betterthantv

I vote for crossing in to Cuba, the weather is pretty nice there, LOL.

You know, to be perfectly honest, I've not watched or read anything about the GA governor election yet. For me, it's a bit too early to get into it and still maintain any kind of enthusiasm for facts, all of which will probably change by November anyway. They never stick to their guns, and current topics will be irrelevant by then. Overall though, I've had a pretty favorable impression of Sonny as the first republican governor in a long time here, far better than our two senators. And Roy was a travesty and probably the sole reason the democrats lost after 100+ years. Of course, I never understood how GA could be so heavy on Dem governors and yet heavy on Rep senators.

Maybe we can convince one of the Georgia-based SG's to run

16? Hm, well the age of consent here is 15, right? Or was that 13? Yeah that's creepy, we don't need a governor installing cameras in High School lavatories 'for safety'.

fools

Not much politico with me lately. Weariness and a deflated spirit have me a bit apathetic. I even got into it a bit with my brother over the weekend. His wife is a public health/policy attorney who wears her extreme liberal views like a flashing badge of honor. It didn't get too heated, but we shut it down pretty quickly.

I've got friends losing jobs and struggling. I start to feel guilty for still being employed. I see vast swaths of empty store fronts, and yet the clear cut neighborhoods nearby have resumed construction of their $4-700K McMansions. I did manage to finally move pretty all my 'debt' out of the major banks and into my credit union. They're vastly easier to deal with, give me better rates, and I don't feel like all of my interest payments are going to fund some f*cker's 3rd yacht while he lays people off.

And a site of beautiful women makes me think we aren't all doomed

Amazing isn't it? Even if the reform bill does turn out to be the best thing that ever happened, I think eating a diseased muskrat wouldn't leave as bad a taste in my mouth as what has happened with this legislation. Hey, did you see Sarah 'foot in mouth' Palin and her open admission that her family routinely crossed the border to get Canadian health care when she was growing up? I really wonder about what goes through her head sometimes.

Seeing the mid Georgia blooms coming in is comforting. We always get an early Spring pop and then back to winter for a few weeks, but the little blast of what's to come always makes me feel good. Sunny and not f*cking hot as all hell, some green finally peeking out. It's a good time of year.

I don't know but I did shudder.

Hey BtTV, you know, you and I have some common ground here. We probably won't ever come fully into agreement, but that's OK. Different folks, different opinions, different concerns. I think this legislation has bitten off more than it can chew. It's too much, and too dependent on itself. For example:

- The bill aims to restrict the insurance companies from picking and choosing who they will cover, denying folks for pre-existing conditions is the biggie, and kicking people out when they become sick. Now I think there's good arguments on both sides to whether this is good or bad. If this is a provision though, the insurance industry WANTS the individual mandate. Without the mandate folks can get insurance when they are sick and drop it when they are healthy. I'd say there are some other ways around this too, but that's the meat of the requirement. Car owners and home owners are mandated to have insurance, is that different enough to say that it is constitutional? (I'll just throw in here that I do know there are some options for NOT having insurance, but for the most part, it's required). Now that makes sense to me from the insurance and consumer standpoint. Consumers get a guarantee of sorts that they can get insurance, and the insurance companies get a guaranteed revenue stream where cheaper patients offset more expensive ones. It may not be the only solution, it may not be the best solution. But it's not the worst solution and it IS a solution.

The more dependent things you tack into a bill, the harder it gets to manage though. As we've seen this one is gigantic. And trying to tackle so many areas at once if any one point works poorly, it could bring the whole thing down. Then everyone will say what a piece of crap the whole thing is, when perhaps one tiny little part was the culprit, like a big Jenga tower. I have to agree it needs to be smaller and it needs to be more focused. Tackle one smaller set of problems at a time and see how they do. If poorly, it's small enough to be flexible, if well, then you can phase in a second part and see how that goes.

Tort reform? Sure why not. It aims to address skyrocketing costs due to litigation and 'defensive medicine'. The biggest negative hurdle it has to overcome though, in my opinion, is time. How long after reform goes through will costs start to drop? if I need affordable insurance now, what is tort reform going to do for me? Nothing at all. And you know I can't help but think, what happens when companies reduce their costs? They maintain prices and put the extra in the pockets of their executives. So maybe after the CFO gets to upgrade his 50' yacht to 65' he'll consider dropping the cost of the plans. But for sure tort reform needs to be addressed. A small fix, that in the long run could have positive benefit. Could it be combined with a shorter term fix to help the immediate problems?

I'm not saying the the GOP isn't pushing tort reform, but if they are they're being awfully quiet about it. News outlets aren't showing any kind of back and forth. Truthfully I see 99% of their statements being 'no way to this bill', and next to zip, 'here's what we bring to the table'. Clinton tried for healthcare reform and failed. Bush came on and all of a sudden no congressional interest in pursuing reform. Where was the GOP with their Tort Reform? It's almost like the counter argument they use only when it's in their face, but when they're free to do it on their own, they find something better to do. My opinion, shit or get off the pot. If Tort reform is their idea, then bring it out throw it on the table, show that every GOP member will vote for it, and let's hear it talked about on CNN and Fox News. Give the other side a chance to say why it's a piece of shit, just like you're doing to theirs. (not you BtTV, GOP and their backers). I think they're scared because any bill can be torn apart for one reason or another, and when you're struggling to get 'back in power', you don't want to show that your farts stink just as bad.

Sorry, I'm being bitter. The bill itself doesn't directly bother me, it's everything around it that is pissing me off. The symptom, not the disease. It's the double talk, the venom and the attitude, the hypocrisy. Healthcare Reform isn't going to bring this country, we've been on a spiral for years, and this bill is just another tool to further damage our crumbling building. It could be a bill about what color of white to repaint the White House, and if it was made a public issue we'd be just as evil about it. We've turned into a nation of drama queens. No ketchup for my fries?! What the fuck?! You are going down you bastards!

Well you are absolutely right on that. If you don't believe in having a bill at all, it's tough to argue merits and failures.

You know, honestly, I struggle with that. How much should a government 'intervene' on the population?

This buddy of mine that I usually get into these things with, we often talk about varying aspects of it. He's conservative (but not republican, though he votes that way more because those two tend to coincide, or did at one time. I'm much more middle ground, with leanings each way depending on the issue.

Let me tell you where I currently stand on government control, 'cause I know you're dying to know

I think every Social, Political or Economic structure has something that's it's good at and something it's bad at. And if any society is going to thrive and sustain, there has to be a good balance between the 3 no matter what they may be. I think like anything, any one side getting to much power throws too much into chaos. So where does that leave us? It seems to me that as corporations get more powerful (and damn are they!), you've got to have other areas step up as well to offset it. When left alone, any one group getting too powerful usually ends up in some kind of uprising or rebellion. So a constant back and forth regulated relationship keeps that kind of anarchy at bay. You know, let's talk about our differences before they get to be problems and we end up saying or doing something extreme that we can't take back.

Currently I don't think we're doing such a great job at this balance. It seems more and more like Government and Corporate are teaming up behind closed doors, leaving the people fighting two battles. So we complain to the Govt about the Corps and Corps about the Govt, and they're both winking at each other. Not good. So perhaps healthcare reform is the Govt way of making us think they're doing something for us so we don't suspect that they and Corp are meeting in a motel every night playing flippy flop. Corps do the same thing with public relations and do-gooder facades. So I think the balance is out-of-whack and the uprising isn't going to be pretty.

I do not blame the Obama administration because this has been progressing for a many many decades, long before I was born. No one can get into politics with an agenda and then just do it. You find once you get into the cogs that things don't work how you thought or hoped and you're forced to change direction. While I think many politicians lie lie lie, I think some of the campaign promises are broken just because they get in and find that it's not going to work that way.

LOL, breathe! Have a Happy New Year From your tree hugging, vegetarian, Northern, Latino, non-Christian and liberal friend.

By the way, I agree that the American flag should be the only one flown in America and it is despicable how many people have absolutely no idea how to handle it. It drives me insane to see a flag tattered and faded, while the owner is calling himself a good American.

I also agree with several of your points, but I'm trying to get ready for NYE festivities, so another day.

Hey man, Happy New Year.

There's a lot in there that is valid in my opinion. I think the religion part is rather inconsistent, with everyone having a right to their own religion and God, and yet God should stay on our money and be brought back in. In the case of the US, despite the founding pretenses of religious freedom, the nation is largely a Christian-esque nation, and 'other' religions are not given the societal respect. There is some amount of tolerance, but still largely viewed as 'outsiders'. Sorry, organized religion and me don't go well together. NPR was interviewing a fellow recently who talked about Christmas being a cultural holiday more than a religious one in the US, and in that sense I'm more inclined to agree with our holidays and God having a strong role. It was some time ago that i read it, but Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" spent some time discussing that 'God' on our money and in our Pledge was more metaphorical, and not intended as a Christian reference.

You know some if this reminds me of the old School House Rock, the great american melting pot song. Now we've got this 'salad bowl' which I personally think is the wrong way to go. To use the Borg term, assimilation into American culture will keep the nation strong. The most powerful things we've ever done have been when we were unified. The last 20 years have seen a nation splitting apart from within, spewing venom at the 'other side', and it makes me wonder how we'll hold together.

Been there done that and I was the only one to emerge from Mardi Gras without an STD!

I think I may be the only person in America that's never been to Mardi Gras, heck never even been to New Orleans. I made it to Biloxi once for work, but I'm certain that doesn't count.

That was an excellent e-mail, thanks for passing it along.

After awhile you become immune to the ignorance on this site and it becomes satirical.

I'm not really in agreement with this letter, and nothing to do with right/left. I guess anyone can write a letter ranting about how awful you are for this, or how terrible this is because of you. It's easy to apportion blame to a target, and if you write with enough emotion, people have this tendency to go along with you: "Yay, this WWII veteran is pissed, and he's war hero, he is totally right!"

He isn't showing any acknowledgment of understanding the world in it's current state. Yes he may make some individual points that are agreeable (our economy, or more precisely our debt, is getting bloated), but that doesn't make his entire letter true. Right now, our political system looks to be in the most adversarial condition I have ever witnessed. I blame BOTH sides. Dems and Reps are taking stances merely because they oppose the other side. It no longer has anything to do with what might be best for the US and the world, but merely being in power and beating the other side. Two sides exist to achieve balance and fairness. I would not want to live in a country under pure democratic OR pure republican ideals.

Like it or not, in the 90 years this fella has lived, the world has changed. The world changed for the 90 years before he lived. it changed throughout human history and will continue to do so. This is NOT Obama's fault, nor Bush's. To fight change, to say everything is great now and anything different sucks; that's a losing battle.

Countless people have died in 23 generations as he said. Not all of them were Americans, and not all fought for OUR ideals. I have to disagree that our only motivation was "no other reason than to free a
whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness." I know that's the picture we like to paint of ourselves. But in my opinion, it's hogwash. It may have been ONE reason, but it certainly wasn't the only reason. It may be the reason we are proud of, but it wasn't the only reason. All of those people who have died fighting, on our side and not on our side, and even in wars we weren't involved in, fought only for what they believed in. And it's wrong to declare that fighting for your belief automatically makes your belief 'correct', even if you win.

That is cool. I want a Little Debbie gingerbread cookie.

Goodtimes! We have a family house out on Long Island and frequent the vineyards there. Actually I'm planning on taking the fiance out there this weekend to get some wine for Christmas and before it gets too cold out there to enjoy.

There is no debating here. People only post hoping their lemming friends will kiss their ass.