That's $3 TRILLION.... with a "T"

And it doesn't even include Iraq and Afghanistan. Oh my.

 

Don't worry. They can also foot the bill for that Universal Healthcare that you guys advocate

 

If we'd trim the fat, we could pay for health care with billions to spare.

 

We are all in favor of trimming fat.
But it can be argued that with the existing government programs, i.e., Medicare, Medicaid, HIPA, CHIP, S-CHIP, the VA system, and the new Medicare perscription plan, there is already coverage available for Americans who don't get their coverage individually or through their employer.

 

And that argument would be incorrect. The regulations in these programs exclude large segments of the population (and for good reason, to limit costs).

Medicaid only really counts if you are a child, disabled, pregnant, or DIRT poor. If you work a minimum wage job, you make too much for Medicaid.

Medicare only counts if you're old enough.

HIPPA doesn't really do anything. The only way you can get guaranteed issue coverage is to have 18 months of creditable coverage, most recently in a group plan, and you must have exhausted all of your COBRA benefits. People who lose health insurance through a group plan typically can't afford the exorbitant COBRA payments, especially not for the mandated 18 months. That's great if you have a ton of savings you can exhaust but not if you don't.

CHIP/SCHIP typically requires a "bare" period without any insurance of any kind, even if you qualify. So you have to "roll the dice" so to speak, hoping that you don't have any catastrophic events, even if you could afford to pay the premiums for catastrophic coverage. Many people, however, simply will not qualify.

VA--only relevant for veterans. Not everyone is a veteran, nor is everyone able to serve in the military. Some people (like me) are medically disqualified.

What about buying insurance on the "free market"? The problem is that for individual policies, you're never going to get anything decent unless you have perfect health. The only way to get a policy that will cover pre-existing conditions, even with a waiting period, is to get a group plan. Individual policies will either deny you or will issue exclusion riders to permanently exclude payment for your pre-existing conditions.

I guarantee you, if all Americans had to go through the process to get individual health insurance, we'd have riots in Washington overnight.

 

From the OP source:

"As in past years, Bush's biggest proposed increases are in national security. Defense spending is projected to rise by about 7 percent to $515 billion and homeland security money by almost 11 percent, with a big gain for border security."



"The bulk of government programs for which Congress sets annual spending levels would remain essentially frozen at current levels."

 

Well you know Carpo that they want to follow with Bill Clinton's lie in making government smaller which is code for destroying our ntelligence and Military capabilities again. Only to expand another area of governemnt to push this socialist/communist agenda.

http://www.cpusa.org/article/static/758/

 

Yep! Proving the late Sen. Everett McKinley Dirksen 1000 times a prophet!

If I may paraphrase him.

Ed

 

After a defense spending decline of about 15% during the Clinton Administration, Bush has had to increase the annual defense budget by almost 100%.

The last budget Clinton submitted was for 1.8 trillion.

It's not hard to see where the bulk of the increased expenditures have been.

 

Name any social program Bill pushed

 

Hey, if it secures our borders then I would be all for it. The sad reality is it doesn't matter which President presents a budget, it will always be bigger, there will always be more spent then what is budgeted and all politicans are corrupt!

At least this states it will help our borders.. the question is will it? Homeland Security was suppose to help us be secure, but we see from time to time that isn't the case..

Time will tell..

Jamie

 

Which candidate meets your high standards and deserves your vote?

 

This is exactly what happens when we the American people fail to discern what a true conservative is and is not. This is the result of eight years of a pseudo conservative administration that failed to lead, and the American people tolerated the situation.

If one wants to look back on 2008 and wonder why Barak Obama or Hillary Clinton was elected President of the United States, the direct and exact cause is the way this administration the the six year Republican Congress lead this nation. If you are going to govern like a liberal, you might as well be a Democrat. It always results in downfall, compromising your principles.

 

It would be interesting to see what would happen if taxes were raised over a five year period sufficiently to balance the federal budget. Would the American people still want this level of spending?

 

You're not likely to get an answer. Revmitch likes to ask questions, not answer them. Just ask Saturneptune.