jesus thrax, your taxes were used to finance two wars. you even paid the guys who manufactured the 'evidence' that lead to the invasion of iraq.
And now that some of your money is used to provide your fellow citizens the margin of subsistence you suddenly complain.

that line between private and governmental is pretty easy to draw in theory. the goverment provides the basic infrastructure of society (justice system, basic education, administration,...) while the private sector can takes care of all additional needs people have.

War has always been the domain of the government. It's written into the constitution.

Government controlling private business is not.

duh.

in short, the way our government is headed people are not encouraged to be productive and are rewarded for being lazy. I mean how much incentive is there to get a job when you can collect i big fat wellfare check. Start taking care of your own shit and leave the charity up to the hearts of your citizens.

cronic laziness is a psychological disorder and its therapy should definetely be covered by public health insurance.

no seriously lazy people just lost their enthusiasm. its not like laziness is in our genes.

so the govt will pay us to play kdice??

no, those who play 400 or more games a month will be declared as mentally sick and send to hospital for treatment.

holy shit republicans are dumb

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-03-22/scary-new-gop-poll

Definitely a part of the issue, motivations in society are complex and huge. The recent modern use of the tax code to shape behavior is admission by the government that money given or taken by the government affects people.

When you give people a subsidy to buy health insurance, you're helping them out...but to what extent. When you give someone foodstamps, you're feeding them but to what end?

I've seen far too many people take their foodstamps to a higher-end grocery store (not quite TJ or Whole Foods) and buy prepackaged and name-brand items with foodstamps and spend his money on alcohol. I mean, I don't have a problem with booze or with food or high-end food for that matter, but just because you want someone to be smart with your handout doesn't mean they will.

There is an enormous amount of people who are perfectly happy staying on the welfare rolls for the rest of their lives, and have zero ambition to improve. The fact that we now reward this by feeding them and keeping them healthy is idiotic.

However, our whole system rewards laziness and short-sighted behaviour. Interest rates on MM accounts and CDs are atrocious and savings accounts give you a bit more than under your mattress. Meanwhile, credit cards are offering new and better perks to spend money you don't have. We reward irresponsibility (bank bailouts and bank bonuses anyone?) and punish responsibility. Anyone who actually owns their home through this crisis has seen their supposedly inflation-proof investment disappear.

Health-care is no different. People see insurance as a system to game. They wait to buy coverage until something is already wrong and then whine and moan that no one will cover them or that their premiums are gigantic. Yet, they don't understand that people don't buy insurance to save money...the usually buy it to lose less in case of disasters. You INSURE against a disaster. That means healthy-folk like me 'waste' thousands of dollars a year on coverage I can't fully use b/c I might need it later.

This is common-sense but a LOT of people dont' get it. People dont' buy insurance but buy huge HDTVs. A local tour of the low-income housing in my city will tell you that people value their huge TV more than their health (not to mention their huge cell phone plans).

The fact is that people are selfish, self-centered, short-sighted, and idiotic. Already people who were screaming that this was a bad bill are clamoring for "what's in it for me". Its this stupid idea that you are "entitled" to x, y, or z.

For example, just because you want a BMW doesn't mean you deserve one. Invest 1/4 of your life training for a skill that will pay you enough to afford one and then you can get one...people don't get that.

This bill encourages bad behavior and punishes good-behaviour. How is that beneficial?

and the party of no? Well, if you were paying attention you'll realize they had quite a few ideas that weren't even given more than a second's glance the past few months.

/rant end