In an audio recording from a September 2007 speech to an audience at the UC Berkeley, Robert Reich reveals what he believes an honest liberal presidential candidate would say about health care. The "truth" about health care as Reich sees it is quite shocking and as you can hear on the recording, he is definitely not kidding. Here is a transcript of the brutal truth about health care as Robert Reich sees it:
I'll actually give you a speech made up entirely, almost on the spur of the moment, of what a candidate for president would say if that candidate did not care about becoming president. In other words, this is what the truth is and a candidate will never say, but what a candidate should say if we were in the kind of democracy where citizens were honored in terms of their practice of citizenship and they were educated in terms of what the issues were and they could separate myth from reality in terms of what candidates would tell them:
"Thank you so much for coming this afternoon. I'm so glad to see you and I would like to be president. Let me tell you a few things on health care. Look, we have the only health care system in the world that is designed to avoid sick people. And that's true and what I'm going to do is that I am going try to reorganize it to be more amenable to treating sick people but that means you, particularly you young people, particularly you young healthy people...you're going to have to pay more.
"Thank you. And by the way, we're going to have to, if you're very old, we're not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs for the last couple of years of your life to keep you maybe going for another couple of months. It's too expensive...so we're going to let you die."
"Also I'm going to use the bargaining leverage of the federal government in terms of Medicare, Medicaid---we already have a lot of bargaining leverage---to force drug companies and insurance companies and medical suppliers to reduce their costs. What that means, less innovation and that means less new products and less new drugs on the market which means you are probably not going to live much longer than your parents. Thank you."
These morons... I hope they get exactly what they deserve, but they won't. You can bet your last dollar that the Latte Liberals will find a way to keep what they have, just like Congress will. Such luminary and enlightened and invalueable people are simply *not* going to lower themselves to the same level of health care that all those little people have! I mean really... will Botox be covered?
I don't see him saying "liberal" anywhere. He says "what a candidate for president would say if that candidate did not care about becoming president" by which I take hime to mean any candidate, not just a liberal one.
Anyway, that's Reich's opinion of what the realities are. He speaks for exactly one Berkeley professor, retired from public service.
I don't see him saying "liberal" anywhere. He says "what a candidate for president would say if that candidate did not care about becoming president" by which I take hime to mean any candidate, not just a liberal one.
Yeah, Conservatives are enthusiastically on board for this bill by the millions.
But the country as a whole and many conservatives are for Healthcare reform. So they are either on board for the brutal truth or don't have a clue what they are for.
The amount of opposition research that the conservatives invest in each issue proposed by Democrats is truly awesome.
They go through literally thousands of speeches, papers, press conferences, etc. on probably the "top 500" liberal voices, and then start searching through for any anecdotal outrage du jour statement. And when they find the "ah ha" moment (always out of context), they rush to judgment.
Robert Reich no more speaks for all liberals/Democrats [after all, in 2007, he was just a Professor at Berkley.. he didn't represent anybody but himself] than does James Inhofe speak for all conservatives/Republicans... [well, maybe Inhofe does, correct me if he doesn't].
My experience is that wnen ever someone says it is the truth, that it rarely is. An example is the Bible verse that starts with I am the way, the truth and the life...
Young people who are not provided health care insurance by their employer either won't pay for, or can't, afford it. More and more businesses are not providing it and/or are hiring part-timers to avoid it. You simply need a base of people paying premiums that aren't submitting claims or using many prescription drugs.
When reimbursements to providers are squeezed, they'll increase their rates and/or their profits will decline. When profits decline, cuts in free samples, marketing, research, etc., etc. will be cut back.
The hell you say... It has everything to do with this bill. It *is* this bill by the time it passes.
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How do you know that to be true?
Since you are so self-involved, the only thing this bill could do would be to help you.
To tell the truth, I'd rather have my children and grandchildren paying for health care and supporting positive things, than to be subject to endless debt because of wars that a deficient president engaged in without ever thinking about the consequences.
Have you priced a bare bones policy? I have a daughter that just turned 24 today ... has another 2-3 semesters of college, works 2 part time jobs and no way can she spend $150-$200/month on a policy that still requires co-pays and has a $5000 deductible. That's a bare bones policy.
The hell you say... It has everything to do with this bill. It *is* this bill by the time it passes.
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How do you know that to be true?
I can read and understand abstract concepts, apply logic, history, and experience, and from that draw reasonably dependable conclusions.
Since you are so self-involved, the only thing this bill could do would be to help you.
A "face-palm" moment. Perhaps if you weren't who you are, then my *strong* opposition to this bill, or any like it, might motivate you to ponder your assessment. But it won't. You are who you are.
To tell the truth, I'd rather have my children and grandchildren paying for health care and supporting positive things, than to be subject to endless debt because of wars that a deficient president engaged in without ever thinking about the consequences.
I rather doubt your children and grandchildren will much give a quack about what you'd rather have, once the terrible reality of *this* debt settles on them.
I rather doubt your children and grandchildren will much give a quack about what you'd rather have, once the terrible reality of *this* debt settles on them.
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Actually, my children already understand where the debt comes from, my son in the Navy, and my daughter married to an AF guy. It has nothing to do with any indoctrination I have given them.
They've come to these conclusions on their own. They realize they've been sold down the river by the GWB administration and the Republicans.
But the country as a whole and many conservatives are for Healthcare reform. So they are either on board for the brutal truth or don't have a clue what they are for.
Healthcare reform yes.....government controlled healthcare....not so much.
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"Coincidence is a God scheduled opportunity."
Scott Hamilton
"Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly." --Robert Schuller
Healthcare reform yes.....government controlled healthcare....not so much.
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Jofox.. Could you please show me where, in any of the Bills in Congress, that there is an advocacy position for government to take over healthcare? Just give me the House Bill or the Senate Bill quote that makes that mandatory.
To tell the truth, I'd rather have my children and grandchildren paying for health care and supporting positive things, than to be subject to endless debt because of wars that a deficient president engaged in without ever thinking about the consequences.
Jim...
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run up the bills..hand it to your children who cares what they have to pay for...
isn't that what environmentalists are railing against....running up a bill for future generations that they can't afford to pay for your life today...
ahhh the left...wallowing in the sticky fecal mud of hypocrisy
but you are entertaining (it's like watching a dog chase his own tail and spin in circles)
[its fun for him until he bites himself in the ass]...but people laugh anyway
Speaking for myself gussie-mae I like my coffee hot and black. Like my president. Remember that one?
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I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and
all the less important ones just never go away.
And the real pains in the ass are permanent.
Gussie-mae. You are too uptight to live my simple little life. I love my life, but you seem to be miserable in yours. Put another bullet on the Bar B.
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I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and
all the less important ones just never go away.
And the real pains in the ass are permanent.
Gussie-mae. You are too uptight to live my simple little life. I love my life, but you seem to be miserable in yours. Put another bullet on the Bar B.
I suppose I am too pre-occupied to make up silly names for posters. You may have a point. And I don't doubt that being stinking rich is a real comfort. Still, I think I'll pass...
I suppose I am too pre-occupied to make up silly names for posters. You may have a point. And I don't doubt that being stinking rich is a real comfort. Still, I think I'll pass...
gus.
Gussie-mae. That is a lie. You love calling people names daily.
I am stinking rich as you call it. But not money wise. Life wise makes me rich. And comfortable too. And I have no doubt you'll pass.
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I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and
all the less important ones just never go away.
And the real pains in the ass are permanent.
I haven't a clue what Gus is talking about. He loves the sound of his cage rattling, that's for sure.
And Gus, what do you have against money?
It keeps you in bullets, doesn't it?
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I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and
all the less important ones just never go away.
And the real pains in the ass are permanent.
Generic names, maw, there's a difference, not as 3rd-grade.
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So, you are saying that using generic denigrating terms is not as insulting as "names" being directed at one person?
No, just not as infantile. Look at the moonbat's habitual usage. Very indicative. It's a like kids in a treehouse, speaking "code" and giggling about it.
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I am stinking rich as you call it. But not money wise. Life wise makes me rich. And comfortable too. And I have no doubt you'll pass.
Oh, I think the money begats a lot of the "life" and the "comfort". *chortle*
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What does that mean?
It means that maw long ago revealed herself as a Latte Liberal. She apparently has a lovely glass house from which to throw her daily stones.
Could you please define "Latte Liberal" for me? I'm not sure, but, I might be one of those horrid creatures.
Not so much. It's generally economics-based, and you have always been very forthright and honest in that regard. For example, a "Latte Liberal" would be Al Gore, living like King Midas himself, while exhorting the little people to conserve for the sake of the planet. Or it might be a particularly loud and obnoxious advocate for the homeless who lives in a 5K sq ft. house with 3 spare bedrooms.
You see, virtually everybody desires wealth and comfort, it's perfectly natural. But only Liberals appoint themselves as "stewards" of other people's wealth and comfort. And it is a thread that runs through the entire history of Socialism and/or social engineering. One always has to wonder, that at the successfull conclusion of any "revolution", why the leaders *always* set up shop in the palaces of the overthrown despot? curious, that...
gus.
This message has been edited by gus-mccrea on Oct 16, 2009 12:12 AM
Speaking for myself gussie-mae I like my coffee hot and black. Like my president. Remember that one?
Well, Maw, if you really paid attention, you would know your president is neither hot nor Black.
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Glenn Beck hates 9/11 survivors. Shocking as Glenn Beck claimed that he hates 9/11 survivors. The Fox news personality and media clown has always been an outrageous demagogue, a pied piper to the illiterate, unwashed masses that make up the Fox news audience. Michael Stone,Examiner.com
Then if your daughter is in an accident or gets seriously ill she will be saddled with a medical bill that could economically cripple her.
So why doesn't the daughter have insurance? And why does the daughter have the right not to be economically crippled?
Well, the TRUTH is that the daughter is responsible to pr5ovide her own insurance; and if she does, she willnot be economically crippled with the accident or illness.
It is individual responsibility that liberals fear.
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Glenn Beck hates 9/11 survivors. Shocking as Glenn Beck claimed that he hates 9/11 survivors. The Fox news personality and media clown has always been an outrageous demagogue, a pied piper to the illiterate, unwashed masses that make up the Fox news audience. Michael Stone,Examiner.com
potsy's OPINION.....Well, Maw, if you really paid attention, you would know your president is neither hot nor Black.
He's fully HALF Black, potsy, and in America, that means it says "African-American" on his birth certificate. Also, what would YOU know about what makes a man "hot" ?
He's fully HALF Black, potsy, and in America, that means it says "African-American" on his birth certificate. Also, what would YOU know about what makes a man "hot" ?
But, Janie, when you put cream in the cup, the coffee is no longer Black. It turns lighter with the cream and to say she likes it hot and Black disqualifies Obama. don't care what the birth certificate says.
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Glenn Beck hates 9/11 survivors. Shocking as Glenn Beck claimed that he hates 9/11 survivors. The Fox news personality and media clown has always been an outrageous demagogue, a pied piper to the illiterate, unwashed masses that make up the Fox news audience. Michael Stone,Examiner.com
The amount of opposition research that the conservatives invest in each issue proposed by Democrats is truly awesome.
Positions matter, do they not?
They go through literally thousands of speeches, papers, press conferences, etc. on probably the "top 500" liberal voices, and then start searching through for any anecdotal outrage du jour statement. And when they find the "ah ha" moment (always out of context), they rush to judgment.
As opposed to the left, that simply make shit up and splash it around, until it becomes conventional wisdom.
Robert Reich no more speaks for all liberals/Democrats [after all, in 2007, he was just a Professor at Berkley.. he didn't represent anybody but himself] than does James Inhofe speak for all conservatives/Republicans... [well, maybe Inhofe does, correct me if he doesn't].
On this issue, Riech speaks honestly, it is for you to decide if you are honest on this issue or not. Any government intervention, will NOT be cheaper, unless care is reduced, people will NOT be able to keep the doctor of their choice, because healthcare through employers will become a thing of the past. The U.S. WILL face the EXACT same dilemas every other nation with socialized medicine faces, for the exact same reason. Lastly, there are not 47 million uninsured in this country. The number is around 12 million, who can't get insurance, but want it, through either a lack of money..... Make too much to qualify for government help, or has pre-existing conditions.
I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
"We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you." - Hussein Massawi, the former leader of Hezbollah
Because she's a full-time college student and works 2 jobs totalling approx 20 hours week ... one paying the minimum wage of $7.25/hr and the other $8.00/hr.
And why does the daughter have the right not to be economically crippled?
If some medical bill were to economically cripple her, she would have no choice but to file bankruptcy. She owns nothing ... not even her car. It was purchased for her when she was still in high school and it is titled to her dad and I.
Well, the TRUTH is that the daughter is responsible to pr5ovide her own insurance; and if she does, she willnot be economically crippled with the accident or illness.
As I said above, you can't pay for something with money you don't have.
It is individual responsibility that liberals fear.
We're not liberals and the cost of health insurance is not a problem affecting only liberals.
As her parent, I am still researching options I could afford to buy for her.
I only wish I was half as rich as Gussie makes me out to be. LOL
Years ago Potsy they use to say if a person had a drop of black blood in them they were black. Maybe you're not old enough or wise enough to remember that. I always thought it was ridiculous. But it's as it was. It was mainly in the south.
I consider Obama handsome black man and a hottie to boot..But, that's just me...
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I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and
all the less important ones just never go away.
And the real pains in the ass are permanent.
I understand, I have the hots for the actress Tamara Taylor seen in Bones. And she is not the only one. Rachel Luttrell on Star Gate Atlantis and Salli Elise Richardson on Eureka are two more. And of course I have the hots for the one voted most irresistable on Maxim's 100 most irresistable women list, Halle Berry. I probably am not the only one on this board that has the hots for her.
Well, we have assumed the worse possible scenario --that being that the greatest disaster will occur with the greatest cost.
But I believe that most hospitals would treat the accident victim and worry about the bill later.
I know of a few hospitals that treat patients for the amount they can afford to pay.
And there are many that will let you make payments. I don't know the status of hospitals in your area, but my cousin was treated for cancer and accumulated over a half million in debt. He had no insurancfe although he could have afforded it. The point is the hospitals treated him without regard to his ability to pay.
My Father-in-Law had cancer and ran up a large bill. After he passed away, the hospital billed my Mother-in-Law for the entire amount. Her Brother-in-Law handled her finances for her and paid the hospital $10 a month.
Now, I do understand the cry about insurance, but I know too many cases in which hospitals treat the patients regardless their ability to pay.
I suspect a=fter the government gets through with health care reform the situation will become worse and the quality of care will suffer.
I would suggest that you put whatever you can in a savings account and set it aside for medical payments. Then if you need to use it to negotiate with the medical profession, you will have it available. If you don't need it you wi8ll be that much ahead.
OTOH, if you do find a policy, you will probably need to have a high deductible in order to afford the premiums. Keeping that in mind, you would need a lot of money plus continueing to pay the premium.
Of course, each person has different ideas: however, those without insurance usually get treated for their illnesses. And that act pf responsibility will go a long way when you explain to the billing depart that you have dony your best.
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Glenn Beck hates 9/11 survivors. Shocking as Glenn Beck claimed that he hates 9/11 survivors. The Fox news personality and media clown has always been an outrageous demagogue, a pied piper to the illiterate, unwashed masses that make up the Fox news audience. Michael Stone,Examiner.com
I understan, Maw. But I like my coffee hot and black. that means no cream. Sorry.
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Glenn Beck hates 9/11 survivors. Shocking as Glenn Beck claimed that he hates 9/11 survivors. The Fox news personality and media clown has always been an outrageous demagogue, a pied piper to the illiterate, unwashed masses that make up the Fox news audience. Michael Stone,Examiner.com
And that's how I drink my coffee, hot and black. And no sugar...
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I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and
all the less important ones just never go away.
And the real pains in the ass are permanent.
Thanks Poetese. I'm aware of those points and options.
I have until Nov 13 to make a decision. Until then, should something happen, I would need to pay a one month premium for the extremely expensive COBRA available thru my employer.
You're welcome, Carolyn. I wish I could give you the best solution, but it looks as though you have searched and found all that are available.
And you are doing what all Americans should be doing. You are doing the responsible thingw rather than running to Washington with your hand out.
God bless you.
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Glenn Beck hates 9/11 survivors. Shocking as Glenn Beck claimed that he hates 9/11 survivors. The Fox news personality and media clown has always been an outrageous demagogue, a pied piper to the illiterate, unwashed masses that make up the Fox news audience. Michael Stone,Examiner.com
Don't count it out that I won't look to State government for plans available to low income people. I pay my taxes and if some of those dollars can help my own child, you betcha I'll take advantage of it.
My concern with a single payor plan is that is won't lower the cost of the health care ... it will only lower payments to providers and cause companies to pass on more costs to employees as a way of getting out of the health insurance business ... and it will obviously cause our taxes to rise.
My concern with a single payor plan is that is won't lower the cost of the health care ... it will only lower payments to providers and cause companies to pass on more costs to employees as a way of getting out of the health insurance business ... and it will obviously cause our taxes to rise.
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What I don't know is how you know that? You pass it off as a "given" but, I don't see any data to back up your assertions.
What I don't know is how you know that? You pass it off as a "given" but, I don't see any data to back up your assertions.
Jim..
It is a given because there are no government programs that are run efficiently and have cut their cost in the last two hundred years.
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Glenn Beck hates 9/11 survivors. Shocking as Glenn Beck claimed that he hates 9/11 survivors. The Fox news personality and media clown has always been an outrageous demagogue, a pied piper to the illiterate, unwashed masses that make up the Fox news audience. Michael Stone,Examiner.com
It is a given because there are no government programs that are run efficiently and have cut their cost in the last two hundred years.
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That is not true. In fact, it is abjectly untrue. The ONLY time it is true is when the goddamn Republicans run the government.
FEMA, NASA, NOAA, and most of the military are evidence that your assertion is completely wrong. You keep saying this stuff, I don't know where you get it, but, it is not well researched, and is mostly full of shit.
hat is not true. In fact, it is abjectly untrue. The ONLY time it is true is when the goddamn Republicans run the government.
FEMA, NASA, NOAA, and most of the military are evidence that your assertion is completely wrong. You keep saying this stuff, I don't know where you get it, but, it is not well researched, and is mostly full of shit.
Jim...
Wrong, Jim. Every president in the last fifty year has dealt with fraud and waste. No government ever passes an audit. And the one that fails the audit the most is the IRS.
Republicans or Democrats have no real difference. It is the nature of the beast.
=================================
Glenn Beck hates 9/11 survivors. Shocking as Glenn Beck claimed that he hates 9/11 survivors. The Fox news personality and media clown has always been an outrageous demagogue, a pied piper to the illiterate, unwashed masses that make up the Fox news audience. Michael Stone,Examiner.com
Don't count it out that I won't look to State government for plans available to low income people. I pay my taxes and if some of those dollars can help my own child, you betcha I'll take advantage of it.
yeah
don't worry that it will be your neighbor paying for what you need...if it comes through the govt...it seems less moochy....
"i pay my taxes....so..."
if your taxes were enough to cover what you need ...then why not just keep the money and pay the bill yourself?
if it is not the same amount....then your neighbor has picked up the tab for your life....
people don't seem to understand administrative costs
you either pay for your own life or your neighbor pays the tab (through the govt)
i love voluntary charity...i contribute untold thousands every month
when it it administered through the govt
it is looters taking from producers for the votes of moochers
Son of a Gun. Watch it Poetse. If you aren't careful someone might mistake you for a liberal if you keep posting items like that.
I hope not because there is a huge difference between what I have posted and what the liberal mindset is.
The elderly and the very young obviously have difficulty supporting themselves. the sick and the lame have difficulty. But to keep generations of poor on welfare is the liberal style. don't have a thing to do with that one. And I would further limit the welfare to those who have no family to take care of them. There would be no able bodied person receiving any support from the government.l Now that should distinguish the difference.
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Glenn Beck hates 9/11 survivors. Shocking as Glenn Beck claimed that he hates 9/11 survivors. The Fox news personality and media clown has always been an outrageous demagogue, a pied piper to the illiterate, unwashed masses that make up the Fox news audience. Michael Stone,Examiner.com
This message has been edited by Poetse12 on Oct 18, 2009 10:41 PM This message has been edited by Poetse12 on Oct 18, 2009 10:34 PM
Bullshit, while the Democrats may not have supported the welfare reform, jofo, Clinton supported the welfare reform and signed it. You still haven't figured out that Clinton was the rightwings best friend despite all the bullshit they put him through.
One thing about Janie all you naysayers. She does her homework...
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I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and
all the less important ones just never go away.
And the real pains in the ass are permanent.
No thanks to Clinton and the democrats in congress at the time.
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Do you actually pay attention to what really happened? Or do you just make shit up as you go along? Clinton pushed the welfare reform. Does actual history mean nothing to you?
It is impossible to have a conversation with someone who disagrees with you about the verifiable facts of the situation.
I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and
all the less important ones just never go away.
And the real pains in the ass are permanent.
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