tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8071607692933192813.post7617156181831794824..comments2023-08-13T05:26:06.112-04:00Comments on Vinegar and Honey: Not My MessiahUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8071607692933192813.post-34858010627588977662008-04-05T11:51:00.000-04:002008-04-05T11:51:00.000-04:00anon..thank you for dropping by my blog, and thank...anon..thank you for dropping by my blog, and thank you for your comment, which has a lot of good information.<BR/><BR/>Since the post is an old one, most readers will not see it, so I am considering using it as a post.Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16083702120097667613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8071607692933192813.post-9860462705119765092008-04-04T11:00:00.000-04:002008-04-04T11:00:00.000-04:00Richard Said:How does Sen.O plan to pay for what h...Richard Said:<BR/>How does Sen.O plan to pay for what he wants to accomplish? First, he says he wants to pay [not borrow] or what he wants [sounds like an old style GOP position]. He'll do that, he says , by capturing some of the $2.4 billion per week going to fund the war in Iraq. [Not going to abandon fighting terrorism; just going to redeploy and go after bin Laden et al] Some he will get from closing tax loopholes for the Oil Industry. Allowing the Bush taxcuts to expire in 2010 [Jan, McCain said those were "reckless and for the rich" ] will put $650 billion back in the US treasury over 5 years. Obama also will look at raising the ceiling on Soc.Sec. taxes.<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure where Richard came up with the stated figure of 2.4 Billion per WEEK for the Iraq War. According to the Congressional Research Service the 2008 Consolidate Budget "...Congress has approved a total of about $700 billion for military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid,embassy costs, and veterans’ health care for the three operations initiated since the<BR/>9/11 attacks: Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Afghanistan and other counter terror operations; Operation Noble Eagle (ONE), providing enhanced security at<BR/>military bases; and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)." The amount for security at military bases covers all military bases world wide. <BR/><BR/>On the healthcare front alone the savings figures that Obama states may not even cover the cost of the current Medicare and Medicaid programs. In 2006 Medicaid cost taxpayers $180.6 billion for the year. For the arithmetically challenged that comes to $903 Billion over 5 years (without allowing for any increase in cost). The Medicare cost to taxpayers in 2005 was $336 Billion ($1 Trillion 680 Billion over 5 years). And that amount did not include the new Part D drug benefit. In the 2005 Medicare Trustees Report, the Trustees projected Medicare costs exceeding Social Security payments ($702 Billion in 2005) by 2028. The first year cost for Medicare Part D was $47 Billion. In early 2007 projections were made that the early cost projections exceeded the new projections and the program would grow at a lower percentage than expected (5%). But early this year increasing drug costs caused non-governmental experts to revise the projections upward. Even at $47 Billion, the 5 year cost to taxpayers is $235 Billion with no increase.<BR/><BR/>I think we can get a "feel" for what a universal health care program will cost the taxpayers from the above. As a cancer survivor I have no desire to have the government decide whether I should have treatment, or when I should have treatment. My particular cancer (Renal Cell Carcinoma) is only treatable by surgical removal of all or part of the kidney. The earlier (and smaller) the tumor is removed, the better the chance of surviving the cancer. The experience of other countries on surgery (even for life threatening illness) is that there is virtually no chance of rapid surgery. Failure to remove my kidney early would have reduced my survival chances drastically. <BR/><BR/>There is a reason people from other countries which have universal health care often come to the US for their care (at their own cost).<BR/><BR/>Richard writes an interesting story, certainly with more "facts" than his favored candidate. But I submit his data does not "add up".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8071607692933192813.post-83707243293516296422008-02-29T17:21:00.000-05:002008-02-29T17:21:00.000-05:00Richard..thanks!Drop by, anytime! :)Richard..thanks!<BR/><BR/>Drop by, anytime! :)Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16083702120097667613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8071607692933192813.post-85889199250265676142008-02-29T10:16:00.000-05:002008-02-29T10:16:00.000-05:00Jan,I didn't start out as a staunch Obama supporte...Jan,<BR/>I didn't start out as a staunch Obama supporter. The herd of candidates has kind of been culled down to where there are fewer choices. I've found myself clarifying for some of your readers what I know Obama has said or what his resume is. I certainly don't see him as a messiah....but I have cast myself in the role of defending him here, haven't I? <BR/>You're right: promising and delivering are two way different things.<BR/>As with most voters, I look at what my hopes, values, and desires are for my country and then try to match a candidate with those. I want a strong dollar, a balanced budget, an end to waste in spending, a foreign policy that provides real security for us, that returns us to the position of respect in the world that we so much deserve and that our soldiers have died for while keeping the rest of the world free. I know you want much the same and more. <BR/>I'm enjoying your blog. Thanks again for having me "over". :]Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05077794781228359463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8071607692933192813.post-86780546052748725272008-02-29T00:08:00.000-05:002008-02-29T00:08:00.000-05:00"Thanks for reading this far, if you're still here..."Thanks for reading this far, if you're still here. I hope I'm not boring anyone..."<BR/><BR/>Richard..you're not boring anyone, but it is plain to see that you are one of Obama's staunchest supporters.<BR/><BR/>All those promises sound good, but the truth is that most campaingn promises are just that..promises, and not so easily kept.<BR/><BR/>But they sound good. :)Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16083702120097667613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8071607692933192813.post-36526010322077296302008-02-28T23:50:00.000-05:002008-02-28T23:50:00.000-05:00....mmmm. Mr. GUYK, I share with you a distaste fo.......mmmm. Mr. GUYK, I share with you a distaste for the gov't going out and borrowing and borrowing to get what it wants. You must know, however, that this present administration has presided over the raising of the federal debt limit 8 times. Made us the most indebted country on earth. It has borrowed more money than all previous [ALL previous] administrations combined. It has borrowed all of the money to go to war in Iraq [ when every single president since Lincoln raised taxes temporarily when the country was at war to pay for the war so as not to devalue our currency and put future generations in financial peril]. You mentioned how the dollar was sinking towards the peso; the unrestrained borrowing is doing part of that. The more money the gov't prints, the less a unit of that money is worth. This administration has been writing IOUs to the Treasury and printing money at an unprecedented rate in history. So, folks, for someone to suggest putting money back in the Treasury and trying to make our currency worth something again is not a bad thing. <BR/>You mention capitalists leaving the country [jobs go too]. One reason is that companies receiving gov't subsidies and tax exemptions can go relocate off shore and not lose those exemptions or subsidies. Sen.Obama has voted to end that practice. Socialist. Marxist. Druggist. Call him what you may, that seems like a reasonable position to take....to me anyway.<BR/>How does Sen.O plan to pay for what he wants to accomplish? First, he says he wants to pay [not borrow] for what he wants [sounds like an old style GOP position]. He'll do that, he says , by capturing some of the $2.4 billion per week going to fund the war in Iraq. [Not going to abandon fighting terrorism; just going to redeploy and go after bin Laden et al] Some he will get from closing tax loopholes for the Oil Industry. Allowing the Bush taxcuts to expire in 2010 [Jan, McCain said those were "reckless and for the rich" ] will put $650 billion back in the US treasury over 5 years. Obama also will look at raising the ceiling on Soc.Sec. taxes.<BR/> I've gone on long enough. Thanks for reading this far, if you're still here. I hope I'm not boring anyone...Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05077794781228359463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8071607692933192813.post-24939588944173800232008-02-24T00:40:00.000-05:002008-02-24T00:40:00.000-05:00guyk..the whole thing is crazy, and it is hard to ...guyk..the whole thing is crazy, and it is hard to believe that people can be so blind.<BR/><BR/>I'm with you..I wonder where everyone thinks all this money is going to come from, too.<BR/><BR/>Watching some of the rallies, it is reminiscent of past history, as you said.Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16083702120097667613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8071607692933192813.post-33370675271944925732008-02-24T00:33:00.000-05:002008-02-24T00:33:00.000-05:00Morris..you are right, on both counts.Morris..you are right, on both counts.Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16083702120097667613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8071607692933192813.post-58091910215098719122008-02-23T21:14:00.000-05:002008-02-23T21:14:00.000-05:00Yeah, that is what the Germans thought about Hitle...Yeah, that is what the Germans thought about Hitler.<BR/><BR/>Obama is a socialist at best and I would not be surprised if he is not a closet follower of Marx. All of his visions of change involve taking it way from those who have it because they have worked for it and giving it to those who have not earned it.<BR/><BR/>His medical plan alone will bankrupt the country and his ideas of building an economy from the bottom up can only be done if the government puts the money at the bottom..and the government can only get the money by borrowing or taxing or both.<BR/><BR/>Capitalists are already leaving this country..and I can't say I blame them. At the rate we are going the dollar will soon be worth less than a peso..the only silver lining in the cloud I can see is that when this happens maybe the illegal aliens will go home.GUYKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02365709988592687239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8071607692933192813.post-63168986656124202902008-02-23T20:00:00.000-05:002008-02-23T20:00:00.000-05:00When emotion trumps reason and plain old serious t...When emotion trumps reason and plain old serious thinking, then things have got to a very dangerous stage.<BR/>I'm not surprised though, as a lot of people on the left have never grown up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com