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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Koligman who wrote (9950)	10/1/2009 12:51:35 AM
From: i-node	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

>> Why don't you start by educating me on why large swaths of highly educated America are making no wage progress over the past decade Why don't we narrow this down to something manageable? Who is it, exactly, that you're talking about? I don't know if you mean attorneys, accountants, architects, nurses, or who else you're referring to. I'm a CPA and software developer, and honestly, everyone I know in both these fields are doing better than ever. So, who exactly are you referring to? Then, maybe we can talk. And what evidence do you have that doctors are exempt from these forces any more than the next guy? This seems to be a variation on the usual liberal theme, i.e., "The rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer" -- which, of course, isn't true. But I'll reserve judgment on that until I hear you speak in specifics rather than vague references.

To: John Koligman who wrote (9950)	10/1/2009 6:58:27 AM
From: Lane3	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Why don't you start by educating me ... Maybe you would apply yourself to educating me about the basis for your attitude. I've been trying mightily to get my head around it and I would appreciate whatever insight you can provide. I'm sorry some specialists are taking hits on their 6 and 7 figure incomes. It has looked to me like where you're coming from is outrage that some people earn too much and anything over five figures is "too much." I'm not clear on your basis for determining how much is "too much." It could be simply egalitarian and a rejection of capitalism--a sense that wealth should be distributed evenly regardless of contribution. Or maybe you do subscribe to the notion of meritocracy in income but think that some people get more than they merit due to some hanky-panky with the system so you want some authority to discipline them for it. Or what? ...on why large swaths of highly educated America are making no wage progress over the past decade, and how that relates to doctors being exempt from those forces. As for exempting doctors from market forces, that seems to be a shift in your argument from the notion of "too much." Of course doctors shouldn't be exempt from market forces. But it seems to me that you're the one rejecting market forces, which is how we set compensation in this country. It's the reason doctors earn more than teachers and executives earn more than workers. I don't think anyone here is arguing against market forces but you. Artificially reducing doctors' salaries to five figures because you are offended by their outsized earnings isn't an implementation of market forces but a rejection of them. Re five figures, of course doctors should earn more than that. If you look at what various jobs pay in our society, there are lots of jobs that produce six figures that don't require the knowledge and skill and application required of a physician. I earned six figures a decade ago when I was still employed and my sense was always that doctors deserved to earn more than I did, considerably more, because the educational requirements were greater and because their efforts had greater consequence. It boggles my mind that anyone would think that six figures was "too much" income for a practicing physician.