The link I sent to you about the fact that there were no death panels also had the information about the IPAB-they are there to try and administer medicare more efficiently, to root out fraud-not to deny care. Did you read the full link?

Sorry to hear about your cancer, and glad that Medicare picked up the tab. Yes, medicare payments are low, I sure do agree with you there. Sorry also about your friend without insurance-glad she did not put off the endoscopy, as many people without insurance do. They wait till they have symptoms, and it is often too late. Starting next month, your friend will be able to buy insurance, and I am glad she can. Please keep on top of your treatment, I like reading your posts, and want to keep you around a long time! I believe you said you were a history teacher? I have always been interested in history, and often wish I had taken the teaching rather than nursing route.

it was NOT a perfectly good system. People without insurance die sooner. People with pre-existing conditions cannot get insurance. Even people with insurance, who get sick face bills that insurance does not cover, and half of the bankruptcy in the US is due to medical bills. Sure, the uninsured can go to the ER for an emergency, but you can't get radiation for cancer in the ER, or manage your diabetes in the ER. There are no death panels. This is the lie that just wont die. The repubs are against Obamacare, but have NOTHING else to solve these problems.

Oldroy, You are already IN government funded healthcare-Medcare. There ARE no death panels. Sarah pulled that out of her ass. The sentence she refered to as "death panel" was already in medicare-doctors could get paid from medicare for consulting with patients about end of life care, like advance directives-do you want to be on a ventilator, have a feeding tube, etc. So the docs had YOUR WISHES in writing, so they could follow out your wishes if the time was necessary. So you have been under the threat of the "death panels" since you were 65-16 years now, and you are still kicking. Do you have an advanced directive? Everyone should. No Death Panel. That is a lie that just won't die. I will send you the article in my next post, so you can rest easy. I am an RN myself, and this lie was particularly bad in my view-patients have enough to worry about, without suggesting that their doctors and nurses are going to k**l them. Does not happen. Even in those cases that make me think we are kinder to animals when we do put them out of their misery-we DO NOT.

We're not rich, but we've always managed to pay our own way, and see that our 5 kids are getting by. I think it's time for the American people to be self-reliant again. Too many people have an entitlement mentality. Why do some people start families when they are in no position to take care of those families? Is it because there are so many programs to assist them? At best, it's survival. All the dumbing-down 'education' promotes just that--satisfaction with bare survival. Kids don't dream any more about being an astronaut; a fireman; president of GM--wh**ever. For the last 5 years, kids are seeing their parents feeling hopeless. Welfare and charity are no replacement for goals and good jobs, with a future.

The courts did not let the perps go. They were never brought to court in the first place. Has some of your famly been k**led by a nut with a semi-auto? Concerning armed police officers, I would include some of them in the nut category. Remember the guy in CA recently? Even more recently, although it was eclipsed by the Navy Yard murders, NYC police opened fire on an unarmed suspect. They missed him, but managed to wound two innocent bystanders. This is far from the first time NYC's finest have committed such an egregious "fox paws." Fortunately for them, they have a very strong union.

Certain people were denied the right to possess these weapons. Forty thousand have been caught trying to purchase firearms illegally, using the current background check system. Fifty odd were prosecuted, and less than thirty were convicted. Out of forty thousand. Do you maintain that the solution is more laws that won't be enforced? How about, just for laughs, we try enforcing the ones we already have. We might find there is no need for more, other than the bureacucrat's natural desire for more and more regulations to justify his or her existence. These are DOJ statistics. DOJ officials were questioned by Congress over this appalling state of affairs. Their excuses ran the gamut from reasonable to ingenious to lame ass, with heavy emphasis on the latter two.

First my wealth?? My wealth is posted on my refrigerator! Pictures of my grandchildren! And handwritten birthday cards from them, I built my home, and the roads leading up to it! Every block and timber was paid for before the weekend I laid it or nailed it into place, A few every payday. The land was cheap, no access, no utilities! I even had to survey it myself! NO MORGAGE. This is the third house, the others were "Taken by the government for environmental land" NO I didn't get rich from the land grabs! Only enough to buy another piece of land and start over again! Never ANY WELFARE! I build custom machinery for farmers and groves! And have been robbed by the crooked stock market! But I still try to work, because I have to, and my customers still need me (no young people are interested in my trade). Tell me again about my inherited wealth?? I still can't find it??