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Katygunnut wrote:Now that we have cleared up the issue of whether the government can tax inactivity, here is a short list of inactions I propose to tax:

Failure to vote (assuming you are qualified): Taxed at $10,000 per local / state election, $100,000 for national elections

Failure to be properly educated on the issues at hand in an election: Taxed at the same rates as above

Failure to memorize the US constitution, including all ammendments: $100,000 per year, starting at age 18

Failure to obtain english proficiency by the time you are 18 years old (ebonics don't count): $50,000 per year

Failure to raise children who show proper respect to their elders: $10,000 per year, per child

Failure to serve in the US Military for a minumum of 2 years prior to one's 25th birthday: $100,000 per year for the rest of your life

Failure to donate a minimum of 10% of your income to an "approved" charity: 10% income tax

Failure by a Man to open a door for a Lady: $100 per occurrence, unless it can be shown that the female in question "ain't no Lady". In other words, no need to open a door for Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, or the like.

Some of these would require additional definition, including appropriate testing procedures, but we can bury all that in the bill and read that stuff after it's passed.

BillT wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:
And by the way, just what "opportunity of life" are you talking about that children were lacking that they now receive? You won't be able to provide a single factual example of a child left high and dry by the healthcare system. That's just feel good nonsense.

I'm sorry TAM you crossed a line there implying I'm lying. The "just feel good nonsense" is just you believing that the problem doesn't exist. I have had many first hand experiences with children suffering and sometimes dying for lack of health care. I have been married for many years to a teacher that works in a very large public school district here in Texas. She has taught bilingual classes as well as non esl classes from elementary through high school. She is now an administrator. You are clueless to the number of children without healthcare that have mental issues that can be controlled with medication but the parents can't afford it. The cities and counties have cut their free assistance as budgets have been cut. I have donated numerous times to money raising causes to help a child pay for dialysis, transplants, meds etc. throughout her career. A close friend of mine gave up the teaching profession because she lost a dear student (age 10) over a Christmas holiday vacation because she had treatable leukemia and no insurance or public assistance to help save her. You are living an upper middle class dream TAM. Wake up and realize the real world is much more harsh and unforgiving than the little part of the world you exist in!!! With the number of post you have made on this forum I gave you a lot more credit than I should have. Turn off your computer for a while and take a drive through a poor neighborhood or two. Talk to people. Ask them what their problems are. You might be enlightened at what you might learn! Not everyone has it as good as we do. And it's not because they are lazy or came here illegally. One of my favorite causes is the St. Judes Childrens Hospital. I donate to them every year because they only take patients that have no way to pay for their life saving care. You know, the ones that don't exist in your mind. Google their phone number and give them a call. I'm sure they can give you a few specifics that might help burst your "feel good nonsense" bubble. Good luck to you sir.

gdanaher wrote:If someone wants to be a physician, they are going to go to med school. The rules changed in Texas a few years ago that encouraged doctors to come to Texas from other states. Really didn't help get more doctors. Changing the liability exposure didn't help. Changing the tax structure didn't help. Changing the tuition forgiveness rules didn't help. Moral of the story is that doctors go where they want to go and do what they want to do. Costs of paperwork, deadbeat patients, and everything is rolled into the price I pay or the price my insurance pays. If anything good comes from this, it is that everyone will have some sort of coverage which in turn should flatten out the individual costs so that those with insurance will no longer have to be paying for the high percentage of those who don't. Final point, if all legal citizens and residents have some kind of coverage, what happens to the undocumented folks who have no insurance, no social security, no nothing except forged documents. Will this make them stand out in the system even more?

gdanaher wrote:There are those amongst us whose health is so poor that they, until recently, did not qualify for any kind of health insurance, at any price. I know this to be true because for a long time, one of my children who inherited a bad set of genes from his birth parents, could not find any company to cover him, at any price. Yes, his medical problems are quite expensive. He lucked into a job offering a group policy that accepted preexisting conditions. Not everyone is so lucky. As you critique the health care system, keep in mind that it could be any one of you with similar issues and thank G-d that it isn't you.

BillT wrote:To coin and old phrase...."America, love it or leave it". Today, as always, I am a proud American. For those of you so upset, there are a number of countries that would be more than happy to consider your immigration application. Americans are the model for the world, I've seen this with my own eyes as I have lived in and traveled extensively around the world for almost 40 years. In my humble opinion, there is no better place that shows democracy at work better than my country.
Just out of curiosity, is there anyone on this forum that wants health insurance but cannot get it at a price they can afford? Anyone have a chronic and severe health condition for which they are willing to forgo health care with potentially fatal consequences or worse yet your own child in that situation? I see a lot of crying and complaining, but alternative solutions to a very real problem facing millions of Americans is conspicuously absent from these post as well as the Republican leadership. If Republicans plan to run on a platform of repealing the Affordable Healthcare Act, then they better come up with an alternative solution to the problem. Otherwise the majority of Americans will vote to keep them out of office. For the record, I work for a small business. I pay dearly for my health insurance. I feel very fortunate in life and would be willing to contribute a little more of my disposable income for the benefit of those less fortunate to help solve this humanitarian issue. I'm guessing I'm in a very small minority in this forum, but not in the USA.

BillT wrote:Yipeeeeeeee I'm beginning to think there is hope for this country!!! What a great day for America. So many children with very serious, life threatening diseases, and who don't know a thing about politics where just granted the opportunity of life. Maybe this country is beginning to find it's moral compass! For those of you that are upset by this I suggest you consider that we are not Human Beings having a Spiritual experience but that we are Spiritual beings having a Human experience...