29 thoughts on “Fox News Political Bias Uncovered”
Wow…. A news organization that isn’t dedicated to blowing smoke up Obama’s ass. This is what news orgs or supposed to do, report the good and the bad. Why don’t you get more of the news reports together rather than mostly opinion show clips. Next you’re going to tell me the Maddow and Olbermann have no political bias…… Who are the kooky ones here????
Wasn’t Fox News’ slogan at one point, “Fair & Balanced”?
Tell me, what’s fair and balanced about their reporting?
You righties don’t seem to get it. News is supposed to be based on facts and reality not falsity, disproved facts and other made-up stuff that comes out of the Faux News channel. The only one there that occasionally tells the truth is Shep Smith.
No MadCity, I think you don’t get it. How many of those clips were from news shows? If anything, “your guys” are the bigger violators of destroying the line between news and opinion.
Personally I don’t watch or listen to any of them. The vast majority of those idiots – Beck, Hannity, Maddow, Olberman are entertainers. They’re dancing monkeys who are there to get attention and if they stumble onto the truth occasionally, it’s only because it just happens to coincide with their shtick.
Those clips are from TALK SHOWS, commentary, and interviews. You are failing to distinguish between news reports and commentary. The bulk of any of those news channels are talk shows and commentary because they need to fill time. If I am watching Keith Olberman and he has a particular slant, I don’t call it bias because that is a talk show. However, if I am watching the Nightly News with Brian Williams and there is a slant, that is BIAS. It’s a different setting and expectation entirely.
But I wonder why it bothers you so much. So conservatives watch FoxNews. What’s it to you? You have virtually every other news outlet, newspaper, TV show, movie, and pop culture espousing a liberal slant. Can there be no dissent anywhere in the fawning over the Great Obama and liberal viewpoint?
Give me examples….. Show me where Fox News maliciously reported false news. What about the fact that MSNBC and CNN don’t report on the news (ACORN..just one example) that Fox does because it doesn’t fit the liberal agenda. The only time they report is after the fact and only because they’ve been called on it. The media is supposed to be the watching dog, not a cheerleader. The Pew Research Center( A lefty org) pointed ou that during the election, the reporting on Fox was as close to even for each candidate positive and negative. The others weren’t even close skewing most of it’s positive reporting to Obama and most negative to McCain.
Both CNN and MSNBC reported on ACORN. Maybe you should do some research before you comment.
They did comment but only after Fox had it headlined for quite some time…. We’ll just call it reactive reporting.
The so called conservative activists who went undercover as the pimp and prostitute more than likely gave the story to Fox News on a silver platter…so it isn’t a big surprise they aired it before CNN. CNN did have the story up on their website as early as Sept. 10, 2009…which is the day the story broke (I think).
Why did it take 3 days for them to run it. Brian Williams was on a radio talk show on the Monday following the Friday that story hit…. Brain said he hadn’t heard of the story………
You don’t know how long Fox News had the story before they ran it. Maybe it took them a couple of days to investigate the merits of the story.
If you want examples, visit Crooks and Liars and Media Matters. There are countless examples. The easiest way is to just watch Fox anchors add their imaginative commentary where they spell out all their crazy possibilities, none of which is based on fact, but what “could happen.”
The laughable fears of socialism, fascism (Bush/Cheney), birthers, tenthers, tea party anti-government (that’s us) gun toting “take out country back blockheads…examples pushed by Fox News. If you don’t recognize the blatant lying, that’s not my problem.
Oblermann and Maddow are biased, and use facts to back up their observations. They don’t protect any one group or individual. Their ideology hasn’t tank the world economy like yours, but in fact produced the only budget surplus thanks to a tax increase.
If you want to part with your hard earned money by giving it to health insurers and Wall Street CEO’s by demanding deregulation and free markets, I would be all for it except sadly, it also affects my pocketbook.
As far as the possitive reporting during the election, I can’t think of any major misteps from Obama’s past or present. If there are few negatives to report, I suppose that’s Obama’s problem, right?
Go Sarah Palin!
John, why again are the fears of socialism laughable? In your mind what would constitute socialism? On the dial of nearer socialism or further away, which way is Obama sliding the needle?
Yes John.. I’m going to go to a bunch of liberal hack job websites for “facts”… Puhleeeze….. Nothing in Obama’s past?? Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright???? Telling the world he wants to put all insurance companies out of business and he wants our energy bills to necessarily explode….. If I’m going to part with my hard earned cash I would rather take my chances at health insurance and WS because at least I would get something from it…. It’s time to come out of the basement John… Your mom’s calling.
Guilt through association is pretty weak isn’t it ( not for you I guess)? I have never lived my life through my pastor or reformed friend. Maybe you are?
Hack job websites. Ahh the open mind of a partisan. Look at your answer: you’re worried about putting an insurance company out of business. The last time I looked, as a small business man for 10 years), insurers never provided on medical service. You’re confused. They are not a part of health care, they are an insurance company.
Change is tough, like energy efficient light bulbs or fuel efficient cars. If you haven’t noticed, WPL and We Energies is requesting a huge rate increase (just like cap and trade), becuase the economy bankrupted so many of their business customers, home forclosures and energy efficient homes. They lost clients and are seeing their profits dwindling because people are saving energy. You’re still getting rate hikes through the roof, without moving into the 21st century.
If I’m living in a basement, you’re living in the robber baron 20’s. Oddly, I want to save money, and you want to spend it like a drunken sailor. Sounds like the Bush years.
I want to save money, and you want to spend it like a drunken sailor. Sounds like the Bush years.
Are you serious???? You crack me up…..
John, Please read your comment. It’s just funny. Of course insurance companies don’t provide health care, they provide a means to obtain health care at more affordable prices than not having insurance. The money I’ve spent on insurance is far less than what I would’ve spent if I paid for it out of pocket. That to me is a benefit and money well spent. I also spend money on the stock market through my 401K. It took a hit but it’s rebounding a little bit and I’ve got a long way to go until I retire. Tell me John… How’s Social Security doing these days? I did notice that WE was raising rates due to lower revenues. There was no explanation given like yours and that’s fine but you might also want to credit conservation with the lower than expected revenues. WE raising my rates due to their own inefficiencies is one thing, to have the government impose huge taxes under the false pretenses of global warming is another.Cap and trade will raise the price of everything and will provide nothing to the consumer except an emptier wallet because when you raise taxes on businesses that provide goods or services, they pass that on to the customer but of course you already knew that… Right?
That’s your answer? Nice come back.
ACORN got heat when it was deserved. Sending kids into offices like Halloweeners was sensational enough for Fox News to wet their pants. Did you?
I want to save 30 cents for every dollar I spend on health care, you don’t. And it’s gonna be worse.
To answer the other response about insurers “providing the means” to get care…sorry, the doctors and hospitals will do just fine without them. I also ended up paying for eye surgery myself because it cost half the price the insurance company agreed to pay (really), and my high deductable (health savings account) would have ended up making me pay twice as much. Many times, prividers give huge breaks to their uninsured clients, even me, with lousy insurance.
As for global warming, don’t take me down with your belief it’s a myth. Better safe than sorry. Raising prices because a company lost clients and green technology is outragious, and not free market. It’s the same as raising prices to move our economy into a new age of green manufacturing, unless you want to leave that up to China and the Germans too.
John.. Clue in here… Check out health care in the UK and Canada…. Not good but you’re right it will get worse if Obamacare passes. The fact that you have lousy insurance is neither my fault or problem and it shows you have poor negotiating skills when buying insurance although I give you kudos for paying a better price out of pocket. BTW…. Was the eye surgery elective? Just askin’…..
As far as the pimp and the prostitute, it’s called investigative journalism. It was done because all the other “networks” failed to report on what ACORN has been doing for years by turning a blind eye to it…. Gee, I wonder why that is??? I suppose you prefer the journalistic style and ethics of Dab Rather and Rick Sanchez.
Green jobs??? I’m all for green when possible but to base an economy on it???? Ask the Spanish how well that’s working. Alternatives are great too but take the time to research and develop them. Don’t rush to implement unproven technology just because a wacky former VP and a bunch of corrupt UN scientists told you to….
I feel a little silly having responded to your comments. You have now clue about the private insurance market I’ve been doomed to work in for years. You seemed to be under the impression there are “small” insurance companies out there that are “lousy.” Assurant, American Family, Humana might seem small and lousy to you, but I find them dominant players. The eye surgery corrected a cloudy lense, elective to the insurance company, but necessary if I wanted to drive safely. It took 7 months to get in. Not exactly “fast,” and a lot like Canada.
Again, as a small business man for over then years, my negotiating skills were assisted by an agent at first who knew his stuff, and many years of my own. You’re under the impression that as an individual can negotiate. You are simply out of touch and a blowhard.
Not exactly “fast,” and a lot like Canada.
…. and for some reason you expect this to get better with government run health insurance. I know plenty of people who have negotiated cheaper rates but you, like most liberals, you say can’t and expect somebody to hold your hand and do it for you. Not surprising. You’re in for some big changes John and you’re not going to like them. I happy that you were able to start and maintain your own business but the way things are going, you’ll be lucky to keep that business after the government decides you need to pay more.
I seriously wish you good luck and I hope your eyes will open soon before it’s too late for you and your livelihood……
The problem with conservative arguments against a government plan is the requirement to ignore the lower rates and high quality care in every other industrialized country. Its as if this is some kind of brand new idea, never attempted before. Wrong.
The fantasy scenarios of higher prices is a lie, absolutely, and flies in the face of dramatically lower prices world wide (facts are inconvenient). Check out this story from the Swiss, who’s system is universal, but private, the second most expensive in the world. The Swiss have a warning for us… http://democurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2009/09/private-health-care-by-swiss-like.html
As for Olbermann and Maddow, their opinions are based on facts that continuely prove conservatives wrong. They do not present mythical events or outcomes, the “slippery slope” visions of a new socialist commie nation. I watch Fox News often, and find the use of absolute lies in their stories and arguments jaw dropping. Twisting the facts does not change those facts, it’s called spin, and after watching them weave “what if’s” about every issue is disingenuous.
The idea that I need someone to hold my hand is your fantasy explaination devoid of real world application and a way to make me appear weaker than you. Cheap shots. Believe it or not, liberals are just as independent and fiscally responsible as conservatives, more so, in that we know when we’re getting fleeced by freedom loving businesses. Watch Frontlines “The Warning” on PBS (I know, it’s not Fox News)and you’ll understand how you’re getting played.
By the way, how did deregulation and free markets work for your investments and retirement accounts? You’re ideology brought down the world economy, and you want to do it all again, on steroids. I still haven’t made up the loss from the tech bubble burst. Good luck in getting your money back (I hope you have 30 years. breaking even again means you’r not earnig higher profits).
The problem with conservative arguments against a government plan is the requirement to ignore the lower rates and high quality care in every other industrialized country. Its as if this is some kind of brand new idea, never attempted before. Wrong.
And one of the problems with your argument is that you lack a fundamental appreciation for the politics of this country. Our federal legislators simply cannot manage anything of this scale. They couldn’t handle the digital TV transition, and every program of any mass becomes so riddled with waste and guided by political rather than pragmatic/financial/productive reasons. Can’t get the $250 billion in increased doctor reimbursement (ie. bribe for the support of the AMA, etc) funded in the healthcare bill? No biggie, just pull it out & spend the $250 billion without any means to pay for it. I will grant that national – government run healthcare can work in some places. It can’t work here.
“A fundamental appreciation for the politics of this country?” Like when voters elect a Democratic majority? You failed and lost the election. Get over it.
On the issue of our government not being able to manage things as well as the reckless Wall Street free marketers, I beg to differ. Greenspan and Rubin sure knew what they were doing, no waste there? It’s funny, you protest the government for the bailouts, they’re spending “our” money, but you’re quick to give your money back to the banks that lost all your money to begin with, without one protest rally. Go figure.
Medicare is a catastrophic health care plan, thus the high price, and a reason it’s running out of money. Supplementing those costs with younger contributors ( a single payer system) would dramatically bring down costs and spread the risks for everyone. A public option is too incremental to make a big difference, and allowing states to opt out reduces the buying pool, doing little to force insurers to lower premiums.
The government did not mismanage the digital conversion, the media giants who are drowning in debt did (I worked at Clear Channel). Due to consolidation and buyouts, media saddled themselves in red ink. The govenment gave media extensions to them, which they still kept putting off. Without the digital conversion, the digital consumer market would never have taken off, which would have been bad for the economy. If you prefer anolog TV, that says a lot about your ability to grasp the digital age. Not my problem.
As for the $250 billion doctor reimbursement, the Republicans have year after year extended those payments, another words-kicked the can down the road. By the way, the extensions were never paid for by either party, so call your Republican representive and ask them why. According to the Washington Examiner, “Congress has been keeping major cuts to Medicare payments to doctors at bay with annual extensions.” It’s not a bribe, it’s business that needs to be resolved.
I need to get back to my own blog now, thanks.
“A fundamental appreciation for the politics of this country?” Like when voters elect a Democratic majority? You failed and lost the election. Get over it.
You know what you arrogant prick – you don’t know anything about me and I find it dishonest or ignorant at best, that wasted a whole post attributing positions to me that you know nothing about. I was against the digital transition? Whatever – jump to wrong conclusions much? I was all in favor of the move – congress crapped all over themselves getting it done. Millions wasted on converter box coupons (a process itself a demonstration in an miss-management), deadlines pushed back over & over & over again. Congress has the willpower, resolve and leadership of a fruit fly.
You clearly have a bug about the free market and push that in every reply whether relevant or not. Great good for you – take it somewhere else where that’s the topic.
Medicare is a catastrophic health care plan, thus the high price, and a reason it’s running out of money.
Finally back to the topic at hand, glad you get that. Now replace Medicare with every other major government social program – social security for example. No leadership or courage to address problems or fix things when it might result in 1 lost vote, so just carry on. Either increase taxes, or just roll up the debt. That is the political reality of this country. Has been for decades with either party in power. That is why putting any more under their purview will only result in making this worse.
If we’re going to use names, lunkhead, I’m responding to statements in these comments. Try reading the many topics introduced above once, I answered all of them.
Digital Conversion: If you wouldn’t have provided converter boxes, just how many citizens would you have cut off from the media? I suppose you would have burdoned the elderly with buying them? An unfunded mandate so to speak. The government did not “crap all over themselves.” They got push back from the corporate media that took their time as described above. Your explanation is devoid of facts, and is just plain crazy talk, since I was in the media at the time.
Instead of taking the position government is bad, repeating the idiotic ramblings of Reagan, you should hold you’re elected officials accountable. Your anger never boiled over during the last 15 years of Republican control of congress and K Street. Now all of a sudden, we’re headed into the abyss of socialism. My head is spinning from the hypocrisy. I never said Democrats did everything right. They should raise the cap on social security or apply the tax to all income but reduce the percentage as incomes climb. It’s a great program that would have been destroyed if Republicans like Paul Ryan had part of it controled by Wall Street.
I do hold my party accountable, you don’t, and I want them to change things whether you like that or not. Name one country that doesn’t regulate capitalism. Just one. (besides the U.S.) Obama’s made a big mistake keeping Sommers and Geitner around.
Having co-hosted a political talk show with Vicki McKenna on WIBA, and 25 years doing radio and TV, I have an insight now into the twisted crazy conservative thought process. Pure ideology, no logic, not fiscally smart and angry (you). All the intellectual conservative elitists have died, and all you have left is Rush, Joe Wilson and Sarah Palin. Nice.
Don’t blame tanking the world economy on both parties. Ayn Rand Republicans convinced a lot of people, including some Democrats (Clinton)that deregulation was great, but that didn’t work. It’s so bizarre the Great Recession wasn’t your first clue. Maybe our next one?
My best friend in Milwaukee is a born again, concealed gun toting right winger (why obey laws if you don’t agree with them, right), and he keeps me updated on the latest GOP distractions. We have heated debates, but on some issues he gets it, and you don’t.
Commenting here is like Rep. Frank said, paraphrasing, it’s like having a conversation with a coffee table.
I apologize for the name – lost my temper a little. I do stand by that you were being rude and patently dishonest in attributing things to me that aren’t true.
I do hold my party accountable, you don’t
You don’t know what party I belong to (and in fact I don’t belong to one, and have never voted straight party in my life). In fact, I clearly laid blame on both parties in my post. But you’d prefer to just make up what my position is rather than actually read and comprehend my words.
Your anger never boiled over during the last 15 years of Republican control of congress and K Street.
In fact, it most certainly did. I’ve been very critical of horrible fiscal policy from Congress and most especially of the Bush Administration. But just keep pretending you know me.
My best friend in Milwaukee is a born again, concealed gun toting right winger (why obey laws if you don’t agree with them, right), and he keeps me updated on the latest GOP distractions. We have heated debates, but on some issues he gets it, and you don’t.
So your friend knows how I think took. How wonderful. Why do you even bother posting – you clearly can carry on both sides of an argument all yourself and need not actually consider the words of others. How your friend thinks, 25 years with McKenna and what Rush or whoever else says, by all means, you can just put that one me and attribute whatever their opinions are to me.
Commenting here is like Rep. Frank said, paraphrasing, it’s like having a conversation with a coffee table.
Ah, now we’re getting some where. I think the problem is you’re actually having a converstation with a coffee table. Which makes sense – your replies are so filled with non sequitors that it’s obvious you’re not reading my words.
I’ve been posting here for a little while. Gone ’round & ’round with a number of characters and frequently we just fundamentally disagree on the best way to do something. But by and large, it’s a dialog – one in which people read, comprehend, and most importantly, consider each other’s views. You sir, seem to prefer to do none of those.
A quick note to anyone still interested.
A little discussed tactic, employed here by Locke and others, is “projection.” It’s used a lot now by right wingers, tenthers, birthers and tea baggers. Attributing ones own weaknesses to someone else is sad, and it’s called projection.
Having answered every question here in detail, with specifics, another tactic is to accuse the opponant of “non-sequitors.” If you say so….
And I’m tired of free marketers who lie about their ideology, libertarian or conservative, and claim they vote for both parties. Your comments betray yourself. You don’t win debates by claiming no one knows how you think, after you plainly state your case above in the most simplistic way. In none of the issues presented did you have clear picture of the problem and you certainly didn’t have a well thought out solution.
Working under the cover of “no one knows me and how I think,” you look unprepared while pretending the opponants answers are non-sequitors. You’re not fooling anybody.
I’m off to do my blog. It’s been fun going down the rabbit hole.
When one names themselves the FOX NEWS CHANNEL, is there an expectation one will only have news or opinions based upon news?
Marshall McLuhan said it: “The medium is the massage.”
The Fox News channel massages a specific type of person and to others it just rubs them the wrong way…
McLuhan said a few other things,too.
1.”All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.”
2.”A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.”
And something that Roger Ailes firmly ascribes to and delivers to America every day:
“A commercial society whose members are essentially ascetic and indifferent in social ritual has to be provided with blueprints and specifications for evoking the right tone for every occasion.”
And lastly:
“Today the tyrant rules not by club or fist, but disguised as a market researcher, he shepherds his flocks in the ways of utility and comfort.”
The tyranny of both parties can be discerned in that statement, yes?
Wow…. A news organization that isn’t dedicated to blowing smoke up Obama’s ass. This is what news orgs or supposed to do, report the good and the bad. Why don’t you get more of the news reports together rather than mostly opinion show clips. Next you’re going to tell me the Maddow and Olbermann have no political bias…… Who are the kooky ones here????
Wasn’t Fox News’ slogan at one point, “Fair & Balanced”?
Tell me, what’s fair and balanced about their reporting?
You righties don’t seem to get it. News is supposed to be based on facts and reality not falsity, disproved facts and other made-up stuff that comes out of the Faux News channel. The only one there that occasionally tells the truth is Shep Smith.
No MadCity, I think you don’t get it. How many of those clips were from news shows? If anything, “your guys” are the bigger violators of destroying the line between news and opinion.
Personally I don’t watch or listen to any of them. The vast majority of those idiots – Beck, Hannity, Maddow, Olberman are entertainers. They’re dancing monkeys who are there to get attention and if they stumble onto the truth occasionally, it’s only because it just happens to coincide with their shtick.
Those clips are from TALK SHOWS, commentary, and interviews. You are failing to distinguish between news reports and commentary. The bulk of any of those news channels are talk shows and commentary because they need to fill time. If I am watching Keith Olberman and he has a particular slant, I don’t call it bias because that is a talk show. However, if I am watching the Nightly News with Brian Williams and there is a slant, that is BIAS. It’s a different setting and expectation entirely.
But I wonder why it bothers you so much. So conservatives watch FoxNews. What’s it to you? You have virtually every other news outlet, newspaper, TV show, movie, and pop culture espousing a liberal slant. Can there be no dissent anywhere in the fawning over the Great Obama and liberal viewpoint?
Give me examples….. Show me where Fox News maliciously reported false news. What about the fact that MSNBC and CNN don’t report on the news (ACORN..just one example) that Fox does because it doesn’t fit the liberal agenda. The only time they report is after the fact and only because they’ve been called on it. The media is supposed to be the watching dog, not a cheerleader. The Pew Research Center( A lefty org) pointed ou that during the election, the reporting on Fox was as close to even for each candidate positive and negative. The others weren’t even close skewing most of it’s positive reporting to Obama and most negative to McCain.
Both CNN and MSNBC reported on ACORN. Maybe you should do some research before you comment.
They did comment but only after Fox had it headlined for quite some time…. We’ll just call it reactive reporting.
The so called conservative activists who went undercover as the pimp and prostitute more than likely gave the story to Fox News on a silver platter…so it isn’t a big surprise they aired it before CNN. CNN did have the story up on their website as early as Sept. 10, 2009…which is the day the story broke (I think).
Why did it take 3 days for them to run it. Brian Williams was on a radio talk show on the Monday following the Friday that story hit…. Brain said he hadn’t heard of the story………
You don’t know how long Fox News had the story before they ran it. Maybe it took them a couple of days to investigate the merits of the story.
If you want examples, visit Crooks and Liars and Media Matters. There are countless examples. The easiest way is to just watch Fox anchors add their imaginative commentary where they spell out all their crazy possibilities, none of which is based on fact, but what “could happen.”
The laughable fears of socialism, fascism (Bush/Cheney), birthers, tenthers, tea party anti-government (that’s us) gun toting “take out country back blockheads…examples pushed by Fox News. If you don’t recognize the blatant lying, that’s not my problem.
Oblermann and Maddow are biased, and use facts to back up their observations. They don’t protect any one group or individual. Their ideology hasn’t tank the world economy like yours, but in fact produced the only budget surplus thanks to a tax increase.
Check out this comic from This Modern World.
http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2009/10/19/tomo/index.html?source=rss
If you want to part with your hard earned money by giving it to health insurers and Wall Street CEO’s by demanding deregulation and free markets, I would be all for it except sadly, it also affects my pocketbook.
As far as the possitive reporting during the election, I can’t think of any major misteps from Obama’s past or present. If there are few negatives to report, I suppose that’s Obama’s problem, right?
Go Sarah Palin!
John, why again are the fears of socialism laughable? In your mind what would constitute socialism? On the dial of nearer socialism or further away, which way is Obama sliding the needle?
Yes John.. I’m going to go to a bunch of liberal hack job websites for “facts”… Puhleeeze….. Nothing in Obama’s past?? Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright???? Telling the world he wants to put all insurance companies out of business and he wants our energy bills to necessarily explode….. If I’m going to part with my hard earned cash I would rather take my chances at health insurance and WS because at least I would get something from it…. It’s time to come out of the basement John… Your mom’s calling.
Guilt through association is pretty weak isn’t it ( not for you I guess)? I have never lived my life through my pastor or reformed friend. Maybe you are?
Hack job websites. Ahh the open mind of a partisan. Look at your answer: you’re worried about putting an insurance company out of business. The last time I looked, as a small business man for 10 years), insurers never provided on medical service. You’re confused. They are not a part of health care, they are an insurance company.
Change is tough, like energy efficient light bulbs or fuel efficient cars. If you haven’t noticed, WPL and We Energies is requesting a huge rate increase (just like cap and trade), becuase the economy bankrupted so many of their business customers, home forclosures and energy efficient homes. They lost clients and are seeing their profits dwindling because people are saving energy. You’re still getting rate hikes through the roof, without moving into the 21st century.
If I’m living in a basement, you’re living in the robber baron 20’s. Oddly, I want to save money, and you want to spend it like a drunken sailor. Sounds like the Bush years.
I want to save money, and you want to spend it like a drunken sailor. Sounds like the Bush years.
Are you serious???? You crack me up…..
John, Please read your comment. It’s just funny. Of course insurance companies don’t provide health care, they provide a means to obtain health care at more affordable prices than not having insurance. The money I’ve spent on insurance is far less than what I would’ve spent if I paid for it out of pocket. That to me is a benefit and money well spent. I also spend money on the stock market through my 401K. It took a hit but it’s rebounding a little bit and I’ve got a long way to go until I retire. Tell me John… How’s Social Security doing these days? I did notice that WE was raising rates due to lower revenues. There was no explanation given like yours and that’s fine but you might also want to credit conservation with the lower than expected revenues. WE raising my rates due to their own inefficiencies is one thing, to have the government impose huge taxes under the false pretenses of global warming is another.Cap and trade will raise the price of everything and will provide nothing to the consumer except an emptier wallet because when you raise taxes on businesses that provide goods or services, they pass that on to the customer but of course you already knew that… Right?
That’s your answer? Nice come back.
ACORN got heat when it was deserved. Sending kids into offices like Halloweeners was sensational enough for Fox News to wet their pants. Did you?
I want to save 30 cents for every dollar I spend on health care, you don’t. And it’s gonna be worse.
To answer the other response about insurers “providing the means” to get care…sorry, the doctors and hospitals will do just fine without them. I also ended up paying for eye surgery myself because it cost half the price the insurance company agreed to pay (really), and my high deductable (health savings account) would have ended up making me pay twice as much. Many times, prividers give huge breaks to their uninsured clients, even me, with lousy insurance.
As for global warming, don’t take me down with your belief it’s a myth. Better safe than sorry. Raising prices because a company lost clients and green technology is outragious, and not free market. It’s the same as raising prices to move our economy into a new age of green manufacturing, unless you want to leave that up to China and the Germans too.
John.. Clue in here… Check out health care in the UK and Canada…. Not good but you’re right it will get worse if Obamacare passes. The fact that you have lousy insurance is neither my fault or problem and it shows you have poor negotiating skills when buying insurance although I give you kudos for paying a better price out of pocket. BTW…. Was the eye surgery elective? Just askin’…..
As far as the pimp and the prostitute, it’s called investigative journalism. It was done because all the other “networks” failed to report on what ACORN has been doing for years by turning a blind eye to it…. Gee, I wonder why that is??? I suppose you prefer the journalistic style and ethics of Dab Rather and Rick Sanchez.
Green jobs??? I’m all for green when possible but to base an economy on it???? Ask the Spanish how well that’s working. Alternatives are great too but take the time to research and develop them. Don’t rush to implement unproven technology just because a wacky former VP and a bunch of corrupt UN scientists told you to….
I feel a little silly having responded to your comments. You have now clue about the private insurance market I’ve been doomed to work in for years. You seemed to be under the impression there are “small” insurance companies out there that are “lousy.” Assurant, American Family, Humana might seem small and lousy to you, but I find them dominant players. The eye surgery corrected a cloudy lense, elective to the insurance company, but necessary if I wanted to drive safely. It took 7 months to get in. Not exactly “fast,” and a lot like Canada.
Again, as a small business man for over then years, my negotiating skills were assisted by an agent at first who knew his stuff, and many years of my own. You’re under the impression that as an individual can negotiate. You are simply out of touch and a blowhard.
Conversation over.
http://Democurmudgeon.blogspot.com
Not exactly “fast,” and a lot like Canada.
…. and for some reason you expect this to get better with government run health insurance. I know plenty of people who have negotiated cheaper rates but you, like most liberals, you say can’t and expect somebody to hold your hand and do it for you. Not surprising. You’re in for some big changes John and you’re not going to like them. I happy that you were able to start and maintain your own business but the way things are going, you’ll be lucky to keep that business after the government decides you need to pay more.
I seriously wish you good luck and I hope your eyes will open soon before it’s too late for you and your livelihood……
The problem with conservative arguments against a government plan is the requirement to ignore the lower rates and high quality care in every other industrialized country. Its as if this is some kind of brand new idea, never attempted before. Wrong.
The fantasy scenarios of higher prices is a lie, absolutely, and flies in the face of dramatically lower prices world wide (facts are inconvenient). Check out this story from the Swiss, who’s system is universal, but private, the second most expensive in the world. The Swiss have a warning for us…
http://democurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2009/09/private-health-care-by-swiss-like.html
As for Olbermann and Maddow, their opinions are based on facts that continuely prove conservatives wrong. They do not present mythical events or outcomes, the “slippery slope” visions of a new socialist commie nation. I watch Fox News often, and find the use of absolute lies in their stories and arguments jaw dropping. Twisting the facts does not change those facts, it’s called spin, and after watching them weave “what if’s” about every issue is disingenuous.
The idea that I need someone to hold my hand is your fantasy explaination devoid of real world application and a way to make me appear weaker than you. Cheap shots. Believe it or not, liberals are just as independent and fiscally responsible as conservatives, more so, in that we know when we’re getting fleeced by freedom loving businesses. Watch Frontlines “The Warning” on PBS (I know, it’s not Fox News)and you’ll understand how you’re getting played.
By the way, how did deregulation and free markets work for your investments and retirement accounts? You’re ideology brought down the world economy, and you want to do it all again, on steroids. I still haven’t made up the loss from the tech bubble burst. Good luck in getting your money back (I hope you have 30 years. breaking even again means you’r not earnig higher profits).
And one of the problems with your argument is that you lack a fundamental appreciation for the politics of this country. Our federal legislators simply cannot manage anything of this scale. They couldn’t handle the digital TV transition, and every program of any mass becomes so riddled with waste and guided by political rather than pragmatic/financial/productive reasons. Can’t get the $250 billion in increased doctor reimbursement (ie. bribe for the support of the AMA, etc) funded in the healthcare bill? No biggie, just pull it out & spend the $250 billion without any means to pay for it. I will grant that national – government run healthcare can work in some places. It can’t work here.
“A fundamental appreciation for the politics of this country?” Like when voters elect a Democratic majority? You failed and lost the election. Get over it.
On the issue of our government not being able to manage things as well as the reckless Wall Street free marketers, I beg to differ. Greenspan and Rubin sure knew what they were doing, no waste there? It’s funny, you protest the government for the bailouts, they’re spending “our” money, but you’re quick to give your money back to the banks that lost all your money to begin with, without one protest rally. Go figure.
Medicare is a catastrophic health care plan, thus the high price, and a reason it’s running out of money. Supplementing those costs with younger contributors ( a single payer system) would dramatically bring down costs and spread the risks for everyone. A public option is too incremental to make a big difference, and allowing states to opt out reduces the buying pool, doing little to force insurers to lower premiums.
The government did not mismanage the digital conversion, the media giants who are drowning in debt did (I worked at Clear Channel). Due to consolidation and buyouts, media saddled themselves in red ink. The govenment gave media extensions to them, which they still kept putting off. Without the digital conversion, the digital consumer market would never have taken off, which would have been bad for the economy. If you prefer anolog TV, that says a lot about your ability to grasp the digital age. Not my problem.
As for the $250 billion doctor reimbursement, the Republicans have year after year extended those payments, another words-kicked the can down the road. By the way, the extensions were never paid for by either party, so call your Republican representive and ask them why. According to the Washington Examiner, “Congress has been keeping major cuts to Medicare payments to doctors at bay with annual extensions.” It’s not a bribe, it’s business that needs to be resolved.
I need to get back to my own blog now, thanks.
You know what you arrogant prick – you don’t know anything about me and I find it dishonest or ignorant at best, that wasted a whole post attributing positions to me that you know nothing about. I was against the digital transition? Whatever – jump to wrong conclusions much? I was all in favor of the move – congress crapped all over themselves getting it done. Millions wasted on converter box coupons (a process itself a demonstration in an miss-management), deadlines pushed back over & over & over again. Congress has the willpower, resolve and leadership of a fruit fly.
You clearly have a bug about the free market and push that in every reply whether relevant or not. Great good for you – take it somewhere else where that’s the topic.
Finally back to the topic at hand, glad you get that. Now replace Medicare with every other major government social program – social security for example. No leadership or courage to address problems or fix things when it might result in 1 lost vote, so just carry on. Either increase taxes, or just roll up the debt. That is the political reality of this country. Has been for decades with either party in power. That is why putting any more under their purview will only result in making this worse.
If we’re going to use names, lunkhead, I’m responding to statements in these comments. Try reading the many topics introduced above once, I answered all of them.
Digital Conversion: If you wouldn’t have provided converter boxes, just how many citizens would you have cut off from the media? I suppose you would have burdoned the elderly with buying them? An unfunded mandate so to speak. The government did not “crap all over themselves.” They got push back from the corporate media that took their time as described above. Your explanation is devoid of facts, and is just plain crazy talk, since I was in the media at the time.
Instead of taking the position government is bad, repeating the idiotic ramblings of Reagan, you should hold you’re elected officials accountable. Your anger never boiled over during the last 15 years of Republican control of congress and K Street. Now all of a sudden, we’re headed into the abyss of socialism. My head is spinning from the hypocrisy. I never said Democrats did everything right. They should raise the cap on social security or apply the tax to all income but reduce the percentage as incomes climb. It’s a great program that would have been destroyed if Republicans like Paul Ryan had part of it controled by Wall Street.
I do hold my party accountable, you don’t, and I want them to change things whether you like that or not. Name one country that doesn’t regulate capitalism. Just one. (besides the U.S.) Obama’s made a big mistake keeping Sommers and Geitner around.
Having co-hosted a political talk show with Vicki McKenna on WIBA, and 25 years doing radio and TV, I have an insight now into the twisted crazy conservative thought process. Pure ideology, no logic, not fiscally smart and angry (you). All the intellectual conservative elitists have died, and all you have left is Rush, Joe Wilson and Sarah Palin. Nice.
Don’t blame tanking the world economy on both parties. Ayn Rand Republicans convinced a lot of people, including some Democrats (Clinton)that deregulation was great, but that didn’t work. It’s so bizarre the Great Recession wasn’t your first clue. Maybe our next one?
My best friend in Milwaukee is a born again, concealed gun toting right winger (why obey laws if you don’t agree with them, right), and he keeps me updated on the latest GOP distractions. We have heated debates, but on some issues he gets it, and you don’t.
Commenting here is like Rep. Frank said, paraphrasing, it’s like having a conversation with a coffee table.
I apologize for the name – lost my temper a little. I do stand by that you were being rude and patently dishonest in attributing things to me that aren’t true.
You don’t know what party I belong to (and in fact I don’t belong to one, and have never voted straight party in my life). In fact, I clearly laid blame on both parties in my post. But you’d prefer to just make up what my position is rather than actually read and comprehend my words.
In fact, it most certainly did. I’ve been very critical of horrible fiscal policy from Congress and most especially of the Bush Administration. But just keep pretending you know me.
So your friend knows how I think took. How wonderful. Why do you even bother posting – you clearly can carry on both sides of an argument all yourself and need not actually consider the words of others. How your friend thinks, 25 years with McKenna and what Rush or whoever else says, by all means, you can just put that one me and attribute whatever their opinions are to me.
Ah, now we’re getting some where. I think the problem is you’re actually having a converstation with a coffee table. Which makes sense – your replies are so filled with non sequitors that it’s obvious you’re not reading my words.
I’ve been posting here for a little while. Gone ’round & ’round with a number of characters and frequently we just fundamentally disagree on the best way to do something. But by and large, it’s a dialog – one in which people read, comprehend, and most importantly, consider each other’s views. You sir, seem to prefer to do none of those.
A quick note to anyone still interested.
A little discussed tactic, employed here by Locke and others, is “projection.” It’s used a lot now by right wingers, tenthers, birthers and tea baggers. Attributing ones own weaknesses to someone else is sad, and it’s called projection.
Having answered every question here in detail, with specifics, another tactic is to accuse the opponant of “non-sequitors.” If you say so….
And I’m tired of free marketers who lie about their ideology, libertarian or conservative, and claim they vote for both parties. Your comments betray yourself. You don’t win debates by claiming no one knows how you think, after you plainly state your case above in the most simplistic way. In none of the issues presented did you have clear picture of the problem and you certainly didn’t have a well thought out solution.
Working under the cover of “no one knows me and how I think,” you look unprepared while pretending the opponants answers are non-sequitors. You’re not fooling anybody.
I’m off to do my blog. It’s been fun going down the rabbit hole.
When one names themselves the FOX NEWS CHANNEL, is there an expectation one will only have news or opinions based upon news?
Marshall McLuhan said it: “The medium is the massage.”
The Fox News channel massages a specific type of person and to others it just rubs them the wrong way…
McLuhan said a few other things,too.
1.”All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.”
2.”A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.”
And something that Roger Ailes firmly ascribes to and delivers to America every day:
“A commercial society whose members are essentially ascetic and indifferent in social ritual has to be provided with blueprints and specifications for evoking the right tone for every occasion.”
And lastly:
“Today the tyrant rules not by club or fist, but disguised as a market researcher, he shepherds his flocks in the ways of utility and comfort.”
The tyranny of both parties can be discerned in that statement, yes?