Midnight -
I don't where you get your facts, but I don't believe most of them.  And, please, not from some website or political blog.  I have to agree with WM - none of those assertions is true to my knowledge.

The American gov't is the biggest of big business - it has to be run like a business.  Unfortunately, our national CEO at present has never even run a kid's lemonade stand - that's the problem.

You have every right to your opinion of Monsanto or any other company, but having represented them doesn't disqualify a man who pulled the American Olympics out of the fire and saved it from being a national debacle and made it into two weeks of national pride.  I have represented many clients whom I can't stand to be around on a personal level.

No man ( since 2,000 years ago ) is perfect, and certainly no candidate is.  What you have to do is look at the big picture, and it sure isn't pretty now.  McCain made a huge mistake selecting Palin, and I knew it when he did it, but again unfortunately, our party has to at least mollify the far right.  Selecting Palin was simply an attempt to do that, since, as we all know, the vice presidency is virtually unimportant, again in the big picture.  But for her selection, I think McCain would have won.

My bet is different from yours - Hillary will be the next POTUS, unless something drastic happens in the next 3 years.  Women will flock to her like blacks flocked to Obama.  Liberals all love her, and she certainly carries the mystique of Bill, who, except for the Constitutional prohibition, could still be Pres.

So, I vote for the party, its platform, and the totality of its beliefs; seldom do I vote for "the man/woman" running.  I support what he/she stands for in the big picture, rather than picking out little nuances here and there which may be negatives.

I think I may have voted for a Dem judge a couple of times, but I never vote for a Dem running for any office of power in the legislative or policy making sense.  

My wife and I we talking about this very thing this morning, how the parties are so divided now.  I commented that 50 years ago, it was JFK who pushed for the investment tax credit to get manufacturing going again after the slowdown of the 1950s.  Why can't today's Dems be more like Truman, Kennedy, even LBJ?  To me, it's simple:

50 to 60 years ago our nation was almost totally homogenous, except for two splits; black and white; and Catholic and Protestant.

Except for those divisions, and the second one wasn't much of one, we were the descendants of European immigrants, we were 90+% of Christian beliefs and heritage, and that religious commonality crossed over the black-white line.  In essence, we were one people.

None of that is true today.  Democrats have become the party of those sectors of the population that didn't even exist in Truman's time, except for blacks.  There were no Muslims, there were no Latinos in the numbers that we have today, there were no Indians, Asians, etc. who demanded to preserve their own religions and cultures, and who expected us to bow to those desires, and call Christmas vacation in our schools "winter break" now.  We sang Christmas carols in my elementary school in the weeks leading up to Christmas, we had a Christmas program from our high school choir, and I bet yours did too, performing religious music.  Think a school can do that now?  Hardly.

50 years ago the Jewish population, whom I have always respected, kept their own religion, culture, and customs without asking the Christian majority to forgo ours.

Today, it is the Republican party who is trying to cling to, and perhaps return us to, what worked for 200+ years.  The Dems try to separate us into factions, opposed to each other.

As the black/white divide has finally started to wane, and will disappear in our children's lifetimes, we could be a great people again if we would only practice our national motto E Pluribus Unum, which is One From Many.  But the Dems will never go there again.

Jerry I agree with a lot of what you said about the Dems, especially JFK. I get a lot of information off different sources because I cant work and hate most of TV. My Doc has chewed me out saying its ruining my eyes, staying on the computer.  What little bit around the home I can do doent amount to much. What everyone has to realize is BOTH of the last two presidents have ruined this country. Quit this Republican is right mentality and become a free thinker. You know Bush attacked the wrong country. You know Obama is 5 points shy of being a Communist Dictator. I've seen You Tube Video's of OBama and Michelle admitting he's from Kenya but I wont post them because I know videos can be staged. I've seen his birth certificate on You Tube without the Hawaiian Stamp on it but it also could have been staged. I print and paste only what I believe is the truth and if you can ever prove I'm wrong please do so. I consider whats left of me a man and I can take it if I make a mistake.Some post I don't necessarily believe in but I throw them out for discussion because I like to hear yours and everyone elses reply. Other than Obama care I don't believe we would be better off with Romney. You've already preached to me about him being a businessman but I despise the way he did business and who he represented. You're a business man and you're good to your employees from what I hear, but I'm afraid the majority aren't like you. Anyone who agrees with any party needs to rethink their position. Obama just plain sux!. If he's not allowed to raise the debt ceiling he's threaten to take away the old peoples Social Security. Notice none of them ever try to cut back on military spending and foreign aid, that's out of the question.  He pledged to uphold the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and He's trying to destoy them. As far as I'm concerned Obama is the biggest terrorist threat we have right now. Ron Paul had the only plan that could begin to dig us out of this hole we're in.Years ago that might have worked but the last two presidents have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that both parties can totally ruin this country. Support your Congressmen fighting Obamacare and pray for the truckers OCT 11th, more on that later. Best wishes my friend

Thank you Tony! I'm not always right but I say what I believe. Don't hesitate to correct me if you believe I'm wrong, I can take it. I believe this forum is about exchanging ideas. Hear lately its become my way or the highway and I hope it turns into a peaceful exchange of ideas again.

Jerry pretty soon we are going to be a minority and the pubs will all but be gone. You're just gonna have to forget about Christmas Carols and religion.. I read in the news today about Japan no longer wanting to take our dollar to pay off the 10% of the debt we have accumulated we owe them. That's what we should be worried about, not trying to bring back the past because it will never happen. I'm 59 years old but I'm wise enough to realize our glory days are over. The Christian's and the Whites are fast becoming a minority and its gonna get a lot worse. If you wanna do something pray for the truckers Oct 11.

Tony -
Either I wasn't articulate, or you misunderstood my post.
That $2400 per month premium is for all employees, not per employee.

I am a big fan of Anthem.  Nine years ago I had 2 stents in one of my coronary arteries.  I forget what the total bill was, but it was well north of $45K.  Anthem paid it all but about $1K.

18 months ago one employee's wife was diagnosed with stage 4 uterine cancer.  Two major and serious surgeries, 6 rounds of chemo.  So far, she is cancer free now.  I have no idea what that all has cost, but it has to be north of $100K.  The family paid $4K out of pocket - Anthem paid the rest - no hassle, no delays, no problems.

So, I'll stick with Anthem as long as possible.

Jerry Eichenberger wrote on 10/09/13 at 07:19:20:


My apologies     $600 a month is (2400 / 4 employees) is fairly inexpensive insurance. I have jumped to conclusions and that is wrong of me.

I get a lot of calls about the ACA and changes because of where I worked. I have spoken to several different people with private policies where the premiums are increasing like you said - or really it's more the policy they had will not exist next year. These are policies that are basically catastrophic policies - they really don't cover a lot otherwise.  They keep you from going bankrupt in the event of a heart attack or cancer but if you are diabetic/high blood pressure / any chronic condition  you can go broke buying your meds.  These are often - right now - the only types of policies people with chronic conditions can purchase. And even then they are often purchased in state mandated high risk pools.  From an insurers perspective, why would you want to sell a policy to a 55 year old overweight male with a medical history of being diabetic for the last 15 years? Just a coronary bypass waiting to happen.

The ACA establishes a minimum level of coverage that insurers have to meet that includes a lot of "wellness" or preventive care. This costs money and raises the premiums and/or eliminates the catastrophic plans. From the health of a nation - this makes sense. It's no different than the routine maintenance on nearly everything else in this world. Take care of little problems before they become big ones.

I don't know if this is what your Anthem policy is like or not.  Both of the events you describe were catastrophic in nature. Only you know if the policy covered annual physicals, pap smears, mammograms, colonoscopies, insulin, birth control and what your prescription benefits were like.

An before someone says it: Yes, the government is now going to make some people buy more insurance, better insurance than they want. But then the government makes us do lots of similar things. Most states have a vehicle inspection program and make people fix emission systems on cars that appear to run fine. Replace perfectly serviceable windshields that have a small crack. The federal government builds and makes me pay roads I'll never travel on, airport safety when I never fly, parks I'll never visit.

It's just one more thing where "we are all in this together".

Tony -

Much of what you said makes perfectly good sense.  But as a die hard conservative, I don't like gov't intervention in purely personal choices.

For instance - auto liability insurance is required in all states to protect the other guy I may injure in an accident.  I don't have to buy collision or comprehensive coverage on my own car - I can self insure that car itself if I so choose.

I see no reason to require health insurers to pay for birth control pills, unless medically needed to regulate hormones, as some women need them for that purpose.  And this isn't just a Catholic talking - there are effective and much cheaper ways to contracept - condoms and diaphragms still work to my knowledge;  

Yes, I won't drive on a federal highway in Alaska, for instance.  You got me on that one.  Yet, more and more newly built roads are now toll roads - like the new bypass around the northwest side of Denver, CO, from the airport up to Broomfield, that I traveled on 2 weeks ago.  Those who use it pay for it.

Of course, all people matter as much as anyone else.  You've missed my past rants on why health insurance is so much more expensive now - the miracles of modern medicine.  40 years ago with my clogged cardiac artery, by now I'd either be dead, in a wheelchair, or barely able to walk 25 feet without stopping to ease the heart pain.  Instead, now I jog, ride a bicycle, and after the mandatory 6 month waiting period, was cleared to resume flying.

Without doubt, even 30 years ago, the lady with the uterine cancer would be dead by now.  Even 18 months ago, one doctor suggested she investigate hospice care before much longer.  Instead, so far, she's totally healthy.  Of course, we won't know for another 3 1/2 years if she'll make it long term, as 5 years is the "magic bullet" for most cancer survivors.

My mother died of cancer, 30 years ago.  I contribute quite heavily to cancer research, and have lots of contacts at one of the country's premier cancer hospitals, The James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State University.  One of my friends there seriously predicts, with all of the money now going into research, that we'll beat most types of cancer in the next 10 years.  That won't be cheap.

All of this is why medical care is now so expensive, and of course, health insurance premiums have to keep pace with the costs of paying the claims.  And before anyone thinks that doctors' incomes are driving up costs, quite the opposite is true.  Most docs earn, in constant dollars, less today than in the last 40 or 50 years.

While I grant you that there are those unfortunate souls have suffer from lesser than normal intelligence, I bet that the average person we would call "working poor" like your examples of the guy at Discount Tire could, if he were motivated, substantially improve his financial lot in life.  He has made a choice - work a 40 hour week at a job that really didn't even require him to finish high school, while I at age 66 still put in an average of 60 hours per week, and have no intention of slowing down.  He could get a 2 year vocational education at a community college, at night, to get a job that pays a whole lot better.  But will he put forth that minimal effort?

Yet, I also realize that we need sanitation workers and tire changers.  I don't pretend to have all of the answers, yet I do know that I abhor gov't mandates of what to do with my personal life and its choices.