I, for one, think the passing of the health care bill was fucking awesome.

Don't ask me to expand on that, though. I gave up arguing on the internet over health care for Lent.

he does medical billing, but not at a hospital.

is a fundamental human right something that HAS to be provided by a third party?

fuck all insurance companies.

make those fucks earning BILLIONS in profit actually pay out their goddamn claims, fucking assholes.

oooh... so where does Nurse Ratchet came from? what kind of establishment is this where he labors? (no need to disclose particulars-- i'm just curious about his setup)


i can perform field surgery on myself as well as tooth extractions but these are a bitch without whiskey. i have also performed surgery on others, but only for sexual pleasure.

now, what are you asking about, exactly?

I watched the vote last night. It was interesting the degree to which opposition to the reform seemed to transcend simple party political partisanship. It seems to have really divided America on a quite fundamental level, with some quite deeply felt objections being expressed that weren't, from what I could gather, just about sticking one on Obama. I don't know the real details of what the reform will mean but it's fascinating watching the whole issue unfold and how divisive it seems to be amongst so many Americans.

the reform is limited and went from "health care reform" to "health insurance reform" when hysterical yahoos began to cry "socialism!!" at the possibility of a government-sponsored option-- option! not mandatory for all! but hysteria is hysteria.

so a compromise had to be forged where health insurance is kept in private hands BUT it is regulated in new and stricter ways-- they used to conveniently drop you when you needed them the most, for example.

case in point: the wife of one of my professors got breast cancer. she had a fucking good policy, shared by all state employees. but she had a nasty form of cancer, which required very intense treatment. when the cost of her treatment reached a certain monetary limit, the insurance company said "sorry but we've covered enough and you pay for your future chemos now". she had to go to court (while ill) and make them pay. she survived-- the disease, and the insurance company.

the likes of rush limbaugh say that these are "sob stories" to fool people into "adopting socialism", but fuckit, the fuckers have been running rampant taking money from people and then fucking them (against their will, not in a sexy way) in the ass.

this adds protection also against "preexisting conditions"--e.g-- "oh, you had your appendix taken when you were 12, sorry, you are not eligible" or worse-- "sure, you have epilepsy, you can get insurance with us and we will pay for everything except your epilepsy". shit like that! outrageous!

finally, self-employed people like yours truly can now buy into large insurance pools and get themselves a good deal instead of the crud i'd been dealing with.

there are other things. but the insurance co.s are going to get their nuts in a fucking vise so that when they try to rape you it's going to hurt them.

Big Insurance & Big Hospitals will be the ones that benefit; not patients and not doctors (which is what healthcare should be about).

congrats America, you fell right into the pockets of the three or four megacorps that operate under the names of 100's of different insurance plans.

I suspect that it's steak and lobster dinners for Aetna tonite.

Obama had no intention of any serious healthcare reform. That's why he started with the compromise position which never included single payer as a serious option.

It's no surprise. He never had any balls as a senator so why should he as president? Barely heard a word from him in opposition to Bush when he was in power.

if you think he could pass any more than it's been passed you have no comprehension of the american public-- we can't have a national health system like england, not in this generation at least.

balls- what was the phrase-- "gonads are useful for their purpose, but they are no substitute for brains".

obama is too smart to embark on a futile suicide mission. this health care reform effort alone has cost the democrats a senate seat and a couple of house seats as well, and maybe also the governorship of virginia. it's taken him 14 fucking months to pass this. he plays a long game and wins-- sure, it's not paradise, but it's a huge step forward for here yahooland. seriously. that's why kucinich fell in line-- the perfect is the enemy of the ... barely sufficient.

i'm very fucking happy about this.

No I don't think he could have passed a great deal more. I do understand something about the American people (the success story that is Sarah Palin gives you a clue).

But because Obama started from such a position of weakness his right wing opponents (Republicans and the media in particular) capitalised on this and not only trampled all over him but reinvigorated the GOP (who were on their knees after the election) in the process.

And I don't believe for one second that Obama is playing the 'long game' and being smart. He hasn't the balls (he's president of the fucking US for crissakes!) or the political nouse to have done any better.

(Go on...why the link to Amazon.com homepage?)

i don't think you get the guy-- his primary campaign against hillary had very long odds, he stuck to his game and won in the end.

health care / health insurance reform has been attempted here FOR 100 YEARS. clinton started from a strong position and broke his teeth. obama learned this and started from the center-- proposing some shit that even nixon (republican "not a crook" dead president) had attempted. the teabaggers polarized the game because a lot of reasons but basically because they fear that the negro socialist will take away their freedom.

balls, no balls, opinions, assholes, etc.-- results is what counts and we got them

On this subject, I very much enjoyed this short video this morning:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8200844.stm

Back in Oct-Nov '08, I was saying that if McCain won, I was leaving the country. Now, after all the divisive bullshit that is american politics, even after a 'win' on health care, I'm considering that again.

Most of the ideas in this bill were originally proposed by republicans! And now, they consider the same ideas socialist. The blatant lies that were told and repeated and not denied are what passes for civil discourse in this country.

Glen Beck thinks progressives are destroying the country and wants to go back to the US before Teddy Roosevelt. That is not the country I want to live in.

Yeah, this law is better than nothing. I doubt it will be a handout to Ins co's and hospitals--always depending on how lawyers can twist the text of the law.

Yeah, I would have prefered outright socialized medicine but that wasn't goin to happen. A public option would have been nice--old people seem to like their medicare.

But if I can get health and prescription coverage at a reasonable price, I won't mind at all.

I think I get him as well as anybodyI don't think everybody will agree with this.

i know, but my cause won, and i'm celebrating while the teabaggers cry-- ha!


exactly! with imbeciles like that casting votes (and in maryland, which is pretty well educated by comparison), trust me, what we have is the best we can have right now. these people voted for bush TWICE if you recall.

anyway-- gotta get out of here & finish work early so i can go DESTROY MY LIVER in celebration of health "insurance" reform-- ha ha ha

so what changes?

you mean like education, security, fire fighting etc? yes!

^^^ what if all of the above was mandated to be provided to you by Wal•Mart?

that's close to what we're dealing with.

fuk insurance companies