If you are only going to post comments that you like, why bother having comments at all? Just more evidence that when you are pinned down you just cut and run.

Censorship is propaganda.

You'll make a fine prosecutor one day, Victor.

This post is crap. There is no credibility to any of the allegations and accusations that Matthew Vadum presents here as self-evident fact.

For all of the high-fives and self-aggrandizing in this quasi-republican echo-chamber, most of the posting is re-tread swill by mental inbreeds that drank too much of their own koolaid.

It's a shame, for all of the time and effort wasted on spinning themselves into narcissistic frenzy, most of the commentators here could devote their efforts to solving real problems. Instead of obsessing over this ACORN game, why not take on the corruption and special interest slag that is the true curse of big government. Your asses have been collectively sold down the river by Big Energy, Big Bankers, and now Big Medicine. The Blagoyeviches and Madoffs of the world are the real enemy, and surprisingly enough, the MSMS you are so fond of bashing because they don't worship the ground you walk on picked up those stories because they have some IMPACT ON THE PEOPLE AND COUNTRY OF AMERICA.

You don't.

The FBI investigates crime. The media provides information and entertainment. I think you got them confused.

You're wrong on both counts. And if you are such a good reader yourself, go look up "defamation".

They do it because they can usually get away with it. The customer is not the patient. The customer is the insurance company that brokers the best deal for themselves as buyers and agents. Were it not for the influence they have with policymakers they wouldn't get away with it, given that killing people by bad medical service is not a crime but a vaguely regulated civil affair. The power of Big Medicine is the power of Big Government. Cut the crap out of the system and you get customer=patient and doctor=provider. When someone screws up it should be a crime, not a cash cow for courthouse sluts. You think Fortis is going to jail? lotflmfao :D

Yup. It's about restructuring the revenue stream to make the fat pigs fatter and protect those great election contributions. By fining people who do not sign up, as well as create a new market of previously uninsured folks, the money will ultimately vanish into the black hole of big medicine. It's not just the insurance companies, it's also Big Pharma, Big BioMed and Big Medical Appliance that cash in, pulling even more revenue into the synergistic gyre of monopoly abetted by corrupt government. Aside from that, though, the advantage of employer-based health care is that it offers some protection in the workplace environment, i.e. if the employer is responsible for paying premiums, it has some incentive not to overwork or mistreat the employees and make them sick, or the costs go up. The option I see is to cut all group policy mechanisms and instead of paying insurance premiums on everything, we pay the doctor directly as individuals for most routine or minor care and use insurance basically as a savings plan for major stuff like maternity and cancer. Then let the competition kick in. The best performers get the business and the screw-ups flip burgers. If you cut out lobbying, consumer advertising and frivolous lawsuits, that would probably leave us a better system. Bottom line, though, is don't get sick.

Yup. It's about restructuring the revenue stream to make the fat pigs fatter and protect those great election contributions. You're right on target -- by fining people who do not sign up, as well as create a new market of previously uninsured folks, the money will ultimately vanish into the black hole of big medicine. It's not just the insurance companies, it's also Big Pharma, Big BioMed and Big Medical Appliance that cashes in, pulling even more revenue into the synergistic gyre of monopoly abetted by corrupt government. Aside from that, though, the advantage of employer-based health care is that it offers some protection in the workplace environment, i.e. if the employer is responsible for paying premiums, it has some incentive not to overwork or mistreat the employees and make them sick, or the costs go up. The option I see is to cut all group policy mechanisms and instead of paying insurance premiums on everything, we pay the doctor directly as individuals for most routine or minor care and use insurance basically as a savings plan for major stuff like maternity and cancer. Then let the competition kick in. The best performers get the business and the screw-ups flip burgers. If you cut out lobbying, consumer advertising and frivolous lawsuits, that would probably leave us a better system. Bottom line, though, is don't get sick.

Gonzo's got a good point about extremes. The beauty of two parties hashing things out to keep each other honest is a great mechanism, but there has to be some sort of rationality and pragmatism to keep the country upright. Passion definitely has a place, but some of the rant and rave going on just promotes irrationality and opens the door for the rabble-rousers to target the mob at their enemies. Kadaka's point is good, as a single-minded government will, unopposed, pull everything off-balance. But just because some progressives in the USA try to solve the health-care problem by going after Big Medicine by trimming the profits in order to achieve a healthier nation, doesn't mean they're taking us down the road to communism. After decades of the health industry running pretty much unchecked in its quest to satisfy shareholders, regardless of how many patients end up in poverty or dead due to denial of care, when do the people get some help from the government they elected? The smoothly running cold machine is Big Medicine, and the Hill is a nest of bumbling bureaucrats and industry puppets. I'll tell you, whichever party gets off their butt first and gets health care done wins the race.

Are we ready for PalinCare?