B-Large

my parents, my teachers and many other adults in my like at 17 years of age repreated told me "just get a college degree"... So I did, ran up alot of debt, and don't use that degree for anything. The difference here is this: Some students decide to suck it up, start somewhere and build a career doing something... other whine about the laons and want help- it would be unfair to bailout the Whiners, while the Strivers peck away.... if we want to be fair and insist on making sure every kids goes to College (which I think is unfounded), then we have to stick to "tough luck" hard love.... risk free lending, what bank would not support that? Heck, I would squige on myself if I was a banker and someone handed me that deal.

The issue with that Statement, is if he gets sick he still gets treated, because we as a society do not turn people away, we just shift costs of care..... in the absence of exclusion, one could argue HI is a need.

Terrifying, Healthcare will break us financially faster than any war, SS or other budget outlay. I have been saying for a decade now, people not only have to save for retirement, they should also think through funding a large amount of cash PAST what private insurance carriers or Medicare can pay- It will come down you having to pay for more of your care than anytime in history... and really, why shouldn't people have to do that? If it is important to you, you will find a way to finance it. There are alot of people making large amounts of money in our system, that really don't contribute to the quality or cost effectivness of care... we as as society seem to hold that practice sacred.... I have no issue with people making money, we're capitalists, but at what point do we as a society agree money to need to be spent more effectively, not wasting money on TPA's that choke the system of money and muddy it up with adminstrative burden. I continue to like a system that grants refusal of care waivers more and more. If you don't want to buy insurance and continue policy coverage, and you get sick, tough luck. If you can collateral your home and get the care, great. If you have nothing, try to find a Hospital that will take on charity care. It is time to seperate the people who are responsible and who want to cover their share from those who would rather live in the edge... it appears that is where we are going anyway, and basically where we are, we just don't turn people away. edit- I also firmly support the practice of large deductibles and insurance to cover catastrophic events. People need to begin budgeting every year for medical payments and expenses, such as labs, physcials, and minor procedures.

perhaps the better question is who achieves better outcomes per dollar/monetary unit spent? The US outcomes are not as good in various catagories even though we outspend other countries delivering the same care. I think adminstratively single payor is more efficient, but you also don't have the incentives for new products and technologies when you use price controls as your basis for cost. I continue to be amazed how many Americans marvel at our first class, ground breaking treatments and therapies trumpeting the fact be are the "Best", yet they expect Walmart low cost pricing on them.... LOL.... Healthcare costs will not go down until while we continue to live longer, there are more therapies to keep people alive, and we keep people who should pass going on way longer than nature intended. In my opinion, Healthcare will be the undoing of our Nation. We are completely unprepared to address the scale and potential financial impact of heathcare challenges in this country....

1. If $600 annually is breaking you down, in this country, you are doing something wrong. I know people who pay 200/mo. for cable and never go without the new version of the I-phone... when they B word about price per gallon of gas, I want to use that gasoline to torch them. 2. You are a Reponsible American who takes accountability for their future when you buy health insurance. If by some unfortunate turn of event you get cancer, the rest of the nation does get to pay for your treatment because you covered yourself.... my applause for your willingness to hold yourself to account. The government does not need to make care cheaper, Americans need to prioritize their finances and budget for health insurance. Once people are spending their money on healthcare and not TV's, all of the sudden providers will start hearing about lowering prices of becoming more efficient wiht delivery.

Probably well intentioned legislation... but then again, it sounded good to get every American to own a home (whether they could afford it was another story), and every child to get loans to go the College (whether is meant a job that enabled them to repay is another story)..... LOL. Look, nobody like to see kids get hurt on a farm, we can all agree with this. But whose job is it to ensure the Children are safe on farms... I am going to say Parents....

Denver, about 5 minutes from the acutal City Center. The Real Estate question probably is not a fair one, I probably dont represent the typical homebuyer, since I bought my home in condemned condition and when I buy investment real estate, I typically buy in recessions .... Denver market is probably very different than Southern Tier.... again it is local, right?... Denver, at least in the City rental rates have risen nicely and available properties clear pretty quickly, at least in desirable areas. I am sorry to hear about your house, the areas that have really gotten slammed continue to struggle- my cousins just short sold their house in Phoenix, bought it for 220K, there we comparables in their neighborhood selling for 85-125K.... yikes- alot of the real estate equation is buying the right location at the right times, other times it is sheer luck when you end up in the great place.. Our Government, as you stated probably will not change anytime soon. The Candidates who are really talking differently, real change to the fundamental functioning of the reppresentative body, and doing it consistently throughout the years are getting little play, ie Ron Paul. Heck, the election is 8 months away and these clowns are already pounding their chest about how they have the answers, again, when most of them have been implicit in the problem, too much government. Obama or Romney, Bush or Kerry, McCain,... whomever it may be, I try to keep my nose to the grindstone and stick to MY PLAN..... America will survive and thrive as more and more individuals reject the fallacy that Government can acutally produce something, and get to creating, try, working, investing, and getting organized financially so they can continue to move forward. I hope my previous post was not taken as in insult about your home situation- you are an astute guy, good people, smart people often got caught in tough places... heck, I am still chipping down at 90K in student loan debt.... talk about dumb moves, LOL.

Have to be honest, I answered yes to all those questions, and I highly doubt Romney, Obama, or any other poltician would make much of a difference. Savvy people will do well no matter who is it office, the rest will whine about how hard it all is, and the poor will get subsidies.... On second glance, I do not pay less for Gas, however, I budget for $5/gal gas since 2007, so if I don't use the money I roll it over to the next year or use it elsewhere.

He's intelligent, I do believe that, but that comment is just dumb- who believes that?

I heard they are donating all profits to charity.... LOL..... out media sucks sometimes.... DID anyone call KO out on this?

that's just stupid. If speculation on commodities is happening, as I am sure it is, the goal is profits. Isn't that was speculation means, taking position on something with the hope of selling it later with a tidy profit? That just sounds like Capitalism to me...

I still contend we are focusing on education in the wrong way. There are kids who would benefit from College, and those kids through high stands are rigorous study should earn the opportunity. There are kids who are better of suited for Trades, or practical training and who will not benefit from paying for College. Why do we continue to push kids into College for no other reason that "just because"? Loading kids up with debt and forcing them into worthless degrees only serves the Universities desires.....

you meaning like buying a 400K home on and interest only loan with a 30K job is a bad idea? That kind of knowledge would be useless

do poor people even vote?

Natalie Suleman? I can't even look at her picture. 15 kids, just stupid. None of it is, my statement is that at least the money they receive gets spent... because they are often to dumb to save any.... But no, none of that is good news.

I am just glad I am not in the 50K and below group. A gal that works for my wife is going part-time to spend more time with her 4 kids, and she has a 5th one on the way. Her husband is a youth pastor or something, and his job is unpaid. This gal told me their family got a huge tax return/ credits because of their "situation"... and they get food stamps and are on Medicaid for all the kids. I simply cannot get over the concept of having 5 kids and no way to pay for them.... however, on the flip side, these people tend to spend every penny the get from the public so in that sense it is funnelled back into the eocnomy, which is good. That life just sounds awful to me.

What are our Global Competitors teaching their kids? Are they moving toward Theological teaching, or deeper into Scientific Priciples and Mathematics, things that can be used to develop and innovate new ideas and products? The last study I saw stated was the Asian countries were leaving the US behind the in hard sciences, math and reading comprehension. Wait, I'm confused here..... As far as why it is conservatives, they tend to be the ones who are mostly deeply embedded in Religiousity. This is a free country, you can believe what you want and practice as you wish, but teaching kids things that do not make them globally competitive is wasteful. Send your kids to Religious Private Schools if you want that being taught in the classroom.

the tax code is 3.8 millions words.... that is awesome......

Sounds like they had cool parties..... and where's the story, I just assume this how the Federal Government did things? What did I miss?

Private Sector Rules are often not Congruent with Public Policy Making Rules, but I get the spirit of the anology. Leadership, yes- you signed it, the buck stops with you, own it and prove why it is better than nothing, and how it makes American lives better. To pretend it doesn't exist is insincere.... I would rather see BHO go down in flames fighting for his convictions rather than play politics.

Contrary to widespread belief, there are mostly good things in the law that really help Americans. Perfect, No. 2500 hundred pages too long, yes. Does it need fine tuning, sure. But to pretend it doesn't exist isn't what I expected. If you are always looking at polling data to determine what you will and will not focus on, we're in trouble. This is precisely the reason the reforms to government program never get done.... SS and Medicare are hot buttons because old people vote... nobody ever said the right thing was going to be popular... ususally the status quo takes that award.

My biggest dissappointment with Barak Obama is his reluctance and all but abandonment of the Healthcare Law. You signed it, you championed it, you thought it to be so good so crucial you pushed it through.... own it and convince the American people why it is benefit to all of us.... invite members of Congress to join in to pare our what is not working, reinforce what is.... Like he said the HC Summit, lets do this an let voters decide in 2012.

Heck, I'd settled for being able to purchase health insurance if I did not have an employer sponsored plan, which the ACA achieves for my needs. I don't think Single Payor is the answer for this country, but I did very much like the idea of Public Option or non-profit cooperatives to be Third Party Administrators in our health insurance market to complete with the UHC, Cignas and BC/BS of the world... I like the idea of more dollars being used to benefit patients and care.... Single Payor, in the end I think chokes off advancements in the healthcare we enjoy today. Finance is 25% of our economy now, and will continue to grow bigger- I expect both political parties to continue to let that industry heavily influence political and public policy- whether than hastens the troubles in this country remains to be seen.... TBTF will still come in and line-up the next time they concoct some scheme that brings the Finncial Markets to a hault, and the USG will be more than glad to offer up the Tax Dough...

you don't see this kind of reasonable, level headed posting very often.... but when you do, it is Buftex behind the keyboard apparently. The world did not end with Bush's second term.... as it did not with Obamas 1st term... and it certainly won't if Romney wins. I have to be honest, my life has changed for the better across sitting presidents, mostly bacuse I think I have made good choices. Much of life is just that, make good choices, take care of yourself, the rest falls in place.

Deficits don't matter..... LOL.... until they do..... then they're bad..... until they're OK again...... Politics is so entertaining. I assume Dick would cite Cheap Monetary Policy, Housing Booms and 2 Wars as Great Policy? I think we should give the Libertarians a shot this time around, let Ron Paul come in a really do something different. The 2 Party system Gig is getting tiresome.