As predicted, this "health care reform" is yet another scam to enrich the wealthy at the expense of everybody else.

The Health Care Deceit

The health care bill is not about health care. It is about protecting and increasing the profits of the insurance companies. The main feature of the health care bill is the “individual mandate,” which requires everyone in America to buy health insurance. Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont), a recipient of millions in contributions over his career from the insurance industry, proposes to impose up to a $3,800 fine on Americans who fail to purchase health insurance.

The determination of “our” elected representatives to serve the insurance industry is so compelling that Congress is incapable of recognizing the absurdity of these proposals.

The reason there is a health care crisis in the US is that the cumulative loss of jobs and benefits has swollen the uninsured to approximately 50 million Americans. They cannot afford health insurance any more than employers can afford to provide it.

It is absurd to mandate that people purchase what they cannot afford and to fine them for failing to do so. A person who cannot pay a health insurance premium cannot pay the fine.

These proposals are like solving the homeless problem by requiring the homeless to purchase a house.

It was left to Rep. Dennis Kucinich to point out that the health care bill ponies up 30 million more customers for the private insurance companies.

http://counterpunch.org/roberts09142009.html

The proposed legislation does nothing to introduce competition, does nothing to prevent unnecessary but profitable procedures, and does nothing to provide any of a host of ways to reduce costs and improve quality. As usual, it does nothing to address the root causes of the real problems.

It does, however, feed Wall Street's greedy exploitation of the US medical industry as its favorite cash cow, bigger than even the military-industrial complex.

Now it's true that we didn't solve any of the root causes. That's fine

None of the root causes have been solved, and YOU say "that's fine"? Another disaster, worse than the last, is on its way, and YOU say "that's fine"? A "fine" disaster, is that what you mean here?

a tourniquet isn't supposed to heal your mangled arm, or make the machine you caught it in any safer.

You still have one arm left, plus a right leg and a left leg, and the machine is still running and it's at least as dangerous as it was. Get back to work. We'll bring the Band-Aids and the Bactine.

I've predicted another Minsky Moment no later than December. Let us know just how "fine" you expect the resulting Minsky Meltdown to be.

Sheesh.

Why Capitalism Fails

Minsky argued that Keynes's collective work amounted to a powerful argument that capitalism was by its very nature unstable and prone to collapse. Far from trending toward some magical state of equilibrium, capitalism would inevitably do the opposite. It would lurch over a cliff.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/09/13/why_capitalism_fails

Some people never learn.

I think you're just annoyed because the Nazis lost.

Contrary to your claims, FDR didn't cause the Great Depression, and FDR didn't start WWII. Not that you'd believe it, but then, we expect neoconservatives to have a warped understanding of history. We further expect greedheads and warmongers to try to hide their greed and their warmongering, and to blame their catastrophic errors on the very people trying to clean up after your messes.

On the infrequent occasions I am back in the U.S. I have people thanking me for my "service". I never have any response. What are they thanking me for? For doing something they would never do? For some imagined protection I am providing? For killing people? WTF are these people talking about....I have no idea.

American soldiers are not maimed or killed for their country. They are maimed and killed so corporations can indulge in war profiteering and rob and kill people in other countries besides, because they have things corporations want. Then people in other countries retaliate by flying jetliners into US skyscrapers, which corporations like because it gives all the more reason to rob and kill people in other countries and lets corporations indulge in bigger and better profiteering.

You'd be amazed at how many people get suckered into this scam, throwing away their money and even their lives, all so a few people who already have too much money can get richer.

The big question: why is the U.S. involved in these disputes?

It's extremely profitable to politically-connected corporations. That's why the US has wars.

Empire is expensive. If you add up all the costs of US militarism and include things like the VA, the cost of nukes to the DOE, plus a long list of similar costs and hidden costs, it comes to somewhere over $2 trillion every year. Next year it will cost more than last year. It's no secret that the Pentagon can't account for trillions it's been given over the years. It's just accepted.

War is a racket. Smedley Butler wrote about that in detail. So have a lot of other people. That's why the US has wars. The official reasons are just excuses which don't hold up to scrutiny. People get maimed and killed, of course, but people are disposable. The corporations that profit could care less, and more death and destruction would be just fine if it might help increase their profits. More is better.

I've written a more concise post on Factcheck.org at the end of Joan Walsh's current thread.

A more concise collection of logical fallacies. Not even a good try.

You know what your problem is? Reality is against you. This puts you at one whopping disadvantage.

Factcheck.org is crude Obamamania propaganda.

Translation: "I can't refute the facts or the logic. How about if I just throw a rock and run away?"

Typical neocon.