Town Hall Meetings - Rep. Pete Stark

[freakylocz14]

Look at the nasty liberals. You don't have a right to stuff.

[CurtHowland]

@JDLUTZ2007 I think what has happened is the idea of "access" and "insurance" have been deliberately muddled.

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So of course people want everyone to have access to medical care. Those are the words the promoters are using.

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But that is not what Obamacare (formerly known as Hillarycare) is about. It's about government paying for, and regulating, all medicine, which will make the Post Office look like a model of efficiency and customer service.

[shadowgirl43421]

2:27

Liberals can't even spell "payer" right... And they call the "uneducated, hill-billy" Tea Partiers uneducated.

[shadowgirl43421]

p@JDLUTZ2007

You are so right! And I thought we were endowed with certain unalienable rights by our CREATOR, not our GOVERNMENT. What the government can give, they can also take away.

[0sv87d0]

2000+ page mistake

[professorofliberty]

It was a small venue because Stark cannot handle any sort of friction or opposition. His responses are always to attack, insult, be arrogant, slander, and demean anyone who doesn't fall sheepishly into line. He needed to limit the crowd size...and I'm sure they tried to stack the crowd actually allowed inside with his few supporters.

[fjerins]

NO HEALTH CARE OR OBAMA CARE. IT WILL COST YOU THE TAX PAYER DEARLY. JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE. PETE STARK IS A TOTAL IDIOT. YOU CAN SEE HE IS SUFFERING FROM DEMENTIA.

[CurtHowland]

@fjerins "YOU CAN SEE HE IS SUFFERING FROM DEMENTIA."

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Actually, he's always been this way. I lived in his district in 1986, only his hair has changed.

[jfishf150]

When did it become our responsibility to take care of everyone? Everybody in America has the freedom to improve their own lives, through furthered education, getting a better job and so on, people need to stop relying on the gov't, get off their lazy buts and do something for themselves!!!

[shadowgirl43421]

@jfishf150

Amen! I don't think people understand that this will only further drain our economy. This is socialism and all socialism does is destroy the upper class and eventually middle class until everyone is poor. And quality of care will only go down for everyone! The best part of America is that you can become anyone you want. Success is allowed, not guaranteed.

[tesla921]

I'm a democrat and I think we should FORCE all people who can afford it to pay for our health care. Just because I choose not to work, doesn't mean I should be denied healthcare. If you work, you should pay it for me. It's my right!

[Gaidal]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. I seriously hope you are though.

[tesla921]

Yes, I am being sarcastic. Unfortunately I'm not being unrealistic.

[shadowgirl43421]

@tesla921

This is definitely what some people in America are thinking!

[fruitjacket]

I am simply astounded. In my short 38 years on this planet I have never seen so many uninformed people. Govt run Health Care would be a disaster. You need to look no further than the VA centers for our military to realize that.

The time and effort it would take to help people understand this wouldn't be worth it. Too many people are already coerced into believing businesses are bad and govt is good.

[pythiasdelirium]

My father is a disabled veteran, and the people at VA hospitals saved his life and his soul. Raising four daughters as a mailman, he would never have been able to afford private health insurance. What use do we have for a health care system that has the possibility of providing the best coverage in the world, but only for a distinct few?

[shadowgirl43421]

@pythiasdelirium

You have no idea what a public option is like. In Great Britain where they have this system, a woman had to give birth in a hospital corridor. A young man of 22 died of thirst after doctors glanced him over and said he was fine. Women were denied breast cancer medication. I know this sounds insensitive, but if we'd already had this system when your father was sick, they would have probably let him die because he's old. People don't know what we're getting into.

[CurtHowland]

@pythiasdelirium My highschool history teacher was shot in the knee in Vietnam.

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So they removed his stomach.

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Don't bother telling me about the "benefits" of the VA hospitals.

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An underpaid mailman? Didn't you notice that it is the government post office? Don't blame the free market for his lack of decent salary.

[pythiasdelirium]

@CurtHowland If they removed his stomach, that tells me either he had something else wrong with him, or it was the kind of errors that happen in all of our hospitals, regardless of who runs them. Though your view from the cheap seats is noted.

As for my father's salary at the post office, I thought the standard argument against it is that they pay too much, and waste our tax dollars? If he was paid more, wouldn't you still be complaining?

[CurtHowland]

@pythiasdelirium "that tells me either he had something else wrong with him, or it was the kind of errors that happen in all of our hospitals"

That's commonly referred to as "denial".

"I thought the standard argument against it is that they pay too much, and waste our tax dollars?"

What do I care what the standard argument is.

"If he was paid more, wouldn't you still be complaining?"

I wasn't complaining, you were.

My complaint is with monopoly post office is that it's a monopoly.

[pythiasdelirium]

@CurtHowland Is is denial to admit that terrible mistakes happen in hospitals all over the country, for a variety of reasons? And last I checked most hospitals are not run by the VA. Moreover, I never complained about post office wages. I was commenting on the price of private health insurance, which is outrageous and unnecessary. More competition is exactly what a decent public option would encourage. As it is, private companies aren't oriented to affordable providing care. As for...

[pythiasdelirium]

...the post office, it has no monopoly. Fed Ex, UPS, etc provide great service, but they fail to service many areas in the country. Its simply not profitable for them. If these companies could establish a business model which would service everyone, at affordable rates, then and only then would the post office become unnecessary.

[CurtHowland]

@pythiasdelirium "More competition is exactly what a decent public option would encourage."

Non sequiter.

More competition cannot be achieved by eliminating competition.

Eliminate govt regulations that stifle the very innovation and LIABILITY that create the incentives to NOT remove a man's stomach after he was shot in the leg.

"I never complained about post office wages"

Oh? "Raising four daughters as a mailman, he would never have been able to afford private health insurance." Also wrong.

[pythiasdelirium]

@CurtHowland "More competition cannot be achieved by eliminating competition."

How is making a public option eliminating competition? Private insurance can co-exist with a public option (as it does in Germany). Are you able to respond to questions without using ideological slogans?

[pythiasdelirium]

"Eliminate govt regulations that stifle the very innovation and LIABILITY that create the incentives..." blah blah blah

People don't accidentally remove stomachs because they have no incentive not to. Responding to my specific arguments with dogma IS NOT responding at all.

[pythiasdelirium]

And finally, I will reiterate that my complaint was about the price of insurance, not my father's wage. However since you clearly ignored my meaning the first and the second time I said it, I doubt that it will do much good.

[CurtHowland]

@pythiasdelirium "How is making a public option eliminating competition?"

Because of the nature of govt bureaucracy, it will always be less efficient than a private effort.

Since it is less efficient, either it will cost more (and no one will use it) or it will be tax subsidized.

If it is tax subsidized, then those who don't use it will be paying twice for the same service. A few may, but the financial incentive will be to use the govt service.

Thus a decrease in competition.

[WurledPeas]

@pythiasdelirium Gee I wonder. The government that makes all the rules, enforces them and prints the money is now in direct competition with private industry.

Maybe that's why GM gets all kind of government secured(taxpayer) now that they are government motors and Ford doesn't. What could possibly go wrong?

[WurledPeas]

@pythiasdelirium

Liar.

Postal workers have had health care provided that cover dependents for decades now.

My dad was also a vet and would not go near a VA. He died because of incompetence in Medicare management(government). My Grandfather died of dehydration in a VA extended care facility. That's government health care. They also preformed unneeded surgeries on him. Medicare waited months to review and deny cancer treatment for my mom. Blue cross stepped up right away.

[Danandvikki1]

To comment on the Representative for Asian health care......last time I checked, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution do noy say anything about health care as a right! That isn't to say that something doesn't have to be done but look no further then the Cash for Clunkers debacle. Our good friends in Japan (Toyota) and S. Korea (Kia Motors) made more money the the US owned car makers.

Do you really think that the government will be able to manage this??????

Doubtfull!!

[onlyrey]

Universal is a no-brainer. The costs of not having universal care are huge in terms of the health of the whole US.

How to go about Universal health care is the problem, because we have a huge manipulative system set-up. The Public OPTION is a brilliant idea because it fills in the gap between current government programs and private insurance.

The republican plan which is Just giving private insurance more money and capping malpractice will not work; CBO scored TORT reform at $0 savings.

[CurtHowland]

@onlyrey The US has always had universal care.

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What is being done now is that the government is going to be "single payer", which will cause rationing, since no one can have everything they want.

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If I'm paying for it, I can choose what's important to me. When the government is paying, THEY will decide what is right for everyone else.

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Except for politicians, who will be exempt, as they are now.

[WurledPeas]

@onlyrey CBO did NOT score tort reform at $0. They said it would save 54 BILLION.

See: Washington Post Oct 10/09. Why do leftist always tell easily disprovable lies?

[onlyrey]

@WurledPeas

The post you responded to is 4 months old.

1. You're right $54 Billion scored by the CBO which makes for a great total of 0.5% (as a percentage of the $1Trillion cost of the reform). In comparison with total cost of healthcare, say $3 Trillion per year, $5.4 Billion per year is 0.18%. Give up a civil right for 0.18% to me is not worth it.

2. You called me a "leftist". I consider myself center. Try to make your arguments without calling people names.

[WurledPeas]

@onlyrey Yeah, 4 months. BFD. If you are for universal health care or the so called "public option" you are for redistribution of wealth. Hence leftist.. Don't like it; change your views. Try to make your points without lying. You lied when you said $0 and you know it. Then you conflate the $54B with the "cost of reform". Nice try. Nobody is giving up any civil rights. Much of the cost of HC in this country is due to government regs and liability exposure to begin with.

[ChulaKirby]

You'll get it all right. Rationed health care. Medicare doesn't have the money and is trillions in the hole and the government is going to overhaul the system by spending a trillion more and adding millions more. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where this is going.

[shijimahanzou]

But if something isn't done now millions of people will die.

[ChulaKirby]

So you want to do something so millions more die unnecessary to save the uS money? Money that is owed? Money that the uS Governmentn borrowed from Medicare over the decades to fund stuff it couldn't afford and made some people very wealthy? You want the government deciding who lives and who dies? If I don't want to buy insurance I shouldn't be forced to buy it. That is a forced tax. I would rather save it and use it to buy my health care.

[shijimahanzou]

The health care plan is an optional bill, meaning if you don't want government health care you can stick to private health insurance.

Besides, I'd take the government deciding who lives and dies over some Pharmaceutical fat-cat who think of profits first and impact second.