But if you come to Canada you don’t need to learn a new language unless you go to Quebec, you’d just need to learn to spell things properly
But swedish is easy. You’ll learn to speak it in a year or so.
not to mention blonde girls are hott
Don’t know if there are more blondes here than is the US.
im in ur Sweden, lern’n ur language
an stealin’ yer women
Party at Arvidsjaur, everybody!!!1!eleven!!1
Because most of us working people get free health care from our employers, WITHOUT taxes.
Plus we have some of the most advanced medical stuff in the world, due to profits gained by the creators. There is a reason why when celebrities from other countries get hurt they come to the US.
And if you have the best, why are 80% of new procedures and drugs designed in the US? Because there is $$$ involved. I can’t begin to think how stale the medical field will become if you take that away.
Most?
And what percentage of the people who get healthcare work for a major corporation? Is it a good thing that people are dissuaded from working for a smaller business because the business can’t afford to pay for its employee’s healthcare, as well as their family’s?
For that matter, what percent of people get healthcare for their families from an employer that’s NOT a large corporation?
By the way, while the US is (currently) above Sweden as far as general quality of life, I’m fairly certain they beat us in health and healthcare. Noted from a couple of different sources/indexes/“calculators,” such as this one and wikipedia.
No, actually, the US is not above Sweden.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778562.html
Which supports your point even more 
Zurg:
The US has good science because it has many private universities and government-funded research. The money doctors charge doesn’t fund research for shit.
Not to mention that denying basic human rights for science is an absolutely abhorrent thing to do.
Actually, these private companies that do the research DON’T get government funding. Only the Government researchers get that, and guess what? They only come out with ~2% of the new stuff each year. (John Stossel)
Now, no, the money doctors charge doesn’t go to these companies directly, just like any other market. There is mark-up, but it’s not that major.
On top of this, you gotta look at other facts (don’t mess with me, I had to do an argument on this in school):
-only 20 million people at MOST don’t have health care. Compare that to the 300+ million that do.
-The majority of these people are illegal aliens. I have nothing against immigrants, only illegal ones.
If there is going to be health care reforms, change it for that portion of the 20 million that should have it—not the 300+ million of us that already do.
Besides, look at the government’s track record:
-Medicare: Bankrupt
-Medicaid: Bankrupt
-Social Security: Bankrupt
And now you want to give them control over 1/7 of our economy!? Hell, Obama has already tripled the national debt, let’s just let him do that to the medical industry too!
And sure, you have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna give it to you. Go out and earn it like the rest of us.
Hell, while were at it we should also go socialist. We’re already half way there. >_>
“Take from the rich and give to the poor.” - Did you know the wealthiest 2% of Americans (aka Bill Gates) pay 90% of the US taxes.
That’s then turned around to food stamps and such, for those too lazy to try.
Why should people like Gates be punished for applying themselves?
Well, I suppose if you’re still living in 2006 then the US is under Sweden. =P
2005, 2006, maybe 2007, Sweden was above the US. As of 2008/2009, though, US is above Sweden.
Depending on the scale used to measure, of course.
I’m gonna go ahead and try and be intelligent for a few seconds here, so bear with me. Also, I’d like to say that I’ve read, like, two posts on the matter at hand, so again, bear with my apathy towards the argument, because I’ve heard it all before, and put much more eloquently.
Now, on to the actual matter at hand. Health Care.
Heh, my friend and I had a discussion about this. He and I are about as far away from each other as possible on the political spectrum, and yet we somehow reached a consensus.
Here was my argument, one that we ended up agreeing on.
We’ve all heard the stuff that’s already been tossed around, but there’s one argument that’s never explored, and that’s the one I hold.
It’s easy to state that the Health Care system in the U.S. is flawed, which everyone will freely admit unless they are complete imbeciles. Private companies holding people to high premiums simply because there is no free market to compete with? Please. That’s control at its finest. They could up the premiums another $100, and none of us would blink an eye at it.
Universal Health Care, a nice option, to say the least, is flawed. I’ll freely admit that. It’s not perfect. But what government run program is? And yet we live with those every day, and never complain, or if we do complain, we don’t do anything about it.
Here’s my question, and a simplified answer: You will freely admit that the system is flawed, so what do we do about it?
Well, the quickest, and probably safest solution is the inclusion of universal health care. It could easily prolong the program (at the very least) for a good long while, at least until we get back on our feet and can actually take care of the problem instead of providing with a temporary fix.
I won’t lie, I don’t think universal health care is without flaws. But those flaws can be fixed.
And…Done. Just my thoughts on the matter. So yeah. Oh, and Zurg, Obama has not tripled the national debt. Where did you get that info? What’s the national debt right now? $11-12 Trillion right now, I believe. Feel free to correct me on that, I’m pretty sure it’s higher now. But I know it hasn’t hit $20 Trillion yet. And it wasn’t in the single digits when Obama began his presidency, I know that.
So thus, no tripling. Not even doubling. Yet. That’s not to say he might not jack it up. Right now I have no idea what’s going on in Politics. I’ve sorta been MIA when it comes to the world’s issues right now. Lost track about a week ago, haven’t been irked enough to catch back up.
Oh, one more thing I’d like to field. Why is it every time Democrats are put into office, all the Republicans scream “Socialist!” at the top of their lungs, and when Republicans are put into office, Democrats scream…uh…wait, what do Democrats scream? I don’t even know. See, I tend to lean towards Liberal views, so I tend to peg problems on Republicans.
Maybe that’s the root of the problem. Republicans blame the Democrats, and Democrats blame the Republicans.
Sorry about the wall of text, guys. Just felt like putting in my two cents for you to shred to bits. That’s sort of how I view political debates nowadays. A pair of rabid wolves fighting each other over a rotten scrap of meat, so when the other wolf comes in for a slice, the other two wolves gang up on the new guy.
Yeah, I exaggerated… a lot. Still, the fact that we are that far in debt itself says the government can’t run things.
And for the record, I hate both the Democrats and Republicans.
No, you didn’t exaggerate, you just have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about. Neither do I, incidentally, but you were talking about the deficit, not the debt.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8296079.stm
Thanks for the correction, Varis, I didn’t check the date because I am stupid.
“Actually, these private companies that do the research DON’T get government funding.” I didn’t say they do. I said there is private research as well as government funded programs. Private research is funded by capitalistic ventures, sure, but those include profits from selling education (which I don’t think is particularly unethical) and selling goods, such as drugs and equipment, to hospitals. Which would still be paid for, just through the government.
Here’s the problem: No government can be perfect. It’s a known fact: “Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” (Churchill)
But you have to choose the lesser of two evils. I’d like to present the case that insurance is a blacker evil than any government-run program (unless the government is the khmer rouge) can be. Essentially, when forcing people to choose between different health insurance plans, you are asking them to gamble. Do they pay more now and potentially save their lives, or save their money now but risk their health going to fuck later on down the road? Gambling’s cool and all, but the requirement that people gamble on their own lives in this country is kind of absurdly archaic and inhumane. There are arguments against universal healthcare, but the argument for universal healthcare speaks much more strongly to me.
No, they just do their best to sling mud at the republicans in office. I heard more bellyaching from the news when bush was in office than now, when a democrat is the president.
That couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Obama hasn’t committed any war crimes, could it?
Nah, it’s definitely just bias.
And for the record, the media was all for Bush until they realized people stopped liking him. That’s also about the time when the people who still liked Bush started to say things like “The media is just spreading lies and trying to make the president sound bad!”
Congratulations, now that the media isn’t on your side, you’ve caught up with the rest of us.
Edit: rofl. <3 onion.