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Wednesday Morning Rant

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The Inevitable Wrong Answer

With another autumn comes another looming budget conflict. "Both sides" will make a lot of excited noises about fiscal responsibility and social obligation. There will be sound bites. There will be meaningless public negotiations while the real action happens behind closed doors. There will probably be a "lack of agreement" as government shutdown panic rises. Then there will be an 11th hour deal and, at the last second, the "statesmen" in Washington will have "averted disaster."

That's the norm and there is little reason to expect otherwise this year. Theatrics aside, the upcoming budget process has one upside: it doesn't much matter. We can't cut enough to deal with the fiscal problems. Last year, "discretionary" items - including defense - totaled $1.7 trillion. The deficit was $1.4 trillion.

Zeroing discretionary spending would barely balance last year's budget, and that margin will decline this year. The crisis isn't defense spending or national parks or even the various other evil insanities in the various agencies. The actual cost of government - quality and value aside - is fairly manageable.

The problem is on the entitlement side of things, and is not Social Security. That is a problem, but it is barely underwater and could be made healthier (though not without acts of political suicide). The crucial, existential issue for the federal government is medical spending. It costs more than Social Security, is deeply underwater and there's no end in sight.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services - the main organization responsible for federal medical spending - cost $1.384 trillion in Fiscal 2022. The dedicated revenue stream totaled just $0.357 trillion. The resulting hole in the general budget was $1.03 trillion, which represents nearly three quarters of the entire deficit last year (though appropriations are carried over from prior years, this changes timing but not the problem). It will be worse this year.

There is a combination of a laughably small dedicated revenue stream (the taxes explicitly to pay for it) - which has been true virtually since the program's inception - but more important, the outlandish cost of medical care. Our medical system is tragically expensive, and so are federal costs associated with it. This leaves two reasonable conclusions about what to do if the federal government is to survive: make medical care cheaper through massive industry and government reforms, or go single-payer and grind down costs through rationing.

I fear there are too many people at the trough for reform. There are too many powerful interests to make meaningful reform a politically viable option. I think reform is possible and costs could be collapsed, but it is politically unworkable. Medical spending overall is nearly 20% of GDP. There is too much money, too many interests and too much power at stake to make industrial and government reform a palatable option.

Which is why, rather than risk fiscal catastrophe, I think that the medical system will instead be nationalized in some form. This will help with revenues (new taxes and expropriations), provide a concentration of power, grant even more government control over a massive economic sector, provide cover, etc. Despite how it will be marketed, costs will come down primarily through reduction in access (rationing), with little from cost savings. It will be the disaster everyone knows it will be: a corrupt, expensive, unworkable mess that is worse than what we have today and merely kicks the can down the road of financial ruin. It's the worst solution to the problem.

Which is why I expect that it is inevitable.

Posted by: Joe Mannix at 11:00 AM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 The Inevitable Wrong Answer

=======

It's never C.

C is always right.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 11:00 AM (LvTSG)

2 That which is inevitable will happen.

Posted by: SFGoth at September 27, 2023 11:01 AM (KAi1n)

3 "I'm from the Government and I'm here to help."

Posted by: Iris at September 27, 2023 11:01 AM (n3DL0)

4 Gov. shutdown....how could you tell?

Posted by: BignJames at September 27, 2023 11:02 AM (AwYPR)

5 >>Which is why, rather than risk fiscal catastrophe, I think that the medical system will instead be nationalized in some form.


Apparently Costo is now offering medical services - price list up front and you pay directly, no insurance/middleman.

Posted by: Lizzy at September 27, 2023 11:03 AM (izj35)

6 Gov. shutdown....how could you tell?
Posted by: BignJames at September 27, 2023 11:02 AM (AwYPR)
++++
Life gets marginally better for a short while?

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:03 AM (t0OGg)

7 Well, Palin's "Death Panels" comment shut it down last time. Don't know if that would work again or not.

Posted by: Iris at September 27, 2023 11:03 AM (n3DL0)

8 >>Gov. shutdown....how could you tell?


Scenic Overlook is Closed.

Communist out front should have told ya'.

Posted by: garrett at September 27, 2023 11:04 AM (1mPxl)

9 It will be the disaster everyone knows it will be: a corrupt, expensive, unworkable mess that is worse than what we have today and merely kicks the can down the road of financial ruin. It's the worst solution to the problem.

Which is why I expect that it is inevitable.

Posted by: Joe Mannix at 11:00 AM
---
One of my coworkers seems to be "all-in" on the Europization of American society and culture. She wants us to be just like Germany with respect to our working environment and medicine. She's usually pretty sensible in most areas of life, but has a large blind spot when it comes to the German way of doing things.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 11:04 AM (YIVH2)

10 C is always right.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston

I see.

Posted by: JT at September 27, 2023 11:05 AM (T4tVD)

11 Apparently Costo is now offering medical services - price list up front and you pay directly, no insurance/middleman.
Posted by: Lizzy at September 27, 2023 11:03 AM (izj35)
++++
Good. We need more of that. Price opacity is one of the many, many problems with our medical system and price transparency is a key thing that needs to happen to fix things.

But again, all those vested interests. It is not that the medical system is unfixable, it's that there are too many people too interested in *not* fixing it. Which is why, to save the budget, I would bet on nationalization.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:05 AM (t0OGg)

12 Shorter: the federal government is a Ponzi scheme.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 27, 2023 11:06 AM (RIvkX)

13 >> She wants us to be just like Germany with respect to our working environment and medicine.


She is aware that Germany is at death's door, right?

They have NO path forward. None.

Posted by: garrett at September 27, 2023 11:06 AM (1mPxl)

14 forty-second!

Posted by: deep thought at September 27, 2023 11:06 AM (v3pYe)

15 Should I raise or check to the gorilla??

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at September 27, 2023 11:06 AM (krqg6)

16 How to tame inflation:

Spend all money to the max extent possible on
1) a good.
2) a service.
3) government is neither 1 or 2. Spend here as little as you can get away with.

Even if inflation were 1-2% as we were used to, think about education and medicine. Why have their costs so outpaced inflation? Massive government spending in both. The allure of “free money” pushes up costs, and needlessly so.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:06 AM (8sMut)

17 >>There will be meaningless public negotiations while the real action happens behind closed doors. There will probably be a "lack of agreement" as government shutdown panic rises. Then there will be an 11th hour deal and, at the last second, the "statesmen" in Washington will have "averted disaster."


I wish they would shutdown.
Keep the military paid and a couple of other legitimate necessary workers, but then let the huge bureaucrat class go unpaid (and no backpay).

We desperately need an Elon Musk Twitter Staffing Revelation, where he slashed staff by over 50% and the company kept operation. No, it operated better with fewer people as he streamlined the remaining work. Do that with the federal bureaucracy - NOW!

Posted by: Lizzy at September 27, 2023 11:06 AM (izj35)

18 Shorter: the federal government is a Ponzi scheme.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 27, 2023 11:06 AM (RIvkX)
++++
Not really. Some parts of it. Social Security is.

The government in general, however, is a racket.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:06 AM (t0OGg)

19 >>C is always right.


I think you mean Starboard.

Posted by: garrett at September 27, 2023 11:07 AM (1mPxl)

20 Morning.

Posted by: Robert at September 27, 2023 11:07 AM (1Yy3c)

21 ...She's usually pretty sensible in most areas of life, but has a large blind spot when it comes to the German way of doing things.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 11:04 AM (YIVH2)
===
Ok, who wants to take this one?...

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 27, 2023 11:07 AM (RIvkX)

22 One disagreement with an otherwise excellent and depressing post...

There is nothing inherently wrong with healthcare taking a large chunk of GDP. It is a product purchased by literally everyone in the country, and it can be complex and long-term depending on the customer.

The problem is the catastrophe of government manipulation of the market compounded by a guild that is absolutely awful. A true free market in medicine would, as Joe Mannix pointed out, drive costs down and probably improve outcomes significantly. Just look at non-regulated parts of the market...elective procedures such as plastic surgery and other cosmetic enhancements. They are fiercely competitive, and the pricing shows!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 27, 2023 11:08 AM (lQONO)

23 Good. We need more of that. Price opacity is one of the many, many problems with our medical system and price transparency is a key thing that needs to happen to fix things.

^ Agree. Part of it is the culture of insurance. Services feel "free" because they are paid with the monthly premium. But so many people in this country have no capacity for being responsible for themselves. Don't know how to fix that. How do you ration healthcare to the sensible?

Posted by: Iris at September 27, 2023 11:09 AM (n3DL0)

24 Where do you think debt interest falls on the list in order of economic threats?

I've seen estimates of $500 billion on debt interest payment alone in 2023, with estimates of that ballooning to $1.4 trillion annually by 2032 (if we make it that long).

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at September 27, 2023 11:09 AM (yfXBS)

25 She's usually pretty sensible in most areas of life, but has a large blind spot when it comes to the German way of doing things.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 11:04 AM (YIVH2)

Ask her if she's had her clit pierced.

Posted by: Robert at September 27, 2023 11:09 AM (1Yy3c)

26 The government in general, however, is a racket.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:06 AM (t0OGg)

Money for nothin'.....

Posted by: BignJames at September 27, 2023 11:09 AM (AwYPR)

27 Medicare for all!

Posted by: Big Bad Bernie at September 27, 2023 11:09 AM (63Dwl)

28 One of my coworkers seems to be "all-in" on the Europization of American society and culture. She wants us to be just like Germany with respect to our working environment and medicine. She's usually pretty sensible in most areas of life, but has a large blind spot when it comes to the German way of doing things.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 11:04 AM (YIVH2)

Let me guess - no historical context of how Germany got to how it is today either? Besides, I’m sure she’d love to hear how Germany handles medicine. You make above a certain point (IIRC €50,000 a year or thereabout)? You are on your own. Germany says get your own damn doctor.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:10 AM (8sMut)

29 "Despite how it will be marketed, costs will come down primarily through reduction in access (rationing), with little from cost savings."

It's happening now. Primary care physicians for Medicare recipient are drying up. I've had three leave the practice in 18 months. Been trying to get an appointment for six months and have had six cancellations by doctors.

Of course, rationing has the salutary effect of killing off old people which also reduces costs.

Posted by: RS at September 27, 2023 11:10 AM (E7m29)

30 24 Where do you think debt interest falls on the list in order of economic threats?

I've seen estimates of $500 billion on debt interest payment alone in 2023, with estimates of that ballooning to $1.4 trillion annually by 2032 (if we make it that long).
Posted by: Bitter Clinger at September 27, 2023 11:09 AM (yfXBS)

CBO says $663B in 2023, $1.4 trillion in 2033. The 2033 number is probably low due to interest rate assumptions.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:10 AM (eYoxG)

31 Apparently Costo is now offering medical services - price list up front and you pay directly, no insurance/middleman.

Posted by: Lizzy at September 27, 2023 11:03 AM (izj35)

And if I had to pick between Costco and Amazon Clinic, I'd choose Costco.

There's enough lowball Chinese junk on Amazon that I'd never ever trust them with health care.

Posted by: Grudge Harbor at September 27, 2023 11:10 AM (hCzfy)

32 The solution to massive, endless medical price increase is change insurance to be for catastrophic events only. Prices would drop 50% overnight and another 50% over the next year. Most doctors/hospitals already give huge discounts when paying out of pocket and the price reductions would eliminate the need for most insurance and even the poor could afford doctor visits.


Insurance and govt. mandate are driving this and more insurance and mandate will not solve it.

Posted by: Ripley at September 27, 2023 11:11 AM (JojsZ)

33 I recall 27 Dem Presidential Candidates pledging free health care to all illegals who crossed our borders in 2020. Not one disagreed. Maybe we need a tax on Dems to force them to pay for their virtue?

Posted by: Puddinhead at September 27, 2023 11:11 AM (h2KMk)

34 >>Part of it is the culture of insurance.


No.
The problem is the Government decided it could provide Services on the backs of the Insurers and Providers.

Government Regulation is the problem with Medical Costs.

Posted by: garrett at September 27, 2023 11:11 AM (1mPxl)

35 If something is "free" then in a low-trust society, it will eventually become unavailable at any price.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 27, 2023 11:11 AM (RIvkX)

36 Adding 10 million illegals onto Medicaid will surely help. /s

Posted by: Lady in Black at September 27, 2023 11:11 AM (mupln)

37 ... The problem is the catastrophe of government manipulation of the market compounded by a guild that is absolutely awful. A true free market in medicine would, as Joe Mannix pointed out, drive costs down and probably improve outcomes significantly. Just look at non-regulated parts of the market...elective procedures such as plastic surgery and other cosmetic enhancements. They are fiercely competitive, and the pricing shows!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 27, 2023 11:08 AM (lQONO)
++++
Medical care being expensive on the macro level is not necessarily a problem. It probably should not be a fifth of the economy, but that's speculation. I think it should probably be closer to half that, but this is *also* speculation.

We have no idea what it "should" cost, because there are no markets involved except for, as you mentioned, elective procedures. The history of LASIK should be the norm for new stuff - expensive, then collapsing price. The history of things like boob jobs should be the norm for routine things - they stay essentially flat when adjusted for inflation.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:12 AM (t0OGg)

38 I have known this will happen for some time now. Unfortunately, for my children, I and my lovely wife will be dead before the system collapses.

Posted by: JoeBar at September 27, 2023 11:12 AM (NbYXh)

39 Not to mention, for all that is going wrong in this country, Europe is by and large going absolutely nowhere. There is still innovation and invention here. What, you think a company like SpaceX has a chance in hell of starting up in Europe?

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:12 AM (8sMut)

40 I like that one of the most important items is to ensure more billions for Ukraine.

At some point, are they planning for Ukrainians to reprise their role as eager, brutal camp guards but here?

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at September 27, 2023 11:13 AM (OzHA0)

41 >>But again, all those vested interests. It is not that the medical system is unfixable, it's that there are too many people too interested in *not* fixing it. Which is why, to save the budget, I would bet on nationalization.

We really don't understand how seriously Obamacare f'd up healthcare. I have family who are doctors and the stories are not good. First, there is a set limit of time per visit, and it varies based on the sequence (longer for the first visit, shorter for subsequent visits, which is the reverse of how it should be. You don't get fully reimbursed if you exceed the time allotted. Also, you get reimbursed based on patient rating. Only if you get the highest score do you get full reimbursement.

One of my doctor relatives spent so much time coding visits he ended up getting certified on it and it is his full-time job for the practice; he's given up practicing medicine. His wife just left the profession because she was making no money because she spent too much time with her patients and other sneaky penalties used to not reimburse.

Posted by: Lizzy at September 27, 2023 11:13 AM (izj35)

42 It simply won't happen because there's a lag time of a few years before everything stabilizes, but-

if the gov't got out of the medical biz. Step up laws to foster massive capitalistic competition between docs, hospitals, medical facilities and allowed insurance companies to build patient pools across states line. Again with capitalistic competition.

But, for that to work. Gov't would have to completely get out of the med biz. Except for states, they could have at it. (10th Amendment).

Posted by: naturalfake at September 27, 2023 11:13 AM (QzZeQ)

43 Commenting present, lunch soon

Posted by: Skip at September 27, 2023 11:13 AM (wRGx4)

44 Insurance and govt. mandate are driving this and more insurance and mandate will not solve it.
-----------------
CT is the Health Insurance State. DE is the Loan Shark State. NY is the Finance State. NJ is the Pharma State. No one knows why PA exists anymore. Maybe someone could ask Senator Fetterman?

Posted by: Puddinhead at September 27, 2023 11:13 AM (h2KMk)

45 She's usually pretty sensible in most areas of life, but has a large blind spot when it comes to the German way of doing things.

Germany had a good run - they basically abolished their military after the Cold War, and let the Americans pay for their defense; and used cheap Russian gas to compensate for the stupidities of their Energiewende (green energy revolution).

Now the chickens are very much coming home to roost.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at September 27, 2023 11:13 AM (2tUFv)

46 The history of things like boob jobs should be the norm for routine things - they stay essentially flat when adjusted for inflation.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:12 AM (t0OGg)

Wait...what?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 27, 2023 11:14 AM (lQONO)

47 Well, Palin's "Death Panels" comment shut it down last time. Don't know if that would work again or not.

Hell, there's actual proof in the form of operating death panels in the UK, continental Europe, and Canada now.

Posted by: Ian S. at September 27, 2023 11:14 AM (2ocoG)

48 >>I like that one of the most important items is to ensure more billions for Ukraine.


IIRC, we are paying Ukraine's government employee salaries. They are our 51st state, though 1st in the hearts and minds of Congress.

Posted by: Lizzy at September 27, 2023 11:14 AM (izj35)

49 At some point, are they planning for Ukrainians to reprise their role as eager, brutal camp guards but here?
-------------------
We already have a shit-ton of them here. Most came in right after WWII. Same with Canada.

Posted by: Puddinhead at September 27, 2023 11:15 AM (h2KMk)

50 Insurance and govt. mandate are driving this and more insurance and mandate will not solve it.
Posted by: Ripley at September 27, 2023 11:11 AM (JojsZ)
++++
It's a tough nut to crack because of how the system of employment benefits is structured, which is itself a gift from both the early unionization movement and, more important, WWII wage and price controls (you can't offer an employee more money, so offer him better benefits).

To break that cycle will require some deeply unpopular things. The insurance market needs to favor individual policy purchasers, which means the employment lockup needs to be broken and also the market needs to be widened.

Some basic state or federal minimum standard (which is very basic, like "just catastrophic hospitalization") would be needed, as would disincentivizing employer medical benefits by taxing the benefit value as income. I would rather have the money and buy what I want if I am going to pay taxes on it anyway.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:15 AM (t0OGg)

51 Our medical system is tragically expensive, and so are federal costs associated with it
-
The medical system is expensive because federal funding is available for it. Just as housing is expensive because mortgages exist.

Ultimately the only solution is the destruction of the wealth which makes the expense possible. And no one will like it.

Posted by: Methos at September 27, 2023 11:15 AM (Dnobf)

52 Now the chickens are very much coming home to roost.

Apropos of nothing, a new book is out:

Germany 1923: Hyperinflation, Hitler's Putsch, and Democracy in Crisis

Just wait until Germany bans AfD, the only real opposition party in Germany.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at September 27, 2023 11:16 AM (2tUFv)

53 The history of things like boob jobs should be the norm for routine things - they stay essentially flat when adjusted for inflation.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:12 AM (t0OGg)

ISWYDT! LOL

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 27, 2023 11:16 AM (p5zCK)

54 The history of things like boob jobs should be the norm for routine things - they stay essentially flat when adjusted for inflation.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:12 AM (t0OGg)
----
Ok, now I KNOW you are just messing with us when you have a setup like that...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 11:16 AM (YIVH2)

55 Eric Trump @EricTrump 16h
In an attempt to destroy my father and kick him out of New York, a Judge just ruled that Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach Florida, is only worth approximate “$18 Million dollars”… Mar-a-Lago is speculated to be worth we’ll over a billion dollars making it arguably the most valuable residential property in the country. It is all so corrupt and coordinated.

Tsarathustra @tsarnick 16h Replying to @EricTrump
Mar-a-Lago is an historical site, where the first FBI raid of a former President took place. It is priceless.

https://tinyurl.com/ykuze2wz
Nitter thread as there are several good replies on the first page.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at September 27, 2023 11:16 AM (krqg6)

56 One of my doctor relatives spent so much time coding visits he ended up getting certified on it and it is his full-time job for the practice; he's given up practicing medicine. His wife just left the profession because she was making no money because she spent too much time with her patients and other sneaky penalties used to not reimburse.
Posted by: Lizzy at September 27, 2023 11:13 AM (izj35)
++++
Yup. Obamacare was very destructive and the extra damage from it has helped put us in the crisis scenario we're in today.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:17 AM (t0OGg)

57 One of the reasons medicine is such a large part of our economy is another thing: no one else in the world is researching in it. Some years back I saw that the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston had a larger research budget than Canada. And that is ONE place in the U.S. See, when countries like Canada have to spend all their tax money pampering and babying their people, there’s not a whole lot left for advancing the frontiers of medical science. Those advancements happen here because so many countries quit the game in favor of babying their people.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:17 AM (8sMut)

58 One of my coworkers seems to be "all-in" on the Europization of American society and culture. She wants us to be just like Germany with respect to our working environment and medicine. She's usually pretty sensible in most areas of life, but has a large blind spot when it comes to the German way of doing things.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel


Tell her to vlimb in a fucking oven.

Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 11:17 AM (soOfD)

59 Our government hates its own country and citizens.

Whatever we had needed to be changed for some reason.

Too white for one.

Posted by: DOYLE at September 27, 2023 11:18 AM (Z8Yh2)

60 Wait...what?
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 27, 2023 11:14 AM (lQONO)
----
ISWYDT! LOL
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 27, 2023 11:16 AM (p5zCK)
----
Ok, now I KNOW you are just messing with us when you have a setup like that...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 11:16 AM (YIVH2)
++++
:: sigh ::

If it had been on purpose, I'd be a genius. Sadly, I'm just clueless.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:18 AM (t0OGg)

61 IIRC, we are paying Ukraine's government employee salaries. They are our 51st state, though 1st in the hearts and minds of Congress.

I'd love to know what the actual deal is with Ukraine. Trudeau's handler Christia Freelander is Ukranian, the Vindmans are of course, and there are others. It's like that country is the entire nexus of modern leftism and it doesn't make much sense.

Posted by: Ian S. at September 27, 2023 11:18 AM (2ocoG)

62 O/T...but Disney is under $80/share and very close to its pandemic low.

It would take a heart of stone not to laugh!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 27, 2023 11:18 AM (lQONO)

63 Well, it just wasn't Obamacare.

Medical ins during the 90s was the bomb.

They pretty much paid for everything depending on which level you bought and it was cheap.

However, Clinton and the Dims brought in HMOs and PPOs with the Ins Cos assistance and zoopitty-zam
ins paid less, cost more and regular good ins disappeared.

Funny how that worked.

Posted by: naturalfake at September 27, 2023 11:18 AM (QzZeQ)

64 Coming to work this morning I was behind a car with a Defend Democracy bumper sticker. I wanted to ask the driver did he mean True the Vote or Steal the Vote? I am not sure he really cares about voter integrity much less border integrity. Just a guess.

Posted by: Puddinhead at September 27, 2023 11:19 AM (h2KMk)

65 55 Eric Trump @EricTrump 16h
In an attempt to destroy my father and kick him out of New York, a Judge just ruled that Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach Florida, is only worth approximate “$18 Million dollars”… Mar-a-Lago is speculated to be worth we’ll over a billion dollars making it arguably the most valuable residential property in the country. It is all so corrupt and coordinated.

Not sure about a Billion, but it's certainly worth more than 18 million

Posted by: It's me donna at September 27, 2023 11:20 AM (bs+z0)

66 "She wants us to be just like Germany with respect to our working environment and medicine."

OK. In Germany, people who can afford it by private insurance. (I have relatives there.) State care is very, very basic.

Posted by: RS at September 27, 2023 11:20 AM (E7m29)

67 I've recently been required, under force of law, to "register" with Medicare. I've done that. But, as yet, have not signed up for a "plan".

Fucking hell.

I have paid my own medical, out of pocket and/or on payments, since about 1995. Including a major motorcycle wreck, surgery, bone repair, etc. Yeah, I collected from the "at fault's" insurance, but then I negotiated, settled and paid the resultant bills.

To see my G.P., costs me $130 per visit. Twice a year, unless I need something sooner. Compare this to a $400/mo Medicare "plan".

FUCK THAT AND FUCK THEM.

I'm signing up for the Curmudgeon Plan, Part A.


Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at September 27, 2023 11:20 AM (e6UQI)

68 One of the reasons medicine is such a large part of our economy is another thing: no one else in the world is researching in it. Some years back I saw that the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston had a larger research budget than Canada. And that is ONE place in the U.S. ...
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:17 AM (8sMut)
++++
This is also a part of it. Drugs are another, because we Americans have to carry the burden for much of the world because foreign countries can (and routinely credibly threaten to do so, especially India) to just break the patents and self-manufacture if the foreign company doesn't give the state system the price the state system demands.

This is where trade and other policy is supposed to come into play, but it never does. India wants to break a drug patent? Okay. Go for it. There will be no more H-1Bs, no more aid, punitive tariffs on exports from that country, etc.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:20 AM (t0OGg)

69 IIRC, we are paying Ukraine's government employee salaries. They are our 51st state, though 1st in the hearts and minds of Congress.

I'd love to know what the actual deal is with Ukraine. Trudeau's handler Christia Freelander is Ukranian, the Vindmans are of course, and there are others. It's like that country is the entire nexus of modern leftism and it doesn't make much sense.
Posted by: Ian S. at September 27, 2023 11:18 AM (2ocoG)
---
Meanwhile, Hawaii and every other state experiencing disasters, both manmade (Texas) and natural (Florida) get shafted.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 11:20 AM (YIVH2)

70 Medical ins during the 90s was the bomb.

They pretty much paid for everything depending on which level you bought and it was cheap.


My insurance was great up until the point where Obamacare kicked in (2012 or 13, I think?). The very next enrollment period all of the plans cost more and did less.

Posted by: Ian S. at September 27, 2023 11:20 AM (2ocoG)

71 >>Trudeau's handler Christia Freelander is Ukranian


Nazi Legacy, Chistia Freelander.

Posted by: garrett at September 27, 2023 11:21 AM (1mPxl)

72 The solution to massive, endless medical price increase is change insurance to be for catastrophic events only. Prices would drop 50% overnight and another 50% over the next year.
-
We'd have to ban the sort of insurance plan which obamacare was designed to require.

Posted by: Methos at September 27, 2023 11:21 AM (Dnobf)

73 >>My insurance was great up until the point where Obamacare kicked in (2012 or 13, I think?). The very next enrollment period all of the plans cost more and did less.


This.

You had one of them Gold Plated Cadillac Insurance Plans.

I had one too. Last time I had Insurance.

Posted by: garrett at September 27, 2023 11:21 AM (1mPxl)

74 We have a govt run health system. Half the country is either on Medicare, Medicaid or VA. The other half is either heavily subsidized by Obamacare and/or regulated by the federal govt.

Put it all together and it is a defacto socialist govt run health care system in all but name.

Posted by: Montec at September 27, 2023 11:22 AM (bWsRe)

75
To break that cycle will require some deeply unpopular things. The insurance market needs to favor individual policy purchasers, which means the employment lockup needs to be broken and also the market needs to be widened.

Yes. I don’t go through my employer to insure my vehicle. My insurer only cares if the premium is paid; they don’t care who employs me. I have never understood why medical insurance should be different. And, like auto insurance, use it for catastrophe only. (I don’t pay for routine maintenance with auto insurance. Pay for little things in cash in the medical world; save the insurance for big items you know will break the bank.)

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:22 AM (8sMut)

76 70 "Medical ins during the 90s was the bomb.

They pretty much paid for everything depending on which level you bought and it was cheap."

My insurance was great up until the point where Obamacare kicked in (2012 or 13, I think?). The very next enrollment period all of the plans cost more and did less.
Posted by: Ian S. at September 27, 2023 11:20 AM (2ocoG)

Obamacare massively increased administrative burden.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:22 AM (eYoxG)

77 C is always right.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 11:00 AM


This == TRUE

Posted by: Kernigan & Ritchie at September 27, 2023 11:22 AM (a3Q+t)

78 Commenting present, lunch soon
Posted by: Skip at September 27, 2023 11:13 AM (wRGx4)

The sun's out !

Posted by: JT at September 27, 2023 11:23 AM (T4tVD)

79 Illegal immigration has no effect on health care costs. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Posted by: DOYLE at September 27, 2023 11:23 AM (Z8Yh2)

80 11 Apparently Costo is now offering medical services - price list up front and you pay directly, no insurance/middleman.
Posted by: Lizzy at September 27, 2023 11:03 AM (izj35)
++++
Good. We need more of that. Price opacity is one of the many, many problems with our medical system and price transparency is a key thing that needs to happen to fix things.

But again, all those vested interests. It is not that the medical system is unfixable, it's that there are too many people too interested in *not* fixing it. Which is why, to save the budget, I would bet on nationalization.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:05 AM (t0OGg)

You can do that with routine, primary care level medical services pretty readily. The problem is if you need expensive diagnostics, surgery, or hospitalization. Price transparency on several thousand to several hundred thousands of dollars worth of medical care won't accomplish much. Granted creating an oligopsony and taking the market based price signals out of an entire industry was a terrible move - but at this point how can you change it without eliminating access to advanced care for just about everyone?

Posted by: The system is totally jacked that's for sure at September 27, 2023 11:23 AM (lR6tR)

81 She wants us to be just like Germany with respect to our working environment and medicine.

-
This son of Nazi big shot Hans Frank says don't trust us Germans. We're OK as long as the economy is good but we'll be sieg heiling up a storm if hard times come.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SSMemfHh7Og

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:24 AM (FVME7)

82 OK. In Germany, people who can afford it by private insurance. (I have relatives there.) State care is very, very basic.
Posted by: RS at September 27, 2023 11:20 AM (E7m29)
---
As I said above, she has a large blind spot with respect to all things German. She's of German descent and somehow equates things over there to being "better" than over here. We have our faults (mostly caused by people who have abandoned Americanism), but theirs are much, much worse.

I challenged her assertion that Germany innovated more than we did. She looked it up and conceded the point.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 11:24 AM (YIVH2)

83
Yes. I don’t go through my employer to insure my vehicle. My insurer only cares if the premium is paid; they don’t care who employs me. I have never understood why medical insurance should be different. And, like auto insurance, use it for catastrophe only. (I don’t pay for routine maintenance with auto insurance. Pay for little things in cash in the medical world; save the insurance for big items you know will break the bank.)
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:22 AM (8sMut)

It's a byproduct of wage controls during the Great Depression and tax policy since then that makes insurance tax favored through an employer. If people could deduct what they spend on health insurance, that'd go a long way towards fixing things.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:24 AM (eYoxG)

84 The solution to massive, endless medical price increase is change insurance to be for catastrophic events only. Prices would drop 50% overnight and another 50% over the next year.
——
Auto insurance doesn’t pay for new tires. But health insurance pays for flu shots. That’s the problem in a nutshell.

Posted by: Montec at September 27, 2023 11:24 AM (bWsRe)

85 Yes. I don’t go through my employer to insure my vehicle. My insurer only cares if the premium is paid; they don’t care who employs me. I have never understood why medical insurance should be different. And, like auto insurance, use it for catastrophe only. (I don’t pay for routine maintenance with auto insurance. Pay for little things in cash in the medical world; save the insurance for big items you know will break the bank.)
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:22 AM (8sMut)
++++
It is in part a legacy of WWII. Employer-provided medical benefits were used to end-run wage and price controls, and they continued to be a preferential compensation mechanism because the value of the benefits, while part of your pay, is not taxed.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:24 AM (t0OGg)

86 My insurer only cares if the premium is paid; they don’t care who employs me. I have never understood why medical insurance should be different.

Employed people are healthier, so you can offer cheaper plans if you only cover employed people.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at September 27, 2023 11:24 AM (2tUFv)

87 Apparently Costo is now offering medical services - price list up front and you pay directly, no insurance/middleman.
Posted by: Lizzy at September 27, 2023 11:03 AM (izj35)


Remember back when the evil bastard who was President before Saint Biden wanted to mandate that? Woo... the shrieking - not here, of course, but still.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at September 27, 2023 11:24 AM (GYIa4)

88 I like that one of the most important items is to ensure more billions for Ukraine.

---------
*BREAKING*
For every 100 Billion, and extra "Y" will be added to Kyiv and Zelenskyy.

(Currently at:
Kyyyiv
Zelenskyyy)


Posted by: DaisyB at September 27, 2023 11:25 AM (AbL8c)

89 Well... I just got a taste of current medical costs... Husband had to go to the ER with pain in stomach and fever... They did a sonogram and ct scan and we were there for 6 hours.. Cost ? 26 thousand dollars... Husband is on Veterans health care but nearest VA is 60 miles away.... Ends up he has gall bladder issues

Posted by: It's me donna at September 27, 2023 11:25 AM (bs+z0)

90 Not sure about a Billion, but it's certainly worth more than 18 million
----------
A replier in the thread said even Forbes had it at $350-million.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at September 27, 2023 11:25 AM (krqg6)

91 72 The solution to massive, endless medical price increase is change insurance to be for catastrophic events only. Prices would drop 50% overnight and another 50% over the next year.
-
We'd have to ban the sort of insurance plan which obamacare was designed to require.
Posted by: Methos at September 27, 2023 11:21 AM (Dnobf)

Yep, True story, I had to go to the doctor for a back sprain. That’s what it turned out to be…went to pay the bill. I said “no insurance but I have this”: I handed them a card associated with an MSA. The price dropped 66% instantly.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:25 AM (8sMut)

92 If insurance pays for it, consumers don’t give a fuck what the price is. And so nobody ever price shops for medical services. And knowing this providers can charge basically anything they want.

Posted by: Montec at September 27, 2023 11:26 AM (bWsRe)

93 Illegal immigration has no effect on health care costs. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Just go to an emergency room on Saturday night!

Posted by: Bidenomics! at September 27, 2023 11:26 AM (2tUFv)

94 >>Apparently Costo is now offering medical service

This is one of the scariest things I've ever heard.

Posted by: JackStraw at September 27, 2023 11:26 AM (ZLI7S)

95 You can do that with routine, primary care level medical services pretty readily. The problem is if you need expensive diagnostics, surgery, or hospitalization. Price transparency on several thousand to several hundred thousands of dollars worth of medical care won't accomplish much. Granted creating an oligopsony and taking the market based price signals out of an entire industry was a terrible move - but at this point how can you change it without eliminating access to advanced care for just about everyone?
Posted by: The system is totally jacked that's for sure at September 27, 2023 11:23 AM (lR6tR)
++++
Price transparency is absolutely necessary. Everything has a price, and that price must be published. In a hospital, they bill for everything and they can price it, and they should do so like any other business. Ideally, it should also include the all-in price of common procedures.

Especially thanks to high tech, you can be damn sure the price-checking utilities would come hot and heavy. The lack of pricing data is a critical problem in our system, as is differing price based on payment method. All of that goes away if the medical industry were treated like any other.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:27 AM (t0OGg)

96 93 Illegal immigration has no effect on health care costs. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Just go to an emergency room on Saturday night!
Posted by: Bidenomics! at September 27, 2023 11:26 AM (2tUFv)

Just did and it was full.. Of non-English speakers

Posted by: It's me donna at September 27, 2023 11:27 AM (bs+z0)

97 We need more of that. Price opacity is one of the many, many problems with our medical system and price transparency is a key thing that needs to happen to fix things.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:05 AM (t0OGg)


Pharma. I remember when prepping for a colonoscopy was buy a bottle of laxative and drink the whole thing. Total cost... $8. Now it's a prescription - "free" with most health plans - and costs a few hundred.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at September 27, 2023 11:27 AM (GYIa4)

98 Nobody cares about fiscal responsibility. 90% of people live beyond their means in their own lives, and they don't have easy and immediate access to endless cash. Why should they expect the government to do anything different?

There's also a real "Boy Who Cried Wolf" aspect to all this. Conservatives have been crying wolf over the supposedly inevitable catastrophe of endless borrowing, deficits, and debts for probably 50 years. At some point they will be proven true, but nobody believes them any more. It's just eye-rolling background noise.

Posted by: Elric Blade at September 27, 2023 11:27 AM (iFTx/)

99 I've recently been required, under force of law, to "register" with Medicare. I've done that. But, as yet, have not signed up for a "plan".


Posted by: Jim


At what age does one have to sign up?

Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 11:27 AM (soOfD)

100 It is in part a legacy of WWII. Employer-provided medical benefits were used to end-run wage and price controls, and they continued to be a preferential compensation mechanism because the value of the benefits, while part of your pay, is not taxed.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:24 AM (t0OGg)

I knew the history, I still do not get the inertia.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:27 AM (8sMut)

101 It's a byproduct of wage controls during the Great Depression and tax policy since then that makes insurance tax favored through an employer.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:24 AM (eYoxG)


Hmmm...

It started during WWII to bypass wage controls. It was offered as a perk instead of raises.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 27, 2023 11:28 AM (lQONO)

102 O/T...but Disney is under $80/share and very close to its pandemic low.

It would take a heart of stone not to laugh!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 27, 2023 11:18 AM (lQONO)

100 COMMENT RULE! GODDAMIT !

Posted by: 13th man at September 27, 2023 11:28 AM (2Lh/H)

103 I knew the history, I still do not get the inertia.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:27 AM (8sMut)
+++++
"It's the way it's always been done!"

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:28 AM (t0OGg)

104 The problem is if you need expensive diagnostics,
----------
Not if you save a life a week, 99% of the time.

And it's never lupus.

Posted by: gregory house m.d at September 27, 2023 11:28 AM (krqg6)

105 There's also a real "Boy Who Cried Wolf" aspect to all this. Conservatives have been crying wolf over the supposedly inevitable catastrophe of endless borrowing, deficits, and debts for probably 50 years. At some point they will be proven true, but nobody believes them any more. It's just eye-rolling background noise.
Posted by: Elric Blade at September 27, 2023 11:27 AM (iFTx/)

History. Do you study it?

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 27, 2023 11:29 AM (8sMut)

106 Excellent thread. For thought: After attending Brown University and the Wharton School of Finance, Amelia Tyagi co-founded HealthAllies, a venture capital-funded health benefits firm that was purchased by United Health Group. She spent her career as a management consultant, first at the elite McKinsey & Company consultancy firm as an Engagement Manager involved in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, education, and finance, and then later as an independent consultant. She is Liz Warren's daughter.

And, how many pols through equity co. are invested in healthcare such as "StartUp Health, founded in 2011 to invest in a global army of entrepreneurs, called Health Transformers, committed to achieving health moonshots." World's largest organization supporting & investing exclusively in early-stage health technology companies. Dr. Howard Krein is the Chief Medical Officer. He's still Ashley B's husband, reportedly.

Layer on the availability of programs such as CHIP for ALL children, gold standard care for certain illnesses regardless of citizenship, overflowing ERs in cities, less routine healthcare available in 'burbs.

Medicare for All is the goal & will hide the influx.

Posted by: L - Practice makes perfect. They know their enemies at September 27, 2023 11:29 AM (GshMh)

107 My wife's cancer treatments are very, very expensive; there's no way I could afford it without the insurance I get from my work. We're talking MILLIONS of dollars since she started treatments 15 years ago.
So yes, medical treatments are very expensive.
More than that, what is charged to insurance companies versus the cash bill are often at huge variance. My wife went for treatment at a hospital, was told out-of-pocket cash price was X, but we had insurance, which was charged about 10X.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at September 27, 2023 11:29 AM (ynpvh)

108 101 It's a byproduct of wage controls during the Great Depression and tax policy since then that makes insurance tax favored through an employer.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:24 AM (eYoxG)

Hmmm...

It started during WWII to bypass wage controls. It was offered as a perk instead of raises.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 27, 2023 11:28 AM (lQONO)

And unlike most perks it is not taxable income to the employee, while the employer can still deduct it as an expense. If you were to receive it as wages before buying the insurance, you've got a layer of taxation that the employer doesn't.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:29 AM (eYoxG)

109 Pharma. I remember when prepping for a colonoscopy was buy a bottle of laxative and drink the whole thing. Total cost... $8. Now it's a prescription - "free" with most health plans - and costs a few hundred.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at September 27, 2023 11:27 AM (GYIa4)
---
Whenever I had to do that, I'd buy the bluest "Smurf juice" available as a mixer. They always said to stay away from the red and purple mixers (Gatorades). Didn't say nothing about blue or green...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 11:30 AM (YIVH2)

110 Beside the effect of insurance driving up cost, it complicates what should be simple thing: going to the doctor/dentist for routine checkups or minor problems. Trying to figure out the maze of who pays what share, what is approved, in or out of network, who/where you can go, getting sick if traveling, making a claim... is ridiculous. If you are sick or want a regular checkup call your doctor or clinic and make an appointment. Without insurance it is that easy (and cheaper) and have been doing it for years.

Posted by: Ripley at September 27, 2023 11:30 AM (JojsZ)

111 This is one of the scariest things I've ever heard.
-----------
What will the Sample Ladies be giving out?!

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at September 27, 2023 11:30 AM (krqg6)

112 69 IIRC, we are paying Ukraine's government employee salaries. They are our 51st state, though 1st in the hearts and minds of Congress.


More than that, even.

We are paying for fertilizer and salaries to Ukrainian farmers as well as subsidizing small businesses in Ukraine.

It's quite insane really. IRS agents to hound American businesses and global warming initiatives to hassle American farmers.

But pallets of cash for Ukraine.

Watch the 60 Minutes propaganda piece of you are trying to lose weight. Seeing Lindsay Graham, Dick Blumenthal and Liz Warren strolling around Kiev saying "best money we ever spent" will almost certainly make you lose your lunch.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at September 27, 2023 11:30 AM (yfXBS)

113 >My insurer only cares if the premium is paid; they don’t care who employs me. I have never understood why medical insurance should be different.

The employer buy-in is determined by how expensive it would be to replace you, should you keel over one day. At least I think that is how it goes. It is all managed and held aloft by medical monopoly dollars.

As usual I have no special knowledge and expect someone from teh horde to give a better answer.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at September 27, 2023 11:30 AM (44ww/)

114 Apparently Costo is now offering medical service

This is one of the scariest things I've ever heard.
Posted by: JackStraw


Costco Colonoscopy - back by the Meat Department.

Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 11:30 AM (soOfD)

115 O/T...but Disney is under $80/share and very close to its pandemic low.

It would take a heart of stone not to laugh!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo

My brother persuaded me to buy a few hundred shares of Marvel back in the day.... Thanks for laughing.

Posted by: SFGoth at September 27, 2023 11:30 AM (KAi1n)

116 It's a question of priorities.

Report: 95-year-old veteran kicked out of nursing home to make room for migrants

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:31 AM (FVME7)

117 44 CT is the Health Insurance State. DE is the Loan Shark State. NY is the Finance State. NJ is the Pharma State. No one knows why PA exists anymore.

texas is the energy state. we should get everyone together and hold a rollerball tournament.

Posted by: mr. bartholomew at September 27, 2023 11:31 AM (v3pYe)

118 This is one of the scariest things I've ever heard.
-----------
What will the Sample Ladies be giving out?!
Posted by: andycanuck


Colon Blow.

Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 11:31 AM (soOfD)

119 The downside of high deductible plans is people will put off seeing a doctor because they have to - GHASP - pay $150 out of pocket. Of course they will think nothing of paying $150 every month for the latest i-Gadget or eating out 6 days a week at $50 a meal.

Posted by: Montec at September 27, 2023 11:31 AM (bWsRe)

120 The medical care system has been so concentrated over the last 3 or 4 decades - all hospitals and doctors needing to be part of some large "system" - that nationalization will be fairly easy to accomplish. Then the problem becomes that, as with England and others who've gone this route, the new health care goliath swallows the budget for everything. It has to, because no one can say "no".

Posted by: Tom Servo at September 27, 2023 11:31 AM (i9ffA)

121 114 Apparently Costo is now offering medical service

This is one of the scariest things I've ever heard.
Posted by: JackStraw


Costco Colonoscopy - back by the Meat Department.

Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 11:30 AM (soOfD)

do they also do cystoscopies back there?

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at September 27, 2023 11:31 AM (ynpvh)

122 Didn't say nothing about blue or green...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

It, it's green!

Posted by: Scotty at September 27, 2023 11:31 AM (KAi1n)

123 My wife's cancer treatments are very, very expensive; there's no way I could afford it without the insurance I get from my work. We're talking MILLIONS of dollars since she started treatments 15 years ago.
So yes, medical treatments are very expensive.
More than that, what is charged to insurance companies versus the cash bill are often at huge variance. My wife went for treatment at a hospital, was told out-of-pocket cash price was X, but we had insurance, which was charged about 10X.
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at September 27, 2023 11:29 AM (ynpvh)
---
A buddy of mine has a stepson with a rare illness that costs about $10K per month for medications. When his stepson was old enough, he managed to convince some rather rich folks to pool resources into a fund that can support other people with his disease and other childhood diseases. Now people can receive private donations to support the medications they need to lead relatively normal lives.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 11:32 AM (YIVH2)

124 There's also a real "Boy Who Cried Wolf" aspect to all this. Conservatives have been crying wolf over the supposedly inevitable catastrophe of endless borrowing, deficits, and debts for probably 50 years. At some point they will be proven true, but nobody believes them any more. It's just eye-rolling background noise.
-
It's more frog boiling than boy crying.

Banks want 2% minimum annual inflation for a reason. We see the damage being done every year, but people have become convinced that if they don't need a wheelbarrow for their shopping money, all is well.

Posted by: Methos at September 27, 2023 11:32 AM (Dnobf)

125 And unlike most perks it is not taxable income to the employee, while the employer can still deduct it as an expense. If you were to receive it as wages before buying the insurance, you've got a layer of taxation that the employer doesn't.
Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:29 AM (eYoxG)
++++
Which is why, if I were made dictator for the purpose, I would tax benefits as wages just like other compensation. That would do a tremendous amount to create a major demand for significant reforms.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:32 AM (t0OGg)

126 116 It's a question of priorities.

Report: 95-year-old veteran kicked out of nursing home to make room for migrants

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:31 AM (FVME7)

We should be shipping our hobos over the southern border. Fair's fair. Tell 'em the drugs and booze are cheaper down there, and they don't have to wear their tin-foils hats, as the US Gov't can't reach them there.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at September 27, 2023 11:33 AM (ynpvh)

127 And knowing this providers can charge basically anything they want.

Posted by: Montec at September 27, 2023 11:26 AM (bWsRe)

Providers of what?

“Provider” - the murderer of English.

Posted by: English Is Dead at September 27, 2023 11:33 AM (8sMut)

128 In Germany, people who can afford it buy private insurance. (I have relatives there.) State care is very, very basic.

Posted by: RS at September 27, 2023 11:20 AM (E7m29)


*Only* people who can afford it are allowed to buy it. It is Germany, after all. You can only opt out of the gov't system if you earn more than a certain amount.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 27, 2023 11:33 AM (CnLzB)

129 125 And unlike most perks it is not taxable income to the employee, while the employer can still deduct it as an expense. If you were to receive it as wages before buying the insurance, you've got a layer of taxation that the employer doesn't.
Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:29 AM (eYoxG)
++++
Which is why, if I were made dictator for the purpose, I would tax benefits as wages just like other compensation. That would do a tremendous amount to create a major demand for significant reforms.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:32 AM (t0OGg)

I'd probably go for the slower approach of making insurance expenses tax deductible for the individual. That'd still leave us buying more than a natural amount of insurance but start getting the other stuff sorted out.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:35 AM (eYoxG)

130 Colon Blow.
--------
Not Recto-Puffs??
https://tinyurl.com/3xk7ym2s

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at September 27, 2023 11:35 AM (krqg6)

131 And unlike most perks it is not taxable income to the employee, while the employer can still deduct it as an expense. If you were to receive it as wages before buying the insurance, you've got a layer of taxation that the employer doesn't.
Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:29 AM (eYoxG)
++++
Sure. I'd rather rip the band-aid off with a handful of major reforms all at once, but this isn't the only way.

It's all academic anyway, because none of it will happen regardless.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:36 AM (t0OGg)

132 100 It is in part a legacy of WWII. Employer-provided medical benefits were used to end-run wage and price controls, and they continued to be a preferential compensation mechanism because the value of the benefits, while part of your pay, is not taxed.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:24 AM (t0OGg)

I knew the history, I still do not get the inertia.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr3

WWII ended.
Kaiser then made more off its health care plan than it did off ship building.

Does Kaier build ships anymore?

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at September 27, 2023 11:36 AM (ga8qR)

133 Just go to an emergency room on Saturday night!

It's bad every night. The last time I went in was on a Monday night. I left at 6:30 AM because I hadn't been treated and just waited to see my primary doctor. She laughed and said to never go to the emergency room ever. So that's nice to know.

Posted by: Ian S. at September 27, 2023 11:36 AM (2ocoG)

134 Proor that Trump is a Nazi.

Tom Elliott
@tomselliott
.@SteveSchmidtSES on Trump saying he needs “six months to a year” to reform the federal govt: “This is a racist code whistle to every white supremacist in the country because it’s how long it took Adolf Hitler to take Weimar Germany to a complete and total dictatorship.”

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:36 AM (FVME7)

135 And knowing this providers can charge basically anything they want.

Posted by: Montec at September 27, 2023 11:26 AM (bWsRe)

That's wildly incorrect. They get whatever they can negotiate with the health insurance companies. For Medicare they get whatever the specific established reimbursement is.

Posted by: No price sensitivity there either - you get paid what the insurers and govt say you get paid at September 27, 2023 11:36 AM (lR6tR)

136 Great points, Joe. If I may I might add... Remember the $900B 'stimulus' from 2008? Well, there hasn't been a budget passed in congress since and that ~$1T has accrued ever since.

Anyone heard of the "Depression of 1920/21"? You haven't because Silent Cal cut government spending 40% and within six months the government was in the black. That is what needs to happen but never will.

Posted by: Danimal28 at September 27, 2023 11:36 AM (klw0w)

137 >>At what age does one have to sign up?

within 6 months of your 65th bday

I was told by the Victoria, Tx SSA office not to sign up if I was insured and was contributing to Health Savings Account. WRONG!! Sign up for Part A. You can't sign up for Part B if contributing to an HSA.

That bad information caused me to have to sit in a SSA facility in Houston for half a day. What a f'n trip that was.

Posted by: DanMan at September 27, 2023 11:37 AM (8uzBS)

138 >>What will the Sample Ladies be giving out?!

I'd like a gallon of mayonnaise, a gross of hot dogs and an appendectomy, please.

Posted by: JackStraw at September 27, 2023 11:37 AM (ZLI7S)

139 .@SteveSchmidtSES on Trump saying he needs “six months to a year” to reform the federal govt: “This is a racist code whistle to every white supremacist in the country because it’s how long it took Adolf Hitler to take Weimar Germany to a complete and total dictatorship.”

Seriously, what the shit? That's a *wild* connection.

Posted by: Ian S. at September 27, 2023 11:38 AM (2ocoG)

140 Anyone heard of the "Depression of 1920/21"? You haven't because Silent Cal cut government spending 40% and within six months the government was in the black. That is what needs to happen but never will.
Posted by: Danimal28 at September 27, 2023 11:36 AM (klw0w)
---
Silent Cal should have talked about it more...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 11:38 AM (YIVH2)

141 It's all academic anyway, because none of it will happen regardless.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:36 AM (t0OGg)

Correctomundo. Neither Big Insurance nor Big Government would ever cede a millimeter.

Posted by: Speaking of vested interests at September 27, 2023 11:38 AM (lR6tR)

142 135 And knowing this providers can charge basically anything they want.

Posted by: Montec at September 27, 2023 11:26 AM (bWsRe)

That's wildly incorrect. They get whatever they can negotiate with the health insurance companies. For Medicare they get whatever the specific established reimbursement is.
Posted by: No price sensitivity there either - you get paid what the insurers and govt say you get paid at September 27, 2023 11:36 AM (lR6tR)

On paper they're operating at pre-determined rates.

In practice it's a lot of gamesmanship about trying to charge for a million different things and the insurance company arguing that no this charge is bullshit/unnecessary.

The predetermined rates are themselves screwy such that making or losing money when dealing with any given patient can be unclear.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:39 AM (eYoxG)

143 I'm an American who lives in London and France. I have plenty of experience in all three medical systems and here is my opinion. Baring going to a completely free market system we seem to have three choices:
1. We can stay with the system we have, which used to be the best but after decades of government regulations have whittled it down to a not very efficient blend of public and private, it is expensive and exclusionary. If you have great insurance, you have great healthcare.
2. We can go the NHS route, which I can say first hand is the worst experience I’ve ever dealt with. I have private insurance that covers me in the UK and I’m able to avoid the NHS like the plague, which suits them fine as it would take forever to see a GP, even in my somewhat posh area. The private care there is excellent and in many ways better than the US. Medications are much, much cheaper but services like MRIs are about the same price.
3. We could look to countries like France and Germany. Both have managed to do a mixture of private and public that work. The hospitals are new and clean, the doctors are excellent and even if you paid out of pocket for MRIs and such it’s affordable. And no waiting

Posted by: Ann UK/FR at September 27, 2023 11:39 AM (ysrCW)

144 If the medical community turns into the Government, it will skyrocketing into oblivion as more Bureaucracy reigns over it.

Posted by: Skip at September 27, 2023 11:39 AM (wRGx4)

145 There's also a real "Boy Who Cried Wolf" aspect to all this. Conservatives have been crying wolf over the supposedly inevitable catastrophe of endless borrowing, deficits, and debts for probably 50 years. At some point they will be proven true, but nobody believes them any more. It's just eye-rolling background noise.
-
It's more frog boiling than boy crying.

Banks want 2% minimum annual inflation for a reason. We see the damage being done every year, but people have become convinced that if they don't need a wheelbarrow for their shopping money, all is well.
Posted by: Methos at September 27, 2023 11:32 AM (Dnobf)


Eh, Democrats, at least, since Obama and probably before have been arguing that high inflation will be great for the country, because -

the American gov't gets to pay off all of it's debts and bonds with useless paper crap. Otherwise, known as the-

"Hahaha, China!(and rest of the world) Those bonds you hold aren't worth squat. Here have our worthless money." Gambit

And in theory, you, the American citizen are supposed to be laughing cuz you're paying off your house or car with worthless money.....Never mind that you can't eat.

Posted by: naturalfake at September 27, 2023 11:39 AM (QzZeQ)

146 Some MFM shit quote: Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal 18h
🚨BREAKING: JUDGE RULES TRUMP DEFRAUDED BANKS & INSURERS
In the biggest blow yet, a judge ruled Trump committed fraud for years as he built his real estate empire.

Judge Arthur Engoron found that Trump and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing. [...]

Scott Adams @ScottAdamsSays 17h
Context:
It was once my job to approve business loans for a bank. We believed nothing applicants told us, relying only on documents such as tax returns and third-party assessments.

Nearly all applicants "exaggerate" their ability to repay a loan. None were indicted.

I couldn't even insure my house without the insurance company walking through it to see for themselves.

So, I have questions.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at September 27, 2023 11:39 AM (krqg6)

147 The predetermined rates are themselves screwy such that making or losing money when dealing with any given patient can be unclear.
Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at September 27, 2023 11:39 AM (eYoxG

Try looking at Medicare rate setting methodology sometime if you want your head to explode.

Posted by: It's...interesting at September 27, 2023 11:40 AM (lR6tR)

148 Racism everywhere you look!

North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Tried To Defect Over 'Racism'

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:41 AM (FVME7)

149 The US press doesn’t talk about the alternatives because they would rather the probes be stuck with a UK or Canadian crappy system. Again, my preference is free market but that’s a fantasy at this moment in time.

Posted by: Ann UK/FR at September 27, 2023 11:41 AM (ysrCW)

150 That's Entertaintment!-
GAETZ: "We are devaluing American money so rapidly that in America today, you can’t even bribe Democrat Senators with cash alone! You need to bring gold bars to get the job done, just so that the bribes hold value!"
https://tinyurl.com/4jduky6m

Posted by: Chuck Martel at September 27, 2023 11:41 AM (fs1hN)

151 146
I couldn't even insure my house without the insurance company walking through it to see for themselves.

So, I have questions.
Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at September 27, 2023 11:39 AM (krqg6)

=======

It's Calvinball. What more do you need?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 11:41 AM (LvTSG)

152 Anyone heard of the "Depression of 1920/21"? You haven't because Silent Cal cut government spending 40% and within six months the government was in the black. That is what needs to happen but never will.
Posted by: Danimal28 at September 27, 2023 11:36 AM (klw0w)
++++
It was a Tale of Two Depressions.

Someone in Cal's administration wanted a major, comprehensive intervention - industrial supports, major unemployment support, subsidies, etc. Coolidge disagreed and took the position of, "get the hell out of the way and let it get back on track" in accordance with the advice of his Treasury secretary (Andrew Mellon). It was generally successful. 1920-1921 was brutal in terms of peak-to-trough movement, but it was brief.

Who was the man who wanted to go down the intervention route? It was Cooldige's Commerce Secretary: Herbert Hoover. Hoover, of course, later got the chance to try his preferred approach.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:42 AM (t0OGg)

153 >>North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Tried To Defect Over 'Racism'

Imagine what it would take to get deported from North Korea. It's like getting kicked out of hell.

Posted by: JackStraw at September 27, 2023 11:42 AM (ZLI7S)

154 There is too much money on the table for real nationalization.

Big Pharma and Big Insurance will never allow it.

However, I could see something closer to Canada's system. Government owns the hospitals and medical clinics, but the care is minimal, and for anything beyond minor stitches or setting a broken bone, you need to go to a private doctor.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at September 27, 2023 11:43 AM (mj0Qp)

155 152 Anyone heard of the "Depression of 1920/21"? You haven't because Silent Cal cut government spending 40% and within six months the government was in the black. That is what needs to happen but never will.
Posted by: Danimal28 at September 27, 2023 11:36 AM (klw0w)

========

It wasn't Cal. It was Harding.

You know, the president we're supposed to hate because of the Tea Pot Dome scandal where he wasn't involved at all.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 11:43 AM (LvTSG)

156 153 >>North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Tried To Defect Over 'Racism'

Imagine what it would take to get deported from North Korea. It's like getting kicked out of hell.
Posted by: JackStraw at September 27, 2023 11:42 AM (ZLI7S)

He must have been a real joy...

Posted by: tubal at September 27, 2023 11:44 AM (Yl1ke)

157 I'm an American who lives in London and France.
-----------
May we see your underpants?

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at September 27, 2023 11:44 AM (krqg6)

158 153 >>North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Tried To Defect Over 'Racism'
------------------
Another Win for Biden!

Posted by: Puddinhead at September 27, 2023 11:44 AM (Wg6v7)

159 Racism everywhere you look!

North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Tried To Defect Over 'Racism'
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023


***
None too bright of him, to defect to *North* Korea. Now even they won't have him.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 27, 2023 11:44 AM (J2vNu)

160 You cannot borrower your way out of debt nor can you borrower your way into prosperity. It like the physical laws of the universe.





Posted by: Archer at September 27, 2023 11:45 AM (gmo/4)

161 None too bright of him, to defect to *North* Korea. Now even they won't have him.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 27, 2023 11:44 AM (J2vNu)
-----------
Well, according to Kamalala, we're allies, so...

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea, Radioactive Knight at September 27, 2023 11:45 AM (ScR16)

162 #143 Seriously though, good take, Ann.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at September 27, 2023 11:46 AM (krqg6)

163 Imagine what it would take to get deported from North Korea. It's like getting kicked out of hell.
Posted by: JackStraw at September 27, 2023 11:42 AM (ZLI7S)

My guess is there was a pay off of some sort

Posted by: It's me donna at September 27, 2023 11:46 AM (bs+z0)

164 159 Racism everywhere you look!

North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Tried To Defect Over 'Racism'
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023

***
None too bright of him, to defect to *North* Korea. Now even they won't have him.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 27, 2023 11:44 AM (J2vN

Well, he can always try Venezuela... or Canada.

Posted by: tubal at September 27, 2023 11:46 AM (Yl1ke)

165 Report: 95-year-old veteran kicked out of nursing home to make room for migrants
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With

You misspelled "fucking alian invaders".

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at September 27, 2023 11:46 AM (ga8qR)

166 It wasn't Cal. It was Harding.

You know, the president we're supposed to hate because of the Tea Pot Dome scandal where he wasn't involved at all.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 11:43 AM (LvTSG)
++++
D'Oh, right. Same players involved, though, in terms of the applicable cabinet secretaries. Hoover did get his way under Coolidge, to a point (there was a lot of taxpayer money sloshing around for industrial and agricultural expansion).

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:47 AM (t0OGg)

167 UK Police Open Investigation Against Russell Brand After Allegations of Sexual Offenses

-
First the finding of guilt, then the investigation.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:47 AM (FVME7)

168 166 D'Oh, right. Same players involved, though, in terms of the applicable cabinet secretaries. Hoover did get his way under Coolidge, to a point (there was a lot of taxpayer money sloshing around for industrial and agricultural expansion).
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:47 AM (t0OGg)

=======

Yeah, the epicenter of the ironies of economic policy across the 20s is Harding, no matter which Republican president he was working for.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 11:47 AM (LvTSG)

169 Being so woke even North Korea's tired of your shit.

LMFAO

He'll be a regular on CNN by next week.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at September 27, 2023 11:48 AM (Q4IgG)

170 A Republic if you can keep it..... Sorry Ben

Posted by: It's me donna at September 27, 2023 11:49 AM (bs+z0)

171 First the finding of guilt, then the investigation.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:47 AM (FVME7)
-----------
Sentence first, verdict afterwards.

Posted by: The Queen of Hearts at September 27, 2023 11:49 AM (ScR16)

172 Imagine what it would take to get deported from North Korea. It's like getting kicked out of hell.
--------
Lil Kim saw the Philly looting videos last night and thought the guy wasn't a good risk.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at September 27, 2023 11:49 AM (krqg6)

173 171 First the finding of guilt, then the investigation.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:47 AM (FVME7)
-----------
Sentence first, verdict afterwards.
Posted by: The Queen of Hearts at September 27, 2023 11:49 AM (ScR16)

========

This is not a trial. It is a sentencing hearing. So, death or exile?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 11:50 AM (LvTSG)

174 I doubt that North Korea is Woke.. they would put those idiots against the wall no doubt..

Posted by: tubal at September 27, 2023 11:50 AM (Yl1ke)

175 Kaiser then made more off its health care plan than it did off ship building.

Does Kaier build ships anymore?
---------------
The Kaiser was retired.

Posted by: Puddinhead at September 27, 2023 11:50 AM (Xr4QU)

176 SAG-AFTRA Members Vote to Authorize Strike Against Video Game Companies

-
Starfield has been released. Phantom Liberty has been released. I'm good for some time.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:50 AM (FVME7)

177 I like
Kicked of of Hell, now where do you go?

I am thinking it's reverse racism, you can't make me think the Norks are into Diversity. He probably thought it was a big melting pot and found out he was a outlier.

Posted by: Skip at September 27, 2023 11:50 AM (wRGx4)

178 This is not a trial. It is a sentencing hearing. So, death or exile?
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 11:50 AM (LvTSG)

Death. By exile!

Posted by: Judge Crane at September 27, 2023 11:50 AM (lR6tR)

179
I saw Epicenter of the Ironies open for ? and the Mysterians at the Dallas Civic Center in '65.

Posted by: naturalfake at September 27, 2023 11:51 AM (QzZeQ)

180 The Kaiser was retired.
Posted by: Puddinhead at September 27, 2023


***
Temporarily, or Permanente?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 27, 2023 11:52 AM (J2vNu)

181 Cruise for eternity...

Morbid Knowledge
@Morbidful

Cruise ships have morgues on board. Roughly 200 people pass away on cruises each year, especially on those that carry a lot of seniors, so most ships have a small morgue and are prepared to store up to 10 bodies.

Posted by: Mister Ghost at September 27, 2023 11:52 AM (TGPs7)

182 181 Cruise for eternity...

Morbid Knowledge
@Morbidful

Cruise ships have morgues on board. Roughly 200 people pass away on cruises each year, especially on those that carry a lot of seniors, so most ships have a small morgue and are prepared to store up to 10 bodies.
Posted by: Mister Ghost at September 27, 2023 11:52 AM (TGPs7)

Right next to the frozen entrees...

Posted by: tubal at September 27, 2023 11:53 AM (Yl1ke)

183 160 You cannot borrower your way out of debt nor can you borrower your way into prosperity. It like the physical laws of the universe.
-------------------
Mmm, Delaware and the Credit Card Loan Sharks do very well following this model.

Posted by: Puddinhead at September 27, 2023 11:53 AM (Xr4QU)

184 This bikini blonde at the beach is glad she still has her health for the time being, so won't have to worry about navigating a more expensive version of Kafka's "The Castle" for a little while yet:
https://is.gd/cwbCXQ

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:53 AM (t0OGg)

185 And, of course, he's right.

Teen Accused of Killing Ex-Police Chief Bragged He'd Get "Slap on the Wrist"

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:54 AM (FVME7)

186 Cruise for eternity...

Morbid Knowledge
@Morbidful

Cruise ships have morgues on board. Roughly 200 people pass away on cruises each year, especially on those that carry a lot of seniors, so most ships have a small morgue and are prepared to store up to 10 bodies.
Posted by: Mister Ghost at September 27, 2023 11:52 AM (TGPs7)



Beware Week-Old Sushi Discount Night!!!

Posted by: naturalfake at September 27, 2023 11:54 AM (QzZeQ)

187 Well, Palin's "Death Panels" comment shut it down last time. Don't know if that would work again or not.
Posted by: Iris at September 27, 2023 11:03 AM (n3DL0)


Junkies, street people and illegal aliens go to the front of the line. The rest of you can die waiting.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 27, 2023 11:54 AM (xhaym)

188 @Morbidful
Cruise ships have morgues on board. Roughly 200 people pass away on cruises each year, especially on those that carry a lot of seniors, so most ships have a small morgue and are prepared to store up to 10 bodies.
Posted by: Mister Ghost at September 27, 2023 11:52 AM (TGPs7)
++++
This doesn't surprise me at all.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:54 AM (t0OGg)

189 184 This bikini blonde at the beach is glad she still has her health for the time being, so won't have to worry about navigating a more expensive version of Kafka's "The Castle" for a little while yet:
https://is.gd/cwbCXQ
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:53 AM (t0OGg)

========

Double lines on interior of left elbow.

3/10

Would not bang.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 11:55 AM (LvTSG)

190 >>Teen Accused of Killing Ex-Police Chief Bragged He'd Get "Slap on the Wrist"


He and his Parent/Guardian should get the Wood Chipper.

Posted by: garrett at September 27, 2023 11:55 AM (1mPxl)

191 Racism everywhere you look!

North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Tried To Defect Over 'Racism'
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:41 AM (FVME7)

A black guy defected to an Asian country to avoid racism? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!***snort***HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy now with twice the crazy at September 27, 2023 11:56 AM (Zvtjl)

192 He and his Parent/Guardian should get the Wood Chipper.
Posted by: garrett at September 27, 2023 11:55 AM (1mPxl)

Yes.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 27, 2023 11:56 AM (p5zCK)

193 D'Oh, right. Same players involved, though, in terms of the applicable cabinet secretaries.

In a kind of weird way, it's comforting to know that the f*ckery has been going on for a century. Makes me think that maybe the glide path is long enough for me to not be here when we auger in. It'll still suck for my kids and grandkids though and I feel badly about that.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 27, 2023 11:56 AM (nfrXX)

194 Well, Palin's "Death Panels" comment shut it down last time. Don't know if that would work again or not.
Posted by: Iris at September 27, 2023 11:03 AM (n3DL0)

Hospitals already have "Death Squads" roaming the halls looking for patients they can cease care for.

Posted by: BruceWayne at September 27, 2023 11:56 AM (CIS44)

195 Canada PM Trudeau Warns of “Russian Disinformation” While Refusing Responsibility for Hailing Nazi Soldier

-
I guess the Nazis were the good guys.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:56 AM (FVME7)

196 Teen Accused of Killing Ex-Police Chief Bragged He'd Get "Slap on the Wrist"
____

He's not wrong. Well, metaphorically anyway. We'd never actually slap anyone, we don't condone violence.

Posted by: Soros DA at September 27, 2023 11:57 AM (fs1hN)

197 I guess the Nazis were the good guys.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:56 AM (FVME7)
----------
Don't be stupid
Be a shmarty
Come and join the
Nazi Party!

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea, Radioactive Knight at September 27, 2023 11:58 AM (ScR16)

198 I guess the Nazis were the good guys.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:56 AM (FVME7)

We didnt honor an actual NAZI, and if we did this is why it's a good thing.
-Canadian Media, Probably

Posted by: BruceWayne at September 27, 2023 11:58 AM (CIS44)

199 Double lines on interior of left elbow.

3/10

Would not bang.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 11:55 AM (LvTSG)


she is going to look leathery by 40

Posted by: Kindltot at September 27, 2023 11:58 AM (xhaym)

200 Australia Wants U.S. Submarines to Deter China. Building Them Won’t Be Easy

-
And I want a free lifetime supply of General Tso's chicken!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 11:58 AM (FVME7)

201 199 Double lines on interior of left elbow.

3/10

Would not bang.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 11:55 AM (LvTSG)

she is going to look leathery by 40
Posted by: Kindltot at September 27, 2023 11:58 AM (xhaym)

Or Naugahyde??

Posted by: tubal at September 27, 2023 11:59 AM (Yl1ke)

202 Or Naugahyde??
Posted by: tubal at September 27, 2023 11:59 AM (Yl1ke)
----------
The Naugas are all dead. They were hunted to extinction back in the '70s.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea, Radioactive Knight at September 27, 2023 12:00 PM (ScR16)

203 within 6 months of your 65th bday

I was told by the Victoria, Tx SSA office not to sign up if I was insured and was contributing to Health Savings Account. WRONG!! Sign up for Part A. You can't sign up for Part B if contributing to an HSA.

That bad information caused me to have to sit in a SSA facility in Houston for half a day. What a f'n trip that was.
Posted by: DanMan


Thank you. I have four years.

Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 12:00 PM (soOfD)

204 she is going to look leathery by 40
Posted by: Kindltot at September 27, 2023 11:58 AM (xhaym)

Or Naugahyde??
Posted by: tubal at September 27, 2023 11:59 AM (Yl1ke)

Genuine Corinthian.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy now with twice the crazy at September 27, 2023 12:00 PM (Zvtjl)

205 The Kaiser was retired.
----------

Posted by: zombie kaiser wilhelm ii at September 27, 2023 12:00 PM (krqg6)

206 Or Naugahyde??
Posted by: tubal at September 27, 2023 11:59 AM (Yl1ke)
----------
The Naugas are all dead. They were hunted to extinction back in the '70s.
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea, Radioactive Knight at September 27, 2023 12:00 PM (ScR16)
---
PETA ain't gonna be happy about that...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 12:01 PM (YIVH2)

207 North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Tried To Defect Over 'Racism'

Imagine what it would take to get deported from North Korea. It's like getting kicked out of hell.
Posted by: JackStraw at September 27, 2023 11:42 AM (ZLI7S)

He must have been a real joy...
Posted by: tubal


There's crazy and then there's full on nutjob.

Posted by: DaveA at September 27, 2023 12:01 PM (FhXTo)

208 There's crazy and then there's full on nutjob.
Posted by: DaveA at September 27, 2023 12:01 PM (FhXTo)
++++
Yup. This story - if it is true - is full into crazy territory.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 12:01 PM (t0OGg)

209 Cruise ships have morgues on board. Roughly 200 people pass away on cruises each year, especially on those that carry a lot of seniors, so most ships have a small morgue and are prepared to store up to 10 bodies.
Posted by: Mister Ghost at September 27, 2023 11:52 AM (TGPs7)


Beware Week-Old Sushi Discount Night!!!

Posted by: naturalfake at September 27, 2023 11:54 AM (QzZeQ)
---
Also watch out if "Jessica Fletcher" is on the passenger manifest.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 12:02 PM (YIVH2)

210 200 Australia Wants U.S. Submarines to Deter China. Building Them Won’t Be Easy
-----------------
Where is Australia's air craft carrier? Oh, yeah, they decided not to build one.

Posted by: Puddinhead at September 27, 2023 12:03 PM (FmapG)

211 Naugahyde was developed and manufactured in Naugatuck, CT, a shithole in the middle of nowhere on the Naugatuck River.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 27, 2023 12:03 PM (CnLzB)

212 F#ck Denmark.

Posted by: zombie kaiser wilhelm ii at September 27, 2023 12:03 PM (krqg6)

213 This bikini blonde at the beach is glad she still has her health for the time being, so won't have to worry about navigating a more expensive version of Kafka's "The Castle" for a little while yet:
https://is.gd/cwbCXQ
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:53 AM (t0OGg)


I'm betting she has no tan lines. None at all.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 27, 2023 12:04 PM (uSHSS)

214 The Naugas are all dead. They were hunted to extinction back in the '70s.
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea, Radioactive Knight at September 27, 2023
---
PETA ain't gonna be happy about that...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023


***
In my forebears' time, it is said, vast herds of the Nauga spread across the prairies. The land was black (and sometimes mahogany brown, and sometimes caramel tan) with them as far as one could see.

O my Naugas!

Posted by: Chief Leatherstrip, Former Nauga Hunter at September 27, 2023 12:04 PM (J2vNu)

215 3/10

Would not bang.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston

You'd better bang her or she'll beat the crap out of you.

https://tinyurl.com/bp5drh45

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 12:05 PM (FVME7)

216 Australian nuclear submarine program to cost up to $368b as AUKUS ...
Mar 13, 2023 Australia's nuclear submarine program will cost up to $368 billion over the next three decades, with confirmation that the federal government will buy at least three American-manufactured nuclear submarines and contribute "significant additional resources" to US shipyards.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at September 27, 2023 12:05 PM (krqg6)

217 The cruise ships have facilities for passengers who die on the cruise, they are just big freezers. Not really a morgue.. do you know what other passengers say when an elderly passenger dies on a cruise?
"Lucky bastard..."

Posted by: gourmand du jour at September 27, 2023 12:05 PM (MeG8a)

218 North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Tried To Defect Over 'Racism'

Imagine what it would take to get deported from North Korea. It's like getting kicked out of hell.
Posted by: JackStraw at September 27, 2023 11:42 AM (ZLI7S)

He must have been a real joy...
Posted by: tubal

Kept calling the locals "gooks".
That's South Korea - Han-Kook
North Koreans call themselves something else.

It would be like being in the Carolinas and calling everyone "yankee"

Both countries are on the Korean Peninsula, but I believe long term different cultures.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at September 27, 2023 12:06 PM (ga8qR)

219 You all may have covered this already. I see a Staten Island nursing home kicked out a 95 year old vet to make room for some illegals.
Typical.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 27, 2023 12:06 PM (uSHSS)

220 You all may have covered this already. I see a Staten Island nursing home kicked out a 95 year old vet to make room for some illegals.
Typical.
Posted by: Diogenes

95....95.....95.....95
-The Distinguished Gentleman from PA

Posted by: BruceWayne at September 27, 2023 12:07 PM (CIS44)

221 Or Naugahyde??
Posted by: tubal at September 27, 2023 11:59 AM (Yl1ke)
----------
The Naugas are all dead. They were hunted to extinction back in the '70s.
Posted by: Captain Obvious


F'n Ricardo Montalban. Rich Corinthian leather.
Pffff. If you couldn't afford it, you got the Naugas.

Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 12:07 PM (soOfD)

222 You all may have covered this already. I see a Staten Island nursing home kicked out a 95 year old vet to make room for some illegals.
Typical.
Posted by: Diogenes


F'n NY.

Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 12:08 PM (soOfD)

223 This bikini blonde at the beach is glad she still has her health for the time being, so won't have to worry about navigating a more expensive version of Kafka's "The Castle" for a little while yet:
https://is.gd/cwbCXQ
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 11:53 AM (t0OGg)


TJM always looks for a reason to say no. I looked at her and It Moved. Within a millisecond!

Posted by: Doof at September 27, 2023 12:08 PM (cRUf9)

224 Apparently Costo is now offering medical service

This is one of the scariest things I've ever heard.
Posted by: JackStraw


Costco Colonoscopy - back by the Meat Department.
Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 11:30 AM (soOfD)
*******
Before long you'll be able to get a medical degree with 2 years of community college.

Posted by: redridinghood at September 27, 2023 12:08 PM (NpAcC)

225 ..In my forebears' time, it is said, vast herds of the Nauga spread across the prairies. The land was black (and sometimes mahogany brown, and sometimes caramel tan) with them as far as one could see.

O my Naugas! Posted by: Chief Leatherstrip, Former Nauga Hunter at September 27, 2023 12:04 PM (J2vNu)



The extinction of the rare Orange Nauga spelled the doom of the Howard Johnson's restaurant chain, as that was the sole source of their upholstered chairs and booths.


Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at September 27, 2023 12:08 PM (e6UQI)

226 It is literally impossible to provide for everyone everything that’s possible in medical science. Obviously, an open border doesn’t help or our broken drug culture. Add in the desire of many to live well beyond their natural years, and you have government healthcare.

It is partly the fault of those who pretend in their mind that medical science can advance, and we can provide without rationing. It’s a dreamworld, so wake up people.

Posted by: BarcelonaCarmen at September 27, 2023 12:09 PM (CCcN5)

227
It. Was. Epic!

I had a blast at the peanut festival yesterday. As expected,, I won first place in the log roll competition! That makes 19 years in a row! I got to hang out with John Fetterman at the pie eating contest. That guy is a freak. When the starter pistol fired, I was slamming those pies down my throat and happened to look over and see ole' John. I swear the boy could not hit his mouth. He was shoving handfuls of pie in his eyes, ears, top of his head, it was a hoot!

Posted by: Jimmy Carter at September 27, 2023 12:09 PM (X4yCj)

228 Speaking of hot mamas . . .

Jemele Hill
@jemelehill
The Jets instead chose to sign Trevor Siemian who ::checks notes:: is 31 years old, and hasn’t won a game since 2017.

But sure, Colin isn’t playing because it’s a ✌🏾football decision✌🏾

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 12:09 PM (FVME7)

229 Australia Wants U.S. Submarines to Deter China. Building Them Won’t Be Easy
-----------------
Where is Australia's air craft carrier?


Bottom of the South China Sea?

Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 12:09 PM (soOfD)

230 The extinction of the rare Orange Nauga spelled the doom of the Howard Johnson's restaurant chain, as that was the sole source of their upholstered chairs and booths.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Posted by: Jim at September 27, 2023 12:08 PM (e6UQI)
++++
This is a fun - if very weird - alternate history we have going on here.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 12:09 PM (t0OGg)

231 228 Speaking of hot mamas . . .

Jemele Hill
@jemelehill
The Jets instead chose to sign Trevor Siemian who ::checks notes:: is 31 years old, and hasn’t won a game since 2017.

But sure, Colin isn’t playing because it’s a ✌🏾football decision✌🏾
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 12:09 PM (FVME7)

========

He's four years younger than Colin, and I'm sure he wasn't as pathetically desperate to become a slave again like Colin is.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 12:10 PM (LvTSG)

232 This is a fun - if very weird - alternate history we have going on here.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 12:09 PM (t0OGg)
---
When they turned on the LHC a decade or so ago, we slipped into a very strange reality...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 12:10 PM (YIVH2)

233 Before long you'll be able to get a medical degree with 2 years of community college.
Posted by: redridinghood


At Manila U.

Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 12:10 PM (soOfD)

234 232 This is a fun - if very weird - alternate history we have going on here.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 12:09 PM (t0OGg)
---
When they turned on the LHC a decade or so ago, we slipped into a very strange reality...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 27, 2023 12:10 PM (YIVH2)

=======

When they turned it on, putting carrots in chili became unacceptable. No one remembers the reality we all lived in when it was de rigeur.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 12:11 PM (LvTSG)

235 @jemelehill
The Jets instead chose to sign Trevor Siemian who ::checks notes:: is 31 years old, and hasn’t won a game since 2017.

But sure, Colin isn’t playing because it’s a ✌🏾football decision✌🏾
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 12:09 PM (FVME7)
++++
LOL.

The Jets are in a bind. They need a QB and they need one fast during the season. That means they're going to get a low-tier guy and try to get him to perform by keeping the book simple and putting most of the burden on his line. This is how it goes.

So the Jets, faced with this decision and knowing they had to choose a low-tier also-ran who's been out of the game for a bit, decided to go with the guy who did kinda okay and isn't a loudmouthed, walking PR disaster instead of the guy who did well ages ago but *is* a loudmouthed, walking PR disaster.

This is what we call a "no brainer."

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 12:12 PM (t0OGg)

236 It seems loudmouth fake conservative and royal douchebag Chip Roy is yelling again about the open border.
PS: He wants a CR. Do better Texas.

Posted by: Maj. Healey at September 27, 2023 12:12 PM (9/y3s)

237 Found drugs in my kids room the other day. Shrooms and weed. This is the kid that doesn't want to go to school. Told him if he didn't go to school, I'd rat out his "friends" as supplying drugs to him. He says, "No, man, they'll beat you up".
me: "They come to my house with the intent of hurting or killing my family, I'll shoot them dead."
him: "You don't want the guit of killing a teenager on your concience"
me: "What guilt? He want's to hurt or kill me and my family, I have no compunction to kill him first, and I will feel no guilt either; he had it coming if he comes to my house with that intent".

Son's gotten mixed up with some bad folks. What a dumbass.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at September 27, 2023 12:12 PM (ynpvh)

238 233 Before long you'll be able to get a medical degree with 2 years of community college.
Posted by: redridinghood


At Manila U.
Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 12:10 PM (soOfD)

Since so few doctors are now becoming primary care docs and internists, I fully expect the next big change is that nurses and PAs will be the "primary care" element of our healthcare system.

Posted by: Nova Local at September 27, 2023 12:12 PM (exHjb)

239 Colin Kaepernik isn't playing for the Jets for the exact same reason Jemele Hill isn't playing for the Jets.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at September 27, 2023 12:12 PM (9UlRk)

240
Jemele Hill
@jemelehill
The Jets instead chose to sign Trevor Siemian who ::checks notes:: is 31 years old, and hasn’t won a game since 2017.

But sure, Colin isn’t playing because it’s a ✌🏾football decision✌🏾
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 12:09 PM (FVME7)
***

I'd think twice about QBing for the Jets. They go through QBs like shit through a goose. I think I'd have the O-line visited by Guido, Antonio and Luca to maybe make a point of protecting the QB better.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 27, 2023 12:12 PM (uSHSS)

241 voted for it they say. difficult to deny. the priority? sex, intoxication, misunderstood personal freedom? open your blue books, you have 45 minutes

Posted by: Hokey Pokey at September 27, 2023 12:13 PM (as3uC)

242 236 It seems loudmouth fake conservative and royal douchebag Chip Roy is yelling again about the open border.
PS: He wants a CR. Do better Texas.
Posted by: Maj. Healey at September 27, 2023 12:12 PM (9/y3s)

=======

I've been assured by several people in these comment sections that 20 Freedom Caucus members are going to stop this in its tracks.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 12:13 PM (LvTSG)

243 He's four years younger than Colin, and I'm sure he wasn't as pathetically desperate to become a slave again like Colin is.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 12:10 PM (LvTSG)

He's also be continuously in the league since being drafted, not sitting on his ass for 7 years.

Posted by: BruceWayne at September 27, 2023 12:13 PM (CIS44)

244 If only there were a single black football player at the professional level.

Where, oh where, is football's own Jackie Robinson to break this pernicious color barrier?

Posted by: Warai-otoko at September 27, 2023 12:14 PM (9UlRk)

245 nood, you reprobates

Posted by: Bono at September 27, 2023 12:14 PM (IG4Id)

246 And on nurses and PAs taking over the 1st level of healthcare to save cost...

That may not be a bad thing. With the availability of medical info on the internet and test results at our finger tips, we are moving towards more knowledge/power to the patient anyway...

Posted by: Nova Local at September 27, 2023 12:14 PM (exHjb)

247 244 If only there were a single black football player at the professional level.

Where, oh where, is football's own Jackie Robinson to break this pernicious color barrier?
Posted by: Warai-otoko at September 27, 2023 12:14 PM (9UlRk)

=======

If only the NFL would donate hundreds of millions of dollars a year to black causes to get the race hustlers off their back!

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 12:15 PM (LvTSG)

248 'd think twice about QBing for the Jets. They go through QBs like shit through a goose. I think I'd have the O-line visited by Guido, Antonio and Luca to maybe make a point of protecting the QB better.
Posted by: Diogenes

*The Browns have entered the chat*

Posted by: BruceWayne at September 27, 2023 12:15 PM (CIS44)

249 >>242
I've been assured by several people in these comment sections that 20 Freedom Caucus members are going to stop this in its tracks.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston

I doubt even one of them will hold the line.

Posted by: Maj. Healey at September 27, 2023 12:15 PM (9/y3s)

250 The Jets are in a bind. They need a QB and they need one fast during the season. That means they're going to get a low-tier guy and try to get him to perform by keeping the book simple and putting most of the burden on his line. This is how it goes.

So the Jets, faced with this decision and knowing they had to choose a low-tier also-ran who's been out of the game for a bit, decided to go with the guy who did kinda okay and isn't a loudmouthed, walking PR disaster instead of the guy who did well ages ago but *is* a loudmouthed, walking PR disaster.



Tim Tebow.

Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 12:15 PM (soOfD)

251 Saw that video of the lispy, effeminate sailors literally laughing at a major anti-aircraft weapons system mistakenly targeting a passenger jet. Wtf?

That was scary. A few shots from that thing could down the jet. Does the Navy really let these things find targets on their own, and then laugh about it when it -- temporarily, thankfully -- mistakenly thinks a passenger jet is the enemy?

Oh: and how did that video get out? It looks real to me, but maybe not.

Posted by: Elric Blade at September 27, 2023 12:16 PM (iFTx/)

252 249 >>242
I've been assured by several people in these comment sections that 20 Freedom Caucus members are going to stop this in its tracks.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston

I doubt even one of them will hold the line.
Posted by: Maj. Healey at September 27, 2023 12:15 PM (9/y3s)

=======

I fully expect most of them to vote against the CR.

And fundraise off of it.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, searching for more with John Huston at September 27, 2023 12:16 PM (LvTSG)

253 History has sadly forgotten the U.S. Yellowleg troops we called the Nauga Soldiers.

Posted by: Chief Leatherstrip, Former Nauga Hunter at September 27, 2023 12:17 PM (J2vNu)

254 Skynet is here!

RNC Research
@RNCResearch
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responds to workers' concerns over Biden's forced "transition" to electric vehicles:

"These cars are going electric with or without us"

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 12:17 PM (FVME7)

255 I'm betting she has no tan lines. None at all.
Posted by: Diogenes at September 27, 2023 12:04 PM (uSHSS)

I don't have any either!!

Posted by: Lena Dunham at September 27, 2023 12:18 PM (Zvtjl)

256 Tim Tebow.
Posted by: rickb223 at September 27, 2023 12:15 PM (soOfD)

Told my friend the same thing the other day. Not a great passer but can run and is plenty big...and you need that with that horrible Jet's O-line - otherwise you wind up like Rodgers did, crawling around on all fours after the first snap...

Posted by: Boswell at September 27, 2023 12:20 PM (K+UlC)

257 235 @jemelehill
The Jets instead chose to sign Trevor Siemian who ::checks notes:: is 31 years old, and hasn’t won a game since 2017.

But sure, Colin isn’t playing because it’s a ✌🏾football decision✌🏾
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 27, 2023 12:09 PM (FVME7)
++++
LOL.

The Jets are in a bind. They need a QB and they need one fast during the season. That means they're going to get a low-tier guy and try to get him to perform by keeping the book simple and putting most of the burden on his line. This is how it goes.

So the Jets, faced with this decision and knowing they had to choose a low-tier also-ran who's been out of the game for a bit, decided to go with the guy who did kinda okay and isn't a loudmouthed, walking PR disaster instead of the guy who did well ages ago but *is* a loudmouthed, walking PR disaster.

This is what we call a "no brainer."
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at September 27, 2023 12:12 PM (t0OGg)
_________

Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?? Wtf is it with this obsessive love affair that certain idiots have with the has-been, barely ever-was, obnoxious toxic woke asshole twat Kap??

Posted by: Elric Blade at September 27, 2023 12:22 PM (iFTx/)

258 Medical care is expensive because of Medicare, not the health care system per se. Medicare depends on doctors and hospitals cost shifting the care of patients to private pay patients and insurance companies. Every year Medicare benefits are expanded by Congress, but as Medicare must be revenue neutral, the cost is paid for by paying less for other medical procedures. This is no accident...politicians love to tax.

And this cost shifting is an expensive tax. Someone ought to do the calculations, but I would guess that because doctors and health care organizations are effectively taxing their non Medicare patients an additional 50% for outpatient services, and 100 percent for inpatient services. 

Posted by: Dantes at September 27, 2023 12:36 PM (fVKtH)

259 I was seven when Dad explained SS to me. Being a precocious child I said, "But, Daddy, that's a pyramid scheme.

He explained all the reasons it wasn't and I carried on, believing I was right. I lived from then under the assumption that I would never see a penny from SS and it was a pleasant surprise to get my first check.

If the checks stopped tomorrow I would survive. Bring it on.

Posted by: creeper at September 27, 2023 12:39 PM (cTCuP)

260 You all may have covered this already. I see a Staten Island nursing home kicked out a 95 year old vet to make room for some illegals.
Typical.
Posted by: Diogenes at September 27, 2023 12:06 PM

That's fucking disgusting. WTF is wrong with these pieces of shit. Liberalism truly is a mental disorder.

Posted by: Minnfidel at September 27, 2023 12:52 PM (kzu4f)

261 I cannot, for the life of me, imagine a scenario in which Congress has the balls to pass a socialized medicine bill. People can already see that the effect Obamacare has had on the system has been an unmitigated disaster. The Democrats needed a 60 seat majority in the Senate to pass that. I don't see the lunatic left getting to that again, nor do I see the stupid party becoming SO stupid as to help them do it.

Posted by: deadrody at September 27, 2023 01:38 PM (qf6NU)

262 Let's be serious about this. The reason why people are talking about Big Mike is that they think by electing her (pronoun of choice) then they will get Barrack. It is why they voted for Joe, because they thought he would leave after a year and they would Kamala!. It is why they became obsessed with Hillary! because they they wanted Bill's prosperity that came with inventing the internet.
Michelle Obama would be a terrible hire. She has not worked since 2005. She hated her term as First Lady. When will we ever get over the dorky habit of electing first ladies because you liked their husband. Republicans do the same thing, the first time anybody is in the news, Republicans latch on to the latest one hit wonder; like the Tim Ballard from Sound of Freedom. Why have David McCormick when you can have Dr. Oz?

Posted by: william ferrin at September 27, 2023 02:05 PM (BVwo3)

263 End Medicaid, welfare, foodstamps. If you will not work you will not eat. How much will 5 million new illegals cost? Not my problem charge the sanctuary people. They wanted them, let them pay for them.

Posted by: Jane at September 27, 2023 02:55 PM (EcD5Y)

264 They will not be able to get enough providers to stay. if you nationalize it - not only will rationing happen because that is the only way they can do it - the amount of available care will diminish as well - leading to catastrophic gaps in coverage, which will be political suicide for those pushing it. We forget that both HillaryCare and ObamaCare were political losers. The ACA is effectively neutered because it provides no care. It is just the harassment of a fly buzzing your face. Now, if you repealed ObamaCare, costs would come down immediately. We use to worry about utilization - now we worry about unit cost.

Posted by: Black JEM at September 27, 2023 04:47 PM (GZYu7)

265 And on nurses and PAs taking over the 1st level of healthcare to save cost...

That may not be a bad thing. With the availability of medical info on the internet and test results at our finger tips, we are moving towards more knowledge/power to the patient anyway...

Posted by: Nova Local at September 27, 2023 12:14 PM (exHjb)
==
To a degree - and they are already doing alot. But one thing, neither of them are trained as diagnosticians. PAs a bit more than NPs - but neither raise to that level. We already have them dealing with most of the protocol medicine we do. There is not a bunch of space left for them to move into. And not enough of them either to do more.

Posted by: Black JEM at September 27, 2023 04:51 PM (GZYu7)

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