ThinkFast: April 1, 2008
ThinkFast: April 1, 2008
59 percent: Doctors who “support legislation to establish a national health insurance program,” according to a new survey of more than 2,000 U.S. doctors. This number is up from 49 percent in the 2002 study.
“Fighting between Iraqi security forces and Shi’ite militiamen last month has driven civilian deaths in the country to their highest level in more than six months,” according to new Iraqi government figures. A total of 923 Iraqi civilians were killed in March, “up 31 percent from February and the deadliest month since August 2007.”
Prior to testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, House Republicans are launching a “full-fledged assault” on Democratic leaders, whom they accuse of trying to “legislate defeat” in Iraq. The campaign will include a “steady stream” of “op-eds and editorial board memos,” an “aggressive” TV and radio operation, and an effort to “engage conservative bloggers.”
Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) “said Monday that Don Siegelman should not testify before Congress because it could endanger the former governor’s criminal defense and distract the committee from its broader investigation of political influence in the U.S. Justice Department.”
Today, the nation’s top oil executives “return to the hot seat” as the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming “examines rising gasoline prices and the industry’s opposition to efforts to repeal $18 billion in tax breaks.” The money would be reinvested in renewable energy.
While most agree the subprime mortgage crisis sparked the current economic downturn, “some economists argue the Iraq war is deepening the economic pain.” Even the “most conservative economists acknowledge that Americans will eventually pay the price at home for a war financed entirely with borrowed money.”
Last month, President Bush said he would attend the Olympics in Beijing this summer because he views it as “a sporting event.” But given China’s poor human rights record, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Bush should consider “boycotting the opening ceremony.”
And finally: President Bush is getting sensitive about making sure he gets credit. While at the Washington Nationals home opener on Sunday, “play-by-play man Jon Miller” said to Bush, “Every year since you’ve been president, George [Will] has put on a special baseball dinner held at the White House.” Bush quickly took umbrage at giving the conservative pundit all the credit, responding, “That’s one way to put it. Another way is that George W. Bush hosts the dinner and George attends. He puts together the list.”
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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No repercussions in “60 Minutes” blackout case, even if politics at play.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/033108H.shtml
April 1st, 2008 at 8:55 amPrior to testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, House Republicans are launching a “full-fledged assault” on Democratic leaders, whom they accuse of trying to “legislate defeat” in Iraq. The campaign will include a “steady stream” of “op-eds and editorial board memos,” an “aggressive” TV and radio operation, and an effort to “engage conservative bloggers.”
in other words, repukes are off to lie their asses off AGAIN…. cant we just take them out back and shoot them?
April 1st, 2008 at 8:58 amRepublicans think America is too weak to protect itself from ragtag criminal thugs without resorting to limiting freedoms and stomping around the ME in fear.
Why are Republicans so afraid of living in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave? What makes them such cowards?
April 1st, 2008 at 9:01 amI predict that number of physicians will increase. Right now, my own doctor says he has to spend almost as much time fighting with insurance companies begging for permission to treat his patients as he does treating them. He just wants to treat patients and let someone else worry about paying for them.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:02 amNumbers often don’t add up for the mentally impaired, there, wrong stuff.
Since your ignorance is obviously one of your most prized possessions, I won’t bother educating you.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:03 amMisshusseinmolly:
We must have the same doctor. I hear the same thing every time I see her.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:05 amPrior to testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, House Republicans are launching a “full-fledged assault” on Democratic leaders, whom they accuse of trying to “legislate defeat” in Iraq. The campaign will include a “steady stream” of “op-eds and editorial board memos,” an “aggressive” TV and radio operation, and an effort to “engage conservative bloggers.”
________________________________________
I don’t think this is going to work anymore. The Republicans tried this in 2004, and it worked (barely). They tried it again in 2006, and it didn’t — people were sick and tired of the war by that time. And now they want to try it again? I don’t think they’re going to convince anyone except the 19%, no matter how much air time they buy and how much noise they make.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:06 amFDR did lots of things right. Too bad the wrong-wingnuts are constantly trying to undo his best accomplishments due to their fear.
Why are you right-wingers so scared all the time?
April 1st, 2008 at 9:06 amGet your facts straight, Right Stuff. Carter had the Olympics boycotted altogether. Pelosi is calling for Bush himself to skip the opening ceremony.
Jesus, why do you people always have to be so wrong?
April 1st, 2008 at 9:07 amWrong wing still thinks that regulating insurance companies = government provided health care.
It’s hard to overcome the limited mind capacity of a binary thinking right-wing coward.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:08 amRep. Artur Davis (D-AL) “said Monday that Don Siegelman should not testify before Congress because it could endanger the former governor’s criminal defense and distract the committee from its broader investigation of political influence in the U.S. Justice Department.”
Okay, this guy’s so confused he’s got me confused. Davis claims that if Siegelman testifies “political influence in the U.S. Justice Department”, it “could endanger the former governor’s criminal defense”. But then, he says, “Most importantly, we will lose the high ground that maintains that the integrity of the criminal justice system is more important than an individual defendant’s guilt or innocence.” To me, that sounds like an argument that Siegelman should testify, because the integrity of the process is mroe important than his individual guilt or innocence.
Then, to further confuse matters, Davis is worried that if Siegelman testifies under oath (which he did not do at his trial), “His answers could either constitute substantive evidence in a retrial, or form the basis for additional false statements or obstruction charges by future prosecutors.” Excuse me, Mr. Davis, but I think this would only be a valid point if Mr. Siegelman testified falsely. If he testifies truthfully, then how in the hell can those statments “form the basis for additional false statements or obstruction charges by future prosecutors”?
April 1st, 2008 at 9:08 amO there you go, bringing nuance and details into the argument. Don’t you know that wrong-wingers can’t handle anything other than black vs white, up vs down, zero vs one?
April 1st, 2008 at 9:09 am59 percent: Doctors who “support legislation to establish a national health insurance program, according to a new survey of more than 2,000 U.S. doctors. This number is up from 49 percent in the 2002 study.
These are the doctors who want to practice medicine.
It used to be that Kaiser had a hard time finding doctors. But in the last 8-10 years, the best and the brightest have found their way to Kaiser’s door. Why? Because there they get to practice medicine and don’t have to deal with health insurance companies.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:10 am“RantingTommy Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:06 am
FDR did lots of things right. Too bad the wrong-wingnuts are constantly trying to undo his best accomplishments due to their fear.
Why are you right-wingers so scared all the time?”
April 1st, 2008 at 9:11 amThe lot of them are cowards. Afraid of their shadows.
_______________________
As I recall, the last American boycott was under Jimmy Carter and didn’t do the U.S. any good whatsoever, but hurt many of its athletes. The better approach was taken under FDR who sent our best to Germany to compete and kick Hitler’s AZZ.
it didn’t do any good? You ahve guzzles the koolaid, your poor, stupid shit. You still remember it, so it did do a lot of good, and the same thing shuld be done again. The athletes are amateurs; it won’t hurt them in the least, but it will hurt the Chinese economy, and cause them to change for the better. And FDR’s capitulation to hitler did nobody any good; he still went to war. You’re amazingly stupid.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:11 am“’Economists are fond of saying that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. It is also the case that there is no such thing as a free war,’ Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and author of the new book ‘The Three Trillion Dollar War,’ told the Joint Economic Committee.”
I think what’s important to remember here is how much money Republicans and their friends are making off the invasion. Let the little people eat cake.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:12 amThe campaign will include a “steady stream” of “op-eds and editorial board memos,” an “aggressive” TV and radio operation, and an effort to “engage conservative bloggers.”
Still trying to sell that war, huh. Sorry guys, the public is no longer buying it. It’s “sell by” date is long gone.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:12 am$18 BILLION in tax breaks + record profits = need for BIG windfall profits tax.
For far too long, oil companies have been getting obese at our expense. Tax them to death!
April 1st, 2008 at 9:12 am$18 BILLION in tax breaks + record profits = need for BIG windfall profits tax.
For far too long, oil companies have been getting obese at our expense. Tax them to death!
April 1st, 2008 at 9:12 amoops! sorry about the double posting.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:13 amWith all due respect, do you really think that Government paperwork is any less onerous than private pay paperwork. Ever hear of “government red tape?”
yes, it’s another rightwing lie and smear, more propaganda for morons like you. You idiots are the gullible ones, which is why the USA is so weak and ineffectual throughout the world right now, with the weakened dollar, the shattered military, and our moral standing in the republican toilet. Thamks for 9/11, weakling.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:14 amRep. Artur Davis (D-AL) “said Monday that Don Siegelman should not testify before Congress because it could endanger the former governor’s criminal defense and distract the committee from its broader investigation of political influence in the U.S. Justice Department.”
Huh? That’s what the Siegelman case is all about, political influence and corruption in the US Justice department. I would think that Siegelman would want to testify. Unless, of course, some judge is threatening to send him back to prison if he testifies. January 2009 can’t come soon enough.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:14 amThe_Right_Stuff Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:11 am
I understand that, Frosty. I should have been clearer that I wasn’t addressing just the Pelosi point regarding the opening ceremonies. There are many out there calling for an all out boycott, and I thik that would be a big mistake as Carter proved in 1980.
it was no mistake, it was a courageous and moral act. No wonder you didn’t like it, having no courage or morals yourself.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:15 amEven the “most conservative economists acknowledge that Americans will eventually pay the price at home for a war financed entirely with borrowed money.”
Well, duh. It’s not monopoly money. I can’t believe the nation’s economists have sat idly by watching the Bush Crime Family sell this country to the Chinese.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:16 am“If they say, ‘Look, we’re owned by conservative Republicans and we don’t want to show something that makes the party look bad,’ they can do it,” said Michael Botein, director of the Media Law Center at New York Law School. “There are almost no rules today.”
And this is something that President Obama should put at the top of his “to do” list.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:17 amWith Bush’s Human Rights Record, he should feel right at home. Perhaps he’s going to China to get some tips? Anyone ever hear of the “Chinese water torture?”
April 1st, 2008 at 9:18 amI see wrong stuff is now changing his tune.
Now claiming he wasnt responding to the article he placed his comment on, but commenting about what “some posters, somewhere” said.
Dude, this straw man is even weaker than you are, you coward.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:18 amRepublican congressmen are bound and determined to prove their treason and hatred for American soldiers. Not that it wasn’t obvious already. Perverts, racists and America-haters comprise the GOP.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:19 amGAO Blasts Weapons Budget
Cost Overruns Hit $295 Billion
Government auditors issued a scathing review yesterday of dozens of the Pentagon’s biggest weapons systems, saying ships, aircraft and satellites are billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.
The Government Accountability Office found that 95 major systems have exceeded their original budgets by a total of $295 billion, bringing their total cost to $1.6 trillion, and are delivered almost two years late on average. In addition, none of the systems that the GAO looked at had met all of the standards for best management practices during their development stages.
Auditors said the Defense Department showed few signs of improvement since the GAO began issuing its annual assessments of selected weapons systems six years ago. “It’s not getting any better by any means,” said Michael Sullivan, director of the GAO’s acquisition and sourcing team. “It’s taking longer and costing more.”
April 1st, 2008 at 9:19 amI’m so surprised!!
April 1st, 2008 at 9:20 amHIV-AIDS was created with the use of Gay men as targets for Eugenic experiments suggests U.S. doctor
There is no doubt that AIDS erupted in the U.S. shortly after government-sponsored hepatitis B vaccine experiments (1978-1981) using gay men as guinea pigs. The epidemic was caused by the “introduction” of a new retrovirus (the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV for short); and the introduction of a new herpes-8 virus, the virus that causes Kaposi’s sarcoma, widely known as the “gay cancer” of AIDS. The taboo theory that AIDS is a man-made disease is largely based on research showing an intimate connection between government vaccine experiments and the outbreak of “the gay plague”
The widely accepted theory is that HIV/AIDS originated in a monkey or chimpanzee virus that “jumped species” in Africa. However, it is clear that the first AIDS cases were recorded in gay men in Manhattan in 1979, a few years before the epidemic was first noticed in Africa in 1982. It is now claimed that the human herpes-8 virus (also called the KS virus), discovered in 1994, also originated when a primate herpes virus jumped species in Africa. How two African species-jumping viruses ended up exclusively in gay men in Manhattan beginning in the late 1970s has never been satisfactorily explained.
Read the rest:
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2008/03/29/02309.html
Nothing would surprise me but this is right up there with the Tuskegee syphillis experiments. I really don’t think we have scratched the surface of sinister human experiments.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:21 amHey you cowardly republicans, here’s a message for you:
Terrorism only works on the terrified. Stop being such mary pansies and stop overreacting to every little “threat” your cheerleader in chief tells you to fear.
All your cowardly panic is making a mess.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:23 am59 percent: Doctors who “support legislation to establish a national health insurance program..
It’s good to see that support has increased 10% and that opposition has decreased 8% since the 2002 survey. By “national health insurance program,” though, are they willing to yield entirely to something government run, or will they want this to retain corporate influence (ex., the Medicare drug program)?
April 1st, 2008 at 9:23 amThe Doctors are also having issues with malpractice insurance also. I’ve had two doctors (OBGYN’s) that have shut down theirs practices because of that. They told me it was highway robbery what they had to pay.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:23 amRight-Stuff – the difference in the numbers are from the different categories of “deaths” in Iraq. One is the number of Iraqis killed from combat, the greater number reflects the number of Iraqis who have died from all causes attributable to the war; i.e. deaths above and beyond the “normal” death rate for Iraqis, pre-war. That would include deaths from disease, starvation, dehydration, accidents, etc. Those causes of death are all up since we bombed the country back to the stone age.
So, next time you go spouting off about “inconsistencies” try to get a grasp on what the information reflects. Otherwise you come off as a biased, ignorant tool for the Bush Administration.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:24 amMe?
April 1st, 2008 at 9:25 amI’m just lurking here, waiting for the next “President Bush WAS NOT BOOED!” debate!
Oh, and the Moon Landing was staged, also!
Be careful there Briseadh, ignorance is a right-wingers most prized possession. You are damaging his pride and joy!
April 1st, 2008 at 9:26 amBig Oil can’t quite understand why $18 Billion in tax breaks are on the legislative table.
Be prepared to hear how trimming their tax credits will mean higher prices at the pump.
Be prepared to hear how they’re ‘barely making it’, what with the high cost of shipping, due to high fuel prices.
Be prepared to not hear how these tax credits equate to corporate welfare in the highest degree.
Be prepared to see them appear, but not under oath.
I know I sound like a Boy Scout, but America, be prepared.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:27 amWith all due respect, do you really think that Government paperwork is any less onerous than private pay paperwork. Ever hear of “government red tape?”
One would assume that if we had a single-payer system, the paperwork would be the same as it is for Medicare. Well, I have a friend who works in a medical office and she says the paperwork for Medicare is much less than the paperwork for private insurances and they don’t have to beg Medicare for permission to treat a patient.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:29 amThe_Right_Stuff Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:11 am
I understand that, Frosty. I should have been clearer that I wasn’t addressing just the Pelosi point regarding the opening ceremonies. There are many out there calling for an all out boycott, and I thik that would be a big mistake as Carter proved in 1980.”
Carter totally embarrased the Soviets. He boycotted the Olympices despite popular sentiment to the contrary from yobs like you who need their bread and circus. He stood up for his Christain principles. I don’t expect you to get that, since you are a republican apologist and don’t know what principles are.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:29 amI’m just lurking here, waiting for the next “President Bush WAS NOT BOOED!” debate!
I watched it on Olberman last night. There were definitely boos in the audience. Also, it sounded like the people cheering were not cheering Bush, they were cheering to try to drown out the boos!
April 1st, 2008 at 9:30 amThe one fear that right-wingers seem to never have is the fear of being wrong.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:31 amThe Government Accountability Office found that 95 major systems have exceeded their original budgets by a total of $295 billion, bringing their total cost to $1.6 trillion, and are delivered almost two years late on average.
That’s what happens when our government operates with no-bid cost plus contracts. Another factor here is the fact that the Bush Crime Family has not prosecuted one company for fraud. It’s pretty much a “here’s the cookie jar, help yourself” attitude towards these companies who are mostly FOB’s.
Hopefully President Obama will take our procurement system back to what it once was where people had to bid on contracts and were held accountable if they went over their bid or committed fraud.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:34 amOpen Questions:
Why is it that those opposed to a Universal Federal Health Care System don’t object to the Federal Health Care System we provide our elected officials in the federal government?
Why is it good enough for them, but would be bad for all of us?
April 1st, 2008 at 9:36 amWhen I was employed in a medical office, the Medicare forms, payments, and rules were consistent and uniform.
Private insurance (ncluding HMOs, PPOs and managed care) was highly complicated, unpredictable and arcane.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:38 amProcessing the Medicare claims became easy; it was the insurance claims that were the clerical nightmare.
Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:10 am
These are the doctors who want to practice medicine.
More often, I’m picking up my local paper to read Pratt Medical, a private clinic, suing another one of its former doctors. Once the doctor fulfills the employment agreement, Pratt watches them like a hawk. Some doctors wishing to go into private practice may have to operate at least 25 miles away from the clinic for at least a year. Otherwise, they nitpick that doctors leasing agreement if they are able to operate near the clinic. They even scrutinize display/directional signs leading up to, and even at the clinic. “Competitive reasons,” they contend.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:40 amI’ve said it before and I will continue to say it until people understand it: The problem in our country with healthcare is not that it costs too much, it’s that they charge too much. Healthcare should be a field driven by altruism, not capitalism. There is no defense for the idea of making millions of dollars off the sick and dying. None. If you’re a capitalist pig, find some other way to enrich yourself at the expense of others.
In addition to all the other “first things” President Obama (or President Gore, if the latest rumors pan out) should do, he should encourage Congress to repeal the prescription Drug Bill that former Congressman Billy Tauzin got passed right before he resigned from Congress and went to work with Big Pharma. That bill makes it illegal for the government to negotiate lower drug prices. How on Earth can anyone justify that as being in the nation’s best interests?
April 1st, 2008 at 9:44 am#50
Briseadh na Faire Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:36 am
Open Questions:
Why is it that those opposed to a Universal Federal Health Care System don’t object to the Federal Health Care System we provide our elected officials in the federal government?
The commonders mixing with the titled? Or, without any election reform, they need the election money and any additional “bennies” to be had.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:45 am‘Ever hear of government red tape?’
April 1st, 2008 at 9:47 amYep, it’s a cute little phrase.
However, you can look at it in actuality, at Medicare. There’s paperwork, but it’s vastly smaller than individual insurance companies–all of them.
Other countries’ systems work. Medicare works.The VA system works. But of course a national single payer system wouldn’t work.
Yes, there’d be a government health care bureaucracy–but it would be a bureaucracy with some hope of response. Get screwed by ‘government tape? Call your congressman. Call your senator. Call the media. There’s at least a chance you get somewhere.
But with a private insurance firm? No influence whatsoever. Nothing except filing a lawsuit. And then people like you will scream ‘tort reform!’ and ‘trial lawyers!” and try to close even that.
I’ve said it before: a liberal is a conservative who’s dealt with a health insurance company.
…if you live in Huntsville Alabama, you’ve got bigger problems to worry about.
Do tell.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:48 am“That’s one way to put it. Another way is that George W. Bush hosts the dinner and George attends. He puts together the list.”
Shorter Shrub: “Waaahhhh, give me credit for something damnit!!!”
April 1st, 2008 at 9:48 amThe_Right_Stuff Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:01 am
Somehow, the numbers on this site just don’t add up. The numbers above have some credibility. But if we accept that 923 Iraqi civilians were killed in March (which is considered a particularly deadly month) and divide that into the “1.2 innocent Iraqis killed” figure a bunch of Progressive posters throw out at random, it would take over 100 years of killing to get to that number.
______
The figure of 1.2 million Iraqis killed is an extrapolation from the Lancet study of 2006 that measured the increase in death rates since the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. This figure does not just count deaths from combat or coalition forces or sectarian violence. It also counts other factors contributing to the high death rate in Iraq, such as increased violent crime, intermittent power, disease spread by untreated water and raw sewage in the streets, hospitals without medicines, ambulances stopped by roadblocks and checkpoints, and other side effects of war.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:51 ameconomists argue the Iraq war is deepening the economic pain
The splurge isn’t working.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:52 amThe Republicans give away money to big oil companies and fund killing in Iraq instead of making sure that every American citizen has good available healthcare.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:52 amPelosi is asking that President Bush Boycott the opening ceremony I believe. This is only symbolic. It most likely won’t happen either. One, because it was suggested by the opposite party and history shows us how much this president hates the democrats. And second, Bush is in far too deep with China and our debt to insult our chief lender.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:54 amWayne A. Schneider Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:44 am
But Billy loves his momma, he loves that woman!
April 1st, 2008 at 9:55 amKilo Says:
I think you’d better explain the framework in which this would operate if you’re ruling out all the government branches and agencies we know about that have proven they can make everything flawed.
After seven years of Bush packing government agencies with loyal Bushies, if there is anything flawed, blame it on republican greed and incompetence, nothing else.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:56 amI hope George Will didn’t “put on” the Baseball Hall of Famers dinner held in March 2004 because he didn’t even get mentioned by Bush until almost halfway into Bush’s speech at the event, right after the following line:
“I appreciate the ESPN Baseball Tonight folks who are here — Joe, Tim, and Peter. That’s where I get my news. (Laughter.) They do a great job of making — bringing baseball into our homes.”
hahahahaha “that’s where I get my news” hahahahaha
That’s so funny – NOT!
April 1st, 2008 at 9:58 amfreedom lover Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:11 am
The athletes are amateurs; it won’t hurt them in the least, but it will hurt the Chinese economy, and cause them to change for the better. And FDR’s capitulation to hitler did nobody any good; he still went to war. You’re amazingly stupid.
_______
Don’t know if I can agree with all of this. While it may not necessarily hurt the athletes to boycott the games (it’d certainly be good for their lungs not to spend two weeks breathing Beijing air) I can’t see what effect it’d have on China’s economy.
The Games will go on with or without us, and the millions of people from all over the world with tickets and hotel reservations will go and spend money in Beijing whether U.S. athletes are there or not. The economic impact on China if our athletes drop out will be nil, especially in comparison with the $300 billion in imports we buy from China each year.
If we were really serious about sending China a message, perhaps we should do it through Wal-Mart instead of the Olympics.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:59 amI’m still waiting for Aussie Kilo to inform us as to why Huntsville Alabamians have greater worries than media self-censorship. Exactly what are these “greater worries,” Kilo?
April 1st, 2008 at 10:00 amEven the “most conservative economists acknowledge that Americans will eventually pay the price at home for a war financed entirely with borrowed money.”
No shit. This puts us at the mercy of the creditor nations.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:02 amThis is absolutely a national security issue of the utmost importance.
Thanks BushitCo, for fu*king up big time.
Lou Dobbs, speaking with Clinton surrogate Lanny Davis, Obama supporter Jim Zogby, and Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz, gave his viewers an earful about media bias tainting the 2008 election. Dobbs told the panel he couldn’t remember a race in which we had seen such “transparent favoritism” and tat the media bias against Clinton seems to be worsening
I couldn’t help myself, I had to post this one. Coming from Lou Dobbs… I’m thinking wake up and smell the coffee. When hasn’t there been media bias in the last 7 1/2 years…
April 1st, 2008 at 10:03 amToday, the nation’s top oil executives “return to the hot seat” as the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming “examines rising gasoline prices and the industry’s opposition to efforts to repeal $18 billion in tax breaks.” The money would be reinvested in renewable energy.
From the article:
John Felmy, the chief economist at the American Petroleum Institute, offered philosophical and practical arguments against the House bill. It is unfair to single out one type of industry for a tax hike, he said.
Excuse me, Mr. Huge Butthole, but repealing tax breaks is not the same as a “tax hike”, you moron. It is this type of nonsense “argument” that leads the stupid people in our country (the ones that tend to be conservative) to continue sending Republicans back to Congress.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:03 ambarfly Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 10:00 am
I’m still waiting for Aussie Kilo to inform us as to why Huntsville Alabamians have greater worries than media self-censorship. Exactly what are these “greater worries,” Kilo?
The end of the Space Shuttle program in 2010?
April 1st, 2008 at 10:03 amRep. Artur Davis (D-AL) “said Monday that Don Siegelman should not testify before Congress because it could endanger the former governor’s criminal defense
WTF? What is this guy’s complicity? And how would it endanger the wider investigation? I smell a rat.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:04 amThe end of the Space Shuttle program in 2010?
Huntsville still makes all sorts of classified stuff for DOD. I don’t think that’s it.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:08 amRUCerious Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 10:04 am
Hi, RUC. I agree with you. (see above) I was hoping someone might stop in and explain how Mr. Davis can come to the conclusion that a person giving testimony under oath, and which is presumed to be truthful testimony, can open himself up to charges of lying and false testimony?
I don’t know, but it kind of sounds like the classic case of “projection” at work again. Is Mr. Davis the type who would give false testimony under oath, and so he assumes others would, too?
April 1st, 2008 at 10:08 amOh look, something shiny over there, nothing to see here folks.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:12 amRepublicans are gutless chickenshit chickenhawks afraid of their own shadows, unwilling to serve as anything but mouthpieces for a fascist corporate quasi-government. Who, but a Republican would be against health care for those too sick or poor to afford it? Who, but a Republican would care less if people cannot find ‘good’ paying jobs?
April 1st, 2008 at 10:15 amHey Wayne! I posted prior to reading yours (or any) posts.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:15 amSomething not adding up here. Where’s this clown’s hush money?
The_Right_Stuff Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:11 am
I should have been clearer that I wasn’t addressing just the Pelosi point regarding the opening ceremonies. There are many out there calling for an all out boycott, and I thik that would be a big mistake as Carter proved in 1980.
Translation:
“I should have been clearer that I was moving the goal posts. There are other, more extreme positions out there and it was those that I wanted to tie to all liberals, thus making them an easier target.”
April 1st, 2008 at 10:16 amRUCerious Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 10:04 am
WTF? What is this guy’s complicity? And how would it endanger the wider investigation? I smell a rat.
_________
That’s because you’re not thinking fourth-dimensionally.
You see, in the not-so-distant future we will have fully-functioning time-travel technology that would allow Gov. Siegelman to go back in time with information that could allow him to prove his innocence in the initial fraud case.
However, such a strategy is frought with peril. In addition to the fundamental dangers of ripping wormholes in the space-time continuum, using such chronologically-tainted evidence could be deemed inadmissible in a courtroom of the past, thus endangering the Governor’s defense.
And on the other hand, it could have the opposite effect of promoting the Governor’s defense and lead to his acquittal in the past. This, however, would negate the very reason for the current investigations into the case and thus render the very evidence that would having have led to his acquittal to be nonexistent.
Which could then prompt another investigation, particularly if the time travellers involved were uncautious and somehow tainted the prior-future past evidence, rendering it unreadminadmissable in an unending polychronic paradox that could destroy the very fabric of space and time as we know it.
So you see why we can’t allow the Governor to testify?
April 1st, 2008 at 10:17 amCan you stick Alabama + Ranking -baseball into google ?
Apart from the results for STDs and women’s health you can turn up gems like the nces.ed.gov education proficiency rankings for public schools…
http://nces.ed.gov/ nationsreportcard/ states/ profile.asp
Firstly, the link you provided was for the whole state of Alabama, so I fail to see how this specifically affects Huntsville.
Secondly, if their baseball rankings are worrisome, that’s not a particularly big problem, except for Huntville’s sports fanatics.
Thirdly, what the hell are you gibbering about STD’s and women’s heaslth? Is there a point in there, somewhere? I’m having trouble finding it.
So you’ve really got nothing, eh? I thought so.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:22 ambarfly Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 10:08 am
Huntsville still makes all sorts of classified stuff for DOD. I don’t think that’s it.
I hope you’re right. I sure hope you’re right.
Cause there’s nothing sadder than a bunch of unkempt, homeless rocket scientists wandering the streets with cardboard signs reading “WILL ?V FOR FOOD.”
April 1st, 2008 at 10:23 ambarfly, it looks like this thread’s designated troll reached into his bag o’Google and threw everything that came up “Alabama” at the wall.
Unfortunately, nothing stuck.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:27 amΔV , even.
Dammit! I hate it when a good joke is ruined by uncooperative Unicode. :(
April 1st, 2008 at 10:27 amI think the burden should be on the Republicans and the administration to come up with a set of benchmarks and milestones which lead to this “victory” they speak of. As it is now, there are no definable goals so there is no chance for “victory”.
Nice to see the paid bloggers out in force. Do they put on pants when they go to the mailbox to collect their DoD welfare checks?
April 1st, 2008 at 10:29 amOnce again kilo makes a total fool out of him/her self. I guess on some level your type might use this excuse to explain why our military effort in Iraq and Afganistan is failing….still.
Truth is that when the correct managers are in place the government is much more efficient than the likes of kbr. Why don’t you explain why social security is such a success even against the wind of republican support.
Kilo, red tape as you describe it is a means to an end. It is how bad managers deflect blame for thier incompetence……ie republicans.
That explains why our country is declining since the republicans took power……it will be over soon and you will be back in the minority for a long time agian…the only alternative is to let you take our country all the way down and I don’t think that will happen.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:50 amToaster ~ You’re right, I’m not considering time travel. Gov Siegelman might also accidently collide with Steamboat Willy, too! I still smell a decomposing rat… No, not Cheney, dammit!
April 1st, 2008 at 10:51 amWe don’t expect 2.2 lbs of inert brain matter to look into % of overhead costs for Medicare versus private insurers, now do we?
April 1st, 2008 at 10:52 amhussein toasterhead Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:59 am
The Games will go on with or without us, and the millions of people from all over the world with tickets and hotel reservations will go and spend money in Beijing whether U.S. athletes are there or not.
_____________________________________________
One other point worth making is that when we boycotted the games in 1980, 61 other nations joined us in our boycott, including heavy hitters like Canada, West Germany, China, and Japan. This was back in the days when the U.S.A. was somewhat respected by the rest of the world.
If we boycotted the China games this year, we would be standing alone, making such a boycott quite ineffective.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:00 amKilo is one of those frightened little republican sissies.
He deserves our pity. Imagine how awful it must be to go through life fearing everything the AM radio tells you to fear!
Sad.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:00 amHow come all you want to talk about is folks in Alabama. Why not explain why the government fails under republican managment yet operates smoother than halliburton by far under democrats.
fema worked under dems……..not so much under repubs
fda worked under dems……..not so much under repubs
etc..worked under dems……..not so much under repubs
repubicans are poor managers……they are basically lazy and they are poor servants of the people….the evidence is before you.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:03 amThe Right Stuff-Good Point!
I’m just getting tired of losing really great doctors because of it…
April 1st, 2008 at 11:06 amRepublicans are good at campaigning.
Democrats seem better at managing.
The obvious answer is to let the Republicans handle the campaigns and the Democrats handle the governing part.
I don’t know how else to overcome the irrational fear that overwhelms most right-wingers.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:08 amAnd the beat goes on Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:21 am
____________________________
Wow — you mean there’s a possibility Rev. Jeremiah Wright was CORRECT about AIDS?
April 1st, 2008 at 11:08 amRantingTommy Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 11:00 am
Kilo is one of those frightened little republican sissies.
He deserves our pity. Imagine how awful it must be to go through life fearing everything the AM radio tells you to fear!
Perhaps you’re right, Tommy, but I feel he’s more deserving of scorn.
Straw men, flatulent arguments, moving the goal posts… all textbook wingnut tactics.
His Hail-Mary pass of “trial lawyers”, though, was pretty pathetic. Maybe he does deserve pity.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:08 amkilo is a republican apologist who wants to tell you the government can’t work and then set out to make sure that is what happens…….defeatist in more than name.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:11 amFred Says:
fema worked under dems……..not so much under repubs
fda worked under dems……..not so much under repubs
etc..worked under dems……..not so much under repubs
repubicans are poor managers……they are basically lazy and they are poor servants of the people….the evidence is before you.
Fred, I disagree. I think the reason Republicans are poor managers is NOT because they’re lazy. I think it’s because they have no respect for government and thus think they are justified in using it for their own ends and enrichment when they control it.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:12 amThe_Right_Stuff Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 10:55 am
Freedom Rebel Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:23 am
The Doctors are also having issues with malpractice insurance also. I’ve had two doctors (OBGYN’s) that have shut down theirs practices because of that. They told me it was highway robbery what they had to pay.
________________________________
You can thank the Trial Lawyers for that. Now, which party do most of them support? hmmmmmm
Not so fast, Louie. This, from the Insurance Information Institute:
So, rising malpractice costs are the rsult of medical delivery that is not as sdafe as it could be and the fact that many insurance companies are finding that they can’t make enough money off this endeavor, so they are getting out. It’s not because trial lawyers have been successful at defending the rights of patients who were treated badly by their health providers (or the insurance companies who control them and what they are allowed to do.)
You sound like you’re just echoing Rush Limbaugh and the other ill-informed conservatives who have their own radio and TV shows.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:12 amon taxes going up if we get government managed health care:
April 1st, 2008 at 11:13 am
Sorry, html error. Didn’t mean to highlight the whole thing as a link.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:13 amNothing like a little distortion of fact to make your point. Carter was handed that fiscal nightmare…..since you want to dig up stuff from the past….boy that hoover was a heck of a manager.
Ralph…..I guess lazy is wrong but I hate to think that people can be that evil but in my heart I know you are right.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:17 amAnd finally: President Bush is getting sensitive about making sure he gets credit. While at the Washington Nationals home opener on Sunday, “play-by-play man Jon Miller” said to Bush, “Every year since you’ve been president, George [Will] has put on a special baseball dinner held at the White House.” Bush quickly took umbrage at giving the conservative pundit all the credit, responding, “That’s one way to put it. Another way is that George W. Bush hosts the dinner and George attends. He puts together the list.”
Now in his final year, President Bush seems to be getting more preoccupied with his legacy — he’s even sweating the small stuff.
It’s a very sad statement that he is sweating over “If he gets credit”. Too bad he only worries about the trivial things ….. Heaven Forbid any of his worries should be about the Amnerican People and how they are doing….many losing their homes……
Stupid me ….we don’t rate, We are not in the top 10% wealthy group.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:19 amThe_Right_Stuff Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 10:55 am
Freedom Rebel Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:23 am
The Doctors are also having issues with malpractice insurance also. I’ve had two doctors (OBGYN’s) that have shut down theirs practices because of that. They told me it was highway robbery what they had to pay.
________________________________
You can thank the Trial Lawyers for that. Now, which party do most of them support? hmmmmmm
_____________________________________________________
Wrong. Malpractice insurance premiums are going up at a far faster rate than malpractice claim payouts are. This is generally thought to be due to poor returns on investments on the part of the insurers, as well as just general greed that accompanies any profit-making venture.
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2005/06/01/rising_doctors_premiums_not_due_to_lawsuit_awards/
http://www.nber.org/aginghealth/fall04/w10709.html
Instead of blaming trial lawyers, we should be pointing the finger at the for-profit malpractice insurance industry, and insufficient competition in that industry.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:20 amSome more info for you fools that think private insurance is better in some imaginary way:
U
April 1st, 2008 at 11:22 am
111 Freedom Reb ~ It is quite pathetic that the chymp is grasping at dinner hosting as a major accomplishment, but that’s just about all he can hang his tiny hat on.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:23 amI think the reason Republicans are poor managers is NOT because they’re lazy. I think it’s because they have no respect for government and thus think they are justified in using it for their own ends and enrichment when they control it.
I agree with Ralph on this one.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:23 amI guess you are a corporation……fool, who do you think will protect you if you are injured by negligence by a company? You can dream but you will never get rid of trial lawyers………
The California nurses association is sponsoring an effort to help us all obtain the same kind of health insurance that Cheney has……remember McCain would not be covered under his own health proposal. If he weren’t a senator he would not be insurable….what happens to those people?
We all deserve Cheney Care
April 1st, 2008 at 11:28 amMethinks those who lament “trial lawyers” where either too stupid to be admitted to law school, flunked out, or was burned by a lawyer somewhere in there stupid shit past…
April 1st, 2008 at 11:30 amThanks for coming to my rescue Wayne!! Normally research is my strong suit. I do it all day long. I got blind sided…
April 1st, 2008 at 11:31 amStraw….in little piles strewn across the floor…….snap out of it if you want to be taken seriously, we do not consider this to be trivial and will not suffer your ignorance.
I guess corp lawyers live in hovels or under bridges……
April 1st, 2008 at 11:32 amThat’s why these blogs are so important now. We can enlighten each other while beating back the evil doers.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:35 amThe_Right_Stuff Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:06 am
misshusseinmolly Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:02 am
I predict that number of physicians will increase. Right now, my own doctor says he has to spend almost as much time fighting with insurance companies begging for permission to treat his patients as he does treating them. He just wants to treat patients and let someone else worry about paying for them.
__________________________RIghtStuff said:
With all due respect, do you really think that Government paperwork is any less onerous than private pay paperwork. Ever hear of “government red tape?”
RightStuff: I don’t think that you have a clue about what paperwork is involved, and you also missed the point. MissMolly was referring to Doctors, you know, the guys who should spend their very precious time treating sick people? I live in Europe and pay $700 per month for medical care, private type (there are two, public health care costs less but provides basic care without the benefits of private rooms, more personal attention). Both provide 100% care, and the price is less than in the US by far. Insurance companies pay the billls for the care, its not the govt. Take a look health care in nearly any country in Europe and you would know that there is something drastically wrong in the US. Don’t be so chauvanistic. Other peoples can have good ideas too. Who profits in the US, the taxpayer or big pharma and big healthcare and insurance companies?
April 1st, 2008 at 11:38 am#116 The Right Stuff
Because many of them take risks, if they don’t win they don’t get paid. As in no money at all for the time they put in. It sounds like alot and in some cases that is true. But how would you like to work and not get paid because you didn’t win a case you had worked on for months.
I’m not trying to defend all attorney’s, one of my closest friends happens to be one. Some law firms she worked for didn’t get paid for all their work. That is why winning is so important in those kinds of cases.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:39 amI guess you guys are right…..I just hate to think people are that stupid and evil. You have to agree that republicans are poor servants of the people no matter what dark force drives them.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:45 amThe_Right_Stuff Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 11:25 am
If Trial Lawyers care “for the people” so much, why do they take 33% to 40% plus costs to fund their luxury cars, $2,000 suits, $100 ties, $150 bottles of wine and big houses in gated communities? 20% to 25% should work just fine.
_______________
Who was that obnoxious troll last fall… Michael?? Who **cough** “claimed” he worked for a med ins company… and was always bragging about his Ferrari and Mercedes… and drinking $2500/bottle “Screaming Eagle Cabernet”?
_______________
Apparently Wrong_Stuff doesn’t realize Workers Comp lawyers are already limited in the amount they can charge their clients on settlements. And not all trial lawyers are nearly as rich as the ones he wants to use as examples.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:49 amBriseadh na Faire at 9:18 am
… Perhaps he’s going to China to get some tips? …
just as “looking into his eyes” gave bush the understanding he needed
April 1st, 2008 at 11:49 amto use PUTIN’s methods as his own…
The_Right_Stuff Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 11:25 am
The_Wrong_Stuff neglects to mention the millions that malpractice insurance company lobbyists have spent in Washington over the last decade.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:51 am121. Thanks Fred…
April 1st, 2008 at 12:09 pmThe Right Stuff obviously does not understand the nature of the problems facing medical care in this country. It has very little to do with any of the talking points he dutifully parrots. The litigation canard has been thoroughly debunked. Our entire system of private, employer-sponsored insurance is broken. Single payer systems throughout the developed world deliver much better health care at greatly reduced cost than what we have here. The facts are irrefutable.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:11 pmMy friend took alot of pro bono cases also. She is not a bottom feeder that you would like all of us to believe.
112. Miss Molly is right. My friend did not work for those kinds of lawfirms. She worked for very small practices that actually cared about the clients. She had to get out of it because she couldn’t make ends meet. She graduated in the top 3% of her class. Most are not rich… She would laugh at all of your statements.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:13 pmAn interesting concept: A grassroots effort to have people post positive Hillary comments on political blogs.
http://voteforhillaryonline.blogspot.com/2007/11/get-paid-to-post-positive-comments.html
April 1st, 2008 at 12:15 pmI don’t know that I’d actually categorize it as “evil”. I think they truly disdain government, for whatever reason. I think it’s emotionally-driven, and masked by a philosophical justification. By you’re right; there’s no dispute that they’re poor managers when they get in control of government.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:16 pmThe_Right_Stuff Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 9:06 am
With all due respect, do you really think that Government paperwork is any less onerous than private pay paperwork. Ever hear of “government red tape?”
______________________________________________
You bet I do. My husband is on Medicare. I am not yet old enough for Medicare, so I am still on regular health insurance.
Our doctor says that my husband’s paperwork is a walk in the park compared to mine. Not only is the paperwork easier to fill out and submit, but he says the Medicare claims are paid faster than mine, which is better for his bottom line. And it’s not just the paperwork — all my doctor’s treatment plans for my husband sail right through the system, whereas it takes a major fight just to get authorization for a mammogram for me.
I look forward to turning 65.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:22 pmWell, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about malpractice soon. We can’t sue the FDA. We can’t sue companies who have drugs and devices approved by the FDA. And I am sure that we will soon not be able to sue doctors who do egregious harm. I don’t believe in frivolous lawsuits but there are times that companies and doctors have to take responsibility for people whose lives they destroyed.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:23 pmMs_Joanne Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I didn’t read up on it, but do the positive comments have to be truthful?
April 1st, 2008 at 12:29 pmWhat a marvelous invention for the greedy. Capitalism on one hand…..charge what the market will bear…and then some, we will help to to do that. And they are….
On the other hand although they say they are capitalists, they want to not be held responsible for people who are injured or die due to their negligent or irresponsibel behavior…….
April 1st, 2008 at 12:39 pmRepublicans already legislated a debacle: Operation Iraqi Liberation. The debacle they legislated is onerous, both in terms of lives and treasure, and to make matters worse, they have NO EXIT STRATEGY. None. Zip.
At this point, our choices are quite limited: we can squander what’s left of our Army, our economy and our credibility in Iraq in an arrogant and futile attempt to stave off the inevitable defeat in Iraq — like we did in Vietnam — OR we can simply get our people the HELL out of there as quickly and as safely as possible. The first rule of holes says that when you find yourself in a hole, STOP DIGGING.
The mission in Iraq is FUBAR’d. The question is, how many people have to die before these fools will admit that they made a mistake.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:01 pmDID YOU CATCH THIS ON COUNTDOWN LAST NIGHT???
[...]
Finally, because, as Shakespeare said, the truth will out, we turn to statements made by Attorney General Michael Mukasey at the Commonwealth Club here in San Francisco last week. In his speech where he tried to make the case for passing the FISA bill with telecom immunity, he made a statement that should bring one pause (that is, if you’re not a blindly partisan hack who is afraid of your own shadow):
Attorney General say what? As Keith Olberman puts it:
You could send him to Gitmo, I suppose.
Paging John Conyers and Henry Waxman. Oversight on the line.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/01/countdowns-bushed-torturous-information-edition/
April 1st, 2008 at 1:05 pm“Oil executives will return to the hot seat”–Really? Will they actually have to testify under oath? Problably not, if their last performance before this committee is any indication. I’m just proud that my Senator, Maria Cantwell, ripped Ted Stevens a new one when he allowed them to forgo swearing in.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:11 pm“With all due respect, do you really think that Government paperwork is any less onerous than private pay paperwork. Ever hear of “government red tape?””
Medicaid seems to be okay with most seniors. I haven’t heard lots of complaints. If the government can run Medicare and Medicaid, I think they can handle the rest of us.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:23 pm> If Trial Lawyers care “for the people” so much, why do they > take 33% to 40%.
Litigation and everything leading up to it is difficult, time consuming and expensive. I’m going to take a random guess and say you’re probably painfully ignorant of the intracacies of the legal system if you think thats excessive. add to it the fact you need at least 7 years total of higher education to be a lawyer, and suddenly the percentages your quoting (usually closer to 1/3 than 40 percent) dont seem as unreasonable.
you republicans hate trial lawyers for one reason.. their existence creates corporate accoutability where there would otherwise be none. if it wernt for trials lawyers, childrens pajamas would go up like a torch, we’d have arensic in our food, and republicans could get away with things like poisoning poor folks for profit…
April 1st, 2008 at 2:00 pm>We should all have it so good.
Better than not having it at all, right?
April 1st, 2008 at 2:01 pmWayne, I don’t know if there are any specific guidelines but the site seems to want up and up discussion of her policies and issues.
This from the site:
You have to peruse the comments. Interesting.
And then there is this, also from the post:
Hey, gotta eat, I suppose.
April 1st, 2008 at 3:04 pmThe_Right_Stuff Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 1:55 pm
“I suppose that is why each state has a huge Medicaid fraud and waste control unit…”
– ALL health insurers have fraud divisions, not just Medicare and Medicaid. Being an insurance provider without a fraud unit is like being a city without a police force.
“…that is constantly bringing charges against doctors…”
– Um…it’s not only doctors that game the system or try to rip off insurers to make ends meet. Identity theft is a big problem, too. But here’s the bigger picture — health care has gotten so expensive and so unavailable to so many that it’s true many employ desperate measures to get it.
“…and still only catching a small percentage of the abusers — because the system works so well;”
– If you’re going to fling out a bunch of words masquerading as a “fact”, please back it up with some numbers. And a source. Or just give a link to a non-biased source.
“…and why the government is doing such a bang up job with Veterans’ health care.”
– Veteran’s health care is a separate issue, and not related to Medicare, Medicaid, or any other universal payer program for health care delivered by private providers. There is plenty to say about veterans’ health care, but I won’t clog up this thread with it.
“We should all have it so good.”
April 1st, 2008 at 3:38 pm– Well, we should certainly have it BETTER than what we have. That’s what we’re fighting for.
Hey rightwingers-who-parrot-rightwing-talking-points:
If your child (wife, parent, spouse — or community) suffered at the hands of an incompetent doctor (or corporation) requiring long-term care, or debilitating disease, you would hire the best “trial lawyer” possible to face the insurance company big-wigs as they tried to leave you isolated and on your own.
April 1st, 2008 at 6:50 pmYou seem to forget that trial lawyers fight for you against the big guys. For long term care, your own insurance will limit its coverage.
Malpractice or liability insurance costs rise because there is no regulation; the great majority of lawsuits that result in damages are awarded by juries who sympathize with the injured — they are often overturned in appeal if the award is too disproportional.