Ah, now I see....
I consider myself lucky in that I have only limited basic cable so that Comcast can rip me off for cable Internet. So, I don't have access to the onslaught of CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Comedy Central and all the 24-hour gobbledygook that passes for news and information in today's world.
Unfortunately, the gym has this stuff, so while pedaling to nowhere in particular, I plugged my headphones into the machine to check out Glenn Beck because I'd read so much about him.
Thus, I learned why conservatives are in so much trouble. Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, Larson. It's akin to the lunatic leftwing fringe speaking for liberals. No wonder town hall meetings are being inundated with people on Medicare worried about "socialized" medicine and senior citizens being euthanized.
And as a liberal, there's a side of me that's chuckling over this.
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August 7, 2009 |
Chris Bouneff | Comments (13 so far)
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Comments
Posted by: Kurt Chapman | Aug 7, 2009 5:22:01 PM
Beck is becoming a parady of himself.
and Chris - Medicare IS socialized medicine at its heart. I wonder why seniors would be afraid of that?
Posted by: Carla Axtman | Aug 8, 2009 7:24:59 AM
Medicare IS socialized medicine at its heart. I wonder why seniors would be afraid of that?
Given that it's worked for generations and most seniors are thrilled with it, perhaps you can do a better job illuminating on the fear thing.
Or perhaps discuss why the rest of the country doesn't have it..or for that matter, a VA style system--which also works.
Posted by: alcatross | Aug 8, 2009 9:15:22 AM
Well, Medicare, has 'worked' for generations because there have been enough younger workers to foot the bill - and even then only with the further assistance of seven payroll tax hikes in twenty-one years. But with current cost trends and the retirement of baby boomers looming, Medicare is projected to go insolvent within the next decade.
Despite a $400+ billion annual Medicare budget, today’s elderly now spend more than twice as much out of pocket than they did before Medicare was enacted, even after accounting for inflation. Seniors who try to circumvent the system by opting out of Medicare altogether must forego all Social Security benefits - I guess that's one way to keep them 'thrilled'...
Seniors fear that if the rest of the country goes on a Medicare-style system, there will have to be cuts/changes to their current benefits to prevent the system from going bankrupt even faster than it already is.
Posted by: Kurt Chapman | Aug 8, 2009 9:16:32 AM
Carla, you misinterpret me.
I never stated anything was bad about Medicare; merely observed that it is socialized medicine. we should at least be able to call it what it is - Scialized Medicine.
Any medical services paid by all others in society for a select few based upon arbitrary descriptors such as age is socialized medicine. Any medical services provided without a means test and with published re-imbursement rates from a federal panel regardless actual cost is socialized medicine. Any medical services reimbursement continuation dependent upon continuous federal oversite and manipulation is socialized medicine.
I was merely illuminating that medicare, like the VA is socialized medicine. We have it and it appears to work on some levels. Like any large scale administrative overhead system there are some levels that work better than others.
Posted by: LT | Aug 8, 2009 10:10:25 AM
"Given that it's worked for generations and most seniors are thrilled with it, perhaps you can do a better job illuminating on the fear thing."
Carla, have you not heard the stories of an older person saying to a politician, "I'm against socialized Medicine--keep the government out of my Medicare"?
Posted by: LT | Aug 8, 2009 10:15:32 AM
So where is McCain in all this? As a disabled vet, Senator, man over 70 old, not to mention rich, when has he ever worried about health care? Concerns about the health care system would have been there if he had been elected, so how would he have responded?
Or, as many suspect, is this more about "defeating" Obama than about helping ordinary people?
Posted by: Carla Axtman | Aug 8, 2009 10:33:56 AM
Kurt:
Based on your comment:
Medicare IS socialized medicine at its heart. I wonder why seniors would be afraid of that?
You seem to be inferring that seniors, at least in part, are afraid of "socialized medicine" based on Medicare.
I think the issue isn't that seniors are scared at all. I think the issue is that there's some entrenched interests working pretty damn hard to scare them.
Posted by: Kurt Chapman | Aug 8, 2009 10:38:15 AM
Carla, I think you have me wrong this time. I am not inferring our elders are scared of Medicare or socialized medicine. Certainly the headline writers want to make it appear so.
Posted by: Old Ducker | Aug 8, 2009 12:33:11 PM
If you really wants to get the opinion from the other side, forget Beck. Go to Youtube and watch Judge Andrew Napolitano's internet program "Freedom Watch" which is broadcast every wednesday at 11 am PDT.
Posted by: Brian C. | Aug 8, 2009 3:39:18 PM
Love 'em or hate 'em, there's no denying the fact that the right wing talking heads are far superior at that game than their would-be leftist challengers. Thom Hartmann gets some props for his intellect and unique style and I used to be able to stomach Ed Schultz. The rest of the programming on KPOJ is practically unlistenable. Most of it amounts to an amateurish cacophony of shrill propagandist banter. If that's the goal, at least do it well like so many on the right do.
Posted by: Stephen Amy | Aug 8, 2009 6:22:47 PM
In my opinion, better than KPOJ are:
Democracy Now! on KBOO twice daily and Flashpoints on KBOO 10:15 AM Tues-Fri are, IMO, the best Leftist and/or progressive programming in PDX.
Also Per Fagereng's bimonthly show, "Fight The Empire", which airs at 9:30 AM on Thursdays on KBOO.
And "One Land, Many Voices", which airs once monthly, Friday at 9:00 AM on KBOO (best show about Israel/Palestine, although Flashpoints very good on this, too).
And, last but not least, "The Abe & Joe Show", Tues. 8:00 AM on KBOO (very good when Joe Uris is not on vacation).
Posted by: evil is evil | Aug 9, 2009 2:36:57 PM
Any country that spends $150 billion a year on two wars that we will lose, can afford Cadillac single payer.
Find it extremely funny that people regard the Democrats as liberal. Right of center would be the most charitable description.
Two parties and a president totally dedicated to insuring that the US of A's motto should be "of, by and for the rich."
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Posted by: Mike M | Aug 7, 2009 3:31:51 PM
Psst. Chris.
Glenn Beck is available for free on the AM radio M-F. Even streaming audio at your favorite streaming website.
Yes, he is quite the entertainer,though I too can't stand listening to him.
Send your coins to your favorite progressive radio station for alternative programming. There really is a dearth of alternatives.