If we pass weak health care reform, will our government look weak & corrupt to developed world?

[yurbud]

Poll question: If we pass weak health care reform, will our government look weak & corrupt to developed world?

Aside from economically not helping or even harming average Americans, it occurred to me that health insurance reform that helps insurance companies far more than regular people could make us look like a country on the decline as much as squalid, corrupt, and violent thing the Bush administration.

The vast majority here agree that real health care reform is going to be one of two things:

• single payer
  
  
• a government run option that anyone can buy into instead of private insurance

And while most of us wouldn't like it (including me), there is a third option that is more or less respectable:

• private but tightly regulated insurance with caps on overhead like profits and exec compensation and giving denial of claims to some outside government agency. In short, private insurance companies would not be able to wipe their own asses without asking us how many squares of toilet paper they could use. Even better would be to make insurance (and hospitals) non-profits, and run like public utilities.

If we don't do something roughly like one of these three, will it make our government look hopelessly corrupt and inept to other advanced democracies?

Poll result (41 votes)
YES	(27 votes, 66%)	Vote
NO--they only care about how we treat them not how we treat our own people	(2 votes, 5%)	Vote
NO--they already think that	(10 votes, 24%)	Vote
it doesn't matter what they think. we are the greatest nation on earth and every other country is infinitely inferior in every way. Even developed countries are like apes that just descended from the	(2 votes, 5%)	Vote

[yurbud]

1. whose UNrec'ing this? Please explain yourself in a reply.

[CTyankee]

15. Lotsa luck with your request. The drive by unrecc-ers are cowards.

They beat their chests about how sacred their unrec function is but never step up and explain the reason they are unrecc-ing a post.

I cannot tell you how sick I am of these bozos. They add NOTHING to the debate and think they're doing something heroic.

Useless idiots...

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. I would be leery about investing in a country whose priorities were

so backwards, putting temporary profits over people.

Oh, and I rec'd it to get you back to 0.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

3. I'm sorry, but I think that our reputation is going to be tainted for quite some time.

To be honest, I'm using my sister who lives in Germany and is married to a German as my barometer.

She used to take a lot of heat everywhere that she went due to her country of birth. Luckily, she's developed enough of a German accent that they don't recognize her as an American right away like they used to.

She used to have a hard time convincing some people that she was actually an American simply because she didn't act like an _ _ _ hole.
People in Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia all said that she seemed to be too down to earth to be an American.

The stigma of "The Ugly American" is going to take some time to fade from memory.

P.S. I just added a Rec. to make up for the Unrec.

We need to euthanize that damn Unrec.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. "We need to euthanize that damn Unrec"

Too bad they didn't set it up with an option to see WHO unrec'd!

Then it'd be worth something.

As it is, we can see that there are complete fucking assholes at work here but can't identify them.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

5. One word with so many followers. I guess that it serves a purpose.

anonymity
One entry found for anonymity.


Main Entry: an·o·nym·i·ty
Pronunciation: "a-n&-'ni-m&-tE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ties
1 : the quality or state of being anonymous
2 : one that is anonymous


I do one of two things: I either look at a post and move on after reading the entries OR I Rec. it and possibly post my own thoughts if it strikes a chord.

I'm not saying that it makes me a better person, but I figure if someone goes to the trouble of starting a post, then at least they're trying to interest us in something and they deserve our respect for that.

[yurbud]

8. unrec helps more than it hurts for one reason: DLC & GOP paid trolls

there aren't that many of them, but there are enough to start bullshit threads, and rec them up to the greatest. However, those same threads can easily be buried by the sincere members of the board with our unrecs.

Their other favorite trick which is harder to beat is starting a lot of threads with their talking points to make an idea look like it's coming from a lot of different people, when in fact it's coming from a handful of people who probably have a handful of fake usernames as well.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

10. That makes sense too.

Now I'm conflicted and I was already confused. This isn't turning out to be a good day.

Your second point confirms what I had a hunch was happening at times.
It's good to have seasoned veterans to guide the late arrivals such as myself.

[yurbud]

13. there have been a couple of times when it was SO obvious that it didn't take any effort to see

my favorite was when the Jeff Gannon story broke, and there were all kinds of threads saying it was homophobic to point out the hypocrisy of a gay bashing party having a gay prostitute pose as a reporter (but also probably service someone in the White House).

The most common current variation are those who only want us to have two reactions to anything Obama does or might do: shut up or cheerlead.

As a community organizer, I suspect that even Obama himself doesn't want that, but those who advocate it don't want the voice of the people to drown out the lobbyists.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

17. Hypocrisy should be pointed out whenever possible.

I'm usually pretty short tempered when it comes to homophobic attitudes and/or remarks since my oldest brother was gay. (he died earlier this year)

I had no problem with the party of hypocrisy being exposed. I didn't relate it to JG's sexual orientation, I just looked at the incredible hypocrisy and the need for the American people to see why the "media" never asked the idiot son any tough questions.

[SoCalDem]

6. We will definitely look stupid and selfish n/t

[jacko_be]

7. nop you already look stupid in the rest of the world ... it can't get worse

[Proud Liberal Dem]

9. Trick question

We're already there, unfortunately. Moving in the right direction incrementally is STILL moving in the right direction, however IMHO.

[Brigid]

11. Me likey Option #3.

Make them squirm.

[Cleita]

12. Yes, but what we look like to the rest of the world isn't important. What is important is

the number of people, including children, who will die needlessly because of this defective legislation designed to protect the health care industry and Wall Street. Actually, I hope the rest of the world sees it. Maybe we will have a chance then to get our government that is supposed to be by the people and for the people. The foreign press unlike ours, won't mind leveling their criticism about our corrupt government and even Ruppert Murdoch doesn't have the reach to stifle the press world wide.

[yurbud]

14. they already have. a piece in Al Jazeera made me think of this.

[Cleita]

16. Maybe we should start posting those pieces here on DU

so those people who troll here can see them whereas they may not be visiting Al Jazeera or other news websites.

[yurbud]

20. great idea!

[treestar]

18. Do people in these other countries hate insurance companies as such?

Don't they have them?

I think they would see the hatred as just as irrational, wondering why people wanted to kill reform rather than have reform just because they thought insurance companies would get paid (and pay for treatment).

these attitudes assume insurance companies deny 100% of claims.

[Brigid]

19. They may not deny 100% of claims . . .

But they try, Oh, how they try.

[yurbud]

21. if they deny ANY legitimate claims and someone dies,

They are guilty of murder.