B-Large

That's fine- I do often find when I ask people to elaborate, they just choose to cite not "worth it", or the simple don't have much to respond with. I am not saying any President is perfect, I was just interested in what policies have adversly affected your situation.

1. What exact policies have been Far Left Socialist? Just interested in your thoughts.. 2. Capitlism rewards the winners, as it should, but when has it been a bad thing to have Empathy for people who have nothing? In a country that espouses strong Xtian values, that seems incongruent. 3. Maybe Americans have realized spending and spending is not the key to "the good life"... many of my friends and acquiantences are starting cut spending, alot, giving up on those new cars, cable TV- if there is anything to learn from our Government, it is that spending money, espcially money you don't have is dumb. Americans are finally getting it, don't buy another care when your currently runs, and you home is not a free money machine that will go up in value forever... duh.... 4. I am doing just fine, so are many of my friends. Where are all these people that are down and out? Peronally, I think people make bad decisions and put themselves in the that position. 5. When did America cease to be great? Just because of one elected leader? Was America terrible under George Bush? Seemed to be a great place to me during his years....

no, you misunderstood, we are only passing budgets every 3-4 years..... to do one every year is wasteful and inefficient

Wait, the big news here, when did the Federal Government pass a budget?

Why are people such pussies, just don't respond.... once they don't get a rise out of you, they move on.

I have a friend who is a what you might call and boom town consultant, he helps municiplaties and private companies alike manage these huge influxes of workers- given the housing and infrastructure challenges both short-term (lack of), and long-term (when the boom eases, how to avoid building for overcapacity later). He said it is crazy. McDonald's paying 20 bucks an hour, truck drivers making 80-90K wiht little to no expenses- although the rent of rooms is high, the money is so good it is not gouging in the tradiotnal sense. He said is it also hard to get people to come up there are work, even with very high pay, many workers are stuck in underwater homes and other don;t want to work that hard nor deal with that cold winters. Crazy stuff

Wow, I just never encounter that world he lives in. I personally don't care for trough food, and that guy has cardiac and diabetus risk factors written all over him. So, here it is. If you advertise all you can eat, you better deliver- I am not saying I like the fat man, but he is just wanting what was advertised..... I would be VERY careful to offer "all you can eat" in America these days... LOL

I'd love to see a 3rd Party candidate come in a really push these established political parties. Someone who ran on real reforms, changes to the Quo, someone who did not attack the others on peripheral issues, but instead sold their plan for the country. I can't stand to see the ads already, it is only May, and it will only get worse.

Do you truly believe people are that forward thinking? LOL

What if the day after you Sterilize him, he wins the Lotto and now can suport all 30 of their kids and he wants 15 more? See you in Court for damages! LOL

I assume you get this in a Free Country. We are not a country that snips people after a certain amount of kids and have decided that all Children need attended too- there is no penalty for this guy, we literally cannot get blood from a stone. Smash his feet with hammers if he has another kid. Put a pair of thumb screws on him if he missed supports payments. We are very soft on people in this country..... There just is no consequence for clowns like this, just spreading his burden on the good citizens of Tenn.

Yes it was, and continues to be. go through this, be honest, cite what part of this was not about improving care and delivery. http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/index.html Because they were easy, impactful and could be done quickly? From day one, essentially, people were benefitting. States were giving time to figure out how their exchanges are going to operate, giving that process time makes sense to me.

The GOP has made a attitude on healthcare based on "Ideological Preference". The ACA was basically the same legislation signed by the current GOP POTUS frontrunner, and it was also the platform in the 90's that the GOP came up with to compete with the Hillary Clinton's national health platform. If people would put partisanship aside for a second and actually seek to understand the intentions/changes in the ACA, they would realize it isn't that bad.... perfect, no... but nothing in life is perfect! I remeber Democrats crying to high heaven when GWB passed the Medicare part D. That program has helped seniors, streghten Medicare, and has not cost as much as the CBO had estimated. The US does not want to get rid of Private Health Insurers in favor of a single payor..... well, then you are going to pay a premium for everything (no pun intended)because insurers are in business to make MONEY- I don't fault them for that, that is what our coutry is about.... but it creates this awful scenario where GOOD PEOPLE, hard working PEOPLE cannot protect themselves and their families because of pre-exisiting conditions, etc. We are being short-sighted. Once everybody has insurance, and IF the State Exchanges are successful.. think about it..... you could realistically voucher Medicare.... something the GOP creams all over themsleves about... well, you want to privatize Medicare, here is the path to do just that. Selling Policies across State Lines is empty rhetoric. Insurance Companines can do business in any state they want, they can sell in Colorado, Florida, ND all the way to Maine if they want... it will do nothing to reduce cost. Not Malpratice Reform, there are probably savings there to cap the ergregious lawsuits against MD's.... the REALITY of health in the US, people live longer, they live sicker, and there are more drugs and procedures and scans to keep sick people going.... THAT is the underlying issues in Healthcare, CONSUMPTION- and not of the preventative nature. My fingers hurt from typing.

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/politics-elections/226575-gop-shies-from-healthcare-alternative I am not sure what "The Hill" is, but this is the very scenario that scares me personally about the GOP and Healthcare. If ACA is repealed, healthcare will not be a priority and will go unaddressed for decades more... that is scary.

http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/index.html I thought it was supposed to be 85% fo each dollar, as in this tutorial- I guess it has changed to 80%. Either way, althought not perfect, there is SO much good that has been implemented so far....

this is a really good post #8, and I agree that there are many pieces of the ACA that are really solid legislation..... staying on parents inssurance, the 80/20, the pre-exisitng guildelines, etc. Did it need to be 2,600 pages and growing, I am pretty certain it did not. But I do feel like this had to start somewhere, and this bill will be changed and bettered as we see how it changes the healthcare markets and related outcomes.... I am saddened that Republican leadership has taken the path of repeal, rather than diving into this bills and better the legislation that is in place.... I am not even mad about the challenge in the courts, our representatives are supposed to challnge the legalility of legislation, etc- my hope is this stays in place. Selfishly, I would like to leave my current job, basically I don't really need to be here... I am here because my wife cannot get health insurance on the individual level- we are glad to pay for it, but we simple cannot get it because of her health history..... to me, more than anything, the ACA creates a market for honest Americans where one did not previously exist.... Do repeal this would be devestating for us, we would be stuck in a job instead of our following our dreams and passions.

See bolded above-

http://realclearpolitics.com/ It's May

I remember last year when those screening guidelines came out.... there were so many women freaking out "but what if you're the one woman who had cancer and we don't screen!!" So you ask them if the benefit of that one diagnosis justifies the radating of 1,000 other women for no evidencial reason, they say "of course!!!" There is new evidence about PSA's out recently, how do we think people will react to that news? People in this country really need to start listening to the the doctors who are doing the research and laying out the evidence based screening guidelines.... doing uneccesary screening in this country is costing them system a fortune- and putting alot of people at increased risk with scanning, etc. People won't listen though- they will be persuded by some talking head that this is tantamount to "death panels and rationing"....

Barack "Darwin" Obama Versus Mitt "Myth" Romney

You suck Liberal! LOL I agree, could not care less if two men, or two women want to marry. This is the land of freedom and liberties, in mu opinion this one goes without saying.

Messed up Entitlements, Debts, Deficits......... these are not the importatn issues right now...... LOL

The Prez now fully supports Gay Marriage- Now some of you guys can put your aggression aside on this board, as soon you will be able to Marry your Man Crush....I am not naming any names, but you know who you are..... Oh, and gas prices seem to be easing.... LOL

Not sure exactly what programs are in question, but all social program should have this goal in mind: 1. Be of last resort- it should be subsistence, providing only the very basics. 2. They should not incent people to stay on them, i.e. to have more children for more money. 3. For program like Welfare, they should have time limits on time they will be provided. Just like Foundations will not fund charities indefinitely for the very reason to not make them dependent. 4. Keep people's feet to the fire. As far as SS: 1. It was not intended to be a pension program or retirement fund. It should be a program designed to help people are are really badly off live a dignified end of their lives. People who have saved and invested well and live off 10-20K a month in retirement should not get SS. If we stopped paying everyone, the cost of the program would go down, and we could really hone in on the people that truly needed SS income. There is ALWAYS going to be a segment of the population that is useless for a variety of reasons. I guess I don't care for Welfare, but the people on the program tend to spend every dime they get... I see it as pass through dollars, dollars that net impact on the economy.... I would prefer everybody work, pay their bills, pay for the retirement and plan ahead.... but lets be honest, most middle class working people can't do that... expecting the poor or really dumb to to that is a pipe dream.

The more I read of Ron Paul, the more I hear his thoughts and positions, the more I like his solutions. Do I like them all, no. It would be really nice to see him in the General Election... it would be nice to see him debate with Obama and Romney, really present ideas that are different and have been consistent over the years. It would be interesting to see Myth and Barry squirm over a guy who seems to just lay it out there good or bad....a guy not bought by party or person.