Affordable Healthcare Act upheld

[Super Buu]

For the big bucks?

[John Doe]

You can't really say that this thread wasn't a bait for a political discussion. Hell, Meer's second gif was basically him saying "dance, puppets, dance!"

[Super Buu]

Oh yeah, hook line and sinker.

[Sage]

Gotta admit though. Obama's got some style in that first .gif

[Anzekay]

Obama is pretty sylish in general imo

[Sage]

Beats the robot we have in power lmao

[Kayne]

Socialized health care is a bad thing? I'll just drop this here:

http://www.nyu.edu/projects/rodwin/lessons.html


Japan has socialized health care. They also have the lowest infant mortality rate, longest life expectancy, and their medical costs were only 6.6% of their GDP in 1991, compared to America's 13.4%. Given, the statistics are a little dated, but it still presents a valid point.

Sage is also correct about the socialism thing. We've been pretty much 'socialist' for decades now, especially since we've taken on several public welfare programs over the years and funding it with taxpayer money. They money DOES have to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is in the federal and state taxes we all pay with everything we purchase and the taxes we pay from each paycheck.

Just so that we're all aware of how socialism is defined:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/socialism

so•cial•ism   [soh-shuh-liz-uhm]
noun
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.

3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

For the first section of this, we can see prime examples nestled within the very capitalistic environment of our commerce. The FDA and FTC (Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission, respectively) regulate what food and medicines may be sold in the United States, while the other is supposed to promote competitiveness between companies and protects consumers. Competitiveness is usually defined by the amount of money made and their stake in the economy as compared to similar businesses.

It will probably surprise you that the businesses that make coin money in the United States is an independent company, supposedly separate from the Federal Government. However, our paper currency, produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, is not. Paper money is basically an IOU for coin, and therefore, can be presented to a bank for the equivilant amount of gold or silver (or copper, in the case of pennies, and nickle alloy in the case of nickles.)

The reason I bring this up is because the United States Government has a problem with issuing more paper money than we have coin to cover for it, therefore driving inflation of prices for goods and services, because the value of the paper currency is decreased to accommodate for the gold it is supposed to replace. In that respect, the government regulates how much money is in circulation at any given time, and therefore, controls capital.

Next point, land is no longer free. We cannot just simply go out and claim a field as ours anymore. The government owns the land, and therefore, we have to pay for it, but we still do not 'own' it. We still pay property taxes, land value taxes and other little fees. These are typically due annually, and no, you do not have a choice. You can not pay, but the IRS will be on your ass like white on rice to collect 'their' money once they discover you haven't paid.

Taxes make this country go 'round, basically. Taxes pay for pretty much every 'public' service offered by government agencies, even if you do not utilize them. Welfare, food stamps, Section 8 (government supplemented housing assistance), etc., all of these can fall under the umbrella of what socialism and communism embody.

To add to this, corporations in America are considered ‘people’ and have a vote in our voting system. Why is this?

We also have many examples of capitalism in our society. I’ll let you have a little fun and look those up yourselves.

If you really think we're still just a democracy, I do wholeheartedly believe you are fooling yourself.

[Vad]

We're not a democracy...

We've never been a full blown democracy. Our system of the House, Senate, and the Electoral College is the definition of a Republic.

[Anzekay]

The USA is generally considered to be some sort of bastard child of a Federal Republic and a Representative Democracy.

Whatever the hell that is

[Vad]

The USA is generally considered to be some sort of bastard child of a Federal Republic and a Representative Democracy.

Whatever the hell that is

We're a Constitutional Republic.

[Pinky]

Infant Mortality Rates: A Statistical Miscarriage
http://pjmedia.com/blog/the-doctor-is-in...scarriage/

If we want to follow the world's example of low infant mortality, then all we have to do is draw an arbitrary line where we stop counting dead babies. As for right now, unlike our sophisticated superiors, we are stupidly counting all of the babies that are alive as being live births.

Other "developed" countries also aggressively promote abortion among young women. Since young women have the highest instance of birth defects, this also skews the infant mortality rate in a very technical way by murdering babies before they can be counted.

We're not socialist, at least not yet. But we are fascist becoming socialist in that the economy has an ever-expanding web of strings that all lead back to the government. The push-pull system of subsidies and taxes has effectively put an end to any real economic freedom, and of course it's all for our own good because we are too stupid to manage our lives without the gentle machinegun hand to push-pull us along.

Which brings me back to the point of expensive medicine. The government, again acting for our good, has effectively removed all price-control mechanisms in the market. You already don't have to pay for medical services. If you go to the emergency room they are forced by law to provide you with everything at no charge. Since the emergency room is the most expensive venue for medical service, this has had a huge impact on price -- instead of the consumer paying for their service, either the government does (affecting taxes) or the price for everyone goes up (affecting premiums) or the hospital shuts down (affecting supply).

In response to this government-solution-turned-problem we have a government solution: force everyone to buy a medical plan. And not just any plan, we're talking about really expensive plans with a lot of items that most people would not ask for because of the cost. And when this solution becomes yet another problem don't worry, I'm sure our elected overlords will know what to do.

[Super Buu]

[Super Buu]

[Super Buu]