kegtapr

Well, Roosevelt IS back in office......

And that right there kills any savings DirecTV would give me. Not to mention, every time I call Time Warner to cancel they lower my bill so there really won't be any savings to start with and I'd be getting fewer channels. When Tivo goes back to DirecTV I'll consider it (has that happened yet?), but until then, I will never leave cable as giving up my Tivo would be like quitting crack. And yes, I have seen their DVR in action.

http://espn.starwave.com/nfl/1999/20000115/recap/miajac.html

That's my problem. Cruise just isn't believable to me in any role now.

There should never be heckling at training camp.

And my first gen iPod nano died just after one year, yet I just bought a touch. Zunes don't suck, iPods don't suck, you fanboys suck.

This failed marketing pitch was brought to you by fezmid. Directv, we suck slightly less.

He would have been fired if it weren't for you damn meddling kids.

I was chasing one of my downspouts across the neighborhood during the first half. Hard to believe that was more exciting.

Got a iPod touch, which I'm posting my first reply from. This thing is fun. Spent half my day playing with apps.

And explain how that was their only option? I paid 100% of my way through college with student loans. How do they not have that same opportunity?

I'd be pissed at the thought of helping the Pats or Dolphins make the playoffs.

If Preston gets fined or suspended, I'm done with the NFL.

I'd hit it.

Dr. Cox is gonna be pissed.

Like having to turn in all the drogas or not beating minorities?

Nothing seems to make sense to you, that's your problem. You're as one sided on this arguement as anyone can be. The union isn't entirely to blame, but it sure as hell didn't help in the downfall. And if it doesn't take some more of the responsibility then it will be as much to blame for the failure of these companies as mismanagement from the top. But you keep on campaigning for the great American union worker, who's union would rather have it be unemployed then take a modest pay cut.

I'd rather be working for $7 an hour than not working at all. The UAW is set to lose a hell of a lot more then a wage decrease. They bluffed and the Senate called it.

Stick it in a potato gun and see how many houses you can clear.

While I can respect that, I guess I see it differently. There are still good people that work there (one that I know personally), and without community support they may end up on the bread line too.

And defense industries are for profit, and they provide something to the government that it can't provide to itself. Which brings me back to the original point that "Medicaid and Medicare are already better than the free market crap" is not a true statement after you take the whole system into account. Just like your example of the defense industry, Medicare and Medicaid can't provide the services many people need without relying on the private sector. Take that part away and either seniors lose benefits they rely on or Medicares administration costs skyrocket if they have to start providing it.

I work on the end of a private insurer. It can't really be judged by the % off because Medicare can't provide the services of a private insurer. If it could, Medicare Advantage plans wouldn't exist. And like I said, CMS outsources much of it's administration and I can't see in that .pdf where that was accounted for. As for proof of the second, something tells me I won't be disclosing financials. Plans aren't even required to break it down in their annual reports. But the info is out there if you look hard enough. Most plans would trade 100,000 commercial members for 50,000 Medicare members in a heartbeat.

Thanks for stating the obvious. People get treatment, money changes hands. That's blowing my mind. I'm not even going to go into the doctors side of this, because many work the system to their advantage too and that's not where my knowledge is. But ask yourself this. Why are private, not for profit insurers becoming rich off of a government welfare program? I'm not even talking about the shady fly by night operations, I'm talking about the ones that do everything legally. If standalone Medicare is such a great plan, seniors wouldn't have a need to enroll in an Advantage plan through private insurers. If the profit margin wasn't so great, health plans wouldn't take advantage of this either.

Oh I don't know, keeping costs in line? Contrary to popular belief, it's not the employer provided commercial plans making insurers rich. It's Medicare.

You have no idea how far off that is. I work with Medicare on a daily basis. They can report their administrative costs as being so low because they waste so much money in other areas it deflates the admin number by default. They outsource a lot of their administration, which may not even be reported in the figure. Also, most of the administration is pushed onto private plans for Medicare Advantage members. If I told you how much reimbursement a Medicare Advantage plan receives per month just for having a member enrolled in their plan (before any claim payments) you would be astounded. The amount of waste is unbelievable.