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The Magic Wish

post #1 of 23
3/18/09 at 11:33am
Thread Starter 
So.. you've been given a magic wish. With it, you can have all three branches of the federal government come into agreement with, fund and pass one policy in the exact manner you desire. They will fund it with whatever taxes you decree, spend those taxes in the manner you prescribe and provide the service in the manner to as many or few people as you desire.

What would your wish be?

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." -George Orwell

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"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." -George Orwell

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post #2 of 23
3/19/09 at 11:05am
Single-payer universal healthcare.
proud resident of a failed state
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proud resident of a failed state
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post #3 of 23
3/19/09 at 11:37am
  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
legalize and tax all currently illegal drugs.
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post #4 of 23
3/19/09 at 12:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by groverat View Post

Single-payer universal healthcare.

I never heard a convincing argument why single payer system is best. Or even least bad.
The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long. - Foudad Ajami
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The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long. - Foudad Ajami
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post #5 of 23
3/19/09 at 1:09pm
Thread Starter 
Make a wish Floorjack. I wouldn't mind some detailed wishes, but make one regardless.

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." -George Orwell

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"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." -George Orwell

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post #6 of 23
3/19/09 at 3:22pm
  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FloorJack View Post

I never heard a convincing argument why single payer system is best. Or even least bad.

You don't have to worry about losing your health insurance when you lose your job. You don't have to worry about being rejected and not being able to get insurance due to "pre existing condition". You pay the same rates as everyone else, don't have to worry that they will jack up your rates when you get sick, etc.

And the people you deal with are much nicer, at least in Canada - but that is probably just a cultural difference (Canadians are much nicer people than Americans, in general, IMHO - Revenue Canada is much nicer than the IRS for the same reason).
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post #7 of 23
3/19/09 at 4:25pm
term limits...
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post #8 of 23
3/19/09 at 10:24pm
let's see...

Required medical education program for primary and secondary schooling. If we are serious about reducing the cost of medical care, the average citizen needs to understand how the body should work. It takes medical students two years (of class time) to learn the ins and outs of the human body, we have children for six times longer and need to provide much less in depth knowledge to get them to understand the body and the risks of behavior.

Now, I would like to see universal comprehensive health care on top of this, but if it is the choice between the education program and health care, give me the education program.
"In a republic, voters may vote for the leaders they want, but they get the leaders they deserve."
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"In a republic, voters may vote for the leaders they want, but they get the leaders they deserve."
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post #9 of 23
3/20/09 at 5:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by e1618978 View Post

You don't have to worry about losing your health insurance when you lose your job.

So that is either a problem with your insurance being tied to your job (go look up COBRA and HIPPA) or not being able to pay when you don't have a job. There are many other solutions rather than a government imposed monopoly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by e1618978 View Post

You don't have to worry about being rejected and not being able to get insurance due to "pre existing condition".

That can be solved without a single payer system.

Quote:
Originally Posted by e1618978 View Post

You pay the same rates as everyone else, don't have to worry that they will jack up your rates when you get sick, etc.

In the market place of health insurance people are willing to pay different amounts for different insurance. Some like the HMO some like the PPO and some like comprehensive. The increase in rates problem can be solved without a single payer system.

Quote:
Originally Posted by e1618978 View Post

And the people you deal with are much nicer, at least in Canada - but that is probably just a cultural difference (Canadians are much nicer people than Americans, in general, IMHO - Revenue Canada is much nicer than the IRS for the same reason).

That hasn't been my experience. The Canadians I meet are little different than Americans. A guy I met that transplanted from Sweden called the IRS about his complex taxes. He was blown away at how informative and friendly they were.

The single payer system is held up as somehow being the one and only solution but I think instead people have fallen into the belief that we need a European/Candian system. Then to them every problem has one solution. Kinda lazy and uncreative IMO.
The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long. - Foudad Ajami
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The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long. - Foudad Ajami
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post #10 of 23
3/20/09 at 5:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FloorJack View Post

So that is either a problem with your insurance being tied to your job (go look up COBRA and HIPPA) or not being able to pay when you don't have a job. There are many other solutions rather than a government imposed monopoly.



That can be solved without a single payer system.



In the market place of health insurance people are willing to pay different amounts for different insurance. Some like the HMO some like the PPO and some like comprehensive. The increase in rates problem can be solved without a single payer system.



That hasn't been my experience. The Canadians I meet are little different than Americans. A guy I met that transplanted from Sweden called the IRS about his complex taxes. He was blown away at how informative and friendly they were.

The single payer system is held up as somehow being the one and only solution but I think instead people have fallen into the belief that we need a European/Candian system. Then to them every problem has one solution. Kinda lazy and uncreative IMO.

Quote:
So that is either a problem with your insurance being tied to your job (go look up COBRA and HIPPA) or not being able to pay when you don't have a job. There are many other solutions rather than a government imposed monopoly.

Oh really? I know someone in that position right now. Do you have any idea how much COBRA costs? She's paying about $ 800.00 a month!

We need an alternative to this system! Everyone should have healthcare in this day and age without it breaking that person.
Without the need for difference or a need to always follow the herd breeds complacency, mediocrity, and a lack of imagination
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Without the need for difference or a need to always follow the herd breeds complacency, mediocrity, and a lack of imagination
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post #11 of 23
3/20/09 at 10:17am
  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FloorJack View Post

So that is either a problem with your insurance being tied to your job (go look up COBRA and HIPPA) or not being able to pay when you don't have a job. There are many other solutions rather than a government imposed monopoly.

COBRA was $1200/month for me. Not being able to pay when you don't have a job is a serious problem - if you have no coverage for two weeks between jobs, you are playing Russian roulette.

I don't really need socialized medicine, as long as they put the following rules on insurance companies:

1. Not allowed to reject anyone.
2. Have to charge the same rate for everyone the same age (all 42 year old people pay the same rate).
3. Have to pay for pre-existing conditions
4. Subject to severe consequences if customers complain (like the Telcos are - if the phone company screws you over and you complain to the feds, they must get whacked pretty hard because they bend over backwards to help you after that). Every insurance company I have dealt with has horrible customer service, this would solve that.

Medical insurance does not really work that well with full on capitalism. The whole purpose of insurance is to spread out the cost and risk, but with pure supply and demand, the insurance companies would only cover 20 year olds (with an exclusion for sports injuries). Once you get sick, you get pushed out of the umbrella.
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post #12 of 23
3/20/09 at 10:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmac View Post

Oh really? I know someone in that position right now. Do you have any idea how much COBRA costs? She's paying about $ 800.00 a month!

We need an alternative to this system! Everyone should have healthcare in this day and age without it breaking that person.

Uh Duh! Guess what? That tax break that companies get for providing insurance is large. McCain wanted to fix that system and give the tax write off to the individual. But we have Hope and Change instead. \
The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long. - Foudad Ajami
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The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long. - Foudad Ajami
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post #13 of 23
3/20/09 at 11:20am
You're sarcasm seems to be implying that Obama isn't going to do anything except maintain the status quo. I would call such a tone deceptive, since we know that's not what's going to happen.
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post #14 of 23
3/20/09 at 12:34pm
  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FloorJack View Post

Uh Duh! Guess what? That tax break that companies get for providing insurance is large. McCain wanted to fix that system and give the tax write off to the individual. But we have Hope and Change instead. \

Tax breaks for individuals is useless. What do I care about a $5000 tax break if I can't get medical insurance, of it it costs $50K/year to pay for insurance due to the insurance company jacking up the rates on sick people? $5000 won't go very far to pay for medical bills.

The whole Republican ideologies results in crappy medical coverage, just by default. The individualistic/supply and demand/everyone for himself mindset does not work when the whole purpose of medical insurance is to spread risk and cost. Medical insurance is inherently socialistic.
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post #15 of 23
4/6/09 at 11:51am
Oh wow. Only one wish? Soooo many to choose from.

I'd probably fix illegal immigration mess. I would put a moratorium on immigration, secure our national borders, and discontinue all government subsidies and benefits to illegal aliens.

You haven't made a wish yet, trumptman.

Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.

(I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.)

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Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.

(I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.)

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post #16 of 23
4/6/09 at 12:42pm
Affordable college/university for all citizens.
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post #17 of 23
4/6/09 at 12:48pm
Eliminate the Fed.
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post #18 of 23
4/6/09 at 6:41pm
Thread Starter 
A two-fold wish based on constitutional origins. I would return the selection of Senators to state legislatures and the secondly, I would expand the size of the House to something close to us getting some real and true representation again.

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." -George Orwell

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"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." -George Orwell

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post #19 of 23
4/7/09 at 2:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by trumptman View Post

A two-fold wish based on constitutional origins. I would return the selection of Senators to state legislatures and the secondly, I would expand the size of the House to something close to us getting some real and true representation again.

Along with that, I think doing away the "general ticket" system of electing a president and returning to the system used up until the 1830s would be good.

They used to vote for one individual to represent each congressional district and 2 individuals to represent each state. Each elector would then select a candidate for president. The candidate with the most total electors nationwide would become president.

This would ensure more balanced representation instead of concentrating the power in the large population centers.

Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.

(I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.)

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Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.

(I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.)

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post #20 of 23
4/7/09 at 3:08pm
  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzguru View Post

This would ensure more balanced representation instead of concentrating the power in the large population centers.

Places with more people should have more power - why should rural residents get more per-capita power than urban ones?
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post #21 of 23
4/7/09 at 3:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by e1618978 View Post

Places with more people should have more power - why should rural residents get more per-capita power than urban ones?

Rural residents wouldn't have any more power than urban. It would be distributed equally, since each congressional district would have one elector. The quantity and boundaries of congressional districts are usually determined after each census.

If we are supposed to have equal represenation in Congress, why not in the general election, too?

Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.

(I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.)

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Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.

(I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.)

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post #22 of 23
4/7/09 at 3:29pm
  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzguru View Post

Rural residents wouldn't have any more power than urban. It would be distributed equally, since each congressional district would have one elector. The quantity and boundaries of congressional districts are usually determined after each census.

If we are supposed to have equal represenation in Congress, why not in the general election, too?

Then power would be concentrated in cities, where people are concentrated. You can't get "more balanced representation instead of concentrating the power in the large population centers" without giving more per-capita power to rural people.
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post #23 of 23
4/7/09 at 3:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by e1618978 View Post

Then power would be concentrated in cities, where people are concentrated. You can't get "more balanced representation instead of concentrating the power in the large population centers" without giving more per-capita power to rural people.

Congressional districts are based on population. They have equal per capita representation (approx. 600,000 people).

This would not be giving or taking power away from rural or urban areas, it would be distributing it equally among the people, regardless of where they live.

Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.

(I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.)

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Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.

(I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.)

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