If it doesn't cost money, I guarantee you the bill is worthless. Why aren't they freaking out over defense spending? I don't want to pay for two wars and an imperial presence all of the world while we're a total joke around the world because we can't even provide our own people healthcare. And haven't they ever heard of the progressive income tax? Why are the wealthy being totally excluded from any participation in paying for this?

Because all major parties to the debate don't care about quantitative accuracy, numbers are merely rhetorical tools.

Just think if we had ended the war in 2005 we could have payed for SP UHC. Just think about who got that money instead with that fat government contract going to the company they hold 10% share of, who's driving that Lamborghini down the 280 at 90 mph.... Better hope a deer doesn't jump in front of them. No, No new taxes for him he's keeping the "economy" going. Ain't it funny how that works?

How about the other obvious thing about health care spending? The money that is spent goes right back into the economy, paying for....wait for it....HEALTH CARE! It will pay salaries and for services and equipment, medications, etc.

Without it, all health care money goes straight to insurance companies, which then begrudgingly dole it out, saving as much as possible to pay high salaries of the people who simply receive the money and then dole it out! Oh, and stockholders and Congresspeople.

When these people talk about the trillion dollars, it is as though all the money goes down a rat-hole (like it does now).

What's this?

Oh ... It's just Obama's primary care doctor for 21 years. What's he saying?

Scheiner is critical of Obama's pick for Health and Human Services secretary--Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who used to work as the chief lobbyist for her state's trial lawyers association.

"He doesn't see all the pain, it's so tragic out here," he says. "Obama's wonderful, but on this one I'm not sure if he's getting the right input."

What should the president be focused on? Scheiner thinks that a good health reform would be "Medicare for all," a single-payer system where the government would cover everyone and pay for it by cutting out waste in the system. "A neurosurgeon gets paid $20,000 for cutting into the neck of my patient. Have him get paid $1 million a year instead of $2 million or $3 million. He won't starve," Scheiner says.

Scheiner thinks that Obama's "public plan" reform doesn't go far enough. He supports the idea of that option for people who don't like or can't afford their HMO. But he worries that it will be watered down or not happen at all. "It's nonsense that the private insurance companies need to be protected," he says. "Why? Because they've done such a good job?"

Link to Forbes

The 71 year old doctor says it all!

~OGD~

I have thought about this. They're doing it precisely because it's scarier to use *trillion* than to break it down into managable billions. This is from people who are being paid by the insurance companies to make real change as scary as possible.

I'm getting mighty worried that they've talked themselves into slashing Medicare and Medicaid and talked themselves out of providing assitance to anyone else. This bill may be the Republicans dream come true.