xxxxx

I don't recall anything in the constitution about enslaving people. I have never believed that any people should be enslaved. Keep in mind that most people in this country never owned slaves. Also keep in mind that it was their fellow countrymen who captured and sold them into slavery. By the way, that is still occurring in some areas of Africa.

I am not so sure that giving women the right to vote was in the best interest of our nation. Some women are more apt to vote based upon a candidates looks than real issues. I have had numerous women tell me over the years that they voted for a candidate because they looked good. That isn't a good reason to vote for a candidate. Perhaps we should go back to the way it was when I grew up. In order to be able to vote you had to take your tax or property receipt with you. You could only vote if you were a property owner. We seemed to have a more responsible electorate back then. It makes a difference when you are the one paying the bills.

1. The current system limits the number of prescriptions one individual can receive. I don't see that changing with a new system.

2. You throw a lot of percentages and figures around but fail to give your source. Your answer is to get rid of profit in favor or higher taxes? There is no competition with taxes. If the government wants to raise taxes all they need do is pass a bill. It is a little different in the private sector where you have competition for your dollars.

You continue to compare this country with others. This country is unique in history. It was an experiment that was extremely successful. Our forefathers built the most successful economic powerhouse in the world out of the wilderness. One reason these other countries have fallen behind in many areas is due to socialism. BIG GOVERNMENT DOESN'T WORK! For a country or society to be successful they must be productive. The bigger government becomes the less productive a society. If you had any sense of history you would already know this. History does repeat itself. What we are seeing now has been tried before and failed.

Unlike Polio, aids was initially spread by behavior. About the only way you can get aids was to exchange body fluids or in an infected IV. Two entirely different diseases. Getting polio had nothing to do with behavior. Cancer drugs and other types of drugs are expensive due to the cost of development and greed. Just because the government pays the bill doesn't mean the cost will necessarily be less. In reality we may actually see less new drugs and innovations.

I don't know where your head is if you think healthcare isn't regulated. It is one of the most regulated industries in this country. If it isn't done just right the provider winds up in court. Again, you list figures for the cost of malpractice insurance. What is your source? Much of the cost has to do with providing a paper trail for the government and lawyers to protect themselves from litigation.

I lived in California during the Reagan administration. The standard and quality of living was pretty good. It was just after his administration when they dramatically started raising property taxes that things went awry.


California's problem isn't that they cannot raise taxes. It is that they spend too much money. They don't know how to balance their budget. You don't spend money you don't have. Until the politicians and people of California realize that things won't change.



Socialism doesn't work. It has failed in EVERY country in which it has been tried. Those who have tried it have their own version which they try to convince themselves that their system will work. IT HASN'T.

East Germany, USSR, North Korea, Cuba, China, France, etc.,


Socialism has an inherent flaw. It takes the incentive to produce out of the picture. This country was built on self determination an freedom. Whether it is socialized banking, cars or healthcare, it will not work. I remember seeing some of the cars made in the old USSR and some of the other communist countries. Some people like to call them socialist countries.


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< social insurance socialist >



so·cial·ism http://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/t/pron.jpg (shttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/omacr.gifhttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/prime.gifshhttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/schwa.gif-lhttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/ibreve.gifzhttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/lprime.gifhttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/schwa.gifm) KEY

NOUN:

1. Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
2. The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.

com·mu·nism http://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/t/pron.jpg (khttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/obreve.gifmhttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/prime.gifyhttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/schwa.gif-nhttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/ibreve.gifzhttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/lprime.gifhttp://l.yimg.com/a/i/edu/ref/ahd/s/schwa.gifm) KEY

NOUN:

1. A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.
2. Communism
   1. A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
   2. The Marxist-Leninist version of Communist doctrine that advocates the overthrow of capitalism by the revolution of the proletariat.

Poor quality and all black. Healthcare will be the same. Poor quality high cost to the taxpayers. Of course, those who are living off the current system won't need to pay anything since those of us who do work will be supporting those who don't. By the way, I also remember seeing breadlines and limited store items under socialism in some of these countries you tout with such great healthcare. This will not stop at healthcare. We can expect to have people who have no experience in healthcare or business to run these new bureaucracies.



We will continue to spend more money on healthcare as long as we demand more from our healthcare providers. It will cost more whether it comes from the private sector or the government. The main difference is that it will cost more when it comes from the government. We would do much better if we started using natural remedies for many of our health issues. But it won't be as profitable for the government or private sector. Throwing money at things such as education hasn't worked. When the government changes history and fails to teach the basics you have an uneducated populace. We need to get the government out of our education if we expect to compete in the global market. As far as expenditures on the things you listed, it is relative to the individual countries GNP and goals. There is no war on drugs in this country. There is too much profit and it is such a good political football that neither side is willing to do what is necessary. As long as there is demand there will be drugs. Closing the southern border would help reduce supplies but you will NEVER stop drug use until you change people's attitudes. And as we have already witnessed, change for the sake of change isn't good.

GMAN-
I don't recall anything in the constitution about enslaving people. I have never believed that any people should be enslaved. Keep in mind that most people in this country never owned slaves. Also keep in mind that it was their fellow countrymen who captured and sold them into slavery. By the way, that is still occurring in some areas of Africa.

I said that slavery was legal when the constitution was written, not that the constitution specifically allowed it. In fact, many of our founding fathers were slave owners and many who did not actually own slaves benefited from the practice.

GMAN-
I am not so sure that giving women the right to vote was in the best interest of our nation. Some women are more apt to vote based upon a candidates looks than real issues. I have had numerous women tell me over the years that they voted for a candidate because they looked good. That isn't a good reason to vote for a candidate. Perhaps we should go back to the way it was when I grew up. In order to be able to vote you had to take your tax or property receipt with you. You could only vote if you were a property owner. We seemed to have a more responsible electorate back then. It makes a difference when you are the one paying the bills.

Wow. So now we are starting to see how you really feel about things. This is so far out in la-la land that I really can't bring myself to start in on it. Anybody out there want to help? Dobry, are you there? Just for starters, I wonder how many men voted for Palin because they thought she had a nice butt.


GMAN-
1. The current system limits the number of prescriptions one individual can receive. I don't see that changing with a new system.

How does it do that? What is the current system? You accuse me failing to provide sources. I want to see your source on this.


GMAN-
2. You throw a lot of percentages and figures around but fail to give your source. Your answer is to get rid of profit in favor or higher taxes? There is no competition with taxes. If the government wants to raise taxes all they need do is pass a bill. It is a little different in the private sector where you have competition for your dollars.

I can provide a citation for any number I use anywhere in anything I write. I do the same for any factual statement I make as well. That's the big difference between what I write and what you do. I use facts and numbers. You use nothing but opinions gleaned from what ever lunatic right wing radio program you have listened to on a given day.

There can be plenty of competition with taxes. Don't road construction projects get multiple bids? Postal Service trucking contracts have gotten hugely competitive. I don't think it's right for any corporation or industry to reap huge profits at the expense of the health of the populace..

GMAN-
You continue to compare this country with others. This country is unique in history. It was an experiment that was extremely successful. Our forefathers built the most successful economic powerhouse in the world out of the wilderness. One reason these other countries have fallen behind in many areas is due to socialism. BIG GOVERNMENT DOESN'T WORK! For a country or society to be successful they must be productive. The bigger government becomes the less productive a society. If you had any sense of history you would already know this. History does repeat itself. What we are seeing now has been tried before and failed.

I hate to break the news to you, but we are the country that is falling behind. That's exactly why we need change. What is wrong with comparing this country to others? When you say we are “unique in history” aren't you comparing us as well? History does repeat itself. All empires eventually fail. Ours is in danger of failing now if we don't make some substantive changes.

GMAN-
Unlike Polio, aids was initially spread by behavior. About the only way you can get aids was to exchange body fluids or in an infected IV. Two entirely different diseases. Getting polio had nothing to do with behavior. Cancer drugs and other types of drugs are expensive due to the cost of development and greed. Just because the government pays the bill doesn't mean the cost will necessarily be less. In reality we may actually see less new drugs and innovations.

1.AIDS was initially spread into the human population by someone eating meat from an infected animal. It can spread almost as fact through unprotected heterosexual intercourse as through sex between two men. Contaminated needles don't distinguish who they infect.

2.We are talking about the cost of developing a drug. I wasn't aware that we were limiting the discussion to the cost of drugs used to combat diseases that you approve of. I'll wager that Viagra and Prozac both cost more to develop than the Polio vaccine.

GMAN-
I don't know where your head is if you think healthcare isn't regulated. It is one of the most regulated industries in this country. If it isn't done just right the provider winds up in court. Again, you list figures for the cost of malpractice insurance. What is your source? Much of the cost has to do with providing a paper trail for the government and lawyers to protect themselves from litigation.

How is it regulated? Provide an example of a regulation that limits what a provider can charge or mandates a specific treatment for a certain condition.

You can find information on the cost of malpractice insurance easily, from a number of sources on the web. Here's one link; New Study Finds Medical Malpractice Insurance Premiums have Minimal Effect on Health Care Costs NCL’s Savvy Consumer Blog

GMAN-
I lived in California during the Reagan administration. The standard and quality of living was pretty good. It was just after his administration when they dramatically started raising property taxes that things went awry.

It was Reagan who started the tax cutting frenzy. When he closed the local state-run mental hospital, all those people went out on the street and became a huge burden for local law enforcement and the county health care system.

And to show how little you actually know about this subject, consider this; Property taxes were not raised after his administration, they were dramatically lowered with the passing of Proposition 13. Proposition 13 has completely distorted tax revenue generation for the entire state. The other big problem is that politicians, some would argue beginning with Reagan, have discovered a sure-fire way to get elected and become wealthy; Promise to cut peoples taxes (They fall for it every time) so you can get in office and start to receive the beneficence of all the corporate lobbyists. That's when you make your connections so that when you leave office you can go to work in one of the industries that your former committee was in charge of regulating, or become a lobbyist (or consultant) yourself. It worked great for Dick Cheney

GMAN-
Socialism doesn't work. It has failed in EVERY country in which it has been tried. Those who have tried it have their own version which they try to convince themselves that their system will work. IT HASN'T.

Can you name some examples please?

GMAN-
East Germany, USSR, North Korea, Cuba, China, France, etc.,

So you name four communist countries, France (Which is not socialist, but is considered by numerous surveys to have the best health care in the world, which is what I think we were supposed to be talking about here) and etc. Where is etc.? I can't find it on any maps. We know you have 5 out of 6 wrong. I would like to find etc. so we can make it 6 out of 6.

And you have now proved that you can cut and paste a bunch of links. I want to know if you can, in your own words, describe the difference between communism and socialism. You should be able to do it in two sentences, max. And no fair calling Rush for help!

GMAN-
We will continue to spend more money on healthcare as long as we demand more from our healthcare providers. It will cost more whether it comes from the private sector or the government.

This is pretty much a point I have been trying to make to you all along. Health care is expensive because it has become very complex. It has become complex because everything else has gotten very complicated too. We cannot rely on simple measures to solve complex issues.

GMAN-
The main difference is that it will cost more when it comes from the government.

The data from the rest of the world indicates that this is not true.

GMAN-
We would do much better if we started using natural remedies for many of our health issues. But it won't be as profitable for the government or private sector.

This doesn't make sense. Are you saying that BOTH government and the private sector are generating unusual profits under our current system? If so, then you are arguing against your own position here. I submit that those are indicators that we need reform.

GMAN-
Throwing money at things such as education hasn't worked. When the government changes history and fails to teach the basics you have an uneducated populace. We need to get the government out of our education if we expect to compete in the global market.

Government sponsored education is a large part of what drove us to the top of the economic pile. If we get government out of education and turn it over to the private sector, it too will become driven by profit, not quality. When I think of this I see Halliburton signs on schools.

GMAN-
As far as expenditures on the things you listed, it is relative to the individual countries GNP and goals

The reason you use % of GDP is that it gives you an accurate snapshot of the relative expenditures of each nation. It's macro economics 101. We are spending way too much on health care, prisons & the military. If we allow it to continue we will fail as an empire.

GMAN-
There is no war on drugs in this country. There is too much profit and it is such a good political football that neither side is willing to do what is necessary.

I didn't make up the term, Richard Nixon did. It's been used by so many people that it is now part of the general lexicon (although I think Obama said his administration would not use the term, he has continued the policies).

GMAN-
As long as there is demand there will be drugs. Closing the southern border would help reduce supplies but you will NEVER stop drug use until you change people's attitudes.

If what you are trying to say is that you can't legislate morality, I agree

GMAN-
And as we have already witnessed, change for the sake of change isn't good.

And failing to change when it is necessary will leave us on the trash heap of history with the Roman Empire, the Ottomans and every other once great nation that was too proud or self-indulged to make the sacrifices required to survive.

Reason why they are going up its because they want more money. I would rather pay taxes and lower our healthcare costs, than pay premiums and raise someones multimillion dollar bonus. They will never lower prices as long as they are all in the bed with each other and all of these politicians who never lived under the laws that they pass, or have forgotten how it is to live under them..





Mike, i know more Americans that are living off of our system than i do Hispanics.

NO ONE CAN LIVE OFF OF THE SYSTEM IF THEY ARE HERE ILLEGALY. I dont care what someone told you, it is not true that illegals are gaming our government, ITS THE OTHER WAY AROUND !!!

We pay many taxes in this country and if we only used that money wisely we could probably pay health care costs for the entire American continent, not only this country.




It is a slavery but in a legal kind of way. These people pay taxes Mike, (there are those who do not just like regular Americans but vast majority does). They pay taxes but get nothing in return. Whoever told you that illegals get food stamps is lying. I had my wife read some of these posts here and she is laughing at the amount of miss conception that is out there, no wonder why people hate immigrants.
This country was built on the backs of immigrants, legal and illegal.....And this country gets most of its benefits from those who are here illegaly than from those who are not, as those who are, do not have to be cared for..Healthcare is the same way.





Prescriptions are just one example of us overpaying for something that we should not. Everything else related to health care in this country is the same way. You can never know how much you are being played until you go outside of the box and look at the things from a different point of view. I told you this before.

Canada is one of the richest nations in thw worls with population of just little over 33 million. Most of that country is still unexplored. It is very rich with minerals and oil. Most of my work in this past week has been there, picking up in Nephton,ON mines and delivering down south. They are not in debt and can never be in financial difficulties in the long run. We are there in the short and long run. We can only wish we were Canada.

Oh BTW, If you're going on 401 you'll see them REMODELING their plazas/rest areas, not closing them down.



Trust me, our government is not taking care of our every need. This country is the only one out there, together with probably Somalia that does not have any kind of a social safety net in the case that people loose their jobs or get sick. No one will help you. That ,,free health care'' has been thrown around by those who do not want to change our ways. IT IS NOT FREE, WE WOULD PAY FOR IT !!!!!
It has gotten ,,just fine'' for 200 years but look at where we are today because of it?

Rest of the world is catching up and catching up fast. In 20 years China will reach our level of sophistication which took us 200 years to reach. WE MUST CHANGE or be left to rot.....
I dont want us to rot, i want us to succed and be that beacon of freedom that made this country what IT WAS.....once am sad to say.




Healthcare costs have gotten out of control in every instance, every aspect of this buisiness has gotten more expensive...

No one can stand up against a trillion dollar machine if we(the government) do not, its simple like that.
We ,,can'' or we ,,wont'' do it, there is no ,,we cannot''....WE CAN DO ANYTHING WE WANT, WE PUT A MAN ON THE MOON..but only if we put our mind to it.

We need to stand up and demand the government get out of our business and our lives. It isn't the insurance companies but the government and control that is the problem. I don't want to give up any more of my freedoms in exchange for a government check. These people don't want to help. They want to control. When they implement a social program they exempt themselves. These people don't have the common sense or compassion to run our government or healthcare. They do want to control.

There are things which should be changed. Moving our healthcare into total government control isn't the answer. Just look at the mess they have made out of social security.

Getting this back somewhat on subject, I dare someone on here to define "succeed in trucking."

No I have not read the book, nor do I have any interest whatsoever in doing so either. The premise to the book was presented, and people commented on that (not the book). This isn't a book report thread. By all means start one, and title it "Audio books that are fun to read."

I like the truck in your logo, Flying W. I suppose we have drifted off subject. As far as a definition of succeed or success in trucking is concerned, I will give it a try. I would say that someone who is successful in trucking is someone who has earned a decent living for several years and paid off his equipment. He is someone who has faced adversity and won. He has seen the ups and downs of this business and has stuck it out through good times and bad. I don't necessarily think that someone must own more than one truck to be considered a success in trucking. It isn't the number of trucks but how well he has managed his assets and business. He places value on his service and refuses to haul for less than it costs to operate and earn a profit.

Thanks as I love cabovers, and wish I had the chance to drive one (especially a K100). Now to figure out how to get a K100 photo small enough to be the avatar (it is hard to find a 64kb photo, and I'm not exactly sure how to reduce a photo in size if possible).

I just offered that as a means to get people to think of success as not only a matter of $'s. The discussion on health insurance was interesting. All I've got to say is I sure hope I stay healthy no matter the result.

I like some of those old cabovers. I almost bought one that had a 100" sleeper and a queen size bed. It was a Peterbilt. That was when I hauled cars. I don't remember the year, but it had a doghouse. I was relieved when I found that the engine blew a few weeks after I looked at it. It was a nice truck. I believe it has a 425 CAT.

I love European style cabovers that Volvo makes, Renault as well. I wish i can own one of those.