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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: koan who wrote (65131)	11/17/2009 10:11:57 PM
From: Bread Upon The Water	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

We have the highest costs and are 37th in the world in health care. 45 million do not have any health insurance; and the insurance lobby is ripping off our society. Robert Samuleson in Newsweek this week says that we can't afford UHC because, basically, because "the books are cooked" (with accounting mechanisms and false projections).

To: koan who wrote (65131)	11/18/2009 2:45:46 AM
From: Neil H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

Koan re - Social security and medicare -Yes they are good but both are going broke. For SS they should not use the funds that we donate to the program for other uses. If they had done this it would not be going broke. For Medicare, they should fix the fraud and tighten up the system prior to adding more people to a system that is already going broke - economics 101. Re: Environments - I agree that the environment greatly impacts behavior. However how best can that environment be changed? Govt programs have spent huge sums over the years and made little difference. The Hill district in Pittsburgh was the slums when I was a kid in the 50's and 60's. It still is in spite of welfare, housing projects and all the other entitlements the govt has thrown at the area. This is where I would say personal responsibility comes in - one for the people and two for the local leaders - the core issues need to be addressed - education, jobs, and social issues that lead to many single parent families and substance abuse. If people want to escape this environment they can and many do - It takes work and there is always the military and GI bill that can provide the funding for the higher education. Many people immigrate to this country with nothing and can not even speak English, yet through hard work many of them have become extremely successful. ( I think most own the 7-11s now) And they came in many cases from less than desirable environments. So yes environment is a huge factor but people make choices in whether to perpetuate their condition or rise up to a better life. I will be glad to help those that have fallen on hard times due to circumstances, but not those that have chosen not to educate themselves, work, etc. Slavery has been gone for about 140 years and I think it was a Republican president that went to war to eliminate it. If that immigrant that can't even speak English can make it in less than a generation so can the ancestors of slaves 6-7 generations later. We are not in the 60's now and much of what you said re segregation and responsibility to the blacks applied then. Now there is ample opportunity for all if they will work for it. Our president is black, many professionals and doctors and lawyers. The opportunities are there. Time to stop making excuses for the others. Or is it in the interest of the certain parties to create a welfare class that are dependent on the government and will vote accordingly? Regards Neil