I am a conservative. Not a republican. And right now, I hate republicans (and libertarians, constitutionalists, and any other political group that is making a fool of conservatives). I can understand having concerns about a huge, sweeping health care bill that will have countless ramifications, but I'm going to go crazy if I hear one more stupid republican talk about how we're moving toward euthanasia for old people or cripples, or how the bill will raise everyone's premiums by 95 percent, etc. It's wrong and it's appalling the lies some people will tell to instill fear in the ignorant public.
So instead of listening to Sean Hannity, Glen Beck or Rush Limbaugh for your answers about health care, please do me (and your country) a huge favor and go somewhere credible for information. Or I'll disown you. Or stop being friends with you. Ok, so I might still talk to you, but never again about politics.
If you want some sites to look over, here are a couple:
FactCheck.org--by far my first recommendation, because it's non-partisan and calls out people from both sides of the fence for any lies or...stretching of the truth.
RealClearPolitics.com--good in that it has articles from people on both side of the fence, although the articles are still rife with opinion. Go to FactCheck.org after you read anything and make sure the author got their facts straight.
9 comments:
Make sure to wander around FactCheck.org--there's information on both sides of the health care debate.
I didn't know there was such a thing as a conservative democrat...please explain that to me.
-Stephen
Haha, I'm not a democrat, either. I'm a republican-leaning independent, if you will; I can explain that more at another time if you want. With this blog post I'm not trying to say that I don't agree with republicans about anything, it's just that the reasons I disagree with the health care bill go more to the root of basic conservative values of fiscal conservativism and small government--not these outlandish claims many prominent republicans are using as scare tactics.
Thanks, Cindy! This is the most helpful discussion I've heard about the topic! As always, I know I can turn to you for wise counsel on about any topic.
I do agree that some of the things that Republicans are saying are a bit ridiculous. The current healthcare system is broken and needs reform. We need universal coverage, but everyone must be responsible - the patients, employers, the providers, and government.
One thing that I have yet to hear from the Obama administration is how the government is the worst payer of healthcare services. He doesn't mention that the reason commercial insurance premiums have increased is to make up for all of the costs that Medicare and Medicaid don't cover. It's costs shifting. For example: at Scripps Medicare paid $137 million less than the actual cost to provide the care. Employers and patients with health insurance cover the cost of those who do not have insurance. If everyone is covered, there should be some reduction in the rising costs of insurance premiums, co-pays and deductibles. In my opinion, no public plan option should be tied to Medicare rates.
I would like to see the revenue incentive for providers to order more procedures be taken away.
There needs to be more of a shift to preventive care rather than disease care.
Lastly, one of the first things that I learned in my public policy class is that change must be incremental. Obama may be trying to change too much too fast. Healthcare is a complicated BEAST!
-Stephen
Amen. I hate the hyperbolic partisan bickering. Us-versus-them (with lies, omissions, or exaggerations to vilify "them") isn't a good way to solve problems.
Yeah, I always vainly considered us (the conservatives) the voice of reason. Not so at the moment...
YoBit lets you to claim FREE CRYPTO-COINS from over 100 unique crypto-currencies, you complete a captcha once and claim as many as coins you want from the available offers.
After you make about 20-30 claims, you complete the captcha and keep claiming.
You can press claim as many times as 30 times per one captcha.
The coins will held in your account, and you can exchange them to Bitcoins or USD.
Post a Comment