dreamdancer 0 #1 July 25, 2009 the bigger they are... QuoteHere's a truism: The wealthiest 1 percent have never had it so good. According to government figures, 1-percenters' share of America's total income is the highest it's been since 1929, and their tax rates are the lowest they've faced in two decades. Through bonuses, many 1-percenters will profit from the $23 trillion in bailout largesse the Treasury Department now says could be headed to financial firms. And, most of them benefit from IRS decisions to reduce millionaire audits and collect zero taxes from the majority of major corporations. But what really makes the ultra-wealthy so fortunate, what truly separates this moment from a run-of-the-mill Gilded Age, is the unprecedented protection the 1-percenters have bought for themselves on the most pressing issues. To review: With 22,000 Americans dying each year because they lack health insurance, Congress is considering universal health care legislation financed by a surcharge on income above $280,000 -- that is, a levy almost exclusively on 1-percenters. This surtax would graze just 5 percent of small businesses and would recoup only part of the $700 billion the 1-percenters received from the Bush tax cuts. In fact, it is so miniscule, those making $1 million annually would pay just $9,000 more in taxes every year -- or nine-tenths of 1 percent of their 12-month haul. Nonetheless, the 1-percenters have deployed an army to destroy the initiative before it makes progress. http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/141520/how_the_ultra-rich_are_trying_to_kill_health_reform/stay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
futuredivot 0 #2 July 25, 2009 Don't give them all the glory-I'm fucking poor and I want to kill the proposed reforms to health care too. Give a little love to the underclassYou are only as strong as the prey you devour Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FallingOsh 0 #3 July 25, 2009 Wait wait wait.... You mean to tell me that even though 1% of the population pays roughly 18% of all income tax and nearly 30% of all federal taxes, they don't want to support the population further by adding universal healthcare??? Those assholes!! From factcheck "The share now borne by the top 1 percent is the highest it has been since 1979, the earliest year for which CBO has figures" -------------------------------------------------- Stay positive and love your life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
futuredivot 0 #4 July 25, 2009 Dammit!! You can't use Factcheck and Alternet in the same thead-you'll start a fire. They can't coexist. You are only as strong as the prey you devour Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
downwardspiral 0 #5 July 25, 2009 Quote Dammit!! You can't use Factcheck and Alternet in the same thead-you'll start a fire. They can't coexist. Worlds are colliding AaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHH!!! www.FourWheelerHB.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomAiello 25 #6 July 25, 2009 Isn't the healthcare "reform" now underway is being mostly formed by the lobbying of insurance companies? (why would the insurance companies want to force everyone to buy insurance?) -- Tom Aiello [email protected] SnakeRiverBASE.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuckakers 370 #7 July 25, 2009 Quote the bigger they are... Quote Here's a truism: The wealthiest 1 percent have never had it so good. According to government figures, 1-percenters' share of America's total income is the highest it's been since 1929, and their tax rates are the lowest they've faced in two decades. Through bonuses, many 1-percenters will profit from the $23 trillion in bailout largesse the Treasury Department now says could be headed to financial firms. And, most of them benefit from IRS decisions to reduce millionaire audits and collect zero taxes from the majority of major corporations. But what really makes the ultra-wealthy so fortunate, what truly separates this moment from a run-of-the-mill Gilded Age, is the unprecedented protection the 1-percenters have bought for themselves on the most pressing issues. To review: With 22,000 Americans dying each year because they lack health insurance, Congress is considering universal health care legislation financed by a surcharge on income above $280,000 -- that is, a levy almost exclusively on 1-percenters. This surtax would graze just 5 percent of small businesses and would recoup only part of the $700 billion the 1-percenters received from the Bush tax cuts. In fact, it is so miniscule, those making $1 million annually would pay just $9,000 more in taxes every year -- or nine-tenths of 1 percent of their 12-month haul. Nonetheless, the 1-percenters have deployed an army to destroy the initiative before it makes progress. http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/141520/how_the_ultra-rich_are_trying_to_kill_health_reform/ Smart 1%'ers invest in tax free muni's. They don't pay a dime of income tax on them under any plan, anytime.Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #8 July 26, 2009 QuoteWhistleblower tells of America's hidden nightmare for its sick poor Wendell Potter can remember exactly when he took the first steps on his journey to becoming a whistleblower and turning against one of the most powerful industries in America. It was July 2007 and Potter, a senior executive at giant US healthcare firm Cigna, was visiting relatives in the poverty-ridden mountain districts of northeast Tennessee. He saw an advert in a local paper for a touring free medical clinic at a fairground just across the state border in Wise County, Virginia. Potter, who had worked at Cigna for 15 years, decided to check it out. What he saw appalled him. Hundreds of desperate people, most without any medical insurance, descended on the clinic from out of the hills. People queued in long lines to have the most basic medical procedures carried out free of charge. Some had driven more than 200 miles from Georgia. Many were treated in the open air. Potter took pictures of patients lying on trolleys on rain-soaked pavements. For Potter it was a dreadful realisation that healthcare in America had failed millions of poor, sick people and that he, and the industry he worked for, did not care about the human cost of their relentless search for profits. "It was over-powering. It was just more than I could possibly have imagined could be happening in America," he told the Observer Potter resigned shortly afterwards. Last month he testified in Congress, becoming one of the few industry executives to admit that what its critics say is true: healthcare insurance firms push up costs, buy politicians and refuse to pay out when many patients actually get sick. In chilling words he told a Senate committee: "I worked as a senior executive at health insurance companies and I saw how they confuse their customers and dump the sick: all so they can satisfy their Wall Street investors." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/26/us-healthcare-obama-barack-changestay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FallingOsh 0 #9 July 26, 2009 There's a surprise. Another copy and paste rather than an original thought. -------------------------------------------------- Stay positive and love your life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomAiello 25 #10 July 26, 2009 Why are we letting those insurance companies dictate the shape of the "reform" to benefit themselves? (or are you saying that you want them to be even further benefited by their purchased Congress) -- Tom Aiello [email protected] SnakeRiverBASE.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gawain 0 #11 July 26, 2009 QuoteWith 22,000 Americans dying each year because they lack health insurance, I fail to see how lack of insurance "causes" death.So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright 'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life Make light! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigbearfng 16 #12 July 26, 2009 Fact is anyone-no insurance, even no ID, no english, etc etc goes to an ER and they will be treated! (And most have already figured that out.) Even admitted to the hospital, surgery done and then discharged just like anyone else. Now who do you suppose that cost is passed on to???? You and me! So I guess there is already de facto universal coverage for all........ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #13 July 26, 2009 QuoteI fail to see how lack of insurance "causes" death. Not anymore than the lack of wearing seatbelts "causes" death.Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CMiller 1 #14 July 26, 2009 Quote I fail to see how lack of insurance "causes" death. Seriously? No insurance + non enough money = no care. Need a liver transplant thanks to a genetically acquired condition through no fault of your own? Don't have insurance? You don't get a transplant and you die. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
futuredivot 0 #15 July 26, 2009 Just a quick search hasn't turned up a case of this happening. Can you cite, please?You are only as strong as the prey you devour Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
georgerussia 0 #16 July 27, 2009 Quote To review: With 22,000 Americans dying each year because they lack health insurance In 2006 2,426,000 people died in USA. Substracting 22,000 we see that 2,404,000 people actually HAD insurance - but still died. You know, even having health insurance still does not guarantee survival. How could it happen people in UK still die, as everyone supposed to have health insurance?* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. * Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomAiello 25 #17 July 27, 2009 QuoteHow could it happen people in UK still die, as everyone supposed to have health insurance? I understand the NHS had to revoke their immortality clause, as it was causing excessive cost over-runs.-- Tom Aiello [email protected] SnakeRiverBASE.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CMiller 1 #18 July 27, 2009 QuoteJust a quick search hasn't turned up a case of this happening. Can you cite, please? Well, my friend's father had a liver transplant for that very reason, and one of the criteria for getting on the transplant list was having insurance. If he didn't, he'd be dead. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #19 July 27, 2009 QuoteQuoteJust a quick search hasn't turned up a case of this happening. Can you cite, please? Well, my friend's father had a liver transplant for that very reason, and one of the criteria for getting on the transplant list was having insurance. If he didn't, he'd be dead. My oldest sister had a simultaneous liver and kidney transplant, without insurance. How did that happen?Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 212 #20 July 27, 2009 QuoteQuoteJust a quick search hasn't turned up a case of this happening. Can you cite, please? Well, my friend's father had a liver transplant for that very reason, and one of the criteria for getting on the transplant list was having insurance. If he didn't, he'd be dead. Could you prove that please?I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 212 #21 July 27, 2009 QuoteQuoteQuoteJust a quick search hasn't turned up a case of this happening. Can you cite, please? Well, my friend's father had a liver transplant for that very reason, and one of the criteria for getting on the transplant list was having insurance. If he didn't, he'd be dead. My oldest sister had a simultaneous liver and kidney transplant, without insurance. How did that happen? Devine Intervention?I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
