america for americans!

[rone]

I received a call from my House Representative, Zoe Lofgren (and i note that it's not Zoë because she doesn't pronounce the 'e' in her name), asking me to join a phone conference about health care reform.  The various people who chimed in with comments and questions ran the gamut from people who showed various levels of support and opposition who made civil and thoughtful contributions, to outright morons, such as one dolt who said, "I don't want the government in charge of health care.  I'm an employer and people tell me they don't want benefits, and if they need anything they'll just get it for free at the emergency room."  Another clown added, "Health insurance companies want to turn a profit, and there's nothing wrong with making a profit; that's what this country was founded on."  Funny, i thought this country was founded on tax evasion.

Comments

[sweh.livejournal.com]

Dammit, I'm doing it wrong. As a Green Card holder I pay taxes but can't vote. Silly me.. I'll never be a true American at this rate!

[tau-iota-mu-c.livejournal.com]

I read those quotes in a Southern US Hick Voice. Please tell me they had Southern US hick accents.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Alas, this is my California district, which is fairly urban. It's possible that these guys were transplants, but no foreign accent was detectable.

[h-postmortemus.livejournal.com]

Not all Southern US hicks are that stupid.

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

"Tax Evasion" is the avoidence of taxes you owe, and is a crime, whereas changing your behavior to make it less taxable is not a crime. If it was, then giving to charities would be tax evasion. And wealthy people don't get the same tax break you do when giving to charities, anyway.

The penalty for Tax evasion varies from fines and prison time to consideration for a White House cabinet position, or a Chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

"Now and then an innocent man is sent to the legislature."

[h-postmortemus.livejournal.com]

The other clown is correct though. Health insurance companies want to turn a profit. That's why they exist, as any company or business does. If you take away the ability for a business to make money, it has no reason to exist.
Greed is an intrinsic property of human nature.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

There are, in fact, non-profit organizations that provide health care, such as Kaiser Permanente. And there is no proof that anyone wants to take away a business's ability to make money, nor is there an effective way to do so short of declaring their business illegal (such as Prohibition did to wineries and distilleries). Greed might be intrinsic, but it is often ruinous to the greedy person.

[h-postmortemus.livejournal.com]

Note that I said "company", not "non-profit organization". :)
The concern for-profit companies have is that by offering a publicly funded option, many people will choose to use that instead of a for-profit insurance company. Which will reduce their profitability. And there's no doubt many people will switch to a public option if it's at all cheaper than a for-profit option. So I don't recommend making arguments against these facts. Instead, focus on what level of impact there will be.


You are 100% right about greed. It's one of humanity's biggest challenges, overcoming our own nature that sabotages our advancement.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

If they're worried about their profitability, maybe they should offer more in their product, like many other companies do when they compete against publicly funded alternatives.