I see Stossel comments on "$100 million trips to Africa", something that Mark also appeared to object to:

And Obama taking his family on a little holiday jaunt to Africa costing the taxpayers up to $100 million dollars? I don't buy it. If it's strictly business, leave the wife and kids at home.

Perhaps somebody can point me to the similar criticisms made against the previous President's trips.

For some background, take a look at this. Was it a useful spend of our tax dollars to ship speed boats, a Sea King and a Black Hawk to Africa?

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I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that ...

It's beginning to seem that the IRS in America is about as useless as the English in the UK.

Word Broheim, Word.

English In America. Useless.

All In Only Hustlin'Hussein'sWorld.

Bound For IT IT.

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May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

Another IRS official CLAIMS THE 5th!

Looks like a bunch got together to do it and they knew it was illegal. Now the only question left is who was involved. And we must not forget the IRS has an internal affairs department who is also looking at this.

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Ohhh....wait till Martin see this ...
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/06/revealed-why-irs-targeting-open-source-software-groups

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Oi matey, don't paraphrase my comments if you please! Otherwise you will incur my extreme displeasure, and you wouldn't like that now would you?

It's beginning to seem that the IRS in America is about as useless as the English in the UK.

Do Your Worse, Statue Boy.

Bound For IT IT.

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May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

Hmmmmmmmmmmm....
Wonder what is prompting THIS turnabout????

Administration delays key ObamaCare insurance mandate

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

Hmmmmmmmmmmm....
Wonder what is prompting THIS turnabout????

Administration delays key ObamaCare insurance mandate

;-) CBO was right? LOL!

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Must not conflict resolve by suggesting that someone should go sit on an ice pick...

Hmmmmmmmmmmm....
Wonder what is prompting THIS turnabout????

Administration delays key ObamaCare insurance mandate

;-) CBO was right? LOL!

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., a critic of the law, seized on the delay as a "clear admission" that the law is "unaffordable, unworkable and unpopular."
"It's also a cynical political ploy to delay the coming train wreck associated with ObamaCare until after the 2014 elections," he said.


Uhh....I'll go with what he said. Especially the bit about Obama and his ilk not wanting the s**t to hit the fan until after the 2014 elections are over.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

The PP&ACA is going to fail whether it's repealed or not. There is no way to fix it and make it work.

Guy, you may very well be correct on that. As you well know the only way universal health care can work is a single payer system such as the military has and you benefit from.

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Ah, the elections! Who would have thunk it? LOL! ;-)

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Must not conflict resolve by suggesting that someone should go sit on an ice pick...

Guy, the military gives coverage if one contributes, the current system does not take that into account. If one contributes regardless of preexisting conditions and is granted coverage that would be an improvement in coverage over what exists now. Those who are unable to contribute should be treated as another class unless you like the idea of the poor dying on street corners.
Possibly it is true that you think we can not afford to take care of our own.

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Can't lay my hands on a link at the moment, [have another which might be behind a paywall http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/27/business/la-fi-medical-prices-20120527] but I heard a media report within the last two weeks about the cost of medical procedures. It is a very telling statistic. It is that the cash price for a procedure is on average a 70% discount from the insurance price. The article I linked indicated a blood test the insurance price for is $415, cash $95. Another example, a CT scan: Insurance price $6707, Cash $1054.

The PP&ACA is going to force all of us to pay those insurance prices because we all will have insurance.

I'm going to ask a stupid question. It is less expensive to pay a third party to pay the person you are doing business with, or is it less expensive to pay them directly?

Such prices increases, especially upon the poorest Americans are untenable. The PP&ACA will fail. Already numerous insurance companies are refusing to become involved with the "exchanges."

I have no idea how those poor, all part of the 47% are going to afford even the bottom end policy or are they going to expand welfare so the 47% becomes the 65%? That bottom end policy just covers catastrophic care (think car accident.) The person still has to fork over money for all their other medical bills and now they have insurance so they can't be a "cash patient."

Does someone want to start a pool on when and where the first riot will start?

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Gary - perhaps it depends on the insurance company. Aetna pays its providers a lot closer to the cash price than that. I've seen the details on the EOB's.

That being said, it isn't clear to me what would happen to folks without insurance who also can't afford the hospital bills. I'd note that the hospital will not bill at that 'cash price' -- they will bill at the unnegotiated rate. Then at some point negotiations will begin.

Of course, perhaps the correct result is one that some on the right demonstrated during last years Teapublican debates -- 'let them die'.

I still figure that policy would be something like this.

1) Privatize Medicare
2) Eliminate Medicaid
3) Eliminate duty of care for all health care corporations and proffesionals.
4) Fund potters fields.

I do wonder how it is European countries manage.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7TEFQF/www.sooofun.com/wtf-is-wrong-with-americans

Gary - perhaps it depends on the insurance company. Aetna pays its providers a lot closer to the cash price than that. I've seen the details on the EOB's.

Aetna just announced it will not participate in PP&ACA in California!

I'm also not saying that the insurance companies pay the billed price. Frequently the patient is responsible for the difference between the billed price and what the insurance company pays. (Think out of network for one example.)

That being said, it isn't clear to me what would happen to folks without insurance who also can't afford the hospital bills. I'd note that the hospital will not bill at that 'cash price' -- they will bill at the unnegotiated rate.

Assuming you don't negotiate first, which is possible on all elective procedures.

Then at some point negotiations will begin.

Uh, How much do you think we would get if he declared bankruptcy? Uh, we will accept that as payment in full!

I do wonder how it is European countries manage.

They fired the insurance company (no middle man) and the government cuts salary checks to hospitals and doctors.

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It's all part of the medical system racketeering.

"If you're paying cash, we can charge you a realistic price, otherwise we know we probably won't get paid anyway."

"If you have insurance, we are going to charge an insanely inflated price because, what the heck...it's the insurance company paying for it, not you, OK?"

So tell me then, how Obummercare is going to reign in medical costs, much less insurance costs. I call B.S.

It isn't going to change the almost illegal billing practices of the medical for-profit industry.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."