Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General "For Profit"

Better services has nothing to do with it. If it did, then a lot of things should be handled by the public sector.
But, luckily, there is no law that prevents capitalism from making money on the commodification of illness.

If there is nothing you can predict other than death and taxes why can't I take a bet on people's dying and there attempts to forestall that from happening?
Boomers hold 80% of wealth in this country. Boomers are gunna start dying. People spend a significant amount of there life saving in the last months of their lives. One number I've read put it at 20%. That means possibly 20% of 80% of GDP will be getting spent over the next few decades with a 'hump' in the middle of that timeline of some pretty heavy spending.

Why would you deny me my freedom to partake in the healthcare market and make profits?

As far as I know, capitalism has a few iron laws it must obey or die:

Expand markets.
Increase profits.

Delivering better services is not a requirement.

Oh yeah... Global Warming.

Death, taxes and global warming.

For me, it’s a matter of ethics. It is not ethical for money to trump decisions of life and death. If OS about quality, whether you think so or not.. And delivering “better services,” aka adequate care, should not be based on profit.

How would you like to be checked in to Trump Hospital when it goes under?

Thought on drugs. My wife was prescribed some expensive drugs. We signed up with a pharmacy in Victoria. They mailed her the drugs (they needed the prescription) which were less than 1/3 of what they cost here.

Drug companies, in America, spend more on advertising that research (we are 1 of 2 nations, in the entire world that allows drug companies to advertise). Most drugs are researched and discovered by our universities. Most of that is paid for by our government. There is a perception that the drug companies get to patent the drugs paid for by taxpayers for pennies on the dollar. That perception is very close to the truth.

Should also mention this has been going on forever, under both Democrats and Republicans. We should all be very grateful to our elected class for taking such good care of us!!!

Some might say it is not their constitutional duty to take good care of us. Only to defend us. I s'pose that's neither here nor there as the only fella round here to take that stance was unable to effectively defend it.

The healthcare system is a huge industry employing millions and paying better than average wages. It's grown immensely technical and expensive. The machinery alone is mind boggling, CAT scans, PET Scans, MRIs...and the people who know how to operate them. Not to mention the people who know how to build them, and heaven forbid...the guys who design this sh*t!

It's a nice thought, but government really can't afford to pay for all this. If we were a postage stamp sized Euro nation that only needed a half dozen of these machines maybe the government can finance them. But the USA is HUGE! It would just cost too much!

The desire for "profit" is what spurs investors to fund innovation.

The role of government is to tax that profit and put it to the best use. They aren't doing a horrible job at it...it just needs a little tweak here and there.

ALL politicians claim that they are working for "US" That being the case then the entire bunch of them are lying, both sides? We can all list stuff that is just wrong and has existed through both parties. One that comes to mind is the fact that the bureau of tobacco, fire arms, and something else is denied the use of computers to do their jobs. (there are a LOT more of those).

There is also no question that we are spending more on healthcare than every other industrialized nation in the world and its more than a trillion dollars per year. The difference is that the rest control and regulate their socially paid for healthcare. I think we really need to move in that direction. I do not think, however, that move can be immediate but must be incremental in nature. There are some that claim that gov is spending enough to pay for the whole thing. I doubt that but, maybe.

I believe that the real problem is our system of governing. Its corrupt, failed, and a complete and utter mess. If it doesn't get fixed there WILL be blood on the streets. I suspect the only way to fixing it is an elected class that has a backbone and dedicated, first and foremost, to fixing the mess. If they don't do that I suspect we are going to have a really serious problem and things will change and not necessarily for the best. I also suspect that Trump is an example and, right now, just a taste of what we may have in store unless this crap stops and sanity takes over.

I wish us all luck, especially our kids who are going to have to deal what we have wrought......

No, it's not the government's constitutional duty. That's why I used the term "ethical."

In the same way that FEMA (theoretically) steps in after a major disaster. To take that a step further, it's the same ethical responsibility to appoint intelligent, competent people to high office. If that were in the constitution, there would be a lot more investigations than there have been to date,

"... it's not the government's constitutional duty."

Well by modern interpretation of "promote the general Welfare," it is.

Thanks, Shurly. I had my mind on the soup I was making and missed that entirely.

I mos' gen'ly have my mind in the soup...