If loving winger craziness is wrong, I don’t want to be right (from Specter’s town hall):
I know that years down the road, I don’t want my children coming to me and asking me, ‘Mom, why didn’t you do anything? Why do we have to wait in line for, I don’t know, toilet paper or anything?’ I don’t want to have to tell them I didn’t do anything. As a normal citizen, the most I feel like I can do is come to this town hall meeting.
Spanking rights, toilet paper shortages…oh, never mind.
vacuumslayer
Who told her she was normal?
vacuumslayer
Someone should tell her that under Obamacare ordinary Americans like herself won’t be allowed to use the bathroom anymore. So no toilet paper, no problem. See, Obama’s always thinking.
Just Me
“for, I don’t know, toilet paper…”
That was a very disingenuous move on her part since, oh, I don’t know, Cuba is currently facing a tp crisis: huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/11/cuban-economy-worsens-cit_n_256588.html
Makewi
Of course nationalizing health care will lead to increased wait times to see doctors as it must. But it isn’t lines for toilet paper, so what a crazy bitch. Wingnuts. I tell you. Always overstating things.
YellowJournalism
No, maam, the only reason they’ll be rationing toilet paper is because of all the bullshit you and others like you are throwing around.
Shygetz
This only follows if the supply of doctors doesn’t rise to meet the demand of patients.
Erik Vanderhoff
Of course nationalizing health care will lead to increased wait times to see doctors as it must.
Where is this magical world where you don’t have to wait to see your doctor? Do doctors not have appointments anymore, and you can just walk in and be seen? And will no one tell my fucking doctors that?
Goddammit, you people are fucking morons. You make me want to punch each and every one of you in the wiener. Repeatedly. With a fucking hammer.
Ash Can
Given the current state of American newspapers and newsmagazines, we won’t hit Peak Toiletpaper until roughly around the time the sun blows up and consumes all the planets of the solar system, so I don’t know what this bubblehead is worried about.
SpotWeld
So how long before Glenn Beck sits down an intern in an office chair and spins them around while festooning them with toilet paper to demonstrate.. um..
Omabacare… aahhhhh! *weep*
Mustard!
icecreamang
So sad that this kind of stupid no longer surprises me, or even makes me mad.
America. It’s broken. How’re we gonna fix it?
spudvol
Everything is connected…a shortage of toilet paper could interfere with, well not the right to, but the desirability of spanking your child.
The Moar You Know
@Makewi: You want to explain how this is remotely possible? Last time I had to see a gastroenterologist, it took 6 weeks to get an appointment under our current model of capitalist efficiency. The last time I needed to see my GP, he was booked three weeks out.
The California DMV, long considered the worst in the nation, doesn’t begin to approach such inefficiency. I can get an appointment there in a week, tops. And they solve the problem the first time, unlike the increasingly harassed and rules-bound doctors I see these days.
The only conceivable way to increase the “wait times” to see my doctors would be for me to die while waiting.
Take your crock of shit and spread it on the walls of your padded cell, not here.
Morbo
Is it possible this is some wingnut use of topical humor? Cuba is supposedly running out of toilet paper, and they don’t want to see a future where “socialist” America meets the same fate. Of course there is a tiny little externality in the Cuba situation which may have more to do with the toilet paper situation than the socialism…
WereBear
Of all the stuff the wingnuts came up with, this one really frosts me.
First of all, doctors and nurses put up with a lot of time wasting crap figuring out what the heck they are able to do, instead of just doing it. That’s one of the things the legislation will address.
Secondly, the emphasis on preventative care will mean stuff gets taken care of when it’s small, not complicated and large.
Thirdly, we stop bleeding medical personnel through sheer burnout and inability to deal with all the BS. I know several people who got tired of pushing the rock uphill that way.
And fourthly, what a stupid thing to come up with as an excuse to let people die. Maybe they could bring their Bible to the waiting room and brush up on those words in red that they don’t seem to know at all.
Emma
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer I waited three and a half weeks for my first appointment. Thankfully the place I went to — Sylvester Cancer Center — has experience with all sorts of insurance and helped me set up all the tests to be done before the appointment. One of them was denied by the insurance company, who claimed a mammogram was enough, and the center’s insurance assistance people had to browbeat them into paying for it. And this was with excellent insurance!
Linkmeister
I wasn’t aware that Federated Department Stores planned to turn into GUM.
Jay B.
As a normal citizen, the most I feel like I can do is come to this town hall meeting.
No, that’s the least you can do. The most you could do would be to educate yourself, reach out to your local political leadership up to and including your US Rep and ingratiate yourself into the conversation as a citizen who knows what’s actually going on.
Roger Moore
@WereBear:
Or maybe they could use the glut of bibles as a solution to the toilet paper shortage. Judging by their knowledge of what the bible actually says, most of the wingnuts aren’t doing anything as radical as reading it, so it won’t be much of a loss.
little albatross
Okay, as the child of immigrants from the former USSR, this really pisses me off. Having single payer health insurance != nationalization of industry, five-year plans, etc. Me being able to afford medicine (which, incidentally, I literally need to live) is not going to lead to you running out of toilet paper, or for that matter to ‘health care shortages’. Trust me on this one: your shiny little materialistic lifestyle isn’t going to collapse just because your taxes get raised a bit. I mean, you’re Republicans, right? Fiscally conservative and all that? Independent, cautious about borrowing money… right? Right? (Oh, wait. Shit.)
*sigh* I don’t even have that much of a right to complain, because I’m one of the lucky ones. When my student insurance runs out in a few years and the insurance industry basically consigns me to die because I have a preexisting condition, my parents will probably be able to help me with medical bills. But there are so many freakin’ people in situations like mine who don’t have anyone else they can rely on, and families to support besides. Medical debt just creates a positive feedback loop.
And these goddamn people are perfectly content to let them sicken and die by inches just because somebody told them it’s socialism.
The right-wingers make me sick (pun intended).
Leelee for Obama
@YellowJournalism:
((No, ma’am, the only reason they’ll be rationing toilet paper is because of all the bullshit you and others like you are throwing around.))
I can’t even measure how much I wish I had said this!
The next-to-last samurai
Like John, I was once a conservative. I don’t recall them being afraid of everything back then–what happened? I would be embarrassed to air in public the nutty fears they have.
Corner Stone
@Erik Vanderhoff: Damn yo. You can punch me in the junk if you’d like, as I’m down with a little aggressive foreplay, but with a hammer?
That’s just uncalled for.
Tax Analyst
Just wait until you see the signs in the public restrooms and YOUR OWN private bathroom – “Due to the Obama Rationing Edict of 2009, all citizens are now required to use BOTH SIDES of their government issued Toilet Paper. Non-compliance will be considered a breach of the ‘Citizen Compliance Act of 2009″ and your assigned Death Panel Review Date will be advanced 10 years, from your 70th birthday down to your 60th.” NOTE: The purchase or possession of non-government issued paper will result in your suspension from the program. On the first violation you will have to stand in line for corn cobs. On any subsequent violations you will required to appear before an ACORN-certified Appeals Jedge.
…and the gum’mint cameras will be there to make sure you’re not “fudging” on this, too.
Flappy McScrotum
I know this was meant as snark. But I do know of a place in the world where you don’t need an appointment to see a doctor. Where you can just walk into almost any random doctor’s office in the entire country and be seen in 20 minutes. And, if it looks like you might have to wait more then 20 minutes, you can leave and just go somewhere else without having to worry about filling out insurance forms or transfering medical records.
The national health care system they have in Taiwan is like this.
gwangung
THANK YOU!!!!
The whole debate is suffering from a Eurocentric/American version of tunnel vision. There are some capitalistic countries in Asia who have a more socialized form of medical care—who are eating our lunches (sometimes quite literally) when it comes to economics.
Flappy McScrotum
I actually didn’t believe it until I saw it in action. I watched my wife decide at 6pm she wanted to see a doctor and be out the door with a perscription in hand by 6:20pm. She even let me choose the doctor. Technically it was my second choice. She shot down my first choice because there were 4 people in the waiting room and she didn’t want to wait for them.
Makewi
gwangung
So, basically, you’re saying that Taiwan didn’t get it 100% right, but is still a system we should look to emulate.
Thanks for the support.
Kyle
Even with all their success in their health care system, Taiwan has suffered some misfortunes.
Shorter Makewi:
Pay no attention to America’s health system bleeding from every orifice, Taiwan’s system has the equivalent of a cut needing a band-aid so we wouldn’t possibly want to emulate them.
Besides, their economy has been sluggish for decades (irony) under soshulized medicine, and what do the Taiwanese know anyway about the dangers of Communism? (irony)
Calouste
@Tax Analyst:
I think Mark Sanford was ahead of the curve and had those signs already up in his Congressional office. Or was that just Post-it notes?
He’s to busy going to Argentina on the tax payers’ dime or taking the state plane for a discount haircut to put them up in the Governor’s office however.
Maus
“Of course nationalizing health care will lead to increased wait times to see doctors as it must.”
Unless the wait time is over infinite, you’re a drooling idiot.
Maus
“Pay no attention to America’s health system bleeding from every orifice, Taiwan’s system has the equivalent of a cut needing a band-aid so we wouldn’t possibly want to emulate them.”
Exactly. OH NO, SOMETHING’S NOT 100% PERFECT, let’s not fix any critically flawed system for fear that it will only be 60-70% ideal.
Tax Analyst
Calouste said:
“@Tax Analyst:
I think Mark Sanford was ahead of the curve and had those signs already up in his Congressional office. Or was that just Post-it notes?”
TA Reply: I would not doubt either scenario. Sanford is as mad as a hatter as far as I can tell. Loony as a Toon.
Calouste: “He’s to busy going to Argentina on the tax payers’ dime or taking the state plane for a discount haircut to put them up in the Governor’s office however.”
TA Reply: Yeah, I heard about the state-paid plane trips to visit his Saucy South American Soulmate. It’s almost kinda touching, in an extremely needy and pathetic way.
Makewi
Interestingly enough, roughly the same percentage of people in Taiwan say that they are satisfied with their health care as say so in the US. You know, because our system is “bleeding from every orifice”, or some such twaddle
Plus I’m sure not being able to pay for the system won’t lead to any downsides at all. Just keep smiling.
Mnemosyne
“Why do we have to wait in line for, I don’t know, toilet paper or anything?”
I think this woman was behind me at the grocery store last night trying to push herself to the front of the line. I hadn’t realized that waiting in line to pay for my toilet paper and other groceries was an OMG! COMMIE! PLOT! but apparently all the stores I frequent are in on it.
Wile E. Quixote
@Erik Vanderhoff
I’ll help. I can bring my own hammer.
Tax Analyst
Mnemosyne said:
“I hadn’t realized that waiting in line to pay for my toilet paper and other groceries was an OMG! COMMIE! PLOT! but apparently all the stores I frequent are in on it.”
Yup, and the conspiracy runs so deep no one will EVER admit to it…
…and then one day it will just be too late, and we’ll ALWAYS have to wait in line for toilet paper.
And it won’t even be the good 2-ply stuff, either.
As you can guess, we’ll have quite a mess on our hands.
“When the guy in the next housing tract had to stand in line just to get substandard, single-ply shit paper I said nothing, because it was not my ass. When my next door neighbor had to stand in line for bad shit paper, I smirked and did said nothing, ’cause he was kind of a jerk anyway and I kinda hoped he’d get a rash from it, too. When they made me stand in line for crappy crap-paper there was no one left to say anything, except the other people in line behind me. Many of them told me to ‘Get the fuck out of the way so we can get our crappy toilet paper and go home’, so I went home and grumpily took a big, loose dump and gingerly dabbed at it with that lousy, shredding, single-ply toilet paper.”
Mark my words, when this shit comes down all our asses will suffer for it.
Wile E. Quixote
@Makewi
Horrors. Borrowing money from banks to pay for health care! Thank God that the Republicans under Bush insisted that Medicare Part D be fully funded and not add to the deficit. And Thank God that the Republicans under Bush also insisted that the Bush tax cuts be dialed back to pay for the War in Iraq. Oh, and Thank God that Peter Scolari went on from Bosom Buddies to be one of the most successful actors of the last 30 years and not that untalented hack Tom Hanks and Thank God that John Cole realized what a mistake he was making after he renounced the Republican party in the wake of l’affaire Schiavo and rejoined the faithful, who were a great source of comfort to him after his beloved Steelers lost to the Seahawks in Superbowl XL.
angulimala
Just because the Republicans did something too doesn’t make it a good idea.
The US does have too much debt. As much as it’s right to point out that the GOP has little credibility to point fingers, it doesn’t mean it’s right or good to pile on more.
Wile E. Quixote
angulimala
State the obvious much? It also doesn’t mean that it’s wrong or bad to take on more debt. Not all debt is created equal. Going into debt to pay for say, medical school is a much better idea than going into debt to buy a new plasma screen and a week in Vegas. Going into debt to provide decent health care for Americans strikes me as being a better deal than going into debt to pay for a never-ending war in the middle East or more F-22 jets that nobody outside of a bunch of dipshit Air Force fighter jocks (who have been fuck all useless in our current war).