Lawnchair: The biggest difference with Singapore isn't just the rarity of sick people (because they are sent home), it's that you *always* know the cost of a medical procedure.

It's not just Singapore. When I needed cancer surgery in 2004 I tried to get quotes from two Urologists in the Northwest. Not a word. I got a quote from a medical tourism operator in Germany and went there. They can do that because although most insurance in Germany is tied to employment like it is here, the insurers and providers negotiate prices every year or two.

The medical tourism operator can get the hospital's price, add a profit margin, and extras such as transportation and the use of an interpretor when needed, and come up with a firm price.

Darth_Lukecash: jehovahs witness protection: We like the hell out of him, but people on the left HATE him because he isn't their expectations of what a black man should be. They are the racists. Anyone who disagrees with Obama is racist in liberals' eyes...even if they back another black person.

Nah, we hate him because he's GOP ignorant conservative - nothing to do with him being black.

Colin Powell had potential- then he screwed up with the Iraq war.

We get it, farklibtards. He's black.

dahmers love zombie: So...black guy, doesn't want to pay his fair share, and is handy with a knife.  Am I missing something particularly special here?

/that'll do it

Libs will just call him an Uncle Tom.

SlothB77: The difference is in 2016 it isn't gonna be a black republican against a black democrat.  It would be a black republican against a white democrat.  Are those districts in Philadelphia gonna vote 100% democrat in that scenario?

dafuq?

yeah nice try GOP.   but no dice.

Kevin72: This was more a northern dig at southern-style racism while also haw-hawing the plight of blacks, but circa 1975 college aged a friend riddled "What do they call a black neurosurgeon in Alabama?" The answer of course was "Ni##er". Anyway, now we've got a black neurosurgeon to find out.

The correct answer is "boy". It makes the joke-teller seem less racist, and it's slightly subtler, making it funnier. Add to it that calling a black male "boy" in the south just might be more offensive than calling him a n*gg*r.

The bible talks about tithing, yes. But doesn't Jesus kinda rail on the rich for either not giving enough to the Church, or having too much money to begin with?\

Kinda RTFA.

Darth_Lukecash: jehovahs witness protection: We like the hell out of him, but people on the left HATE him because he isn't their expectations of what a black man should be. They are the racists. Anyone who disagrees with Obama is racist in liberals' eyes...even if they back another black person.

Nah, we hate him because he's GOP ignorant conservative - nothing to do with him being black.

Colin Powell had potential- then he screwed up with the Iraq war.

Liberals believe in everyone having the freedom to believe exactly the way they do.

GilRuiz1: What, Ben Carson made it to FARK?

*checks link*

Holy molly, Ben Carson! That guy gets:

BATMAN RESPECT KNUCKLES
[www.personal.psu.edu image 254x374]

Let me guess. It's because he's a dumbass creationist like you?

AdolfOliverPanties: Carson told Sean Hannity on Fox News, "If the Lord grabbed me by the collar and made me do it, I would. It's not my intention." Hannity replied, "I would vote for you in a heartbeat."

Strike one:  Hannity
Strike two: Believes God could tell him personally to be president
Strike three: Hannity

Strike 4: another flat tax retard.

"Some people say, 'Well that's not fair because it doesn't hurt the guy who made $10 billion as much as the guy who made 10.' Where does it say you've got to hurt the guy? He just put a billion dollars in the pot. We don't need to hurt him," Carson said.

We don't want to hurt the top guy, you idiot.  The point of a progressive tax is to NOT hurt the small guy, not to hurt the top guy.  The top guy, having to spend a little more in taxes, is not hurt because  he can still live a high quality of life while the little guy can still put food on the table.

randomjsa: Yes, we'll need to protect this man and his reputation from the most insidious destructive force in America.

Liberals. Liberals who will stoop to any low and do anything to destroy any minority who disagrees with them. If you want to see racism, be a minority that disagrees with a liberal.

Ah, I see you have gone with the Rove project your own worst personal flaws on to your enemy method here.

2/10 while it can still work, it was overused last election cycle. I expect more from you, try something fresh.
See me after class and we can sign you up for a mentor program.

ps69: He wants to base our tax policy on the bible.

I'll bet that doesn't include forgiveness of debt and re-division of land every 50 years.

"This fiftieth year is sacred-it is a time of freedom and of celebration when everyone will receive back their original property, and slaves will return home to their families. "

Dwight_Yeast: Any medical doctor who opposes universal healthcare should be taken out and beaten with a caduceus.

So, most of them? Here's an idea, if you want doctors to support universal health care.

1) become a doctor
2) continue supporting universal health care

stevetherobot: When it comes to taxes, Carson pushed for a flat income tax by citing the biblical concept of tithing. "Some people say, 'Well that's not fair because it doesn't hurt the guy who made $10 billion as much as the guy who made 10.' Where does it say you've got to hurt the guy? He just put a billion dollars in the pot. We don't need to hurt him,"

Except that people aren't complaining about not hurting the guy who made $10 billion. They are pointing out that a flat tax hurts the guy who made $10, while not significantly affecting the guy who made $10 billion.

Lol because taxes are all about hurting people.....fing clown

Dwight_Yeast: However, I can tell you for a fact that the older, whiter parts of South Philly voted for McCain and maybe for Romney because Obama is an "eggplant".

... that is not a euphemism I have ever heard before. I can guess at its meaning due to the context, but... wha?

/Also I suspect you are right about Sloth, I suppose I just wanted to hear it from his mouth. After all! Pointing out any perceived racism means YOU'RE the real racist! That's how it works, right?

HotWingConspiracy: k1j2b3: I think you all missed what the HSA idea was about. Instead of paying into Medicare our whole lives, that would be put into a personal HSA account. At least, that was the basic idea. Dr. Carson said that there was more detail to it than that, so he was just throwing out an idea.

I think this makes sense. It would be in lieu of health insurance. You spend in on medical needs as necessary throughout life. It would be up to the elderly person with a lot to spend in his HSA account, if he wanted that knee replacement at 90 or a quadruple bypass at 85, or if he'd rather not spend that money and pass it on to his family.

Now, I see do see a problem with this simplified explanation. What happens to the baby at 2 years old that needs heart surgery and doesn't have enough money in an HSA?  I'd be curious to hear more about the whole idea.

Or you know, ANYONE that needs major medical care. Do you have any concept of what the average income is in this nation?

People on this commenting board seem to think that if we do a new idea like this, that the system we have today will be the same one we are dealing with.  The whole point is to create cheaper and smarter healthcare. I think I would trust a neurosurgeon who has spent more than 35 years in healthcare and insurance to know more than 99% of the commenters.

Do you think he's doing accounting or something? Because he isn't. Being smart or capable at something doesn't mean you're smart and capable in all things.

This.
Also consider that he made himself rich with the status quo.  He has no real interest in changing the system.  It works great- for him.

Whats going to bother most liberals is the notion that that turning off the TV and reading to your kids is somehow related to their success in the world.  Bill Cosby was excoriated by the radical black left a few years ago for suggesting that absentee fathers and a low literacy rate are related to the problems in the black community.

o5iiawah: Whats going to bother most liberals is the notion that that turning off the TV and reading to your kids is somehow related to their success in the world. Bill Cosby was excoriated by the radical black left a few years ago for suggesting that absentee fathers and a low literacy rate are related to the problems in the black community.

Wow you are like the Energizer bunny of trolls

A black, Christian neurosurgeon who hates Obamacare, was born into poverty, is against Affirmative Action, and graduated top of his class from John Hopkins.

So a beneficiary of affirmative action is going to tell the rest of us how it can't possibly do any good?

Wooly Bully: o5iiawah: Whats going to bother most liberals is the notion that that turning off the TV and reading to your kids is somehow related to their success in the world. Bill Cosby was excoriated by the radical black left a few years ago for suggesting that absentee fathers and a low literacy rate are related to the problems in the black community.

Wow you are like the Energizer bunny of trolls

So what I've said is completely made up?  Cosby wasn't attacked for his statements about never hearing engineers and doctors speak in Ebonics?

It's Joe the Plumber, the "Black Friend" edition!

I can't imagine letting someone who believes in magic operate on my brain.

o5iiawah: Whats going to bother most liberals is the notion that that turning off the TV and reading to your kids is somehow related to their success in the world.

And yet in my family, the liberals are the ones who would rather read than watch TV. Or even own one.

The Stealth Hippopotamus: Don't worry. We will.

Is that self-deprecating humor that I spy?  I think Stealthy is learning!

o5iiawah: Cosby wasn't attacked for his statements about never hearing engineers and doctors speak in Ebonics?

I see your problem here. You lump every idiot that you have heard into a group with every liberal.
Sure, it's easy to do. But it's stupid.

o5iiawah: Wooly Bully: o5iiawah: Whats going to bother most liberals is the notion that that turning off the TV and reading to your kids is somehow related to their success in the world. Bill Cosby was excoriated by the radical black left a few years ago for suggesting that absentee fathers and a low literacy rate are related to the problems in the black community.

Wow you are like the Energizer bunny of trolls

So what I've said is completely made up? Cosby wasn't attacked for his statements about never hearing engineers and doctors speak in Ebonics?

I didn't say you were good at this. I just commented on your tirelessness.

GilRuiz1: Infernalist: Just another rich asshole.


And you know this... how?

Read his autobiography first, then you can judge:

[cdn-parable.com image 249x400]

You know what other asshole wrote an autobiography?

/I'm not saying it'shiatler
//It'shiatler

colon_pow: Mrtraveler01: colon_pow: Mrtraveler01: Sergeant Grumbles: NFA: In fact he said Americans desperately need healthcare.

But he said the best way to do that was with HSA's that could be passed on via inheritance, and that the government would still pay for the indigent. That sounds worse than what we already have. We need to get the free market as far away from healthcare as possible.

HSA's are worthless.

I'm in my mid-20's and even I don't have one because I'd rather have comprehensive insurance  instead of taking a chance and having to pay out of pocket for my medical expenses if something bad were to happen to me.

Get a less expensive high-deductible plan and put the money you save into the HSA.  Then if you have a good year where you don't get sick or see a dr more than a time or two, you're way ahead.

Where I work, it's either the comprehensive plan or an HSA.

I avoid the HSA's like the plague.

so you're paying $2500-3000 per year for insurance whether you get sick or not.
i pay about $35/month for a $6000 deductible, put $300/month in the HSA and pay all my medical bills out of that.  I've been coming out ahead for the past 2 years i've been doing it that way.

What sort of bills do you get?  Mine say something like:
Office Consult, Level 3   $331.00
Anthem Adjustment       -$249.71
Anthem Payment            $61.29
Balance due                   $20.00

Anthem is my insurance, and they get this "adjustment" that significantly reduces the bill.  When you are paying out-of-pocket, do you get such an adjustment?

From what I can tell, the doctor received $81.29 for a service that was originally billed out as $331.00.  Without insurance, I would expect to be billed for the whole $331.00

Halli: GilRuiz1: What, Ben Carson made it to FARK?

*checks link*

Holy molly, Ben Carson! That guy gets:

BATMAN RESPECT KNUCKLES
[www.personal.psu.edu image 254x374]

Let me guess. It's because he's a dumbass creationist like you?


Ah, FARK liberals.  Such wonderful, prejudiced people.

Ben Carson's story is a lot like my dad's, actually.  Born dirt poor, and taught from an early age that the only way to get ahead was to study hard and work even harder.  After a lifetime of toil, they both achieved success.  That dedication to schooling and work is what got them ahead.  If Ben Carson can get that idea across to more people, I say more power to him.

k1j2b3: I am looking for a smart candidate with the ability to explain conservative ideas to Americans in plain English.

The problem with the Republican party is not a failure to communicate ideas. They've already got half the country voting against their interests because "small government" and "lower taxes" sound like good ideas to people who are ignorant of history and don't want to think too hard about economics and governance. Frank Lutz has practically invented a new language to sell the Republican snake oil to the masses. The Supreme Court has opened the flood gates for crazy casino moguls and libertarian trust fund brats to bombard the airwaves with their propoganda. "Think tanks" are given millions and millions of dollars to come up with new ways to rationalize the wretched GOP philosophy. Communication is not the problem. The ideas are the problem.

Americans want good wages. Americans want their parents and themselves and their children to be able to retire. Americans want everyone to have access to quality healthcare and education. But Republican policy aims to drive down labor costs, remove what little social insurance we have, and privatize everything to ensure that only the rich can afford it.

GilRuiz1: After a lifetime of toil, they both achieved success. That dedication to schooling and work is what got them ahead. If Ben Carson can get that idea across to more people, I say more power to him

Guess what? A lot of people go through a lifetime of toil and DON'T.

Sucks to be them, huh? Let's just grind them further into the dirt.

GilRuiz1: Ben Carson's story is a lot like my dad's, actually.  Born dirt poor, and taught from an early age that the only way to get ahead was to study hard and work even harder.  After a lifetime of toil, they both achieved success.  That dedication to schooling and work is what got them ahead.  If Ben Carson can get that idea across to more people, I say more power to him.

How hard can he have studied if he ended up a creationist?

"Compassionate Conservative" became the "Tea Party" and now that that's out of favor their looking for a new name.  Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, Michael Steele, Sarah Palin now this guy.

With Republicans it's never about introspection, it's only about rebranding.

0Icky0: o5iiawah: Whats going to bother most liberals is the notion that that turning off the TV and reading to your kids is somehow related to their success in the world.

And yet in my family, the liberals are the ones who would rather read than watch TV. Or even own one.

My thoughts as well, but I didn't want to feed it.  All the "conservatives" in my family watch FOX for several hours every day, no exaggeration.  I've had a number of them chide me for not owning a TV, reading all my news through various sources online, riding my bike 9 miles to work, and spending a lot of my free time outside.

Of course these are the same relatives that like to say stupid shiat to me about how I must be a hippie because I eat tons of veges and unprocessed grains from the farmers' markets and local food co-ops, and of course for working out on a regular basis.  Why yes, they'll all obese or morbidly obese and I'm at a healthy weight with no major health issues, how'd you know?  Oh yeah, Moochelle comments often somehow work their way into the insults as well, even when the conversation has nothing to do with politics.

Biological Ali: Yeah, because "Do well in school and work hard" is clearly such a novel and unintuitive notion that people won't realize it


My wife's a schoolteacher; you'd be surprised how novel and unintuitive she's found that notion to be among both students and parents.

GilRuiz1: My wife's a schoolteacher; you'd be surprised how novel and unintuitive she's found that notion to be among both students and parents.

Because these days, it's not exactly true anymore?

There's a crap ton of people who work hard and get *shafted* because, well, it's more profitable *to* shaft them.

The GOP thinks a token minority is all they need to win over the minority votes........this is why they can't get the minority votes.

GilRuiz1: Halli: GilRuiz1: What, Ben Carson made it to FARK?

*checks link*

Holy molly, Ben Carson! That guy gets:

BATMAN RESPECT KNUCKLES
[www.personal.psu.edu image 254x374]

Let me guess. It's because he's a dumbass creationist like you?


Ah, FARK liberals.  Such wonderful, prejudiced people.

Ben Carson's story is a lot like my dad's, actually.  Born dirt poor, and taught from an early age that the only way to get ahead was to study hard and work even harder.  After a lifetime of toil, they both achieved success.  That dedication to schooling and work is what got them ahead.  If Ben Carson can get that idea across to more people, I say more power to him.

Tha'ts great. He's still a dumbass creationist.

Sergeant Grumbles: Biological Ali: His argument isn't even internally consistent. He's basically saying "We don't need to hurt the rich guy, so let's arbitrarily implement a system that hurts the poor guy more."

It's perfectly consistent if you remember that Republicans think the rich will work harder if you give them more, and the poor will work harder if you give them less. Any tax on the rich is punishing success, but the poor must be punished for their failure or they'll never learn to succeed. If it's as simple as working hard, why won't they?
They seem to ignore that the successful are bringing the ladder up behind them... or accept that as the benefit of success, "I got mine, fark you."

I like how he brings up Cayman Island bank accounts, as if we haven't tried to get that money back with tax holidays...
I don't remember that working out very well, do you?

See, the poor don't pay taxes. By reducing what you are giving them, they aren't being "punished", you're just giving them less.

The rich, on the other hand, do pay taxes. By cutting their taxes, you aren't giving them anything, you are just taking less from them.

You can be for or against more or less progressive tax and spending policies, for various reasons. But quoting or paraphrasing that idiotic EJ Dionne line just makes you look stupid.

Citrate1007: The GOP thinks a token minority is all they need to win over the minority votes........this is why they can't get the minority votes.



Hey, if you don't mind, Tokeno Nuevo (or, as he's known to insiders, "El Palin") up here is trying to seal a '16 nomination. So keep it down!

jehovahs witness protection: We like the hell out of him, but people on the left HATE him because he isn't their expectations of what a black man should be. They are the racists. Anyone who disagrees with Obama is racist in liberals' eyes...even if they back another black person.

You're not really that pathetic.  Stop it.