...in 1961!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdLpem-AAs

Someone pls embed!



[Edited on July 25, 2009 at 9:14 AM. Reason : image]

7/25/2009 9:14:14 AM

back when people knew what "socialism" actually meant.....

7/25/2009 9:17:03 AM

7/25/2009 10:02:56 AM

another absolutely stellar contribution to TSB by kdawg(fail)

7/25/2009 10:32:06 AM

Great post kdawg!

7/25/2009 11:25:08 AM

7/25/2009 12:45:16 PM

^ Haha I used to have that poster.

7/25/2009 12:50:36 PM

I'm sorry, but Ronald Reagan was wrong when it came to Medicare

7/25/2009 1:19:53 PM

how so?

7/25/2009 10:30:24 PM

His crying about socialized medicine was him crying about Medicare. Medicare is a popular and effective program.

7/26/2009 9:51:51 AM

yeah, effective at tearing the federal budget all to pieces

7/26/2009 9:53:53 AM

I still dont see what he said was incorrect. The thought that if we can get people accustomed to govt provided healthcare, its a foot in the door for a further takeover... Which has happened. The invention of medicare has killed private insurance over the age of 65. And Im not talking about supplements. And he was dead on about SS. It was never intended to provide you your ENTIRE retirement...however, more and more americans expect it to.

Now his idea of the govt telling docs where they can go hasnt come true. However, its certainly a possiblity in the future.

Quote :

"Medicare is a popular and effective program. "

And totally unsustainable... but I suppose your definition of effective is different than mine. Ill give you popular though. But paying 10 bucks for a new car would be a popular program too.

Our CURRENT unfunded medicare liablities are projected to be 38Trillion. 2.5 times our annual GDP.


"Medicare's alleged cost-controlling ability is illusory, driven by faulty math, regulatory power to shift costs to the private sector, and pricing formulas that pass expenses to taxpayers and future generations.

The 800-pound gorilla is Medicare's unfunded liability for future benefits, estimated by Medicare Trustees at $38 trillion. Medicare created this massive liability by charging current enrollees too low a price: government used the payments by working non-beneficiaries to make up the shortfall. If Medicare were a private insurance company, it would have to increase its costs by an additional trillion dollars annually to account for the interest on this debt (assuming 3% interest). But the federal government's accounting ignores this expense."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/25/some_inconvenient_truths_about_medicare_97617.html

7/26/2009 10:05:05 AM

^Good read. Something needs to be done, but I don't want the government getting involved for some of the reasons that have been mentioned on here and in the article. If government is the cure then why is there so much fraud in Medicare and Medicaid? Why do the vets that I have met say that they got poor care while in the VA hospital? Social Security is becoming underfunded. The only thing a government health plan will do is raise taxes since the government will need money to continue to fund it. Healthcare costs are rising because it takes a lot of money to pay off all of those doctor bills that everyone claims each year. It takes a long time of paying in to your insurance company to pay off all of the costs when you have a major problem like cancer and get treatment while taking medicine and having CT scans, etc.

7/28/2009 12:43:33 AM

^^ dont worry! Congress will fix this by adding more demand onto the system!

7/28/2009 12:53:44 AM

Quote :

"Medicare is a popular and effective program."

thats not the craziest thing you've posted smacr, but it's damn close

7/28/2009 7:15:43 AM

How so? It is popular and effective. You might say it's inefficient, but that doesn't negate its other characteristics.

7/28/2009 7:53:10 AM

effective doesn't necessarily mean efficient.

it can be popular and effective while failing at cost.

i don't think this is the position they were making at the time.

but it does provide for them an accurate and convenient back pedal.

7/28/2009 9:59:49 AM