TomAiello

The correct term for someone who wants to take from others, but is afraid to do it without a big group of their friends to back them up is "bully." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm not sure what the definition of republicans is, at this point, but here's an email I got from a friend of mine (a real, bona fide friend--he was my roommate for 4 years in college and I was the best man at his wedding--it's not some random chain email) on the 4th of July. He lives in Orange County, California, where he is a freedom fighter (actually he's a tax attorney, but these days it seems revolutionary to fight the government to help people keep what's theirs). I'm pretty sure he's a registered Republican, although the fact that he's an atheist may disqualify him from being a "real" one. Fascinatingly, he also attended the University of Chicago school of law while Barack Obama was teaching there. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Obviously you don't understand. If you force a minority of people to labor, without compensation, for the majority, then it's promoting the general welfare. Who cares about the welfare of the laborers? They don't know how to look after themselves anyway. They need their masters to keep them from slipping into indolence and sinfulness. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I don't think anyone has to "paint" them that way. If they go down the "Obama is not a US Natural Born Citizen show me the birth certificate" route, their words and actions do that quite well all by themselves. I think that there is always an opportunity to paint anyone who opposes his policies as "similar" to the people with those theories. Kind of like the way that anyone who opposes those policies must be a closet racist. It's nice to have those kind of charges hanging around to sling at people--keeps their legitimate arguments from being heard. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

For what it's worth, I believe that Obama was born in Hawaii. I'm equally at a loss to sort out why the standard records, which I'm sure have to exist, aren't being publicized. My theory is that it provides some distraction from important issues, and also an opportunity to paint anyone who opposes Obama's programs as a whacko conspiracy theorist. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Thank you for posting that. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Just curious--if the other guys called your guy a "chimp" would you have a problem with that? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Not if you signed a contract entitling you to those benefits, then lived up to your end of the bargain. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

And they're doing such a bang up job that no one is hungry in this country? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

No, seriously, you've been fooled. Lots of people aren't paying these taxes--they're making no contribution to the funding of this (or most other federal) program. I think it just offends my basic sense of fairness that 4 out of 10 people are expecting to get something without having to put anything at all into the pot. It also offends my same basic sense of fairness that we'd expect just one person in 20 to foot the bill for everyone's healthcare. If it's so important, why aren't we all chipping in for it? Why do we have to take from that one guy? Is it just because there are more of us than there are of him, so we can justify it to ourselves? Isn't that the same (il)logic a gang of bullies uses when they beat up the skinny, unpopular kid on the playground and take his lunch money? edit to add: I'd be a whole heck of a lot less outraged if everyone gave in something--anything at all. It just seems insane that there are so many people demanding that they be given something when they aren't willing to pitch in themselves, to help others. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

See thats what I mean, the arguements turn silly. That's not what I meant, apparently in Idaho people don't make jokes. I actually don't think it's a silly question at all. Malnutrition causes a lot of health problems. If we're trying to reduce the cost of healthcare, why aren't we starting with making sure people are fed? It really does seem like a case of trying to walk before we crawl. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Ok, so they've got a judge on call signing the warrants as they go? Is that right? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I admit I have not. I'll go look back through the thread. I'm curious how you get a warrant for someone you don't even know is a suspect until you stop them. I'm sure you answered that, so I'll go look. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Seriously? Damn. When my wife went into labor, she headed to the hospital armed with a stack of printouts from the NIH and a couple textbooks, so she could argue with her OB if he didn't want to let her go home after 24 hours (it's the hospital's policy to keep a mother for 48 hours after delivery). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Why doesn't the government hand out free food? Is food less vital to survival than healthcare? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Why? I feel no need to control their lives. They can make their own decisions, take their own risks, and face the consequences of their own actions. They are adults. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Again, 40% of Americans pay no Federal Income Tax. The proposals currently on the table would all fund some sort of healthcare reform from Federal Income Tax. Are you denying that almost half of Americans pay no Federal Income Tax? Or are you saying that some other tax is more relevant to this specific debate? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That is, quite frankly, utter bullshit. 40% of Americans pay no Federal Income Tax. By some estimates, by the 2010 election, a majority of registered voters will pay no Federal Income Tax. Not paying federal income tax != not paying taxes. Did you overlook that fact every time it has been previously mentioned, or are you intentionally making an intellectually dishonest argument? Is the proposal to fund this new healthcare plan out of something other than federal income tax revenues? Because if not, then that's the relevant taxation to discuss, isn't it? Perhaps I've missed a proposal that would pay for this out of some other tax scheme. Can you provide me a reference so I can read up on that? Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That is, quite frankly, utter bullshit. 40% of Americans pay no Federal Income Tax. By some estimates, by the 2010 election, a majority of registered voters will pay no Federal Income Tax. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

And the solution is to create a new, gigantic insurance company with a trillion dollar government subsidy? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

For every single "bad cop" out there, there are thousands of police officers trying their absolute best to do their best to serve their community. I'm not disputing that. But the more extra-judicial authority we give to the good guys, the more chance that one bad guy has to abuse it. And that, in a nutshell, is why we need search warrants and court orders. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Understanding that around 40% of registered voters pay no federal income tax, it's easy to see why they'd be in favor of increased taxes to pay for their healthcare. If you pay no taxes, it costs you nothing to increase the taxes on everyone else, hence your return on investment is infinite--you get something for nothing. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yes. And when I did, I made a conscious decision to refrain from risky behaviors, because I was concerned about the possibility of injury. I figured that trying to save (or make) some more money to buy insurance was more important than going skydiving, or climbing, or whatever. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Saint Luke's Magic Valley, in Twin Falls, Idaho. I've taken several people there after BASE incidents, and some of them didn't have insurance, while others did. I was able to talk with some of the doctors involved at other times, and find out how the process had worked. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've taken people with no insurance for help after accidents, and that's not what happened at all. They pretty much got the same care as people with insurance, including multi-day hospital stays and follow up care. The hospital kept track of the bill, then tried to get them to pay on installments, and eventually decided to write it off. Their insurance, or lack thereof, made no difference to the care they received--only to the billing activity after the fact. In several cases I know, for a fact, that the treating physician was unaware of their insurance (or lack of insurance) status. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com