The best part of this is that while Big Pharma is off fighting the good fight on health care, they've been losing ground on their fight against the legalization of cannabis.

Can someone explain to me why we just couldn't say to the insurance companies,

"look, we're going to insure everyone at a minimal level. You want a piece of the pie? Here's what we're gonna pay. You want a few million people, you got 'em. You don't want it, we see if the next insurance company does"?

Combine that with a sliding-scale for premiums that ties in with employment status, cover all kids for just about everything, cover adults for catastrophic health and wellness visits, and it's a done deal.

It'd be insurance covering kids (which virtually everyone thinks is a good idea), but the coverage on adults would be just sucky enough that people would jump onto a "real" plan the first chance they got.

Where in here am I missing something? It's government-funded universal coverage (which the lefties insist on), administered by private insurance (which the righties insist on), and besides, it's federal funds paid directly to huge, rich corporations (the Right tends not to mind the corporate type of welfare...). Would that really be more expensive than the 1900+page clusterfark that Madame P has come up with?

I think you could even have "choice" with this thing. Let individuals decide which government-funded plan they wanted to join, and let (within federal guidelines) the insurance companies offer "perks" to entice people to sign up with their plan. One insurance company might pony up a dental visit a year, while another one might give an allowance towards prescription drugs, or vision care, or something like that.

Couple this with guaranteed coverage (no pre-existing exclusions, with insurance companies sharing in their own insurance pool to spread the pain of expensive-to-treat enrollees) and you have the 1 page dahmers love zombie universal health insurance plan. Though it should probably be called something else.

Well to be honest, had the blue dog democrats actually just toed the party line on Health Care, they could have gotten a LOT of sweet deals from the whitehouse.

Darth_Lukecash: Well to be honest, had the blue dog democrats actually just toed the party line on Health Care, they could have gotten a LOT of sweet deals from the whitehouse.

No one ever accused the Blue Dogs of being particularly bright. How much time and energy did Max Baucus waste to get zero Republican votes?

Darth_Lukecash: Well to be honest, had the blue dog democrats actually just toed the party line on Health Care, they could have gotten a LOT of sweet deals from the whitehouse.

A lot of them rode Obama's coattails to victory last November. They should be toeing the party line because they owe it to them.

This is really fun. Could the Dems screw it up any worse?

Hick: This is really fun. Could the Dems screw it up any worse?

[meaningless pic]

So is Hick just another useless troll or does he think some pathetic tagged pic with no reasoning or explanation actually supports any argument at all?

Anyone ever notice that a ton of the fark independents love to just post pics alone to try and make a point? These are the type of geniuses that think bumper stickers can advance a debate.

fritton: Hick: This is really fun. Could the Dems screw it up any worse?

[meaningless pic]

So is Hick just another useless troll or does he think some pathetic tagged pic with no reasoning or explanation actually supports any argument at all?

Anyone ever notice that a ton of the fark independents love to just post pics alone to try and make a point? These are the type of geniuses that think bumper stickers can advance a debate.

dahmers love zombie: Can someone explain to me why we just couldn't say to the insurance companies, ETC etc


Cause insurance doesn't work like other industries. You pay them, and they hope you don't use the service. When you do use it, they lose money. So they only insure those that they can make a profit off of.

Insurance companies don't want to insure everyone because that would cost them money instead of increasing profits.

Essentially, the insurance companies would tell the gov't. "Um, we'll pass thanks."

fritton: Hick: This is really fun. Could the Dems screw it up any worse?

[meaningless pic]

So is Hick just another useless troll or does he think some pathetic tagged pic with no reasoning or explanation actually supports any argument at all?

Anyone ever notice that a ton of the fark independents love to just post pics alone to try and make a point? These are the type of geniuses that think bumper stickers can advance a debate.

It's an aftershock of the hardcore trolling from the election season.

Jamespoon: Darth_Lukecash: Well to be honest, had the blue dog democrats actually just toed the party line on Health Care, they could have gotten a LOT of sweet deals from the whitehouse.

A lot of them rode Obama's coattails to victory last November. They should be toeing the party line because they owe it to them.


No the rode the public's frustration with Bush and the republican party to victory last year. With no republicans in power anymore those frustrated voters are starting to realize that the democrats aren't any better.

It's actually rather funny democrats are laughing there asses off as republicans like palin and limbaugh are purging their moderates declaring them traitors.

While at the exact same time the democrats like are are making all kinds of threats their moderates proclaiming the "greatest threat since Bush" and in the end will give away their super majority next year.

Curse of the Goth Kids: fritton: Hick: This is really fun. Could the Dems screw it up any worse?

[meaningless pic]

So is Hick just another useless troll or does he think some pathetic tagged pic with no reasoning or explanation actually supports any argument at all?

Anyone ever notice that a ton of the fark independents love to just post pics alone to try and make a point? These are the type of geniuses that think bumper stickers can advance a debate.

[insane pic]


That one made me laugh... you get a pass.

skyrous: ...and in the end will give away their super majority next year.

A supermajority that can't protect one of your flagship policy initiatives from a filibuster really isn't much of a supermajority now is it?

I'd also hasten to point out that currently the Dems have room to trim a little fat whereas the GOP most certainly does not.

All that said though I do agree that some of the internal criticism over here does sound uncomfortably similar to Republicans' familiar paranoid ravings about OMG RINOS; hopefully after this contentious healthcare rhubarb is over with we can go back to not doing that.

fritton: Curse of the Goth Kids: fritton: Hick: This is really fun. Could the Dems screw it up any worse?

[meaningless pic]

So is Hick just another useless troll or does he think some pathetic tagged pic with no reasoning or explanation actually supports any argument at all?

Anyone ever notice that a ton of the fark independents love to just post pics alone to try and make a point? These are the type of geniuses that think bumper stickers can advance a debate.

[insane pic]


That one made me laugh... you get a pass.

Pharmaceutical companies aren't worried. They have millions more customers on the way, and are going to get a huge chunk of that $900 billion pie.

fritton: Curse of the Goth Kids: fritton: Hick: This is really fun. Could the Dems screw it up any worse?

[meaningless pic]

So is Hick just another useless troll or does he think some pathetic tagged pic with no reasoning or explanation actually supports any argument at all?

Anyone ever notice that a ton of the fark independents love to just post pics alone to try and make a point? These are the type of geniuses that think bumper stickers can advance a debate.

[insane pic]


That one made me laugh... you get a pass.

Harpo is unhateable. =D

blah blah blah blah democrats yada yada yada yada republicans blah blah blah blah


hey kids, THIS JUST IN:
THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM IS A CORPORATE SCAM. NEITHER PARTY REPRESENTS YOU (UNLESS YOU'RE RICH, AND EVEN THEN, YOU'D BETTER PLAY BALL WITH THE TEAM)

Now get back to work, you have debts to pay, farkers.

fritton: These are the type of geniuses that think bumper stickers can advance a debate.




¿Qué LOL?

fritton: Anyone ever notice that a ton of the fark independents love to just post pics alone to try and make a point? These are the type of geniuses that think bumper stickers can advance a debate.

FlukeBoy: blah blah blah blah democrats yada yada yada yada republicans blah blah blah blah


hey kids, THIS JUST IN:
THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM IS A CORPORATE SCAM. NEITHER PARTY REPRESENTS YOU (UNLESS YOU'RE RICH, AND EVEN THEN, YOU'D BETTER PLAY BALL WITH THE TEAM)

Now get back to work, you have debts to pay, farkers.

oh, that and Harpo does rule.

perfect pic: 4 stars. Free internets and all that.

fritton: Hick: This is really fun. Could the Dems screw it up any worse?

[meaningless pic]

So is Hick just another useless troll or does he think some pathetic tagged pic with no reasoning or explanation actually supports any argument at all?

Anyone ever notice that a ton of the fark independents love to just post pics alone to try and make a point? These are the type of geniuses that think bumper stickers can advance a debate.

Thanks to fritton, this is now a WTF pics thread. I give you this one, from pictureisunrelated.com:

damn, you're quick.

Hiro Nakamura: Thanks to fritton, this is now a WTF pics thread. I give you this one, from pictureisunrelated.com:

jeebus. I....it...whaaat the fark????

come on you guys, I've been drinking. go slow. take it easy.

seriously, what is going on with that guy's face?

FlukeBoy: seriously,