Is obama good?

[Pygoscelis]

You mean like the NHS in the UK? That thing is a mess. I have many Canadian friends and from what they tell me good luck getting tests done there.

I'm actually Canadian myslef (tis why i said prime minister above) and I have lived in the US and I would live in fear if moved back there again. I work as a plaintiff side lawyer working with insurance claims and I've seen just how horrible insurance companies can be. I will take government beurocracy waste (which is too much in Canada I agree) over profit driven insurance companies every time. In Canada I may have to wait a bit longer for an MRI (and no it isn't nearly as long as people in the USA like to tell other people in the USA it is - I got one for my knee within 3 weeks) but I won't have to take a second mortgage on my house if I have a sudden unexpected illness and the insurer does some creative legal meneuvers to exclude payment.

No problem with that treat it as alcohol but nothing harsher than marijuana

Marijuana is actually less harsh than alcohol in my opinion. Would you also be ok with legalizing prostitution? I support that because I want to get it above ground (away from the criminal element), regulated and taxed. It would make it safer for all involved and get some tax revenue now going uncollected (hookers don't pay taxes)

agree but it should go to a state by state vote whether they want to allow this ban

In the USA that makes sense as your criminal law is state by state (which personally baffles me). In Canada our criminal law is federal, so here such a ban would be national.

Not as set by Kyoto standards. In order for me to agree to Kyoto India and China has to be held to the same standards.

Somebody has to lead the way. If we're all waiting for the other guy to make the first move, nobody will move.

Can't do this one due to religious reasons(not mine). You infringe on that persons right to freedom of religion.

Religious freedom does (and should) have limits for the best interests of society. For example, I am against the ruling in Canada that allows Sikhs to carry kirpans, knives, when others would not be allowed to carry around weapons, cremonial or otherwise. I'm also against Jehova's Witneses denying their children blood transfusions. I say that is child abuse.

And in the case of dead people, whose religious freedoms are being considered? The deceased or their family? In either case, I say the benefit of saving lives with the transplants outweighs the religious convictions involved - similar to the jehovas witness case above.

 

[mediadave]

You mean like the NHS in the UK? That thing is a mess. I have many Canadian friends and from what they tell me good luck getting tests done there.

While the NHS isn't perfect, you hear an awful lot of rubbish about it in the US - ie, Rudolph Gulliani blatantly lying about it in his campaign adverts (I noticed this happened a few times ie- Romney and his made up rubbish about 'temporary marriages' in France).

 

[BlackMamba]

Obama should make his VP Al Sharpton, how cool would that be. It will never happen though. I think if Obama wants to win, his best choice for VP would be Hillary cuz a lot of the die hard Clinton fans aren't going to vote Obama unless Clinton is back In the picture

 

[Izyan]

I'm actually Canadian myslef (tis why i said prime minister above) and I have lived in the US and I would live in fear if moved back there again. I work as a plaintiff side lawyer working with insurance claims and I've seen just how horrible insurance companies can be. I will take government beurocracy waste (which is too much in Canada I agree) over profit driven insurance companies every time. In Canada I may have to wait a bit longer for an MRI (and no it isn't nearly as long as people in the USA like to tell other people in the USA it is - I got one for my knee within 3 weeks) but I won't have to take a second mortgage on my house if I have a sudden unexpected illness and the insurer does some creative legal meneuvers to exclude payment.

I pay $5000 a year in insurance which is about $350 a month. When I have anything wrong all I pay is my $45 co-pay. I broke my wrist this year, my son had an emergency room visit for Asthma. Both kids had vaccinations. My wife had a physical. You know how much I paid? $90. I say that's pretty good considering how much it would have cost me without insurance. By the way my insurance pay 100% major surgery all I would owe is $100

Marijuana is actually less harsh than alcohol in my opinion. Would you also be ok with legalizing prostitution? I support that because I want to get it above ground (away from the criminal element), regulated and taxed. It would make it safer for all involved and get some tax revenue now going uncollected (hookers don't pay taxes)

I'm ok with that. They are only harming themselves. God gave us free will.

Somebody has to lead the way. If we're all waiting for the other guy to make the first move, nobody will move.

This of Kyoto in this way. It sets no limits that India and China have to abide by so if we cut emissions by 30% and they increase emissions by 45% then we have a net gain in emissions. In effect they nullify our cuts. Caps have to be equal across the board.

Religious freedom does (and should) have limits for the best interests of society. For example, I am against the ruling in Canada that allows Sikhs to carry kirpans, knives, when others would not be allowed to carry around weapons, cremonial or otherwise. I'm also against Jehova's Witneses denying their children blood transfusions. I say that is child abuse.

And in the case of dead people, whose religious freedoms are being considered? The deceased or their family? In either case, I say the benefit of saving lives with the transplants outweighs the religious convictions involved - similar to the jehovas witness case above.

You can't take away people freedoms. You can say we are going to make all people Vegans for the good of society cause meat is bad for you and we are killing all the animals that we like to see. That's how you start down that slippery slope everyone talks about.

 

[Izyan]

While the NHS isn't perfect, you hear an awful lot of rubbish about it in the US - ie, Rudolph Gulliani blatantly lying about it in his campaign adverts (I noticed this happened a few times ie- Romney and his made up rubbish about 'temporary marriages' in France).

Actually all the bad things I hear about the NHS comes from your own papers. The Independent, London Times, The Guardian.

 

[Pygoscelis]

I pay $5000 a year in insurance which is about $350 a month. When I have anything wrong all I pay is my $45 co-pay. I broke my wrist this year, my son had an emergency room visit for Asthma. Both kids had vaccinations. My wife had a physical. You know how much I paid? $90. I say that's pretty good considering how much it would have cost me without insurance. By the way my insurance pay 100% major surgery all I would owe is $100

Be thankful that you have been so lucky so far. Not everybody has such nice insurance, and even those who do are screwed out of coverage they paid for more often than you may think. I deal with it on a daily basis. It props up an entire industry both here and much much more so in the US (people making a living fighting insurance companies for the care people paid for but are not getting)

You can't take away people freedoms.

Sure you can. It happens all the time. Every law is a limit on freedoms. The act of making laws is the act of sacrificing certain freedoms for the public or private good. On my drive to work this morning my freedom to go as fast as I want was limited, my freedom to go where I want was limited, my freedom to continue driving (through red lights) was limited, my freedom to drive uncumbered (by a seat belt) was limited, my freedom to park where I want was limited, and I'm sure my freedom was limited in dozens of other ways I didn't even notice.

 

[mediadave]

Actually all the bad things I hear about the NHS comes from your own papers. The Independent, London Times, The Guardian.

Heh. Remember the British media is the most negative in the world, and will never admit that the government (any government) has in any way done anything good. The Guardian and Independent in particular have set themselves up as completely opposed to the government (and the opposition, for that matter) and will use any anecdote or event to show how incompetent the government is.

But British people are generally positive - with healthcare, like crime, most British people say that the care they personally recieve is good, but that the system in general is failing (or with crime, that crime in their area is falling, but nationwide is rising. This is because the media would have you believe the NHS is failing and crime is spiriling out of control, wheras its really the opposite..)

This poll was interesting though:

THOSE WHO WANT TO COMPLETELY REBUILD THE SYSTEM
Britain 15%
United States 33%

HEALTH CARE WORKS WELL, ONLY MINOR CHANGES NEEDED
Britain 16%
United States 12%

Majorities of all adults in France (70%) and Britain (59%) believe their health care systems are "the envy of the world";

A large 69 percent majority of the British adults believes that the British National Health Service (NHS) is "crucial to British Society and we must do everything to maintain it."

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS74068+07-Jul-2008+BW20080707

Any politician suggesting an American style system in Britain would be lynched.

 

[Keltoi]

So what do people think of Obama's VP pick? I'm actually glad it was Joe Biden. Even though I don't agree with the man on very many things he is a fairly competent pick.

 

[MTAFFI]

So what do people think of Obama's VP pick? I'm actually glad it was Joe Biden. Even though I don't agree with the man on very many things he is a fairly competent pick.

it was a safe pick

 

[Pygoscelis]

Biden was my original choice for the dem candidate, and McCain was my original choice for the repub candidate, so I'm very happy how things turned out overall