Global Warming News

[Chuck52]

Question: What percentage of the cost of a gallon of gas at the pump is attributable to taxes, and
what percentage is attributable to profit and production of the same?
Question:If the base research (i.e. data from weather stations,thickness of polar ice, etc.) is either "missing" or in error, should we basing huge economic decisions on that data?
Question:If the Constitution stands in the way of making "reforms" should we make those "reforms" without thorough airing of those "reforms" in full view of the electorate?
Just asking.

Number one depends to some extent on where you are buying it, but is probably pretty high anywhere in the country. The tax money pays for stuff you probably don't want to do without as well as stuff you'd rather not pay for....just like all taxes.

Number two implies that enough of the data is "missing" or in error to strongly affect the conclusions, which is a question open to discussion but certainly not answered in the affirmative, unless you believe certain talking heads. BTW, in case no one answered your challenge about Beck's accuracy, you might want to simply Google "Beck's lies". You'll get lots of stuff, some of which can be easily documented, and some of which is just screaming.

Three is a good question. Last I checked, the barriers in place to actually amend the Constitution are pretty high, which has probably prevented some real doozies from becoming law over the years. We have the Supreme Court to judge whether laws meet Constitutional requirements, and that body has managed to tick off just about every segment of political thought over the years. "Activism", like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, and a judge is "activist" if he does anything to offend the beholder.

Just replying,

Chuck

BTW, isn't it more fun to discuss what booze tastes best?

 

[20 20]

Let me join the complaint department - just received my NYS Driver's Licence renewal papers. A mere $172.50 for 8 years (I have a CDL, commercial because I drove school bus part time long ago)

Loren

Just went through the same thing 180+ for mine. Takes money to make money,.,.hey?

 

[keegs]

Let me join the complaint department - just received my NYS Driver's Licence renewal papers. A mere $172.50 for 8 years (I have a CDL, commercial because I drove school bus part time long ago)

Loren

We're DINKs and pay pretty high property taxes here in Jersey.

My neighbor in the next cube has three kids in public school and goes off about his property taxes at every opportunity.

 

[IH3444]

N.L. Premier Williams set to have heart surgery in U.S.

 

[20 20]

N.L. Premier Williams set to have heart surgery in U.S.

be funny{not personally} if he dies on the table

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

Number one depends to some extent on where you are buying it, but is probably pretty high anywhere in the country. The tax money pays for stuff you probably don't want to do without as well as stuff you'd rather not pay for....just like all taxes.

Number two implies that enough of the data is "missing" or in error to strongly affect the conclusions, which is a question open to discussion but certainly not answered in the affirmative, unless you believe certain talking heads. BTW, in case no one answered your challenge about Beck's accuracy, you might want to simply Google "Beck's lies". You'll get lots of stuff, some of which can be easily documented, and some of which is just screaming.

Three is a good question. Last I checked, the barriers in place to actually amend the Constitution are pretty high, which has probably prevented some real doozies from becoming law over the years. We have the Supreme Court to judge whether laws meet Constitutional requirements, and that body has managed to tick off just about every segment of political thought over the years. "Activism", like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, and a judge is "activist" if he does anything to offend the beholder.

Just replying,

Chuck

BTW, isn't it more fun to discuss what booze tastes best?

Thanks for the reply:
Last first, Yea booze is more fun.
My point re the comparison of the percentage of monies extracted from a gallon of gas is that a far higher amount goes to the government, than to the actual producer/refiner/distributor of the product. Earlier posts about "Big Oil" made reference to the fact that they "pose a threat to our economy" Can we not say the same about "Big Government"?
I think that when the Guardian and other traditionally left wing news outlets are now questioning the basic premise of AGW, we can safely say that there is reason to slow down and take a much more jaundiced look at the conclusions.
Re; Glenn Beck, the man has made mistakes(We all have feet of clay) I will repeat my basic premise, judge a news outlet by the accuracy of their reporting. And in terms of the quantifiable ,I will stick with Beck/Limbaugh/Wall st Jrnl.
against Air america/Ny Times/Media matters. anytime.
Evidently the bar to passing a 2000 page bill that takes over close to 20% of the economy isnt important enough to air in public.Don't think that we as citizens should have to wait for an issue to be decided by the Supremes, when we will be taxed for the changes before the decision(BTW We will be taxed for years, BEFORE any of the supposed benefits kick in)California has done similar schemes in the past, pass a totally unconstitutional law, immediately start collecting taxes, and then when the law is overturned, somehow find a way not to return it.

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

N.L. Premier Williams set to have heart surgery in U.S.

Love his campaign slogan; "Anything but Conservative" You can't make this stuff up. Great Post!

 

[dave1949]

N.L. Premier Williams set to have heart surgery in U.S.

People in Europe go to different countries for different procedures, it is not uncommon. Actually it's practical. In Germany, should you need a procedure not available there, the health care system pays your transportation costs to a location that specializes in that. From a health care cost management perspective, it's smart. The EU, in total, and US have comparable population sizes. Canada's population is much, much smaller.
Dave.

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

People in Europe go to different countries for different procedures, it is not uncommon. Actually it's practical. In Germany, should you need a procedure not available there, the health care system pays your transportation costs to a location that specializes in that. From a health care cost management perspective, it's smart. The EU, in total, and US have comparable population sizes. Canada's population is much, much smaller.
Dave.

C'mon
You are totally overlooking the basic premise, Socialized Medicine(canada) vs US payer based system.

 

[dave1949]

C'mon
You are totally overlooking the basic premise, Socialized Medicine(canada) vs US payer based system.

Don't think so. I have no idea what medical issues this patient has, but some procedures are rare enough that the doctors who know how to do them are few and far between.

You wouldn't think anything of flying halfway across the US to have a medical procedure done by a specialist in your issue. In doing so, you would be flying across all of the EU and flying over easily two or three times the population of Canada (34 million).

I think the article is deliberately ignoring medical realities to denounce Canada's health care system. So, I do understand the premise of the article, it just doesn't hold water.
Dave.

 

[IH3444]

What a health care system! When in doubt, ship it out! Hopefully he'll get to the United States operating table before he dies! This is too funny!

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

Don't think so. I have no idea what medical issues this patient has, but some procedures are rare enough that the doctors who know how to do them are few and far between.

You wouldn't think anything of flying halfway across the US to have a medical procedure done by a specialist in your issue. In doing so, you would be flying across all of the EU and flying over easily two or three times the population of Canada (34 million).

I think the article is deliberately ignoring medical realities to denounce Canada's health care system. So, I do understand the premise of the article, it just doesn't hold water.
Dave.

I will leave it to others to decide, what the premise of the article is, but please inform me when you last heard of a Medicare/Medicaid patient being flown across the country to receive care?

 

[dave1949]

Please inform me when you last heard of a Medicare/Medicaid patient being flown across the country to receive care?

I don't know if that happens or not, guessing not commonly. How is that relevant? Is there a rule against that? People in this country go long distances all the time for specialized treatment. The point is, they do so for good reasons, which you have not addressed.
Dave.

 

[Chuck52]

Actually, if you do a search, you will find that Medicare does have a mechanism for reimbursement of at least some travel expenses. Will they fly you across the country to have your special procedure done? Don't know. How about your VA coverage? If you need a treatment only available through certain VA centers, do you get travel expense reimbursement? I'll have to ask my brother who got extensive treatment though the VA for hepatitis C. Of course, he was within driving distance of the Asheville VA center.

BTW, everyone with private insurance knows you can't get just anything done and have it paid for. Is that rationing?

Chuck

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

I don't know if that happens or not, guessing not commonly. How is that relevant? Is there a rule against that? People in this country go long distances all the time for specialized treatment. The point is, they do so for good reasons, which you have not addressed.
Dave.

The relevancy is that in a socialized system of health care, there is ALWAYS rationing. Hence you are not going to receive the BEST health care. If you want the BEST health care, you have to pay for it(or have someone else pay for it) Basic economics: The allocation of scarce resources, with alternative uses)

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

Actually, if you do a search, you will find that Medicare does have a mechanism for reimbursement of at least some travel expenses. Will they fly you across the country to have your special procedure done? Don't know. How about your VA coverage? If you need a treatment only available through certain VA centers, do you get travel expense reimbursement? I'll have to ask my brother who got extensive treatment though the VA for hepatitis C. Of course, he was within driving distance of the Asheville VA center.

BTW, everyone with private insurance knows you can't get just anything done and have it paid for. Is that rationing?

Chuck

Yes it is rationing, By price.
The only fair way to apportion "scarce resources, with alternative uses"
And if you are referring to VA coverage as "socialized" I will disagree with you. A number of people who served in Viet Nam with me and others wars, have left body parts and more in sort of a "pay in forward" plan

 

[dave1949]

The relevancy is that in a socialized system of health care, there is ALWAYS rationing. Hence you are not going to receive the BEST health care. If you want the BEST health care, you have to pay for it(or have someone else pay for it) Basic economics: The allocation of scarce resources, with alternative uses)

Well, I see you still have not addressed the real issue of medical realities, but if you wish to make socialized health care relevant, these are my thoughts:

If Germany, with it's rationed, less than best, inefficient socialized healthcare, can afford to fly patients to specialists - we should be able to also. It's just another example of how our healthcare costs are high and results are low - no matter who is paying. Other countries are providing healthcare 'smarter' than we are. We will keep on paying a 30% US citizen healthcare surcharge for less than the best results until we wise up.

I lived in Germany for almost 10 years, I didn't notice any lack of healthcare, nor did I ever hear of much that would cause me to think it was substandard or required much waiting.

From wikipedia:
Germany has the world's oldest universal health care system, with origins dating back to Otto von Bismarck's social legislation, which included the Health Insurance Bill of 1883, Accident Insurance Bill of 1884, and Old Age and Disability Insurance Bill of 1889.

Only in a utopian world does everyone get the best of everything without limit.
Dave.

 

[Loren49]

Hi all,

Interesting table
http://zfacts.com/metaPage/lib/National-Debt-GDP.gif

Easy to find evidence of this trend also:
As Health Costs Soar, More Find Care Overseas at SmartMoney.com

As Health Costs Soar, More Find Care Overseas
WHEN SHE WAS diagnosed with a fibroid tumor last year, Kathleen Dodds found herself in a bind. She didn't have health insurance because she couldn't afford it. With no insurance, the surgery she needed was prohibitively expensive.
"They were quoting me $30,000, tentatively, paid out of pocket," says Dodds, 42, a Portland, Ore.-based horse trainer. "There was no way I could afford it here."

But 7,200 miles away in India was an affordable solution. Through IndUSHealth, a company in Raleigh, N.C., that arranges medical care in India for U.S. citizens, Dodds flew out to the Apollo hospital in Delhi, where she had a successful hysterectomy that allowed her to return to her horseback riding students just two-and-a-half weeks later.
The total cost: just under $10,000, including round-trip airfare, transportation to and from the hospital, a one-week hospital stay where she says she was treated with more care and attention than she had ever experienced in the U.S., capped by 10 days at a "gorgeous hotel."


Read more: As Health Costs Soar, More Find Care Overseas at SmartMoney.com As Health Costs Soar, More Find Care Overseas at SmartMoney.com

US has some of the best care that MONEY can buy but to say it isn't rationed hear is not true. We have more easily avoidable deaths than most industrialized countries. Remember that about 50% of our expenditures are public money's now.

On a personal note - spoke with my 78 year old uncle who did very well with the local utility for about 40 years and also started and ran a heating business in his spare time. Financially he's way better off that me. His wife Alzheimer Disease and he has had some heart issues. I've always considered him very conservative so I was surprised when he told me that he didn't know how he would make it without Medicare.


Loren

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

What a health care system! When in doubt, ship it out! Hopefully he'll get to the United States operating table before he dies! This is too funny!

If you want a real chuckle, read the column on that page by
Diane Francis.

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

Well, I see you still have not addressed the real issue of medical realities, but if you wish to make socialized health care relevant, these are my thoughts:

If Germany, with it's rationed, less than best, inefficient socialized healthcare, can afford to fly patients to specialists - we should be able to also. It's just another example of how our healthcare costs are high and results are low - no matter who is paying. Other countries are providing healthcare 'smarter' than we are. We will keep on paying a 30% US citizen healthcare surcharge for less than the best results until we wise up.

I lived in Germany for almost 10 years, I didn't notice any lack of healthcare, nor did I ever hear of much that would cause me to think it was substandard or required much waiting.

From wikipedia:
Germany has the world's oldest universal health care system, with origins dating back to Otto von Bismarck's social legislation, which included the Health Insurance Bill of 1883, Accident Insurance Bill of 1884, and Old Age and Disability Insurance Bill of 1889.

Only in a utopian world does everyone get the best of everything without limit.
Dave.

Please furnish me the Percentage of patients that are flown/moved/in some other way furnished with advanced care , that they wouldn't haven't gotten, if not for socialized medicine.
Please furnish me with names of the countries that have a better result in outcomes of treatment, and have "smarter" systems.
Further question: Define "smarter system"
When living in Germany, did you notice the price of gasoline, when you were receiving your "free" health care.
That "you didn't notice" any problems with?
You are absolutely correct that only in a "Utopian World"
does one receive does everyone get the best of everything without limit. Lets see, which set of Politicians are promising that. Hmmmm?