Comment from OMG!
Time August 12, 2009 at 8:47 am

You sir, are forgetting the one important item. The “corn-servatives” will be the one stuck with paying for this disaster. That gives them two rights to speak. First by being a citizen, and the second by contribution. They are not particularly enthralled about handing the bill to future generations which is a vastly greater number than your erroneous 50 million. Funny, you must have been practicing your drawings and completely missed out on Math class. The fellow human beings we care about is the future generations, and I like many others, are adamant in their protection. There are countries you can go to to get your medical care…India, Thailand, and Russia. Fortunately for us they would contain your idiotic ranting from up on high.

Comment from Punk Smasher
Time August 12, 2009 at 12:12 pm

I like how they move to personal attacks. Like your math skills. On most moderated boards, these types of personal attacks are a BANNABLE OFFENSE.

They have no facts to argue with, except that they don’t think Medicaid is right for 50 million uninsured Americans. But that’s their opinion, it’s not really a fact at all.

When they say they are concerned about future generations, they are really trying to say, “No, we do not care about 50 million uninsured Americans”. They just lack the guts to do so, and make a smoke screen about future generations.

Gee, they had 8 years to deal with these problems under Bush. I would say they FAILED and need to come to terms with their failure. Inaction is a pathetic excuse at this point.

Until the law changes, expect them to continue spewing personal attacks with fingers in their ears. It’s depressing, but that’s how they are.

Comment from Beth Cravens
Time August 12, 2009 at 12:12 pm

Well OMG!, what would you suggest? Oh right, you don’t have any good suggestions. Well, except for let them eat cake and start a tea party. Your Grand Ole Party has turned into a bunch of whiners and screaming psychopaths. “Wah, I don’t wanna pay my taxes.” Wah, Obama isn’t a citizen.” Wah, only the good people should have healthcare.” Wah, Wah, Wah…..
Is it any wonder your true message gets lost? I understand we don’t want to burden future generations, but something has to be done to fix the healthcare system. How are we going to do that when we can’t even be civil enough to debate our ideas clearly?

Comment from Alex M.
Time August 12, 2009 at 12:15 pm

At least Dale used the phrase “in my opinion” during his psychotic rant. I think it’s great when people who are well aware of the fact that they are wrong stick to their guns (let’s hope only figuratively). As for the bill being unread… are our Representatives illiterate? More likely the Cons are refusing to read it because of the lack of pictures. 1000 pages almost seems a bit thin for something as game changing as this bill.

This message has been forced upon you by Obama with support from:
“Bill Ayers/Rev.Wright/The Weathermen Underground Bombers & Charles Manson Support Group along with the Chicago Mafia Political Machine.”

Comment from Mary Cunningham
Time August 12, 2009 at 12:20 pm

Why would anyone take the Right seriously when they make Nazi analogies, scream that Obama’s gonna kill their granny, and besides, he was born in Kenya!

Find a reasonable voice, make sensible suggestions and maybe someone will listen to you. I pay taxes too, and I’m sick of subsidizing needless emergengy room visits and seeing my healh insurance premium triple.

Comment from Gypsy
Time August 12, 2009 at 12:20 pm

I wonder where the writer of the second email got that $50 figure. Seriously, if he didn’t pull it out of his bowels he has to have a source. I would really like to know who/what that source was.

Comment from dew
Time August 12, 2009 at 12:20 pm

I went to see a doctor about a hernia and was told I needed surgery or the hernia could kill me. Am unemployed and am not insured, the people at the hospital told me to sell my house to pay for the surgery, they wanted me to pay in full before they would perform the surgery. I made the choice, if the hernia is going to kill me I would rather die in my house instead of live homeless because a surgery bankrupt me. You know one of the insurance execs (Jeffery Barbakow Tenet Healthcare) makes over 100,000.00 an hour!

Estimates are that 22-30% of every dollar paid for health INSURANCE goes for administrative costs where only 3-5% for Medicare. That difference goes for advertising… and these HUGE compensation packages.

By the way my hernia went into remission.

Comment from Mirabelle
Time August 12, 2009 at 12:47 pm

Come to France. It will cost you far less I’m sure. Even without insurance.
A visit to a doctor costs 21€
A visit to a specialist a little bit more.
A tooth crown (white) : 500€
Xray for broken leg: less than 50€
etc…

Comment from Heather
Time August 12, 2009 at 12:54 pm

if the teabaggers and deathers are mad at you, then you’re doing something right.

Comment from OMG!
Time August 12, 2009 at 1:25 pm

Beth Cravens,

Actually I have several suggestions. (1) Secure our borders, and I mean really secure. Sentry stations every half mile of the Mexican and Canadian borders, and stop the bleed of resources to illegal aliens in both healthcare and the prison system. (2) Revamp malpractice completely and shift toward nondefensive medicine (3) Shift focus of care to clinics rather than hospitals. (4) Increase the practice scope of NPs and PAs, decreasing the load on physicians. (5)Discard JCAHO, as it is just another government mandated bureaucracy healthcare must endure that has mountains and mountains of paperwork. (6) Rescind HIPPA as it totally prevents the flow of information between healthcare providers. Information they need to know about your medical history and previous hospitalizations, treatments, etc. It effectively makes healthcare providers order the same tests because of the limited access. BTW, I work management in a 500 bed trauma facility, so I do see and imagine what changes would be very beneficial.

Comment from Alicia Billings
Time August 12, 2009 at 10:36 pm

I think all comments, even the crazy/racist ones need to be made to congressmen/women. You know, people who can actually make a difference or write you off as a nutcase. If you don’t like what the elected are doing you can eventually vote them out of office. Last time I checked nutcases were still allowed to vote.

Anyone bothering cartoonists/humorists and writing hate mail is just wasting their time and energy and probably due for a heart attack. If you don’t like, don’t look or read!

Last time I checked we still lived in a free country. If anyone is suggesting comics should be censored, well in 2012 they should elect Sarah Palin for President. Good luck.

Comment from Gene Basye
Time August 16, 2009 at 1:02 pm

At Mr. Wolverton’s suggestion, I am submitting my little rant…it goes something like this:

I have an idea for a similar cartoon…your brain has a number of strings attached to it, and the strings are all held in the hands (okay, hooves) of the symbol of the Democrat Party, the Donkey! Obviously, the point being, you’re a mindless robot who is so invested in being a Democrat, you can’t bring yourself to criticize them for any issue or tactic. Further, you feel called upon to attack anyone who has the temerity to question and/or comment on the efforts of the leaders of your Party. What happened to the idea that a true patriot is one who protests the actions of their government? Wasn’t that the hue and cry when the last administration was Republican? Oh, and the secondary point is that your brain is being manipulated by an ass! Cute, huh!

Here’s the difference; you’re a mindless, kneejerk proponent of your Party, no matter what it says or does. I tend to vote Republican, but when my Party is wrong, I can acknowledge it and call them to task. It’s called being an adult and using my brain for something other than a dormant organ that keeps my skull from imploding. Give it a try…it’s very invigorating!

gb

Now, after reading some of the other submissions, I have a few more comments.

1) Monte, it’s not that conservatives love their fellow human beings any less than liberals…it’s that we tend to believe that, given the chance, most people can take care of themselves. I suppose you might infer from our position that we have a higher opinion of our fellow citizens than liberals. Also, any true conservative believes in safety nets for those who are TRULY in need. If we can eliminate those who CAN provide for themselves, we can marshal even greater resources for those who, through no fault of their own, can’t. You are a well informed man, so I’m sure you are aware of the studies that conclude that conservatives are more financially charitable than liberals (those are scientific studies, and I know you believe in science!).

2) Alicia, don’t look now, but you’re wasting your time writing about other people wasting their time writing about the work of a cartoonist! You said it yourself…we live in a free country…which means we CAN COMMENT on the work and opinions of others, even cartoonists! Ironic, ain’t it?

And, finally, to know one in particular, when passion is shown by the Left, it’s seen as “speaking truth to power”. When conservatives do it, it’s apparently seen as Neanderthal ravings! I’d say the reality is that it’s more a matter of interpretation and point of view.

Comment from Abby
Time August 16, 2009 at 1:54 pm

I hardly see this blog post as “educational”, in fact, it makes you look ignorant. All you are doing is taking a few examples of the extreme and portraying it as the norm. The same thing could be done with democrats, you can find nut-jobs on both sides.

Comment from Bill
Time August 16, 2009 at 1:58 pm

I’ll just keep it simple - No, the isurance companies do not drive my opposition to Obama’s health plans. It would appear that you would not believe that, and you feel you must insult those of us whom you don’t agree with. I don’t know why, but that course of action seems to be very popular with those who follow Obama, including Obama himself.
Good thing we live in a nation where we have freedoms to be like this, right?
But I see the spiral beginning, of the push towards communism, and it won’t happen in the next ten years, but it has begun, and if you have children, this is what you have given them.
Enjoy!

Comment from Packrat
Time August 16, 2009 at 2:10 pm

Such a narrow view.
Where are the SEIU and ACORN puppets?

Hate? Take a look at some of the posts here on some of the left leaning blogs.

Suggest there are many who are accusing others of actions they are guilty of

Comment from Jerry Warden
Time August 16, 2009 at 2:20 pm

. The problem is the American public realizes the healthcare system needs a tune-up. But Obama/congress has responded by submitting a ‘quote’ for the tune-up that included a new engine and transmission. We aren’t unhappy with our ‘engine and transmission’…in fact we think it’s running quite well, we just wanted a ‘tune-up’ to get the uninsured masses into an “uninsured pool for healthcare”. We didn’t want them working on the parts with which we’re perfectly happy, and we certainly don’t want to pay for work with which we don’t agree. And, their work is usually permanent….. there’s no warranty, or refund, or “put the old parts back in, we liked them better.” Oh if we could only have the Fed. Gubmint attack border control/illegal immigration with the same zeal and fervor they have gone after healthcare reform. But, you watch, next year their immigration bill will include amnesty and healthcare for illegal aliens.

Comment from al rotundo
Time August 16, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Government health care SAVED MY LIFE after my insurance company SENT ME HOME TO DIE.
Your elected representatives ANSWER TO YOU. Who do the health insurance companies answer to?

Condition: obstructive hydrocephalus (water on the brain - 80% too much at 34 years of age)
Evil HMO: Health Care Plan, Amherst NY

I went from running 4 departments at a tv station at 23 to sleeping 20 hours a day at 34. My HMO denied my needed surgery. I wound up on Medicare and they saved my life.

Again, government health care SAVED MY LIFE after my insurance company SENT ME HOME TO DIE.
Your elected representatives ANSWER TO YOU. Who do the health insurance companies answer to?

Comment from Connie Mead
Time August 16, 2009 at 2:31 pm

1. Illegal immigration needs to be stopped. Our tax dollars cannot continue to support services for these people.

2. Citizens who do not have medical insurance need coverage. Illegal aliens should be denied and sent back to where they came from. Harsh words–Yes–but I am tired of seeing more and more of my tax dollars go to support people who do not support the US. They take and take and take.

3. HIPPA is a mess. Bills for services state “you own $116.29″. Please remit!! NO explanation of any kind. Would you pay a bill that did not define what the services were? I think not. Questioning the charges leads to a long, complicated request for information that finally is received 30 days later. Then the service provider has the nerve to threaten collection if not paid.

Before we get into billions of dollars for health care, I would like to see some improvements in the whole process including lawsuits for malpractice, malpractice insurance, HIPPA changes to speed exchange of
basic information and a return of common sense to the whole process.

Comment from Anonymous
Time August 16, 2009 at 2:42 pm

Punksmasher wrote:
“I like how they move to personal attacks.”

Uhhh… what did you think the term ‘corn-servative’ is? A smiley face?

As others have pointed out, we have very specific problems with ‘reform’… the first one being that a massive takeover of the health care industry is being called ‘reform’. If I steal your car, can I call it ‘car reform’? I mean, I’m just taking care of your car for you.

Again, others have pointed out the problem with making future generations pay for the medical bills of their births. Considering the debt that this bill has been predicted to create, I can’t comprehend why anyone would support it.

One last thing: if the problem really was taking care of the ‘50 million’ uninsured, then why do we have to change the entire health care system to do that? Why not just create clinics for those people?
Oh wait… I know why. Because it doesn’t give the government the power to tell the health care industry what they can do.

Comment from Tom Culver
Time August 16, 2009 at 2:57 pm

The only way we are going to pay for this is to have the middle class pay for it as the rich will find a way to neglect their fellow Americans.

read this essay for what is wrong.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/.....-coop.html

Comment from Diane
Time August 16, 2009 at 3:04 pm

I subscribe to Cagle\’s Cartoons because I know I will find commentary covering the entire political spectrum, including those which support my views, those which don\’t, and those which are just plain clever - regardless of the viewpoint. I expect to be challenged, amused, and made to think.

The commentary following any particularly explosive cartoon is - ho, hum!- boringly predictable. Flaming diatribes, followed by \"let\’s all just get along,\" followed by intellectual explantions that quickly deterioriate into name-calling, followed by an out-and-out free-for-all in which the cartoonists as well as the commenters themselves are fair game to an \"us and them\" scream-fest. Until the next day, when the next cartoon arrives.

Let\’s face it - in the anonymity of the cyberworld, it\’s easy to throw accusations, spout venom, point fingers, deride and disrespect. It\’s not much different from the rest of the country\’s interactions - we\’re split more or less down the middle on just about every issue, and nothing is happening that makes it look like we are moving away from that any time soon.

Meanwhile, I\’ll look forward to tomorrow\’s batch of editorial comics and the next one that sets us all off with something to say! I say keep them coming!

Comment from Margaret Bruce
Time August 16, 2009 at 3:07 pm

Holdren, Sibelius, and Emmanuel say we need population control. Some of their suggestions have been to put sterilants in our drinking water. One idea was forced abortions but said unfortunately wouldn’t work in third world countries because usually no Dr present at birth. Gee, they could just hand out coat hangers and put out a noise you had to use it if you got pregnant. Emmanuel say people with dementia, handifcapped and/or old people are “useless eaters”. These people should not even be allowed to say Health Plan. Maybe you could do a cartoon of them in a dark, dank basement laboratory with lightning flashing overhead and Igor running around saying Yes Master.

Comment from GWA
Time August 16, 2009 at 3:17 pm

I heard that most people don’t really know what is covered by their health insurance plan -
even the ones who are ranting and raving against any change.

Comment from Pete
Time August 16, 2009 at 3:19 pm

My, my! The NACAR/NRA Republiscum Cult is active here! Terrified of/by/with truth & reality as always. Good cartoon. Those cretins are ALL patholigical…cartoons. Wiederbetaetigung!!

Comment from Scott
Time August 16, 2009 at 3:37 pm

>> yet there are nearly 50 million Americans who don’t have health insurance at all.<<

1) According to quite a few of the “experts” in the field, about 20 million of those are illegal aliens. Most Americans don’t want to pay for their medical care - nor do we want to give them free houses, free education, or a free ride to anywhere except -maybe- back to their homes and far, far away from here.

2) Your all-encompassing number is actually a whole lot closer to 40 million according to these same experts. You didn’t bother to give us yours, so I’ll presume that you have no expertise - just uninformed opinions.

3) And according to these same experts, some 8-10 million are perfectly healthy <25 year-olds who don’t want nor need medical care, and wouldn’t take advantage of it even if it’s “free” according to the government.

…and, finally,

4) I believe that it would be a whole lot cheaper for the government to simply buy the remaining ±8-10 million who want it but, for some reason, can’t get it a good medical insurance policy from an existing company that sells it. That would be a whole lot less upsetting to we net payers of taxes.

Comment from TGC
Time August 16, 2009 at 3:40 pm

Reality seems to be lost on Mr. Wolverton. To wit:

* “Big Status Quo Health Care” is spending millions in support of ObamaCare.

* Nobody’s saying that they like things the way they are (good job Mr. Strawman).

* Neither the POTUS nor Congress have any authority to participate in the health care game. It’s unconstitutional.

* The “Nazis” and “mobs” consist of “corn-servatives”, Republicans, independents, moderates AND Democrats.

* The American people won’t soon forget the elitist contempt the Statists have shown for them.

* There are not “nearly 50 million American people who don’t have health insurance at all”. That’s more Statist fear mongering to scare people into handing over their freedom to the Statists.

* If Chairman Obama actually gave a crap about people without insurance, he would have used some of that $787 BILLION porkulus to help people out. Think what we could have done with the millions spent on the Cash for UAW program.

* If the Statists know what’s good for us better than we do, why are they dropping it instead of passing it? They have the majority.

* Leftist groups in support of ObamaCare are the ones actually hiring people to attend “town hall” meetings in support. We’ve seen the ads on Craigslist. The same can’t be said for the insurance companies supposedly paying people to oppose. All we have is the word of the Statist left.

Comment from Packrat
Time August 16, 2009 at 3:44 pm

Rotundo

“evil” HMO discovered life threatening disease and treated it.

“evil” insurance company provides me with Prescription at fraction of retail cost.

Why would I want to trade that for health care run by the post office? HR3200 is the only source I have since our represenative won’t talk to us. HR3200 puts many roadblocks in way of useful health care.

Comment from ellis
Time August 16, 2009 at 3:45 pm

gene basye please try to remember it is the DEMOCRATIC party, not the name you used that was suggested by the opposition to denigrate the democrats. talk about the lemmings in our society.

margaret bruce where did you get that information..rumors? over the internet? or just listening to some wingnut sounding off. there is no truth to your concerns, but you are going to have them anyway.

for all those out there who are worrying about the big government takeover with life and death decisions being made by the government, as i heard today on meet the press by dick armey, what do you think the private for profit insurance mavens have been doing for years?

Comment from Packrat
Time August 16, 2009 at 3:47 pm

Why is it that when there are no arguments, rather than dialog, the left results such as cretin, noron, redneck. oreo, coconut instead of discussion?

Comment from chuckel
Time August 16, 2009 at 3:59 pm

I have read most of the postings on this blog. For the most part the dems are trying to kick the repubs ass and vice versa. I took the time to read the 1018 page bill. It took me two weeks and I found several places that seem quite normal until you began to think like a politician.

One item is listed on page 16. As it reads you can keep your present insurance coverage as long as it is in place prior to Y1 (2013 when the bill takes effect). If, heaven forbide, you should loose that insurance you will then have to receive your coverage from the government alternative. No golden parachutes, no do over. Sound kind of scarry.

The area that covers instructional conversations with a medical consultant concerning the services available for those in the twilight years is pretty straight forward. However, if you begin to think like a politician you see the opening for the controlled existance of human beings using this particular service as the open sesame. Twist it around just a smidge and you have a whole new meaning to the right to exist.

One blogger mentioned that if you have not read the bill you have no right to attack it. I have read the bill and I find many areas in the bill that could be reshaped to a politician\’s liking. I am not saying that they would but looking back over the many decades of my exisitance I can see the possibility of using what passes as plain english as a weapon to gain power and full control of our lives.

Why throw the baby out with the bathwater? If so many people like their current medical coverage then why not review and correct the obviously wasteful and inefficient parts of the current heath industry. Seems to me that would be more effective and inexpensive in view of the major overhaul of the medical system that is being proposed. Then again that would require that both sides sit down and express their opinions in a calm cool way and search for the win/win answer to the problem. With the level of fair play, practically zero, among the current members of Congress I doubt that this will ever happen. Rots of ruck lalph.

Comment from Donna
Time August 16, 2009 at 4:14 pm

I am always so amazed that folks start out responding in a meaningful way and they get nuts and go off. I’m all for the other side, but when folks start to get out of control - I judge them and stop listening. Like I do with the screamers at these town hall meetings - talk to me and educate me in terms that don’t scare me. I am all ears.

Comment from steve
Time August 16, 2009 at 4:33 pm

A national health care program is going against god’s law of natural selection. The species is supposed to become stronger as the sick, lame, and lazy (less adaptive to the environment) do not survive to reproduce. National health care is a guarantee these weaker sorts not only get a chance to reproduce, but since their fertility rate tends to be higher than the hard working folks, their proportion in society will ever increase. So in effect taxes on the working folks will spiral upwards to care for the ever increasing numbers of those who should have never survived in the first place.

Comment from stevens…
Time August 16, 2009 at 4:48 pm

How did anyone arrive at the Fifty (50) million figure???

Comment from stevens…
Time August 16, 2009 at 4:54 pm

We can end all of the debate in a “New York Minute”… As I see it, all that the Senate and Congressmen need to do is make available to everyone the health plan that they have… If it is good enough for them, I will capitulate and figure that it is probably good enough for my family and me…

Comment from EASTTEXASREDNECK
Time August 16, 2009 at 5:06 pm

I DON’T WANT SOME ASS-KISSING BEAUROCRAT TELLING WHAT TO DO WITH MY HEALTHCARE. I LIKE MY DOCTOR AND MY BLUECROSS/BLUESHIELD. THOSE DUMBASSES IN DC CAN’T EVEN RUN A CAR TRADE IN PROGRAM…..WHAT MAKES ANYONE WHO ISN’T ON WELFARE OR A WETBACK THINK THOSE SAME DUMBASSES CAN RUN A HEALTHCARE SYSTEM????????

Comment from Happy Camper
Time August 16, 2009 at 5:10 pm

Gene Basje, loved your essay! This site is dominated on a regualar basis by a cadre of liberal socialists who attack any conservative thought with epithets and name-calling. A majority of the articles for review are from conservative columnists, so the left-wingers are attracted to the site like flies to honey. These folks think they have all the answers. They\’re foolishly waiting for Obama to answer all their prayers. After six months, they are still oblivious to the fact that Barry is BushLite. It appears their Messiah is about to drop the \"public option\" from his ambiguous, tanking health care plan. Another major disappointment, among dozens, for his myopic, devoted disciples. His methodical betrayal of his many campaign promises has to be tormenting their shallow souls. It\’s entertaining to log on occasionally to read the rants, hyperbole, self-righteousness, and obvious underlying misery. It\’s not a happy camp…..They\’re always welcome to sit around the conservative campfire where things are much more positive and copasetic.

Comment from Graham
Time August 16, 2009 at 6:07 pm

From the outside looking in, it is obvious that the two D words, democracy & debate, ceased to erxist in the US a long time ago. The sad thing is, that with the over 65s due to outnumber the under 40s in the next 25 years, the debate over the health issue needs to take place now, not later. Who in their right mind, would want to be paying over half their income in retirement to a health insurer. That’s exactly what is going to happen if the status quo prevails. It is not just going to be a low income/disabled problem. The system is already broke, & will get broker.

PS It adds little to the debate, to call people “corn servatives”. Sarcasm always was the lowest form of wit.

Comment from Amy Miller
Time August 16, 2009 at 6:19 pm

I have two comments to make on these two separate issues:

I am pro-healthcare-reform because many people need healthcare who are either not getting it or getting it by charging huge amounts to those who can afford it. What Obama had to say about the bill he wants passed makes sense, if you bother to listen to him, instead of ranting the entire time. He is repeating it at town halls around the country, trying to reason with those of us will actually listen before judging. That does not require us to be liberal or conservative. It requires us to use our brains. I am far more concerned with what the Congress might do with the bill when it comes back in session.

On the other hand, bashing political cartoonists for their topic of the week is simply stupid. A political cartoonist’s job, albeit underpaid and waning fast in the mainstream newspapers along with those newspapers themselves, is to draw pictures that make fun of the joke of the week. This has been true since at least Thomas Nast, my personal favorite political cartoonist of all time. A political cartoonist’s job is to make fun of whoever is making the loudest statement this week, left or right. I’ve seen Daryl Cagle make fun of both sides and the middle, too. I don’t always agree with him, but I almost always get a laugh.

Comment from Anonymous
Time August 16, 2009 at 6:54 pm

Since Obama was elected, the right is showing itself to the world to be made up of xenophobic, irrational, over emotional, violent, hateful, virulent, dangerous people. The party of conservatives is being taken over by madness fueled by people who twist the truth to suit their aims. A shame really because true conservatives have much to offer — but are being overshadowed by the loud loonies in the party who are taking over and getting all the press. Birthers, “teaparty” protesters, town hall violence, hateful rhetoric, divisiveness and smear, Nazi signs, death threats against the President and his family and calling for uprisings seem to be OK within this party… this Republican party is not my party anymore. Beat into a frenzy by Fox News.

We complain about the liberals acting childish and hateful during the Bush years, well look again.

These cartoons are entertaining, but sad in their accuracy.

Comment from jim
Time August 16, 2009 at 7:31 pm

It\’s obvious that I am right and everyone else is wrong. So there.

Comment from John Dinwiddie
Time August 16, 2009 at 7:57 pm

I was born in 1940, and until recently I have felt safe expressing my
political opinions in public. Now I am being cautious. I don\’t like the
feeling, its implications, not at all.

I am a descendant of Israel Putnam, and a branch of my family built
the Empire State Building. My grandfather founded the company that
built the giant hangar in Santa Clara, and that company, no longer in
the family, recently built the Getty Museum. Several family members
have served in the military since General Putnam, most of them in
harm\’s way. Luckily, I was in the Army Security Agency in Germany
for three thankfully \"peaceful\" years, if one discounts the Cuban missile
crisis and a few other minor disturbances. It turns out that WWIII did
not happen then, because a Russian naval officer refused an order
to launch a tactical nuclear weapon. One word, \"nyet,\" saved the world.

My wife is German, was an infant in the RAF attack on Luebeck in 1942.
My Godfather, an OSS major, was in charge of Hermann Goering
immediately after his capture. We amount to a family with a wide
perspective on what makes democracies succeed, or failno

We are in almost unprecedented risk of failing. We know it. We
are not united. One half of us hates the other half with enough
passion to fuel a second civil war. A \"cold civil war\" in fact describes
our situation pretty well.

And hatred is fun.. Is it not? Ever play a video game about peace?
So go Read Robert Fisk\’s magnificent The Great War for Civilization.
Here, in one thousand terrifying pages you will learn everything that
can be put into words about genocide, chemical warfare, torture,
the whole bloody works that already implicate us, that we will use
on each other if we continue this dangerous degradation, this celebration
of all that is truly Un-American that so often comes to us wrapped in
our own flag. Then decide whether the rush of hatred that is for so
many a substitute for life itself is worth it.

.

Comment from Lucien
Time August 16, 2009 at 8:07 pm

Good grief. Have lived in the UK and the US and having seen a little of both health care systems, considering the choice between a comprehensive free at the pointy of use system and Americas third world solution, .. not too difficult.
Americas system is like an 18th or 19th century solution, what I saw was doctors having to freely give their time on a charitable basis to help the poor and a system run on literally a few dollars a week.
In the UK anyone can still buy health insurance and be treated in a private hospital, but like the US the insurer only wants you if your not sick, sick people don\’t make a good profit after all.
In the NHS health care is for everybody, its good quality, it might be a bit slow but health care is something you just don\’t need to worry about here. Yes its a single huge bureaucracy, but its divided into regions and being a single system its actually pretty efficient, - its also one of the least greedy and least corrupt in the world. In the UK health care costs something like 1/2 or 2/3 of what it costs in America per person. When it comes to treatment of the elderly again the socialist solution says that everyone deserves treatment and care and gives it.

Health care is a universal need, you might not need it today but no one ever knows tomorrow. - How many Americans end up going bankrupt over the costs of their health care? unless you\’re earning millions of dollars per year it could be you next. I\’m not saying the health system here is perfect but its one of the best in the world and its one of the best things out of this country.

On a hundred things America is the best in the world, but on health care its one of the worst in the developed world. Your health care system is wearing a clown face and its a joke. The sad thing is that Obama is being to cowardly about it - the only people to benefit from health insurance are insurance companies, the US army is a socialist organization so why not health care?. Get rid of health insurance completely. Insurance is just a type of gambling except you only win when you lose, the casino never likes paying out, and if you win to often they bar you and they always win in the end either way anyway.
[ / end rant ]

Comment from Carl
Time August 16, 2009 at 8:21 pm

I lose 35% of my paycheck every month to taxes, a retirement plan, and insurance (why my eyes and teeth aren\’t covered by my health insurance I have yet to have explained). My wife and I have spent our entire lives paying the bills, paying off our house, and covering all our expenses (including vacations and what some might consider frivolous stuff); and, we have never considered ourselves over-taxed. I am conservative in terms of fiscal issues, and very liberal in terms of social issues. We contribute to local nonprofits that we support. I consider myself a true Christian that abhors the hypocrisy of so many of the rabid right. Now that our house is paid off, we put that money into an indepentent investment accout to supplement our retirement account. It is shameful that we pay $8K a year for health care per person in the U.S. while the next highest amongst industrialized nations (Switzerland) pays only $4K a year. I find it shameful that Obama is backing off from doing the right thing in terms of providing decent health care for Americans, I also find it so incredibly perverse that so many opponents of health care reform have little to say other than to parrot the curent leaders of the repub. party, Paling, Limpbaugh, and the Fox noise folks.

Comment from Happy Camper
Time August 16, 2009 at 8:31 pm

Gene Basje, told you so, it didn’t take long. It’s Anonymous’ turn tonight and he/she appears with the epithets and name-calling: “xenophobic, irrational, violent, hateful, virulent, dangerous people”. Conservatives are invited to visit this site on rare occasions just to understand those who dwell in the liberal socialist asylum on this site. Anonymous speaks of “hateful rhetoric” among conservatives: POT….KETTLE BLACK? I do think, Anonymouse just recently learned Barry is backing away from the “public option”. Anonymouse sits reverently and enraptured at the feet of the incoherent Bobby Gibbs, as he interprets Barry’s lies, for those still mesmerized by his soaring, telepromptered rhetoric written by Davey Axelrod. These folks have been disappointed so many times in six months, but they insist on returning time and time again to the trough to gulp the Obama Kool-Aid, hoping they aren’t living a political nightmare…………… The nightmare has only begun……………………………………..Then, there’s Lucien, telling us our health system wears a clown face….Lucien, you’ve got enough problems in Jolly Olde Englande, solve those first!!!!!

Comment from Pete
Time August 16, 2009 at 8:45 pm

Justice. Lockwood. Intellectual insects of the world, unite!!

Comment from B. Burnett
Time August 16, 2009 at 9:29 pm

We keep seeing the phrase “Obama’s Health Care Plan”, but he has mostly left it to Congress to fashion reforms within rather broad parameters. To read or hear most commentators, Obama is personally pushing every detail being proposed, but this is nonsense. It is your elected reps in Congress who will stand up or wimp out on the specifics.

We saw what happened during the Clinton admin. when the White House drafted a plan for Congress to consider and revise. It was strangled in the crib and never received a serious public debate or meaningful consideration in Congress. Hillarycare might not have been the best plan, but it could have been much better had it been refined intelligently. However, fear and smear won the day that time. Hence why Obama has taken a more hands off approach.

There are bound to be many tradeoffs and compromises needed, as any meaningful reform proposal will have some drawbacks for someone. It seems we patriotic Americans owe every insurance company exec a third or fourth yacht.

I don’t see ANYONE assuming that dissenters who present serious arguments based on reality are any less intelligent or informed or independent that those who favor the proposals. But we HAVE seen that many of the shouters and disrupters are grossly mis-informed and have no valid arguments. Others are clearly part of an organized effort to block any meaningful reforms.

Comment from Happy Camper
Time August 16, 2009 at 10:42 pm

B. Burnett, you state that “many of the shouters and disrupters are grossly mis-informed and have no valid arguments”…..Others are clearly part of an organized effort to block any meaningful reforms”. Hey, Bucko, on this site such generalizations are not condoned or allowed; they must be verified. Awaiting the verification with bated breath………Yachts for insurance execs? How pithy! If the insurance companies go down the crapper with the banks, auto companies, et. al., and the government runs everything, who in the hell is going to generate a profit and create jobs???????????You libs have your heads so far up your backside, you need a glass navel to find your way home!!!!!!!!!! FYI: Obama takes a “hands off” approach to all controversy, because it’s politically expedient!!!! He’s just another politician who hoodwinked 52+ million suckers. Just think of Bernie Madoff and multiply it 100 million times………..
folks…much like Bernie Madoff………………

Comment from Glen
Time August 16, 2009 at 11:08 pm

Well, Monte, you were a bit unfair to depict those making loose objections (death panels, fascism, etc.) to health care reform as being merely puppets of the health industry profiteers. Many of these folks are honestly speaking their own minds with little, if any, manipulation by others. It is quite true that their minds may have been somewhat vacant in terms of knowledge, but it is equally possible that they are genetically challenged. It is not nice to make fun of folks with brain damage or genetic defects. That nice Kennedy girl that recently passed away would not approve.

Comment from poe3385
Time August 16, 2009 at 11:21 pm

the real issue here hasn’t been covered by the media at all, and it hasn’t been addressed in the substance of the legislation. only two or three of you have hit upon it in passing. the cost of healthcare is unacceptably high, so high as to prevent 75% of americans from being able to afford anything more han the most basic procedures. the solution proposed so far, is to shift the cost whether through a private racketeering group or a tax based slush fund. what drove the cost up in the first place, was it competition, was it profiteering, was it inefficiency, or some combination of the three? well you can look no further than those racketeering groups who are making money not just on the premiums we pay to recieve care but on the premiums that doctors are required to pay so that they can give care, even after making sometimes fatal mistakes.
i’m also not in favor of any plan that forces me, a healthy american making my own choices, to pay for the healthcare of some chain smoking, twinkie eating, idiot whose life is spent either sitting at his desk in his dead end no benefit job or sitting in front of the TV with a 30 pack eating cheetos.
Insurance created jobs for about 50 million americans out of thin air and the healthcare industry got the bill and they passed it on to the consumer, who bought more insurance. the benefits have been, more drugs and treatments, for a wide range of ailments, higher standards of care, and a greater degree of privacy. the costs have been that emergency rooms are flooded with people who could be treated better in a clinic setting, the privacy laws prevent doctors from treating patients based upon another doctors opinion or test results, and bad doctors can continue to practice medicine even after they’ve had multiple malpractice claims and maybe even killed a few people.
medicare isn’t any better because the people on it aren’t the ones funding it.
Private insurance is a scam, if the majority of us put the amount that we spend on insurance premiums into a savings account instead we could afford our own healthcare even at the inflated rates.
anybody who only sells promises ought to be called out for the liar they realy are.

Comment from hmike
Time August 17, 2009 at 4:00 am

The highest cost in the world, and rated 37th in the world for quality. What else need\’s to be said, something must change

Comment from Catherine Clark
Time August 17, 2009 at 6:46 am

I am an Independent voter. I have voted both ways in elections. I do lean more towards being conservative, but am very liberal on some issues. However, I do not believe that having government take over medical care is a good idea. Government cannot run ANY program without going broke (see Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.). It is not my job to pay for health care for those who are here illegally. We are struggling ourselves through my husbands throat cancer, and because the status quo medical establishment refuses to recognize that there are a goodly number of alternative cancer treatments out there that do not burn or poison while “curing,” my husband has suffered the loss of most of his swallowing apparatus. His daily struggle is heartbreaking to watch as he tries to learn to swallow again. I cannot think that this would in any way improve the situation with government run healthcare, which would mandate the cheapest drugs, when sometimes the brand is better. In the case of those with hormone deficiencies, bio0identical works better; many of us cannot tolerate the synthetics because there are just too many negative side effects. We need a thoughtfully planned healthcare reform that is truly reform, not a thrown up hastily improvised, ill-conceived bill that may have long term negative effects in itself. I care very much for my fellow human beings, but I do not believe that it is my responsibility to pay for those who chose to bypass our immigration laws and enter illegally. When you do that you are taking a huge risk that may not be worth taking. When you bypass the immigration laws then you must be personally responsible for the consequences.

Comment from Chuck
Time August 17, 2009 at 6:58 am

I have yet to hear an explanation why the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, those evil twins, are on board supporting Obamacare. Wow, there might be more profit supplying the govt.- maybe because they are losing “private customers” as the costs skyrocket and people lose benefits, but everyone will have Obamacare - millions more consumers in the fold. Sweet deal.
How many are looking forward to the day when a someone who studies for 12 years beyond high school, our best students, go to work as govt. doctors making a plumber’s or UAW worker’s paycheck just because they love to heal the sick. OK Dr. Jones, do a thousand bypasses in five years and you may be promoted to GS10, depending on your evaluation and personality tests.

Comment from Karl
Time August 17, 2009 at 7:14 am

It’s too bad that the conservatives I know think that the “price of freedom” is sending our young people off to die at war and when they don’t die they complain about having to pay for their medical treatment. They are all for spending trillions of dollars fighting unjustified wars but whine about taking care of the veterans who return needing care. They tout their religious morals with words and then refuse to put it into practice.

INSURANCE COMPANIES are the national evil not the government.

Comment from GRay
Time August 17, 2009 at 10:06 am

I have no strings. I have a mind of my own. NO socialist government has ever succeded without restricting the citizens( LOSS OF FREEDOM). I don’t need nor want Pelosi’s nor Obama’s nose up my butt nor in my business.

Comment from Lorna
Time August 17, 2009 at 10:20 am

I think that if we look simply at doctor, hospitalization and medication costs, we are missing a whole lot that snowballs into them. I seriously don\\\’t have enough information to shout at a meeting or blindly follow one or another politician in to whichever hell one wishes the other.

I need more information, not rhetoric. I would like to see a thoughtful reporting and financial analysis of government costs associated with:
- The Food &amp; Drug Administration
- National Institutes of Health
- Federal &amp; State accreditation agencies for hospitals, nursing homes, etc.
- Federal &amp; State licensing of all health care professionals (Doctors, pharmacists, technicians, nurses, certified nurse assistants and on and on)
- Federal &amp; State influence on \\\’formularies\\\’ that allow or disallow certain patients to use the medications their doctors prescribe.

And then there is the boatload of money for grants and scholarships for students aspiring to medical professions. Once again, not a bad thing, but something to be considered when adding up tax payer supported cost of healthcare – even with a plethora of profitable private insurers (who, by the way, are also regulated by government which incurs a healthcare cost born by the government and passed on to consumers).

All bad? Of course not. Over-bureaucratic? Probably. But has anyone weighed what centralization or consolidation of these taxpayer funded, healthcare expenses would offset if new models were put in place? I would love to hear more of the bigger picture; a start-to-finish picture, of the current extent of government healthcare spending and the projected savings or added expense.

Comment from GRay
Time August 17, 2009 at 11:19 am

Dear Karl,
Is your last name MARX?

Congress is already supposed to take care of these fighting men through the Veterans Admin. CONGRESS is doing a lousy job at this. You seriously think that Congress will do a better job with your health issues?

Off the topic, WHY DOES OBAMA HATE SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE? WHY DOES HE WANT TO TAKE THEIR PERSONNAL PROPERTY?

Comment from JP
Time August 17, 2009 at 11:22 am

Why am I against the healthcare act?
I have an Masters in finance.
I look at the numbers.
I don\’t see anyway, even given the rosiest economic projections for this country, that this act cannot add debilitating, if not destructive, debt to this country.

Sorry. No rant, no rave, no racist comments, no insults, no liberal vs. conservatives.

Just the numbers.

Comment from joseph martin
Time August 17, 2009 at 11:30 am

So if I understand correctly, you are saying that I don’t have the right to oppose a plan to spread my money around to the have-nots. I worked in the health insurance industry for 8 years and I saw them provide health care to millions at a fraction of the cost of the Medicare-Medicaid government program. Sure their are ways to improve the status quo, but I haven’t seen them yet in any of the liberal proposals! I can right my own suggestions right off the cuff, all you folks give me more of your hard earned income and I will do better with it than you ever will! Think that will fly? Joe

Comment from Carol D
Time August 17, 2009 at 12:05 pm

It’s the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper all over again. The Ant works all summer long raising and collecting food for the winter, building his house and preparing for the Winter to come. A cold wind blows and the Grasshopper is at the Ant’s door begging to come in and share the Ant’s home and food during the winter, which he never worked or saved for when he could have, the moment the gigantic Ant enters he destroys the Ant’s home by his being larger than the accommodations size and quickly eats up all the Ant’s food.

Conservatives of all stripes including poor Conservatives resent anyone taking all they have carefully saved and worked for as much as middle income and high income Conservatives.

It has been said that all the trouble in the world is caused by 20-22% of the population you will find them in prisons, in all walks of life and apparently in Congress. And, by the way ,on page 167 of the Health Care House Bill, it calls for a NEW national TAX on people with “unacceptable” health care plans. What ever happened to there will be no new taxes. This implies to me that any time congress or the President finds something, like making a profit, unacceptable, you and I can expect to have our pockets raped.

We need to go to the “FairTax”, read about it and push to get it put in and the IRS put out. With the “FairTax” we could not only cover Social Security, Medicaid and all the other social programs if Congress will stop acting like a Giant Grasshopper. Vote in the elections for Conservatives whether Republican, Libertarian, Constitutionalists, etc. and Make Sure They Understand that acting like Liberal Fools with our money, military and trying to take away our Constitutionally guaranteed rights, same rights for all of us, will send them home to live under the laws they made without any return to office on the next Election cycle.

Read about the “FairTax” it is available on line, in a book store or in a used book store or perhaps at your friend’s house. The “FairTax” would also give incentive to illegal aliens to get on the path to citizenship because all citizens of the US would get a prebate check covering the average person’s tax for food, clothing, medical expense each month. If you are really poor, that is money up front you wouldn’t have had before.

I grant you there are abuses, purloined funds and other peculiarities due to lack of commonsense and political favors being paid. These need to be stopped. We need to go over all systems in health care to root out problems, waste in spending, etc.

Post election distribution of Czarships ( the name alone is a revelation of the thought process), jobs and any other influence to $$ supporters needs to be stopped. Politicians are supposed to be there to serve all of the people whether they voted for them, and/or contributed to their campaigns.

If the schools would go back to teaching the basics in taking care of ourselves, homes (repairs & basics of building i.e. shop, electric theory and application, growing gardens, cooking and child care, it would help.

We also need to tie basic education K, 1-12 to moving on directly to technical school or college and help people find jobs or retrain for different jobs, it would help.

I would like to see all K-12 in uniforms and the teachers too, for security purposes, if you look down a hallway and see someone not dressed as prescribed, you can bet that person doesn’t belong there. It would also save on $$ to the parents not to mention that it would cut down on the distractions from the course material from arguments, teasing and you can’t tell who is rich or poor.

Now, with all the electronic sensing devices, there could be a system of implanting a chip in a child’s clothing or a name tag which could help locate a child if he/she goes missing, it could possibly range for a few miles around the school.

Comment from Kevin Dalman
Time August 17, 2009 at 1:18 pm

@Joseph, re: “I worked in the health insurance industry for 8 years and I saw them provide health care to millions at a fraction of the cost of the Medicare-Medicaid government program.”

Your claim of ‘cost effectiveness’ is not born out by the facts - every study says the exact opposite. Hospital emergency rooms are spending a *fortune* treating the uninsured. Emergency care is the MOST EXPENSIVE way to provide health care. Most of the people coming in would be much better served by a relatively inexpensive family physician - if they could afford one.

Plus, because they have no doctor, the under-insured let small problems become big problems before they seek care, often increasing the cost of care 100-times. Prevention and early care is the best AND most cost-efffective way to provide healthcare. This is an undisputed fact.

So the uninsured clog the system in the worst places, driving up costs dramatically. This ‘last resort’ mindset not only causes a vast amount of unneccessary suffering, but it costs YOU and everyone else person A LOT MORE than it would to have these people properly insured and cared for. Hospitals do not print money - all these extra costs come from either YOUR insurance premiums or YOUR tax dollars. So you are ALREADY paying for these people - the only difference is that you are paying in the least-efficient way possible abd getting the lowest possible value for your money. This is the reality.

This is one reason why insurance premiums are skyrocketing, and will soon become unaffordable for millions more. Things are getting worse by the day - literally. So as a purely capitalistic, selfish business decision, the current system is a losing strategy. It is making the US less competitive and poorer - financially, morally and in quality of life.

Do you really think having one of the most unhealthy populations, with low average life expectancy, and high rates of preventable death is in any way a ‘good thing’. So you like *wasting money* by spending in the most inefficent way possible? If not, then where are your idea? Statments like this do not qualify as ideas:

“I have the right to oppose a plan to spread my money around to the have-nots”

Yes, you have the right to be a selfish bastard who doesn’t give a damn about your fellow Americans. And I have the right to criticize your for it, don’t I? Apparently Americans have completely forgotten the principals their forefathers believed in…

Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free…

Sad. Very very sad.

Comment from Don
Time August 17, 2009 at 3:16 pm

People are shouting back and forth about socialism and public care without stopping to think and listen. Well, maybe some are listening to Right Wing Radio blabbermouths and haven’t thought this through.

Every elected official, their family members, and most of their appointees are given free medical and dental care courtesy of US, er, us–the taxpayers. We subsidize those we elected who drink from the public trough, yet scream that the medical care they receive shouldn’t be shared with us. Something is very, very wrong.

The reason why Democrats and Republicans alike are singing a similar tune that public health insurance is bad, but private plans are good is because the big guys are funding their campaigns. If our representatives and senators don’t shimmy and shake on the lobbyists’ dance cards they know that they’d be in the same sinking ship we’re (the public ) on.

Basic fact: Government was established to provide life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to the electorate. It is supposed to be a non-profit operation. On the other hand, private industry is in business to make a profit–regardless of who it hurts. If you’re in an accident or have a medical emergency and need care, a lot of hospitals won’t treat you if you have no insurance or no visable means of paying. Public facilities have to admit you. How many of you would disagree with or dispute this? Insurance firms who deny claims or treatment because of some phony “pre-existing” condition are doing so to keep their profit margins high–regardless of whether or not the patient suffers or dies.

When we want an education we go to public schools and colleges. When we need a fire put out or protection from crime we call the fire department and the police. Even the army, navy, marines, air force and coast guard are provided by public funds. Imagine if you had to depend on private firms to protect you and your family members and they determine that doing so isn’t profitable to their bottom line. So what’s the shouting all about when we get to discussing universal health care?

Think of being away from home in another city, state, or country and suffer a medical emergency. What are your chances of getting treatment if you don’t have coverage in all instances? Stop shouting and start thinking. Rush, Sean, Ann, and Bill are getting taken care of. Aren’t you just as important?

Comment from sunita
Time August 17, 2009 at 3:28 pm

Mr. Wolverton,

I have observed, that Cartoonists, artists, movie actors, politicians, etc earn so much more with minimum effort. And thats a fact. Thinking 100 hours to make 1 Cartoon or doing 50 retakes for a 5 min shot is hard work then think again. We the common hard working middle class people have to work daily routines and make sure they are right every single time, the first time. If it is wrong even once then, it is noted in our report books. Its definitely not like you that if you draw a line a little out of sync then you just erase it and draw it again. Or like those great actor friends of yours who waste 10 hours retaking shots, wasting film, time and other resources in the process. Or like your politician friends, who make a mistake, wasting public tax dollars and then try to correct it by increasing taxes on us.
Mr. Wolverton, I think it is this ease of high income (We will call it the Have’s) that makes you feel guilty towards the poor (Lets call it Have Not’s).
So these dumb, Have’s who make easy money feel guilty of cheating the public of their hard earned money, then try to cover up their guilt by trying to force the hard working middle class people out of their hard earned money in the name of health-care, environment, Nature, global warming, poverty, etc, etc.
I agree, its a good cause to think of your fellow citizens in the name of christ, for the sake of humanity, for whatever other reasons. Great, appreciate it.
But do it with your money. Dont force every other person to follow you.
You feel you are guilty of robbing people of their hard earned money, so give it away. Don’t try to hide your guilt, by forcing the same people who pay for buying your drawings or watching your friends movies, or who vote for your politician friends to go bankrupt.
By the way can I ask who is pulling your strings to paint the common man as puppets?
Do you really think that people who work hard to earn their money are dumb?
Or Do you think they are dumb because they buy and praise your cartoons even though you personally think they are stupid paintings?
Whatever the Case Mr. Wolf, remember when we buy your cartoons, we buy it of our own will, nobody forces us to buy it, not even you.
When we watch your friends movies we do it of our own will.
Similarly when we vote for your masters, we do that too with our own will.
That in no way gives you the right to force us to do something that we do not want to do.
And if you are intelligent enough, you will see that a public health plan that your Master Obama is planning to float around is nothing but forcing the people to pay against their will.
Hope you understand the simple logic.
And refrain your brain from thinking of us independent, hard working middle class people as puppets.
We are protesting because we are being forced to do something against our will.
Those who want to pay for the illegal aliens are free to do so.
But those of us who do not want to pay for them, should not be forced.
Thats it.
Hope that clarifies our stand and sheds some light on your stupid ignorance about our protests.
I am against violent protests, but I think that may be because your politician friends when talked to politely, tend to make fun of our valid concerns.
We could see how you were frustrated when somebody wrote against your puppet cartoon and called all the free will supporters “Corn-servatives”, on the similar vein, when your politician friends and you too, do the same how do you expect us to take it without any frustration or any protests?
Are you trying to make a flourishing society for the future or a society of zombies who follow all your dumb commands?
I hated the word Pin-heads till I read your comment above.
But here I have no doubts, the word PIN HEAD Wolf Fits perfectly.

Comment from Noelle K
Time August 17, 2009 at 3:37 pm

Just last week an Explorer full of 10 illegal aliens drove through our county. They wrecked the vehicle and all 10 of them needed medical help. Six ambulances were called to the scene. Only one illegal alien spoke some English. Once at the hospital it was determined that one person needed to be sent by medical helicopter to another hospital. I am sorry that these people were hurt but who will pay for their care now? I really don\’t think that it will be them.
On the other hand I used to work part time, stay at home with my young children and helped my husband on our farm until health insurance and health care became to expensive for us. We could afford the insurance premiums but not the health care. Our children went to the doctor as needed, however my husband & I did not until he finally went in for a check up because he did not feel well. They found a heart problem & then needed surgery. Try finding decent, affordable health insurance after that. Our carrier at the time Mutual of Omaha was thinning out its member pool. After the surgery, health insurance cost us over $7000 a year just for him. I now work full time which is fine because we have health care now & it is like gold to us. However, we still have young children at home that I would have like to been with & a husband now that does all the farm work on his own. It may sound like I am whining but I can tell you that health care is only for the rich in our country and also maybe the illegal aliens.

Comment from Patrick
Time August 17, 2009 at 4:08 pm

It sounds more like you don’t care about other American Citizens. You would prefer that we all suffer from insufficient health care that is run by an entity whose track record running things is an absolute and fully horrible boondoggle mess. See Social Security that is actually a PONZI scheme that is almost bankrupt. Freddy and Fannie is a failure, the Stimulus package is a failure. Medicare and Medicaid are awful, and the post office, who the President loves to compare his health care with, lost over 7 billion dollars last year. They took over Amtrack and it is a money pit that has NEVER made a profit since we took them over. The GOVERNMENT is NOT the answer to our problems, Government IS the problem (Ronald Reagan). You are simply a dumbocrat lemming just like those replies to your stupid cartoon said.

Comment from Don
Time August 17, 2009 at 4:17 pm

Everyone\’s shouting, but is anyone listening? Those who bemoan the fact that if universal health care were implemented in this country say it would be socialism. We already have it in one form or another and don\’t even think about it. When you want an education you can go to a public school or college. If your home is burning or someone is about to do you harm you call the fire department or the police. If you want to get a book, DVD, information, or use a computer, you use a library. All these services are provided by the government. We\’re also protected by the army, navy, airforce, marines, and the coast guard. Yet, we quibble about public medical care?

If you\’re away from home in another city, state, or country and have a medical emergency. I feel sorry for the person in this country who may be turned away because of not having the correct insurance or no viable way to pay for the treatment. You\’re safe in almost all other countries–including Cuba even as a tourist!

FACT: Government, a non-profit entity, was established to provide us with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and to keep its citizens from harm. On the other hand, private industry was established to make a profit. That\’s why insurance companies came up with the phony pre-existing clause to deny treatment, regardless of whether or not the patient suffers or dies. The bottom line dictates life or death. So who is in the death squad? Public agencies have no choice but to treat even if it\’s hopeless. This is why we rely on paramedics and not private vendors.

Get a grip[: we already have \"socialized\" medicine in this country. All elected representatives, their family members, and most appointees have medical and dental care courtesy of US, er, us. Yet, our reps and senators don\’t want us to have the same coverage because, (gasp!) IT\’S SOCIALISM! Whether Democrat or Republican, they are on the private insurance lobbyists\’ dance cards and fear that the campaign money will dry up if they don\’t play the game or do the dance.

Finally, those of you who are hypnotized by Rush, Bill, Ann, or Sean who espouse, \"Just say no!\" to public health care remember, they don\’t have to worry about healthcare either. Their jobs are secure and I doubt if they even have to pay for their hotel stays or food when they eat out.

Comment from GRay
Time August 17, 2009 at 5:15 pm

Kevin, instead of facilitating the underachievers, TEACH them a marketable skill and empower them to make ALL their own decisions. Liberals want to give them a fish. I want them to learn how to fish. My way is superior.

Comment from Rupert
Time August 17, 2009 at 5:25 pm

I see you and many of your cartoonist ilk are really getting after the “Birthers.” Just like you all really went after the 9/11 Truthers. I mean, hardly a day went by when you weren’t mocking the 9/11 Truthers, right? Or not.
As always, you love to mock right-wing wackos, but your silence toward left-wing wackos is deafening.

Comment from BarbaraM
Time August 18, 2009 at 9:21 am

I would like to commend you on your cartoons, they are excellent. During Obama’s campaign I received right wing emails by the hundreds maligning him and all Democrats. At first I ignored them, or just answered with words. Eventually I began to search for a site where I could answer these cartoons with some of my own. I searched in vain. I finally decided that evidently it is only Republicans who have time to sit around and come up with these comics, Democrats are too busy tending to business.
Imagine my surprise however, to come across your site. I am ecstatic to find liberals do have a sense of humor. Thank you.

Comment from Kevin Dalman
Time August 18, 2009 at 5:04 pm

GRay, re: “Kevin, instead of facilitating the underachievers, TEACH them a marketable skill … Liberals want to give them a fish. I want them to learn how to fish. My way is superior”

That’s a lovely sentiment, but unfortunately we have to deal with the real world - not fantasy land.

In the real world. education costs a lot more than healthcare. Since you aren’t willing to have your tax dollars used to save the life of a low income earner, do you seriously expect me to believe you’d pay for their education? The same cry of “socialism” would be heard for that as well.

In the real world, 50-million Americans don’t have insurance TODAY, and thousands more join this group *every single day*. How does you ‘idea’ help those that will get sick or injured BEFORE your magical transformation of the American working class?

In the real world, many of the under-insured are NOT poor - at least not until a sick parent, child or spouse forces them into bankrupcy because their insurance was ‘capped’. Will you teach these people to “fish” too?

In the real world, Americans spend more on healthcare than anyone, yet have some of the worst health. Fee for service encourages doctors to focus on quantity, not quality or wellness. The system encourages and rewards the wrong things. How does your idea address this systematic problem?

In the real world, competition is supposed to be GOOD. Yet insurance companies have virtual monopolies in some regions. The same people who say the government is incapable of running an insurance plan, also claim they will do such a good job that it will put for-profit insurers out of business. Apparently the US government is simultaneously the most inept government in the world, and the best. Amazing!

In the real world, transformative change requires upfront investment and time for those investments to pay dividends. Anyone who thinks you can reform a multi-trillion dollar industry without signficant investment needs to take courses in business 101 - and definately stay away from the stock market!

Other than a few legitimate concerns that could easily be addressed, most of what I keep hearing are excuses and fear-mongering. *Somehow*, the US government is going to become a dictatorship and every American is going to lay down and take it. It’s the same thing that was said when Medicare was created. It was absurd then and it’s absurd now.

Societies must evolve or fall behind. Right now, the US is falling behind the rest of the developed world, and its time to catch up. The current health insurance system has already bankrupted the US auto industry, and it will continue hurting US competitiveness if things stay the same. Fear of change is not a valid excuse, and slogans like “teach a man to fish” are not a substitute for action.

Comment from Barbara Dalman
Time August 18, 2009 at 6:51 pm

Are you serious kevin? Do you seriously believe healthcare is cheaper than education?
I cant imagine paying 100\’s of dollars for tax every year for healthcare instead of paying only a few 100 every year for 4 years (considering a Bachelors degree).
Cant imagine people spreading such lies openly.
Do you really think you are only one who knows math and uses his brain?
Pleaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzz stop thinking people are stupid or people are dumb.
Unlike this Cartoonist who lives in a Utopian world, we live in a real world, where we worked hard to earn our education and then worked harder to get a job and sustain it.
We worked hard to research before we invested our hard earned money, unlike most of you dumb idiots who throw there money at every flashing, sparkling object.
And Kevin, it is this lying every now and then by people like you, who increase our doubts about the legitimacy of your claims.
It is this spreading of false information that makes us more suspicious.
It is this irrational, illogical explanations that make us resist your claims.
Hope you dim wits understand the real reasons why you are having hard time spreading socialism.

Comment from Bull
Time August 18, 2009 at 7:10 pm

I don’t think you stepped on a sensitive nerve; I think you pancaked on an open wound! I don’t believe people who oppose HR 3200 and its companion pieces are string led puppets. They are more the kind with someone’s hand up their backside where a spine is supposed to be. It is “fear” that motivates their opposition, an unreasoning, unthinking, uncritical fear of the unknown, of uncertainty and of change. There are three doors facing them and they are afraid to open any of those doors because of the possibility that on the other side of the door they choose they will find something that will threaten their pursuit of happiness. So they brace themselves against all three doors, refusing to allow them to open. It is called a cell. In the name of freedom of choice they have chosen the freedom to remain imprisoned for the security of having others choose for them.

Comment from CHRIS
Time August 19, 2009 at 7:31 am

the only reason why conservatives don’t want health care reform is they’d rather people die if the alternative means they have to pay another penny in taxes.

Comment from Chrissy
Time August 20, 2009 at 9:55 pm

Yaddi Yaddi Yadda Yadda Chris. You are talking as if your healthcare is saving a lot of lives all around the world.
Whats the use of healthcare where for a simple x-ray you have to wait for 3 months. and for a simple toothache you have to wait for 5 months. Doesnt seem like pain has any value in Health management for you. Just check out NHS wait list on the internet for UK and the wait list for Canadian health care.
God bless dumb red necks like you.
Oh and isnt it easy to blame the repubs for everything that you dont understand. Always the easy way out for the dumb dems. You dont want to work hard and you dont want anybody else to work hard.

Comment from Anonymous
Time November 3, 2009 at 4:02 pm

Just to clarify something that I noticed written. Jeff Barbakow was a Executive with Tenet Healthcare Corporation that owns and operates Hospitals. The person said he was a insurance executive. Tenet is not a insurance company!. I know this because I worked for the company for 14 years in Human Resources as was the HR Manager when he was in office!