Calling all Americans Catholics! I have questions for you!

[thomfra]

I don’t know. Maybe they are more interested in meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and telling everyone else how to live instead of taking care of their own problems?

HA!!! now that’s pretty rich coming from an American!!! And said with such righteous indignation!!! Even better!!!

Have you been to south america, south east asia, and now the middle east and seen the effects of America’s “meddling in the internal affairs of other countries”.

Priceless comment! That one is going in my list of all time best posts along side “masturbation can lead to beastiality” post from another thread.

I’m laughing as I write this.

 

[Kaninchen]

Why not? This is cyberspace. If you can’t comment here where can you comment? I always thought American’s valued “free speech”. I didn’t certainly didn’t realise Americans were so sensitive. Having said that **most **of the people on this board have been able to discuss these issues without getting offended.

My experience of Germany/Germans is that open debate is something to be valued. The level of “television debate” is certainly superior to most other countries. Maybe you are the exception??

Perhaps religion is more interesting to discuss and less like a religion than American politics?

 

[Kaninchen]

HA!!! now that’s pretty rich coming from an American!!! And said with such righteous indignation!!! Even better!!!

Have you been to south america, south east asia, and now the middle east and seen the effects of America’s “meddling in the internal affairs of other countries”.

Priceless comment! That one is going in my list of all time best posts along side “masturbation can lead to beastiality” post from another thread.

I’m laughing as I write this.

Perhaps you might reconsider what he said?

 

[thomfra]

Perhaps religion is more interesting to discuss and less like a religion than American politics?

Then you go to another thread and discuss that.

 

[thomfra]

Perhaps you might reconsider what he said?

he he. You know. I think you are right here. I think I “jumped the gun”. Big time. Opps…

 

[thomfra]

HA!!! now that’s pretty rich coming from an American!!! And said with such righteous indignation!!! Even better!!!

Have you been to south america, south east asia, and now the middle east and seen the effects of America’s “meddling in the internal affairs of other countries”.

Priceless comment! That one is going in my list of all time best posts along side “masturbation can lead to beastiality” post from another thread.

I’m laughing as I write this.

bobzills - sorry. I think I read you wrong…

 

[Kaninchen]

Then you go to another thread and discuss that.

I think you might have become a little trigger-happy here?

You asked me about a conversation I was having with somebody else - should I have ignored your question?

 

[thomfra]

I think you might have become a little trigger-happy here?

You asked me about a conversation I was having with somebody else - should I have ignored your question?

It’s an open forum (as far as I am aware). They are open conversations.

 

[MIZER]

Myself and others have been maligned on this thread among others for being uncaring tax payers who complain about having to pay for another’s poor choices in life and lack of taking responsibility for themselves and their families. Ribozyme and those who think like him believe in the nanny state and in government run health care which is just a politically correct way of saying socialism. The government is so inept at running it’s own house I don’t know how those of us who live pay check to pay check will keep our heads above water if socialism is pushed on us in the form of “universal health care.”

I was reading our local newspapper the other day and there was an article about the cost of operating the vehicles owned by “the government.” The cost to the tax payer in 2007 alone was 3.4 billion dollars. Yes, that’s billion dollars. The article said that “millions of dollars a year are being wasted because of mismanagement of the government fleet.” There is mismanagement in every single venue of our hugh beuracracy we call “the government.” We can add to these figures the cost of drivers. For some reason the tax payer must provide highly paid drivers to cabinet members, a perk I believe to be criminal. The Transportaiton secretary has two drivers whose salaries totaled more than $128,000.00. That’s what we are paying for instead of paying for our poor neighbors health care. The driver for the health and human services Secretary, Mike Levitt, earns about $90,000.00 per year and I’ll guarentee you, he has a very nice health insurance package and pension. Why can’t these cabinet members drive themselves?

The scary thing is, this is only one example of the waste and the fraud perpetrated on the people of this country and this is why I said that there are many problems that contribute to the problems poor people have in aquiring health care that have nothing to do with the field of medicine. It’s people like Ribozyme and other’s who share his world view who likely vote for the politicians who will keep this sort of thing under the covers, all the while clamoring for the government (ie: the tax payer) to “do more” for the underclass, that will futher perpetuate this mess and alow it to just grow bigger and bigger and bigger.

 

[KenEOTE]

The Role of the government is to protect its citizens from threats both foreign and domestic. The Governement should maintain the Military, Police Force, Fire Department, and the roads. That is about it. They need to get out of welfare, schools, housing, and healthcare.

If you want your hospital to be like the local DMV then vote for the canidate that wants to bring you universal Healthcare.

Imagine if it takes 30 - 40 minutes jsut to get a little piece of plastic how long it will take to get surgery. Also a look at the Health Care in other countries that do have Universal Health Care shows signs that its a bad choice.

If the USA had Universal Health Care Last year, my Grandfather would not have gotten the surgery he needed in time to save his life.

 

[thomfra]

The Role of the government is to protect its citizens from threats both foreign and domestic. The Governement should maintain the Military, Police Force, Fire Department, and the roads. That is about it. They need to get out of welfare, schools, housing, and healthcare.

If you want your hospital to be like the local DMV then vote for the canidate that wants to bring you universal Healthcare.

Imagine if it takes 30 - 40 minutes jsut to get a little piece of plastic how long it will take to get surgery. Also a look at the Health Care in other countries that do have Universal Health Care shows signs that its a bad choice.

If the USA had Universal Health Care Last year, my Grandfather would not have gotten the surgery he needed in time to save his life.

Well what about how they have it in Australia (for example)?

A mixture of private and public.

i.e. if you buy private health insurance you have complete choice of doctors, hospitals, no waiting time etc. The public system is still good, but you don’t chose your doctor and there can be waiting lists. This way the poor are looked after, and the wealthy can chose between the systems.

 

[KenEOTE]

Well as long as the Rich can get better health care then the poor. I am all for it.

It also takes the burden off of the church, who is suppose to take care of the poor. Now we can spend our money on important things like stain glass windows and Golden Crosses.

 

[rlg94086]

I’ve lived in the US twice in my life and always made it my business never to comment on internal US politics (or external politics for that matter) and I’ve done the same on message boards over the years, including here.

Would that it were that American contributors to message boards returned the favor - the balance between American posters commenting adversely about European countries as opposed to the other way around is about as lopsided as you can get.

Hi Kaninchen,

A couple of comments. Firstly, I think your thread choice for this post is a little ironic (a thread started by a European banging on Americans and how uncharitable we are to the poor). Secondly, of course the adverse comments towards European countries are “as lopsided as you can get.” This board is predominantly Americans…simple math there, I’m afraid.

Are you saying that if/when America is brought up on predominantly European boards, that the comments are balanced? Really? I assumed it would all be glowing praise about how wonderful America is.

BTW…I primarily make fun of only one European country - France…and I learned to do that when working in the UK.

 

[Caesar517]

The Role of the government is to protect its citizens from threats both foreign and domestic. The Governement should maintain the Military, Police Force, Fire Department, and the roads. That is about it. They need to get out of welfare, schools, housing, and healthcare.

Don’t forget to include interstate commerce in the list of things the government should be involved with.

If you want your hospital to be like the local DMV then vote for the canidate that wants to bring you universal Healthcare.

It’s been said that government run healthcare will have all the efficiency of the DMV and all the compassion of the IRS.

i.e. if you buy private health insurance you have complete choice of doctors, hospitals, no waiting time etc. The public system is still good, but you don’t chose your doctor and there can be waiting lists. This way the poor are looked after, and the wealthy can chose between the systems.

Only if the people actually on the government system were the only ones funding the government system.

 

[AliciaCL]

Haven’t read all the posts but my response is it’s only a perception that Americans aren’t charitable and want to take care of their own. The media definitely feasted on showing poor black people as the major victims of Katrina. I think more of it had to do with hatred for George Bush that factual reporting. They wanted to blame Bush. It happened. The fact is New Orleans is a veritable bowl and it’s ridiculous to have a city there. The Major didn’t madate people leaving and the Governor refused to let in the National Guard for several days but these were reported in a minor way. The governments got whammied by nature. Yes, there was incompetency but the media would have it as a major conspiracy like a new holocaust against African-Americans. The media and movie images seen overseas are incredibly powerful but not always accurate. Heck, now we ourselves have to read and listen to liberal and conservative TV, print and radio to decide for ourselves what happened on any given day— there is sooo much spin. Secondly, the world has never known such a benevolent people as those in the USA. It’s quiet. Doesn’t make flashy color photos. We do a lot for our people. Part of the problem is the massive beaurocracy, mismanagement, corruption (which is always present in any form of government). The welfare system in place for many years did instill in some a psychological dependence on the government also. Our country has a strong individualistic ethos and those who wait for handouts will be left behind in the competition. That’s true but we still try to constantly encourage others to progress. These things add up to the misperception the OP stated.

 

[Leebo]

A use of the “availability heuristic” from yourself. Tell me if your views on the poor are falsifiable or you are parroting information from Robert Rector (or a similar source.) I suppose that information from about Rural Area Medical falsified some of your own views. (Although, might challenge some of my own beliefs about the alleged uncharitable nature of other humans too.)

I love how you try to demonize Robert Rector in your posts when Robert Rector simply states census statistics,

You are the one pushing very hard a specific political agenda, and this is obvious.

 

[Leebo]

You are TOTALLY wrong in your statement!

Going to the Emergency room does not equal treatment. I have been several times to the Emergency room for kidney stone attacks, for kidney stones too big to pass. I needed to go to a doctor and have medical procedures…which the hospital nor doctors are obliged to give if I do not present them with money up front and paid many times in full. You are talking upwards of $10,000.

I am poor!!! And if I, as a single mother of 4 with no help from the father of my children, earn as much as $260.00 per month, I am inelligible for Medicaid. Rent, food, utilities, my kids need for uniforms and school supplies and shoes are not even considered important. Anything earned above $259.00per month makes me inelligible for state health care.
And, even charity hospitals charge money for their services. I currently have a $500 bill with a charity hospital for one emergency room visit…which did not take care of the actual problem. They just identified the probable problem and took away the pain.
All other hospitals charge even more. They are only required to stabalize your condition if you go to the emergency room.

And I run into people all of the time who are not “young”, and are working themselves into the ground to support their families…and still can’t afford health care costs. It isn’t a matter of having the money and being unwilling. It is about the phenominal cost of health care. Employers keep most of the employees at a part time level just to keep from having to offer health insurance. that means that an employee works just short of 40 hours per week, but is still not given the option of health or retirement benefits.

I think it is important to note here(given the OP) that the very reason health care is so expensive is because the govt got involved in it years ago. They got involved for good reasons but the result is the mess we have now.

If you have time go back and study the history of Medicine in this country, do so. It will take a while but you will have a much better understanding of why we are where we are.

 

[Oscarthecat]

I think it is important to note here(given the OP) that the very reason health care is so expensive is because the govt got involved in it years ago. They got involved for good reasons but the result is the mess we have now.

If you have time go back and study the history of Medicine in this country, do so. It will take a while but you will have a much better understanding of why we are where we are.

exactly- this has been discussed in tedious, monotonous detail in the universal health insurance thread. The socialists just keep rehashing the same arguments, and the run down the rabbit hole to bring it up in other threads.

 

[Leebo]

With respect. Why on earth would it be detrimental to societly if as a nation decided that you wanted to spend **your **tax money collected by **your ** democratically elected government on medical care for the citizens of the coutry. Why would that be bad? I don’t understand.

Because they will screw it up, just like they have the school system. How many times does socialism have to fail before you people will understand that it just doesn’t work.

The only real way to solve these problems is to live our lives according to how the church teaches us. Take care of your family, strengthen your church.

I am so tired of being preached at by so called “enlightened” Europeans who really know very little of how things actually work here in the states. I do believe you have your heart in the right place which is the most important thing, but accusing america of not being charitable or caring because they choose not to practice something(socialism) that has proven futile over and over again is grateing.

IT DOESN’T WORK, THE EVIDENCE IS EVERYWHERE.

 

[Leebo]

“Seven years ago, the World Health Organization made the first major effort to rank the health systems of 191 nations. France and Italy took the top two spots; the United States was a dismal 37th.”

nytimes.com/2007/08/12/opinion/12sun1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The World Health Organization has no creditibility.

Just another anti american organization who blames all the worlds problems through some varying degree of seperation on america. I am sick of it which is why I am responding to these posts.