Steven Colbert to Congress

[kraft-t]

That is the way you determine the value of the labor required,kay. By refusing to work for paltry sums. That is capitalism at work. if you don't want to pay, do it yourself. Nobody deserves a peasant.

[Kay/NC]

It is not my position that anyone "deserves a peasant," just that American Ag has, by and large, historically always been able to find someone, from somewhere, who was pitiful enough to want to/have to work for the wages it can afford to pay.  If the general public was willing to pay what it actually costs to produce its food - decent wages for those who work to produce it as well - paying pickers and  packers well would be quite easy. 

You go ahead and sell that policy to Congress.  When you do, perhaps the illegal immigration and unemployment pieces of our economic and political puzzle will solve them selves overnight.  Thomas Jefferson used essentially the same argument to jusitfy - at least in part - the Louisianna Purchase. 

The only thing that has changed in the ensuing 200 years is that someone, somewhere decided that the consequences of not working should be equally as pleasant as the rewards for working.  Prior to 2010, these included almost everything but guaranteed healthcare.  Now, they include that, too.  

Big incentive to get up and get busy....

[wt510151]

Hiring good employees at a competitive price could mean hiring illegal aliens that have had hand work experience. It could mean moving the farming operation to another country with cheaper cost of production. Some have hired prisoners for hand work, too.

I'm not saying that short-term unemployed (less than 26 weeks) should take substandard wages, either. Substandard wages is a vague term. Unemployment checks weren't supposed to last more than 26 weeks.There are so many community projects that need to be finished or continued in this country that the lengthened unemployed should be strongly encouraged to take them for their unemployment check. 

[wt510151]

There is enough supply of teachers, both bad and good, that schools don't need to raise the salaries much. The good teachers often flee the substandard wages to better jobs that will pay a higher wage. That leaves schools with less qualified teachers to teach the future nurses that may not know how to take care of you at your most vulnerable. A short-term problem is growing exponentially into a major long-term catastrophe.

[smokeyjay]

Funny thing about health care, every fiscally conservative person seems opposed to the currently legislated mandate for health care insurance, that is, until the words "pre-existing" condition appears on their record.  Then it suddenly opens their eyes and minds that American health care discriminates and penalizes those who become sick, though they have paid in for coverage for many years. 

The term "pre-existing" condition can bankrupt even well managed estates.  It does not respect prudent management.  It can change one's financial outlook in a heartbeat.

[Kay/NC]

We had dinner out with friends tonight, and he's a consulting MD.  Since part of our study of nursing subjects had included an overview of management of care, I have become more attuned to the lingo and the issues involved, at least to a certain extent. 

I truly think that a nationalized healthcare system ought to require everyone who consumes to pay in , to the extent possible, and that the public option was not all bad.  He says that England has a two-tier system, where everyone gets the basics of care, and those who can afford it pay for more and get it. 

Yes, the pre-existing condition is a bugaboo.  No child should be excluded from his family's coverage plan due to conditions at birth or in childhood, either.  It will be called rationing of care, but we cannot afford toe spend tens of thousands of dollars per day on all sorts of drugs, many of which generate so many side effects, it is hard to know which way to turn next. 

Recent "take back" days, where Rx drugs have been turned in for disposal, to prevent kids from using them recerationally or to keep them out of the water supply, have netted tons of un-used meds.  All of that is wasted healthcare $$$. 

[k-289]

Medicare or welfare---what's the difference???

[smokeyjay]

Welfare ---- taxpayerfunded.  Recipient pays nothing

Medicare --- taxpayer funded, Recipient is the taxpayer that paid into the fund for future benefits.

[Kay/NC]

Agreed, in theory.  In practice, Medicare payments we make today are funding elders' care today, and the payments of our children/grandchildren will have to somehow pay for ours, even though there are fewer of them and many more of us, proportionally speaking.  The numbers aren't pretty. 

I am beginning to think that the most sensible way to really get Americans to make changes in lifestyle that are reqjuired to curtail the collapse of Medicare.Medicaid under the sheer weight of our collective sickness, we should pay people directly for good health-promoting behaviors, reflected in good health measures. 

[smokeyjay]

That and perhaps a means test to restrict unnecessary expenditures.  Not a popular option for sure, but this may need to be done.  There is no attractive, pain free option here.

We must remember a bit of history here as well.  For forty years, the democrats raided the trust fund to fund pet projects and to keep them off the books so new taxes were never needed.  This is beginning to haunt us, and will for a long time.