birdog1960

but go ahead and change the argument because you were going to lose the one concerning name callingno i secretly want to be just like you

or if he might argue with the logic of socrates and the eloquence of lincoln and you guys would likely still resort to name calling

anybody know much about the "thrift store cowboys" form lubbock? there playing a free show locally and performing live on the local public radio affiliate this weekend. the tidbits i've heard sound good. classified as alt country/rock i think.

i don't think our legislators on either side understand it either. it's insanity. the contention that growth decreases with increased taxes on the most wealthy is disproven over and over throughout history yet people are more than willing to buy this hogwash (see the tables in the business insider link). those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

the truth about taxes

you really are a renaissance man. i'm somehow not picturing a future white shoes lawyer here.

because it's uniquely masculine to be mean, uncaring and selfish

or you could argue that we shouldn't have gone even if we could afford it

i agree. we need cuts, and radical ones at that. the current course is unsustainable. but we also need increased revenue. i don't doubt you pay more than your share but lets start with an end to corporate welfare. the couple hundred million they get from stopping the private plane write off is only symbolic but important and yet they can't agree to do even this. how are they ever gonna agree to cutting SSI, decreasing healthcare spending and removing pet projects? but they need to limit the debt ceiling now. a guy from a nonpartisan think tank was on pbs newshour last night explaining the repercussions of not doing it. paradoxically one of the first things to happen is a further increase in the debt along with very damaging loss of confidence from debt holders over 1/2 of whom are foreign. this damage would take years to repair and cost many billions in higher needed interest rates to attract investors. Jay Powell bipartisan policy center

obstinate and mindless ...

not near enough

"obstinate, mindless rejection on the part of the republicans"....well said, although i found it kinda funny he called it a snow job while calling from aspen. these ex govt guys always land on their feet don't they?

who is better positioned than health care providers to effect it? without the incentives included in health care reform for preventive care it's highly unlikely to happen. Do you have an idea for a better way?

from the CIA website: "life expectancy at birth is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes mortality at all ages. it can be thought of as indicating the political return on investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation of various actuarial measures." so how we doin? the CIA ranks the US 50th worldwide by this measure. it won't happen in a vacuum. it will take cultural change although there's no harm in trying. i've cited you evidence previously about the effectiveness of smoking cessation counseling and i have plenty of anecdotal evidence.

and you were doing so well til the last sentence... "obamacare" is a means to an end. it's just the jumping off point for everything else you mentioned. will it work as envisioned? maybe not but it's a work in progress and will certainly require both major and minor tweaks over time. magox, you seem to actually want a better system with better outcomes. to me that desire seems obvious and natural. i'm not so sure about d/c or rob. it's all about "what's in it for me" and "i'm alright jack, pull up the ladder". unfortunately there are plenty of americans that think this way and that has much to do with the appalling life expectancy statistics.

why is it so difficult to comprehend the main point here (i understand why it's difficult to accept)? the us system in it's totality is failing miserably if we rank 31st in life expectancy. of course much of it's cultural. why do we have such a self destructive culture? why such a high infant mortality? why such huge racial and ethnic disparities (when they are much less evident in some other countries)? and can the healthcare system be part of answering these questions and solving them. i say yes. d/c says no. fundamental, philosophical difference.

have you ever considered that lifestyle counseling might be an important part of the success of the systems beating the pants off of us. you seem to have excluded this possibility. things like home nursing education/monitoring visits for newborns and first time mothers. working to ensure the availability of healthy foods and knowledge of basic nutrition principles. wearing seatbelts and smoking cessation counselling. you exclude these things from being part the healthcare system when in fact they are more important to mortality data than having 100s of thousands of $50000+ bypass surgeries done each year.

i'm a board certified internist. the boards in which i recently recertified include a section on medical statistics. i did just fine in that section - things like positive predictive value, prevalence, measuring testing precision and accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. and i'm pretty sure the authors of the study on mortality that i'm referring to included a few statisticians. read the paper's conclusions. i'm sure you'll convince yourself they have an agenda.

no, it's like looking at reliability data for priuses and deciding to buy one because the data is good. then looking at jeeps and deciding to never buy one. there may be other reasons for differences in their holding value, requiring repairs and staying on the road but regardless, most people would be wise to buy the prius.

i might appreciate your argument more if the us was 4th or 5th in the world but THIRTY FIRST? right down there with third world countries. regardless of the reasons, how can anyone deny that there is much wrong with our system?

caught a snippet of Dawes from the late, late show and was impressed (their 1st tv appearance)...they're being heavily hyped as a big act for Bristol Rhythm and Roots this year so i plan on checking them out.

i wouldn't be overly upset with this outcome. how cool!

so it follows that the myriad of other factors is an indictment of current american culture...agreed. it appears we also agree that american patients largely can not be counted on to control costs on their own. so, what is the solution? a paradigm shift in the way we practice medicine. we stop treating every minor complaint. we get reimbursed mostly for improving patients wellness. we stop trying to fix things beyond repair. and some times we just say "no". but who is the "decider"? the insurance companies? the govt? the people themselves who we've just concluded are generally incapable? who has the ability to change the culture? maybe we should turn to madison ave to actually do some good for a change.

ever heard of speaking figuratively? i thought you had wit...guess i was only 1/2 right.

what is it about life expectancy thats so difficult for you? sure, you could argue that those getting the best care in the us might live longer than cohorts in say, canada but you'd likely be wrong. and what about the life expectancy of a black male in the us? if i recall correctly it's about 62. the uninsured population of about 40-50 million?- don't think we have a number but i'll wager you 100 it's less than the avg for the entire population of japan. so in this case, the universal care model is ascension, not regression to the mean. i would think anyone accepted to law school could understand that although i understand there are several schools with relatively low admission standards now.