It’s really good stuff, eh? (the healthcare article) Unfortunately I’m afraid we’ll never get there. We’re soooo far from being able to discuss and implement sensible solutions – it’s very aggravating, frustrating and depressing.

Nothing on the table looks anything like what’s in that article, really. Just more of the same tired arguments.

great article from the Atlantic- from the article-

“But fundamentally, the “comprehensive” reform being contemplated merely cements in place the current system—insurance-based, employment-centered, administratively complex.”

no shit- and if this is how Obama expects to reform things- then he is only looking for a win- not a solution

then this-

“Keeping prices opaque is one way medical institutions seek to avoid competition and thereby keep prices up. And they get away with it in part because so few consumers pay directly for their own care—insurers, Medicare, and Medicaid are basically the whole game. But without transparency on prices—and the related data on measurable outcomes—efforts to give the consumer more control over health care have failed, and always will.”

as i have said before- and i will say again- catastrophic insurance- all in- but all this ridiculous co-pay nonsense- ridiculous-

the folks need to be in charge of their own care and expense- with help for those unable

this: “w/that, we may ‘cease to be amazed’, understand the difference in motivations, and, if we see fit, stop aiding those destructive to our goals..” from my post @2:20

was, I think, akin to yours: “…morals can be subjective and malleable. and it’s a very very easy thing to do to compromise ones morals, it’s called “rationalization.””

though, further, there are those among us, much to our chagrin, or horror, that are highly destructive to the tranquility of our Society. In this context, we’ve come to understand them as ‘Sociopaths’.

with that, who are they? or where are they? what are their modes of employ? modes of operation? what else do effect/affect/infect?

and, like that..

I’m not sure we disagree, though, as you point out, it’s very subjective. with that, we need not agree.
http://clusty.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&query=sociopath

But, more broadly, We make choices, and, ultimately, We reap what We sow. Is Anyone, really, fast enough to outrun the consequences of their actions?

It is indeed broken, like too many things these days, alas. The Bill Moyers pieces on healthcare have been good too. It’s really so frustrating to see the direction things have taken and how screwed up the incentives are and thus how they’ve distorted so much of healthcare. It’s really starting to feel like the economy at large; so broken and not going to get fixed until it implodes.

“nothing is as simple as ‘making $$$’..”

you’re wrong hoffer. when it comes to human nature, it is that simple…and especially if we’re talking about wall street bankers. ask yourself what’s more likely: a banker that compromises his “morals” to make more $ or one that foregoes the chance because his bound by them. you’ll note i put morals in quotations…morals can be subjective and malleable. and it’s a very very easy thing to do to compromise ones morals, it’s called “rationalization.”