[Oleg Brutalist]

Government has plenty of money, and as The Rebel’s Lauren Southern explains,

the idea that feeding more money into a broken system will somehow fix the system is quite literally insane.
Yet to this day we still here politicians lying through their teeth saying they need to raise taxes – and liberals defending their decision.

Government wastes so much of that money that we give them, that not a single person can convince me raising taxes is a good idea.

Most people see this glaring incompetence, but if you don’t here’s a list of 10 ridiculous things the US government spent your money on…

Watch the video

[GlobalBuddy]

When I got to the study on fat gays and lesbians, I stopped watching. It seems to be just someone cherry picking on government spending to attempt to show that the state is inherently incompetent with money.

[Whocares386]

According to an article I've read before, developed countries (UK, Canada, Germany, France..) treat healthcare as a public service, such as building roads and bridges. But in the US, government treat it like a business.

Is that really true ?

I'm talking about that article:
http://www.foreignamerican.net/healthca ... -business/

[One Degree]

Is that really true ?

Mostly. The US has public hospitals ran by cities, counties, states and special hospital districts. Their numbers are in decline due to laws that favor private hospitals. Some hospitals were prevented, by law, from borrowing money for improvements for example. Even the public hospitals are still basically ran as a business compared to what you describe in Europe. Many hospitals in the US are listed as 'non profits', but your bill will not give you any indication of that. The US also has some 'charity' hospitals where selected patients pay nothing for their care such as St. Judes. Still if you want a description of the US overall, then yes they are ran as a business.

[Truth To Power]

According to an article I've read before, developed countries (UK, Canada, Germany, France..) treat healthcare as a public service, such as building roads and bridges. But in the US, government treat it like a business.

Is that really true ?/

Yes, and it's true in an even deeper sense: US healthcare, like most profitable American business, is primarily a rent seeking operation. Government has made healthcare the subject of so many restrictions on supply -- through professional licensing and patents, especially -- that its average price is perhaps five times the free market price. The privileged business interests that own the right to charge those prices of people who need health care to live get to keep the difference. So as with other privileged businesses, the government removes people's rights to liberty, gives them to the privileged as their private property, then tells the victims they have to pay the "market" price for permission to exercise their rights to life. That's how American healthcare providers are able to take 14% of GDP.

[Decky]

That damn licensing! Why should a doctor be licensed anyway? People should just pay money and get the local witch doctor the sacrifice a goat and be happy with it, how dare the government make sure that doctors actually know what they are doing?

[Drlee]

Yet to this day we still here politicians lying through their teeth saying they need to raise taxes – and liberals defending their decision.

No doubt you consider yourself a conservative. Of course that is an idiotic notion. I have been a conservative, man and boy, into my seventh decade. One of the key issues common to conservatives the whole time is a balanced budget. Given our current deficit, there is not a way in hell of balancing the budget without more revenue. Now I am of an income bracket that would hit me very hard indeed but I understand the necessity to balance the budget.

Tell me son. How much are you willing to cut the military? How much are you willing to cut Social Security? Veteran's benefits? Infrastructure improvements? Stop pretending to be a conservative.

[Rancid]

.... that its average price is perhaps five times the free market price.......

Where did you pull this figure from?

[One Degree]

Where did you pull this figure from?

That probably is not far off if you go by what Medicare and major insurance companies actually pay compared to what you are billed.

[Stormsmith]

According to an article I've read before, developed countries (UK, Canada, Germany, France..) treat healthcare as a public service, such as building roads and bridges. But in the US, government treat it like a business.

Is that really True?

Yes, and it's one of the few things that, after painfully long debates, we'll support for better service meaning more taxes, but notice we pay 1/2 of what you pay.

the idea that feeding more money into a broken system will somehow fix the system is quite literally insane.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating: if a tire popping pothole that you cannot avoid appears in your street will you mend it, hire someone to mend, or phone the highways department to complain?

[MistyTiger]

If the government has plenty of money, why is there a trillion dollar budget deficit?

If you are convicted of tax evasion, you will eventually get caught and put in prison, unless you would rather be shot down if you are one of those who carry a shotgun around all the time.

The government can find you if you participated in the last population census, if you have a credit card they can find you when you use it at the store, they could find out your cell phone number and track you via satellite, requesting your info from the DMV or townhall, am I missing any other way that they can hunt you down and catch you?

The only way you can not pay taxes is if you are dead, in a coma, put in a nursing home to live out the rest of your life or confined to a nuthouse because you are deemed clinincally insane and a danger to the public and that is probably it.

[Truth To Power]

Where did you pull this figure from?

Comparison of health care costs in other countries with comparable health outcomes, but less rent seeking. In most advanced countries there is a lot of medical rent seeking even though total per capita costs might be 1/2 or less the US level. In countries like South Korea, per capita medical costs are about 1/3 the US level, and health outcomes are better even though they smoke and drink more, and don't have as much high-tech equipment. Countries like Poland, Costa Rica, Chile and Hungary spend only about 1/5 the US level, but have comparable health outcomes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c ... per_capita

That damn licensing! Why should a doctor be licensed anyway? People should just pay money and get the local witch doctor the sacrifice a goat and be happy with it, how dare the government make sure that doctors actually know what they are doing?

Licensing is not about ensuring quality, it is about restricting supply. If it was about quality, people with foreign credentials would be able to get licensed by passing an exam (they can't), and people with decades-old credentials would have to pass periodic exams to ensure they were still capable of providing competent treatment (they don't). Some governments actually restrict the number of seats in medical schools to keep the supply of doctors down.

[Decky]

Why would you want people with foreign credentials practising medicine? In the US people don't even believe in evolution god knows what they think about how the human body works. I would never want a yankee doctor imported to treat me. Don't they use big tents and get people to speak in tongues to cure illnesses over there? Of course it is about keeping quality up.

[Truth To Power]

Why would you want people with foreign credentials practising medicine?

To heal the sick....?

What a concept.

In the US people don't even believe in evolution god knows what they think about how the human body works. I would never want a yankee doctor imported to treat me. Don't they use big tents and get people to speak in tongues to cure illnesses over there? Of course it is about keeping quality up.

Oh, OK, sarcasm.