to-blow-up-flight-into-Detroit
BY JOE SWICKARD AND NAOMI R. PATTON
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
“The suspect, identified by a member of [U. S.] Congress as Abdul Mudallad, is a Nigerian national who claims to have ties to al-Qaida.”
————————————————————————–
Two primary factors prevented another ‘man made disaster’/muslim terrorist attack’:
The prompt actions of the passengers and crew.
The incompetence of the Jew hater and attempted mass murderer exceeded the incompetence of the Dutch airport and airline security people and the United States Department of Homeland Security, who allowed
the NOT blond haired, blue eyed , peaches and cream complexioned,
the NOT christian, budhist, jew, hindu, or bahai ,
the NOT named T. D. Jakes, Keichi Hayashi, Barney Franks, Mahatma Ghandi or Nelson Evora,
but a dude named Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab
to board a passenger laden commercial airliner with a package, labeled in both English and Arabic,
‘DANGER HIGH EXPLOSIVES’.
[Forgive me I lost my objectivity for just a moment. The part about the’ package’ was hyperbole.]
No one can rightly accuse the Dutch of racial profiling.
——————————————————————————–
From The Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wealthy-quiet-unassuming-the-christmas-day-bomb-suspect-1851090.html
Wealthy, quiet, unassuming: the Christmas Day bomb suspect
The inside story of the privileged student who embraced al-Qa’ida and tried to blow a transatlantic jet out of the sky – and the lessons for us all
By Andrew Johnson and Emily Dugan
Sunday, 27 December 2009
“Nigerian newspapers reported that Abdulmutallab’s father, former Nigerian Economics Minister, who lives in Katsina, Nigeria, had informed the US embassy of his son’s activities because he had become so concerned about his religious views.
A source said Dr Mutallab was “devastated” at the news but also “surprised” his son had been allowed to travel after he had reported him to the authorities.
Dr Mutallab said he was planning to meet with police in Nigeria last night after realising his son had joined the notorious roster of al-Qa’ida terrorists, and is said to have warned the US authorities about his son’s extreme views six months ago.
“I believe he might have been to Yemen, but we are investigating to determine that,” his father said.
Reports from Nigeria suggested that Abdulmutallab’s family had seen a very different person to the one studying at UCL. He apparently cut all contact with his family after university, but is thought to have visited Egypt and then Dubai.
Abdulmutallab had allegedly become noted for his extreme religious views when he was at the British International School in Togo, where he is said to have preached Islam to his friends.
An official briefing on the attack said the US had known for at least two years that the suspect could have terrorist ties. Abdulmutallab has been on a list that included people with known or suspected contacts or ties to a terrorist or terrorist organisation. The list is maintained by the US National Counterterrorism Center and includes about 550,000 names.
The revelation of Abdulmutallab’s background has confounded terror experts. Dr Magnus Ranstorp of the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College said that the attempted bombing “didn’t square”.
“On the one hand, it seems he’s been on the terror watch list but not on the no-fly list,” he said. “That doesn’t square because the American Department for Homeland Security has pretty stringent data-mining capability. I don’t understand how he had a valid visa [issued by the United States Government] if he was known on the terror watch list.”
———————————————————————-
Call me a paranoid conspiracy geek, but I do believe I see a fact pattern emerging, a ‘profile’ if you will, in the similarities between Ft, Hood shooter Malik Nadal Hassan and Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab.
I am also detecting a ‘pattern’ of willful denial and obfuscation from the B.O. administration when confronted with evidence that contradicts their touchy feely approach to ‘man made disasters’ committed by Jew hating mass murderers who happen to be muslim.
But I do give the regular folks at the White House credit.
Some highly efficient and intelligent low level aide, in a breach of clearly established protocol, accidentally acknowledged this was ‘probably’ an attempted act of terrorism as opposed to a ‘man made disaster’.
A conclusion B.O. has still been unable to reach about the recent mass murders at Fort Hood, which by some strange coincidence were committed by an Arabic speaking muslim male with a ruddy complexion, dark hair, and dark eyes, with a clearly documented history of public statements supporting Jihad, who reportedly shouted praises to Allah just before he opened fire on his unarmed fellow American soldiers and civilians.
[They both sound like ‘hate crimes’ to me.]
B.O. is said to be monitoring this most recent incident closely to ensure there is no anti-muslim backlash or racial profiling as a result of what was clearly a ‘cry for help’ on the part of self professed muslim and self confessed al-Quaida operative, Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab.
B.O. has ordered his personal choice for Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, to closely monitor the usuual suspects: God fearing, gun totin, pro-life, conservative, nativist, homophobes who’s favorite past time is holding ‘tea parties’ around the country attended by millions of these
…”birthers, the fanatics, the people running around in right-wing militia and Aryan support groups, it is unbearable to them that President Barack Obama should exist.”
Sheldon Whitehouse. democ-RAT U.S. Senator, Rhode Island
——————————————————–
In an unrelated story: Vatican officials are reviewing security measures after the same woman, dressed in the same red jacket, for the second year in a row, jumped the barriers and lunged at the Pope in a desperate attempt to touch the hem of his garment.
A Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the garment was NOT harmed.
Other Vatican officials, desiring to demonstrate the Pontiff’s techno savvy, are considering going ‘green’ and purchasing his Eminence a ‘Segway’ retrofitted with a hermetically sealed, bullet proof glass enclosure and self contained comfort system.
The sectarian ‘Segway’ will be similar to the ones the U.S. Postal Service employees use to deliver the mail in some of America’s more culturated inner citiy housing projects and public schools.
yor bro ken
Oh yeah, the Presidents grade:
I would give him a ‘B.O’ compared to Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
yor bro ken
Afghanistan -F
Iraq -F
Economy -F
Mexico City Accord -F
Abortion -F
Health care -F
Gitmo -F
Terror Trials in US Courts -F
Response to Major Hasan as a terrorist -F
Embryo Destructive Research Funding -F
Selling Chicago Olympics -F
Choice of School Safety Czar -F
Handling of Iran -F
Self-promotion -A
Selling out our troops -A
Engineering defeat in war on terror -A
Bashing America abroad -A
Diminishing his Office by bowing to foreign heads of state -A
Cooperation on Nobel charade -A
Teleprompter dependency -A
Teacher Recommendations: Difficult to discipline a student who prefers to sit in the dunce corner. Recommend intensive psychotherapy for self-loathing and self-destructive, sociopathic behavior. Would NOT recommend promotion as is.
D-
And that’s being generous!
Happy Holy Family Sunday.
I’d give him a B. Simply by avoiding another depression, he gets that mark. I know the fed is as much of a part as any President, but the more economists I read, the more it is clear that there was a thin line that we stayed on the correct side of.
If he passes health care legislation, he really won’t need to do anything more in his term.
Ex-GOP,
If hellth care legislation passes B.O. and his progressive\liberal\humanist accomplices in the Congress and lame scream lap dog media will have done more damage to this nation than all the wars, epidemics, economoic calamities and natural disasters combined.
Huricane Katrina cost a combined 81 billion dollars.
9/11 cost 2,000 billion dollars [two trillion]
According to Neil Barofsky, B.O.’s Special Inspector General for B.O.’s bailouts, the total cost for all of B.O.’s proposed programs amounts to 23,700 billion dollars [23.7 trillion].
Were talking way beyond Carl Sagan’s ‘billions upon billions’.
yor bro ken
Ken –
This board so far has been quite a lesson in stretching the truth. Between one writer saying that Obama told the entire state of Michigan to “shut-up”, to your new claims above – I really have little to say except that I’m glad I spend a lot of time in church learning to tell the truth.
The 23.7 trillion has absolutely NOTHING to do with social programs like health care or other Obama programs. That dollar figure is a THEORETICAL amount that is put at risk (taxpayer money) in the Tarp bailout programs started under Bush, and expanded under Obama. It’s meant to be a shock figure to call for more oversight on how the where the money is being spent – and I agree with him.
The figure was from a report given in Mid July, roughly six months after Obama took office – so you know (and through a little study of the issue) that it’s not a single President issue.
Again, I don’t really know what else to say – to think that this dollar figure has anything to do with social programs is simply a stunning lack of understanding of the report and the issue in general.
Yor
Bro
B
Ex GOP- Ken is delusional, no point in arguing with him. Unfortunately, Ken is allowed to dominate this post with his endless rants.
Bystander –
Thanks for the heads-up.
I suppose I don’t mind a good argument, what I don’t like is either somebody who’s flat out lying, or just doesn’t know what they are talking about. I’m assuming that Ken just isn’t informed of the issue – but in an internet age, it doesn’t take long to at least do a little research.
If he passes health care legislation, he really won’t need to do anything more in his term. Posted by: Ex-GOP Voter at December 27, 2009 11:41 AM
Agreed. He will have succeeded in government takeover of another big chunk of the economy and he will have further trampled the Constitution. He puts the feds in the middle of every medical appointment and procedure, diminishing choice, eroding quality care and paving the way for his vision of single payer socialist health care. Another benefit is a reduction in privacy, allowing his appointees and agencies to collect sensitive medical information on every citizen and sharing employee household income data with employers. The latter has the added boon of encouraging prospective employers to discriminate against low-income and single-parent job seekers who, if hired, will add to the employer’s tax burden. This will foster continued dependence on the government among many of the unemployed. Health care reform is the gift that keeps on giving to the socialists in Washington.
Mr. Up (is Fed your first name?)
– I know there is a constitutional debate on the individual mandate – you say he would “further” trample on the constitution. What other tramples are you claiming?
– The government is actually the biggest player already in health care with TriCare, Medicare, and other government spending – so saying there’s a “takeover” isn’t really accurate.
– Will a member of the government actually be at every single appointment? That might be nice as they could hold my coat.
– Could you send the language of the bill in regards to collecting information and sharing it with employers? I’d prefer the language from the final bill, which of course doesn’t exist yet – but maybe you have some inside info as you seem to be convinced in the final product.
– You are right on the last part – the GOP has sold out for short term goals and will take over seats in 2010. The Dems will have accomplished something that will be fundamental in the country for decades to come – well, unless they cave down the stretch (and nobody caves quite like the Democrats).
Hi Gerard,
If I may add to your excellent list.
A sincere effort to kiss the backsides of tyrants and dictators hoping they will like him- A
Understanding the psychology of tyrants and dictators in that they don’t respect anyone who kisses their backsides.-F
Hi Mary,
“A sincere effort to kiss the backsides of tyrants and dictators hoping they will like him”
Maybe that’s what all the deep bowing is about? ;-)
Take Care
– I know there is a constitutional debate on the individual mandate – you say he would “further” trample on the constitution. What other tramples are you claiming
I forgot that progressives view the Constitution as a flawed document which imposes no limits on their power. Never mind.
– The government is actually the biggest player already in health care with TriCare, Medicare, and other government spending – so saying there’s a “takeover” isn’t really accurate.
Nice try. Tricare, Medicare, and Medicaid relate to federal reimbursement for certain types of care rendered to individuals who qualify for those benefits. The house and senate versions of reform legislation go beyond reimbursement of care. They take control of the delivery of health care. Medicare, for example, cannot deny a patient care. It can only deny a patient or provider reimbursement for care. Current reform proposals empower the government with unprecedented levels of intrusion between a patient and a physician regarding the type of care (not just payment for care) a patient may receive. I call that a government takeover of decisions and choices previously made by the individual health care consumer and provider.
– Will a member of the government actually be at every single appointment? That might be nice as they could hold my coat.
Perhaps you find it amusing that you will have no control over the privacy of your medical records, which will be shared across a number of federal agencies under the proposed legislation. I don’t find it humorous at all. Nor am I amused at the thought of provider mandates to document compliance with treating you in accordance with federal protocols for your care instead of treating you in accord with the dictates of conscience and prudential judgment that accomodates your wishes as closely as possible. Oops, I said “conscience.” That’s a dirty word to you proaborts, isn’t it? The watering down of conscience protections was an example of proaborts playing right into Obama’s hand. Under socialized medicine, your health care providers will not have protection to do what’s best for you or to comply with your wishes if they violate federal guidelines for care. You guys cut off your noses to spite your own faces on that one.
– Could you send the language of the bill in regards to collecting information and sharing it with employers? I’d prefer the language from the final bill, which of course doesn’t exist yet –
LOL, only a troll asks for what doesn’t exist. This article examines the issue from the perspective of the senate legislation.
but maybe you have some inside info as you seem to be convinced in the final product.
No inside info, although working in health care I have a perspective as both health care consumer and provider, and this bill is bad for everyone. Although I don’t agree with your political positions, I still believe your health care should not be politicized based on the whims or special interests attached to the current or any future administration. Health care should be about you and your access to quality care as it relates to your unique medical history and your choices based on a range of treatment options. This bill affords people like bystander the opportunity to buy insurance but neuters their autonomy to actually use it. And that’s unfortunate.
Farewell, ex GOP voter. I think it’s time to enact my New Year’s resolution not to feed the trolls.
Hi Gerard,
I was referring to Obama’s schmoozing with Chavez and the Castros, only to have them later express their seething contempt for him.
Then there were Obama’s efforts to “talk” with the North Korean and Iranian dictators. Their response has been to give Obama “the finger”.
And does anyone really think Obama is any match for Vladimir Putin?
Oh yes, then there is the bowing…. Thomas Lifson, who lived in Japan for years and taught Japanese ettiquette to foreign executives stated that the smile on the Japanese emperor’s face during Obama’s bow was “…pretty much polite Japanese for falling down laughing”.
But hey the Europeans, you know, some of the folks who would be speaking German if not for the U.S., think he’s just swell.
Mr. Up –
Comments:
– I actually am interested on what parts of the constitution you feel he has trampled on this year.
– With no public option, what part of the “delivery” is going to be taken over? Or is it simply better to leave this intervention to health insurance companies?
– In regards to the article by the Heritage foundation – what I don’t understand is, if an employee is providing coverage that a worker opts out of, it seems to me that the $3000 fine (or $750 per full time – whichever is less) would be less to pay than what their insurance would cost the company – am I missing something?
– I suppose I was a bit sarcastic in my post back to you as well – but let me give you a couple of pieces of info – I voted more GOP than Dems last election and I also work in the health care industry. As a Christian though, and a citizen concerned with the future of my family and the percentage people will pay for health care – something has to change. Is this bill perfect? Far from it – but it is a giant step that can then be built on.
I have friends stuck at jobs because pre-existing conditions limit their choices. I have a recently laid off friend with no insurance for his family at all. My family saw double digit increases in our private plan (our work pool was awful because of the mix of folks) until I recently changed jobs this last year.
The thing I think most people seem to think is that new plan is scary, so therefore we should stay with the current system. I think the current system is so broken that we must act.
Peace –
– When did I say I was pro-choice? I missed that part? I’m relatively new to this board, so going through all my comments shouldn’t take too long.
–
Ex-GOP voter 5:47PM,
The problems you mention your friends having concerning health care coverage could be better addressed with health insurance reform and not some major gov’t fiasco, uh program. Well, same difference.
As I said before EGV, cross state competition, tort reform, and free market forces wouldn’t cost the taxpayers billions and would represent true reform. We could see health insurance companies duke it out for our business like we see Geico and Allstate.
As I have pointed out before, Canada’s gov’t run health care is contracting with American border hospitals, some in my hometown, to provide services to Canadian citizens. Now why do you suppose they must do that? Certainly can’t be because of their marvelous gov’t run health system.
Did you hear about the wealthy member of the Canadian gov’t who flew to California for post mastectomy breast reconstruction surgery? Probably didn’t want to sit on a waiting list like 875,000 other Canadians are forced to do.
Too bad she doesn’t live in this midwestern city where I reside, not exactly a metropolis by the way. She’d have her choice of physicians, hospitals, and freestanding surgery centers like the women in our community have.
Oh yes and in Britain, the gov’t run health system determined that a drug that could prolong the lives of women with advanced breast cancer was just too expensive. Better luck next time ladies.
An American patient of mine, who is convinced this drug has prolonged her remission, was aghast to hear this.
Mary –
Luckily the bills right now have more free market options. I think some tort reform would be nice as well depending on the limits. Unfortunately, the GOP’s health care focus of the last administration was a bill that hits the deficit much harder than the projections for the current bills – GOP was fine with the status quo of health care.
You can certainly point out issues with the system of every single country in the world – especially if we are going on a case by case basis. And the things you mentioned are great as well, at least if you are insured in America, which less and less people are these days.
All I know is this:
– As a percentage of the GDP, we pay more than anyone.
– Insurance coverage paid by employers continues to go down.
– The term “double digit increases” and pre-existing conditions is common conversation with real life folks these days.
– Business is more and more competitive on a global basis. The cost of health care for GM adds over $1500 per vehicle. Wonder how that helps them in a global marketplace?
– Over half of personal bankruptcies have medical bills as a key reason.
EGV,
As I told you before don’t be bamboozled. Obama’s ultimate goal is a single payer system. Didn’t some senator say this bill was just a foundation on which to build the much bigger house, i.e. single payer system? The goal is to put insurance companies out of business, not compete with them.
All the issues you raise can be addressed with insurance reforms, free markets, competition, and tort reform. All much cheaper than any gov’t program/fiasco.
Being uninsured does not mean one does not have access to health care. Being uninsured can, but certainly does not always, also mean people simply don’t take the responsibility to properly insure themselves or do not consider their health care a priority. Sorry but nothing will remedy human failings and irresponsibility.
Innocent people are also bankrupted because they must hire lawyers to keep them out of prison or clear their name. So when does the gov’t take over the legal profession? Any idea what a good lawyer costs these days??
Gave him a D. He generated a lot of talk about abortion, which has helped our side, and he’s swatted a fly, which has pissed off PETA.
Ex-GOP Voter = Pro-Choice
Hope you guys are having a wonderful holiday.
Abel 7:57PM
Was PETA upset that some poor frog would be deprived of a meal???
LOL, Mary :)
Mary – that might be the goal of some, sure, who knows – but that would be a different debate for a different day, well off in the future. Probably less of a chance if we can do something about costs now – if employer coverage dips below 50% and a few big companies failed (thus putting more people on government roles), it would be a much easier transition, don’t you think?
No idea on the rates of folks that have declared bankruptcy because of legal costs. All I know is the health care, which is a shame in a country that is supposed to be both “Christian” and prosperous.
Ex-GOP,
Let’s stop calling out Christians who don’t favor Obama’s healthcare plan(s). Did you know that Obama has publicly declared that we are no longer a Christian nation.?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIVd7YT0oWA
Janet? When were we a Christian nation? I mean, we say we’re Christian – almost 80% of us, but look how many abortions there are a year? How can we have the abortion rates we have and be a Christian nation?
Or how many wars are we in right now, and how did Christians around the world see it one way, and American Christians saw things another way?
Or how about divorce rates? Again, not looking like a Christian nation there.
Was it in the past? Maybe during slavery we were a Christian nation – good God fearing men, beating blacks to death.
Or maybe earlier than that when we burned folks at the stake – maybe we were Christian then?
With the CEO to average workers pay the way it is – the abortion rates – the divorce rates – the love of money – I would hope that we don’t label ourselves as Christian – what a poor representation of Christ we are!
EGV 9:17PM
You are close to agreeing with me. Yes I want reform, but we can accomplish it far more efficiently and humanely without the gov’t.
I see nothing Christian or humane about waiting lists or denying people life saving drugs.
I only bring legal costs as an example of the various reasons people declare bankruptcy.
EGV, 9:32PM
Concerning CEO pay, do you have any issue with the millions raked in by athletes and entertainers? Tiger Woods lives like a sultan, complete with the harem. Do you have a problem with Jay Leno owning 200 cars??
Mary – I bet we would agree on lots of things in life.
After the massive financial meltdown, I trust big business as little as I trust the government. To leave our health care in the hands of only insurance companies is foolish if you ask me. What sort of steps of reform have insurance companies taken? Have they volunteered to spend more money on actual health care? Have they started to rid the world of the phrase “pre-existing conditions”? It isn’t right of me to place my faith in the government, nor of you to place it in business.
Either way on bankruptcy – I think it is a shame that there are families who have kids that have cancer and lose their house because of it. And it happens all the time. I’d be quite fine if that became a thing of the past.
Mary –
Pay in general – yes. Now, do we legislate on it – in some cases, I think it’s probably the right thing to do, though it’s a slippery slope. But yes, Arod makes more than the poverty rate in an inning. Will Smith gets (or got) $40 million a movie. As an American, should we limit that? Probably not. As a Christian does it make me uncomfortable? I suppose it’s how the person views the money and uses the money, but, well, the eye of the needle is pretty small.
I gave President Obama a “C.”
He did some things that I disagreed with- cut Darfur from the budget, won’t acknowledge gays in the military, won’t acknowledge fetal rights, and won’t deal with immigration. I hope that he handles these issues in the near future, in which case I’ll give him a higher grade then.
He has a lot of potential to do such good. I’m pleased with his efforts to stop nuclear wars and his efforts to have international relationships based off of respect and dialogue not a stern warning of, “We do things America’s way.”
So overall I gave him a “C.” I have hope that the next year will see him settled in and willing to get to work on a few of the aforementioned issues.
All I know is the health care, which is a shame in a country that is supposed to be both “Christian” and prosperous.
Posted by: Ex-GOP Voter at December 27, 2009 9:17 PM
LOL. You “know” the health care bankruptcy rate? Then you know the rate you cited includes bankruptcies prompted by lost wages due to inability to work because of illness/injury. Rates are lower when the sole cause is medical bills. Providing more people with insurance won’t prevent a substantial percentage of illness-related bankruptcy. And if you want care that the feds determine isn’t a covered benefit under your insurance policy, you’re still going to face unpaid medical bills.
Do you know the GDP too? Then you know ours is higher because we don’t ration high tech procedures or costly medications to the extent that other nations do. Yet.
And don’t worry about the Christianity or the prosperity thing. The socialists will do their best to suppress both.
What sort of steps of reform have insurance companies taken?
If you worked in health care as you claim, you wouldn’t fall back on that lame argument. You’d know that insurance companies are able to flex in their coverage of enrollees, unlike the rigidity of Medicare and Medicaid. You’d know that denial rates for government programs far exceed those from private insurance companies. And that Medicare in particular will deny a claim for the most frivolous of reasons. And you’d know that customer service is nonexistent in government entitlement programs. Insurance companies, on the other hand, are motivated to keep their enrollees satisfied and often go above and beyond a policy benefit to that end. Good luck getting the feds to relax their predetermined criteria for covering your care!
With the CEO to average workers pay the way it is
LOL again. Ever counted how many millionaires are in Congress? You have a tough sell ahead of you if you think you’re going to convince many people that Congress will put the health care needs of citizens ahead of the special interests that pad their pockets. LOLOL.
There, I’ve exhausted the last bits of troll kibble in my pocket.
EGV,
As far as I’m concerned its none of the gov’t’s damned business what you, I, a CEO, Tiger Woods, or any celebrity or athlete makes, period.
If a CEO’s pay can be limited, anyone’s can.
Jay Leno with his 200 cars generates employment.
You think Leno takes care of all those cars?
Given how little you trust the gov’t why on earth would you want them to run your health care?
If you think the insurance companies are bad, wait till a gov’t bureaucrat puts you on a waiting list or just tells you you’re SOL, like those women in Britain.
Go to Drudgereport.com and click on “Drunk with power? Top Dem slurs on senate floor”. If this doesn’t inspire confidence in us all as to the gov’t’s ability to run our health care, nothing will.
Thanks Mary @11:21PM. Can you imagine the 24/7 coverage that’d get on MSNBC if a Republican had done that? Baucus is so pathetic he makes Obama look polished.
Fed Up –
I work on the military side of the house. And I know the stats of satisfaction rates of Tricare compared to insurance companies. And you know that the reasons for denied claims with Medicare are more about coverage than denial of care – others have pointed on on this board that Medicare doesn’t deny anything.
You never gave further thoughts on the Heritage foundation article, nor did you answer where I said I was Pro-Choice.
Seems like you probably make a cozy living off of the current situation…and feel comfortable throwing out all sorts of assumptions and labels. And you call me a troll.
My world probably has 20 times the amount of honor your world will ever stumble across – so a little respect.
Mary – thanks, but I avoid the Drudge report, Fox News, the ACLU, and Bill Mahr. Ha.
Do you care what a banker makes at a bailed out bank? How about severance pay for an Enron guy in his last days? In general, yes, I agree it is none of the governments business – though I do think there are limits. I also believe as a Christian (like abortion), there are certain times when the law and what is right doesn’t match up in my mind.
Mary – is is headed to rationed care without reform – the system can’t sustain itself in the current form. Plus, we already ration care for people who don’t have insurance.
EGV,
Suit yourself, but whatever you think of Drudge he didn’t create the video and you can see for yourself the people who want to be in charge of your health care at some of their finer moments.
No I don’t care what a banker or Enron official makes, anymore than I care what Tiger Woods spends on his lady friends. How much of yours and my tax dollars did Obama spend to go to Copenhagen and look like a fool, not once but twice?
Like you I absolutely agree that often what is the law and what is moral are two entirely different things.
No we don’t have to ration health care any more than we have to ration car ownership. The fact that Jay Leno owns 200 cars does not force someone else to walk or take public transportation. Again free market forces, insurance and tort reform, and competition. There are also innovations I have seen over the years such as outpatient surgery, vastly improved surgical and diagnostic techniques, and decreased need for prolonged hospital stays to name only a few, which also help curb costs.
How is care rationed for people without insurance?
Hi FedUp 11:50PM
Maybe Baucus was channelling Ted Kennedy.
Ex-GOP,
I’m not advocating bad behavior. Even Christians sin.
Are you a Christian?
If yes,
Are you perfect? Can you still be a Christian if you aren’t perfect?
If you are NOT a Christian, then go back to my point at 12/27 @ 9:27.
If this makes no sense to you well, I tried.
Obama
“the change you can believe in”,
The Chicago Way”,
DemocRATic political machine,
“no more business as usual”
“never let a good crisis go to waste”
“the most transparent administration ever”
“we’ll put it on C-SPAN”
“that is above my paygrade”,
voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act 3 times because it would put “undue burden on women” (translation:if she wants a dead baby she deserves to get one),
reversal of Mexico City Policy to now fund abortions abroad,
who has appointed radical leftists, tax-cheats, child-predator protectors and socialists to federal Czardom
rates a F.
PLL 1:23PM
Come on PLL, didn’t you know Anita Dunn was making a “joke” about Mao being her favorite “political philospher”? Listening to her speech I’m darned if I know what the “joke” was but apparently I’m a little slow.
Try to imagine if a member of Bush’s administration made the exact statement about Hitler. Do you suppose there would be media lapdogs calling it a “joke”?
I suppose we could call such mass murderers and tyrants as Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot “political philosophers” as well. When it came to mass murder, Mao made them all look like rank amateurs.
And I know the stats of satisfaction rates of Tricare compared to insurance companies.
Coming from a military family, I am quite familiar with Tricare myself.
And you know that the reasons for denied claims with Medicare are more about coverage than denial of care – others have pointed on on this board that Medicare doesn’t deny anything.
Indeed. Glad you got my point.
You never gave further thoughts on the Heritage foundation article
I thought the article spoke well enough for itself. If you don’t understand it or view it as relevent, I have no interest in a belabored discussion about it.
nor did you answer where I said I was Pro-Choice.
I referred to you as a proabort because you give every indication of support for proabort health care reform legislation and your interaction is in line with most proabort commenters here. If you’re prolife, feel free to make it known. Doubtful that I would believe you though.
Seems like you probably make a cozy living off of the current situation
LOL. You mean I make a cozy living working in health care? Riiiiight. No doubt you’ll be pleased to know that I’m doing the same thing many others in health care are doing. I’m cutting back my hours and transitioning careers. I have no interest in working for the government as a socialized health care pawn.
…and feel comfortable throwing out all sorts of assumptions and labels.
If you are referring to my interaction with you, yes, you’re probably correct.
And you call me a troll.
Yep, that’s my perception. Others may disagree.
My world probably has 20 times the amount of honor your world will ever stumble across
If you’re referring to the honor and integrity of the military served at your workplace, then I agree that you probably are surrounded by many honorable folks, patients and staff alike. Are they more honorable than the homeless vets I see? Don’t know, EGV, and I don’t care. Some of the actions or the careers chosen by some of our patients have been remarkably valiant. But we don’t base a plan of care on a patient’s honor, although admittedly some of their actions do necessarily affect the intervention we provide. We honor the worth of each individual life irrespective of the honors or the derision their actions in the world have gained for them. Ability to pay or a patient’s current life circumstance has no bearing on their being worthy of our respectfully addressing their need for medical intervention.
We’ve seen military heroes and convicted serial killers. Victims of the most heinous crimes you can imagine and perpetrators bragging about their violence. Patients who thank us for their care and others who curse, spit, or otherwise assault us. We serve homeless camps in the woods and multimillionaires who reside in gated communities. Others you may deem less honorable that we have served include rapists, child molesters, disbarred attorneys, prostitutes, domestic violence perpetrators and victims, animal abusers, guilt-stricken parents unable to save their child, runaways, drug dealers and addicts. Then there are those who suffer from psychosis, mood disorders, and the hopelessness stigmatized by most of society as “crazy.” No one receives any different treatment from us because of a greater or lesser degree of honor bestowed on them by the world. Nor should they. I may not approve of the way some of our patients have chosen to live their lives, but I do care about the value of each of their lives and the future potential each one holds. So yeah, I’m sure you have at least 20X more honor in your world than mine. Congratulations.
Criticize my personal integrity (or lack thereof) all you like, EGV, but don’t expect me to buy your spin about health care reform legislation. I’ve been around the block enough times to see firsthand what causes people to fall through the cracks in our current health care system. It’s tragic that Congress squandered the opportunity to craft a genuinely helpful solution by choosing politics over people.
Mr Up – I think further conversation isn’t going to get anywhere – if my opinion and words don’t matter to you anyways, than why bother.
Hope you had a great Christmas and I wish you well.
Janet –
Yes – Christian – very involved in a non-denominational church and various Bible studies. Dad is a pastor – brother a youth pastor – God-father a pastor.
Thanks, EGV. Peace to you & yours in the coming new year.
Posted by: Ex-GOP Voter at December 28, 2009 5:28 PM
“Yes – Christian – very involved in a non-denominational church and various Bible studies. Dad is a pastor – brother a youth pastor – God-father a pastor.”
—————————————————
Ex,
We all get saved from something(s) to some ONE.
While our parent’s righteousness may afford some benefit for a while, sooner or later, we have to answer to GOD for ourselves.
B.O. by his own words is not just a ‘christian’ but a ‘committed christian’.
But B.O.’s fruit, what little there is to see, does not reflect a man who even knows the ‘book’ much less the Author.
If we were to judge B.O. by the company he chooses to keep, then he fails the sniff test once again.
B.O. not only lies, he practices lying.
B.O. advances an agenda that controverts, even perverts, the teachings of orthodox christianity.
B.O.’s chosen pastor of 20 years, the everant Jeremiah Wright, his political opinions aside, does nothing to bolster B.O.’s bona fides as a member in good standing of the body of Christ.
In fact B.O. is just the kind of so called brother from whom the apostle Paul cautioned us to stand aloof.
B.O. has chosen men and women to serve in his administration who, like B.O., are ‘anti’ christian bigots and anti-Christ.
I do not take you for one of B.O.’s ‘useful idiots’.
I believe you know full well what you are doing and I acknowledge that you do it very well.
Like B.O., your spiritual brother, your deception is calculated, cunning and cruel.
Now you may be truly be born again of the Spirit of the Living God and you may have availed yourself of Jesus’ blood and righteousness, but like many of the good christian slaveholders whom you referred to earlier, and B.O. himself, you are way outside of the Truth of the GOD who gives you breath.
Lying, killing, stealing and destroying are NOT the characteristics of a son of God.
yor bro ken
Ken –
I’m not even going to read your post yet – you still haven’t responded to mine from above:
Ken –
This board so far has been quite a lesson in stretching the truth. Between one writer saying that Obama told the entire state of Michigan to “shut-up”, to your new claims above – I really have little to say except that I’m glad I spend a lot of time in church learning to tell the truth.
The 23.7 trillion has absolutely NOTHING to do with social programs like health care or other Obama programs. That dollar figure is a THEORETICAL amount that is put at risk (taxpayer money) in the Tarp bailout programs started under Bush, and expanded under Obama. It’s meant to be a shock figure to call for more oversight on how the where the money is being spent – and I agree with him.
The figure was from a report given in Mid July, roughly six months after Obama took office – so you know (and through a little study of the issue) that it’s not a single President issue.
Again, I don’t really know what else to say – to think that this dollar figure has anything to do with social programs is simply a stunning lack of understanding of the report and the issue in general.
Yor
Bro
B
ex,
So what you are saying is the ‘projected’ 23,700 billion dollars does not include B.O.’s social programs.
How silly of me to be ‘shocked’.
Unfortunatley, B.O. and his liberal/progressive democRAT cronies were not sufficiently ‘shocked’ to pull back from the spending frenzy upon which they have embarked.
The total debt our children, grand children and great great grandchildren will be strapped with is likely to be much more than the 23.7 trillion dollar figure.
Now I bet that that is reassuring news to the Chinese communists who are holding the paper on much of that ‘debt’.
And just how does spending another trillion or so dollars on hellth scare do anything to reduce the federal deficit and accompanying national debt?
And for the record I was one of those people who was opposed to the bailouts. Bush’s decision was bad. I opposed it at the time. I questioned his decision to invade Iraq and set about the business of ‘nation building.’
But Congress went along with him, both parties.
So how does B.O.’s and the democRAT’s continuing profligacy do anything but make things ‘worse’.
I guess if just invest more time and emotional energy in fretting over man made global warming I won’t have the time or the money to pay attention to the economic tsunami that is overtaking me, my family and my country.
If you were paying any attention to the message that those pesky million or so people were delivering in D.C. and the hundreds of thousands gathered in communities around the nation you would know that our dissatifaction was/is NOT limited to a particular president or party.
But instead of listening and hearing and actually addressing what those people were saying you attempted to marginalize them as mobsters, terrorists, homophobes, racists and NAZI’s.
That says something about how insecure you are in your ideology and your leaders.
Please quit apologizing and excusing and deflecting and diverting and downplaying the enormity of what has and is occurring.
B.O. and his progressive/liberal democRATS have engineered the greatest single transfer of wealth in the recorded history of the world.
And not even they can account for where it all went and when it will stop.
Thank you so much for clarifying the situation.
yor bro ken
ps: Of course we still have those pesky Jew hating mass murderers who want to kill us, but we have to be concerned with NOT offending their sensibilities and fragile psyches by calling them ‘terrorists’.
Ken – that’s not actually me saying it’s not the social programs…it’s just a fact. 20 seconds and a google search will show that.
Have a great day –