taks

exactly who is going to pay for it if everyone that can afford their own, better, health coverage opts out? remember, those that can "opt out" are those that are paying the taxes. universal health care is nothing more than a handout for those that can't afford insurance. get the government out of business, and these people won't have as much of a problem paying. taks

i didn't say it was cheap, nor great, i said it was better. government subsidies will make these problems worse, withteeth, not better. not on your life. i stated exactly what i thought, that government subsidized anything can not, nor will not ever work. they can't. look at how SS is structured. it is a pyramid scheme. as long as there are more people paying in than taking out, it has a chance... but that changes real soon. pyramid schemes, btw, are illegal for private enterprise, yet somehow OK when the government does it. funny. oh, btw, even if there were a way to make it solvent, i don't think SS or medicare are good ideas. take government involvement out, and the market has a better chance to level the playing field. taks

no, i know canadians. i've spoken with several that have the money and they come to the US. when i was up there this summer, the group i was speaking with was quite aggravated that they were not allowed to get their own healthcare. too bad.. sorry, but the US leads in quality health care. i'd be careful referring to people as "ignorant", as you've already been warned once about lobbing ad-homs. i have no qualms watching you get banned. taks

and most of those countries with universal healthcare cannot afford it, and, what they do provide, is substandard compared to US provisions. canadians that can afford better healthcare come the US and pay for it out of pocket (they aren't allowed to do that there...). socializing healthcare will ruin it. there will be no incentives for medical professionals, no competition, and the quality of care will bottom out. HMOs have already damaged the level of care we get now. the medicaid drug benefit, IMO, is the second worst travesty ever inflicted on the people of the US. first is social security. taks

hate to tell you but communism cannot be implemented "correctly" as long as humans have free will. any and all socialist based systems suffer from an inability to curb demand, which is a byproduct of free will. capitalism curbs demand by raising prices... taks

you're a silly dragon, aren't you? taks

i'm actually playing dragonshard. not all that bad, either. it's more like a crpg w/out much dialog, and some rts elements thrown in for good measure. since i'm new to rts games, it is difficult to get used to, however. taks

uh, that's not the only exception... in particular, inciting a riot, which has little if anything to do with national security, is considered a crime. the supreme court has regularly held the notion that not all speech is protected, moreso in public fora. taks

for the uninitiated, intelligent falling is a sort of joke reference to people that make the claim "well, gravity is only a theory!" when trying to exaggerate the problems with science. i.e. god makes us fall to the earth. there's an interesting history to that phrase with me, and commissar was witness, making what i found to be the most hilarious statement i've ever read, in regards to intelligent falling. taks

they actually tend to be elitist hollywood rants about what's coming to the earth should humanity not change its evil, gaia hating ways. this one stars the brother of my favorite "i'm not a scientist but i played one on tv," randy quaid (dennis is famous in my book for saying - paraphrased - "i have a farm in montana, and i can tell you, global warming is real!")... of course, the drought is over now, so i wonder what he chalked that up to, global warming too? taks

well, with clinton it was because he was sued for sexual harrassment. they went back over the testimony and discovered he'd lied about an affair. it wasn't about making his personal life public, it was something a little deeper. as far as kennedy, i could care less. i find it funny, actually... taks

damn, still no intelligent falling proponents. oh well. taks

i'm just waiting on the intelligent falling arguments... i'll chime in then. taks

given that al gore apparently invented it, i'm guessing that's why liberals think they're so much smarter, and better with it? taks

no, just marilyn. taks

still your fantasy world, hades. taks

OMG! i agree with you. taks

he's a pain, but when someone like hades is dealing with extreme, untenable positions, "what ifs" and hypotheticals are all you can counter with. it is always amusing to see the neverending inability of average human to debate with logic and reason. resorting to ad-hominems hardly sets the stage for you to gain any credibility with those of us who know what that means. taks

that is the funniest thing i've heard all week. i am a bit of an ass, i know. straightforward and unbending. i use logic to a flaw (or is it "to a fault", i can never remember). whether i make perfect, inarguable sense, however, is certainly debatable. you wouldn't happen to be the same lonewolf that posts over at badastronomy, would you? taks

there ya go, true colors and all. let 'em all die. that's why i did not argue when commissar said go ahead and leave. people like you are the reason we have a lot of these problems now as is. whether you like it or not, we are a single world, and everything, in the end, affects everyone. taks

again, a different country, different problems, different approach. you must've missed the million man army comment, too? or just intentionally being obtuse? just because you can't get your head around that doesn't change the fact that our policy towards different countries is, well, different. nothing new there. taks

again, false analogy. NK is a completely different ball of wax. also, NK wasn't making quite as much fuss then as now. so no, hades, not very well said. taks

uh, sorry, i don't buy that. mass murder is mass murder. there is no reason, nor excuse, to allow such crimes to be committed. sorry, but if anybody wants to claim a moral high ground on human rights, permitting such atrocities to happen unchecked is not the way to do it. he had billions, so that statement is flat out false. we haven't invaded NK for many reasons, not the least of which is a million man army. different story there, so a false analogy. also, sorry, you may not care, but what these leaders do impacts us all in the end. taks

i tell you what, if mr. bush decides to invade syria to find them, he'll not get my support. we're too thin as it is and we need to lay off the expenses. of course, sitting around and hoping the UN's "strong condemnations" will work is a pipe dream. taks

actually, it was the media that hyped it that way. one reason, yes, and certainly expounded upon by the media. i can't say the white house didn't roll with it, but in bush's initial speech justifying the impending war, he only mentioned WMDs once. taks