Video showing a healthcare reform rally

[JazMerkin]

I saw this video on one of my friend's facebook pages & thought it was worth posting up. Now before we get certain people whose opinions are already set posting, just watch the whole video. I don't know anything about the group who've made it, but having watched all of it, it seems pretty impartial to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_PX5L_v_7I

Also those idiots abusing the guy with Parkinson's should be exempt from receiving any healthcare. What cunts!

[Nameless]

Those saying the the guy with Parkinson that nothing's free therefore he should work are damn funny and they do not seem to understand that with PArkinson, it's quite hard to do anything at all. I loved those calling Obama a communist too.

[Andre]

There are some reasonable points for both but when it comes down to the real brass tacks: There are obviously people in the world who would place themselves being well off (dollar wise ) above others not so well off being well. I think they are heartless and will eventually attract what they emit soon enough.

Reverse their financial situations and see if they still wouldnt want help if they were broke and it was themselves or their kids were suffering into a worse condition.

Also some of these fools think they have earned their way forward and above their fellow man and so they obviously deserve better.

Some of their fellow humans have never had the same opportunities and never will, some have and have pissed it right up the wall, but Hell is close if we are going to choose who over who lives and dies or worse; suffers all of their life at the expense of others well being.

[Gandalf]

Interesting video. It shows you what a downright strange place America seems to be. I thought the guy throwing money at the Parkinson's guy was a complete twat. Since when has healthcare for all simply been a government handout? I'm quite against people scrounging off the government, but certainly not when it goes as far as denying them access to a doctor if they need it. I thought the black woman at the end spoke the most sense. Everyone who works hard deserves health coverage.

My issue with the US system is the whole use of insurance companies who decide whether you see a doctor or not. Insurance companies need to be taken out of the equation because they exist simply to make a profit and keep investors happy. It should be a system set up by the government where people can see a doctor whenever they want. Health care is a basic right, not a luxury item.

[Andre]

Interesting video. It shows you what a downright strange place America seems to be. I thought the guy throwing money at the Parkinson's guy was a complete twat. Since when has healthcare for all simply been a government handout? I'm quite against people scrounging off the government, but certainly not when it goes as far as denying them access to a doctor if they need it. I thought the black woman at the end spoke the most sense. Everyone who works hard deserves health coverage.

My issue with the US system is the whole use of insurance companies who decide whether you see a doctor or not. Insurance companies need to be taken out of the equation because they exist simply to make a profit and keep investors happy. It should be a system set up by the government where people can see a doctor whenever they want. Health care is a basic right, not a luxury item.

Yeah Miles, the ass who threw the money would've thrown two one dollar notes, I bet they wernt two separate hundred dollar bills to cover the cost of one appointment for the guy. Heartless cheapskate goes together.

And the other fool playing the communist card was like drawing out a joker during a poker game; Buffoon.

[Gandalf]

Interesting video. It shows you what a downright strange place America seems to be. I thought the guy throwing money at the Parkinson's guy was a complete twat. Since when has healthcare for all simply been a government handout? I'm quite against people scrounging off the government, but certainly not when it goes as far as denying them access to a doctor if they need it. I thought the black woman at the end spoke the most sense. Everyone who works hard deserves health coverage.

My issue with the US system is the whole use of insurance companies who decide whether you see a doctor or not. Insurance companies need to be taken out of the equation because they exist simply to make a profit and keep investors happy. It should be a system set up by the government where people can see a doctor whenever they want. Health care is a basic right, not a luxury item.

Yeah Miles, the ass who threw the money would've thrown two one dollar notes, I bet they wernt two separate hundred dollar bills to cover the cost of one appointment for the guy. Heartless cheapskate goes together.

And the other fool playing the communist card was like drawing out a joker during a poker game; Buffoon.

That plonker calling Obama a communist is an idiot. It's something I have heard from the American right a few too many times. Do any of these people actually have any idea of what a communist is?

Obama is many things and a lot of those terms are far from complimentary, but to call him a communist is just absurd.

[JazMerkin]

Interesting video. It shows you what a downright strange place America seems to be. I thought the guy throwing money at the Parkinson's guy was a complete twat. Since when has healthcare for all simply been a government handout? I'm quite against people scrounging off the government, but certainly not when it goes as far as denying them access to a doctor if they need it. I thought the black woman at the end spoke the most sense. Everyone who works hard deserves health coverage.

My issue with the US system is the whole use of insurance companies who decide whether you see a doctor or not. Insurance companies need to be taken out of the equation because they exist simply to make a profit and keep investors happy. It should be a system set up by the government where people can see a doctor whenever they want. Health care is a basic right, not a luxury item.

You pretty much summed it up right there. I have a cousin who was born with a hole in her heart. In America, because her parents have no money she would not have been able to get the best medical care, and I would suspect she would have died. Thankfully here the doctors performed a miracle & kept her alive even though when she was born she was given only a 10% chance of survival. I suspect that even a mortgaged home on behalf of everyone in the family wouldn't have convinced an insurance company that 10% was worth trying to save the life of someone's child.

[Nameless]

Many health care company are making profiling in the US and will do whatever they can to make you quit if they diagnose you with some kind of bad disease after you got the insurance, they got caught the hand in the jar with the AIDS case, read it, it's staggering:

Shortly after his diagnosis, however, his insurance company, Fortis, revoked his policy. Mitchell was told that without further treatment his HIV would become full-blown AIDS within a year or two and he would most likely die within two years after that.

So he hired an attorney -- not because he wanted to sue anyone; on the contrary, the shy African-American teenager expected his insurance was canceled by mistake and would be reinstated once he set the company straight.

But Fortis, now known as Assurant Health, ignored his attorney's letters, as they had earlier inquiries from a case worker at a local clinic who was helping him. So Mitchell sued.

In 2004, a jury in Florence County, South Carolina, ordered Assurant Health, part of Assurant Inc, to pay Mitchell $15 million for wrongly revoking his heath insurance policy. In September 2009, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the lower court's verdict, although the court reduced the amount to be paid him to $10 million.

By winning the verdict against Fortis, Mitchell not only obtained a measure of justice for himself; he also helped expose wrongdoing on the part of Fortis that could have repercussions for the entire health insurance industry.

Previously undisclosed records from Mitchell's case reveal that Fortis had a company policy of targeting policyholders with HIV. A computer program and algorithm targeted every policyholder recently diagnosed with HIV for an automatic fraud investigation, as the company searched for any pretext to revoke their policy. As was the case with Mitchell, their insurance policies often were canceled on erroneous information, the flimsiest of evidence, or for no good reason at all, according to the court documents and interviews with state and federal investigators.

The revelations come at a time when President Barack Obama, in his frantic push to rescue the administration's health care plan, has stepped up his criticism of insurers. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote later this week on an overhaul of the health system, which Obama has said is essential to do away controversial and unpopular industry practices.

Insurance companies have long engaged in the practice of "rescission," whereby they investigate policyholders shortly after they've been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. But government regulators and investigators who have overseen the actions of Assurant and other health insurance companies say it is unprecedented for a company to single out people with HIV.

In his previously undisclosed court ruling, the judge in the Mitchell case also criticized what he said were the company's efforts to cover its tracks.

text is too long so I continue in the next message

[generalbulldog]

Interesting video. It shows you what a downright strange place America seems to be. I thought the guy throwing money at the Parkinson's guy was a complete twat. Since when has healthcare for all simply been a government handout? I'm quite against people scrounging off the government, but certainly not when it goes as far as denying them access to a doctor if they need it. I thought the black woman at the end spoke the most sense. Everyone who works hard deserves health coverage.

My issue with the US system is the whole use of insurance companies who decide whether you see a doctor or not. Insurance companies need to be taken out of the equation because they exist simply to make a profit and keep investors happy. It should be a system set up by the government where people can see a doctor whenever they want. Health care is a basic right, not a luxury item.

Sorry to go off topic a little bit. Before I start I'll say that my political leanings are more of an libertarian.

The reason why many Americans are opposed to universal health care has to do with the culture and upbringing in America and its European colonial ties. We are taught from day 1 to be self-independent and self-made in a highly capitalistic society.

American society by most accounts is a meritocracy, not entirely a pure one, but someone can still achieve great things in this country by sheer will, hard work, talent, intelligence, some luck, and a little bit of connections. When one is on any type of social government program, whether it be welfare, section 8 housing, unemployment money, or something of that nature, it's looked down upon as that person not being competent and able to survive on his or her own. Then you add to the fact of America's British colonial ties, and that most white Americans are descendants of those being misfits and outcasts of many European societies, social programs like universal health care that are similar like that of many European countries aren't just accepted. There's also a reason why Americans don't like many things that are considered to be European, it can be social programs, soccer, Europe's metric system (which has been implemented worldwide), etc. America has always tried to be different than Europe, because it wants to distance itself from a place that they couldn't fit in and were outcasts and do things their own way for the most part. Then you add to it, a lot of Americans don't want the government being too intrusive, this probably stems also from America's British colonial legacy, even though most Americans don't realize it, but this distrust of big government has its origins here.

I still remember a general education sociology class I took in my 1st year of college years ago that explains this in vivid detail of how and why Americans think a certain way compared to the rest of the world, especially Europe. It's just ingrained in us. I remember watching a video on some European country in that class, I think it was Norway, and it described how many people are on government social programs like universal health care, free or reduce housing, free food, and many other government programs. The majority of the class were thinking those people were lazy and didn't earn their way in life, sure there was a minority that thought it was great, but the outright majority thought it was strange to depend on the government for so many things when the citizens were perfectly able to work for it.

Just a little insight guys. I'm not an expert on this, but I still remember that sociology class, definitely one of my most memorable and it explained things in this world that made sense. I would have majored in it if I wasn't talented in art and was attending an art school.

[killersheep]

It amazes me the amount of false information that's perpetuated in the political arena. I mean it's always been there, but it spreads so fast now with all of the avenues of communication. People choose their sides and then don't need much convincing to believe things.

The logic of American politics is basically this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g

[Kirkland Laing]

Interesting video. It shows you what a downright strange place America seems to be. I thought the guy throwing money at the Parkinson's guy was a complete twat. Since when has healthcare for all simply been a government handout? I'm quite against people scrounging off the government, but certainly not when it goes as far as denying them access to a doctor if they need it. I thought the black woman at the end spoke the most sense. Everyone who works hard deserves health coverage.

My issue with the US system is the whole use of insurance companies who decide whether you see a doctor or not. Insurance companies need to be taken out of the equation because they exist simply to make a profit and keep investors happy. It should be a system set up by the government where people can see a doctor whenever they want. Health care is a basic right, not a luxury item.

Sorry to go off topic a little bit. Before I start I'll say that my political leanings are more of an libertarian.

The reason why many Americans are opposed to universal health care has to do with the culture and upbringing in America and its European colonial ties. We are taught from day 1 to be self-independent and self-made in a highly capitalistic society.

American society by most accounts is a meritocracy, not entirely a pure one, but someone can still achieve great things in this country by sheer will, hard work, talent, intelligence, some luck, and a little bit of connections. When one is on any type of social government program, whether it be welfare, section 8 housing, unemployment money, or something of that nature, it's looked down upon as that person not being competent and able to survive on his or her own. Then you add to the fact of America's British colonial ties, and that most white Americans are descendants of those being misfits and outcasts of many European societies, social programs like universal health care that are similar like that of many European countries aren't just accepted. There's also a reason why Americans don't like many things that are considered to be European, it can be social programs, soccer, Europe's metric system (which has been implemented worldwide), etc. America has always tried to be different than Europe, because it wants to distance itself from a place that they couldn't fit in and were outcasts and do things their own way for the most part. Then you add to it, a lot of Americans don't want the government being too intrusive, this probably stems also from America's British colonial legacy, even though most Americans don't realize it, but this distrust of big government has its origins here.

I still remember a general education sociology class I took in my 1st year of college years ago that explains this in vivid detail of how and why Americans think a certain way compared to the rest of the world, especially Europe. It's just ingrained in us. I remember watching a video on some European country in that class, I think it was Norway, and it described how many people are on government social programs like universal health care, free or reduce housing, free food, and many other government programs. The majority of the class were thinking those people were lazy and didn't earn their way in life, sure there was a minority that thought it was great, but the outright majority thought it was strange to depend on the government for so many things when the citizens were perfectly able to work for it.

Just a little insight guys. I'm not an expert on this, but I still remember that sociology class, definitely one of my most memorable and it explained things in this world that made sense. I would have majored in it if I wasn't talented in art and was attending an art school.

There's actually more social class mobility in Europe than there is in America :

Making it has been the American dream for two centuries. Horatio Alger, who died 110 years ago this month, wrote dozens of hugely popular novels (Struggling Upward, Strive and Succeed) that imprinted the aspiration on millions of minds. In their pages boys would rise from poverty to the middle class, often through the kindly intercession of older men but always with a display of grit. The theme spanned the 19th-century Atlantic: Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) promoted the theme of social advancement through individual striving in Self Help (1859) and other works. The career of his fellow Scot Andrew Carnegie, moving from real childhood rags to world-beating riches in early middle age, gave foundation to such exhortations. But where the myth had reality, it now has less. Recent studies show that the US is near the top, and the UK in the upper levels, of the league of developed states in which the poor do not or cannot help themselves to rise. One much quoted study notes that “the idea of the US as ‘the land of opportunity’ persists; and clearly seems misplaced”.


Individual and family mobility – another irony – seems better served in states with a strong social democratic tradition. In the Scandinavian countries, Denmark in particular, movement up (and down) is better lubricated. One cannot have everything. The international tables of top universities are dominated by the US and the UK, which cater for global as well as their own elites. Hard-driving and expensive private schools are embedded in the Anglo-American social fabrics; the Cabinet Office report shows that some professions – such as the judiciary and journalism – are at the higher levels dominated by their products. When this writer began in a provincial newsroom, he was one of two graduates; the route to national glory could still be trod by a school leaver with shorthand and sharp elbows. Now, it would be far more difficult.




FT.com / Comment / Opinion - The mobile society stalls at the gates of academe






And this :


http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFil...eam_Report.pdf


America at the bottom of the heap, only behind Britain.