...   
      
    LL>>> As it should.  However, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)   
    LL>>> is NOT universal health care.  It is an improvement from   
    LL>>> what we had before, but even when fully implemented far   
    LL>>> from what Americans need and truly deserve.   
      
   BK>>That is true. It's a first step, not a panacea.   
      
    LL> The Affordable Care Act brings us in line as to what   
    LL> Switzerland and the Netherlands have.  Not a perfect   
    LL> system, with a lot of fixing left to be done, but better   
    LL> than what we have now.   
      
    It's not even that good, but you do have the right idea. In   
    fact, Switzerland is the country I always compare out system to,   
    because it's the most expensive of the other industrial   
    countries. Yet still 1/3rd cheaper than our system. That's a   
    $trillion a year we would save.   
      
    LL>>> What exactly do Americans need and truly deserve?  Improved   
    LL>>> Medicare for All via single-payer health care.   
      
   BK>>It could be done within the same general system we have now.   
   BK>>Most other industrialized countries do it, but they regulate it   
   BK>>much more.   
      
    LL> More regulation is needed in this country if access to   
    LL> quality health care is to become a reality for all, or even   
    LL> most.   
      
    Just for the health care system to survive. When it hits 20% of   
    GDP, which it's close to, it will be way too much.   
      
   BK>>In this country I believe the republicans are going to force   
   BK>>single payer on us, by simply destroying the system we have now.   
   BK>>Impoverish too many people, reduce business to the point where   
   BK>>few get medical benefits, and you have a failed system.   
      
    LL> For Republicans, it is all about power.  Not healtcare.   
      
    Which they demonstrate in their arguements against Obamacare.   
      
    LL> IOW, Republicans are willing to do anything and everything   
    LL> to get back into power, even if it means gutting access to   
    LL> quality healthcare. Right now they are threatening to   
    LL> defund the Affordable Care Act. However, that is an empty   
    LL> threat as Democrats continue to control the Senate, as well   
    LL> as the White House.  As such, it is just a stalling tactic,   
    LL> an attempt to make President Obama look bad.   
      
    And that last sentence sums it all up.   
      
    LL> What is going to happen when people find out they like   
    LL> Obama's health care plan more than what we had before?  Do   
      
    The right will tell them they are secretly on drugs.   
      
    LL> you think they will want to turn back the clock?  Do you   
    LL> think Republicans can retain the House and take over the   
    LL> Senate by promising to repeal "Obamacare"?  Do you think   
    LL> the Republicans can win the White House in 2016 with that   
    LL> line?   
      
    Once it's complete they will start reminding us it was their   
    idea in the first place.   
      
    LL>>> Notice I did not say Obamacare, Romneycare or Hillarycare.   
      
   BK>>I noticed.   
      
    LL>>> Leecare is the solution.  Paid for by Bob K. and US   
    LL>>> taxpayers.   
      
   BK>>Uhh... wait a minute until I get my boots on.   
      
    LL> The world owes me a living, not the other way around.  :)   
      
    Yeah, but you gotta work to collect on it.   
      
    ...   
      
    LL>>> Regardless of rank, our men and women in uniform deserve   
    LL>>> better than what they get.  What we have today is a   
      
   BK>>Oh is that ever true.   
      
    LL> That is an understatement.   
      
    When I was in it was not as good as the generation before. Now   
    it's awful.   
      
    LL>>> mercenary army that has been brainwashed to think that only   
    LL>>> they can save the world. The reality is far different, as   
      
   BK>>They have learned that. 10 years of foreign wars have taught   
   BK>>them that.   
      
    LL> And yet, all too soon we seem to forget.  Look at Syria.   
    LL> Look at warhawks in the Congress.  Look at President Obama.   
    LL> Seems like war has been with us from the time we were born.   
      
    Damn few of them ever wore a uniform, I doubt any saw battle.   
      
    LL>>> it is led by a president who is a wimp (re: Syria).   
      
   BK>>Bush was the whimp. Obama is trying desperately to keep from   
   BK>>getting us into another military trap. Syria? Which side really   
   BK>>did use the poison gas?   
      
    LL> Wimps go to war.  Tough guys get bullies to back off without   
    LL> ever having to throw a punch.  That is why Jimmy Carter was   
    LL> such a great president.  I would have been so easy for him   
    LL> to have taken us to war in Iran.  Instead, he chose to get   
    LL> our American diplomats who were held hostage returned to   
    LL> our soil, all safe and sound, using diplomacy as his weapon   
    LL> of choice, without losing any combat troops during his   
    LL> presidency.   
      
    If he had sent the military first thing he would have won   
    re-election, and we would never have had Reagan or the losers   
    who followed him. We would not be in this situation now.   
      
    LL> Ronald Reagan would have simply nuked the joint, killing   
    LL> untold numbers of Iranians, as well as all 52 Americans.   
      
    Nah, he may have been a puppet, ok he was a puppet, but the   
    puppet masters were not that crazy.   
      
   BK>>He suffers from the same failing Bush did, the inability to name   
   BK>>the real enemy, Saudi Arabia.   
      
    LL> Saudi Arabia is our friend (as long as they keep selling us   
    LL> oil).   
      
    If we bought it from Iran we would not need near as much Saudi   
    oil, and it would all become cheaper.   
      
    BK>>> IOW, BFD.   
      
    LL>>> That is exactly what President Assad of Syria said about   
    LL>>> President Obama's warning not to cross that red line ...   
      
   BK>>He may learn the hard way.   
      
    LL> Oh, come now!  Russians and Iranians are his friends!   
    LL> And with friends like that, who needs enemies?   
      
    Think about what you just said.   
      
    LL> The fact of the matter is that Bashar al-Assad has   
    LL> survived in Syria far longer than you or me ever could.   
      
    We are not brutal enough.   
      
    LL> The guy lives in a tough neighborhood and knows how   
    LL> to survive.  We might not like the guy, but you do have   
    LL> to give him credit.  He has survived where others have   
    LL> not.   
      
    Only by killing good people. OTOH, Ghadafi and Saddam did the   
    same.   
      
    LL> Will he run away and seek exile in Saudi Arabia (or some   
    LL> other Muslim country) if we invade Syria?  Nah.  He'll   
    LL> stay where he is and let his bodyguards (Iran and Russia)   
    LL> protect him.   
      
    Iran won't. Russia can't, realistically speaking.   
      
    LL> Not that I expect us to invade Syria anytime soon ...   
      
    Just bomb and arm the rebels.   
      
      
   BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn   
      
   ... Ever wonder why Hooked on Phonics advertises so much on Rush's show?   
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