1 He had to. Couldn't allow any more questions like that to be asked. Only way was to run out the clock.

Amazing the WaPo ran a story on it, and though they seemed a little gentle, they weren't all that kind.

He then spent the next 17 minutes and 12 seconds lulling the crowd into a daze. His discursive answer -- more than 2,500 words long -- wandered from topic to topic....

2 Alternately he could have said, "Nobody wanted to pay taxes for the last eight years so now it's time to pay the tab. The fact that health care is so astronomically expensive now is the result of not addressing the problem realistically 20 years ago."

3 Or, the failure to address the failing Social Security system 6 years ago, will result in our requiring to vandalize the health care system so that more old people die. . . .

Priorities - changing a system that works for the majority of the citizens, or fixing a real life, measurable failure . . . he chose poorly.

regards,

4 My taxes are also too high, why not stop the waste, fraud and abuse before another tax hike?

Why not a drug test before we pass out welfare checks? I pay so much in taxes that I have thought about quitting real work and living off of the system, my pride has so far stopped me, so far but I work hard for my wages and resent the government taking my money and giving it to folks who will not work but can buy drugs.

5 The fact that health care is so astronomically expensive now is the result of not addressing the problem realistically 20 years ago."

So costs are rising because we should have put people to death 20 years ago? Sounds like the kind of final solution you neo-fascist scumbags just love.

6 IIRC "final solutions" are the exclusive property of the socialist/communist vision thing .

7 Why is health care so expensive?

Because the demographic group most in need of care - really old people - have a lifetime of savings to buy just a few more months of life.

Given the chance the elderly will dump that $100K+ RV and sink their life's savings into prolonging life by a few more years or months.

The fact that Barry does not think that is cost effective (take a pill), that Barry thinks these are typical old white people (like his own grandma), that Barry wants to take their money and give it to younger people of poorer demographic groups (reparations do not go far enough), was all well known before the election.

Hope and Change means different things to different people - Peggy knew these things before the election and knew that if she helped Barry, Barry is going to help her.

So, taxes? The One cannot come right out and say his plan is to take grandmas money, give it Peggy, and let grandma die, can he?

8 It's quite simple. If your basic philosophy, your default position, is that government is the solution to every problem, real or imagined, you have no choice but to raise taxes, continually, without end, and on everything imaginable. Of course, for socialists, it's not even a matter of choice. Not only do they have no regret, it is as natural as breathing air. There is no thought process involved.

But they are just smart enough to know that most Americans, for the moment anyway, don't buy into their ideals or methods, so they must resort to the second facet of socialist philosophy: lying.

9 Steve,
The reason for high health care cost is that th government has interfered in the system for the last 40 years. Currently, you pay more because the government pays less, less than the actual cost of care. So what you are paying is a tax. Now, you will not only pay that tax but additional ones that don't benefit you at all.

Wait, I just realized, you are likely a liberal and haven't paid tax and don't anticipte doing so as you likely are non-productive. Anyone who works is sick of this government and what it is doing. Likely you are a student, good luck getting a job if you decide to actually do something with your life.

10 Just wait... the V.A.T. tax is next, and they're going to push it on us as a "soak the people who can afford nice things" i.e. "Da EEEEEvil Stinkin' Rich."

The word floated around here in Iraq (and Affy) was that during the last vist by him in Affy and Slow Joe here in Iraq was they asked about how us contractors would react to our tax free status being lifted (along with the G.I.s.) Word is that the Higher Higher asked back if they really wanted to spark an open rebellion and have the war end, b/c almost every single one of us here (civilians) are here so we can earn our hard cash w/out the FedGov soaking the living hell out of us. My first year here was all about patriotism and supporting the troops... until I got blown up the first time... then it was all 'about the benjamins' and troop support being a secondary... I KNOW that if they started to tax us at 'normal rates' (what with the average salary being over 100K to start... being unarmed in a war zone tends to make the cost a bit higher) that me and about the other 200,000 of us contractors would walk. As in "Deuces! Been fun but not so much now!"

Considering that the whole 'contracting out' the war support infrastructure has been around for a long time (and no... not under Bush 1st or Bush 2... it was Clinton and Bosnia, despite the liberals screaming about Halliburton/Cheney and such... KBR and Halliburton first got their REAL start under Clinton... THAT was the REAL start of it) But the fact is, they CAN'T have a war w/out us. We do TOO much that the military is incapable of doing these days, for wont of a lack of trained people. Contractors do all the cooking, feeding, supplying... hell... just about everything... if they start repealing the Expat Tax free status,, quite literally, this war would end for a lack of support. Nevermind we'd all qualify for unemployment, and add HUGE numbers to the jobless rate...

Anywhoo... VAT tax: We seem to be headed down the "British Model" of "Government by Nanny State" i.e. healthcare, rights for the oppressed and all the other bullshtien that the Brits have been innudated with so why not a VAT tax? Next they can also start taxing the TVs like they do in England... I'm telling you... do NOT be surprised when it happens.