Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Socialize my name...

Sorry about the delay, y’all!

A bitch is beyond busy.

Jumping right in…

Mayor Giuliani has called universal healthcare “Socialist” and those who propose universal healthcare for all Americans “Socialists”.

Blink.

Mayhap someone’s advisors recommended a healthy dash of McCarthyism to spice up the ‘oh shit, I really don’t stand for anything’ Giuliani resume?

Sigh.

Anyhoo, Giuliani feels that Democratic plans would socialize medicine.

Is that automatically bad?

I don’t get it.

Blink.

Instead of having the government do something other than wage war with the fabillion trillion fantabillion dollars we the people bleed into it yearly Giuliani proposes…drum roll please!!...a $15,000 tax deduction so that families can buy private healthcare.

Blink.

My fellow Americans (wink), I can’t think of a better example of a politician completely out of touch with the country he lusts to lead …or a better example of how desperate those insurance lobbyists are to derail any attempt to address the huge corporate profit yet limited coverage reality of healthcare in America today.

First of all, Americans are not all a part of a family unit. Some of us are single. Too many of us are uninsured. How the fuck does that tax deduction help us?

Oh, wait!

He has no details for this magnificent defense against socialized medicine!

Of course!

Let me guess…a bitch should trust you on this, right?

Lawd, have mercy.

The average American family is drowning in debt. Wages have not increased but costs have. If you give the average American family a $15,000 tax deduction they’ll probably need that cash for pesky shit like food and credit card payments.

But wait!

A tax deduction like this wouldn’t translate into cash in our pockets, would it? Most likely Rudy will pull some sort of medical savings plan out of his narrow ass.

Well fuck it, the trick has always been to use language like "socialism" and avoid any question on the specifics.

Would someone please get this stupid motherfucker a copy of Sicko?!?

Private health insurance is as fucked up as private industry which is as fucked up as the fucked up from the floor up greedy motherfuckers that run it.

A $15,000 tax deduction will just find its way into the pocket of The Man, which is probably why Giuliani's advocating it on The Man's behalf.

Shit.

44.8 million Americans are without healthcare coverage.

9 million children are uninsured and that means they are at risk.

Medical debt is a top reason people file for bankruptcy.

I think its time to say that the experiment of private industry insuring the masses has failed here in America.

If the cure for that failure is socialized medicine then call this bitch a socialist and paint my Afro pink.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

If most of us pay about one-third of our income in taxes, then that means that only people making over $45,000 a year will get the full benefit of a $15,000 deduction. Let's see, who needs more help paying for health insurance -- people who make more than $45K per year from a company that probably has a group plan, or those who make less than $45K per year?

Keep shining that light, ABB.

Anonymous said...

I worry for us all. I really do.
15k tax break huh? Who the hell
are these people ABB? What kind of
privileged clueless rich people are these that
don't get that people are NOT even scraping by on
minimum wage. TAX BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our fros won't just be pink-- we'll all have to start immersing our whole damned bodies in pink to
get back some humanity in this country.

Anonymous said...

Girl I am *running* to buy this:

Grand Illusion The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11

Anonymous said...

He's counting on the fact that the poor don't vote ... the few that do, don't vote Republican anyway. For Rudy, this hardens him up a little bit, because he's taking shit for being Pro Choice. I don't agree with the "socialist" charge ... but I totally understand the politics.

Joolya said...

Sing it, sister. I haven't even seen Sicko yet, but I can smell the horseshit Giuliani's spreading a mile away.
Why not cut out the middle man and all that paperwork, and use that $15,000 per household (what is a "family" anyway? what does that even mean?) to establish a government-distributed health insurance? That way, most or all of the $15,000 would go to actually providing medical services, rather than on my ass filling out a lot stupid paperwork and lining the pockets of shareholders.
Hmmmm ... because that would defeat the purpose of deflecting money into the pockets of [insert for-profit business interests here].
Oh, right. Silly me.

Anonymous said...

(standing ovation)

Hey, when I saw SiCKO, the one thing I wanted to do was live in a socialist country, and I cried because every freaking year I've been married it's been something. A baby. A broken foot that needed surgery. A tumor. Another baby. His hands needed work. On and on. It's like trying to stand up in the ocean during a storm, you keep getting slapped down again and again. It's time to change.

Disgusted in St. Louis said...

We know there are just so many things wrong with Ghouliani's "healthcare" plan it's hard to pick where to start addressing how bad it is. So, allow me to hit on the following aspect.

The $15K tax deduction presumably is only applicable if applied toward the purchase of health insurance, although there may be some fall over for deducting medical expenditures up to a $15K total (without details who can possibly decipher the "money left over from one year could be used the following year to cover health care costs" statement).

The $15K deduction is for a family, is that independent of family size? What is the deduction for an individual? What is the deduction for a married couple without children or other dependents? What about families in a civil union or gay marriage in states that allow them, but is not recognized by the federal government?

Also, realize that a $15K deduction does not equate to $15K cash back or reduction in taxes owed. A tax deduction lowers the amount of your taxable income -- the point being that even if you received a $15K tax deduction for spending $15K on insurance/healthcare the actual reduction (or refund) in your tax statement would vary according to rates on your taxable income, which was the following for 2005:

* 10% up to $7,300
* 15% up to $29,700
* 25% up to $71,850
* 28% up to $150,150
* 33% up to $326,450
* 35% over $326,450

The median family income for 2005 was $55,832. So, for the average family their taxable income after a standard deduction of $10,300 if married filing a joint tax return (or $7,550 as head of household) plus Ghouliani's $15K deduction would place them in the 25% bracket. What does this mean in real $$$ to the average family? Rough (really rough) calculations would take the median family from an approximate $11,383 tax bill (25% of $55,832 - $10,300) to a tax bill of $7633 (25% of $55,832 - $25,300). That's a savings of $3750 on their taxes assuming they spend $15K on health insurance -- 27% of their total income if they could afford it and get coverage.

Just for the comparison purposes, a family earning $200K could spend 7.5% of their total income and would see their taxes lowered by about $4,950.

Ghouliani displaying his GOP credentials by proposing those that are most in need and can least afford something should pay more for it.

None of this addresses the issue that most if not all of this money will not be going to actual healthcare (treatment), but to insurance companies who can continue to happily take in money, now supported by tax dollars, while doing their utmost to deny payments for actual treatment.

Anonymous said...

Why should I contribute to a HMO CEO's yacht only because I have to pay threw the nose for health insurance because I had a heart attack? The idiots who scream free markets in heath insurance be damned! Free markets for heath insurance is not like the free markets for shaving cream. Personal freedom in heath insurance is a joke. When your having a heart attack they don't give you choices they just perform life saving medical procedures and a large chunk of the bill is for some mofo in a suit in some corner office. How freakin crazy is that. All the dumb ass' idiots who are against universal care can sprint to hell. We are already paying for universal health care we just aint getting it. God bless the Angry Black B !

christine mtm said...

i'll dye my red hair pink right along with your afro.

more cowbell said...

This makes me sick. We can not let another Republican rule this country. Tax break, my ass.

Maya's Granny said...

Rudy is supposed to be a Christian, isn't he? How conveniently these GOP folks forget that Christ and his followers were pretty damned well communists. They lived together, shared what they had, and gave to the poor. And Christ cured anyone who asked, from blind beggers to the Centurian's daughter.

kitteh pundd it said...

the kings new puppy, gordon brown, has socialized medicine. makes this an obviously weak argument.

Anonymous said...

I wish Guliani would stop attacking the troops like this. The VA provides government health care to veterans in a most socialist manner and the veterans seem to feel they deserve it.

What a bunch of lousy socialists.

Anonymous said...

I am rich and still have a hard time with "health" insurance (really sickness insurance). My single person household insurance costs $1,120 per month. I am not eligible to be in the group program at my small business because it would raise the rates for my employees too. And I am too unhealthy to be accepted in another private group. I am not asking for any sympathy. Just wanted to let you know that at least one rich person (though a pinkie through and through)is also disgusted with the system. I donate to the local Free Clinic, but it never seems to be enough. There are too many people just in my circle of acquaintance for whom I must buy insulin or antidepressants or fear they will go without.
It is terrifying to think how many people in the USA are dying prematurely (i.e. before healthy rich white people) because they are poor.

Isabelle said...

Even Rudy's daughter can smell his bullshit! She's backing Obama (smirk)!

Unknown said...

Well, alot of bullshit being tossed around.
A country this size should have universal healthcare but we better find a way to pay for it.
We are the fattest people on earth.
We take more pills then anyone on earth.
We have a huge problem with habitual unemployed folks that don't put into the system.
We have a huge illegal immigrant problem that don't put into the system.
Plus, we bitch and moan every April 15 to pay taxes.
So how do we expect to pay for this universal healthcare?
Do we tell the businesses to pay up? Well, should we be surpraised when they shift the work to China and India!
Maybe we should let the government pay for everything and let them raise our taxes to about 40% like they have in some countries in Europe.
Will I have to wait in line 6 months for a mamogram or other test like they do in Canada?
Or maybe I should tell the government to cut the fat like education, arts, college grants or military.

If we were smart we would ask each politician how in the hell are they going to pay for "Universal Healthcare" without my job being outsourced oversees or me having to go to the poor house on April 15?

Shark-Fu said...

Dre...
You already pay for universal healthcare...you just aren't getting it.

Take a look at the healthcare system we have...at the $20,000 paid when $2,000 would have prevented an illness...at your state taxes and the inefficiency of Medicaid and Medicare...

Honey, you're paying...big time.

As for waiting 6 months for treatment...we already do that too.

Outsourcing...don't you think that issue is a wee bit more complex?

Don't buy into the bullshit, m'dear. There is no payoff at the end of that rainbow...

Unknown said...

I don't buy into bullshit I am feed it by both political parties.

I have never waited 6 months for any treatment!! I have been lucky by the grace of God to always have health insurance and I have never had a problem getting things I needed.

If folks would stop sniffing the butts of these so-called "I feel your pain" elected officials we could see the bullshit.

As far as Outsourcing being a wee bit more complex, well I see that thousands of jobs are going oversees because labor costs in America are cost prohibitive. Even though I know that is a coop out it is happening.

All I am asking is how much and who will pay for the "new" universal healthcare.

Shark-Fu said...

Dre...

I'm glad you feel blessed by your healthcare but everyone who pays taxes is paying for the fucked up mess that is the current structure.

Bottom line - it costs more money to treat drama than to prevent illness. And not treating medical drama is a recipe for disaster.

Those are great questions...and I hope you ask them of anyone running for office. Mayhap the answer is in the discussion rather than the status quo.

As to our having the cash...c'mon on now.

Have you seen a GAO report lately?

Oh, this government wastes ten times the amount of money it would cost to provide universal coverage.

Hell, the fraud associated with Iraqi contracts alone would fund dental care for years.

I'm looking at what can be and saying why not...my conclusion is that we lack the will not the resources.

And maybe that's the real answer?

Maybe I'm giving all of us too much credit and people are happy with other people suffering as long as they don't have to see it or read about it or hear about it during election years?

I just happen to think healthcare is a basic human right (not to mention good public policy) and that 9 million uninsured kids is a bloody shame and that multitudes of uninsured adults in the age of bio-drama is a public health crisis and a national security risk waiting to happen.

So, do we want to work the problem or stick our heads in the sand some more?

Gawd help us if we really are the country that displayed more will to put a man on the moon than to provide healthcare to its citizens.

self directed support Glasgow said...

The problem with any health care reform or issue is that there are so many stakeholders involved it is literally impossible to "please all the people all the time."

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