livendive

Do I understand correctly that you're opposed to government-run, taxpayer-funded health insurance? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Sure - I'll do that as soon as I want no employees. Why don't you take a 500 dollar deduction and give it to them yourself. Bottom line is that I will have to increase my costs and my prices to the owners and by that, they will no longer be able to afford my services. Are you or are you not currently paying your employees a "living wage", i.e. enough to afford the basics such as food, housing, transportation, and healthcare? And how do you know today what affect this bill will have on your market in 4 years (assuming your competitors are in the same position as you)? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

We're used to not giving a shit until well after the fact. I'm less pissed at the people who fabricated that WMD BS than I am at the people and their elected officials who went along with it. There was not doubt that the premise was bullshit; the so called proof was never provided to the people, the politicians, or the military leadership. Everyone was given the line that it was too much of a secret to share and they ate it. Like THIS GUY? I gotta admit, I'm fairly well convinced that the French do indeed have WMDs. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

that's a nonsensical argument with a foundation based solely on your personal opinions on both topics I can see those with the flip side of your argument using the exact same type of reasoning - and they'd be just as wrong the cost is a great reason to scrutinize both topics - is this huge expense really going to do what it says (reduce support of terror/provide more standardized health to all) or is just a political move to consolidate power and money to those in power? I suspect the answer is the same also - many supporting (war/HC) believe it'll help the people of the country but still many more support (war/HC) to just increase control of the party in charge and give something to the masses to let them rationalize voting for these guys again. Cost and value are seperate topics. One could argue that Iraq provides enough bang for the buck, and is thus justified by its value. One could make a similar argument for healthcare. These are not the same as saying we can/cannot afford either. "I can afford to invest $1,000 in stocks, but not in bonds" is nonsensical. Either you can afford to invest $1,000 or you can't. "A $1,000 investment in stocks will return more than $1,000 in bonds" is plausible, and you can probably find two competent brokers who will disagree with each other on the subject. Personally, I'd like to see our government make ginourmous, unbelievably super huge budget cuts across the board, but the realist in me thinks that they're going to spend the money regardless, and that more access to healthcare is as good or better than some other economic boondoggles. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

The distribution is unlikely to reflect the American population, as the skydiving community generally has more expendable income Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'm not sure why that is 'odd'. It makes perfect sense. One group wants something for free. The other group doesn't want to pay for something they don't benefit from. Both side have exactly the same motivation. (Forget the nutjob partisan types that just drink the cool aid of whatever their party tells them - we are only talking about those that think for themselves). The "oddly enough" was sarcasm, but you knew that. Yeah, you've pretty much got it. The have's don't want to help the have-not's, who in turn have a rather different take on it. I'd say the population breaks down into 3 groups. Have's who don't want to help the have-nots. Have's who do want to help the have-nots. Have-nots who do want help from the have's. The fourth possibility, have-not's who don't want help from the have's, is likely statistically insignificant. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

But that wouldn't be very Christian of us... Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

if they are close - does that make both of them ok? Not really. I do believe there is a valid argument to be made about the cost of this healthcare bill. I do not believe proponents of the Iraq war have plausible access to it. If you were ok with spending close to a trillion dollars over 10 years to kill people, you should also be ok with spending close to a trillion dollars over 10 years to heal people. Anyone who supported the Iraq war cannot honestly claim that the cost is their issue with this bill. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

It's still overhead dude. For small businesses, and employer contributed plans, the employee is still forking out close to $500/mo. to cover a family of four or five...that's with the employer paying to the benefit as well. So what is changing? I work with hundreds of laborers and operators doing Davis-Bacon work for dozens of small businesses. Every one of them already has healthcare coverage offered by either their employer or their union, as they should at that level of employment. Frankly, if a company doing Davis-Bacon work can't price healthcare coverage into their contracts, they're probably doing it wrong. So those companies who can't compete fail. It's unfortunate, but it's always been that way. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

How do the costs of this bill compare to the costs of the Iraq war? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

These guys lost. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13TQow6zJsQ Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

If you assume that healthcare is something your employees were already getting, with the money you gave them, then all you're doing is moving the dollars around. Cut their pay by $500/month and provide them $500/month in healthcare coverage instead. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Oddly enough, it seems 100% of people opposed to this already have healthcare. I've got a couple friends who went to DC last weekend to protest against government-run, taxpayer-funded healthcare, despite enjoying exactly that themselves. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Have your eyes closed the first few times? I'm not going to try to give Luke advice on doing tandems, as he knows far more about them than I do. But for those TIs who haven't figured it out yet, the drogue does not have to come out immediately upon exit. Take your time, get stable, deploy the drogue smoothly and calmly. I'd rather see delays approaching 10 seconds than 1 second any day of the week. Almost every one of the bad throws I've seen have been, first and foremost, premature. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Mine was awesome. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Who makes that decision then? Could it be......a panel of some sort? Yea...that's it. We'll call them the "Life Panel". "Welcome to the healthcare financial assistance program. It says here that you weigh 400 pounds and have higher cholesterol levels than the next three carnies on the list combined. If these conditions still hold true 6 months from now, you will lose eligibility for financial assistance." Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

+1 +2 Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Unfortunately some people can't. My guess is some sort of back-up plan would be beneficial, subject to certain exclusions. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Tough call. I think there are some cases in which some social significance can be promoted, but there are others in which the only intentions are prurient. I think the answer is probably best found in obscenity laws. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Wow.....never though I'd hear any lib admit it. If you read anything particular "lib" into that, either I worded it incorrectly, or you misread it. Blues, Dave Well Dave, I'd hardly characterize you as a conservative. But let me make sure I understand your post. You don't care if a universal health care program provides coverage for people who, through their own actions have caused their health problem. Am I misinterpreting? Yeah...I'm fine with paying for things that concern me, and opposed to funding things that don't. The above are examples of things that should be funded by the people who caused the problems in the first place. And I'd still say I'm more conservative than most posters here, if I thought the words "liberal" and "conservative" had any real meaning around these parts. Unfortunately it appears to me that the average Speaker's Corner definitions are "Liberal = hates Ann Coulter" and "Conservative = hates Bill Maher", in which case I'm far more "socialist" than "fascist". Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

..."nope, not there" ..."not there either" Sorry, I can't seem to find my give-a-fuck. Getting butthurt over an extra scholarship being handed out is no less absurd then expecting reparations for something that happened to your great-great-uncle-in-law. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Still waiting on the Libs to explain why we torture our own troops. The same troops we send into harms way, knowing some won't come home? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Wow.....never though I'd hear any lib admit it. If you read anything particular "lib" into that, either I worded it incorrectly, or you misread it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'd like to touch on the bolded/underlined part there...read as: We're going to tell you what to eat because we know what's good for you. Don't believe me, go to NYC where ingredients in food and food products is already over regulated. And if you don't, no taxpayer-funded treatment for you. Clarified...and I'm ok with restricting freebie healthcare to those who a) need it and b) took reasonable steps on their own to prevent the problem. Emphysema treatment for a smoker, cirrhosis treatment for a heavy drinker, angioplasty for a 400 pound person...meh, these are not things that concern me. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Charter Cable has been getting far too expensive, and I've been planning to switch to satellite pretty soon. Is the lack of music stations your only complaint about them? Because there are many music providers these days... Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)