Originally posted by Darth Truculent
What economic system? It is broken and don't blame it on Bush. Sure he made bad decisions, but in 3 1/2 years Obama spent 5 trillion. Rather than fix the economy, he [Obama] wasted time on his lunatic Health Care for a year and half when the economy needed actually stills needs fixing.Can you answer this question Digi? Do you want to pay for your neighbors kid's health care? I sure as hell don't. I'm not an extremist - it pisses me off that people think that Obama is God's gift to mankind. Look at his policy record.
By the way, love the quote
Well, tone down the rhetoric a bit. I'm actually an economic libertarian (or at least a very conservative fiscal policy if not exactly libertarian).
This is the central tension: we want economic freedom, but in such an advanced society, there's a feeling that we should not leave any in abject poverty and unable to enjoy the same rights and privileges. So we strike a balance between economic freedoms and a state in which we support the more unfortunate. Dems tend to downplay how economic freedom equates to personal freedom, while Republicans tend to downplay how most institutions that we support are in some way benefiting the populace, even if all pay into them. So...it's helping people. It's probably not the only way to do it, or the best, but it's also not a horrible affront to humanity.
On to the bill: The primary objection is to one aspect of a bill that includes several dozen other unobjectionable elements. And the problem is apparent: if you don't require people to have healthcare, but require insurance companies to cover various conditions, the health care industry would go bankrupt in a matter of months. Option 2, force everyone to have health insurance period, much like we pay taxes for firemen or police. Option 3, Don't force them to have insurance, give them the choice, but don't require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. In option 1, insurance companies go bankrupt. In option 3, the poor suffer because they will rarely be able to receive coverage.
That's a simplified summary, but shows the basic disagreement. What Obamacare is, is basically a modified option 2.
In my ideal system, for example, I'd give people the choice, not force them to pay anything, but would also subsidize the poor to living wage in order to be able to make those decisions more easily. And I'm not entirely sure that my system wouldn't allow exploitation on the part of the insurance companies. As it is, Obama's solution isn't the worst one, and imo improves on what we had.
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As for your musings on the economy in general - we're very likely to blame whatever side we're not on. it's a complex system, and I don't think we're in a position to say definitively who is responsible (if it can even be attributed primarily to a President).