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Agent00Soul

Listed below are comments made by Agent00Soul between Thursday, 6th November 2008 and Saturday, 7th November 2009.

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Healthcare plans: a threat to freedom? 01:08am on 07 Nov 2009 Some Dems in white-middle class districts will definitely lose their seats next year if they vote for health reform, but I hope they have the guts to risk falling on their swords for this one anyway. It's the right thing to do and if they really care about the country, they should be willing to risk their careers for it.

I work in small business environments. One company had to cancel healthcare to its employees because it became so expensive. The owners were nice people; they didn't want to do this. But it was a choice of healthcare or going out of business. Another company simply didn't offer healthcare at all for the same reason. That's not welfare queens, that's not "I'm alright Jack; I've got mine so buy your own." It's the backbone of this country - full-time small business workers who put in the same 40 hours minimum as anyone else - not being able to afford health care and then being terrified when they have it that can vanish at any minute.

I do understand that fear of government is in the DNA of the country (which is why abortion is still legal after repeated attempts to ilegalize it ironically enough), but I do think the incremental approach advocated suddenly by conservatives is a red herring. Health insurance issues have been getting worse over the last decade, but in all those years of GOP power, I never saw anybody doing anything - incremental or otherwise - to offer any kind of reform. In fact, that's probably the main reason the current plan is so huge; we've waited too long to tackle any of this.

I can tell you from personal experience that most middle-class homeowning suburban dwellers hate the government, or rather the concept of government, outside of law and order issues. If this passes, they will probably throw out a lot of their Dem congressmen who choose to vote for it. But the system is so messed up, and I've personally been bounced around inside it like a pinball for so long and am scared to hell this will continue forever, that I hope those progressive politicians are willing to stand up for their beliefs, get it on the books and then face the very real possibility that their political careers will be over.

BTW I used to be a registered Republican, but this whole health issue pushed me into the Democratic camp years before I'd ever heard of Obama.
Wake-up call for world peace 4:00pm on 09 Oct 2009 "I am in danger of being captured by Washington cynicism and the narrative of the president's enemies, who see any sign of what Americans call "reaching out" as weakness and failure."

I think you can blame Pres. Jimmy Carter's lack of a firm hand for creating this very fundamental fear in American conservatives. It's pretty much the foundation for most of the Republicans in my own family: they feel humiliatated by the events of 77-81 and remember how the Iran hostages were released 1 minute in Reagan's presidency. I'm a leftie, but I totally understand how these feelings develop in people. But again, it's too early to make a judgment on Obama for this. As he said, talking is not appeasing. Personally, he won me over in the election precisely because he didn't seemed to fear anything.
Wake-up call for world peace 3:54pm on 09 Oct 2009 I like him - voted for him etc. But for sure it's too early for him to win this; you don't get an award without competing in the event! As for the "sneering" conservative media, it's just another day at the office I suspect. Although I wouldn't be surprised if this whole thing was just an attempt by the Nobel committee to steam them up.
Does Australia deserve its boozy reputation? 6:53pm on 08 Oct 2009 I actually hard a hard time getting a good cocktail in Sydney when I visited Australia. The pubs close around midnight and the "after-hours" spots are either few and far between or tourist hell holes. The worst thing was the legal measure that bartenders are forced to use when serving hard alcohol. It's way too small so you really have to spend a lot of money just to get a buzz.
Big city blues 9:19pm on 20 May 2009 When I vacationed in Berlin, I was amazed by the fact that pretty much all the "locals" I socialized with were from somewhere else, usually the far western part of Germany. I think the only born-and-raised Berliners I really interacted with were cash register-manning teenagers and senior citizens. But that in itself is surely the mark of both a capital city.
Health care heartbreak 8:36pm on 06 Jan 2009 In general, I'm impressed that this discussion hasn't degenerated much into the usual fracas of us vs them. I think in this instance, everyone agrees that our health system is seriously broken. For the historical record, according to both my parents and grandparents the traditional private insurance/cash for service model worked fine until around the end of the 1980s. That's when the costs began to spiral out of control and the insurance companies themselves became more picky and litigious with their customers' ailments.

I do think that reform of any kind would require a sea change in the cultural psychology. The huge majority would need to start considering health care at the basic level a fundamental right and not a commodity. A comparison would be with education, which is considered a fundamental right and therefore the government provides free schools for all children whose parents can't afford a better private school or choose not to spend the money. As of now, that kind of mentality simply doesn't exist for health care. Maybe as more and more upper middle class people like Justin can't afford services or aren't getting what they feel they are paying for, then there will be the kind of psychological will needed for a major overhaul.

Either way, I doubt there would ever be a true national system like the UK or Canada has. The German or Dutch mix of private and public services with regulation would seem more logical. Even a leftie like myself admits that government agencies tend not to run very well and the people who work for these agencies - however well intentioned - tend not to be the best and brightest. Besides, does it not give all readers a chill to imagine people like Dick Cheney involved with something so personal as our indiviudual bodies LOL?
A European Obama? 00:20am on 14 Nov 2008 I thought MAII hated Obama....
What Obama win means for Oz 7:50pm on 12 Nov 2008 #10 Listohan "The other measure they should attend to is compulsory voting"

Are you sure you want cumpulsory voting? I had a chuckle when I read this today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/opinion/12wed3.html?ref=opinion
What Obama win means for Oz 7:14pm on 12 Nov 2008 #8 SydneyKate
"It's not difficult Agent00Soul. Pay a decent minimum wage, have universal health care (yes it's not very good but it still exists) and allow anyone smart enough to enter your university system to do so via a deferrred personal debt burden (google 'HECS'). "

Come on, I'm sure you know better than that. The things you suggest have been on the table in Washington since the 1930s in various forms. There is perhaps nothing MORE difficult than establishing the things you imply are easy!
What Obama win means for Oz 10:00pm on 06 Nov 2008 When I visited Sydney earlier in the year I was impressed at the standard of living. It looked to me like the "middle class lifestyle" (in the positive sense that it's thought of here in the US) was far more obtainable in Australia than America. Prez-elect Obama could do worse than cast an eye down under if he's going to make raising the standard of living for working Americans his top priority.

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